“I think there can only be one place, by his description.”
Kino’s gaze hardened, his eyes going flat. “I think you are right. So you know the direction. Still, this will help. It’s a few days ride. Knowing the landmarks will keep you to the shortest route.” After Theron took the map, the elder looked around the ruin of his home, that flat look giving way to despair. “Take the horses, Theron, and go.”
The younger man snorted at that, it was ridiculous to even consider. “No, we aren’t leaving you here, like this. What if they come back?”
“It doesn’t matter if they do.” He glanced at Theron and looked away again, eyes falling to the floor. “It would be better if they did.”
Ria stepped into the room just as Theron’s frustration was about to boil over. She saw him reach out, gripping the older man by his arm. Ria didn’t know if he meant to ease the pain he’d have to be blind not to see in his father’s expression, or shake the defeat from his eyes. She feared he was leaning towards the latter.
“Kino-sama,” she said, stepping forward and bowing slightly. “My heart is so saddened by what has happened.” That wasn’t received well – Theron’s expression darkened, thunder on the horizon. Maybe she shouldn’t have come inside, but she couldn’t stand waiting anymore, in the stifling silence outside. Ignoring the churning in her stomach, she said, “This is your home, but it is not safe for you here,” and when Kino opened his mouth to (she knew) say again how it didn’t matter, she rushed to finish, “You must want your son to succeed in the task the Emperor has set him on. Please allow us to see you someplace safer.” She gave him a small smile.
Kino wanted to argue, but a few heartbeats later the sides of his mouth turned up. Not quite a smile, but nearly. As her words sank in, he could see now how rigid Theron held himself, the anger and worry tightening his expression. Shaking his head, he had to marvel at the way Ria had diverted the potential argument, but though what she said made sense, he had to admit, “I have nowhere to go. All my possessions in this world were in this house.”
There was silence for a moment, then Theron took a deep breath and said to his father, “Oto-san, I know of a place you can go.”
˜ ˜ ˜
Considering where they were headed, it didn’t make sense. But Ria finally started to relax when the forest parted and the witch’s cottage came into view.
It might have helped that she wasn’t riding with the lady on the same horse anymore, but she wouldn’t be telling that to Theron … the Protector. Mouth turning down, she resisted looking back to where the Emerald Lady rode with Kino, at the very center of the group.
Somehow guessing her mood, Kit looked back and up at her, from where he sat on the saddle in front of her, his mouth scrinched up in a little scowl and eyebrows drawn together. The expression was so out of character for him, she couldn’t help her laugh. Yes, this boy was a much better riding companion than Lynea.
Theron looked back at the sound, from where he rode at the front of the group. He’d given up his horse to her and Kit, and was riding the gray. Theron and Mako had both agreed (and Ria had hid her smile when they did) that Chikara could best handle the weight of both Kino and the lady, where the gray couldn’t. Though Ash had the endurance to carry them, his gait was too strong for either in their current condition. Theron didn’t want to risk them falling. So, with a carefully blank expression, the lady had dutifully mounted the sturdy workhorse, smiling gracefully at Kino’s welcome.
And miles later, here they were.
The road through Kikino Woods had started out frightening, deep with shadows and noises Ria couldn’t identify. It was all too similar to Eiji Forest, where the Emperor’s creatures lurked. Regardless, as the sun rose higher in the sky, fear faded and finally disappeared completely, when the trees gave way to a clearing with a tiny house with covered patio, fence and a watering well off to one side. Sunlight filtered through the leaves and the blooming flowers were lovely, swaying slightly with the breeze.
“Mamoru! You’ve come back.” Ria started at the sweet voice, that called out like bells chiming. Her eyebrows creased as she looked at the girl who darted from the house, running full-out towards them and inexplicably, the uneasy feeling returned. It was only a child, but Ria felt the hair on the back of her neck prickle. She looked at the others in her party. They didn’t seem bothered at all.
The girl skid to a stop very near them, standing as straight as a board, clasping her hands behind her back and rocking onto her heels. She had eyes only for the Protector. “Mother is waiting for you, you know. She says you’re late.”
