by C. L. Stone
I went to him and let him drape me in the towel. I whispered to him as softly as I could. “Can you find out who was using the bath next door just now?”
He raised a rust-colored eyebrow. “I can…”
Again, I hesitated, but my guilt weighed heavily at the thought of keeping silent. What sort of duty could I serve to the emperor if I allowed his subjects to behave so dishonorably? “Please do,” I whispered. “I can explain later.”
Sota’s face stiffened and he backed away from me. “I’ll do it now,” he said. “Just dry yourself. I’ll be back.” He left the room.
I did so, using the towel he’d given me to vigorously dry my hair first and then wiped my limbs and torso and around every curve.
I never felt so soft, and so clean in my life. Whatever Sota put in the bath had me smelling of berries and sugar. My mouth watered just breathing it in.
When Sota returned, he came to me to remove the towel and started to put lotion into my arms and legs. “I have the names,” he said quietly.
“Good.” I could say nothing more. I didn’t know if they were still next door.
There were more supplies on the trays, but Sota skipped them and dressed me in a new, blue, cotton kimono and sandals.
As he readied me, I thought of what I should do and repeated in my brain what was said so I could relay it word for word.
Sota had been right. The bath and his care allowed me to have my mind free and to choose my actions without distractions.
6
LETTER
When we returned, I encouraged Ryuu to check out the library and see if there was anything useful. I didn’t mean to keep him in the dark, but I didn’t want him to be involved in what needed to be done. If I was wrong, I didn’t want to make enemies for him.
Sota said it was a good idea. “I want you both to rest this evening,” he said. It was after nightfall by the time we’d gotten back, and lanterns had been lit. The house glowed yellow with candlelight. “Reading up is a good idea. I can make suggestions if you’d like.”
“I’ll find something on my own,” Ryuu said. His blue kimono was a little short on his tall body. His legs were bare, and had a tinge of red after Sota had scrubbed him clean. He yawned as he moved. “I need to get to sleep early, though. I need to go make sure those oxen are delivered to the right person.”
Once Ryuu was gone, Sota guided me to the tatami room. He rolled the door closed, and lined the door with the white crystals.
When we were alone, he turned to me with his arms across his chest. “What happened?”
“I overhead a conversation next door,” I said. I repeated the words, wanting to make suggestions as to the meaning, but stopped myself and let him draw his own conclusion. Accusations were delicate in a culture built around honor. A wrong allegation could mean my own reputation tarnished.
He frowned and then nodded. “I’ll have to leave for a few moments,” he said and then paused. “I…shouldn’t leave you alone, but I’ll be right back.”
He returned shortly with a piece of paper, an ink stick and ink stone, water and a brush.
He ground the ink stick into the stone, creating a fine powder. He dropped water on it and presented me with the brush.
“I need you to write.”
With his help, I constructed a letter to the royal guard about what I’d heard, where. I signed my name below it.
After, he wrote his own note, how he talked to the woman who owned the shop and the names he had heard from her.
He refused to show me the names. “An investigation may take time, and I don’t want you distracted with worry. I’ll keep you safe.”
“What will happen?”
“The less you know right now, the better,” he said. “Thank you for trusting me to tell me.”
I had no one else to tell. Maybe he was right, maybe I shouldn’t know the names. I just wanted to be sure the right thing was done. My mind was frayed with what we had learned, not just about the special registration, but also at the bath. I told Sota I’d go up to our room and get some sleep.
We had been given one of the few rooms with a window, done intentionally for the Taka so I could let him fly to catch mice for food and return at night to put him in his cage.
I returned to the room to discover there was only one large futon in the center of the room instead of three. I stood just inside the open door, starting into the small space, our packs in the corner. There was no furniture other than a low table near the window.
Ryu came up behind me. He carried a couple of books in his hands. “Are you going in?” he asked. “Sota came by the library and said I should stay up here to read.”
It was probably safer to stay together. I entered, making room for him. “Where are you sleeping?”
He lifted a rusty brow and scanned the room’s contents. “On the futon? I guess? I think the choice was made for us.”
I pressed my lips together. I’d never shared a bed. On the trip to the city, we slept one at a time in the back of the cart. This seemed intimate. “She must only have so many futons.”
I left my kimono on, and squatted, pushing away the blanket to settle in. Sota going off to deliver the letter to the right people what I’d heard made me nervous for him. I hoped he’d be okay.
Should I have signed my name? Should I have let him sign his? Whatever happened, we were in it together now. Either we were wrong, and I hoped I was, or we’d just made enemies.
Ryuu went to the window, and before I had thought to do so, he collected the Taka on his arm and put him in his cage. To my surprise, Taka went in without protest.
“I meant to do that,” I said.
“When you’re in the palace, you’ll have to watch him,” he said. He brushed his fingers over the frame of the cage. “I don’t know if there’s protocol about pets you can keep while inside.
I curled up with my arms around my knees, looking up at him as he stood by the cage. “Are you nervous?” I asked.
“I should be,” he said. “Honestly, I’m glad we made an agreement. I don’t think I’ll be the one getting in on my own.”
