"Why do you look away from me, when before you only saw me?"
Words just spilled out of her mouth as if she was reading from a script. "Because if I look at you my heart will break, knowing I cannot have you."
"I'm here now, just look at me." He grabbed her chin between his thumb and forefinger. "Choose me."
She looked into his eyes, but something wasn't right, this wasn't her, it wasn't how she acted. And his eyes were empty somehow, they lacked an element she could not place. Suddenly, the door at the far end of the room slammed open. They broke apart, rushing to put distance between them, but the damage was done. A red-faced Daiki glared at them, heaving for breath as if he'd run there. He looked between them, accusation in his eyes. Though they tried to hide it, Daiki knew the truth. Everything will be ruined. She waited for him to shout, to call her a whore like her mother.
Daiki took a deep breath, and the color in his cheeks returned to normal. But when he spoke, he enunciated each word slowly as if it took great effort to control his temper. "My lady, I was looking for you. I thought we could walk through the garden together."
A blush bright enough to burn spread across her face and down to her arms. "That sounds lovely."
She dared not look at Akito, and each step she took, she felt his eyes on her back, watching and waiting. She joined Daiki and he put his arm around her. Forgetting the burning in her heart and chest, she focused on the man she was to marry. But she could not help but wonder, was this what love felt like, this nearly painful constriction in her chest? She felt as if she had been set on fire from the inside, as if her entire body fought against an unknown force. What else can this revolution inside me be but love?
***
The men closed around him in a circle. Their masks obscured their faces, and as his vision blurred, he saw Yokai he had known, creatures he had ruled for centuries before Kazue had trapped him inside that tiny prison. There were too many regrets to name them all, but the one that floated at the top of his mind was seeking revenge. No matter how he tried to cover it up, Kazue had his heart and always would. Her betrayal cut him deep, but even now, as he prepared to die, he wished he could hold her once more, forgive her for what she had done. He had never imagined he would die at the hand of humans, but life had a strange way of taking turns he never expected. Kazue had taught him that.
As he looked up, waiting for the final blow, he thought he saw her face. Furrowed with concern, those perfect bow lips and the sweep of her brows. Dark hair framing her pale face.
"Kazue," he whispered.
He closed his eyes and braced for the killing blow. Seconds ticked by like hours. What are they waiting for? Let me die so I might be reborn a more fortunate soul. But the strike never came. Silence greeted his ears. He could not even hear the creak of armor or the clink of weapons. He opened his eyes and found he was alone, the gray sky overhead and trees rustling in the wind. What's going on?
He rolled over; every part of his body ached. The wounds inflicted by the priest did not sting as badly as before. He ran a hand over the chest wound. It had stopped bleeding and closed up. He sat up, his head pounding, and his limbs felt weak, but he was not dead. Where are the soldiers? Am I dead?
"Morning, sleepyhead," said a familiar voice.
Back rigid, he glanced over his shoulder. I am dead. Kazue wore the same kimono she had been wearing the day they met, pink with red cherry blossoms, and a red pin pulled back her tresses and exposed her ear.
"This is a dream?" he said.
She laughed and pushed her hair behind her opposite ear. "Oh, me? Yes, I'm not real. I just thought you would appreciate this form." She ran a hand along her front with a smirk, that same disjointed evil smile the farmer had.
"You're the farmer!"
"Well, I am many things," she said.
He clenched his hands into fists. He had fallen for the same trap again. Had he the energy, he would have done more than just grit his teeth. But as it was, he felt weak as a newborn. "Who are you really?"
She laughed. "Ah, such a complicated question without a real answer. I think I'll wait a bit longer before telling you."
"Did you save me from those humans?"
She looked away, pretending to be embarrassed. "Yes."
It was all a cruel farce. Wearing Kazue's kimono, the shifter mimicked her seamlessly. For a moment, he almost believed she was here in front of him. But stepping back from the brink of death, the anger and hatred refilled the cracks where her love tried to push through. She betrayed you. She chose power over you. Kazue never loved you, don't forget that.
"Why save me? I thought you were trying to kill me."
She shook her head. "I have no sway over the humans. They do as they please these days." She held up her hands in a helpless gesture. "I need you to protect the priestess. I warned you not to leave her alone."
He wanted to reach across and choke her. This was all the shifter's plot, to taunt and tease. She had drawn him out in the first place and let the humans take her.
"There's no reason to get yourself killed over her. She's not Kazue," the shifter said.
"Of course she's not Kazue, she's her reincarnation. I do know the difference."
He shook his head and waggled his finger at Kaito. "Tsk-tsk. So easily deceived. She's not her reincarnation."
"Then how did she unleash me?"
She chuckled and flicked her hair behind her shoulder. "What would be fun about telling you? I want you to find out on your own." She stood up and dusted off her kimono. "She's not with the humans anymore, but not safe, not yet. Better go quick."
