by C. L. Stone
“Isn’t she taking the same risk with you?” Ryuu asked.
“I’m not competition,” he said. “I don’t qualify. I’m only an escort.” He pointed to me. “I’m her escort. Not yours. My loyalty is to her. So I can’t advise anything that may risk her future.”
His passionate words embarrassed me in front of Ryuu. How could he so vehemently proclaim loyalty to me when he didn’t know anything about me? “Perhaps it’s good to make alliances,” I said quietly. “Maybe we could work together. This is why you’re here, right? You want to work with someone who has a chance of getting accepted?”
Sota stood quietly, staring at my face. “If you feel you’d like to,” he said. He motioned to Ryuu. “In this registration, you should be careful, too. Not everyone has good intentions.”
Sota allowed Ryuu to follow us. We continued through the city, taking winding roads through rows of homes. Sota eventually stopped in front of a partially large wood paneled house, and turned on Ryuu and myself, mouth open to say something.
The door to the home slid open with a snap. From the home’s formal entryway came the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen in my life. She wore an ivory and pink silk kimono. Her obi around her waist was blue, a color matching Sota’s eyes. Pictures of silver birds flew across the kimono. Their delicately painted wings seemed to glisten fresh as if from rising from the water. Her face was painted a pale soft white, with red lips the color of blood and her cheeks matched. The color was striking against the pale skin. Her dark hair was piled up on her head like an orb, and crowned with a blue-jeweled comb. She had bracelets on her wrists, adorned with ornaments, and a red ribbon around her neck.
We silenced at the sight, and backed away from the door to give her room to leave the house.
She looked at us with a smile that never reached her eyes. “The main road is that way,” she said in a soft voice, pointing the direction we had come from.
Did we look like we didn’t belong here? I hadn’t noticed that the houses had become opulent. While they were plain looking, modest on the outside, the inside might have contained wealthy families. I had simple been too dazzled by how numerous they were to think about who lived in them.
She turned away from us. With the way the woman walked away from us, she seemed to glide as if on ice. She disappeared around a corner, taking an alleyway between homes.
There was a commotion in the house the woman had come from. A young man appeared, dressed simply in a dark kimono, tied off with a leather belt and wore leather pants, similar to Sota. From the belt hung a short sword. He looked at us, up the road, and then back to us. “Which way did she go?” he asked Sota.
Sota pointed to the corner the woman had disappeared behind. “If you hurry, you’ll catch her.”
The young man nodded a thank you and hurried off. I stared after him, wondering if he was an escort.
And who was she? She’d seemed too beautiful to be a real person.
Sota went to the open door and peered inside before stepping into the entryway.
I was about warn him that he was being rude entering a house without permission when Mrs. Satsu materialized at the entryway beyond the door. She wore a woman’s house kimono now, but plain in a dark indigo. She nodded at Sota, and at me, and then stopped when she spotted Ryuu with a disapproving curl of her lip.
“Who is he?” she said to us and then barked directly at him. “Go away.”
“This is Ryuu,” I said quickly, stepping slightly in front of him in a small effort to guard him. “He assisted us in getting here.” I wondered how she managed to get here so soon, but if she was on an earlier boat, and the boat was swift, she should have gotten here yesterday. “I thought you might want to check him to see if he might qualify for…for whatever you were wanting to do.”
“You’d let him come here? You’re more naïve than I thought. Didn’t I tell you not to trust anyone?”
“Without him we would have never gotten here so soon. The boat had filled and we would still be waiting for the next one if it wasn’t for his help.”
She continued her frown, but gave pause and then slowly beckoned him to her. “Come here.”
He went quickly, lifting his head. “I won’t get in the way,” he said. “I’m not really that interested in getting into the court. It’s not good for trading if you’re stuck in the Immortal City.”
“Stuck?” I asked. Would we get stuck inside the city?
“Shh,” the woman snapped at me and then addressed him. “Then why are you here?”
