Traitor's Hope

by Virginia McClain

  ~~~

  When she received no response from within the twins’ room, after knocking gently on the sliding door, she started to turn away, assuming that the children were still sleeping after so much food and merriment the night before, but, as she turned to go, she noticed a small piece of parchment sticking out beneath the door. Curious, she bent down and pulled it out.

  Her jaw slackened as she read the carefully scrawled note, written in the basic characters of a child.

  Thank you for your help, and all of the food. See you again.

  At the bottom were the characters for earth and water.

  She had no time to take pride in the children’s ability to write their own names—she was too busy pushing open the door, seeing their tidy futons lying on the floor, unslept in, and feeling the rising panic as she realized what the note and empty room must mean.

  It was only when she heard a wail farther down the hallway, from the area where Tsuku-san and Yasuhiko-san slept, that she began to wonder if Kusuko’s empty room might be in some way related to the missing children.

  ~~~

  When Taka arrived at the rooms that Tsuku and Yasuhiko made use of whenever they stayed in Rōjū City, she found the sliding door already open, and Tsuku and Yasuhiko standing in the doorway fully dressed. Tsuku-san held an unrolled scroll of parchment, and looked pale and angry.

  “Are Mizu and Tsuchi in their rooms?” she asked, as soon as Taka arrived.

  Taka shook her head.

  “I was just there. The room is empty, and they left a note.”

  She passed the note, scrawled in Tsuchi’s hand, to Tsuku-san.

  “Why force the children to write this note, and then send me this?” Tsuku-san asked, passing the scroll to Taka-san.

  Honorable Tsuku-san, we have your grandchildren. In exchange for your own life, and the life of your husband, we will return theirs to you. At sundown, bring Yasuhiko-san and meet us atop the northern cliffs outside the city. Bring no one else. If you will not exchange yourselves for the children, then they are of little use to us, and the girl in particular will be made an example of.

  Regards,

  The First Rōjū

  Just as Taka finished reading the scroll, Mitsu and Mishi joined her in the Zōkames’ doorway.

  “Could they have made them write it as a distraction, in case we found them before they got far enough away?” Taka wondered aloud.

  “But we would have started searching for them immediately if we thought they had run away, so how would that give them any extra time?” Tsuku-san replied.

  Taka had handed both the note and the scroll to Mishi, as soon as she had arrived, and she had, in turn, passed them both to Mitsu.

  “The children might have decided to run away on their own,” Mishi said. “They ran away from us after we found them the first time. They’re not very trusting of adults.”

  “But why would they? After all this time traveling with us, surely they trust us by now,” replied Taka.

  “It doesn’t matter why,” Tsuku-san said, her face a strange mixture of sorrow and ire. “The Rōjū have them, and we have to get them back.”

  “But how?” asked Mitsu.

  “We’ll do as they ask,” Tsuku-san replied. “I’ll exchange my life for theirs.”

  ~~~

  Taka walked back to her room, her legs heavy with defeat. No amount of arguing had been able to convince Tsuku-san not to hand herself over to what was left of the Rōjū Council.

  It wasn’t that Tsuku-san didn’t understand the risk to Gensokai. She understood better than anyone what a precarious position the New Council was in, and how easily it would topple if she were removed. That was clearly what the remaining Rōjū were counting on. It was the purpose of this entire exchange.

  No one was suggesting that Tsuku-san should let the children die, but no one had any better suggestions, either.

  The morning had been spent trying to come up with some way to keep Tsuku-san away from the Rōjū, while still keeping the children alive. The plan they had come up with did not leave Taka feeling confident. It amounted to handing Tsuku-san over and hoping for the best.

  She was looking forward to a few moments alone, to try to come up with a better solution to their troubles. Everyone had agreed to meet again after the noon meal.

  She slid open the door to her room and walked inside. It was only when she slid the door closed behind her that she noticed the shape lurking in the corner.

  She turned, her hand flying to her hunting knife, and prepared to render whoever was waiting for her unconscious.

  “I mean you no harm,” a familiar voice said, from the shadows.

  When Taka still didn’t drop her hand from her hunting knife, Inari-san stepped forward, holding up both of his hands.

  “I’ve come to offer you hope,” he said.

