Soul of the Sword Page 9

  8

  GUESTS OF SHADOW

  Yumeko

  We walked the Path of Shadows twice more, listening to the spirits of Meido wail and rant at us through the mist, enduring Naganori’s glares and subtle insults, before we finally arrived in Kage lands.

  “At last,” the majutsushi sighed, as we stepped out of the shadows and into the real world again. I shivered as the breeze hit my skin, smelling of wood and smoke and the realm of the living; the Path of Shadows smelled of grief, hopelessness and despair, things I hadn’t even known had a scent until now.

  I looked around and saw that we were in a dark, bare room, with no windows to let in outside light. The walls and floors were made of stone, though the ceiling had huge wooden beams running across its length. Torches sat at the corners, flickering erratically, and the scent of Shadow magic permeated the room. A circle had been drawn on the floor in what looked like glowing white paint, with runes, kanji and magical sigils etched around it. As I watched, the circle flared once, then faded away, seeming to melt into the floor. I glanced up at Naganori.

  “Where are we?” The last time we had left the Path of Shadows, we’d ended up in a tiny hidden temple in a cave, somewhere in Earth Clan territory. This didn’t look like a cave, but I was tired of darkness, shadows and everything that lurked within, and was eager to get back into the sun.

  Naganori sniffed. “We have arrived at Hakumei-jo,” he stated grandly. “The home castle of the Kage family, and the seat of Lady Hanshou herself.” He gave us a critical look, lips curling in what seemed to be barely restrained disgust as he eyed our clothes, torn and dirty from the long days of travel. “You’ll of course want to make yourselves presentable before you see the daimyo. The servants will see to your every need. Follow them, and do not attempt to wander off on your own. Hakumei castle can be quite…mystifying for the uninitiated. I have matters I must attend. Please excuse me.”

  And with that, the head majutsushi of the Shadow Clan turned and glided away, vanishing from the dim circle of light and leaving us alone in the darkened room.

  “Okay,” Okame muttered as a wooden door thumped shut and silence descended, if only for a moment. His eyes had looked haunted ever since we’d first come out of the Path of Shadows. “Don’t worry about us, then. We’ve just spent three days in the realm of the dead, we’ll be fine.”

  “Honored guests.”

  I jumped as a woman seemed to materialize out of the shadows beside me. She was small and slender, her jet-black hair streaked with silver, and fine lines threaded out from her eyes and lips. She wore a simple robe in the black-and-purple colors of the Kage, and if she hadn’t spoken I would never have known she was there. Is it just a talent all the Kage have? I wondered, as the woman bowed and told us to please follow her, she would show us to our rooms. Or do they teach everyone how to sneak up on people like a yurei ghost?

  We followed her down several hallways, lit by swaying lanterns and flickering torchlight. I surmised we were deep underground, probably beneath Hakumei castle, as the floors and some of the walls were made of damp stone. I wondered how anyone could find their way around, as the corridors all looked the same and there were no signs or any way to get your bearings.

  “This place is like a maze,” I whispered to Reika, walking beside me with Chu and Ko at her heels. “Do you think the Kage get lost down here?”

  Reika snorted under her breath. “From what I know of the Kage,” she whispered back, “and it’s not much, understand, but I’m fairly certain the castle was built this way on purpose. Hakumei-jo is said to be a nightmare to attack, because it’s designed to be as confusing as possible.”

  “Indeed,” came Daisuke’s voice, behind us. “Every builder and engineer in the country has studied the works of Kage Narumi, the architect of Hakumei castle. She was brilliant and, according to some rumors, a little mad. Her design for the Shadow Clan castle is how the Kage have held on to their territory for so long, though they are the smallest of the clans and the Hino have done their best to drive them out. It is said not even the Kage themselves know all the secrets of Hakumei-jo, and those who wish to attack the clan must defeat the castle itself, which is no small feat. In the past, armies who have invaded Hakumei-jo have been decimated. Survivors speak of hidden doors, false walls, being trapped in hallways that spew fire or spears or arrows. There was a famous incident of a Hino general who lay siege to the castle, intending to starve the Kage out rather than risk assaulting Hakumei-jo itself. For three months, he and his army surrounded the castle, letting no one enter or leave. All demands for the Kage’s surrender were rebuffed, though it was obvious no supplies were going to the castle, that they had no way of feeding their people. The Hino general had greater numbers than the army who huddled behind the walls—it was only a matter of time until the Shadow Clan either surrendered, or perished from lack of supplies. He just had to wait them out.

