Emperor of the Fireflies

by Sarah Ash

  Then she spots him, standing on the tideline, swaying a little to the rhythm of the music he’s creating, coaxing such sweet, sad sounds from the flute. In the distance a flock of black cranes have alighted on the shore and are dipping and flapping in their strange, graceful dance of courtship.

  She gathers up her robes and runs toward him over the damp sands until, breathless, she stands before him. Slowly he lowers the flute and looks at her through eyes that glimmer as blue as the sea.

  “Kaoru.” So long since she called him so intimately by his first name.

  “I thought you might have forgotten, imperial majesty.”

  She hears the reproof and much more besides in his formal address. She stretches out to stroke his cheek, even though she knows there is no way to undo the damage she has done.

  “My dearest love, how could I ever forget you?”

  ***

  Ayaka awoke, her mind still filled with the flapping of white-and-black-tipped crane wings and the soft fall of drifting feathers.

  I have to see him.

  “Reika, I need your help. I want you to change places with me. Just for a short while.”

  Reika gave her a pained look.

  “It’ll be like in that old tale of the lovers. We’ll go out to stroll in the abbot’s garden, both wearing cloaks with hoods. It’s drizzling again, so none of the other ladies will want to accompany us. Then we’ll swap cloaks and –”

  “If you’re sneaking off for some romantic assignation, then, no. I won’t be a party to anything like that. Can you imagine the emperor’s reaction, if he were to find out? I want to keep my head on my shoulders, thank you.”

  Ayaka stamped her foot in vexation. “And when have I had time – or opportunity – to set up a romantic assignation with anyone, Reika? I love and respect the emperor. And I would never do anything to bring shame on my family. I’m disappointed that you think I’m capable of such a deception. I thought you knew me better.” Although, even as she spoke the words aloud, she found herself wondering if it was true. “It’s not an assignation. I’m just repaying a debt, that’s all.” But she did not look at Reika, looking out instead over the gray breakers rolling in toward the shore so that Reika should not see the indecision in her eyes.

  The tide’s coming in. And that means Kaito will be making his way ashore too.

  She felt a little nudge and, with a start, turned to see Reika was already wearing the cloak with the hood in the forbidden colors that only the imperial family were allowed to wear. And she was holding out her own coarse-woven cloak as if to wrap it around Ayaka’s shoulders.

  “Just promise me, my lady, that you’ll defend me if this little ruse is discovered. I really don’t want to lose my head.”

  ***

  The soft notes of the flute floated up through the underground shrine as Ayaka gingerly negotiated her way down the rough-cut steps, slippery with rotting seaweed.

  “Lord Kaito.”

  He stopped playing abruptly, turning to gaze at Ayaka, his azure eyes widening in surprise.

  So luminously blue, even in the darkness. But of course; he’s no longer mortal.

  “Forgive me. I didn’t mean to –” She heard herself stuttering in confusion. He must think I’m stupid. “I know I’m not supposed to come down here. Or to make contact with you. But when I heard you playing, the music just. . .drew me here.”

  “You shouldn’t risk your reputation talking to me, Empress.” The clear blue eyes had darkened. “Please go back and forget that you ever saw me.”

  “I’d never betray you.” She heard her impassioned denial echoing far into the shadowed depths of the painted cavern. “I owe you my life. And I never had the chance to thank you properly before.”

  “The best way to thank me is to go now before your bodyguards track you into the shrine and find us here together.” Although his voice was quiet, she heard a distinct note of censure. But instead of acting sensibly, following his advice and making a strategic retreat, she took a step closer to him.

  Why am I so drawn to him? There’s no sense in this attraction that I feel. It’s just as if I’ve always known him. . .and always. . .

  “That song you were playing,” she said, a little breathlessly. “You played it on the seashore at the festival. And since then, it keeps returning to haunt me. I hear it in my dreams. Why is it so special? Why has Hotaru been learning to play it?”

  “‘Three Cranes on the Shore?’”

  “He has your ebony flute.” She took a step closer to him, speaking in a lower, urgent tone, knowing that she was betraying Hotaru and yet unable to stop herself. He needs to know. “I think he plans to use it at the festival to summon you. There’s something magical about that instrument, isn’t there?”

