Silkpunk and Steam

by Sarina Dorie

Even if some of the tension had been lifted, Taishi’s face flushed red under his eboshi. He had to be hating the laughter at his expense. He was young and worked hard to be seen as adult by his elders. Shiromainu returned his bow at least.

  My brother exchanged pleasantries with Shiromainu Nipa, their conversation stiff and formal. For a thirteen-year-old, it was more boring than the council meetings when my brother met with elders of our small tribe. The wind howled outside and I shivered without the warmth of a fire.

  Our guests were offered broth that had been prepared by the grandmothers for our breakfast. I watched them sip at the watery soup with longing. The aroma of boiled vegetables and bits of dried meat made my stomach whine. It was unlikely there would be enough left for my tribe’s breakfast.

  Taishi Nipa introduced his most respected warriors. As his insignificant little sister, he didn’t bother to introduce me. I was lumped into “his family” with a sweep of his hand, indicating Faith, Michi and me. Considering I was in training to be a warrior and was almost as good as Wakka, who was ten years my elder and she’d been introduced, I didn’t think it was fair. But I held my tongue.

  The smoke from the torches on the walls stung my eyes and it gathered like angry clouds along the ceiling before rolling out the entrance. An old grandfather in the back of the cave coughed continuously, though it was likely his labored breathing came from illness, not the smoke.

  Shiromainu Nipa stated in a calm monotone that didn’t give away his true thoughts, “You wish to be granted sanctuary in my province and gain knowledge of our secret home. The Tatsujin sold out the Isepojin clan in exchange for favors from gaijin.” I’d heard these rumors about the dragon tribe, though I hadn’t known they were true. Or perhaps I simply hadn’t wanted to with Shipo being a Tatsujin.

  Shiromainu went on. “Afterward, both tribes were attacked by the off-worlders. How do we know you won’t do the same?” Shiromainu Nipa’s face resembled worn leather. Many teeth were missing from his gums. Spit came out of his mouth with some of his words.

  Taishi Nipa bowed to show his respect. “We have suffered many hardships. I give you my word our tribe has only peace and solace in mind.”

  They went back and forth, politely discussing how our tribes would benefit from merging and then how we would burden them. I watched the Tanukijin warriors dressed in their layers of thick furs. They hardly touched their broth. I wanted to snatch up every uneaten bowl and devour what was left.

  Of course, I would never do such a thing. Michi and Faith wouldn’t get to eat if I did. Such selfish thoughts were proof my soul had shrank and only lived in my belly these days. My spirit growled and clawed at my insides.

  My thoughts of hunger were interrupted when Shiromainu Nipa leaned forward and reached for Faith’s veil. I blinked and realized he must have said something I’d missed.

  Faith leaned back from him.

  “If this is the pretty concubine you wish to bring into my tribe, I will see her face,” Shiromainu said. “I’ve heard how you hoard her to yourself and have kept her by your side, despite attempts to make you part with her. Show us this woman you risk alienating yourself for.”

  Faith wasn’t a lowly mistress. She was a wife. A geari wife, anyway. I knew it wasn’t quite the same, but it still held more rank to be a nipa’s wife compared to someone who simply shared his bed. It took everything I had to follow the formalities and keep quiet.

  Taishi Nipa nodded to Faith and gestured for her to do as the other leader bade. She folded back her veil, revealing her fair skin and golden hair. It was hard to see the blue of her eyes in the dim light, but I knew their color. She held her head high like a princess and turned the unblemished side of her face toward him so he could see her beauty instead of scars.

  Shiromainu rocked back on his heels, staring in wonder. “This is what the off-worlders’ women look like? No wonder you kept one for yourself, ne?”

  She was the prettiest woman I’d ever seen, even with her scars. When she unbraided her hair, it looked like a river of sunlight. I would have given anything to have blue eyes like her.

  He took her chin in his hand and examined the damaged half of her face with the shiny pink burns and the lumpy lines where her flesh had been damaged by fire. It was bad form to touch a woman he didn’t know so intimately, but he was an old man and the elderly always got away with bad manners. Faith was just as bad as an old man, for she stared into his eyes, though I had told her plenty of times how it was expected of her to behave toward her elders. Considering I was thirteen and she was nine years older, such things could only be blamed on her off-worlder ways.

