by C. J. Anaya
Katsu lowered his hand the minute I backed away.
“Mikomi, I hope you understand that I do not think it appropriate for a man to hurt a woman. I would never hit you. Do you believe me?”
I honestly wasn’t sure if I did or not. I didn’t really know Katsu, but he had protected me from my father, and I saw no reason to be afraid of him until he gave me one.
“I believe you. I’m just very used to far different treatment.” I relaxed my body and sat forward.
Katsu’s eyes looked a bit stormy as he lifted his hand again and brought the wet cloth to my face. He gently wiped away the blood.
“If your father cannot be trusted to keep his temper in check, then I will demand that you and I are married on the spot and take you away where I can protect you.”
“Oh, no.” I raised my hand and grabbed his arm. It was a very brazen move on my part. We were not yet familiar enough with each other for that kind of physical contact, and yet I had to remind myself that he had held me while I cried not fifteen minutes earlier.
Katsu quirked an eyebrow at me. “I take it the idea of marrying me displeases you. Perhaps I am not handsome enough?”
His assumption horrified me, worrying I had offended him, especially after the kind way he had treated me. The thought of marrying him wasn’t as repulsive to me as it had been, but if he took me with him tonight as his bride, I would never have that meeting with the general of the samurai insurgents.
I hesitated for a moment. Then, gathering my courage, I scooted closer to him and grasped his hand with both of mine. I gauged his reaction to the physical contact I had initiated, but he didn’t seem displeased. Encouraged by his warm, teasing smile, I answered his question.
“That’s not what I meant. You are wonderfully handsome.” When Katsu gave me a wide smile, I realized how frank I had just been. “I mean…of course you are fine to look upon…I just…I think that perhaps—”
Katsu began chuckling quietly. He placed his other hand on top of both of mine and squeezed them. “I am merely being playful, Princess. I like the way your beautiful brown eyes grow large and wide when you think you’ve said or done something wrong. It’s quite endearing.”
He thought my eyes were beautiful? I felt them grow wide all over again, and Katsu laughed out loud this time.
“There is much for you to learn before we are wed, and I would like to spend time getting to know my future wife. In other words, I promise not to marry you and whisk you away from the palace until you are ready.”
I smiled and nodded. Then I looked down at our entwined hands and felt my body warm at the realization that he was rubbing his thumb softly against the inside of my wrist. I let out a shaky breath and slowly pulled my hands out of his. I could tell he wanted to hold them longer, but he let me go. Another surprise. He wasn’t going to force my affections. I might have tried relaxing, but the need he felt for me was playing on my own need for his attention.
“Is there anything you would like to know about me at this moment?” I asked. I looked up quickly but couldn’t hold eye contact with him and lowered my gaze to my hands resting lightly on my lap.
“Were you afraid to meet me?”
I swallowed hard. I had been expecting a less personal question, but I knew I could answer him honestly without any fear of punishment.
“Yes. I had heard that you were not pleased with this arrangement.”
“That’s very true. I’ve been told for thousands of years that you were my destiny. I had no choice in the matter, and I had no idea when you would be born. I guess I rebelled at the thought of someone choosing my bride for me.”
I marveled that our feelings about the betrothal could be the same. It had never occurred to me that Katsu might resent this situation as much as I did. Then I felt a little sad, wondering if he still felt that way.
“I understand.” I tried to keep the disappointment from my voice. I didn’t necessarily want to go through with this marriage, but I was warming up to this warrior god who had protected me against my biggest enemy, treating me like a person instead of a pawn or even a prop. At the very least, I realized, I wanted his friendship. I didn’t want him to resent me because of what I represented.
“And you? How did you feel about the match?’
I felt my eyes go wide and heard him chuckle again. It surprised me that he would be interested in my opinion.
“I suppose…I was not happy to be given little choice in the matter. It is difficult to consider a life with someone you’ve never met.”
“Yes it is. To be perfectly honest, I was determined to hate you. Isn’t it amazing how quickly one’s feelings can change?”
I met his gaze to measure his sincerity. “You don’t hate me, then?” I waited with my breath caught in the back of my throat. When had this kami’s opinion of me become so important?
Katsu smiled. “No, Mikomi, I don’t hate you. I feel quite the opposite.”
His warm look seemed to heat my cheeks with its intensity. He lifted his hand to my face and rubbed his thumb softly over my healed cheekbone. If I had been standing I most certainly would have needed assistance remaining upright. Katsu was not the reserved, menacing warrior god I had so often pictured in my mind. He was sympathetic, understanding, communicative, and surprisingly affectionate. Men simply didn’t behave this way, let alone deities, but then maybe I was so used to my father’s behavior that my perceptions were skewed.
I needed to say something in return, but his soft caress and the warm way in which he gazed at me made my thoughts stutter and scatter. I opened my mouth to speak, but the loud snap of a branch echoing in the still night air distracted me from anything I might have said. Katsu was on his feet with his hand resting upon the hilt of his sword. I stood up as well and looked toward the opposite side of the pond where the noise had originated.
“It might have been a bird or small cat,” I offered quietly, but Katsu didn’t relax his position.
