The Beast Player

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The Beast Player Page 32

by Nahoko Uehashi


  Leelan had continued to growl, the sound growing steadily louder, but now it crescendoed to a deep and ominous thunder that Elin had never heard before. The men on either side of her grabbed the Silent Whistles that hung round their necks and placed them to their lips. An icy fear gripped her. At this distance, the whistles would paralyze not only Leelan, but the cub as well.

  “No! Please don’t!” she cried, and twisted from their grasp.

  The men, who had been focused on Leelan, were caught off guard and staggered. One of them dropped his whistle. The next moment, there was a loud snap, and the hand of the other vanished in a swirl of dark wind. Blood spurted from the stump of his wrist, while Leelan, her blood-smeared lips pulled back in a snarl, crunched his hand, bones and all, in her jaws. Her fangs had torn off not only his hand, which had held the whistle, but his lips and nose as well.

  Elin and the men stood frozen in disbelief, gazing up at the Beast towering over them. Then the man who had lost his hand threw back his head, and a scream erupted from his throat. At the sound, the man on Elin’s other side jerked to his feet and, turning on his heels, broke into a run. Perhaps attracted by the movement, Leelan leapt into the air.

  Elin felt like she was in a nightmare. She dashed after the fleeing man. He stumbled and fell, and she flung herself over him, waving Leelan back with her hand.

  “Leelan! Stop! Stop!” she pleaded.

  Intoxicated by the taste of blood, Leelan followed the hand that fluttered before her face and bit reflexively. Elin heard the bones in her left hand shatter. In the next moment, sheer agony shot from her hand to every corner of her body. Leelan’s frenzied, snarling face loomed over her. Spittle, frothy blood and bits of broken bone spattered Elin’s face, and she prepared to die.

  Just then, her hand brushed something on her neck. Light flashed in her eyes as she realized what it was. She brought the Silent Whistle to her mouth and blew.

  All sound ceased. Gasping for air, her shoulders heaving, Elin stared at Leelan’s face, rigid as stone, fangs still bared. Pain throbbed in her hand and blood gushed forth, but it was as though her body were too far away for these to reach her consciousness. She watched in a daze as someone ran up, shoved her out of the way and dragged the fallen man from beneath Leelan’s wing. That was the last thing she remembered before she tumbled into darkness.

  All night, she lay tormented by fever and burning pain. Nightmares disturbed her sleep. When she finally woke on the morning of the second day, her fever was gone, but she was weak and weary, and her body felt like an empty shell.

  Seeing Elin’s eyes open, Esalu rose from beside her bed. “Are you awake?”

  Elin looked at her foggily for a moment, then nodded slightly. As consciousness returned, the pain in her left hand came rushing back, and with it, the memory of that awful nightmare. A crushing fear seized her.

  “…that man…” She could barely force out a hoarse whisper, but Esalu guessed what she wanted to know.

  “He’s still alive. You can thank the gods that no one died at least.”

  As the words penetrated her mind, a hot lump rose through the mist that wrapped her heart, and tears welled from her eyes.

  The Beast Handlers who had come from Lazalu were the same men who had dragged Leelan before the Yojeh when she was a cub. She had never forgotten being paralyzed by their Silent Whistles in the palace garden, and, worse, being shot by an arrow. She was so agitated, she had had to be chained in her stable. The wounded Beast Handler was being cared for solicitously in the room next to Elin’s. Three fingers on Elin’s left hand from her baby finger to her middle finger had been bitten off, and although the wound had been sewn up, she might lose the use of that hand.

  All these things Esalu told her. Elin heard the words, but her brain registered their meaning only dully. Something black and heavy had spread through her mind, and all she could feel was the weight of it. Over and over, she saw herself twist out of the men’s grasp, saw one of them drop his whistle. Again and again, she saw Leelan swooping down like a black wind, heard the sound of the man’s hand being chopped off, bones and all, felt her fingers shattering, heard the man scream…

  Whether her eyes were open or closed, the same scene, the same sounds, the same pain were constantly replayed in her mind, like a nightmare from which she could never escape.