  “Hmm, this gaijin must have captured your heart if you put up with her strangeness.” He glanced at my brother’s lap. “Or perhaps she captures something else more enticing.”

  The warriors behind Shiromainu laughed at his joke. Faith’s cheeks flushed a pretty shade of pink and she yanked her chin away. She looked down in embarrassment. I wanted to squeeze her hand and tell her there was nothing to be ashamed of—it was a compliment—but now wasn’t the time. I didn’t want her to look like a child in front of other adults and lose face.

  Shiromainu grunted. “She will do.”

  Even from under his chiramantep eboshi, I could see my brother’s brow bunch up closer to his eyes. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand your meaning.”

  “It was your intention to call me here for our tribes to join, was it not? You wished for me to perform memory exchange?”

  Taishi licked his lips. “I am willing to give my memories to one of your people.” His gaze flitted over the band of warriors.

  The Tatsujin had female warriors, but I didn’t see any women among them. My brother couldn’t perform memory exchange with the other nipa because they were both men. Only a man and a woman were allowed to perform memory exchange with each other. Nonno had told Shipo and I that when she’d caught us and beaten us for desecrating the memory moss by rolling in it together.

  I knew enough from spying on Ursai and Midori to know what memory exchange was like. They removed their clothes and covered themselves with green paste and sat very still and silent. It was boring compared to their other activities.

  Shiromainu’s eyes narrowed under his eboshi mask. “I am pleased you see the logic in this. We shall learn of each other’s people through tsuma no koukan.” He nodded to Faith. “Through her eyes, I will see what she has seen of your people and of hers. I will know if your intentions are true or if you intend to sell us into slavery to the gaijin.”

  Faith looked to my brother. She used English, but I understood most of what she said. “Tsuma no kokan? I don’t understand these words.”

  Someone snickered at Faith’s pronunciation. Kokan meant nether regions, whereas my brother and Shiromainu were talking about koukan, a kind of exchange.

  I was as confused as Faith was about the true meaning of the custom. I understood memory exchange, but I didn’t know what Shiromainu suggested. As I glanced around at my tribe, I could see this wasn’t anything new to the elders. Grandmothers and grandfathers shook their heads and muttered amongst themselves. Even Shiromainu’s warriors shifted uncomfortably.

  Taishi spoke Jomon so everyone could understand. “Tsuma no koukan is a ritual rarely performed these days.” Though he smiled, it wasn’t a happy smile. It was a geari smile, one worn on the face out of formality and obligation. I remembered my mother forcing such a smile on her face when she wore her eboshi.

  Taishi kept his eyes glued on the other man. “This is an old custom in which two tribal leaders switch spouses—a set of husbands and wives—in order to learn of the other man’s tribe through memory exchange. Tsuma no koukan is temporary, fourteen days, not a permanent arrangement unless those being traded decide they prefer their new spouses. It is a custom always performed at the discretion of those who volunteer.”

  His smile stretched tighter, though his eyes narrowed. It was a game, I saw. With his obviously fal
se smile and polite words, Taishi managed to turn Shiromainu’s words around, making it obvious to all how rude the other leader was.

  I could see why my tribe disapproved now. It wasn’t the suggestion of tsuma no koukan. It was the way Shiromainu pushed it on Taishi and Faith without giving them a choice. It was either this trade or nothing. I wasn’t sure I liked Shiromainu, even if he had been Father’s friend. Maybe it was better if we didn’t have him as a new leader.

  Taishi opened his mouth to go on, but Faith’s voice turned high-pitched and tremulous. “I will not agree to such barbarism. I am not a common whore to be traded by men. I am a lady.”

  Taishi switched to English. “Faith-chan, you misunderstand. Let me handle this matter and refuse on your behalf.”

  I glanced around. The Chiramantepjin looked away and fiddled with their cloaks or even pretended to sleep, so our leader wouldn’t feel embarrassed that they should witness his geari wife’s outspoken manners. The Tanukijin whispered amongst themselves. I didn’t know who they whispered about, their leader or ours. It wasn’t in my brother’s favor that he spoke the gaijin tongue so unashamedly.