“Curiosity. I like to learn things. It’s helpful in trading.”
Her frown softened and she wrinkled her nose. “What do you trade? What’s in your bag?”
“Lots of things,” he said, reaching around to clutch the leather pack to his body. “I might show you if you tell me what you know.”
Mrs. Satsu broke into a sly grin. “Clever.” She continued to examine him, to ask him questions about his background, a lot of the same things that she asked me or that Dr. Aoi had informed her.
While they talked, I looked on into the house. If the city was like a tree, the house was like a spider web, with corridors leading to other parts of the connected dwelling. I’d learn later that most of the city had dwellings like this, some even more elaborately woven, going on for several blocks.
The entry way was formal, with a cupboard for shoes and a small pitcher on a tiny table. Beyond it was a courtyard at the center of the home. The courtyard had a tiny pond, a young cherry tree, and a small green garden. A wooden floor with an overhanging thatch canopy, creating a pathway. This path wove around the entire courtyard and provided sheltered access to three buildings. Later I learned the left was a smaller house for the maids, to the right was a two story, larger home, for Mrs. Satsu and her guests. The third across from the entry way was a building without windows, and a single door for the storeroom and the kitchens.
After questioning Ryuu, Mrs. Satsu went to the door we had left opened and rolled it shut. She then turned to a side table that had a black pitcher. She picked up the pitcher and with it poured a fine line of white crystals across the floor in front of the doorway. Salt, or sugar, or something else, I wasn’t sure. I couldn’t smell it from where I stood. I wasn’t familiar with the custom, but I assumed it was either to keep bad luck out, or good luck in.
“We don’t have a lot of time,” she said as she finished her pouring and replaced the pitcher, “but I may have use for you both. It doesn’t matter to me which is chosen, but we have to make agreements that you’ll have to abide by.” She said the last part to Ryuu. Her gurgling voice turned into a cackling the longer she spoke. “From this point, we’re connected, and you are an extension of my name. If anyone asks your house, you are with the Satsu House and most will assume you are family that has come to stay while registration is taking place. Sota, you’ll have to take on Ryuu. I don’t have any more escorts trained. Since Mizuki brought him, she’ll have to share.”
Both Sota and Ryuu wore mutual displeased frowns. “What about the registration?” Ryuu asked. “Should we go sign in?”
“Soon,” she said. “You’ll have time in a couple of weeks before it closes. Doing so too soon may lead you to many enemies early on. You become targets and will spend time trying to avoid trouble. The promise of annual taels for those accepted has made everyone greedy.”
A salary of taels if accepted. I leaned back on my heels. No wonder the competition was so fierce.
“That’s not all of it,” she said. “Depending on your rank, you’ll either get a house, like mine, or you’ll join the emperor in the Immortal City, where you’ll live forever inside your own palace.”
“How?” Ryuu asked. “What would you know about being inside?”
“Because I was the grand empress’s royal dresser, before she died.” She beamed, her wrinkles stretching to her ears and she seemed old enough to me to have lived back when the grand empress was still alive, the grandmother of the curre
nt emperor.
A royal dresser. My hopes soared. She had to know all sorts of things about the emperor and the palace. She could have connections as well. The beautiful girl leaving earlier suddenly made sense to me. Mrs. Satsu could make a girl look like royalty.
The discovery further drove my curiosity: why me?
When we said nothing further, as I imagined Ryuu was as stunned as I was, she motioned to us. “Come with me,” she said. “Leave the bird out here.”
Sota put the Taka’s cage on the floor, and we left our packs with him.
Mrs. Satsu guided us through to larger house, and into a room with a tatami mat floor. There was a small square opening in the center of the floor, and inside was a tea kettle. An alcove in the wall displayed a single slim blue vase and a branch of plum flowers in bloom. Above it hung a scroll, with two black-painted words: bountiful joy.
She slid the paper door shut, and again near it was another pitcher. She lined the door with white crystals, and when finished, ushered us to sit on the floor.