  Around midnight on the third day after she regained consciousness, she heard the sound of falling rain. As she listened, a thought spread through her mind.

  Leelan ate my hand…

  She had snapped at Elin’s hand just like that, without any hesitation. She would have eaten her, even though they had lived together for so long.

  How could anyone even begin to understand how beasts thought?

  She should never have projected human thoughts onto beasts and assumed that she understood them. In doing so, she had forgotten that they would always be a mystery to man and had convinced herself that she knew what they were thinking. On that fateful day, Leelan had growled in a way that Elin had never heard before, yet she had ignored her. Her own carelessness and arrogance had brought about this disaster. She could never undo what she had done. No matter how hard she might pray or plead, she could never, ever change it.

  The man who had lost his hand and half his face must be in terrible pain even now. He would never be the same again. For the rest of his life, he would have to live without a hand, without a nose, without lips…

  Elin could not breathe. She closed her eyes and gulped for air like a fish. She did not hear the sound of her own breathing or the incessant rain drumming on the roof. The only sound that rang through her brain was the man’s anguished scream after Leelan bit him.

  It was seven days later that Elin was finally able to rise from her bed. As soon as she could, she went next door to visit the injured Handler. She apologized and gave him all the money that the Yojeh had given her, asking him to use it to get the care he would need. The Beast Handlers from Lazalu listened without a word, their eyes cold with hatred and contempt. With bowed head, she bore their gaze.

  Ohooli finally spoke. “We cannot wait for your hand to heal. We’ll leave with the Beasts for the palace within the month, so be prepared.”

  Elin bowed wordlessly, then turned and left the room. Esalu, who was waiting for her in the hall, came up to her. “Are you all right?” she asked.

  Elin nodded. “I’d like to see how Leelan is doing.”

  Esalu stared at her silently, but then finally nodded. They began walking slowly down the corridor when Esalu suddenly put her hand into her robe and pulled out the Silent Whistle. Elin took it and hung it around her neck.

  The stable was dark inside, and the stench of dung filled the air. Leelan swung her head up abruptly when Elin entered, but instead of cooing the way she usually did, she snorted and huffed loudly. The smell of Beast permeated the stable. Golden eyes stared warily through the bars. Bald patches on Leelan’s chest oozed blood. She must have been gnawing her fur.

  “We removed the chains but she refuses to go outside,” Esalu explained. “We can’t clean her stall so we’ve had to leave it like this.”

  Elin said nothing. She did not even hear Esalu’s voice. The instant those golden eyes had met her own, the sight of Leelan’s snarling face close to hers had flashed through her mind, and her left hand jerked in its sling. She gasped for air and tried to stop the trembling that seized her body.

  “Elin.” Esalu grabbed her elbow, and she started. Beads of cold sweat ran down her body. She turned toward Esalu and waited until her face came into focus. Her brain was numb; she could not think. It was all she could do to suppress her panic.

  “That’s enough for today,” Esalu said. “Wait until you’re feeling a bit better before you try anything more.” And taking Elin’s hand, she urged her gently toward the door.

  At that moment, Elin heard a low, questioning rumble. She stopped and looked up at Leelan. The huge Beast towered above her like a shadow, her head almost tou
ching the ceiling. Elin feared she might break down the bars at any minute and attack. Sweat broke out on her frozen face and dripped down her temples. A thought floated into her numbed mind. I must not leave the stable like this. If I refuse to face Leelan now, I will never, ever be able to face her again.

  “Please,” she whispered. “Open the stall.”

  Esalu frowned and searched Elin’s face, then nodded and went outside. Elin heard the sound of the pulley. The wall behind Leelan opened, and light poured into the stable. Leelan turned toward the door and squinted against the light.

  “Leelan, out,” Elin said. The Beast swung her head back toward Elin and stared at her intently.

  “We need to clean, so go outside,” Elin said in her usual voice, but still Leelan did not budge. Noticing that her eyes were fixed on the Silent Whistle hanging round her neck, Elin raised her hand and grasped it. Instantly, Leelan’s hackles rose. She growled, showing the tips of her fangs.

