Dreamlands (24 page)

“So why is it unusual for Fuse-hime to be here? ’Cause if she came by a lot, you wouldn’t look like a fucking wreck when you found out it was her.”

Seki frowned. “It is a long story.”

“It usually is,” I said. “Spill it. Not like I’m gonna tell anyone.” Seki looked uncomfortable. “It is a long story that started ages ago in the real world. It has to do with Fuse-hime’s father and Tamazusa-sama.”

Kazuya rescued his ass from me after he said that, and I wanted to scream in frustration, because I was finally learning something around here. But I still had some interesting information, and I had better tell Murphy that there were more players on the field, someone we might be able to get as an ally. I doubted it, though, because this was also one more thing that he and Romejinoff could fuck up.

I THINK Murphy looked like he was going to blow a gasket. We had been dumped back into our room shortly after the princess arrived, and he was pacing back and forth nervously.

“A princess?” he repeated again. “A princess doesn’t show up alone without even a maid. That kid was pulling your leg.” FELICITAS IVEY

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“All I know is that she is someone important who hasn’t visited here before,” I answered.

It was an argument I was getting sick of. If Wolf had said it, Murphy wouldn’t have acted like he was lying. Wolf was sitting in the corner, just keeping his mouth shut. Romejinoff looked at me like I was full of shit, and McGann just looked tired.

“I got the same information from Okita,” Wolf said finally. “The girl is of a high rank, and she doesn’t visit here at all because of a very old feud. She and Samojirou are friendly acquaintances. They were all surprised that she didn’t come here with her consort, some guy called Yatsufusa. But since he and Samojirou really don’t like each other, it’s a good thing. But they all think that something serious is going to happen because she’s here.”

“So how do we get to her?” Murphy asked. “You know that they didn’t want her to know that we were here from the speed that they dumped us back here.”

“I’m betting it’s more because they don’t think that we can behave,” I said.

Murphy and Romejinoff glared. I smiled. “Yeah, you two made such a good impression on them.”

Romejinoff flushed. I still hadn’t a fucking clue about what she had said that pissed off everyone, but I could guess. Samojirou was doing us a big favor by not killing Murphy, because for guys who looked like they were extras out of a bad movie, they knew all the nasty words he had been throwing about. I had a sneaking suspicion that these people knew a lot more about the modern world than we thought.

Not a lot, but they weren’t as primitive and isolated as they wanted us think they were. Or there was something here that we knew nothing about, which was more likely. I knew that something was being hidden from us. That was the vibe I was getting off Samojirou, but I thought it was because he knew where Keno was and wasn’t going to tell us, not that we had mentioned him after the first morning. I was surprised Wolf hadn’t torn the place apart looking for Keno. Or maybe he’d figured out that this was a better place for him.

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“I memorized the maps that we had been looking at that morning,” Romejinoff said. “I can draw them again.”

“Hikura hasn’t been too forthcoming,” McGann said, “but I got some information out of him about other lords. A little bit about the other lands of the Dreamlands too.”

Murphy grunted. I realized there was a lot more going on here than I knew. It figured that there was a plan and I hadn’t been included in it. I didn’t know if I was relieved or pissed off.

“There are about ten squads of five to defend the estate, as well as servants and other workers,” Wolf said. “Plus allies that she can call upon if there’s fighting. Along with the men that she has stationed at her castle, plus the Reavers.”

“The place is fucking huge,” Murphy said. “And that bitch walked my fucking feet off looking at it all. And that girl who was with us didn’t say a damn thing.”

I decided to keep to myself that “she” wasn’t a girl. I didn’t want Murphy to scream and bitch about that too.

“You got anything to add?” Murphy sneered.

“We’re fucked,” I said. “Unless you pull a fucking miracle out of your ass, are we getting out of here? You think that we can find someone else here and pull ‘you and him fight’ while we pick up the pieces, you’re an idiot. None of these people are going to fall for that one.”

“Kairns!” Murphy growled.