  “So Hotaru’s planning to use Lord Kurozuro’s flute?” He evaded answering her question directly. “And imprison Masao and me in the sea forever?”

  “Is there no way you could strike a bargain with Hotaru?” Desperate to make amends in some way, she cast around for a way to find a solution. “You and Lord Masao could agree to appear in the bay at the festival when Hotaru calls out to you – and then the old men, Lord Kiyomori and Archbishop Gakudo, would be placated.”

  “And who’s to say that if we do, Hotaru won’t place us under a binding spell?” He looked across at her, frowning.

  “Hotaru cast spells?” The idea was ridiculous. “I know that he spent much of his time at the Bureau of Onmyōdo, but his work there was all to do with divination and augurs for the court. Predicting the most auspicious day to go on a journey, that kind of thing.”

  He said nothing for a moment and then walked straight toward her.

  “Majesty,” he said, his blue gaze burningly intense, “please don’t avert your eyes.” He passed his right hand over the novice’s jacket he was wearing and it wavered, then melted away. An illusion? She blinked in surprise, seeing his lean torso beneath, naked except for the plain hakama. Trying to hide her shock at this indecorous behavior she realized that he was pointing at his left shoulder. Gleaming there like an enameled jewel was the emblem of a blue dragon, curled nose to tail.

  “Have you ever seen anything similar on the emperor’s body?”

  She nodded, remembering her fascination when she had first discovered it as Hotaru slept. “Very similar. But inked black and scarlet, not blue. He keeps it hidden but, our first night alone together, I. . . I saw it.” She was finding it hard to resist the urge to reach out and touch the dully gleaming tattoo. “I always thought it was a clan mark, the emblem of his mother’s house, perhaps; a black dragon. . .” She raised her eyes to his. “But why does Hotaru have a Sacrifice seal too?”

  “Because he made a contract with a powerful fire kami. The kami’s name is Kurika. And Hotaru’s gone to great lengths to keep it a secret.”

  The revelation was too much to take in at once. Questions rose and burst like festival fireworks in her mind. She looked at him, mouth open, unable to speak.

  “I’m sorry to have to be the one who tells you,” he said, rather more gently.

  “Kurika?” she repeated. “Or Kuri?”

  “Who is Kuri?”

  “My pet dragon dog.” She heard a dry little laugh escape her lips. “More dragon than dog, it seems. So that’s why Hotaru was behaving so oddly. . .”

  Even as she stood there, crushed by the realization that she had been deceived, she saw his seal begin to glow, then pulse, emitting a soft blue radiance.

  “What’s happening to you, Kai?”

  He pulled a wry face. “The tide’s on the turn. I can’t stay on land any longer. If I don’t return to the sea, the curse will drag me back, whether I like it or not.”

  “But – but that’s horrible.” The thought that he was forced to obey the pull of the tides, day after day, seemed the most cruel of punishments.

  “It’s the same for Masao,” he said. “And if Hotaru gets his wish, we’ll never be free. You see where the seal is now?”r />
  “Your shoulder.”

  “When I was tattooed with the seal, as a child, it was engraved on my wrist. But once the Sacrifice bond was activated, it slowly began to move. When it reaches my heart, my mortal body will die and I’ll never be able to return to my life on shore.”

  His words, spoken with quiet resignation, made her heart ache.

  “Yet you destroyed the Tide Jewels,” she said. It was so unjust. Without even thinking what she was doing, she stretched out one hand and touched the pulsing seal, feeling a ripple of watery energy course through her.

  “Lady Inari told me to destroy them.” He raised his other hand and covered hers with it, gently pressing it against his skin. “I was following the goddess’s orders.”

  I shouldn’t be so close to him. And yet I can’t keep away. It feels like it’s the most natural thing to do. Ayaka looked up into his eyes. “So why are you still bound to the Lords of the Sea?”

  “It seems that there’s still one more piece of the original enchantment that has to be undone. And only Lady Inari can do it. But first we have to seal Kurika back inside his mountain. Only then will she consider helping us.”