  “Until one day,” Daisuke went on, “the commander woke to find half his army ill or dying. His food stores had been poisoned, though no one could tell him how this came to be. Furious, the Hino commander gathered his remaining warriors who could still fight and assaulted the castle, intending to overpower the weakened Kage and destroy them. But when the army reached the inner walls of Hakumei-jo, they found a massive force of Kage waiting for them. Not only had the Shadow Clan thrived during the siege, they had somehow brought in reinforcements, though no one had seen even a single Kage enter or leave Hakumei-jo. The Hino general and his army were wiped out nearly to a man, and no one has laid siege to Hakumei castle since.”

  “So, the moral of that long-winded story?” Okame broke in, a faint smirk crossing his face as he joined us. “Never try to outbluff a Kage. You’ll end up with a sword in your back before you realize they’ve moved.”

  His voice was harder than normal, his tone cutting. I sensed an invisible coat of prickly armor surrounding the ronin, as if he was using harsh words and language to keep us all at bay. Reika rolled her eyes, and Daisuke gave the ronin an unreadable look. I glanced ahead of us, to the woman walking quietly down the hallway, making turns without hesitation. It wasn’t hard to imagine losing my way in this dark, twisty place, taking a single wrong turn and walking in circles forever. “But how do the Kage themselves not get lost down here?” I wondered.

  “That I could not tell you,” Daisuke said. “Nor do I think the Kage would reveal their secrets to outsiders, so I am afraid we will have to wonder.”

  “Maybe they all carry a roll of string, just in case.”

  We finally came to a flight of wooden stairs leading to the overhead floor. The woman didn’t pause, but continued up the steps until we reached the interior of the castle, leaving the damp underground behind. The floors were made of polished wood, with thick beams crisscrossing overhead and shoji panels running the length of one wall, separating individual rooms. A pair of Kage samurai guarding the entrance to the stairs ignored us as we followed our guide into the hallway.

  Still silent, our escort led us through another series of corridors, this time made of dark wood, shoji screens and decorated fusuma panels. The images depicted on these screens were beautiful—bamboo forests in the moonlight, lonely cliffs with breaking ocean waves, a pine grove hiding a lurking tiger—but they felt slightly ominous, as if purposefully designed for the viewer to feel uncomfortable looking at them. Maybe that was because I felt they were looking back. As we went farther into the castle, I saw more Kage samurai standing guard or walking the halls, and servants scurrying to and fro like silent, efficient mice. A dismal air hung over everything, making me long to be outside, away from the murk. Though the castle was strewn with hanging lanterns and candlelight, it felt dark, quiet and gloomy, with shadows around every corner and hidden eyes in the walls. I missed the sunlight.

  As we turned yet another corner, a man suddenly stepped out of an adjoining room into the servant’s path, followed by a pair of samurai. The woman instantly bowed and sidestepped, keeping
her gaze on the floor as she backed into the wall. The man didn’t spare her a second glance. He was dressed in black-and-purple robes patterned with golden crescent moons, and he carried a shimmery golden fan in one hand. His face was pale, with thick lines of black painted beneath his eyes, accenting their sharpness. Stopping in the center of the corridor, the noble raised a thin, painted-on eyebrow at us.

  “Ah. So these are Lady Hanshou’s ‘honored guests.’” His voice was smooth and oily, and somehow reminded me of an eel. “I was not aware she was taking in commoners. Our daimyo is a truly kind and benevolent soul. Do we have proper accommodations for them, I wonder?” He tapped his golden fan against his pale chin, looking thoughtful. “We want our guests to be comfortable, after all. I worry that we do not have an adequate supply of flea-infested straw.”