  “I am waiting,” Shiromainu said. “What reply does your gaijin mistress give?”

  Faith’s voice rose. “I will not—”

  “Close your mouth and listen,” Taishi said.

  Tears filled her eyes and she turned away from him. His fingers dug into her arm, and he leaned close to speak quietly in her ear.

  My face flushed with heat in humiliation for them both. Even after all these years, she didn’t understand how she made them both lose face. Her tone of voice, her unguarded anger and tears, and her use of her gaijin tongue, would all be seen as a weakness of character—and reflect poorly on Taishi. If he couldn’t even keep peace with his geari wife, there was no way he would be seen as a true leader.

  Shiromainu studied the exchange in silence. It looked as though a sly smile tugged at his lips. I didn’t like these schemes nipas played. Suffering elders and hungry children were used like marbles in an ohajiki game. I clenched my fists, hating how powerless I was. Faith had insulted a nipa and that was dangerous. My tribe wouldn’t be accepted anywhere warm and safe. That meant Michi might starve. Faith might freeze this winter. I would die like Shipo of the coughing sickness. Faith’s insults would be the death of my tribe, and she didn’t even know it.

  Faith covered her eyes with her veil. Whatever my brother said, he wasn’t doing a very good job convincing her she was safe. She sniffled and I knew she was crying. She was obviously scared. It was hard to see her suffer. She felt so strongly about saving herself for one of her own people, this had to be the worst torture she could imagine.

  I had to save her. I knew I was supposed to be silent, but I couldn’t stand it anymore. I had to do something.

  I spoke loud and clear so I couldn’t be ignored. “If it pleases Shiromainu Nipa, I would like to volunteer in the stead of my brother’s geari wife and become your wife.” I bowed my head. As soon as I said it, though, I thought of Ursai’s hairy behind thrusting up and down as he mounted his wife. Only, Shiromainu would be wrinkled and hairy. Not a pleasant thought.

  Shiromainu turned his gaze on me, examining me as if for the first time. All eyes in the small room looked at me. I was stick limbs and smaller than Faith. I didn’t have her round “bosoms” as she called them, nor her ample hips, so I didn’t know if I would entice the Tanukijin leader in the way Faith did with her buxom appearance. She was so beautiful I couldn’t imagine how any man didn’t want her.

  From the way Shiromainu barked out his words, he didn’t sound pleased by my offer. “What are you called, brave girl?”

  “I am Sumiko, sister of Taishi Nipa of the Chiramantepjin.”

  Taishi cleared his throat. “My sister is young for tsuma no koukan. Too young for wifely duties. She has not even started her monthly course. There are other women in my tribe. I will discuss with my elders who might be a suitable choice for this exchange.”

  “But not too young for memory exchange.” Shiromainu scratched his chin. “Her eyes have seen enough to give me a chance to see into your tribe.”

  My brother sucked on his teeth to show his disapproval. “Sumimasen. My sister is young. She has never performed memory exchange.”

  Shiromainu shook his head. “Your concubine refused me. Your sister volunteered. It is the woman’s choice, not yours. She accepted my offer of tsuma no koukan. I will take her with me to my tribe.”

  Hairy wrinkles. Eels churned in my belly when I thought of wifely duties with this old man.

  Faith looked from me to my brother. “No, Sumiko.” She shook her head. “Don’t do this.” Tears filled her eyes again.

  I thought she’d be relieved I had taken her place. She was supposed to thank me and kiss my cheeks in that gaijin way of hers, and make rosy feelings flutter in my belly, but she only looked more upset than before.

  I bowed low to Shiromainu again. “Would the two great nipas permit me a moment of privacy with my brother’s geari wife?”

  Shiromainu nodded. Taishi shrugged as if to say he doubted anything I did would make any difference.

  I tugged Faith to her feet. She dumped Michi on Taishi’s lap right there in front of everyone even though he had his eboshi on and shouldn’t have had to deal with child matters at the moment. Fortunately, Grandmother Ami shuffled her way forward and collected the child from his arms.

