Raven's Quest

by Karen Hayes-Baker

“Home. I…, I had not really thought of it. I…, it has been too hectic and following the battle I have felt that…, more and more I feel like…,” uncharacteristically Thom faltered and his treacherous eyes darted towards Mizuki just as at the same time hers sought his. He smiled at her, an expression she echoed before rapidly looking away. The betrayal was complete; Karasu and Stefan had both witnessed it.

  “Thom, stop this!” Karasu urged shoving his face close to Devlin's and talking in a whisper. “It come to nothing. You must know this.”

  The ronin watched as the Kapitan’s face darkened and fought with rising emotions. He had of course known of the affection Devlin held for his twin, but he had hoped that sense had been realised. Apparently not. Thom did not speak. For several seconds he stared only at the table. At last he raised his eyes and the look Karasu saw their sent a stab of sympathy straight through his heart. Stefan sighed and took another sip of his saki.

  “For the Gods sake Thom!” he uttered under his breath.

  “What!” Thom snapped twisting his head around to stare with candid anger at Marrel. He felt a hand on his arm. It was Karasu.

  “Thom. Listen to me. Hayato never let you marry Mizuki. You foreigner and you not of noble blood. She daughter of great Lord. It expected that she marry into nobility,” the ronin explained gently.

  Thom pulled his arm away churlishly.

  “But she will not marry a noble man will she Karasu? Because she is Sennjo. You dare not risk her being found out. Do not look surprised, she told me of this hypocrisy. Tis alright for you to do as you please, but she must be and has been a prisoner in her own home, carrying a secret that only brings her unhappiness.

  “I can give her more than that. Help me and I can give her the life she desires. I can make her happy,” Thom pressed, his whisper desperate.

  “She not unhappy Thom,” Karasu said though he knew that this was not completely true, that Mizuki longed for the very thing that Devlin offered. He felt torn between the dictates of protocol, sympathy for the sister he loved and surprisingly, the jealousy he still harboured at her love of this man.

  “She is a young woman with feelings and needs of her own. Do you intend to keep her locked away from the world until she withers and dies? Tis inhuman, like caging a wild bird. She will sing her song but it will remain unheard and lost.”

  Karasu shook his head. Why had this happened? Why could Devlin not simply go away? Why had Mizuki fallen in love with a man she could never be with? Yet he knew that the Kapitan spoke the truth. That Mizuki could never marry any man and that she was, to all intents and purposes, as much a prisoner here as she had been in Hana-Shi-Ku.

  “Could you not help me? I had hoped that by staying to fight for Hayato that he would think of me more highly. I have risked my life more than once for this family. Surely I have the right to ask for something in return,” Thom pushed sensing that the ronin wavered.

  “He give you reward in gold and silks,” Karasu argued without any real conviction.

  “Recompense for what I had lost that is all,” Thom retorted his confidence growing. He smelt the changing of a mind, the acknowledgment of reason. “Besides, you are wrong when you say I am not of noble blood. I am the son of a Queen,” he added with a confident grin.

  “You are a pirate Thom,” Marrel muttered with an exasperated sigh. Thom opened his mouth to retort, but instead turned back to the ronin and pleaded, “Karasu?”

  Karasu looked up at him and beyond to Stefan.

  “There is a way, though tis one I hesitate to suggest,” Stefan replied to the unasked question.

  “No, it too dangerous and too…, final,” the ronin responded alarmed at the implication.

  “What?” Thom demanded a little too loudly as a few faces turned in their direction. His companions did not answer but stared at each other for a moment prompting the Kapitan to insist on them enlightening him.

  “You could go to Hayato and challenge him for Mizuki. He has to honour the challenge as you have a right to make it. You saved his life and as you said, you have risked yours for the sake of his family and people. Tis too great a debt he owes to not honour your request,” Stefan obliged.

  “I would have to fight him?” Thom asked incredulously but with growing hope.

  “No. He is the Presidor. He cannot be put at risk for something as trivial as a duel, but he would appoint a Champion to fight on his behalf.”