I looked across the pond again and thought I saw a dark shadow moving forward. After a few more steps the shadow moved into the moonlight. I gasped and grabbed Katsu’s arm.
“Well, Princess, you were half correct. It’s certainly a cat.”
The figure standing before us was a copy of the large assassin that had tried to kill me this morning, a black panther with the musculature of a man. Its dark mane hung loosely around his head and ears, much like a lion’s, and his snout was made more gruesome by the sharp pointing fangs that descended on either side. It wore a black leather vest, leaving its arms and chest exposed. Its waist was encircled about with a belt holding various weapons and a gleaming sword, all black in color and wickedly sharp. Its feet and hands ended in sharp claws the length of small curved daggers, and its tail looked as if it had been split into two, flicking sharply back and forth behind it.
“Hand over the child, most honorable Katsu, and I will leave you uninjured,” it hissed and mocked at the same time.
Katsu withdrew his sword from its sheath and pulled me behind him. “You’ll not touch a hair on my betrothed’s head. I suggest you leave as quickly as you came before I have to dispense with you and your two friends hiding in the shadows.”
My heart jumped to my throat. There were three altogether? I was sure that Katsu was an accomplished fighter due to the nature of his gifts, but how could one kami stand against three monsters?
A low growl seemed to vibrate from the black beast’s chest. “So be it.”
The cat-like thing propelled itself forward and jumped, sailing across the length of the pond while pulling out its sword. The sharp, metal end was pointed directly at Katsu’s chest. Katsu roughly pushed me to the ground. I barely had a chance to look up in time to see the two clash swords.
“Guards,” Katsu yelled, “come quickly. The princess is under attack.”
I waited for a response from the guards who usually stood at every door in the palace, but no one ventured out to the gardens.
I heard a low gr
owl to my right and saw another shadow stealthily creep toward me.
“Silly kami, do you truly believe we would not have dispensed with your flimsy palace guards?”
The shadow rushed at me from the dark depths of the choked foliage. I rolled to my left and backward, hoping to arrive at a standing position before that abomination could grab me, but my bulky clothing hindered my movements.
A black, hairy arm slithered its way around my waist and pulled me to my feet. I reacted instinctively and slammed my wedged shoe down on top of his unprotected foot. I was rewarded with a shrill howl and its grip around my waist slackened, giving me enough freedom to break away. I turned to face it as it came at me again and could do nothing to protect myself as its heavy fist landed on my face. It was the second time in less than an hour that my face had been the target of someone’s anger.
As I felt the warm blood gushing down the side of my cheek something within me seemed to break. I had tired of the pain and the beatings, furious at having no control over what happened to me physically. But most of all, I was no longer interested in meekly bowing my head and submitting myself to whatever punishment someone else decided to administer.
Instead of running away from the great black cat, I ran forward to meet it.
“Mikomi, get back.” I heard Katsu yell, but I paid him little heed.
As the cat reached out and grabbed me roughly by the arms, I placed my hands on its chest and connected with its ki. It surprised me such a creature had one, but it was twisted and misshapen much like its deformed body. I imagined searing, burning pain starting at the chest and spreading out over the rest of the body. Its ki complied quickly, and soon the nekomata released me, writhing in agony on the grass.
A sharp sword swooped downward and plunged into its chest, making a sick gurgling sound. I withdrew and watched in numb silence as Katsu dislodged his sword from the beast’s chest and then decapitated it. Bile surged up the back of my throat, and I slapped a hand across my mouth, horrified to be witness to such violence, but more upset with the part that I had played. I had never willingly used my gift to give pain to anyone, and even though I was defending myself, I couldn’t help but feel as if I had violated my own moral code.
I looked to my left and saw that Katsu had already dispensed with the first cat that had attacked us, but I couldn’t see the third attacker anywhere. I was certain Katsu had said there were three of them.
“Princess, your face is bleeding again. Were you stabbed by one of their swords?” He looked completely panicked at the thought. He stepped over the dead body separating us and reached for me. In that moment I heard another branch snap behind him and a vicious looking nekomata materialized in the moonlight.
“Katsu,” I yelled.
The warrior god turned quickly and raised his sword as his opponent brought down a shiny black blade. He was able to block it and shoved the cat backward, but not before its claws lashed out, cutting across Katsu’s face. I screamed as I watched blood spurt to the ground. I feared his injury might slow him down, but Katsu lifted his sword and began slashing and stabbing faster than my eyes could follow.
The cat seemed equal to the task, but the quick slashes Katsu continually delivered began drawing more and more blood, and the monstrous cat’s movements began to slow. Katsu saw he was gaining the upper hand and turned a sharp circle to his right, slicing his blade across the cat’s throat and severing its head from its body.
I stood in stunned silence as I studied the gory mess surrounding us. The blood I could handle. It was the three decapitated bodies with their heads several feet from them that made me grateful I hadn’t had a meal in some time.
I felt a warm hand grab mine.
“Mikomi, show me where you were injured.”
I looked up and nearly fainted at the sight of Katsu. He had three gashes that ran the length of his left cheek, barely missing his eye. They were oozing blood and some strange black substance.
