Yamada Monogatari: The War God's Son

by Richard Parks

  That wasn’t as straightforward a matter as I would have liked. In order to properly catch the scent, Lady Kuzunoha would need to do it in her true fox-demon form without attracting attention, and there was an army camped outside the temple now. Fortunately, decorum—and Lord Yoshiie’s orders—had kept the bulk of the men away from the northwest side of the compound where the nunnery was located. We chose our moment and slipped across the road to the back gate.

  “There are many scents,” Lady Kuzunoha said, her muzzle twitching.

  “You’ll be looking for the most recent.”

  I had been careful not to disturb the tracks Mai had left there, and it took only a few more moments before Lady Kuzunoha had isolated Mai’s spoor. “This way,” she said.

  We crossed the road again, and Lady Kuzunoha led us back into the wooded hills, but in a slightly different direction, further north and west than where we had met.

  “Why did she flee? Do you know?” Lady Kuzunoha asked. I have no idea how she was able to form human words with a fox’s muzzle, but during the time I’d known her, the ability had been apparent.

  “I did say she wasn’t in her right mind.”

  The fox sighed. “So you did, which explains nothing. When the rational mind fails, there is still instinct, even in humans. Instinctive reactions are simple and direct, and so are what triggers them—hunger, pain, lust, but most of all, fear.”

  “Perhaps, but fear of what? The danger was past, so far as she knew.”

  “She is apparently of a different opinion on the matter, would be my guess,” Lady Kuzunoha said. “Ah. This way . . . and you brought your sword. Excellent.”

  “Excellent? Why?”

  “Because we are not the only ones trailing your fleeing maiden. I suggest we hurry if you want her returned alive.”

  We picked up our pace, but there was a limit to how fast we could move through the woods without risking losing the scent. The trail led into a defile not unlike the one on the opposite side of the temple, only this one led us up into the space between two large hills rather than down into a ravine.

  “I hear them,” Lady Kuzunoha said. “Follow me!”

  That proved difficult, as Lady Kuzunoha in her fox-demon form was faster than the fastest courier who ever ran. But I did manage to keep her in sight until she disappeared into the undergrowth about a bowshot ahead of me. I forced my way through the bushes, getting several scratches on my hands and forearms in the process. When I emerged again into the open, I found Lady Kuzunoha standing stock still just a few paces into the clearing. Just ahead of us I saw Mai with her back pressed against the rocks where the defile dead-ended against a sheer rock wall. Apparently she’d been trying to climb it when her pursuers, including us, had caught up to her. To the left was what appeared to be an elegant lady in long robes. To the right was a stubby little creature, outwardly a man, on all fours and completely naked, with no head. It had what looked like its rear end pointed straight at Mai.

  “Why didn’t you—” I began, but then I realized why Lady Kuzunoha had not leaped to the girl’s defense. “Oh.”

  “I would just have frightened her more,” Lady Kuzunoha said as she reassumed her human form. “You take care of this.”

  I sighed and calmly walked between Mai and the two youkai. It was as I expected—the thing with a woman’s form had a face completely blank, as if her eyes, nose, and mouth were covered by skin. The naked torso and legs had a single eye where by rights its arse-hole should have been.

  A noppera-bō and a shirime. I drew my sword, but I didn’t even bother to swing it. “Shoo. Both of you. Now.”

  They didn’t need much goading. Such creatures lived to startle and frighten the unwary, but Mai was already frightened, and their weird appearance was not having much additional effect. The youkai clearly were not getting the reaction they’d expected from me, either, so they emitted chittering laughter as if their tricks had worked anyway and then faded like wraiths into the bushes. I put my tachi back in its scabbard. “It’s all right, Mai-chan. They’re just trickster creatures—a little startling in appearance, but completely harmless. You’re lucky it wasn’t an ogre.”

  Mai just pressed her back tighter against the rock face. Her eyes darted left and right, and apparently she decided on right. I barely managed to catch her arm as she tried to dash away. She tried to bite my hand, and I managed to pin her and then hold her at arm’s length as I looked directly into the terror in her eyes. “You’re safe now. Stop fighting me!”

