TOKO PLOWED BLINDLY into the forest, pulling Oguna along behind her. Oguna shook his head, bewildered, but followed without protest. When he noticed that her cheeks were wet with tears, however, he could not keep quiet. She had never cried silently before.
“Toko, what’s wrong? You’re acting strange today, very strange.”
She did not answer nor did she wipe away her tears.
“Are you mad at me?”
Toko shook her head. Then, as if a dam had burst, she suddenly began to talk. “If only we didn’t have to grow up. If only we could stay the way we are now forever. But you’re a boy so you’ll probably grow much taller than me, and one day I’ll turn into a woman. At least, that’s what Mother says. I don’t get it. One day, just like that. Then who am I right now? I thought I was a woman. That’s why I put up with all the things they said. ‘You can’t do this because you’re a girl.’ ‘You shouldn’t do that because you’re a girl.’ So what were they talking about? Was it all lies? How am I supposed to become more of a woman than I am already? Do you know, Oguna?”
Oguna answered truthfully that no, he didn’t.
“And that’s not all. When I become a woman I’ll have to live in the shrine on the mountain and be trained. So we hardly have any time left to be together. That’s what Mother told me today.”
“You mean you’re going to become a priestess?” Oguna looked at her incredulously and then added timidly, “You?”
“I don’t want to go to the shrine. It’s so cold and lonely. And if I’m not here, you’ll be picked on all the time.” Her tearful voice broke into sobs. Oguna did not know how to comfort her.
“Don’t cry, Toko, please. It’s New Year’s. And besides, if you cry, you can’t see where you’re going and you might get hurt—” Toko almost ran into a pine tree, stumbled over a root, and finally stopped in her tracks. Oguna stopped and took her by the shoulders, turning her to face him. “I don’t think that I’m picked on that much. No matter where I go, there will always be people who like to pick on someone weaker than them. There’s no point in worrying about it. They don’t bother me at all, those guys.”
“But I don’t want you to be a weakling. When people make fun of you, it’s like they’re making fun of me. I can’t forgive someone who does that, but when I try to stop them, they use that against you too, saying that you need a girl to rescue you.”
Oguna seemed uncertain. “Do you want me to hurt them back?”
“I don’t care about them. I just think that if only you were strong enough, they wouldn’t dare hurt you, and then I wouldn’t have to worry about you.”
Oguna pondered this for a moment. Then he said decisively, “If you’re that worried about me, I’ll find a way to become stronger. You know, I don’t think I’m a coward. I’m not afraid of those guys and there aren’t many other things I’m afraid of either. Just snakes and lightning.”
“But there are snakes everywhere, and lightning too.”
“That’s true …”
“Oh!” Toko sighed and then blew her nose in exasperation.
WHEN THEY HAD WALKED for a while, the trees began to thin and they saw water glittering ahead. The newly finished pond was full. Toko, who was still at the fortunate age when the slightest thing could change her mood, brightened immediately. The valley they both remembered with the brook running through it was gone, having been replaced by a large expanse of water. The ripples on the pond’s deep green surface, gilded by the rays of the westerly sun, shimmered like golden fish scales. The transformation was stunning, as if the engineers from the capital had bent nature to their will.
Oguna and Toko ran about the bank, crying out in wonder. As long as Toko was happy again, there was no reason for Oguna to be gloomy. “Look!” he said. “They’ve dammed the water downstream. Let’s go see.”
As they walked along the bank, the construction site came into view. A massive structure of logs and stones blocked the flow of water, and they could see a thick mud wall and the beginnings of a sluice gate on the dry side. Oguna, who had never seen a project of this scale before, was deeply impressed. It was New Year’s Day and there was not a worker in sight. Taking advantage of this, the children climbed up the scaffolding and admired the dam to their heart’s content.
Toko was suddenly overcome with a hunger for mischief. She pointed to the log posts that held the stones in place. “If we walked along the top of those, we could easily get to the other side,” she said.