  There were so many points I could have chided Faith on, but I had to focus on the one that was most important. I tugged her past the hide door coverings and out into the sparse cropping of trees growing outside the cave. We took shelter from the sleet under the scraggly boughs of taiju trees. Wind blew stray drops at us, but the cover was better than none. It would have been warmer closer to the Tanukijin’s chiramanteps under the overhang of rocks, but I didn’t know whether the other tribe’s riding beasts were friendly or fierce. The shaggy blue animals were larger than I remembered, big enough it could have carried three of us—or fed us for a month. One swung his horned head from side to side, dripping fur flinging water at us around as he scented the air.

  I didn’t want to waste the time of the nipas, so I dismissed formality and got to the point. I spoke to her sternly as though she were the child, not I. “You offended the other nipa. You should have let my brother refuse on your behalf, but instead you risked the entire village’s safety because he insulted your gaijin pride.”

  She crossed her arms. “He insinuated I would lie with him. And now he expects the same of you.”

  “No, he asked me to perform memory exchange. There’s a difference.” Although, in truth, I didn’t know what he expected.

  “Memory moss always leads to lying with a man.”

  I crossed my arms. “No, it doesn’t.”

  “It starts with taking your clothes off and rubbing each other with green paste. Then it intoxicates you and the wanton behavior begins.” She waved her hands around as she spoke as she sometimes did when she was angry.

  I wanted to ask her how she knew so much about memory exchange if she thought it was so distasteful. Then again, maybe she spied on Ursai and Midori too.

  She lifted her nose into the air. “You’re too young and inexperienced and he’s too old for you. I don’t like it.”

  One of the chiramantep snapped his jaws and tugged at the stake where his leather harness had been attached. His giant teeth caught my attention. I scooted farther from him, but that put me under a gush of stinging raindrops. The acid in the rain burned my eyes. I wiped the moisture away with the sleeve of my manto cloak.

  I tried to put on a smile and make light of the situation. “If memory exchange troubles you so much, I won’t share my mind with him. I’ll just seduce him with my body and convince him during tsuma no koukan to join our tribes.”

  This brought on a flood of tears. “Promise me you won’t let him touch you. Don’t let him steal your virtue.”

/>   There she was, going on about virtue again. It never seemed to be far from her lips.

  Faith patted my face and stroked my hair out of my eyes. I leaned into her warmth, savoring the attention.

  There was a thought, a crazy little idea, that maybe she cared so much about my virtue because she wanted me for herself. She was always hugging me and kissing me and being affectionate. She didn’t touch my brother this way. Only me. I liked the idea that someone wanted me so much, especially if it was a woman.

  I pushed the thought away. Faith was beautiful—it was unlikely she had any romance in mind when she thought of her husband’s gawky little sister. And what would the elders say if it were true?—Which I was sure it wasn’t. Nonno hadn’t been the only one to speak of how wrong the idea of two women being together was.

  Even if the adoration was one sided, I hated to see her fret.

  I patted her cheek. “Tsuma no koukan is temporary. I’ll be back before you even have a chance to miss me.” I wanted her to tell me she’d miss me as much as I’d miss her, but she only sniffled. I could see I hadn’t made her feel better yet.

  I did the one thing that was left: I lied. “Why must this worry you so? It isn’t like this is my first time. I’ve been with boys.” I painted a smile on my face.

  “Who?”

  I shifted uneasily. “None of your business.”

  “When?” She pursed her lips.

  I couldn’t meet her gaze. “Didn’t you once say a lady doesn’t pillow and tell?”

  “It’s kiss and tell.”

  Faith hugged me to her bosom. She was so soft I could have rest my head against her chest and fallen asleep, even with the stinging rain. I inhaled her scent mingling with the smoky smell of campfires and herbs on her furs. The embrace was over all too soon. She began to sob anew.

  “Be happy for me,” I said. “This is an honor to be selected by a nipa. I will take that honor if you will not.” I rubbed at the tears on her cheeks with her veil. “Now, you will go into the cave with me and you will bow to the nipa and pretend you are happy for me. You don’t need to say anything.” At times like this I felt as though I were the older one, not the reverse. She was so fragile and vulnerable I wanted to protect her. I was certain I did a better job of taking care of her than Taishi did.