“Why do you think so?”
“Did you see the others Mrs. Satsu picked?” he asked and then smirked. “I’m a sow with swans.”
My face heated. “That’s how I felt coming in here.”
He squinted at me and then moved away from the table to kneel on the futon near me. “Are you kidding? You’re leagues ahead of everyone else here. It didn’t surprise me at all why she’d pick someone like you.”
The heat radiated through me, reaching every part of my skin. I covered a cheek with my hand. “No…” I mumbled, wanting to say something humbling but his words surprised me. He was handsome in his own way, with his high cheekbones and sharp nose. His dark hair was tied back into a bun at the base of his head, and it framed his angled jaw.
He reached out to me, taking my hand from my face and showed me a lopsided smile. “I was going to come back to see how you were, you know. After finishing with registration.”
“To see me?”
He smoothed his thumb across my palm in a gentle massage. “I couldn’t believe you wouldn’t listen to me about the bird.” He looked over his shoulder at the Taka, who was making clicking noises, puffing out his white feathers, and settling in to sleep. “You picked up so quickly how valuable he was, you just didn’t know how to catch him like I did. Can you imagine what we could do if we went off and became traders together? I couldn’t sway you once you were determined.”
I gently pulled my hand back after he’d been holding on to it, looking at my own palm. “I was cutting you out of it,” I said quietly. “It was selfish.”
“You were desperate,” he said quietly. “I just didn’t realize how much. You seemed pretty okay since you had the house, but I didn’t realize until I talked to others in the village later how bad things had gotten for you.”
“They knew?”
“They realized when you started
trading healthy chickens for rice during the late winter. It was a bad deal, but you needed rice that would last longer over time.”
It was embarrassing to think the village knew my desperation, but it was obvious. I did the best I could with what I had.
I breathed out heavily through my nose and then turned from him, lowering myself to the futon. I placed my head on a pillow, propping it up with an arm. “And now we’re here.”
“Which is why I think you’ll win this,” he said. “Not just because you’re beautiful. You deserve it more than most. At least more than I do.”
“I don’t know if the emperor selects people based on how hungry they are.”
“He should,” he said, settling into the futon behind me.
I didn’t respond, too lost in thought.
Ryuu would have come back for me. That alone gave me something to think about as I drifted to sleep.
•••
I woke to Sota shaking me. It was still dark. Ryuu was asleep behind me.
Sota knelt next to me, and kept a finger over his lips to keep me silent before I could ask any questions. “A letter has been delivered on your behalf,” he said.
I wanted to ask more but it was clear we weren’t safe in the room we were in. Mrs. Satsu was right about being careful with who to trust. It wasn’t so much Ryuu as it was anyone else in the house. They could overhear us talking about this and might think we were conspiring against them.
Sota motioned for me to scoot over. He stood with his hands on the knot of his belt and untied it, removing the top kimono layer. He stood bare-chested, in the shadows.
I moved on the bed to give him room, Ryuu moved in his sleep when I pushed him over. He relaxed on his side, his back to me.
Sota slipped into the bed. I couldn’t talk about the letter, but I still wanted to talk to Sota. I wanted him to know that I appreciated him helping me. “How did you become an escort?” I asked. “And why? How do you know so much about what we’ll be doing?”
“I want to answer you honestly, but this is difficult without betraying the emperor.”
I stilled my tongue. Pressing him further would be asking him to break an oath to the emperor, but he’d answered my questions, in a way. Like Mrs. Satsu, he knew a lot. I assumed because he was once inside the Immortal City. He may have been a servant of some sort, like her. That’s how they knew each other. “And do you stay with Mrs. Satsu if I am not selected?”
He resituated the pillows so I had two and he had one. “If you aren’t selected, I won’t be needed anymore here. So I’ll be out in the street, the same as you.”
I tried not to stare at his chest even as he wore just the pants into bed. I couldn’t help but admire the muscles he had. He had eaten healthily, and had some bulk in places that made him attractive. The tan of his skin didn’t stop until his beltline, which surprised me to know he went bare- chested in the sun enough to tan evenly “And you’re risking your opportunity on me?” I asked. “Aren’t you afraid I might not be chosen?”
He stretched in the bed, with those bright blue eyes seeming to glow in the candlelight as he looked at me.
“When Mrs. Satsu left for your village and had me follow her, she didn’t tell me her criteria,” he said. “She just knew what she wanted, and went out looking for it. We got to your village, and she left me to talk with that doctor. Later, she told me to meet with my new student in the house on the hill among the trees, I had no idea what I was in for, but I trusted her.” He paused and then brought his hand to my face.
I stilled, heart beating, waiting for him to tell me he was disappointed at the dirty rat she had chosen.
He tugged a tiny lock of hair away from my eyes, brushing it back with the rest of my hair. “She didn’t tell me about your almond shaped eyes, or your delicate pink lips, or the way you could make someone tremble with a single look. You gave Ryuu one look and touch, and he was negotiating on your behalf all the way here.” He motioned to sleeping Ryuu near us. “He gave up a lot to get here with you, to make sure you arrived safe. Then when you were here, he was on your side negotiating with Mrs. Satsu for you, when he could have just thought of himself. Not a lot of people can earn someone’s loyalty so quickly. That’s something not a lot of people can do without training.”
