by Devin Madson
“Still not feeling well, I see,” she said. “Can you ride?”
“Like this?” I said, my voice cracked and dry and sounding as terrible as I felt. Like I’d lain on a track and let carts roll over me all night.
“Yes. We have to leave.”
“Why?” Keep it turned in, don’t look, don’t look, I chanted to myself and retched again.
“Because Katashi’s army is almost here and we can’t stay. Darius had word this morning and rode off to meet with Emperor Kin. Lucky me, I’m entrusted with getting you away safely.”
I didn’t need my Empathy to catch the sound of annoyance in her voice.
“I might be able to ride Kaze,” I said, hating to once more find myself the object of her dislike. “At least, I could hold on and he could follow you, or…”
“We’ll make it work. Here.” She held out a cup of water. “Drink this and see if you feel a little better. Then I’ll help you out to the stables.”
“We’re going now?”
“Yes, now. There’s no time to waste.”
Kimiko sat gnawing her lip while I alternately sipped the water and retched, every part of my body taking its turn to tremble. Apart from asking me once if I was cold, she said nothing, just clutched a bag of supplies and watched the door. When I had downed as much of the water as I could, I gripped the rotting windowsill and hauled myself onto shaky feet.
I might have fallen had Kimiko not ducked beneath my arm to take my weight. “I’m sorry, I’ll be better on Kaze.”
“It’s fine,” she said and, with her arm around my waist, guided my steps out through the door that seemed intent on spinning.
The house was quiet, owning none of the soft sounds that had begun to inhabit it of late, no rustling papers or footsteps or humming messengers, just silent, dead air. The urge to stretch my Sight out was strong, but I swallowed it down and curled an arm around my stomach.
Without faltering, Kimiko helped me out the door and across the courtyard, where piles of old leaves and petals had been swept away from the discoloured Errant boards. Darius had started making small changes to the house, and I could only hope it would survive the war so he could finish the job. Perhaps when the war was over, he would let me live here as I ought to have done, but however pleasant that thought, it was followed by a far grimmer pursuer. Like you are going to make it out of this alive. This is killing you. Feel it killing you.
My foot caught the lifted edge of a paving stone, and but for Kimiko’s arm, I would have fallen and struggled to get back up, so weak I felt, every limb little more than the trembling branch of an undernourished sapling.
Somehow, we made it to the stables without incident, and there was Kaze. He bent his head to me, but I felt no glow of pleasure at my arrival, not even when I put my hand to his neck. A stab of loneliness pierced my heart.
“Are you all right?” Kimiko said as I wiped my eyes on my sleeve. “I’ve already saddled up and checked everything over. Do you need me to help you up?”
I shook my head, but she did so anyway, helping my foot find the stirrup as though I’d been at the wine. The effort of hauling myself the rest of the way left the stable spinning, and I retched some of the water she’d given me onto the straw. It didn’t make anything spin less, and I lay down upon Kaze’s neck, unable to feel the care and concern he would surely have exuded.
By the time the world stopped seesawing around me, we were through the gates. There Kimiko halted and looked back toward the house, its derelict façade peering mournfully over the old wall.
“I had forgotten what fresh air smelt like,” she said, forcing a smile as she set her horse walking. Kaze followed, and wishing we could already stop so I could lie down, I clung on, hating every step.
Instead of following the road, Kimiko turned south off the carriageway, brushing through a tight knot of trees. Kaze tossed his head as leaves flicked him in the nose, his complaints silent where once they would have been vociferous. “Calm, my friend,” I said, trying to shakily push the branches aside. “We’ll be out soon.”
But the thicket stretched on, seemingly without end. We stopped once to rest, but it did my aching limbs no service, and all too soon we were moving again.
By the time we reached the edge of the woods, noon had come and gone. Kimiko’s shortcut had brought us to a plateau where wavering heat rose from the black stones. Below us, a spur jutted from the mountainside, and jagged rocks dropped away on either side. “All right?” she asked, stopping to look back at me. “If you need me to, I can lead the horses while you lie over the saddle.”