  I was a little surprised when she did just that. I felt her relax in my arms. “I’m going to let you go now, Mai. Please don’t try to run again.”

  I did so, and she did not run. She sank to her knees for a moment and then bowed forward, but she wasn’t bowing to either me or Lady Kuzunoha, who was merely watching the scene with polite curiosity.

  “In case you’re wondering, Lord Yamada, the girl is still terrified, I can smell it. She’s just given up. Resigned herself to her fate.”

  “Resigned? To what?”

  Lady Kuzunoha looked puzzled. “If I didn’t know better, I would think she has resigned herself to death. Lord Yamada, the poor girl thinks you’re going to kill her!”

  I could hardly believe it, but then Mai reached up and pulled her hair—too long, I finally noticed, for a proper nun’s tonsure—to the side, exposing her slim neck, and I knew that Lady Kuzunoha was right. Mai was waiting to die. Expecting to die.

  “This is very interesting,” Lady Kuzunoha said. “Lord Yamada, what did you do to the poor girl?”

  I glared at the fox-demon. “Other than chase her through the woods so she doesn’t end up as a ogre’s dinner? Nothing, I swear.”

  She smiled then. “Don’t swear to me, Lord Yamada—it’s none of my concern either way. But if the girl has no reason to be afraid of you, I’d suggest finding out why she is, if you can. It might be important to know.”

  I kneeled down. Mai shuddered when I took her shoulders, and I raised her up and forced her to look at me. “Mai-chan, I know you have been through a lot, but you are safe now, I promise. I am not going to hurt you, and I’m not going to let anyone else do so.”

  One thing I realized right away, looking into the girl’s eyes, was something I had not understood until then—Mai was no mere frightened animal, with her mind unhinged and unable to comprehend—I knew she heard me and understood what I was saying to her. What she seemed to be having a problem with was in believing what I told her. “Girl, think. If I wanted you dead, you would be dead now. So why are you still alive?”

  Her mouth moved then, but no words came out. After a moment she just looked at me. I wasn’t sure if what I was seeing then was actual hope, but it was no longer the panic and terror I had seen before. Her mouth moved again, and I could see the struggle on her face, but she still could produce no sound, not even a whimper. She tried once more, and there were tears streaming down her face.

  “I hope we can speak later,” I said, “but for now, it’s all right. You’ll speak when you’re ready, but it’s getting dark. We need to get back to the temple.”

  She shied away then, briefly. “You are under my protection from this moment on, Mai-chan. Nothing there is going to hurt you, I promise.”

  “Be certain you keep your word, Lord Yamada,” Lady Kuzunoha said. “I don’t think you’ll get a second chance with this one.”

  Mai let me lead her out of the woods. Lady Kuzunoha accompanied us to the edge of the trees but no farther. “Remember your promise to me,” she said and then vanished into the shadowed forest.

  I knew the nunnery gate would still be barred, so I took Mai through the main gate. We got several interested looks from the bushi quartered nearby, but no one tried to interfere. I had intended to take Mai back to the nunnery to place her in the care of my sister and the nun Tomoko, but as soon as I started in that direction, she hung back and started to resist me.

  “What is it, Mai? What’s wrong?”

&nbs
p; Again, silence, but now the girl was pressed against my back, holding on to my hitatare as if I were the only thing to cling to and there was some abyss waiting to swallow her below. “Oh. You remember what happened there, don’t you? It’s all right now, the assassins are dead. You’re safe.”

  Mai clearly wasn’t convinced, and the more I tried to take her in toward the nunnery, the more panicked she became. I finally gave up and accepted the inevitable. I moved again, this time toward the lecture hall, and Mai followed me without resistance. I found Kenji resting under a tree. He looked as drained and weary as I felt.

  “Who is your charming shadow?” he asked.

  “Her name is Mai. She is a survivor of the massacre in the nunnery. It would appear her memories of that tragedy are too vivid to allow her to return there, at least for now.”

  “Hello, Mai-chan,” Kenji said. Mai just moved a little closer behind me and Kenji grunted. “A shy one. What do you plan to do about her?”

  I’d been giving the matter some thought as well and could manage just one conclusion. “The only thing I can do, I’m afraid.”

