“It seems that our good Lord Nakaguchi, has spent most of the taxes he collected on his new castle,” Father continues. “He has demanded that we pay more.”
“More?” I ask, nearly dropping my bowl of rice to the table. “How can we possibly pay more? We have nothing left to give him.”
“That is true. Even after I receive my wages for working on the castle, we will still owe him. I will essentially be working for free.”
It does not escape my notice that the daimyo is paying my father’s wages with the taxes he first collected from us. I sigh. The weight of our situation is too heavy for me to bear. “What will we do, Otousan?”
Father’s face is full of pain. I see he has more words, but he doesn’t want to share them. “What is it, Father?” I ask. “You can tell me.”
Father takes a deep breath, then confesses. “The daimyo made sure to let me know our family would not be subject to the increased taxes.”
I feel a sudden relief, but it is immediately followed by great fear. My father’s face and stance has not relaxed. He has more to say. “Why would Lord Nakaguchi tell you that?”
“He has offered us a bargain,” Father explains. “Our family will not be subject to the new taxes, as long as you agree to enter into courtship with him.”
The daimyo means to marry me. The words swirl around in my head as Father and I finish our dinner silently. I know he does not wish for me to marry Lord Nakaguchi, but there does not seem to be any other alternative. We cannot pay the daimyo’s exorbitant taxes. What little we do have will be needed to help take care of Mother. I have no choice.
Night has fallen completely when I find myself seeking the counsel of Grandfather Koi. I sit next to the river and toss a rice ball into the water. The giant koi rises from the depths and takes it into his mouth before coming to the surface.
“Good evening, Grandfather Koi,” I say.
“Good evening, Ai-chan.”
It does not take much coaxing for Grandfather Koi to get me to talk about what is troubling me. I need his counsel. I have no idea what to do.
I tell him about my initial idea to run away to the city and how foolish that seems now that everything has changed. With mother’s illness and the daimyo’s demand for more taxes or else my hand in courtship, I am trapped. Even if my mother were well, I could not leave them to scrape together the daimyo’s fees on their own.
“Lord Nakaguchi has forced me into a corner and is holding my parents’ wellbeing captive. There is no escape from the future he has in mind for me.”
“Perhaps there is something I can do to help, Ai-chan,” the great fish says.
I nearly laugh aloud, but catch myself at the last minute. I do not wish to belittle Grandfather Koi, but I cannot see what a giant, talking fish can do to help my predicament, even one as old and wise as he. I force away my smile, and ask him seriously, “How, Grandfather Koi? How can you help me?”
“I have something valuable I can give you,” he replies, “but I will need your help to pry it loose. You will need something sharp.”
“I can go back to the house and see what I can find,” I say, thinking of a pair of scissors that is sitting in Mother’s sewing basket.
“No need,” Grandfather Koi says. “I have just the thing.” Without another word, he dives deep down into the water of the river. I sit on the bank and try to peer in, but the water is inky black and opaque. I see nothing but my distorted reflection shimmering in the moonlit surface of the water. I wait several minutes until the water breaks and Grandfather Koi leaps out from river and onto the bank. I yell in surprise and fall back on the grass, shielding myself from the deluge of river water that spills over me.
Grandfather Koi has something in his mouth. It gleams in the moonlight. He drops it from his panting lips and onto the ground. The object shines in the moonlight. Grandfather Koi shimmies his body back into the water, but I only notice his movement from the corner of my eye. My attention is focused solely on the object he has dropped on the ground just at my feet.
I can’t believe what my eyes are seeing. It can’t be real. I know it can’t be real.
“You can use this,” Grandfather Koi says.
“How did you get this, Grandfather?”
“I consider it mine,” he says. “It has been in the river for as long as I can remember.”
I ponder his words carefully. It is old. Just as old as Grandfather Koi, if not older. And it is real. Undeniably real. I bend down to touch the object and pick it up, marveling at the feel of it in my hands.
I have seen this before, many times. But, never in my waking life. Always, in my dreams.
“I know who this belongs to,” I tell Grandfather Koi.
“Who?” he asks. “How could you know?”
“Because I have seen it nearly every day of my life,” I answer. I turn the object over in my hand, amazed at its heaviness and realness.
In my hands is Kaito’s sword.
Chapter 4
How can this be? I turn the sword over and over, not believing that it is truly here. What does this mean? The words run through my mind, but I already know the answer. It means that Kaito is real. Was real.
A shiver runs down my spine. If Kaito is truly real, but is no longer alive, then what is he, exactly? A ghost? Pieces of the puzzle fall into place. His old-fashioned clothes. The way he has never aged, though I have known him my entire life. His words from my dream ring in my ears. “I am bound to this place.”
I can’t believe I never considered the possibility before. But then, I never had reason to. I have always lived with the belief that Kaito is only a part of my imagination.
And now…
“Ai-chan, are you quite all right?”
Grandfather Koi’s question pulls me out of my reverie. “Yes,” I answer. “I was just thinking. Forgive me.” I hold the blade out in front of me. It is lighter than it looks. “What shall I do with this?”