“That sounds even more uncomfortable,” I croaked. “How much farther are we going?”
“Not much, I think.”
“You think? Where are we meeting Darius?”
“He said there was a village down this way and he’d meet us there. We can rest here and then keep going.”
I dozed a while on the grass but still felt no better when the time came to mount again and move on. In this stop-start fashion, we slowly traversed the wild terrain until the sun began to set, sliding ever closer to the distant bulk of the Kuro Mountains.
“Are you sure we’ll make it before dark?” I said when Kimiko halted at the edge of another rocky spur. “Why don’t we stop here for the night, where there’s cover?”
“No. We keep moving.”
“And if one of our horses sprains its ankle stepping into a rabbit hole? We have less than an hour left of daylight, if that.”
“Its ankle?” She turned a quizzical look over her shoulder. “Don’t you know anything about horses?”
“Not much. But I know they can hurt themselves.”
“It’ll be fine. The rest of the way looks easy.”
I looked blearily at the track down the mountainside, through sharp black rocks and nests of thin grass tangled like hair. “After this bit, you mean.”
“Yes, after this bit. Hold on, all right? You’d probably break something if you toppled off and went rolling down there.”
With our backs to the setting sun, we began the descent, cutting diagonally down the slope. Kimiko’s eyes darted everywhere and she gripped her reins tight, crushing the leather in whitening fingers. Wherever we were going, I just wanted to get there, just wanted to lie down and never move again.
Despite her assurance, night soon fell upon us, and as darkness gathered, the urge to use my Empathy strengthened. Without it the night was full of nothing but unexpected sounds that sped my heart to a fearful frenzy.
Kimiko stopped. “I think we have company,” she said, her eyes darting at shadows.
“What? Who?” I hissed.
“Shhh!”
Fear that it would consume me was all that kept my Sight from ranging over the world, seeing as I had always seen. I hated having no warning, hated being unable to hear or feel the intent of those who might be coming for us. It took everything I had to keep turning my Empathy in.
The world spun, and unable to hold on to Kaze any longer, I tumbled onto the hard ground.
“Endymion!” Stones crunched as she landed beside me. “Are you all right?”
“Fine,” I croaked, a hand to my aching head.
You’ll get used to it, I told myself. It’s the way everyone else sees the world.
But you aren’t like everyone else. You’re a god.
More footsteps sounded, then a new voice brought lantern light that glared into my face. “Who are you?” it growled. “And what are you doing out here?”
“My name is Lady Kimiko Otako and I am here to see my brother.”
I looked up as she spoke, shock momentarily stopping the world from spinning. She met my gaze, no apology in her expression, only a mutinous setting of her jaw.
“Lady Kimiko Otako?” the newcomer said.
“Yes.”
I hadn’t questioned her. I hadn’t even thought to doubt or mistrust because she carried Darius’s mark, because she loved him, because it had sounded so true. Because
for once, it had been nice to trust without the assurance of my Sight.
“And who is this?”
Looking at me again, she said, “A gift.”
I closed my eyes, too sore and sick and tired to do more than let out a breathless laugh at how easily I had been played. The war had come to us. Katashi’s army had been right nearby, but she’d never intended to run.
Strong hands lifted me, a shoulder jammed into my gut, and the sickening swirl of the world continued while I bumped along against someone’s back. Too fatigued to care, I let myself be carried, Kimiko’s feet all I could see of her now.
“Where’s Darius?” I managed, the only question that seemed important anymore.
“I left him behind,” she said, no break in her stride as she kept up with my carrier.
“At the house?”
“Yes. I gave him some bark that puts you into a deep sleep. He probably hasn’t even woken yet, or if he has, he’s feeling as poorly as you are.”
I thought of Darius waking alone in the house to find himself abandoned, just like the boy our father had once dragged into a maze and left to die.
Firelight flickered and a gentle susurrus of voices and soft steps rose around us.