We knelt around the kettle. Sato was to my left, and Ryuu to my right. When Mrs. Satsu knelt across from us, she opened the cold kettle’s top and brought out a small scroll of paper.
She unrolled it and turned the paper to us so we could read it. The handwriting was hard for me to decipher, but it was similar to the edict Ryuu had shown me in his Teorb, and contained the official red seal of the emperor.
The first sentence terrified me. If anyone revealed its contents to unauthorized people, would be condemned as traitors, and beheaded. I sat back, fearing for my life and not wanting to read further.
She held up a single bony finger to her lips. “As long as what you see here, you never speak about outside this room, you’ll be safe. If you ever do, I’ll know.”
The paper had very specific names at the top, including Mrs. Satsu’s. It was asking for help identifying the best candidates for a very select position within the emperor’s court. They were to be taken to the registry office with her seal of approval to mark which were her selections. They wouldn’t be guaranteed for this secret position, but it promised to give them special consideration, and at the end, would be given a task to determine if they were qualified. Great rewards were promised, however, the exact nature of the position wasn’t identified. It simply stated only the best were to apply.
The best at what?
“I’m limited to three people,” she said, holding up three fingers. “Plus there’s those other names who were asked to submit their three choices. So there could be a few dozen people going for this one secret position.”
“Then why me?” I asked, unable to contain the biggest nagging question in my mind. “I’m a nobody from a tiny village.”
“Exactly, Mizuki,” she said. “And that’s what will make you stand out. You have no connections or loyalty to anyone else, save the emperor. And so to his eyes, you’re uncorrupted, and I think that will be unique to him. No one else outside of the people mentioned on this page, and those I select, know about this.”
“I have some connections,” Ryuu said. “Does that mean I’m not a good option?”
“You have no connections of any meaning,” Mrs. Satsu said with a dismissive wave of her hand.”
“I’m not sure if I should be flattered or insulted.”
“In this case, you should be grateful.”
I shared a look between Sota and Ryuu. Sota seemed at ease, and I wasn’t sure if this meant he knew about all of this or he found it uninteresting because he couldn’t be chosen. “So Ryuu and I may register for this?” I asked.
“You aren’t the only ones I’ve brought here,” she said. “You’ve got two weeks to impress me. I’ll have to make a decision later. However, it isn’t worthless to stay here. If I don’t select you, you can go on to register on your own for the other available positions.”
“Meaning either way, we’ll look better if we stay with you and learn a few things?” Ryuu asked.
“Yes. A couple of weeks won’t hurt your chance, but if you decide not to join me, you’ll miss out on my seal of approval.” Then her expression changed to something sly. “Just remember the taels you earn, you’ll have to split among any of your supporters. Some may try to trick you just for the money. Some will want to join you, only to betray you, paid by someone else. You’ll have to pick carefully who you let into your confidence.”
“So that’s it,” Ryuu said, his voice becoming deeper, his eyes narrowing with seriousness. “Now I’m glad I came along. You’re considering us investments.”
“In a way.”
“I want to know what I’m signing up for. This says beheading if we tell anyone else. Must be an important thing. What exactly is it?”
“No one knows,” she said. She touched her own palm over her heart. “I can only send who I think the emperor could use in his court. I also can’t let you go before the registry, to be tested and inspected, looking like beggars. With my help and support, you’ll be dressed and taught about the rules of the court, of how you’ll behave, and the expectations of you. You’ll also be given a few lessons in different areas. Some in traditional folk dance and song, others in economics and politics. You have two weeks to turn from rats into phoenixes, worthy of entering the Immortal City.”
“And what’s your cut?” Ryuu asked. “I’m assuming that’s why you are volunteering your time so generously. You want a cut of the salary.”
He made a good point. I hadn’t even considered what she got out of it.
Mrs. Satsu squinted at him. “Don’t you trust me?”
“I trust a good contract,” he said. “You want a cut of the annual income. I want to know exactly how much, or if I’d be a beggar in a fancy robe in a pretty house, because you got the rest of it.”
