Gloria Oliver (18 page)

“It burns,” she said.

“What?”

“It burns.” He could hear mystified surprise in her voice. “It must have been what I felt before. I thought I’d pushed myself too far, but—”

“Miko-san, I don’t understand. Why would it burn you? You haven’t even touched it.” What did it mean?

Miko’s eyes were rooted to the kettle. “Though we have traveled long, never before had we found a place we could not go to except here. Never was there anything we could not touch except here.” She sighed. “People throughout time have practiced ways to keep out evil spirits and to exorcise them from their homes. But never had we thought of ourselves as such. Yet, we found the temple grounds had somehow been prepared against us. We couldn’t go in.

“We knew something terrible had happened here. We’d learned of it long ago. Our lord had felt it, just as he had felt the death of the clan—these things are all connected to him. He told me once he might need you to get the kettle for us, but I’d just thought he was being cautious. I never believed until we arrived that the place would be closed to us.”

He stared at the kettle in his hands, awed that such a mundane thing could keep one such as she from touching it. With great care, he inspected the kettle from every side, wondering how it could have such power. As he turned it over, he stopped as he noticed writing had been carved on its bottom. It looked like some sort of invocation. “Could this be what burned you?”

Miko stared at the writing, but before long was forced to avert her gaze. “I don’t know, Toshi-kun,” she admitted. “I have no knowledge of such things. I don’t understand their power.”

“Do you think they knew of you? That this was done to purposely keep you from your goal?” he asked.

“Do you think there are people out there who know you exist?”

Miko sighed. “I can’t even attempt to guess. I didn’t even believe beings like us could exist until we became them. I suppose, perhaps … the ninja … I just don’t know.” Her gaze met his as she studied him thoroughly for the first time since he’d come back to her. “Toshi!”

He leapt to his feet, turning around and drawing his boken without falling. His eyes darted everywhere, looking for whatever had startled the geisha so.

“Sit,” she said.

Confused, he turned back toward her. “Miko-san, what is it?”

Surely, he’d not hurt her again. He sat down reluctantly, watching her when she didn’t answer.

The geisha raised her hand and reached out to touch his mane. “Toshi-kun, what’s happened to your hair?”

“My hair?” He reached up and touched it. It felt all right, his ponytail intact. The geisha brought the end forward so he might look at it.

He gasped. That wasn’t his hair, and yet it was. While it felt the same and was the same length as before, his hair had completely changed from black to a startling white. He blinked several times, not quite ready to believe what he was seeing. He reached out and touched it, recalling the priest’s silver-white mane.

“What does this mean? What happened to you?” Miko asked.

Not able to face her intense gaze, he stared at his hands. “I met a priest in the temple. He told me there was a price to be paid if I was to find the kettle,” he said quietly. “I guess this was part of it.”

Miko stared at him for a long time before saying anything. “What else was part of this price? What else was been done to you?”

He looked up at the abrupt coldness in her tone. “I think he used me and my body to fix the temple. The priest was trying to restore the balance of
wa
in the compound. He wanted to try and diffuse the lingering violence of the past.”

He was surprised by his own statement, but realized it was true. He just had no idea how he knew it.

Miko stared at him in silence. Trying not to fidget under her stare, he looked away.

“It was worth it, though,” he explained. “It really wasn’t that much to pay in order to allow you and the others to go on and for me to go home.”

He found himself suddenly wrapped by her arms. “Toshi, I’m just glad you’re all right.” She sobbed against him.

He didn’t dare move, not wanting to cause the geisha pain in her current condition. He was silent as she cried, happier than he would have ever thought possible that he was no longer alone and that it was Miko who was with him.

After a while, the geisha quieted and released him. They regarded each other in silence.

“Shouldn’t we try and go back to the beach, Miko-san? You really should return to the ship.”

The sound of tinkling bells gave him her answer. “No, Toshi-kun, I can’t. The sunlight pains me in a way I can’t even begin to explain. Under its influence, I can feel myself slowly unraveling to nothingness. I start to lose my sense of self. Even my hat and clothing are no protection against it. Only here in the deep shadows of the trees have I felt a little more like myself.” She looked about as if she were suddenly looking for something. “You, however, should return to the safety of the temple grounds. I will be safe here, and I’ll call you once our lord has returned. It’ll only be for a few hours.”

