"Why have I never seen you around the palace before and yet now you're everywhere."
He raised his eyebrows in question. "I've kept mostly to the temple. And other places. I do not care for politics."
"But now you do?"
"Things have changed," he said without elaborating. Suzume frowned. She knew asking him more would yield no results.
When they arrived at the temple, the sun was just starting to peek out over the horizon. It bathed the buildings in a yellow glow.
A group of priests were waiting for them as they pulled up. An ancient man with a long beard stood at the front of the group. They were all dressed in the same way Hikaru, then known as Makato, had been when they'd first met. The thought filled her with shame. As far as she knew, he was still locked in the prison, hopefully alive. She dashed the thought away. She would save him.
Ryuu climbed out of the palanquin first and then Suzume followed right after. The group of warrior priests bowed to her as she approached.
"We have been waiting for you, princess," said the Head Priest once he raised his head. "I am The Head Priest and you've met my second, Ryuu."
"It is a pleasure to meet you," Suzume said, affecting the tone she would have had if she'd been greeting a royal official.
The priest seemed pleased by this and gestured for her to go up the stairs. She walked beside the Head Priest, Ryuu, and the others just behind them. Though the priest was old, he climbed the steps with ease. While Suzume was trying not to visibly pant as the stairs became steeper toward the top.
The priest prattled on, "You will be coming here several times a week. We hope to help you master your powers and better harness them. I hear you have a lot of raw power." The priest gave her a sly smile.
Suzume distracted by trying to breathe panted, "Uh, yes."
They reached the top of the steps, onto a large compound of buildings. In the center courtyard was a large gingko tree. Its enormous branches spread outward and cast shade over much of the courtyard. Priests in identical uniforms walked back and forth about their duties.
Though she had not spent long at the mountain shrine, the place had the same feeling of quiet, overall stifled control. She wasn't sure she was going to fit in here.
"Ryuu will be in charge of your training, but I shall check on you from time to time." The old man bowed and left her alone with Ryuu before she could even voice a protest.
"Shall we?" Ryuu said.
"Does it have to be you?" she asked, arms crossed over her chest.
He laughed. "I'm afraid so. Emperor's orders, remember?"
"Let’s get this over with then," she said, strutting forward. She went a few steps before realizing she had no idea where she was going.
Ryuu was already at her side. "That eager, I see."
She glared in reply.
Ryuu led her across the courtyard toward a secluded area of the compound. Here the sounds of clashing wooden weapons and the grunts of men sparring filled the air. This was not a place of quiet reflection, but a battleground. Idle priests gathered around a sparring two, who were fighting bare-handed using a complicated series of moves to disarm the other.
They watched as one man pinned another to the ground. When the match was called the winner helped the loser stand up much to the cheering and condolences of his comrades.
Ryuu had disappeared during the fight but returned with a wooden sword which he threw at Suzume.
She caught it after a quick fumble.
"What's this for?"
"I want to see what you're capable of."
Despite her hopes that with the previous fight done the crowd would disperse, the men remained gathered around. Suzume felt their eyes on her and thinking about her own limited ability with fighting, she feared making a complete fool of herself.
"I don't fight with a sword. I use my staff." She gestured to the staff strapped to her back.
"The staff has greater reach than a sword. I want you on equal ground with your opponent."
"What opponent?" She squawked. He wasn't going to spar with her, was he? She could already imagine the rumors that would fly if she was flattened by Ryuu.
Just holding the wooden sword felt awkward. There was no way she could beat him with it.
"Haruto," Ryuu called out to the group of men hanging around. One scrawny young man stepped forward. He had the barest hint of fuzz on his upper lip. He couldn't be older than Suzume, and he might be even younger.
"I want you to fight him."
"She's a girl," the youth complained.
Suzume shot him a dirty look.
"Are you insinuating it would be embarrassing to be beaten by a girl? Or were you thinking of holding back because of her gender?"
The young man stared at the ground while his companions snickered behind him.
"Why don't you spar with her first and then we'll see who’s the more capable fighter."
Suzume glared at Ryuu. He'd just set her up. Now this young man would be determined to beat her. It wasn't like it was going to be hard. She'd never won a sparring match, ever. She had to get out of this.
"You want me to fight a little boy?" she asked.
"I'm a man," he said as his voice cracked, making him look even more juvenile.
"Don't worry about getting hurt. It's just sparring," Ryuu countered.
She glared at him but couldn't think of a way to wiggle out of this situation without taking a blow to her pride. At least if she fought him she'd have a chance of winning. I've fought yokai that could snap him like a twig.
Now that she was fired up, Suzume took her position facing the man but she could not find a comfortable way to hold the wooden sword.
"Wait." Ryuu came up and gently pushed her hands into place and turned her shoulders slightly.
"I know my form is not perfect. I don't fight with a sword, remember?" she said, stopping his critiques before they happened.