“Walk on those?” Oguna said, unenthusiastic. The posts were driven at intervals about one step apart. On one side of the dam, the surface of the water was close, but on the other side, there was a long drop down and the bottom was covered in boulders.
“I hear that the emperor has ordered a villa to be built on the other side. Really! What’s to become of Mino, I wonder. Don’t you want to take a look?”
If Oguna had been a dog, his ears would have pricked up. “A villa?”
“What’s the matter? Are you afraid? I thought you said you weren’t afraid of anything but snakes and lightning.” The grin on Toko’s face as she said this made it impossible for him to back down.
“Who said I was afraid? I’m just worried about you, that’s all.”
Toko laughed out loud. “Well, I’m even less afraid than you. Snakes and lightning don’t bother me a bit.”
“Let’s see you prove it then!”
They were in the mood to do something reckless. The best way to forget their troubles was to take a little risk and laugh their sorrow away. Toko went first, and they began to cross, suppressing their giggles.
It was not difficult for a light-footed daredevil like Toko to walk along the tops of the posts. She had navigated much higher and narrower places before. But the rays of the sun where they pierced the clouds low in the west shone directly in her face, and she blinked repeatedly. A white bird suddenly appeared at the edge of her vision. Wanting to show Oguna how unafraid she was, she said, “Look at that big bird. Do you think it’s a swan?”
“It looks like it. I wonder why it’s all alone. Do you think it got separated from its flock?” Oguna said.
I was facing west and looking at the sun when a large bird, white and shining, appeared in the middle of it and flew straight toward me.
These words leapt unbidden into Toko’s mind, and she started in surprise. She had heard them before, but where? Then she remembered Lady Akaru’s dream and went numb with shock. What can it mean? This is the same thing she saw. Am I caught in her dream? That can’t be. But then … why do I feel so strange? She did not understand what she saw or felt. She only knew that the white bird flying toward her filled her with dread.
It was an ill omen.
Her mind reeled, her eyes went dark, and she staggered. But she had not yet reached the other side of the dam.
“Toko! Look out!” Oguna’s voice brought her back to her senses and she managed to pull herself upright. Relieved that she had not fallen onto the rocks, she fell instead into the pond with a loud splash. This, however, was not much better. The water was so cold it froze her lungs and she thought she would never breathe again. Cramped with cold, her body refused to obey her. Although she was a good swimmer, Toko knew that she was in serious trouble. Someone grabbed her collar and struggled to pull her toward the shore. It was Oguna, of course. It was nice of him to share her misery, but then who, she wondered gloomily, would pull the two of them from the pond?
But there was another helping hand after all. An arm reached out and plucked her lightly from the water, as if she weighed not a feather despite her soaked clothing. She lay curled up on the ground, racked with coughs. Between each cough she could hear someone loudly berating her.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing? How dare you play on the dam we worked so hard to build! This is no place for a lover’s tryst. And absolutely not for double suicide. Besides, you’re ten years too young anyway. It would have served you right to drown, you little brats!”
From h
is accent, she knew instantly that her rescuer must be from the capital. Pushing her clinging hair out of her eyes, she looked up and saw a tall, slim young man whose face was mostly covered by an odd-looking hood. He was now hauling Oguna out of the water, scolding him all the while.
“What are you? Stupid? What good was it to jump into the pond after her? Don’t you even know what to do when someone falls in? Throw them something to grab on to and then go get help, idiot!”
Oguna tried to respond, but his teeth chattered so violently his words were unintelligible. The hooded man clucked his tongue. “I suppose you two had better come with me before you turn into icicles. I’ll let you warm up by the fire, but that’s all, you hear? Honestly! Who in their right mind would take a bath in the pond on a day like this? You’re just lucky I happened to be here. Normally no one would bother checking the worksite on New Year’s Day.”