“But, I can’t just leave you here,” he protested. “You’re hurt, and that ninja is still out there. You’re in no condition to protect yourself from him. I can’t leave you here alone.”

“Toshi-kun, it would be best.”

He stared at her yellowed bones and frail shape. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think it is. I can’t leave you here alone. Besides, it doesn’t matter—he can’t take the kettle. It won’t let him. But he can hurt you if he finds you like this. I doubt I could protect you very well, but at least I could try. You’ve done a lot more than that for me already.”

“My very own protector,” she said. “I take it your newfound manhood will not allow me to dissuade you?”

He bit his tongue to keep from blushing as Miko’s sleeve rose to hide her mouth. He wouldn’t falter or show weakness in his resolve—not in this. He clamped down on the surprise that bubbled up as he realized, for good or ill, she’d come to mean a lot to him.

“No, Miko-san, you can’t convince me otherwise,” he stated. “I will wait here with you until Asaka-sama returns.”

She stared at him for a long moment and then nodded.

“Well, then, protector, would you do me the honor of sitting beside me and sharing the shade of this magnificent tree?” She patted the ground next to her.

Not trusting himself to speak, he did as she asked him. As he sat down, he let out a heavy sigh, the unreality of all that had gone on in the last few days washing over him in a weary wave.

“I think I could get to like your hair looking like this,” she said.

He thought it looked unnatural but didn’t say so. Miko laid her hand lightly on his and hummed a somewhat haunting tune.

His gaze roamed the forest around them, looking for any signs of danger. As time passed, though, he found it harder and harder to keep his eyes open. Miko’s tune had soothed away the excitement and strangeness he’d gone through so far, allowing his original weariness to hold sway.

The afternoon wore on, and the sun lowered toward the horizon. He felt his senses become dull though he tried to stay as alert as possible and not leave Miko on her own. Darkness crept up on them, soon cutting his visibility to nothing. A kernel of fear took root as he knew he’d never be able to spot the ninja here if he decided to attack them.

A cracking sound off to the right brought him to his feet, boken in hand.

“Toshi-kun, what’s wrong?”

Blind in the shrouded darkness, he stepped back until he felt the bark of the tree press against him. He held his boken before him, still trying to figure out what it was he’d heard in the night.

“Toshi-kun, it’s all right,” she said. “Our lord has come for us.”

As she spoke, he choked as a pair of small green lights swung to stare momentarily at him. At the same time he realized it was Asaka, he also recalled he was pointing a sword in his lord’s direction. Overcome by a different kind of fear at the obvious affront, he dropped to his hands and knees and bowed to Asaka.

He stayed in that position, his face close to the ground, waiting to see what would happen. He heard someone move forward and then a strong touch on his arm pulling him upward.

“Report.”

“Hai, Asaka-sama.” He kept his gaze pointed toward the ground, not really relishing the eerie chills that coursed through him at watching Asaka’s green eyes float in the darkness. “I went into the main building of the temple grounds and met a priest there. He gave me the kettle in exchange for remaining with him for a few days.”

There was a long pause.

“Where is it?” The samurai’s voice was tinged with barely restrained excitement.

Toshi looked up, panic rising in his throat, as he didn’t instantly remember where he’d last placed it. He opened his mouth to stumble through some sort of reply when Miko beat him to it.

“Asaka-sama, the object is before you. It is hidden beneath my hat.”

Toshi held his breath as he heard the others step closer. Still unable to see anything, he stared in their direction, hoping the kettle would be where it should be.

Fear-laced suspense knotted his stomach as silence reigned around him. His eyes widened as he abruptly saw the kettle light up with a bright flash.

A soft, surprised whisper filled the returning darkness. The shocked emotion made Asaka’s cold voice seem more human than it had ever been before. “I can’t touch it.”