  “Stop it!” Elin commanded sternly, but Leelan ignored her. Baring her fangs fully, she snarled menacingly. Anger flared inside Elin as she realized that Leelan was threatening her. She glared at the Beast and raised the whistle to her lips. Leelan’s growl rose in pitch, and all her fur stood on end.

  “I said stop it! If you don’t, I’ll blow,” Elin shouted. She drew a deep breath, and Leelan ceased growling abruptly. A crackling tension filled the air as they glared each other down. Then Leelan’s eyes suddenly wavered and slid away. Elin did not miss this sign. “Go outside,” she commanded in a low voice.

  Leelan flapped her wings two or three times, as though shaking something off, then folded them and lumbered outside. Elin gasped for air as she watched Leelan’s figure disappear into the white sunlight. Her eyes filled with tears. She felt Esalu’s hand gently touch her elbow, and she covered her face with her right hand.

  Twenty days later, the three Beasts, having been thoroughly sedated, were chained and placed on carts. Elin climbed into a carriage with Ohooli. As they passed through the school gate, she glimpsed the anxious faces of Esalu, the teachers and the students watching her from the windows. With a crack of the whip, the carriage picked up speed, and the school vanished from view.

  A blinding shaft of summer sunlight shone into the carriage. Cloud shadows dappled the vast meadow covering the highlands. The blue vault of the sky and the meadow where the Royal Beasts napped in the sun disappeared behind her. Six years had passed since Joeun had brought her here. The days she had spent with Yuyan, the happy years she had lived on this plateau, were all speeding away. She closed her eyes and lowered her head, surrendering to the swaying of the carriage.

  3 DAMIYA’S COMMAND

  Elin remembered almost nothing of the journey downriver to the capital. Her thoughts were so consumed by what lay before her that the scenery never even penetrated her mind.

  Once in the capital, she was taken to the Lazalu Beast Sanctuary, where Leelan and the other Beasts were transferred to a stable. She herself was confined to a single room. Although she was given a sumptuous meal and a luxurious bed, her door was guarded at all times, and she was not permitted to leave, even to feed the Beasts.

  The next day, it rained from early morning, and there was a chill to the air despite the season. She was led to the palace through a dark curtain of rain, but it seemed to breathe life into the forest surrounding it. Leaves fluttered like beckoning hands each time a large drop fell, and the air echoed with a ceaseless pitter-patter of sound. Peace filled her heart as she passed through the wood, redolent of bark, rich earth and fresh green leaves.

  An aged palace emerged abruptly before her. Wrapped in mist, it looked as if it had stood there for a thousand years. Having no idea how the buildings were arranged, Elin could not know that she had been led to Damiya’s hall rather than to the Yojeh’s. She only realized this fact when she was ushered through the doors of the inner chamber and saw Damiya watching her languidly from a chair set on a dais at the far end of the room. Her guide went out, leaving her alone with Damiya. The hush of the rain shrouded the room in a shimmer of sound.

  Damiya frowned, startled perhaps by her haggard appearance. “How is your hand?” he asked.

  Elin bowed her head slightly. “It does not hurt much now.”

  “I’m glad to hear that, although I must say, you still look ghastly. Have a seat on that chair.” He waited for her to sit and then said quietly, “It was quite sudden I heard. No matter how accustomed they are to you, it would seem that Royal Beasts are still beasts. A terrible accident, yes. But Ohooli tells me that you didn’t give in to fear, even though you were bitten, and that you’re still able to control the Beast very well.”

  Elin shook her head. “We no longer have the bond we once had. I will never be able to face Leelan again without a Silent Whistle in my hand.”

  Damiya smiled. “Even so, the Royal Beasts still obey you. That’s what matters.” He leant forward in his chair. “Did you hear that the Aluhan’s son visited the palace?”

  Elin shook her head, and his mouth curled in a smile. “That boy doesn’t know his place. He came to demand that the Yojeh give herself to him.” There was no outrage in his voice as he described to her what had happened. Rather he sounded almost amused.