“Oh? I was not aware that I had an appointment with her. We have come to ask once again, for the favor of your mother’s wisdom. And to ask your help, for someone I believe you three know.”
The little girl’s eyes widened at the word he emphasized, almost comically so. Her tiny mouth pursed, her eyes darted up and to the right. Ria was very familiar with the body language. The village children that lived and played near her house used it all the time (she had probably also, when she was younger). It said, “I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Really.” As cute as it was, Ria came to the immediate conclusion that this girl was-not-to-be-trusted.
“Theron, I don’t think this is –”
“Safe?” He finished. He looked at her for the first time since they had stepped into the clearing. “There is no safe place for us. Not now.”
She threw a glance at Mako. He was at the back of the group, having dismounted and was holding Tsumi’s reins, the other horse that Kino had lent them. Ria tried to catch the former guard’s gaze, but he was watching the Protector with the little girl, an unreadable expression on his face. Theron was telling the girl something, gesturing towards Ash. Ria looked at the boy riding in front of her when the little girl looked up at Kit and frowned, scanning the bandages on the boy’s leg. Her hands went up to her mouth, her eyes brightening with tears. Turning, she ran across the field and into the cottage. Mouth twisting and with a sigh, Theron turned and walked back to them.
A few moments later a woman came out of the tiny house. Taller than most women, she had long black hair and the same brilliant blue eyes that Kit had. Ria looked between them, wondering, but she kept silent. The woman’s long fingers gripped a wooden staff, topped with a translucent gem. She stopped in front of them and that uncommon gaze narrowed when it landed on Ria and Kit, still riding Ash. Her lips thinned. “You’ve allowed this to happen?”
Theron stood to the right of them, one hand on the stallion’s neck. Ria saw him stiffen slightly, before his head dipped in a bow. “Madam Kitsune. Kit, I mean, your guide, was hurt two nights ago, when he was away from the group.”
The woman’s eyes were flat as they looked over the party and the silence stretched before she asked, “… Kit?”
Theron must have remembered they’d only started calling him that a few days before, because he looked briefly startled, throwing a glance Ria’s way. “Yes, since we didn’t know his name.” He nodded towards the boy. “It didn’t seem to bother him.”
One side of the woman’s mouth turned up. “No. I don’t suppose it would have.” Her gaze turned on Ria. “Well chosen, my lady.”
“Oh. I’m not –” but she was silenced by a look from the Protector. Ria heard a snort of something like laughter from Mako behind them and scowled.
The woman watched the exchange silently, then continued as if it had never happened. Her frown returning, she said, “How did you let this happen?”
Ria winced, worried how the Protector would take that, knowing how he seemed to take on responsibility for the whole party. But Theron didn’t seem to take it that way, saying with a half-smile, “I think you know, Madame Kitsune, that your Kit has his own ideas about where and when he should be. Not to say,” he continued with a gesture at the group, “that I’m ungrateful. He led them to safety when I could not. He brought us to the guidance you promised. Although,” and he frowned now, “I
am still uncertain what it all meant. And on our return, he risked himself for our benefit. I can’t ask any more of him.” Ria knew the words “and I don’t want him to get hurt,” remained unspoken.
That seemed to satisfy her and dropping the accusation from her voice, she asked, “Do you have the answers you need?”
“No,” he admitted. “I do not. I have more information than before,” he said quietly, “but right now, other things need urgent attention.”
Her eyes swept over the rest of the group. Making a soft sound, more thoughtful than it was an agreement, Kitsune nodded. “I see.” Walking past Theron and Ria, she moved to Kino and the lady. Kino had dismounted and was standing at a careful distance when the woman reached them. Ria could not see her expression, but she heard Kitsune gasp.
Theron had followed her, taking the reins from Kino, who withdrew to where Mako waited. Standing back as far as the reins allowed, to give Kitsune room, the Protector asked, “Is there anything you can do?” The witch did not answer right away. She had taken wrist of the future Empress and was holding it gently.