  “There must be something I can do. Tell me. I’ll do anything I can.”

  He smiled at her, such a sad, regretful smile that she wanted to fling her arms around him and hug him tightly. “How can I ask you to betray your husband?”

  “It seems to me,” she said fiercely, “that he has betrayed both of us.”

  “But he’s the emperor. He would crush you if he had the slightest suspicion that you were plotting with the enemy.”

  “You’re not my enemy, Kai.” Unconsciously, she had used his first name, as if they were intimate friends.

  “Are you saying that to me?” He took her hand in his and kissed it. “Or to Lord Kurozuro, Empress Himiko?”

  “Himiko?” Was that the reason she felt so close to him? “You think I’m still possessed?”

  “Maybe we both are.” He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head, then gently released her. “The tide’s coming in fast; I can sense the breakers rushing in to the bay. You need to leave; at high tide the shrine sometime floods, so it’s not safe to stay.”

  “Imperial majesty?” A woman’s voice suddenly rang out, echoing around the darkest recesses of the cave, piercingly clear above the rush of the incoming waves.

  “Ochiba?” Ayaka said, panicking. “You’d better go –” But as she turned back to warn Kaito, she realized he had already vanished from her sight.

  “Whatever are you doing here alone, majesty?”

  Ochiba was making her way unsteadily toward her, clutching at the rocky wall to try to keep upright on the slimy, uneven cavern floor.

  Ayaka’s mind was still whirling with all that Lord Kaito had told her. But she knew she must not let herself be distracted until she had dealt with Ochiba.

  “I came to pray to the gods of the sea.” Ayaka was tempted to tell Ochiba how rude it was of her to disturb her private devotions but the sight of her chief lady-in-waiting tottering down the path in such an inelegant way was so amusing that her irritation melted away.

  “I thought I heard another voice. A man’s voice.”

  The irritation returned. So Ochiba had been spying on her. I hope she slips and falls on her backside. Hard.

  “Oh, really Ochiba-san, your imagination is far too vivid; you’ve been reading too many novels.” Ayaka began to make her way back up the rough-hewn stone steps. “Who in their right minds would arrange a romantic assignation in a cold, damp cave like this? You must have heard the roar of the incoming tide echoing around the walls.” She glared at Ochiba. “Besides, the abbot told us this shrine is only open to the initiated and the imperial family; you really shouldn’t be here.”

  But Ochiba was not so easily deterred. “Why is Reika wearing your cloak and you hers? A servant in the forbidden imperial colors?”

  Ayaka wondered how long she could continue to lie without being found out. She could ruin me if she had any evidence to prove I was alone with Lord Kaito, a wanted traitor. Or she could blackmail me. . .

  She reached the step on which Ochiba was teetering, still clutching at the damp, sea-stained cave wall.

  “It was just a ploy, designed to allow me to pray here undisturbed to the Tide Dragons.” And without another word, she marched past her on up the steps toward the surface.

  Chapter 45

  “So there’s still no news of my brother?” Hotaru stared at the assembled ministers whose lowered heads and somber demeanor told him that there was no fresh information. “Then we must assume the worst,” he said, fixing his eyes on Lord Kiyomori, “and I propose that, to honor his memory, we sail out to Akatobi Island. Archbishop Gakudo will say prayers there for the repose of his soul before the start of the Autumn Moon Festival.”

  From the nodding heads in their black official hats and the respectful murmurs, Hotaru gathered that all present, even Lord Kiyomori, approved his suggestion.

  “Shall I announce an official period of mourning?” asked the archbishop.

  “That seems the most appropriate thing to do,” Hotaru said.

  “And you will, of course, be cancelling the demonstration of the iron dragons?” The pointed question came – of course – from Lord Kiyomori.

  “Cancelling?” Hotaru forced himself to draw in a calming breath before replying. “Postponing, Minister, merely postponing.”

  Lord Kiyomori was about to reply when, to Hotaru’s considerable relief, an imperial messenger appeared at the back of the hall.