“Kneel down here,” he says, and I obey, sitting on my knees next to the river’s edge. “I have something I wish to give you, but this gift is not easy for me to give. I will need your assistance.”
“Of course, Grandfather,” I say, wondering what exactly he will need help with.
“I need you to cut off two of my scales.”
“What?” I’m not sure I heard him correctly.
“My scales are enchanted, Ai-chan, as is the rest of me. I’m sure you’ve guessed by now that I am no ordinary, golden koi.”
“Of course, Grandfather. I know you are far from ordinary, and I am not surprised to hear that you are enchanted, but I don’t understand why you are asking me to cut off your beautiful scales.”
“Please trust me, my dear. You will not hurt me. And the magic that envelops me will also provide help for you. I will swim close to you. Take the sword and use it to cut two of my scales off. You will understand soon.”
I stay still. I am afraid I will harm my friend. I do not want to do anything that will bring him pain. I have no doubt that cutting off his scales will be very painful, though I know if I ask him about it, he will downplay the seriousness of it. I don’t understand why Grandfather Koi is asking me to do this, but then again, I don’t understand how the sword came to be in the river in the first place, what is Kaito’s true story, or why the daimyo is singularly interested in me, either. So many things I don’t understand.
But then, trusting in someone doesn’t have to be dependent upon understanding them. I decide to trust Grandfather Koi. He must have a plan. I just don’t understand it yet.
His body swims close to the edge of the river. When I lift the sword up and hold it over the water, he alters his position so that the side of his body floats upward and out of the water. He fills himself up with a breath of air and the scales begin to part and feather out from one another.
I take the sword, hoping it is still sharp after so many years of disuse, and lay the blade against the side of the great fish. Careful not to cut the frag
ile, white skin that lies behind the scales, I slice quickly.
I am certain that I was extremely careful and yet, when I pull my hand and the sword away, there is blood pooling on his skin. In my surprise, the sword slips out of my hand and back into the water. Grandfather Koi’s body glides under the surface and the blood dissipates into the river. He surfaces again, but before I can ask him about the injury, he says, “Look, Ai-chai.”
His head nods at my hand, to my fingers clutched tightly around the scales he has given me. I loosen my grip. The scales are no longer there; they are gone. Instead, lying in my palm are two, beautiful gold coins, each embossed with the image of a rose. Thin ridges covering the delicate surface faintly resemble the texture of scales and are the only clue that the coins are related to the fish at all. They are beautiful, enchanting.
I look at Grandfather Koi, too amazed to speak.
“They are for you, Ai-chan. I want you to use them. Perhaps they can help to save you and your family from Lord Nakaguchi. They should at least be worth enough to pay the daimyo’s taxes.”
Grandfather Koi does not say goodbye, but slips down into the river. I stroke the gold in my hands. The coins are worth more than anything I have ever owned before. They will surely be enough to settle my family’s debt with the daimyo. Then, why do I feel like crying?
A small pool of blood flashes through my memory. Grandfather Koi lied to me when he said it would not hurt. These coins came at great cost, and though I know he did not wish to worry me, the truth of their full cost was there in a pool of red that disappeared into the river. He must love me very much.
The feeling is mutual. I have never been given a gift so precious and costly before.
“Thank you, Grandfather Koi,” I whisper to the silent river before I leave.
Mother is still sleeping when I enter the house. A new fear steals into my heart that she may never wake again. What will we do then? Father is sleeping next to her, holding her tightly. I wonder if he shares the same fear.
I take the two gold coins into my room, and wrap them carefully in a soft sheet of washi. The paper is so thin that it is nearly translucent. I slip the wrapped coins into the folds of my kimono, next to my heart, before I lay down to sleep.
Kaito is sitting in our spot, his back resting against the giant maple tree. The maple tree’s leaves have turned to brilliant shades of red, orange, and yellow-gold. I have never realized before that in my dreams, our maple tree has always been green, full and verdant. Even in the midst of winter, this place of my dreams is always full of life.
I stare at the leaves. Their change unnerves me. Some of them litter the ground. I bend to pick one up. It is the same mottled red and gold of the others, but in my hand it shimmers for an instant, reminding me of something for a brief moment, but then it is gone. I look at Kaito, and see him staring at me with that same beautiful, sad smile that I have seen on his face a thousand times. It is the look he sometimes gets when I tell him I want no one other than him, that I can be happy living with him in our dream world, even though we will never meet in the waking world.
I walk over to where he is and sit down next to him. He pulls me to his chest and I lean against him. He feels so sturdy, so real. I know this is just a dream, but everything about this place, about Kaito, is just as substantial as the world I live in during the day. I thought he was a ghost. But, how can a ghost have a heartbeat? I can hear it now, with my head pressed against his chest. No, Kaito is as real as I am. I don’t know how this is, but it has to be true.
I hold the dying maple leaf up for him to see. “I never realized until now that it has always been summer here. Though the seasons change when I’m awake, this place has never changed.”
“Until now,” Kaito says.
“Until now,” I repeat.