Kitsune’s eyes slipped closed. Ria couldn’t be sure, but it seemed that the stone topping her staff reflected the sun’s light very brightly for a few moments before fading again. Ria looked up at the sky, but there were no clouds to account for the change. It must have been the angle, catching the sun just so. It was then she noticed that the stone was held to the staff by vines. Wrapping around it in a way that looked almost identical to the band on Theron’s arm.
So this is where he got it.
But the witch was speaking again, her voice a bit breathless and sounding strained. “This can only be removed by the one who placed it there.”
“What is it?” Theron’s voice had a desperate edge to it, as if seeing the mark on the lady’s arm had only made the horror fresh again.
Kitsune’s voiced dropped in apology. “I cannot say, because I have never seen anything like this before. It is deadly though. Whatever you must do to get it gone, do it quickly.”
“How long?”
The witch understood his meaning. She shook her head, a worried frown between her eyes. “Days. As many as ten. As few as five.” The lady’s face remained impassive through all this, until those words. Ria saw Lynea blink quickly a few times at that, turning her face to look into the trees surrounding them. If Kitsune took offense from the lady’s reaction, she didn’t show it. As much as Ria disliked the lady after their brief time riding together, she found she couldn’t look at her. It must be terrifying, bearing that mark. Ria tried not to think about the lady any more than that – suddenly deathly afraid she would sense the feelings that must be churning under the surface of that beautiful, emotionless face.
Her eyes were drawn to the Protector when Theron nodded, taking a breath and letting it out slowly. “Thank you for trying.” And Ria’s heart ached. Theron may have been thanking Kitsune, but the expression in his eyes was bleak and terrible. Ria would have done anything to erase that look.
The reins in his hand jingled, jumping as the horse tossed his head, tugging at them. They had been standing for too long in the same place. Chikara obviously wanted the lush grass almost in reach. Absently, Theron put his hand on the workhorse’s neck, saying, “Forgive me for troubling you further, but I would be grateful if you could allow my father to stay here, while I complete the Emperor’s mission.” He nodded to where Kino hung back, at the rear of the group. The elder looked exhausted, only partially aware of the quiet conversation Theron and Kitsune were having. It was no surprise. They had ridden nearly non-stop, and he had still not had any time to recover from his time in the dungeon keeper’s hands.
Ria wasn’t sure what to expect when Theron made that request, but Kitsune’s reaction was not it. “Ah!” she grinned, and gave a delighted chuckle. “But that is nothing needing forgiveness.” Raising her voice, she inclined her head. “You are most welcome here, honored Isao-sama.”
He heard her and looked up, saying, “Your kindness is a gift, Madame Kitsune.” Kino bowed from the waist as he said it, and though it was stiff (from aching and bruised muscles, most likely), Ria recognized in it a long-practiced formality.
As he stepped forward to gather his pack from Chikara, the witch strode back to Ash. She looked up at Kit. “Silly child. You know these are not needed anymore.” Reaching up, she took hold of the bandage on Kit’s leg and before Ria could stop her, it was unwrapped and the woman was handing her the top linen, keeping only the soiled one from underneath. “Thank you,” she said to Ria, “for taking care of him.” Ria leaned over to get a better look, and it was as the witch had said. Kit didn’t need the bandage, the wound was healed. Ria should have been happy, and she was. It was like Theron, though. Too soon. Though unlike Theron’s, she could see a scar, almost invisible against the child’s skin.
Right, she didn’t need to understand this. It was just good Kit wasn’t hurt anymore. Kitsune held out her hands and the boy slid off the horse into her arms. The woman looked from the boy to Ria and Theron before saying, “There is not much he can do to help you now.” She looped two fingers around the cord the boy wore, tugging the stone from under his shirt. There was a fracture in the clouded stone. Ria saw Theron’s gaze drop to the pendent also, a frown forming between his eyes. The woman absently ran her thumb over it. “It would be too dangerous for him to be with you now, in any event.” The Protector looked up sharply when she said that, his eyes narrowing a bit, but he nodded.
At least he seemed to understand what that all meant. Regardless, it was obvious that they really were going to leave Kit here, even with his leg already healed.