My heart exploded into tiny fireworks, my breath rapid. “I…” I said, unable to finish. He was flattering me. I didn’t think that was me at all.
“This makes you vulnerable to danger, too,” he said quietly. “Beauty is a powerful asset to have. And it’ll be my job to make sure you get through this. However, if you’ll trust me, there’s no way the emperor would pass you up.”
The thought of danger scared me. There were thousands of people on the way to the city right now, some of them had already registered. Like the people in the bath, there would be more who would do anything to knock down anyone in their path. What would any of them do to ensure their position within the royal court?
“I must need to know other things,” I said. “If I’m going to stand out, I can’t just paint my face and wear a pretty dress. There are lots of beautiful people who will register.”
“You’re pretty brave,” he said. He shifted the blanket, encouraging me to get comfortable. I did and he tucked me in a little before laying on his back on top of the blanket, his head on a pillow, looking up at the ceiling. “You managed to get those ghost oxen under control. You weren’t even shaken up by it.”
“I didn’t think I needed to be,” I said. “I mean during the time I was worried, but the worst I had to do was climb around while it was moving. It wasn’t that dangerous.”
“It was, though. Which shows you’ve got a mind to focus on the moment, assessing a situation quickly and handling it.”
I settled deep into the futon until I was covered up to my neck by the blanket, afraid to look at Sota so I kept my eyes on the ceiling like he did. “I don’t even know what I’m qualified to do. I’m not an advisor. Or a minister. Or a general. This secret position. What does it involve?”
“You wouldn’t have been chosen unless you had the natural gifts needed to fulfill it.”
“Pretty looks?” I asked. I thought about the woman who left earlier in a pretty kimono, and how I was a frog compared, or so I felt. Apricot was going to be an empress one day. A farm girl was no match for her. “Why does it matter? Am I to bed with someone? Is that why I’ll be wanted?”
“Is that what I said?” he asked. “Did I say your prettiness was the only thing you possessed?”
I didn’t want to repeat what he said, mostly because I wasn’t sure I really felt how he did. I fell silent, already drifting back into sleep.
Sota slept close to me, using his own body to keep me warm.
•••
The next morning, I awoke to a terrible clatter of metal against wood. It was dim, the sun had barely risen over the horizon. Even the Taka was still asleep.
Sota stood immediately, and in his half-dressed state, went to the door opened it and leaned out, peering out into the hallway.
Ryuu sat up, rising to his knees between Sota and me. “What’s going—“
Sota motioned to him to keep quiet, and returned to the room, keeping the door open but standing nearby. His fists were clenched, his muscles flexed, looking tense.
Voices were heard. Deep and official sounding. “Witnesses reported overhearing conspiratorial assassination plots. You’re to be taken in for questioning.”
“Who accuses us?” a male voice spoke.
“We received a letter. Get up. You’ll be coming with us. Resist and you’ll be executed without trial.”
I lowered myself to the floor, on my back, stunned to be hearing this.
A letter. It could have been anyone’s. It was far too much of a coincidence.
What were the chances?
Yet I had to believe it was my own doing that created this. Officials had been informed of conspiracy and were sent to handle the situation.
Had I been right to say something? Had it been the right thing to do to send Sota out to handle this? I felt the blood drain from my face.
If they died from this, it would be on my conscience for the rest of my life.
If they learned it was me that had said something, they’d come after me.
Sota quietly closed the door and came to us, whispering. “They are taking them both, the student and escort.”
“Conspiracy?” Ryuu asked. “What’s this?”
“They conspired to eliminate competition. That could have meant you two or someone else, but the point is, this is not permitted by the emperor. They will be presented as an example to everyone that such things will not be tolerated.”
“But do we know that was what they were actually talking about?” I whispered so softly, I wasn’t sure they’d hear me.
Sota nodded, his face calm yet his eyes were serious. “She had been careless and the maids overheard similar talk from them. You should be just as careful. Threatening lives isn’t tolerated in this competition, yet, there’s far worse people might do to you if you get in their way.”
I couldn’t imagine what might be worse.
I had to explain to Ryuu what had happened, and did so as quietly as I could.
When the commotion had settled, I didn’t want to get up. Sota brought us tea and something he called egg cake, which was a sweet bread with an egg baked on top.
I couldn’t eat. Guilt weighed heavily on me about one of the students being eliminated so quickly. I didn’t think I could look Mrs. Satsu in the eye if she came to us and asked what happened. They might have been conspiring to kill, but could it have just been talk? Would they have gone so far?
If so, I was guilty of taking them out of the running.
I never saw Mrs. Satsu that day. While the others took turns in the library, or using the school room to practice dance or talk politics, Sota instead brought me books and paper, ink stone and ink sticks to stack on the table. “We will keep to ourselves for now,” he said.
Perhaps that was for my benefit. Ryuu said I looked as pale as the futon’s sheets.