  ~~~

  Taka still didn’t like the plan, but that was likely because too much of it relied on chance. Or perhaps it was because of who she would be forced to trust, in order for the plan to work.

  She took a brief moment to wish that the twins had never been kidnapped, and she wished even more that it didn’t look as though Kusuko had orchestrated their abduction. She also wished that Kusuko’s involvement didn’t matter to her so much.

  “All will be well, Taka-san,” Tsuku-san whispered, patting her arm gently as they walked along the isolated forest path that wound up from the road leaving the city to the tops of the northern cliffs.

  Taka tried to smile in response, but she only managed something that probably looked like a grimace.

  “I don’t like the chances we’re taking,” she said.

  Tsuku nodded, and Taka wondered if any of them thought that their plan would work.

  “What are our choices?” Tsuku asked. “We cannot leave the twins to these miscreants. Even if they weren’t Kiko’s children, it wouldn’t be right.”

  “But your capture could be the end of the New Council…” Taka said, with hesitation.

  “Hmph…” Tsuku groused. “If, after all these moons of practice, that group of fully trained Kisōshi can’t organize themselves without me, then they don’t deserve to be in charge of anything.”

  Taka smiled, because she knew that was the reaction Tsuku-san was looking for, but she didn’t feel like the gesture was genuine at all. She knew, all too well, from Tsuku’s own admission, that the New Council was entirely fragile. Without Tsuku-san and Yashuhiko-san to guide it, organize it, and convey their vast network of information to the New Council, it wasn’t strong enough to hold against the chaos being sown by the remainder of the Rōjū.

  That part of what the Rōjū were trying to achieve with this scheme was clear. With Tsuku and Yasuhiko removed from the equation, the New Council was primed to fall. And if that happened, leadership would be open to anyone capable of showing the people some semblance of order. The way things were right now, people might even embrace a return to the old ways. After moons of upheaval in almost every town and village, people might be tired and distraught enough to accept a return to the old power structure.

  No, the position of the New Council was fragile, at best, and it couldn’t suffer many more blows. That was why the apprehension of the sanzoku had been so pivotal. Not only had it stopped a real threat to the people of Gensokai, but it had shown the power of the New Council. It had been a demonstration of their ability to fight for their people, to protect them, and to respond to a crisis. It had taken an embarrassingly long time to manage, but now that the sanzoku were captured, the New Council had a firmer leg to stand on when it came to defending itself against accusations that they didn’t know how to govern a people.

  But if Tsuku and Yasuhiko were publicly removed, at this point, the New Council might not weather the storm of inquiry and indecision that would follow.

  So, while Taka agreed that it was unacceptable to allow Mizu and Tsuchi to remain in the hands of the Rōjū, or the hishi that worked for them, she wasn’t sure
the risk to Tsuku and Yasuhiko was acceptable.

  Despite the fact that almost everyone shared her concerns, she’d been outvoted when they’d made their plan.

  And now…

  They approached the abandoned barn that perched near the cliff tops carefully, Tsuku and Yasuhiko leading proudly, with her trailing just behind them.

  When they reached the barn, they saw that only three of the four sides were closed in. The north end was open to the elements, and they approached that entrance cautiously.

  No one stood guard outside, something that made Taka more nervous than reassured, but inside they found, among the open flooring and the small drifts of leaves that cluttered the abandoned space, three men dressed in full Kisōshi garb.

  “We bade you come alone,” the man in the center said. He wore grey hakama, with a matching uwagi that made Taka wonder if he was only intending to remind people of hishi, or if the color signaled a clear association with that band of spies and assassins.