“I had no choice,” Kimiko said, though I had not challenged her. “He would have taken the crown back to Kin and led Katashi into a trap. I may be angry he sold me to Malice, but Katashi is my brother. I could not let him be destroyed for the Usurper.”
“But you’ll let Darius be destroyed by Malice?”
Her silence was an itchy, uncomfortable thing, and for the first time I was glad I could feel it no closer.
“Darius didn’t tell you Malice was on his way? I warned Darius he was coming. He…” It took such effort to keep talking when all I wanted to do was sleep. “He said he would stay. Face him. Not… run.”
She stopped, but the man carrying me walked on without pause. “Oh gods.” It was a small, plaintive moan, barely audible over the chatter of the army camp, yet I heard as much horror and agony and remorse in it as I could ever have felt with my Empathy.
“What have you got there?” called a voice ahead.
“Lady Kimiko Otako and a gift,” returned my carrier. “Is His Majesty in?”
“Katashi!” Kimiko dashed past in a cloud of curls and pushed through the tent flap. My carrier followed, red fabric brushing over me as we passed from darkness into bright lantern light. Before my eyes could adjust, I was dropped onto a square of matting so fresh it still smelt of the sun, its reeds like spun gold. Overhead, spoke a familiar voice.
“Did Malice send you? What does he want?”
“No. No, I’m free. But—”
A sharp slap of skin and Katashi gave a grunt of pain, his hand flying to his cheek.
“I deserved that,” he said.
“You deserve worse,” she said as she slid her arms around him and was crushed in an embrace. “You owe me and I need your help. I need you to send some of your men to Darius’s house at Esvar to find him and bring him here safely.”
Katashi stepped back, holding her at arm’s length to search her face. “Laroth? Why?”
“He’s the one who let me go, Katashi. I cannot let Malice take him back.”
“Malice? Kimiko, you go too fast for me,” Katashi said. “And why do you have Endymion with you? He looks half-dead.”
“I will explain it all in a moment, but first, please do this for me? You owe me, Brother, you know you do.”
“I do, but if you’re free of them, I’d rather not get mixed up in anything the Vices are doing. The pair of them have almost cost me everything.”
She reached up to grip his cheeks between her hands, forcing him to stoop as she hissed in his face. “I am not asking you to get mixed up in anything, Katashi, I am asking you to save the man I love from Malice.”
Unable to feel anything from them, I could not understand the moment of silence that hung, could not fathom the stillness, the little grimace on Katashi’s face or the quick squeeze of Kimiko’s fingers into fists as she let him go. There was just emptiness and nothing, then he nodded. “Fine. I’ll send men for him. Lots, in case he’s not alone.”
“Oh gods, tell them to hurry, Katashi. And tell them not to harm him.”
Scowling, Katashi left the tent and muffled words sounded outside. We were alone, but Kimiko did not look at me. She went on clenching and loosening her fists and, when she caught me watching, began to pace.
A few minutes later, Katashi returned. He swept me in his frustrated gaze. “Men are on their way. Now I hope one of you intends to tell me what the fuck is going on.”
“I will tell you about Darius later,” Kimiko said. “First, I have some fine gifts for you.” She unslung the bag she had been carrying since Esvar from her shoulder and held it out to him. “Here. You can have it back.”
Katashi took it. His fingers worked loose the ties and from inside rose the spikes of the Hian Crown. “I thought it might have been you who stole it.”
“Yes, but only because I had to. Now I’m bringing it back. Along with the information that Dari—Lord Laroth has organised to meet with Emperor Kin in the early hours of the morning to tell him the location of your army. Darius was out in his calculations, however, and thinks you are still a few days from here, but either way, he told me where Kin is and it’s close. Really close.”
“Close enough to attack tonight before he realises his mistake?”
“Yes, but if you really want to make him hurt, send Endymion to the meeting in Darius’s place first.”
Katashi had been checking the crown over as they spoke, but he stopped at that and glanced up. Despite the kindness he had once shown me, there was no friendliness in his eyes now. “Why am I sending someone to meet the Usurper when I can just attack him?”