"Your form could be improved, but overall it seems like you have the basics." Then to her surprise he went to the young man and made adjustments to his grip and stance.
She blinked after him. Kaito or Tsuki had always criticized her lack of ability. But here it seemed she wasn't the only one who wasn't perfect.
Ryuu stepped back and the skirmish began. The two circled one another. Suzume found herself running through all of Tsuki's teaching, and what she'd learned from fighting yokai. The young man moved quickly but his swing was slow. His first blow hit her hard on the arm and she almost dropped her sword.
But when he came in and swung at her in the exact same way as before, she was able to anticipate his blow and countered. She tried her own offensive move but found it missed the mark. The next couple minutes was a lot of trial and error. She struck, he struck. It was like dancing in slow motion. But she could also see he was getting tired. His movements were slower, sloppier. Though her breathing was heavy, she found that she could still move with some agility.
When one of his too slow swings came toward her, Suzume struck his forearm. He yelped and dropped his weapon to the ground. He grasped his arm, while his friends hissed or jeered at him.
Suzume stood staring at the wooden sword on the ground for several minutes.
"I did it," she said, gasping. Sweat was rolling down her face. She'd sparred countless times with Tsuki and she'd never been able to disarm him or make any progress at all. She'd never felt so powerful before.
The young man's friends merged around him, giving condolences and teasing.
Ryuu stepped up. "You've lost. Show your respect," he said to the young man.
He grudgingly bowed his head before he and his friends scurried away.
"Your form needs work, and you're too quick to attack. You should watch your opponent first."
"I won, didn't I?"
Ryuu handed her a cup of water in response. At first she considered refusing it but she was too thirsty to really consider it. She gulped it down and came up gasping for air. Ryuu watched her silently a
ll the while.
"You won because they are untrained, just as you are."
"I'm not untrained." Well sort of trained. Up until now she'd only ever fought against yokai.
"You've got the advantage of experience but you lack discipline. That's the sort of thing that will get you killed."
Suzume sipped on her water and peered at him from the corner of her eye. Was he trying to make her angry? All the excitement from winning her match had been deflated.
"I think we've done enough training for today,” Ryuu said.
Suzume leaped up. She didn't have to be told twice. "Great." She headed for the exit.
"I can show you out."
"No, I know the way." She waved at him as she casually strolled toward the exit. She waited to make sure he was gone before making a sharp turn to investigate the temple grounds. It was likely she wouldn't find anything at all, but who knew when this sort of opportunity would come up again.
She skimmed around buildings and down a corridor. Now if I was going to keep yokai trapped in stones, where would I store them?
As Suzume searched she felt something—a distant tingle on the back of her neck, as if an invisible hand was guiding her. She decided to follow her gut and found a room. The door wasn't locked but a barrier shimmered around it. This had to be it. She held her breath as she passed through the barrier.
Inside was not her friends as she had hoped, but the neko who'd tried to kidnap her.
18
Suzume drew her weapon and stood in a defensive position, her staff across her body. The yokai was lounging on the futon in the middle of the room, his eyes half closed, as he casually glanced over his shoulder in her direction.
"Put that down, girl, before you hurt yourself," the neko said with a bored drawl. He closed his eyes before laying back down on the futon.
"What are you doing here?"
"Trying to sleep. If you don't mind someone burned me badly recently and I need to recover." He peered at her through one narrowed, golden eye. He might pretend to be relaxed but Suzume could feel his spiritual energy uncoiling from him. It reacted with her own fire which crackled in her defense.
"I meant what are you doing here in the temple? How did a yokai enter this place?"
The neko sighed in exasperation and sat up to face her, his paw-like hands placed on his knees. Bare patches of pink skin healed around his eyes where she had burned him.
"You're the one snooping in my master's room. Perhaps I should be the one asking the questions."
He stood up, his body elongating in an exaggerated stretch. Suzume made a quick glance toward the door. She could make a run for it but that would also mean leaving her back exposed to a potential enemy—one she'd only just barely managed to escape the last time.
"Don't come close or I'll burn you again." Suzume held up her flaming hand in warning.
The neko chuckled. "The only reason I let you burn me the first time was because Ryuu ordered it."
The neko stalked closer and the flames rose up along Suzume's flesh, Kazue's defense coming to her aid. But she didn't run away. The neko's words had intrigued her.
"Ryuu ordered you?" she asked. I knew there was something suspicious about him.
"You ask too many questions." He extended his claws in a threatening manner. Suzume backed up and held up her staff.
"Stay back."
The neko only smiled as he lunged for her. Suzume swung her staff upward, catching the cat yokai on the chin. It knocked him backward and she took her chance to head for the door. But when she spun around to escape, she found the doorway filled.
"Why am I not surprised to find you here," Ryuu said. He did not approach her, nor did he move from the doorway.
"The girl came sneaking into your room, master," the neko said.
"And she got in because you were napping."
The neko flicked his double blue, flame-tipped tails behind his back, not answering his master's inquiry.