“Chizuson-san found there are incantations engraved into the bottom of the kettle,” Miko said.

“This was unforeseen.”

A murmur rose among the others but soon fell into silence. Everyone waited for Asaka to speak again.

“Toshiro, you will take the kettle. You and Akiuji-san will stay close to me as we make our way back to the beach.”

“Hai.” He felt Miko beside him as she placed her hand on his arm. She led him to the kettle. It was only then he realized the samurai had once more called him by name.

With a growing sense of pride, he reached down for the kettle as Miko told him where to reach for it.

Holding the wooden handle firmly in one hand, he allowed himself to be led forward. Though he could still see nothing, he sensed the others as they came in close to form a protective cordon around him. He followed Miko’s gentle guidance, thrilled by the fact he felt fingers and not just bones holding his arm.

Though he’d tried not to think about it, he’d been afraid the damage caused to her by the sun might have been permanent.

He wasn’t sure how far they’d traveled when they finally broke through the line of trees. With the light from the stars shining down unimpeded, he was able to see a little of what lay around him. He realized they’d reached the stone pathway leading to the temple complex. Feeling more secure in his footing, he stepped closer to Miko.

“Are you feeling better?” he whispered.

The grip on his arm tightened slightly for a moment. Her lit blue eyes turned to look at him.

“I’m much better. Don’t let it worry you.”

He was about to press the point when a bright green gaze riveted first on him and then the geisha. He quickly decided to keep the remainder of his questions to himself.

The normal sounds of the night were muted, as if the crickets had been muffled one by one. Miko’s sure grip kept him steady as they got off the stairs of stone onto the weed-filled path and then, later, to the road. Eventually, they reentered the forest. He could clearly hear his footsteps as they crunched on fallen leaves and twigs. He could hear none of the others, though they walked right beside him. If not for Miko’s hand on his arm and the occasional flash of light from their eyes, he would have sworn he was alone.

He kept his gaze riveted forward as the scent of fish and salt water filled his lungs. With an eagerness that surprised him, he looked out over the sea as they exited onto the beach, wanting to catch a glimpse of the vessel that had been his home for what seemed like forever. It sat on the dark water like a beacon in the night.

Without delay, Asaka signaled him and Miko to the skiff grounded on the beach, a sentry at its side.

Getting in, he sat on the bottom of the boat as he had done before as it was pushed out into the water.

Asaka and three others joined them, filling the boat to overflowing. Two more swam at the craft’s sides.

Keen dead eyes stared out over the water, scrutinizing the starlit darkness.

Toshi held the kettle on his lap. He wrapped his arms around it, making sure it wouldn’t touch one of the others. The ride back to the ship proved uneventful.

With a sense of deep relief, he climbed aboard, knowing his part of the quest was done. He looked up, abruptly self-conscious as he found those on board staring at him with lit eyes. Trying to ignore them and the way their hard stares made him feel, he turned around to watch the others board. Mitsuo appeared beside him and helped Miko aboard. Once everyone had disembarked, the small boat returned to shore for the rest.

Toshi followed the geisha and the samurai as they climbed up to the higher deck. Mitsuo disappeared.

Asaka ignored everyone and everything as he went to sit at his usual place. Toshi remained standing, surrounded by his ring of guards, the cold already working through his sandals.

Though the men guarding him had never seemed to pay much attention to him before, he now found them occasionally glancing over their shoulders at him when they thought he wasn’t looking. Miko stood beside him, still silent. Since he had some light, he tried to study her as indirectly as the guards were studying him. From what he could see, almost all signs of what had happened to her during the day were gone. Her bones appeared as white as ever, and her kimono was once more filled by the illusion of a womanly form. The only thing that hadn’t returned to normal were her clothes. Though bright yellows, pinks and greens still filled the red fabric, somehow he suspected they were not as bright as they had been the night before.

Mitsuo returned during Toshi’s study of the geisha and brought him a pile of his blankets. Gratefully helping the samurai to set them out, Toshi sat down and placed the kettle beside them. As he wrapped one of the covers around his shoulders, Miko sat down as well.