  “Well, I’m game,” Thom declared with a half laugh.

  “Thom. Do not answer rashly. Think what you say. What Stefan not tell is that this is fight to death. It not been used for decades and suggestion is ridiculous,” Karasu snapped with a glower at Marrel.

  “I fancy my chances. I’m a good swordsman. This leg is a bit of encumbrance at the moment, but I do not think it will handicap me greatly,” Thom announced with boastful confidence.

  Karasu groaned.

  “Yes you fight well, but you not know how to fight with katana. You cannot choose weapons Thom. This as much about ritual as way of settling argument. You not stand chance.”

  Thom grabbed the ronin’s arm and pushed his face close. His eyes flashed with passion and pleading desperation.

  “Help me then! I would do anything Karasu. You must understand that. If this is what it takes then I will do it. Will you help me?” he begged.

  Karasu looked to the white knuckles clasping his arm so tight that his own hand was turning blue. He saw and heard the despair in the Kapitan’s voice and relinquished.

  “Very well,” he said sadly, “but first I talk to him. I rather try reason than you risk life again.”

  Karasu talked with his brother. He spent two long hours trying to persuade Hayato that Thom would make a good brother-in-law, that now was the time to sweep aside the old ways and old prejudices. How better to honour the man that saved all three lives of the Oyama family than to acquiesce to his request. He stressed how much Mizuki cared for Thom also and had used the same argument the Kapitan had regarding her future prospects or rather the lack of. It was all in vain.

  “I am sorry Brother, but my answer is still no,” Hayato said finally. He saw the frustration upon his sibling’s face and he smiled. “You think I am harsh, that I do not understand or care for our sister’s happiness. I see by your expression that you do.” He sighed.

  “Stop pacing Karasu and sit. Listen to me. I owe Kapitan Devlin a great debt and yes in a fairer world I might grant his request, but the people are not yet ready. They revere him as a hero, but he is still a foreigner. They will not tolerate his marriage to a noble woman. Can you not see that? You saw how Jun and Daiki reacted when Mizuki joined us in the war council. Now Jun is dead but I need the support of men like Hiraiwa. I cannot rule effectively without that support.”

  “Then let them go away some place. At least she will have everything a woman wants and needs,” Karasu argued still pacing and growing more frustrated by the minute. He could see the sense in Hayato’s words.

  “And where would they go? You cannot seriously think that Mizuki could live a life at sea can you? It is a hard life and one she is not accustomed to.”

  “Of course not, but some place here. In the mountains or a village along the coast maybe,” Karasu tried.

  “Brother, I know men like Thom Devlin. He will not settle to a quiet rural life with a wife and children. He is an adventurer. He craves action and he welcomes violence. You of all people must know this. You have seen him fight. He relishes the excitement of it. It did not truly take much to persuade him to help us did it? How long do you think a man like that will remain happy with only the love of a woman to hold him?” Hayato held up his hand noticing his brother open his mouth to object.

  “Hear me out Karasu. Believe me, I like Devlin and I would do almost anything to make my sister happy, but would it not be irresponsible of me and far crueller to allow them to marry only for him to leave her? It is far better to part them now, before she grows dependent upon him, before they lived as man
and wife and before she bore his children. What would happen to her when he abandons his responsibilities to satisfy his desire for adventure?”

  “You really think he would? I have seen the love between them. Part of me feels what Mizuki feels because we share a mind. I cannot see that he would ever hurt her,” Karasu objected.

  “Yes I think he would do this. He is headstrong and rash. I do not doubt that he loves her, but in the end he will hurt her. You know this is true Karasu and I think, deep down, she does too. You have spoken with her on this matter?”

  Karasu nodded miserably. He was not going to win this fight.

  “Yes. She hoped I could persuade you, just as he did,” he admitted.

  “I am sorry but my answer is still no.” Hayato stood from his seat upon the cushioned tatami floor of his private interview chamber. He joined his younger brother by the window that opened onto a small formal garden of exquisitely sculpted topiary and dwarf Acers.

  “You know he will challenge you for her when I tell him this?” Karasu said softly.