Several workers’ huts stood inconspicuously in the shadow of the trees a little way from the pond. The man ushered them into one. It was a simple structure with a low ceiling and a dirt floor. The absence of any furnishings made the room quite spacious. A large hearth had been dug in the center, and the man generously heaped firewood into it so that the flames roared to life, producing a fair bit of smoke as well. He made them take off their sopping garments and wrapped them up like bagworms in clothes from the hut. Although he had said he would only let them warm themselves by the fire, he began hauling out a big pot. As she watched him move about on his long legs, Toko sensed that he was a good person at heart, despite the way he talked.
Other than the racket he was making, everything was very still and there were no other signs of life in the area. Relaxed by the warmth of the fire, Toko asked, “Isn’t anyone else here?”
“It’s only right to spend New Year’s Day with your family, don’t you think? I bet they’re all at home right now enjoying a good meal,” he answered.
“What about you?”
“I’m single,” he said. He came over, sat down beside them, and warmed himself at the fire for a minute. Then, as if suddenly realizing he was still wearing it, the man took off his hood. His face, which they now saw clearly for the first time, was much younger than his tone of voice had led them to believe. He looked like he had only just reached manhood himself. Although he had scolded them in the lofty tones of a sensible adult, his eyes held a gleam of mischief, like someone who would be quite willing to join in their pranks. But this was not what surprised Toko most. From the moment she saw his face, she felt that she knew him. She turned to look at Oguna and then suddenly cried out excitedly.
The young man frowned. “Now what? Can’t you settle down even for a minute? You’ll never get married at this rate.”
“But you—you look just like Oguna! I’ve never seen anyone like him before. Oguna! He looks like you!”
“No he doesn’t,” Oguna said in a nasal voice, his body still hunched in a ball.
But Toko was convinced. The more she looked at them, the more they resembled each other. The hairline, the eyebrows, and the shape of their chins were so similar. She could imagine Oguna looking just like this man in six or seven years when he grew up.
“Oguna, maybe you’re from the capital!”
“Now wait a minute!” the young man protested. “You won’t find faces like mine lying about on the street, you know. Besides, you insult me by comparing me to that snot-nosed brat.” But her words must have intrigued him because he pulled back the clothes Oguna had wrapped around his head and peered at him intently.
“You see? He looks like you, doesn’t he?”
After a very long pause, he said, “All right. I admit it.” His voice held a note of surprise. He folded his arms across his chest. “I’d like to hear what people who knew me as a kid would say if they saw you. I have so many siblings, I’ve lost count, but not one of them resembles me as much as you. It’s amazing. What’s your name?”
“Oguna.”
“Oguna? Your parents named you ‘boy’? They didn’t put much effort into naming you. Don’t they love you?”
“How dare you say that!” Toko responded hotly. “They called him Oguna because he’s the only boy in our house, and that makes him special.”
“All right, all right! Don’t get so mad. But you don’t look like siblings. Don’t you know who your parents are?”
“I’m a foundling,” Oguna said.
“I see,” the man said and then laughed out loud. “Very concise. I like you. Women always babble on and on about things. But why would someone with a face like mine have been abandoned?”
“I don’t know. I was found floating in a reed basket on Yasuno River. The headman of Kamitsusato took me in.”
The man blinked, taken aback. “Then you’re Tachibana? No wonder you were wearing such nice clothes. Well, I hope I didn’t offend you earlier.” But he grinned as he said this and did not appear in the least contrite.
People from the capital are so different, Toko thought. So full of confidence. This man seemed to do whatever he pleased without any concern for what others might think. Now he was staring at Toko, making her feel very uncomfortable, especially as he looked so much like Oguna. She had never seen Oguna scrutinize anyone so brazenly.
“Is there something wrong with my face?”
“No, no,” he laughed. “It’s just that Lady Akaru is rumored to be a matchless beauty. I thought perhaps you might look a little like her, seeing as you’re related …”
“Unfortunately for you, I don’t.”
“Well, that’s a relief. There’s still some hope then.”
The man actually seemed to enjoy teasing her. Incensed, Toko launched into a little tirade. “Lady Akaru is a true beauty. You only say that because you’ve never met her. But let’s see if you dare to deny her beauty once you’ve seen her up close.”