  I saw one of Lord Yoshiie’s messengers nearby and called him over. “As I am otherwise obligated, I need you to deliver a message to Lady Rie in the nunnery. Can you do this for me?”

  “I am at your service, Lord Yamada. What is the message?”

  “Tell my sister that Mai has been found and is safe,” I said, “but for the time being, she must remain under my protection.”

  Kenji raised an eyebrow, but the courier merely bowed and left to deliver my message. “Now then, before you say anything on the matter, this is strictly until Mai-chan has recovered from her trauma. Once she’s feeling better, I expect her to return to the nunnery, or possibly to another such establishment, I suppose, depending upon what the Shibata decide about the further operation of the temple.”

  “I have no direct information,” Kenji said, “but if they do not re-establish Yahiko-ji as it was, perhaps with the addition of a large contingent of sohei, I will be surprised. But the three of us will be in close quarters in the rooms Lord Yoshiie has allocated to us. What shall I say if anyone asks about Mai?”

  “Say she’s my servant. There is a small storeroom off the same corridor, no more uncomfortable than our own arrangements. Mai can sleep there.”

  “You’ve never taken on a servant in your life, Lord Yamada.”

  “And I haven’t now, but I need an excuse to keep the girl close to me until this . . . situation, is resolved.”

  I told Kenji what Lady Kuzunoha had said. “You’re sure you haven’t sensed anything?”

  “Nothing at all,” Kenji said. “It’s possible the spiritual defilement of this place is dulling my senses . . . either that, or I am very tired. We will start the funeral fires soon, and I have some assistance arriving tomorrow, I am informed. If they are priests attached to the Shibata Clan, likely they’ll just take over, so perhaps I can start looking for this wrongness Lady Kuzunoha spoke of. But at the moment I need sleep. Badly.”

  “Let’s find something to eat first. I’m sure Mai is as famished as I am.”

  “No problem there. I received a large gift of rice and two bolts of silk from Lord Yoshiie today.”

  I was not surprised. Lord Yoshiie was not one to overlook a detail. Neither, I hoped, was I. “By the way, on the subject of Mai-chan, Master Kenji . . . ”

  He just grinned. “I know what you’re going to say, Lord Yamada. Do not worry—Mai-chan is safe with me. Or safe from me, however you choose to look at it.”

  I smiled then. “I’m glad we understand one another.”

  “How could it be otherwise?” Kenji asked. “We know each other too well.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  The nun Tomoko appeared by the screen which led to our quarters the next morning. She was holding a small bundle tied up in a square piece of blue cloth. “I’ve brought some things for Mai-chan,” she said. “Would . . . would it be possible to see her?”

  I saw no reason to object, but considering Mai’s reaction to returning to the nunnery, I wondered if her reluctance might extend to anyone who had shared the ordeal with her. As we opened the sliding door, I soon learned this was not the case.

  Mai awoke, but rather than shying away, she seemed genuinely happy to see the old woman. Even so, Tomoko-ana had no more luck drawing speech from the girl than I did. The old woman kept her visit short, but just before Tomoko-ana left, she took me aside.

  “Perhaps Mai would like to send Lady Rie a written message?” I asked. “I can find some ink and paper.” I had planned to do so anyway, on the assumption Mai would perhaps be able to answer some questions if she could write her answers rather than trying to find her voice.

  Tomoko-ana smiled her gap-toothed smile. “I’m afraid Mai’s parents were illiterate, and she never learned to read or write. We had planned to teach her, but she hadn’t been with us for very long. I understand from Lady Rie that Mai must remain here for now, but perhaps your sister can visit Mai-chan later, when her duties permit. While—praise to Buddha—the new priests the Shibata sent are beginning to arrive, there is still much for us to do.”

  “I’m sure Mai would like to see her whenever it is convenient. Until then, rest assured that I will be watching over her.”

  The old woman smiled again. “Just so you know, Lady Rie said if it had been any other man on earth, she’d have gotten Mai away from him if she’d had to beat him to death with a club. As it is, she may want to have a serious talk with you.”