Suzume held her staff up as if the thin piece of wood would be enough to defend her. She had seen him fight, and even if she had beat that warrior priest in training, she doubted she was any match for the master. She was the mouse caught in their trap.
She did the only logical thing she could think to do. Confront him. "You tried to kidnap me!" She pointed at him with her staff.
"That's not how I would put it," Ryuu said, his blue eyes raking over her body.
"Then maybe it was attempted murder." She hated the way his gaze seemed to pierce right through her, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking and he was already five steps ahead.
"I'm not your enemy, Suzume," Ryuu said as he held his hand out to her like she was a wild animal he was trying to tame. And a part of her felt like a cornered beast. Her heart was racing and the flame churned in her gut, begging her to unleash it, to burn her way out of here.
"Like I'm going to believe that when your pet tried to murder me."
"I'm no pet,” the neko hissed and leaned toward her. She swiveled in his direction, thrusting her burning staff toward him as a warning to stay back.
The neko stood back, his cat ears turned backward and his tails twitching even faster behind him.
The combination of yokai energy and Ryuu's immense spiritual presence was too much for her and she felt her own fear rising, along with the power inside her growing to protect her from the threat. Not now. I will not lose control. Her power was not willing to listen to her orders, and unfortunately sparks danced along her skin and the panic only grew.
"I sent him to rescue you," Ryuu said.
Suzume, distracted by her powers going haywire, looked at him in confusion. That was a first.
"Rescue me from what? You were the one attacking me!"
"You need to leave the palace."
"I don't know if you've forgotten, but you were the one who captured me and my friends." She threw her arms out. Had this man lost his mind or did he really have two different personalities?
"It was the only way I could protect you from him."
"Him who..." Suzume asked slowly.
"The emperor." Ryuu's words seemed to ring out through the room. She'd suspected her father was a danger to her from the beginning, but even if that was true Ryuu was still behind the attack at the onsen and here at the palace. She wasn't about to believe him either.
She forced a laugh. "What danger could the emperor hold against me?"
"I think you already know."
Suzume searched his expression, searching for any small hint of his intention. "You serve the emperor."
The neko's laughter broke the tense silence.
Ryuu shot him a look, real anger on his face. It was a peek behind the mask. She'd hit close to home, she suspected.
The neko's laughter died away and Suzume smiled, deciding now was her chance to stress the point.
"What are you really planning? Who do you work for?" She'd already deduced he wasn't Hisato, but perhaps he was one of his allies.
"I have no designs for the throne or the responsibility of ruling if that's what you're asking."
"But you're trying to tell me my own father has some sort of plan to hurt me?"
The neko chortled and Suzume resisted the urge to glare at him. Instead she glared at Ryuu. Back in the palace garden, he had been talking with her mother's allies. He was searching for Izume.
Ryuu turned his back to her and peeked his head out the door before turning back inside. "You should leave this place before the others see you here."
"I'm not going anywhere until you answer me," Suzume said, digging in her heels even as he started tugging her toward the door.
The yokai came up behind her and gave her a shove. Suzume spun around and threatened to slap the neko with a flaming hand.
"Maybe I didn't burn you bad enough the first time?" she growled.
The neko appeared unamused and flexed his clawed hand. "If you'd like to try a real fight, I'd be happy to oblige," he said. His eyes shifted in co
lor and his body grew in size. Thick patches of hair grew all over his body, and his front teeth elongated.
"Enough," Ryuu snapped. There were a pop and a puff of smoke and where the neko had been was now just an ordinary cat. Suzume was so stunned that she forgot for a moment that Ryuu was trying to shove her out the door without answering her questions. The cat glared at the pair of them, his tail twitching back and forth in agitation.
"How did you do that?" Suzume asked.
Ryuu sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "We are bonded. I hate doing that to him. He's going to give me hell for this," Ryuu said. The cat knocked over a sword propped against the nearby wall, and then jumped onto the nearest dresser and proceeded to knock everything onto the ground. The sounds of shattering objects filled the room.
Ryuu turned away from them as if it did not matter at all. She had so many questions about bonding. Thinking back to how she had commanded Kaito to stay away made her curious. Was the command permanent? Were they forced to listen? But she wasn't about to ask Ryuu that.
Suzume shook her head. "What is my father planning? Can't you tell me that?"
"You're woefully stubborn," he sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. His eyes flickered to the cat who was tearing apart the room. Perhaps it was because the dragon had been at the top of her mind, but his posture reminded her of Kaito when she was being stubborn. Now is not the time to think about him.
"I've been told that before."
The cat knocked over a large painted vase and pieces of ceramic shattered onto the ground. The cat had perched on the highest ledge in the room and stared down at the pair of them scornfully. Ryuu looked at the shattered pieces before turning to Suzume once more. "He wants to use your power for himself."
She scoffed. "I know. He's asked me already."
The Song of the Wind Page 13