“You do know that these two are keeping us around because we amuse the fuck out of them,” I said. “They don’t think that we’re a threat, and I think that they’re right.” Murphy scowled. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, you fucking―”

“Don’t say it,” I said. “I know that you’re an asshole and prejudiced, but you’re not stupid. Stupid shit has been coming out of FELICITAS IVEY

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your mouth since we got here. Romejinoff isn’t that far behind in that department, as that little scene the other night showed us.” Both of them started shouting at me, but McGann looked thoughtful. Wolf looked like he wanted to be anyplace else but here, and I didn’t blame him. Those two idiots were giving me a headache.

Everything stopped when the door slid open, and Seki walked in, followed by a couple of samurai and Reavers. They were all good at pretending they hadn’t heard us shouting at each other, because since the walls and doors were nothing but thin rice paper there was no way they couldn’t have heard us. I also knew that Seki understood a lot more English than he let on.

“My lord would have you all join her for dinner with Fuse-hime,” Seki announced.

I believed I spoke for most everyone when I said, “Fuck.” DINNER was in a garden I hadn’t really seen before, because the place was filled with flowers, most of which I didn’t recognize. McGann looked better now, and Wolf probably just hoped we got through dinner in one piece. I wondered how many gardens were in this place, because I kept finding more of them.

It started out all right, cute little maids serving us, the princess chick, Tamazusa, Samojirou, and Sakura. Now that I knew that Sakura was a guy, I was staring at him. He did have the girl thing down pat, with downcast eyes, a soft husky voice, and sort of flirting with Samojirou from behind a fan. I didn’t hear the voice too often, because he only talked to Samojirou and only when Mr. PO asked him a question. I wondered why and decided I didn’t care. Their relationship was probably as strange as the rest of the shit around here, even if they
were
a couple of guys.

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Small talk was made with the nice princess chick, with Samojirou and Tamazusa translating her comments, because she didn’t seem to know English. She was polite and tried to be nice to us.

Murphy was looking smug for some reason, and that was getting my back up. I basically didn’t trust the man, which was a sad fucking opinion to have about your chief of security and the guy who gave you your orders. Wolf had to have the same opinion. I never thought I would see the day. On the whole it wasn’t bad, and I was starting to relax when the shit hit the fan.

KENO

ONE minute we were eating in the western garden, and then there was this odd sound and a whirling ball of light appeared. Wolf grabbed at me, but I slipped out of his grasp. Murphy grinned and punched Fuse.

She wasn’t expecting it and suddenly crumbled.

“No!” I screamed and dove for her.

We both got sucked into the glowing thing, Murphy and the rest of them following us. I ended up on my hands and knees, shuddering helplessly, wanting to empty my stomach all over the floor. I didn’t remember that from the first time; I didn’t remember much after Tamazusa had rescued me from Heiseg, so that didn’t mean anything.

But I knew enough now to know that I was back in Boylston Street.

When I got my stomach under control, I crawled over to Fuse.

She had sat up and was looking dazed. I didn’t think that anyone had ever hit her before.

“What happened, Sakura-chan?” she asked.

“We… we’re where I was before I was with Tamazusa-sama and Samojirou-sama,” I said.

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I wasn’t allowed to say more, because someone grabbed my arm and pulled me away from her. I fought him. “Don’t you―” I half screamed.

I realized that it was one of the TCs who had me. His name was Krauss, and he had always made comments about how pretty I was and had kept touching me. I managed to break out of his hold and dropped into a defensive crouch in front of Fuse, holding out my fan. Part of my lessons with Okita and Yoshinoko were on how to use a fan as a weapon. I was very good with a fan.

“You little shit,” Krauss snarled.

There was a lot of shouting, and it seemed that everyone else was back here, all right. It was confusing with all the noise. I was angry and scared, more for Fuse than myself. I was afraid that what they did to me would happen to her.

“Fucking freak,” someone else said.

“Why did you think that taking her was a good idea?” Mason was shouting in the background.

“That bitch―” Murphy started.

“You’re a fucking idiot,” Mason retorted, “She isn’t Tamazusa. A week with the woman you can’t recognize her? Or you just wanted to fuck someone over, and she was convenient?”

“Kairns, keep your fucking mouth shut,” Murphy roared.