  Hayato stared with disbelief, visibly shaken.

  “Someone told him of this option?” he enquired keeping his voice deliberately steady.

  “Levtenant Marrel. I know he regrets it now. He did not think that Thom would take it seriously, but he is very determined.”

  Hayato sucked in a long whistling breath. His eyes roved around the garden, his mind thinking furiously.

  “You must try and convince him otherwise Karasu,” he said at last.

  “How can I do that? He is obsessed and driven by desire. He will not see reason,” the ronin bewailed and flapped his arms by his side in an expression of exasperation.

  “But if he requests it, I cannot turn him down. You know the rules of engagement. It is a fight to the death. I cannot intercede. How can I watch a man, whom I respect and owe my own life to, die?” Hayato ejaculated thinking what had started as a minor worry was rapidly escalating into a terrible nightmare.

  “He may not die. He fights well and it may give him the kudos he lacks in the eyes of others,” Karasu suggested.

  “It might, but it does not ease my fears over his nature. Besides, he does not fight as well as my Champion does. No, you must persuade him against this action. Use whatever means you can, use Mizuki if necessary, but he cannot make the challenge for if he does I have no choice but to accept.”

  But Thom could not be persuaded. He remained stubbornly determined to win Mizuki’s hand by whatever means necessary. Karasu tried. He engaged the help of Stefan and Mr Aledd, but they got no further than he. In fact poor Aledd received a broken nose for his efforts and a tirade of abuse.

  “You bloody idiot!” he shouted back at his Kapitan as he held a hand to his face to stem the blood flow. His nose hurt like hell and he wanted more than anything to flay the sense back into Devlin, but to strike one’s Kapitan, no matter how unreasonable and irrational, was mutiny and that was one step that Aledd would not take. Instead he resorted to verbal abuse, mixed with reasoning.

  “You’re an obstinate bastard! Are you really willing to risk you life for a woman? You need your bleedin’ ‘ead seeing to man. And what am I supposed to do? Stand by and watch it happen? This is an obsession gone too far,” he shouted.

  “Tis none of your bloody business Dafidd!” Thom retorted regretting striking his First Mate.

  “None of my business! Of course tis my bloody business. If you get killed that makes me Kapitan. It also means I have to tell the Queen that her only son and heir threw his life away over a bloody girl!” Aledd spluttered through the flow of blood.

  Thom stared at him and then walked away. Aledd kicked the slop bucket across the main deck of the ship and cursed loudly at the pain through his toe.

  “You could always drop him a sleeping draught and lock him in his cabin until you were away,” Stefan suggested as Aledd and he discussed the matter over a beer. The First Mate grunted and peered over his glass through his blackened eyes and down his purple, swollen nose. If the situation had not been so serious Stefan would have found it amusing seeing the big man in such a state.

  “Can’t do it Sir. Tis mutiny. You know that,” Aledd replied miserably.

  Stefan thought to object. He still struggled with the concept of pirates following any sort of code of honour and duty. Mutiny had been a crime he had not even considered they would balk at, yet the First Mate was serious. He would not even contemplate it.

  Mizuki did not know anything of what Thom planned. He hid it from her easily, burying it in the depths of his consciousness and as he had not seen her since the night of the banquet he did need to try and lie to her. Something he knew he could not do. For some reason Karasu had not told her and he too deliberately kept those thoughts from her enquiries. That she was suspicious there was something afoot the ronin knew, her mind sought his perpetually asking and hoping for news, frustratedly annoyed when he could give her none. But if anyone had asked him why he would not tell her he would have had no answer. Perhaps it was because he knew that she alone could persuade Thom of his folly and perhaps deep down he did not want her to, because he privately wanted Thom to win, to prove Hayato wrong, to give Mizuki a chance of happiness. Whatever the reason, she remained blissfully unaware that the man she loved was preparing to fight, to the death if necessary, for the right to love her.