  I didn’t know much about the fancy way the nobles of the court interacted, but I was fairly certain I was being insulted. And by Reika’s dark look and the dangerous sneer creeping across Okame’s face, they didn’t appreciate it, either. “Excuse me,” I said, causing the noble to gaze down at me as if I were a bug on the floor, “but who are you?”

  “Insolence!” One of the samurai stepped forward, menacing. “How dare you speak to Lord Iesada without being addressed? Were it up to me, I would cut you down for your disrespect.” He turned to the noble with a bow. “Iesada-sama, allow me to remove this insect from your presence at once.”

  “I am certain Lord Iesada does not want to do that,” came Daisuke’s voice, cool and unruffled, from behind us. The Taiyo noble stepped forward, smiling, though his eyes were razor sharp and cold as he leveled a gaze at the other nobleman. “I am sure Iesada-sama knows that onmyoji Yumeko-san is an honored guest of Lady Hanshou,” he said, his smile never wavering. “That the Lady is expecting her, that she sent Kage Naganori to Sky Clan lands to escort Yumeko-san to Hakumei castle. An informed man like Lord Iesada would surely know that Yumeko-san is also under the protection of the Taiyo family and the Hayate shrine, and they would take great offense if she were to come to harm.” His voice became like silken cloth over the edge of a blade. “But I feel foolish even mentioning this, because the Shadow Clan certainly does not wish to insult the Taiyo and risk the wrath of the Imperial family. Forgive me for even voicing such a thought. I am certain that I will return to my homeland with nothing but compliments for the Kage.”

  The samurai, who had been glaring at Daisuke through this exchange, went slightly pale as he realized who was speaking to him. Lord Iesada’s expression didn’t change, though he did raise a hand to wave his bodyguard back.

  “Of course you are welcome here,” he purred, as the samurai gave us a hasty bow and moved aside. “All are welcome in Hakumei castle, let no one say otherwise. Forgive my men and my thoughtlessness, I was not aware that the onmyoji girl was worthy of the protection of the Taiyo.” His oily gaze slid to me. “Then again, if Lady Hanshou herself called her here, then her powers must indeed be of note.”

  “Well.” The noble stepped back with a wave of his fan, dismissing us. “I beg your pardon for this interruption. Please continue, and welcome to the Kage lands.” His eyes glittered as he smiled at me again. “I am sure you will find your stay very enlightening.”

  He sauntered down the hall, his samurai marching in step beside him, and disappeared around a corner, leaving the sensation of greasy tendrils over my skin.

  Okame gave an exaggerated shudder. “Yep. This was the reason I was never at court. I was just no good at the whole insult someone by paying them a compliment game. Call someone a pig to their face, and you get challenged to a duel. Imply that someone is a pig in a pretty poem or turn of phrase, and the nobles titter at the cleverness of it all.”

  Daisuke chuckled. “It’s not that difficult, Okame-san,” he said, his voice light. “Would you like me to teach you?”

  The ronin snorted. “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks, Taiyo-san,” he said with a hard grin. “You can bathe them, comb their hair and try to pretty them up all you want, but they’ll still roll in mud and pee on the floors the first chance they get.”

  Chu put back his ears and growled at the ronin, who smirked at him.

  “Oh, like you’ve never rolled in mud.”

  “Who was that?” Reika asked the servant, who had melted off the wall once the samurai were out of sight. She hesitated, her gaze flitting to the end of the hall, as if worried that the samurai were still lurking about, listening to us.

  “Lord Iesada controls the eastern part of the Kage lands and is perhaps the most powerful noble within the Shadow court besides Lady Hanshou herself,” the woman answered. “He is not someone you want as an enemy, nor is he someone we should be talking about in the open where anyone can hear. Please, follow me.”

  “Here we are.” The servant paused at a set of door panels, these showing the image of beautiful maple tree branches and a spider’s web between the limbs, stretching across the face of the door. The bulbous, gold-and-black weaver could be seen perched prominently in the center, and looked so lifelike I was expecting it to scurry away from the woman’s hand as she opened the panel. Another pair of servants were waiting on the other side as the door slid back. One had a kimono draped across her arms, the other carried an array of items on a tray: combs and pins and ivory hairpieces. Both bowed as the panel opened. “Please,” the first woman said, gazing at me. “Make yourself comfortable. Mari and Akane will attend you.”