“Because Kin won’t know what to do when faced with Takehiko Otako.”
Katashi stared down at me, his eyes a pair of hard sapphires set beneath heavy brows. “Takehiko? You’re Takehiko Otako?”
I could find no strength to answer and closed my eyes, as though to block out the rage that was surely coming. It was enough confirmation for Katashi. He crouched in front of me, silk shifting with every movement of his body. “You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“And I thought we were friends.”
I shut my eyelids tighter as though I could keep from hearing the note of hurt in his voice, but it was still there and it was everything I had ever wanted it to be. Friends. If only I hadn’t been something he hated. Hadn’t owned a name he feared.
“Lord Takehiko Otako,” Katashi said, rising to stride across the floor from the dry reeds to the carpet and back. “Lord Takehiko Otako, heir to the Crimson Throne.”
“I don’t want it.”
“No?” He spun back to face me. “Do you think it matters what you want?”
“I’m not Emperor Lan’s son.”
He laughed, but the feeling of mirth that had once played its joy through my body was absent, making his laugh sound cruel and strange. “I know that,” he said. “Everyone knows that. But you were officially acknowledged, so it doesn’t matter that you were a freakish bastard squeezed from between your mother’s legs, you’re still the rightful heir. I’ve seen the papers.” Katashi spat. “And here you are, back from the dead. Do you expect to be welcomed into the family?”
Stung, I went to rise, only to feel the weight of a hand upon my shoulder. “Don’t even think about moving,” my carrier said. “Stay on your knees.”
“Or you’ll kill me?” I said, turning to see the tail of a black sash. “I’m already dead.”
“You soon could be.” Katashi lifted Hacho from her holster in one smooth movement. The arrow was in his hand, an instant all it took to nock and draw, Hacho’s body pulled into a grin. “I could put this arrow through the back of your head in a heartbeat and save myself a lot of trouble. Tell me why I shouldn’t?”
“You idiot, Katashi,” Kimiko
snapped. “You shouldn’t because you should send him to meet Kin. Give him an imperial robe and parade him in so Kin cannot just get rid of him.”
Katashi relaxed his bow arm but did not turn the arrow aside. It was pointed at my right eye, and staring at that barbed point, I began to wonder what it would feel like to die.
Slowly Katashi’s lips broke into a smile. “The honourable Emperor Kin,” he said. “Once master of the Imperial Guard. He took the oath. Yes, and not just any oath.” He barked a laugh. “General Kin, sworn protector of Emperor Lan and all of his children. He is honour-bound not only to keep you safe but to uphold your claim to the throne. And if he doesn’t… everyone will know.
“I think it’s time I gave the Usurper a present.” He drew Hacho’s string taut and shifted his aim. The arrow was all I could see, the world containing nothing but this sharp metal point, darkened with black ink.
“Katashi!”
The barbed tip pierced my skin, throwing me off balance. Again the tent spun but I was on the floor now, breath hissing in and out through my clenched teeth.
“What a mess,” Katashi said over my rapid breaths. “If you hadn’t moved, it would have just gone clean through your arm and stuck well.”
“Katashi, you didn’t have to do that!” Kimiko snapped. “He needs to be alive to meet Kin, not dead.”
“Yes, but this way, everyone will know who sent him.”
Standing over me, Katashi was looking the wound over critically. I could not look at it, but my fingers found a mangled lump of flesh wet with blood, sharp barbs sticking through what was left of my skin. Sick, I tried to rise only to fall back shaking.
“Leave the arrow in him,” Katashi said, speaking to the man who had carried me in. “Bring me ink. I’ll write Kin a message to go with so wonderful a gift.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“That was totally unnecessary,” Kimiko said.
“Perhaps.” Katashi knelt before me. “But I feel much better.”
He touched the arrow. It bounced gently, tearing a strangled cry from my throat. “We conquer. You bleed,” Katashi said, stroking the Otako motto branded upon the shaft. “This is nothing personal, you know. But I have a war to win.”