  “Mamushi-san,” Tsuku-san replied, coldly. “You can hardly expect us to come and trade ourselves for the lives of the children without anyone to hand the children over to. Are we simply to trust that you’ll place them somewhere safe, once we’ve given ourselves to your custody? Besides, we’ve brought Taka-san. She’s a trained healer—hardly any use, should we wish to fight you.”

  Taka didn’t even bristle at the remark. It was the simple truth. She wasn’t completely useless in battle, but she was nearly so. She hardly considered that a shame, as she was the only person here who could put people back together again once the violence was over with, which was something she considered to be of much higher value.

  She was more concerned with the fact that the man was called Mamushi-san. That was the name that both Yasuhiko and Kusuko had ascribed to the leader of the hishi. It certainly explained the dark grey of the man’s uwagi and hakama. She was rather surprised that the man had bothered to show up in person to this little exchange. It only reinforced her worry for Tsuku and Yasuhiko. The Rōjū must consider them quite important, indeed, if they were willing to put the leader of the hishi forward for their capture.

  “Chiki-San, Mori-san, I’m surprised to see you here in person. You honor us,” Yasuhiko said, nodding to the two other men. Taka didn’t recognize the names, but as she took a closer look at the two other men, she realized that they were both members of the former Rōjū voting council. She quietly took a deep breath, unwilling to draw attention to herself, but suddenly very concerned for their wellbeing. She didn’t know how many of the Rōjū remained free, but she knew it was only two or three. If these were all the remaining Rōjū, along with the leader of the hishi, then this meeting was of even greater importance to their enemy than she had suspected. And, if that was true, then there was good reason to suspect some kind of treachery.

  “We welcome your presence, Yasuhiko-san. We have much to discuss.”

  “Oh?” Tsuku-san asked, her eyebrows raised in pleasant inquiry. “I thought we had merely come to turn ourselves over in exchange for the children.”

  “Certainly, certainly,” the former Rōjū replied. “But surely you must be wondering what we hope to gain by taking you into our custody.”

  “I know what you hope to gain by taking us into custody, Chiki-san,” Tsuku replied. “You hope to destabilize the New Council, and eventually overthrow them to regain the power you once held. I wish you luck. Now, let us see the children.”

  Both of the former Rōjū looked disgruntled at being denied the chance to explain their plan, but neither of them denied that what Tsuku-san had said was true.

  “Very well. If you are in such a hurry to become our captives…” Chiki-san nodded to Mamushi-san, and Mamushi gave a sharp whistle that was quickly followed by the sounds of shuffling outside the barn.

  After a few moments, Taka released a breath she hadn’t known she was holding, as she saw Mizu-chan and Tsuchi-kun carried into the barn on the shoulders of two grey-clad hishi. They were both unconscious, but a quick stretch of Taka’s kisō confirmed that they were both breathing, and seemed uninjured. She could only imagine the fight the two would put up if they regained consciousness, and she wondered if they’d been drugged from the start, or if they’d simply been allowed to escape from the Council Complex and then captured as soon as they were out of sight of the New Council guards.

  Taka stepped toward the two children, but stopped mid-stride at the sound issued by Chiki-san.

  “Ah ah ah…” he tsked. “Not until we have the Zōkame family in our custody.”

  Taka stayed where she was and waited. Her palms were starting to sweat, and she longed for this to be finished. She tried to widen her senses, to take in more of what was going on around them, but she found her gaze sliding to Tsuku and Yasuhiko, as they cautiously approached Mamushi-san.

  Mamushi whistled once more, and Taka could hear the sounds of feet approaching the barn again. Two more hishi entered, each carrying a length of rope. They followed Mamushi-san’s silent signals, approaching Tsuku and Yasuhiko with caution.

  The two elderly Kisōshi did nothing to resist their captors. They stood placidly, allowing themselves to be tied.

  Taka looked to the two former Rōjū and raised an eyebrow in query.