“I’d love to have the opportunity. But there’s not much chance for an outsider to get close enough to view such a well-guarded lady.”
Although Oguna had remained silent and unsmiling at first, the lively conversation between Toko and this stranger drew him in. After all, how could he ignore someone who looked like him? Hesitantly, he asked where the man was born and who his parents were.
“My father’s from the capital although my mother isn’t. I was born and raised in the capital.”
“Does your father also build dams?”
“Not just dams. Whenever there’s a big construction project, my father’s in charge. I’m his heir, so I’m being given the chance to represent him. That’s why I was asked to supervise construction of this dam.”
“You’re supervising? That’s fantastic!” Oguna said, unable to conceal his awe.
The man smiled. “Do you like construction? That’s good. Building is a job worth doing.”
At that, Oguna smiled too. Toko realized that they looked most alike when smiling. The stranger, who seemed drawn to Oguna, said jokingly, “You really do belong in my family. Perhaps you’re one of my father’s illegitimate children. I wouldn’t be surprised at all. He was quite popular among the ladies when he was young.”
Oguna tensed and licked the cut on his lip. He had forgotten about it, but warmed by the fire, the blood circulating in his body had made his lip smart again. “You shouldn’t speak about such things so lightly.”
“Ah, you talk like an old sage,” the young man said. Leaning forward, he took Oguna’s chin in his hand and examined the cut. “You should take better care of your face if it looks like mine. I’ll put some ointment on it. I’ve got some good stuff here.”
He was just smearing a thick cream on Oguna’s cut when they heard the sound of hooves galloping up to the camp. They paused, listening. Whoever it was seemed to know his way around. He walked straight toward the hut and threw the door open.
“Forgive me! I’m so sorry to be late. Were you all right? I finally—” He broke off as he entered the room, stunned to see Toko and Oguna. Even his legs froze midstride.
&nbs
p; “Nanatsuka,” the young man said with a wry smile.
“Er, who are they?”
“Some fish I hauled out of the pond a little while ago. Sorry. I’m just joking. They’re Tachibana, so it won’t do to treat them disrespectfully. I’m going to take them to the chieftain’s hall soon. Nothing’s amiss.”
“Forgive me for not being here when you needed me.” The man called Nanatsuka was so huge the children had to crane their necks to look up at him, and his chest was so broad it made the hood he wore appear undersized. With his tall frame stooped to avoid the low ceiling, he appeared very apologetic.
“What’s this pot for?” he asked.
“Oh, I meant to heat up some sake. Would you mind doing that for me?”
“You shouldn’t heat sake in this kind of pan,” Nanatsuka said, as he took the pot outside.
What strange men, Toko thought. Although she had no idea what laborers were like, she did know that there was something odd about this pair.
The huge man soon returned with hot drinks made, he told them, from unrefined sake mixed with grated ginger and syrup. Toko and Oguna had never had anything that warmed them up so quickly and fiercely before. Toko’s skin radiated heat so thoroughly she thought steam would start rising from it.
“Your clothes are dry now,” the young man said. “It’s time to take you home. I’m sure your family must be worried sick.”
When they went outside, the stars were shining. The man fetched his horse, and setting both children on it, he began leading it toward the chief’s hall. Although the air was cold, the children did not feel it at all. Gazing at the reflection of the stars in the pond, they chattered nonstop, their tongues loosened by the sake. When the prince mentioned that he was a good archer, Toko prattled on excitedly about the noriyumi, an archery tournament that would be held the next day.
“All the men in Mino who consider themselves any good with a bow practice year-round just for this event,” she said. “Everyone gets involved, and it’s always packed with people because of course none of the girls want to miss it either. We get to sit in a special stand with the women of the chief’s household, but even that’s not easy. The cheering is so loud it’s enough to split your ears. Oh! And of course, the winner gets lots of gifts from the chief. Lady Akaru presents them. That’s why all the archers are so set on winning.”
Mirror Sword and Shadow Prince Page 3