  “And,” he concluded, “that is why the Yojeh must face the Aluhan’s Toda on Tahai Azeh two months from now. If the Toda bow their heads before the Yojeh in recognition of her divine will, just as they did when the first Yojeh descended onto that plain, the Aluhan will recognize her as a true god and surrender. However, if no such miracle occurs, the Toda will advance across the plain and devour the Yojeh. If she wishes to avert such a fate, she must marry the son of the Aluhan. Or so he said.”

  Smiling, he gazed at Elin. “And here you are, just at the time our country needs you. The workings of the gods are wondrous indeed.” Elin did not respond, nor did Damiya expect her to. “It seems unfair to be so harsh when you are still recovering from your injury but, Elin, would you really defy divine will? Because believe me, if you choose that road, I will make your life a living hell. I know you can’t be tempted by greed or ambition. However, neither are you capable of heartlessness, no matter how you may deny it. You proved that when you could not stand by and watch the Toda devour the Yojeh.

  “After that incident, I used every means in my power to find out more about you. I know who you care for, and how you came to train the Beasts. I know everything.” He turned his face to the window and gazed at the falling rain. “I have already seized Esalu. If that’s not sufficient, I can certainly bring in the young woman who was your bosom friend. I would be most interested to see if you are capable of watching her die before your eyes… to see if anyone can be so true to their beliefs.

  “Oh, and you will not be permitted an audience with the Yojeh either. There is no one here who will protect you.”

  A low ringing sounded in Elin’s ears. She remained motionless, her gaze focused on the floor. She had expected this. Yet even so, it did not ease the pain spreading through her chest. When she had told Halumiya that she would not change her mind, even if the lives of her loved ones depended upon it, she had meant it. But she had been able to say so precisely because she believed Halumiya would understand.

  Damiya, on the other hand, would do exactly as he had said.

  She closed her eyes. Esalu’s life. Or the countless lives that would undoubtedly be lost should she open the door to this calamity. In terms of numbers, Esalu was clearly a sacrifice that must be made. But there was no way that she could choose that. She opened her eyes, and her gaze collided with Damiya’s.

  “I do not know why you refuse to use the Royal Beasts to guard our divinely ordained ruler,” he said quietly. “Because you did not tell me, you see. However, if it’s because you fear using the Royal Beasts as weapons of war, your reasoning is faulty.”

  He rose slowly and walked over to her side “The cracks in this country are caused by a disruption in the balance of power. The equilibri
um between the military force of the Aluhan and our authority to rule has been upset, and one side is about to be obliterated by the other, as if by an avalanche.” His voice was calm and detached. “I simply wish to restore the balance that is being threatened by one side amassing too much power. It’s the only way to prevent the people of this land from killing one another. Or do you think that there is some other way?”

  Elin opened her mouth, but her lips felt stiff and clumsy. “Even if I were to fly Leelan and protect the Yojeh, would the Aluhan really be so foolish as to believe that a miracle had occurred?”

  Damiya’s eyes widened.

  “He might be sufficiently impressed in that moment to pull back his troops,” Elin continued almost in a whisper, “But once time passes and he begins to think objectively, the same problem would be sure to arise again. The root of the disease afflicting this land is certainly not going to vanish with a single, flashy miracle. As long as the cause of the imbalance remains, the seeds of division will never disappear.

  “And besides, I don’t believe that Leelan can restore the balance of military power. One Royal Beast is not enough for that.”

  Damiya stared at her intently. “Well, well, what a surprise,” he murmured, then changed his tone. “You’re quite a clever girl. If you’ve got enough insight to understand the situation that deeply, then let me speak plainly. I’m not planning to use the Royal Beast to destroy the Aluhan. As you pointed out, it’s unrealistic, although I do hear that you’re capable of controlling Royal Beasts that you haven’t raised yourself.” Her eyes wavered in surprise, and Damiya smiled. “I told you, didn’t I? I found out everything. But never mind that. Even with a pack of Royal Beasts, if you are the only one who can command them, then we can never hope to destroy the Toda troops led by the Aluhan.

 

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