  “Hand her the children,” Chiki-san said, brusquely. He seemed somehow displeased with how smoothly everything was going, and Taka hoped fervently that their plan wasn’t unraveling at this very moment.

  Not wishing to give anything away, she calmly moved forward and began assessing the two young yukisō before her, checking more carefully for damage than she had been able to during her previous long-distance inspection. She still found the children uninjured, and she pressed her hand to their necks to set about waking them from their forced slumber. She wasn’t as effective as a restorative balm, but her kisō could sense and remove the soporific plants used to induce slumber with a bit of time and a direct connection to her patient.

  “How will you carry them?” asked one of the Rōjū, surprising Taka almost enough to make her forget her task. Did the man actually care, at all? Surely, he was only asking because he wanted her to leave before they attempted to move Tsuku-san and Yashuhiko-san from the abandoned barn.

  Before she could answer, they heard more shuffling from outside the barn, along with a few grunts of pain. The hishi that were holding Tsuku and Yasuhiko shifted their grips, pulling forth daggers. Taka hoped that they hadn’t misjudged the Rōjū’s desire to leave Tsuku and Yasuhiko alive.

  “I found these two trying to sneak past your perimeter guards.” Kusuko’s voice came from the doorway, as she tossed Mitsu across the opening to the barn and dragged Mishi behind her.

  Taka grimaced as she watched Mitsu slide across the wooden floor. He looked like a rag doll, and so did Mishi. She took a moment to appreciate just how strong Kusuko must be, despite her tiny figure, to have moved Mitsu and Mishi, who were both much larger than she was, any distance at all.

  “A few well placed sedative darts made them much more pliable.”

  She dragged Mishi across the entrance, as she spoke, and dropped her unceremoniously next to Mitsu. Then she threw Mishi’s katana and wakizashi down a few armspans away from the two prone forms. Taka winced again.

  “So,” Chiki-san said, turning to Tsuku and Yasuhiko once more, his eyes alight with malice. “You intended to have yourselves rescued by your warriors, did you? How delightfully double crossing of you. I would never have expected it from the honorable Yasuhiko-san, and his most respected wife.”

  Kusuko brushed her hands off on her kimono, and approached Mamushi-san and the two former Rōjū.

  “What would you like me to do with them?” she asked, as she approached. “I wasn’t certain you wanted them dead, so I decided to bring them here, first.”

  Taka shivered at the casual way that Kusuko mentioned the prospective deaths of Mitsu and Mishi. She had thought that, perhaps, having traveled and fought with the two of them over
the past few moons would have created some amount of concern in the assassin, but she reminded herself that this was precisely what she knew Kusuko to be, a master of subterfuge who wore other personalities the way that some women wore combs in their hair—a different one for every occasion, and none of them her true self.

  She waited to hear what the men would say, and in the meantime continued the work of rousing the children. Chiki-san had asked how she would carry them, but the answer was that she couldn’t carry both of them easily enough to make good time getting away from this place, so the children would need to be conscious enough to move themselves—unless she had help.

  She glanced at Kusuko, while the young assassin looked expectantly at her masters, with Mitsu and Mishi lying still and silent at her feet.

  No, she couldn’t count on any help, at all.

  Kusuko waited for her father to tell her what he wished her to do with Mishi and Mitsu. She wondered vaguely what Mamushi-san would choose. She thought that the Rōjū would probably wish to eliminate such strong enemies, a preference that they’d made clear before, but she wondered if her father wished the same. Would he simply express that wish because the Rōjū expected it, or would he surprise them all by acting from some other motivation entirely? She could never really be sure how he would react.

  She found it very difficult not to look at Taka, but she knew it was essential that she not do it. If she looked at Taka now, she was sure that her father would read her feelings clearly on her face, and she knew what would happen then. Nothing she cared for was ever allowed to remain. So she kept her gaze focused determinedly on the three men standing before her, and didn’t even spare a glance for Tsuku and Yasuhiko, or the grey-clad hishi that held them.