His voice sounds so melancholy, I have to turn to look him in the eye. They glisten with unshed tears.
“Kaito, what is wrong?”
“Nothing of importance, my little mountain girl. I am just afraid that I may not have much time left to be with you.”
“Why do you say that?” Kaito has never spoken like this before. “Why should we have such little time left together? What is happening, Kaito?” I have never before considered that we have anything other than forever to share with each other.
Kaito doesn’t answer me. Instead, a lone tear escapes from the corner of one eye and glides down his cheek.
“Kaito,” I say, putting my hands up to cup his face, “who are you?”
“I am yours. For as long as I have.”
I can still see the leaf in my hand when I wake in the morning, and for a moment I think it is truly there. I blink. It is gone. I check inside my robe to see if the coins that Grandfather Koi gave me last evening are only a figment of my overactive imagination as well. The washi crinkles in my hand, evidence that they are truly real. I pull them out and stare at them in the barely visible morning light. Even in the darkness, they shine.
Okaasan has woken, though she is confused and half of her body still does not work correctly. I help her sit in the kitchen and find a task that she can do without becoming frustrated. The first time she suffered from a stroke, we weren’t sure she would ever regain her functions again. She was so frustrated that her body that would not obey her wishes and move the way she wanted. The doctor in the village gave her some simple exercises to increase her strength and coordination. I pull those items out for her now and am glad to see that she is able to do most of the tasks without assistance. Perhaps she will get better more quickly this time.
I prepare Father’s meal and wonder if I should make one for the daimyo as well. I cannot leave my mother in her condition, so I will not be making the trek up the mountainside to the castle today. Surely, Lord Nakaguchi will understand. But, then again, will he? I doubt that compassion is among his strongest traits. I decide to prepare a lunch for him, even though I cannot bring it myself. Perhaps this will be enough to appease him today.
Father takes the bundle of obento boxes and looks at them for a moment. He says nothing, but I know he understands my thinking.
It is not until Father has long since left that I remember the gold coins still hiding in my kimono. I will need to deliver them to the daimyo. Soon. I’m not sure why I didn’t just give them to Father to take the daimyo. Explaining exactly how I came to have them would be difficult. Though Grandfather Koi did not expressly say I should not reveal his gift, this is our special secret. His and mine. I am not ready to share him with the world just yet.
I have just helped my mother back into bed for a rest after lunch when I hear a knock at the door. It is so rare for anyone to visit us here on the mountain, the noise makes me jump. Father shouldn’t be home yet, and if it were him, there would be no need for him to knock. Perhaps somehow word of Mother’s condition has gotten out to a neighbor in the village. Likely, it is an obasan of the village, come to call on her. Mother will be so disappointed to miss a visit from a friend.
The house is so dark inside that the sun blinds me for a moment when I open the door. I blink and my eyes adjust quickly. Standing at my doorstep is the daimyo, Lord Nakaguchi, holding the obento lunch I prepared for him this morning in his hands.
Chapter 5
“My lord!”
“Konnichiwa, Ai-chan.”
I do a quick survey of the yard and see two guards standing sentry next to a rickshaw and its drivers. Relief washes over me that I am not here with the daimyo alone. The relief is quick-lived as I remember that he did not curb his behavior the first time we met, and that was in front of many people, including my father. Having a few guards will not guarantee me safety from the daimyo’s lack of propriety. I need to tread carefully.
“How may I help you, Lord Nakaguchi?” I ask.
“Actually, it is I who would like to help you.” He pauses for a moment. “I was saddened and surprised to hear that you would not be able to join me at the castle today. Your father expressed your deep regre
t at having to stay home to take care of your mother. He said she is very ill.”
I nod. “I believe she has suffered from a stroke. My father and I are all she has to take care of her. I cannot leave her.”
“Of course. I completely understand. I sent for the village doctor to come help take care of your mother. They should be arriving sometime later today. Shall we sit next to the river together and talk a bit? Perhaps under that maple tree?”
I nod and walk beside him to the edge of the river. He sits down on the grassy bank and motions for me to join him. I’ve sat on this bank a thousand times or more talking with Grandfather Koi, and a thousand times more in my dreams next to Kaito. I never could have imagined this moment of sitting here next to Lord Nakaguchi. He doesn’t belong here in this space, and I am afraid that his presence will spoil the beauty of this spot, like a disease festering long after he is gone.
Several smaller koi swim around in the calm water of the lazy river and for a moment, I see the long, lithe body of Grandfather Koi break the surface of the river. Lord Nakaguchi notices as well, his eyes open wide and he sits forward to look more deeply into the water of the river, but Grandfather Koi has disappeared deep into the water’s depths.
“I appreciate you coming to see me today,” I say. Seeing the daimyo so focused on Grandfather Koi makes me nervous. I do not want the daimyo to have anything to do with my old friend.
The daimyo’s face softens and he takes my hand. “It is good to see that your love runs deep for your family. But, I worry for you. Your mother and father are very old. What will happen to you when they finally pass away?”
Ai of the Mountain (A Fairy Retelling #2) Page 4