  “Lady Ochiba’s report on the empress’s health.” The man bowed until his forehead touched the floor, then handed the letter to one of the waiting attendants who brought it to Hotaru on a black-and-gold lacquered tray.

  Hotaru took the letter and opened it, silently scanning the elegant handwriting:

  “I regret to inform your imperial majesty that I have some concerns about the empress. She has been behaving capriciously. Today she went to visit the Sacrifice Shrine alone. I followed her and was certain that I heard her conversing with a man. Yet when I challenged her, she insisted that I had imagined it and that she had been alone the whole time. I’ve asked Captain Yorisada to post guards along the shore in case anyone attempts to infiltrate the monastery from the sea.”

  “I hope that Empress Ayaka is making a good recovery,” said Lord Kiyomori in the expectant silence.

  Hotaru looked up from Ochiba’s letter and folded it, slipping it into his brocade sleeve. His mind was filled with troubling questions but he forced himself to reply in the calmest of tones, “It seems that she is benefiting from the sea air.” He nodded to Lord Nagamoto who had been watching him anxiously. “You need not worry, my lord; your daughter is well protected. And Lady Ochiba is proving a loyal and devoted companion.”

  “I’m relieved to hear so,” Lord Nagamoto said gruffly.

  ***

  “Ayaka.” Hotaru reread Ochiba’s letter in the privacy of his own rooms. “What were you doing alone in the Sacrifice Shrine? Who were you talking with? Was it –?”

  “So your young empress has been meeting someone?” Uguisu’s sweet voice interrupted him. “And you suspect that someone to be Lord Kaito?”

  “Who else could it be – apart from Lord Masao and he isn’t interested in women.”

  “It could have been the captain of the guards; young Yorisada is very popular with the ladies.”

  He glowered at her over the top of the letter. “This isn’t a frivolous matter. Ayaka and Kaito are still linked. They both carry the memories of Himiko and her lover, Flood’s first Sacrifice, Kurozuro no Kaoru. She has vivid dreams. And, for all I know, he does too.”

  Soft feathers rustled close to his ear as Uguisu settled on his shoulder, perching there with delicate grace.

  “You’ve brought this upon yourself, you know. If you’d paid her more attention and not left her feeling so lonely and neglected. . .”

 
; “I don’t need a lecture from you.”

  “What’s worrying you?” she whispered. “That Lord Kaito won’t come when you summon him? Or that he’s stolen your wife’s heart?”

  “Are you jealous, Uguisu?”

  She let out a little cry of pique and fluttered away to sit on the top of her cage, pretending to preen her tail feathers.

  “My brother’s disappearance, the proximity of the monastery to Akatobi Island – you don’t suppose Abbot Genko is keeping Suzaku under his protection there?”

  She looked up. “Archbishop Gakudo, perhaps, but Genko? I thought you said he was not interested in court politics.”

  “Yet the monastery has always had strong links with the Black Cranes.” The more Hotaru thought about it, the more convinced he became. “I wonder where the abbot’s loyalties really lie.”

  “Do you want me to go there and take a look around?”

  He hesitated. “It’s a long way. And the last time you flew too far and –”

  “I won’t fail you again.” Her golden eyes glittered. “And it’s not as if the fire dragon is of any use to you right now.” She let out a scornful little skirl of notes. “Too impetuous for his own good, that one. Has he learned nothing?”

  “So how is Kurika?”

  “Still sleeping. I placed a barrier around him, but he hasn’t stirred once.” She stretched her wings wide and vanished in a flurry of white feathers.

  As soon as Uguisu had gone, Hotaru quietly slid back the screen that divided the small dressing room from his own. Sprawled on a futon lay Kurika in human form, sound asleep, his head pillowed on one arm, a faint iridescent shimmer the only indication of the powerful barrier Uguisu had woven around him. To a casual observer, Kurika would look just like any other man were it not for the slight breath of dark smoke drifting from his flared nostrils with every gentle exhalation. But to Hotaru the wild creature he had tamed was still fascinating and frustrating in equal measure.

  “How much longer will I be able to control you?” he murmured, sliding back the screen. “Each time you defy me, it takes more of my own energy to bring you to heel.”