“Your face!” I reached forward, but Katsu blocked my advances.
“I will heal soon enough. I need to know if any of the nekomata stabbed you with their weapons.”
“No, I am well, but you clearly are not. You must let me heal you.”
“As I stated before, Princess, it isn’t necessary. My body will heal itself, eventually.”
“But I can do it much faster and take away any discomfort you might be feeling in the process.”
I grabbed his hand as he started to protest and led him to the bench we had previously used. I urged him to sit down while he protested, and then I placed both my hands on either side of his head. Once connected, I instructed his ki to clean out the wounds and mend them without any scarring. The black substance seemed to be resisting the process, but with a little more instruction, Katsu’s ki was able to overcome whatever infection had set in.
Once I was satisfied with the healing taking place, I opened my eyes and studied Katsu’s face. There were pink lines where there used to be large open gashes, but those disappeared within minutes, leaving his face just as beautiful as it had been the first time I laid eyes upon him.
“Good. It’s almost finished. Do you feel any pain?”
Katsu smiled and softly shook his head, then he lifted his hands and rested them on both of mine. I hadn’t realized that I was still holding either side of his face until he was touching me. He drew one hand away from his face and pulled it to his lips where he gave the inside of my wrist a soft, tender kiss. I felt a slow blush creep up my cheeks and was grateful for the low lamplight. My hands began to shake, and I withdrew from his intimate affections.
He must have misinterpreted his effect on me for that of fatigue. “I should never have let you heal me. It’s put too much strain on you after what you’ve just endured.”
He rested an arm around my waist to support me, treating me like some fragile porcelain doll. I had healed much worse many times over and had never once suffered enough strain to keep me from remaining in a sitting position, but I had very little control over my movements in his presence.
“Why have there been two attempts on my life in less than twenty-four hours?” I asked.
“You must understand how badly Amatsu wishes you dead. When you and I are married and succeed in healing the veil, Amatsu will no longer have a chance at freeing himself from the land of the dead. He’ll be trapped there forever. I’m guessing he has somehow been informed of my arrival and has upped whatever plans he’s had for ending your existence.”
“Why tonight with so many people here?”
“Perhaps he thought the celebrating would distract everyone long enough to send assassins through, though how he managed to send three is very surprising. He usually only has power enough to send one.”
“Why would he send three?”
“Now that you and I have officially met, we are that much closer to foiling his plans. He wanted you dead tonight. He knows his plans are going to fail.”
I didn’t want to hear any of this. I didn’t want to believe that there was actually a demon god out there willing to send assassins to kill me, because that meant the veil between the living and the dead truly existed, and it was failing. What would happen if I shirked my duty and refused to join Katsu? How many lives would I endanger if this prophecy was accurate and I refused to accept my fate?
I pushed these thoughts from my mind and decided there had to be some other explanation for the nekomata’s presence. I couldn’t bear the thought of accepting a destiny I’d mentally spurned for most of my life. I just wanted my freedom and a chance to live my life on my own terms. Even with Katsu, kind and protective by my side, I desperately wanted to escape. Then I realized what he had just done for me.
I turned to him and grabbed hold of his arm.
“You risked your life to protect me. You could have been killed, Katsu.”
“You are The Healer, Mikomi, of course I would risk my life to save yours.”
His explanation made me feel worse. The Heale
r. My title would always be larger than myself. If my supposed role in this universe hadn’t been so important, would he have fought for me still? Would I matter to him in the way I wanted to matter to a man fated to share life with me for eternity? Wouldn’t it be a glorious thing to be known only as Mikomi and nothing else?
I’d never pondered much upon the subject of love. My previous idea of paradise had been an escape plan involving a life filled with obscurity and solitude where no one knew anything about me. I would never marry or have children. I simply wanted to be alone without anyone demanding anything from me. Having my betrothed sitting next to me and realizing that I could actually grow to care for him had changed everything.
I didn’t want to be loved for my title or my gift. Having either of these things left one with responsibilities burdensome enough to weigh down the strongest of men, but the world’s safety had been placed on the shoulders of a frail looking princess of seventeen. I didn’t want someone to look at me and see only the girl of prophecy, but I feared that was all Katsu saw.
“Of course you would,” I finally responded. “And it is honorable and noble of you to take your duty so seriously. Thank you for your dedication to your duty.”
Katsu gave me a puzzled look. I wondered if he could sense my agitation. Fortunately for me, we were interrupted by shouting outside the garden gates, and several guards ran through.
“Honorable Katsu, we were informed that you and the princess were under attack and needed our assistance,” a young soldier who gave a respectable bow from the waist said.
I noticed Katsu studying him thoughtfully. “You may rise soldier, but please tell me, who informed you of our distress and why didn’t you come sooner? The attack began and ended several minutes ago.”
The soldier looked as if he might be sick. He had failed in his duty to keep us safe, and that type of failure demanded the ultimate punishment.
“There was a kitchen maid in the corridor who notified one of my men, but we came immediately thereafter.”
“I wonder why it took the maid so long to inform anyone of our dangerous situation. Can you find this maid and bring her to me for questioning?”