  “What about my friends?”

  “They will have their own quarters not far from here,” was the answer. “They will be well taken care of, I assure you. You are all honored guests of the Kage. Your safety and comfort is our prime concern.”

  I blinked and looked at the two servant girls waiting expectantly beyond the doors. They smiled and politely averted their eyes, but I sensed them watching me even though their gazes were elsewhere. My heart pounded, and I could suddenly feel the scroll, still hidden in my furoshiki, beneath my tattered robes. “Thank you,” I said hesitantly, “but I really don’t need—”

  “It is no trouble,” the older woman said. “Lady Hanshou is expecting you—we must make sure you are presentable to the daimyo. Please.” She gestured again to the room, relentlessly polite but letting me know refusal was not an option.

  I caught Reika’s eye as I hesitated, and the shrine maiden gave a tiny nod, though her eyes were dark with warning. We were being watched. No doubt there were hidden eyes on us in every part of the castle, shinobi taking note of our every move. Any behavior that would raise concern or cause them to become suspicious would likely be reported straight to their daimyo. I couldn’t let them think I was anything more than a simple peasant girl or even an onmyoji, and I certainly couldn’t let Hanshou discover I had one piece of the scroll. If the Shadow Clan daimyo realized I had the very thing she had sent Tatsumi to retrieve, we wouldn’t survive the night.

  “We’ll be fine, Yumeko-chan,” Okame broke in, as the shrine maiden gave him a look of disgust. “Just scream if a shinobi pops out of the wall. We’ll come running.”

  The servant girl’s eyes widened at this, but the woman remained fiercely unruffled as she gestured to the room again. Reluctantly, I stepped across the threshold, and the panel closed behind me with a snap, leaving me alone with the two girls.

  “Um, hello,” I offered, not knowing what to do and feeling uncomfortable. I’d never had servants attend me before. “You’ll have to excuse me, I really don’t know what I should do.”

  One of them smiled, though it was a rather forced, practiced smile and didn’t quite reach her eyes. “We are here to make you presentable to Lady Hanshou,” she told me. “It is a great honor to appear before the Lady of Shadows—few are ever called into her presence. The Lady has given you the rarest of gifts. We must make certain you are ready to receive it.”

  “Oh,” I said. “That’s…very nice.”

  “Yes.” The second girl nodded. “So, if you would, my lady.” She gestured i
n my general direction. I blinked at her, confused, and her eyes tightened. “Please remove your clothes.”

  “Nani?” I pinned my ears back. The servants waited expectantly, their faces calm. Obviously this was something they did often. I, however, had never disrobed in front of strangers, or anyone, really. “Right now?”

  “Please.” The servant gestured again with a fixed smile. “We must make you ready to meet Lady Hanshou. Sadly, there is no time for a bath. Your regular…clothes…will be washed and waiting for you upon your return.”

  I looked at the kimono hanging from the arms of the servant. It was very beautiful; black with red-and-gold leaves swirling up from the bottom as if caught in a whirlwind. The sleeves were long and billowing, nearly touching the floor. A wide, red-and-gold obi-sash completed the outfit.

  “Come.” The other servant set her tray down and stepped forward, still smiling. “Please disrobe. We are both experienced in aiding the ladies of court in every way possible. It will not be unpleasant, I assure you.”

  For a moment, I teetered on the edge of panic. What did I do? To refuse would insult the Kage and worse, it might make Lady Hanshou suspicious. I couldn’t meet the leader of the Shadow Clan in torn, filthy robes, even if they were onmyoji robes, but the very thing that she wanted more than anything was sitting very conspicuously in my furoshiki. If I handed it over to the servants, they would certainly find it.

  Come on, Yumeko! You’re a kitsune. If there are no doors or windows out of the room, go under the floorboards.

  I smiled shyly at the servant girl, secretly drawing on my magic. “Sumimasen,” I told her. “I don’t mean to be difficult. It’s just I’ve never had anyone attend me, and this is very strange. I was raised in a temple, and the monks there were very strict. I have…never undressed in front of anyone before, and it is…”