“If you manage to get into a palace, I’d likely go with you, to guide you for life,” she said. She scratched at a wart on her neck absently but there was a sharpness to her gaze. “Or if it is a house like mine, I’d likely move into it. Hopefully one closer to the wall, and bigger.”
A bigger house? I couldn’t believe it. I’d give anything to live in her current house. It was big and nice and warm. How could she ask for anything more?
Is that what she was thinking? That a poor girl like me would be completely grateful that I’d give anything to even live in a tiny piece of what she had?
“Give me a number,” Ryuu said firmly.
I put a tender touch on Ryuu’s arm. I felt he was being rude, and she could just as well dismiss us into the street at any point she liked, working with the others who were possibly training in this house for the same position we were going to be fighting over. “I thought you weren’t sure you wanted to even get selected,” I said.
“That was before I knew there was a lot of money involved,” he said. “Now I’m interested. Although getting stuck in the Immortal City for the rest of my life doesn’t sound appealing.”
“Then register now,” Sota said, staring absently at the door. “Show up as you are, without any training. It’s less likely you’ll get picked at all.”
Ryuu shot him a glare. “You know, I was going to stay for the taels and maybe for Mizuki if she asked me, but now I feel like staying just to irritate you.”
I was going to scold Ryuu for saying what he did, except my brain wanted to save what he said about me: that he’d stay if I asked.
I touched his arm again, just to get his attention and to silence his rude tongue. “If you feel this strongly, work with me. We can help each other. We can make a deal between us. We get to select our supporters, yes? I’ll help you if I can. And if I get in, you can be my supporter.”
His face lit up. He smoothed his hands together in front of his chest. “Now you’re talking. That’s what I was thinking. Double our chances.”
“And Sota knows more than we do. We need him.”
Ryuu’s features softened at this. “I think you’re more likely to get in than I am. She came out and fetche
d you.” He snapped his attention back to Mrs. Satsu. “So tell us some numbers, or we’ll go and register on our own together. We’ve got a little leverage. You’ll have fewer students to choose from. You came all the way out to our village to find someone like her. I think that means she’s a good choice for this position you’re talking about. Unless you think you have time to go and find someone else like her.”
Ryuu really did have a head for negotiations. He saw angles in places that I didn’t. I admired it, and thought if I ended up in a palace, or even in a house, he was a good choice as a supporter who could deal on my behalf.
Mrs. Satsu sighed and nodded. “I want to join you in the palace if accepted, and twenty five percent.”
“Ten percent,” Ryuu said. “If one gets a palace, I imagine the taels will be good enough that ten percent would be plenty. And you get the smallest room in the palace.”
Mrs. Satsu grinned and then picked up the cold kettle of tea. She dusted the lid with her fingers. “Seeing as I’m paying all the up front costs, I think I should get a little more. Twenty three percent.”
Ryuu shook his head with a sly smile. “Okay, fifteen percent and the second smallest room in the palace.”
4
LESSONS
When Ryuu finished, Mrs. Satsu had us both sign documents about awarding her seventeen percent of the taels we brought in as income, and the fourth biggest room in the palace or home we ended up residing in.
Ryuu was irritated later to learn that Mrs. Satsu’s salary with everyone else didn’t even involve room selection, only the taels. “How could anyone not think of that?” he asked. “She’d end up in the grandest room without negotiating such details.”
But he did walk away with the minimal amount of taels she’d be awarded compared to everyone else. He was a shrewd negotiator. I wondered why she allowed it, since we needed her more than she needed us, but she seemed amused by his abilities.
Later that afternoon, we were given a tour of her home. The bottom floor had a large room with a slick wood floor, which she called her school room. Then there was the tatami room, a library filled with shelves and tables full of books and documents, and a place she called a dressing room, which was a large room with mirrored walls and tables of makeup and dressing dummies displaying some of the finest kimono I’d ever seen.