  It was with a heavy heart that Hayato granted Devlin an audience one bright sunny morning. The Kapitan entered the interview room with its view of the formal garden followed by a sullen looking Karasu and Stefan Marrel. All three bowed respectfully low before the Lord. Hayato was not alone. He had seen this coming and had asked his newly appointed First Samurai, Hiraiwa, and the First Minister to join him. Such a serious challenge required auspicious witnesses. He stared at the young man before him and he felt immeasurably sad and years older. Thom had even dressed in Hakama pants and haori coat rather than his western clothes. No doubt he wanted to make the right impression.

  “Kapitan Devlin, I honoured,” Hayato said in his accented Westlandish.

  “Lord Oyama,” Thom acknowledged and bowed his head once more. “Lord Oyama, I have come here to make a request. I thank you for seeing me,” he carried on and waited for Karasu to translate. Hayato nodded and tightened his grip upon the hilt of his katana fastened ceremoniously at his waist.

  “I have come to ask that you let me marry your sister, the Lady Mizuki,” Thom continued without falter.

  This surprised Hayato. He had not expected to be asked this first. There was hope yet that the man did not intend to make a challenge.

  “Thom, sit please,” he said in Westlandish and as the three men before him did so, he joined them upon the cushioned floor, his attendants obliged to do likewise. He then explained, in his own language, why he could not allow the marriage and waited for his words to be relayed to Devlin. He saw the regret cloud the Kapitan’s face along with another emotion, was it hurt pride or anger?

  “Karasu told me that it was unlikely that you would grant my request. Perhaps you too think that I am not worthy Sir. I had hoped that I had proved my worth to you by joining you in battle, but if that is not so, then I have no choice but to challenge you for the hand of your sister. Do not try and talk me out of it Sir, these gentlemen and my own First Mate could not. I love Lady Mizuki and I will risk everything for the chance to spend my life with her,” Thom iterated passionately.

  Hayato sighed with growing sadness long before Karasu had completed the translation.

  “You understand you fight my Champion? That one of you must die,” he prompted his brother to say. Devlin replied that he did. Hayato looked to his two advisors they both nodded once in turn, an expression of haughty disdain on the face of the First Minister but of respectful approval upon Hiraiwa’s.

  “Very well Kapitan Devlin. You have three days to prepare,” Hayato said in Ashiman and stood to signal the audience was over. Thom smiled and, on rising, bowed before he and his two companions left the
room.

  “Thank you gentlemen. I would like to be alone now,” the Lord commanded and as his aides retreated he walked into the garden and lamented the loss of a friend.

  Mizuki was beside herself with fear and rage. Why had no one told her? They had all kept it from her as though she were some precious child to be wrapped in cotton wool and sheltered from anything that might hurt her. How could they treat her in such a way after all she had been through? Had her brother not realised she was the only one who could have prevented this? She could understand Thom’s silence, although she could not forgive it. After all this affected her more than anyone. Surely she had a right to be consulted; surely her wishes were of equal importance to his.

  She barged into her brother’s reception room, a fiery passion risen in her cheeks and an unrestrained ire flashing in her eyes. The clerk taking notes to send word to the Presidors of neighbouring Provinces dropped his pen with shock at the sudden intrusion.

  “Why did no one tell me?” Mizuki demanded.

  “Leave us,” Hayato instructed the clerk and waited until the man had retreated bowing at the irate Lady on his way past. Mizuki stood shaking from head to foot, clenching and unclenching her fists.

  “I thought you knew. I instructed Karasu to use whatever influence he could to dissuade him, including you,” Hayato answered wearily.

  “Karasu! But he said nothing. He hid it from me? How could he? Our spirits are joined yet he chose to deny me this truth,” the discovery of her twin’s deceit sapped the anger from her veins and replaced it with a feeling of betrayal. She appeared to crumple. She had thought Karasu shared everything with her, had never doubted it for an instant, but it was not so, he had been party to this duplicity.

  “You must stop it!” she cried after a moment. “You cannot let it go on. He will be killed. Hayato I beg you. I could not bear to lose him like that. Let me talk to him. I can persuade him. I know he is needed elsewhere, that his destiny does not lay here,” she implored throwing herself at his feet and grasping his hands in hers.