Wolf came up and stood beside Krauss. “We aren’t going to hurt you,” he said soothingly in English. He stooped down and looked at me. “Oh my God! Keno, it’s you! We thought that you were dead.” I just looked at him until he repeated it in Japanese. I seemed to have forgotten English. Or I was in shock and reacting in slow motion.

It didn’t matter that he hadn’t known who I was; I hadn’t wanted him to know, because he would have told the others, and they would have tried to make my life miserable, and Samojirou and the others would have killed them.

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“Her family is going to be angry that she is missing,” I said simply, ignoring him. “She has a large family.” I wasn’t going to explain to him anything else about her family, because it wasn’t his business.

“Sakura-chan?” Fuse asked. She was behind me and sounded scared and confused, and I didn’t like that. She hadn’t even done something stupid like I had; she had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. “This is not a nice place, is it?”

“It isn’t,” I said in Japanese. “They might want to do bad things to you. I don’t know why you’re here.”

“Because the one called Murphy is very angry,” she sighed.

“Keno, you can’t believe that we are going to hurt you or her,” Wolf said.

“I spent most of my time here hiding,” I hissed in Japanese. I wanted Fuse to understand this. “Murphy and McGann didn’t care about me unless it interfered with my work for them. I couldn’t eat half the time, I lived on coffee and fear, and while Heiseg was the first man who raped me, he wasn’t the only one who thought of it.” Wolf stared, shocked and confused.

“Shut your fucking mouth,” Krauss shouted. He had been part of the group that had been after me. I thought that they were going to do something over the holidays, but I always managed to hide or something else would grab their attention, and I would gain some time.

I had run out of it the night that Heiseg had opened that gate.

“Your name is Keno?” Fuse asked me quietly. “I knew that it was not Sakura.”

“Yes,” I said. “Samojirou-sama insisted on calling me Sakura. He told me that I reminded him of one.”

“What did he do to you?” Wolf asked, horrified. He was staring at the clothing and the makeup. I thought he was mad because he didn’t recognize me. Why should he? I was a very different person now.

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I looked up at him. “Samojirou-sama treated me with respect. He talked to me. He took me places; Samojirou-sama realized that I had brains and an opinion about things. He―”

“Dressed you as a woman!” Wolf exclaimed.

“Fucking freak,” Krauss repeated.

“He also knew the word
no
,” I shouted. “He didn’t hurt me.” Wolf looked at me, and I thought he realized what I meant by hurt. Samojirou had gotten a scared, confused kid and taught me to respect and defend myself. People here were going to learn that if they tried anything.

“Enough of this shit,” Murphy yelled.

I didn’t know what he was talking about until I felt a sharp pain in my back. I half turned around, confused, and started screaming when the electricity started pouring through my body. I was still screaming when I passed out.

MASON

I HAD no clue what was going on when it happened. I got shoved through that fucking light and back to Boston. We got everyone through this time, including a couple of extras: Fuse and Sakura. I had no idea what was going through Murphy’s mind―or lack thereof. If he had confused either of them with Tamazusa, he was losing it. Tamazusa was always dressed in dark colors, and these two were wearing brightly colored kimonos. My argument with Murphy about what a screw up this was stopped when I heard Sakura screaming. I turned around and was horrified when I saw that he was being tasered. Then I realized Sakura was Keno. I should have known, but I had thought Sakura was a girl until recently.

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The kid was harmless and probably had just been trying to defend the princess. Wolf looked like someone had punched him in the gut, and Krauss was holding him back, keeping him from grabbing Keno and getting his ass jolted too. The girl didn’t know what was happening, and I walked over and leaned to pick her up. I got her on her feet, and I wasn’t surprised to see that she was shaking. She muttered something in Japanese under her breath.

“English?” I asked.

She looked at me. She saw that I was the reason she wasn’t getting rushed by the rest of the TCs. Keno had stopped screaming because he had passed out, and Wolf was trying to wrestle his way out of Krauss’s hold. Keno was being dragged off someplace, and while I knew I should follow, I figured he’d want me to look out for the girl.

Wolf finally punched Krauss out and followed Keno to wherever he was being taken. He would look after the kid, and I’d protect Keno’s friend.