  “I have no doubt of it. While I welcome her conversation, please assure my sister violence will not be necessary. I will gladly return Mai-chan to your care as soon as she is ready and willing to go.”

  “I must admit the change of residence seems to agree with her,” Tomoko-ana said. “She seems much calmer. Perhaps you were right in that her memories of the attack on the nunnery are too vivid. Maybe it is for the best she is here with you for now.”

  The old woman took her leave then. Kenji left as well, only to return shortly carrying our breakfast of rice and broiled fish. “Usually an army knows no better arrangement than to strip the surrounding countryside bare, but this is undoubtedly not an option here. The Shibata and, as I understand it, the governor of Echigo are both funneling supplies through the town of Yahiko, and Lord Yoshiie had the temple’s own kitchens pressed into service, in addition to dispersing cooking stations within the camps. I’m rather impressed by his level of organization.”

  “Lord Yoshiie knows what he is about, so far as armies are concerned. I’m surprised the Abe have lasted this long, even with magical assistance.”

  I was going to fetch Mai then, but there was no need. I heard the door to her room slide open and she emerged, apparently drawn by the heady scent of food. While it was not customary for noble-born men and women to eat together under most circumstances, the folk of the countryside observed no such niceties, and I had lost enough of my pretensions—Rie would perhaps say “culture” instead—over the years not to care about such things. The three of us ate together in silence, and I noted that, whatever else might have been amiss with Mai, her appetite was very healthy indeed. I took this as an encouraging sign.

  We had just finished our meal when a courier arrived from Lord Yoshiie, and I was summoned to the main hall of the temple. I was more than a little concerned about leaving Mai in Kenji’s care, not because I believed he might go back on his word, but because of Mai’s reaction. But when I simply told her I had to leave for a while and she was to remain with Kenji until I returned, she took the news very calmly and merely bowed to me when I finished my instruction.

  “Your best behavior, Kenji-san,” I said.

  “Whatever it is you think I might do, taking advantage of the helpless is not among them,” he said stiffly.

  “I know. I just felt the necessity of needling you a bit.”

  I left them and went to the main temple building, where I found Yoshiie and the Shibata
Clan chief pouring over a map spread across the hall floor. So intent were they upon the map it was a few moments before they noticed my presence.

  “Lord Yamada, I am concerned about Abe no Yasuna. He has not been seen since last evening. Did you speak to him, by any chance?”

  “No, my lord, although in truth I had planned to before . . . before I was needed elsewhere. I did see him in the compound just before dusk, however.”

  “As did several people, but not since. I would like for you to search for him, if you would indulge me. I would send scouts, but as you can imagine, they are all rather occupied currently. If you cannot find him, I need to know this as well.”

  “Certainly, my lord,” I said, and quickly withdrew.

  I knew the possibility of another sneak attack, this time probably from Abe bushi striking across the border, had to be on Lord Yoshiie’s mind, so his scouts would be occupied indeed. The possibility Lord Yasuna might seek to slip away and return to the capital was one which had never occurred to me. The man had given his word, and I knew him to be the sort of man who did not break his oath, once given. Besides, if he did return without permission, there would be consequences, even for someone as highly placed and influential as Lord Yasuna. There would be much more severe consequences to the Emperor’s mission and Lord Yoshiie personally if anything had happened to him.

  If he has come to grief, I shudder to think what Lady Kuzunoha will do.

  She had been very plain about her intentions, and I knew her to be one who kept her word, as well. The situation could be far worse than I had imagined. I wondered if the best I could hope for would be Lady Kuzunoha had appeared to him and persuaded him to flee, but there were two strong arguments against such optimism. The first was she had told me she did not intend to enter the temple compound again, and I believed her. The second was she would not show herself to her former husband unless the situation was dire indeed. If Lady Kuzunoha had been a human woman instead of a fox-demon, I had no doubt she and Lord Yasuna would have gladly grown old together. This became impossible once it was clear to Lady Kuzunoha she would not be able to live as a human without the chance of her true nature being discovered, thus bringing shame on her husband’s clan. I had been of some assistance to both Lady Kuzunoha and Lord Yasuna during that difficult period, and no one understood their sad situation better than I. A meeting would do nothing but tear open old wounds.