Before Kaito could ask anything else, she opened another portal and stood on the threshold, unnatural light highlighting her features. She had an uncanny resemblance to Kazue. The slight tilt of her lips and the shape of her hands as she waved goodbye, every movement an exact copy of her. This shifter was nothing like the Aryūru who had tried to devour him. This one was much more powerful, or was it a he? You could never tell with their type. The shifter stepped through the portal, leaving him to contemplate their words. If Suzume is not Kazue, could the shifter be her?
Chapter Twenty
Hands and feet bound in stringy white webbing, her mouth hanging open and a bit of spittle dribbling down her chin, the priestess looked harmless. How can one human bring this much trouble? Kaito wondered. The shifter claimed Suzume was not Kazue. Then why should he continue wasting his time here. He could travel faster on his own and draw fewer Yokai to him. He didn't have time to babysit an untrained priestess. Her untamed, raw spiritual energy drew Yokai to her like flies and she seemed to have a knack for trying to get killed.
Footsteps echoed from down the cave. He crept back into the shadows, taking care to mask his spiritual energy, making him invisible. A giant spider scuttled out from down a web-lined corridor. She loomed over Suzume and tutted over her body, fidgeting with the priestess. She undid her hand and foot bindings and then bound her arms and legs to her sides with long spindly legs and then encased her in webbing.
"She is powerful," she crooned to herself. Pulling a long thread of web from her abdomen, she patched charred holes in the webbing. The priestess' power sparked against the webs, burning them almost as fast as the spider put them on. "She's getting weaker, and now the cocoon should hold. But I must be more diligent, she continues to fight my spell. Oh, what a meal she will make when she succumbs."
The giant spider had her back to him, but he recognized her method. He had seen this type of Yokai before, a spider whose venom could induce hallucinations. Perhaps this was his chance to get some answers. It was also rumored they had the ability to put their victims under a truth spell as well. Kaito had no reason to trust the shifter's words; in fact, he had every reason not to. He needed confirmation.
He moved out of the shadows, startling the spider, who skittered backwards with a hiss. The spider dropped Suzume in her hurry to get away from Kaito. The priestess fell to the ground with a thunk. Her head lolled
to the side and a slight frown creased her brow, but otherwise she did not stir.
"What are you doing in my domain?" she screeched as she clacked her mandibles at him.
"I go where I please. Do you know who I am?" He uncapped his spiritual energy and let it flow over the spider, and he saw recognition dawn in her numerous black eyes.
She dipped a hasty bow, bending her forward legs and lowering her head. She did not take her greedy black eyes off him for a moment. He could see her desire for his spiritual energy. "My lord, then the rumors are true, you have awoken."
"Yes, and you have in your web the priestess who freed me."
Her mandibles clicked together in excitement. He could practically see her salivate. She probably thought she had them both cornered and could make a meal of them. Though his power was diminished, he felt confident he could overcome her, if it came down to it.
"Pardon me, I found her traveling with a human. I did not know she had done our lord such a service." She made no move to free the priestess, not that he expected her to. She inched closer, venom dripping from her fangs. For a creature that lived off draining others, the priestess was a great prize, but a dragon would be an even greater one. His spiritual energy alone would feed her for centuries.
"Don't worry, I have no intention of taking back the priestess. I just have a question for you."
She stopped her slow crawl towards him and stood up a little straighter. "For me?"
"They say you cause hallucinations, but also you draw the truth out of someone, is that true?"
She rubbed her front legs together. "Yes, it is possible my venom could do such a thing."
She looked to the priestess and then to Kaito. With his back to the wall, he was at a disadvantage. He could not transform, he was still too weak, and the spider knew he had been sealed for a long time. He redirected his energy, creating an invisible barrier around himself, in case the spider got any ideas.
"Do not think about making a meal out of me, or it will be your last." He pressed upon her with his energy, encasing her, cutting off her air. She squirmed uncomfortably, overwhelmed by the weight of his power.
Panting, she said, "I can try to have her tell you what you want to know. But she has been under my spell for quite some time and it may not make sense."
He released her from his crushing grip and the spider inched over to the priestess, with another backwards glance in his direction. He stayed back, arms crossed over his chest. He playacted an impatient ruler, but it was to hide his shaking hands and the beating of his heart. Just that brief display had taken it out of him. I need to find a large body of water soon before I am completely depleted.
The spider suspended the priestess in her web, across the archway of the cave. Her neck and face were exposed and she bit the priestess in the neck. The priestess moaned in response. At first nothing happened until she started to shift restlessly. She rolled her head up and then her head popped up and she looked at Kaito with blank unseeing eyes.
"She will answer any question you have, without reservation. But you don't have long before the other spell takes hold again."
He nodded his understanding, and when the spider moved out of the way, he went to stand in front of the priestess. He stared at her face at his leisure as he had never done before. He searched it, trying to find a hint of Kazue, but there was not even an echo of the woman he loved. Perhaps it was as the shifter said and Suzume was not Kazue. But he had never met a reincarnation of a human he had known before; he had never been close to humans. Maybe they did not look the same, or was he hoping too much for another chance to see Kazue?
He kept track of the spider with his spiritual power, he still did not trust her. She hung back unobtrusively, but he felt her want radiating off of her.
He focused on the priestess. "Where are you right now?" he asked.