Ria heard the uneven steps of Kino behind her as he moved towards them. When Kino was even with her, Kitsune turned to leave also, but paused, looking at Ria. Her eyes were thoughtful and disturbingly familiar. “Well, time is passing quickly and you have a long way to go.”
Kino had stopped and was standing patiently, waiting with the pack of things he’d brought from the farm. Ria could see how worn he was after all he’d been through. Though she didn’t quite trust this forest witch, she somehow knew he would be safe here. The implication of her words at the farm was truer than she’d thought. “Allow us to see you somewhere safer.” Theron must have thought the same, for she saw her own relief mirrored in the Protector’s expression.
Kitsune nodded to Theron and he bowed, walking quickly to the grey, turning the horse back toward the path. He had started walking away when the witch offered, “Mamoru. You do have the answers you need.” At Theron’s confused look, she said, “My lady has them.”
“The Emerald Lady?” He asked. Ria looked at Lynea. She was still watching the trees, for all appearances, ignoring everything around her.
But Kitsune shook her head. She looked at Ria, murmuring, “You have what you need.” Her eyes caught Ria’s, and a wave of dizziness swept through, forcing Ria to grab the edge of the saddle or fall.
What is happening to me?! Three times in too few days. If she thought it would help, she would be running to the healer. But it only seemed to happen when she was around Kit, and now this woman. Blinking and shaking her head, Ria watched Kitsune turn away and walk back toward the cottage. Finally the feeling faded. Ria tried to decipher what the woman had meant by those words, coming up blank. Shuffling through everything she remembered of the past few days, she couldn’t see how anyone would think they had what they “needed.”
Theron, apparently accustomed to the woman’s indecipherable statements, only huffed a breath. Shaking his head, he turned the horses, leading them back to the path that would take them back to the road. Mako was doing the same and Lynea was following. “Wait,” Ria said. “What did she mean?”
“You can do more than you believe.” Ria heard Kitsune speaking again, right next to her, but when she turned, no one was there. The woman had almost reached the cottage. Ria looked at the others, expecting Theron to have some comment about what Kitsune had said, but h
e must not have heard it. The guard, at least, would find such confidence in Ria amusing. But Mako’s eyes were on Kino, watchful as the older man followed the strange woman.
Before she could puzzle it out, she heard Kitsune say, “Find yourself, my lady, and remember.” Hands suddenly clammy, the village girl tightened her hold on the reins, taking a breath against the uneasiness beginning to build in her stomach.
The sound of the leaves, the breeze, and the footsteps of the horses should have sounded closer than the woman’s voice, but no. It was as if she were standing next to her. Almost as though the woman had spoken directly into Ria’s mind. The strange woman was climbing the steps now. She wasn’t even looking their way. And that was enough for Ria. Her first instinct had been the right one. The little girl, this woman, too strange. They were hiding something.
Glancing around to see the retreating backs of the rest of the group, she turned Ash, spurring him to catch up to the others. And she was almost to the trail head when it happened.
A whisper of energy, an ache of loss. She looked back to find the witch had stopped and was watching them leave. Those piercing blue eyes were so desolate, so empty, Ria had an unwelcome urge to reach out and soothe her. Following the mysterious woman’s gaze, Ria saw that her attention was wholly focused on the Protector. Almost as though she felt her gaze, Kitsune flicked an undecipherable look at her. Again, the unfamiliar twist of jealousy struck Ria. She frowned, her fingers pulling the reins too tight. Ash tossed his head, shuffling his feet, unhappy at the pull of her hands. “Ah, sorry Ash,” she muttered, making a soothing noise. When she looked back at the cottage, the witch had turned away, and was mounting the steps into the cottage.
The others were getting further away by the moment. She took one last look back, just glimpsing the tousled brush of Kit’s hair over the woman’s shoulder. In this light, the normally pale straw color of it looked white. Spurring Ash to a trot, she took a deep breath, sighing. She hadn’t expected to miss the little boy. But somehow the path ahead of them seemed darker now that he was gone.
Splinter (Trapped Souls Book 1) Page 31