She groaned and mumbled under her breath.
"Answer me, where are you right now?"
"I'm with Daiki's mother, planning the wedding ceremony," she said.
Daiki? "Who is that?"
"My betrothed, but I do not love him, I love another man."
Kaito's gaze flickered towards the spider, who leaned in close, eating up every word. If this priestess confessed her feelings, it would ruin the few scraps of reputation he had left. He could not show weakness by caring for a human again. Never again.
"You know that isn't real, you're under a spider's spell," he said.
She furrowed her brow and her unfocused eyes looked all around. "It is real. I can feel the wind and hear the birds singing."
"My spell is powerful. The more she believes it is reality, the more tactile it becomes. She can even feel pain in the dream world I have created for her," the spider explained.
"Where is she in the dream?"
"Only she knows, but for most people it pulls from their memories."
As much as he did not want to expose the scars of his past, he was curious what the priestess was dreaming about. Something about this hallucination reminded him of Kazue.
"Why would you marry a man you do not love?" he asked.
"Because it is what my father wants," she said. But it was not her voice, but Kazue's voice speaking through her. She said that to me long ago, when she was betrothed to that lord. He shook himself. It could not be Kazue; she is dead. I am imagining things.
"These memories, are they always from a current life?" he asked the spider.
She clacked her mandibles in macabre laughter. "Sometimes if there is business left undone in a past life, they may have visions of the past."
The priestess mumbled, oblivious to the spider and him. "He came back for me, and he wants to run away together."
She may as well wave a flag declaring herself Kazue's reincarnation. This was their story, how he and Kazue met. How he stole her away from another man. Kaito leaned in close, hoping to keep the spider from hearing. "Who is it that is coming back for you?"
"Akito."
Akito... his stomach sank. A part of him hoped he would be in her delusions, if only to prove she was indeed Kazue. It must be a coincidence, then. He had been secretly hoping and he had twisted her answers to fit his own desire. Do not be fooled. She would betray you just as Kazue did. Humans cannot be trusted. They fear what they cannot control.
"Ask her the real question," the spider suggested.
He glowered at her for a moment before turning back to the priestess.
"Who are you?"
She scrunched up her face. "I'm Suzume, daughter of the emperor, and..." She fidgeted as if fighting her bonds.
"And?" the spider prompted.
"In the past I was Fujikawa Kazue, but the Dragon cannot know." Her eyes closed and he knew he would get no more answers from her.
"Well, Dragon, you got the answer you were looking for. What will you do now?" The spider had crept closer all the while he talked to the priestess.
He stared at the unconscious priestess, his thoughts spiraling out of control. It was one thing to suspect she was Kazue reborn and another to have her there in front of him. He balled his hands into fists, unsure of what to do next. He had dreamed of his revenge, but now that it was within his grasp, he was having second thoughts.
"How does your spell work? What happens?" he asked the spider.
"She is tangled up in my song. She will reach a conclusion in the story, whatever it may be, rekindling an old love, marriage, who knows. But once she makes that final decision, one which she cannot turn back from, she will be mine." The spider laughed.
Kaito looked down at her sleeping face. He felt nothing but distant hate for the woman. She had freed him, but she had also sealed him. When he first woke up, he had wanted to inflict the slowest torture possible. Seeing her like this, he wanted to walk away and never look back. The spider closed in for attack; he could feel her energy colliding with his. She had seen through his bluff, and she knew he was weak. But even weakened, she could drain him of what energy he had left and h
ave plenty to last her a hundred years or more.
"You know you cannot escape," she breathed, mandibles clacking in his ear.
He smirked.
"Ah, but I may have one more trick up my sleeve." He spun in place and, catching her unaware, kicked her hard on her soft underbelly. She screeched and flipped over. He may not be in full capacity, but he still knew how to fight. Overturned, her numerous legs thrashed about as she tried to right herself. He ran past her and out of her reach.
"You tricked me," she shouted as she struggled to her feet.
He laughed as he ran out of the cave. "Take care of that priestess for me." He waved as he ran down the maze of web-lined corridors.
Is this the revenge I wanted, really? But it was a passing thought. If he couldn't get the revenge he wanted originally, at least he would be free of a pesky priestess.
***
"Are you listening to me?"
Suzume snapped back to attention. While the old woman had droned on, she had been miles away. Thinking about what, she could not recall. It was as if she had been in a different world entirely.
"I'm listening," Suzume replied.
The old woman scoffed. But she made no further comment on Suzume's lack of focus. "I was going to tell you we received news from the palace, but perhaps you have more important things on your mind than your marriage to my son. I begin to wonder if you want to marry him at all."
The truth was there for Suzume to pluck from the air. To come clean and leave this farce behind, but she was a coward who could not reach for her own happiness. "You have to tell me, please." She forced a desperation in her tone that fell flat on her own ears.
The old woman sniffed. "Well, I don't have to do anything I do not want."
Suzume rolled her eyes, and the old woman, seeing, smacked the back of her head. "Do not roll your eyes at me like a petulant child."
The Priestess and the Dragon_Book 1 in the Dragon Saga Page 14