“Then you must go, immediately!” Gran urged.
Ashinji shook his head. “No.”
“You must!” Taya snapped. “We have no time for…”
“I’m not doing anything else for you until you bring my wife back!”
Ashinji glared at the three women. They looked at each other, then back at him. Their combined energies pushed at him, but he refused to budge, not until he heard from their lips that they intended to resurrect Jelena.
“We will try,” Taya replied, but her voice held no promises.
“You must do more than try,” he insisted.
“Ashi, we…” Amara began, but Ashinji cut her off with a shout.
“Bring my wife back! You promised!”
His whole body shook with fury.
“You demanded this sacrifice of us! You…insisted it was the only way to defeat our enemy! And now, my lover, my best friend, the mother of my child is…is dead…and still, the task isn’t done! You owe this to her! To both of us!”
Ashinji gazed into Jelena’s face, and marveled at how beautiful it still looked. A fresh flow of tears wet his cheeks. Tenderly, he lowered her head back to the altar’s surface. His hand brushed the hilt of the knife still protruding from her chest, and with a gasp of dismay, he jerked away, as if Jelena could still feel the pain of that cruel blade.
“Swear you’ll bring her back. Please,” he whispered.
Amara wept in silence behind shaking hands. Taya turned her face away and sighed. Gran came forward and touched Ashinji’s shoulder. He flinched, but did not pull away.
“Ashi, I swear.”
Ashinji looked into Gran’s eyes, and the calm determination he saw there cooled his anger. He knew the elder Kirian would keep her word.
After a few moments of silence, he rose to his feet and faced Taya. “I’m ready now,” he stated.
“Then I will send you back through the portal to Sendai,” the princess said. “When you pick up his trail, be very careful. The Nameless One is more dangerous than you can possibly imagine, and he will have absorbed all of Sonoe’s essence, including her magical abilities. They will only serve to enhance his already formidable skills. He will mimic her flawlessly, and so will be able to gain easy access to my husband and his council.” The princess pressed the spirit box into Ashinji’s hands. “When you get close enough, simply open the lid and speak his name. And now you must go!”
Ashinji tucked the box inside his jacket and knelt once more beside the altar stone. Fighting back still more tears, he leaned over and kissed Jelena’s cold lips. His eyes never left her face as he spoke. “I can’t imagine going on without you, love, but I suppose I must.” His voice caught and for an instant, he wished the stones beneath his knees would turn to sand and suck him down.
I would welcome death now, if it meant reunion with you!
He took a deep breath and rose to his feet. “Let’s go,” he said, and started for the door.
He didn’t look back as he followed the princess from the chamber. They hurried down the dark corridor toward the portal, Taya’s magelight swooping ahead of them. When they reached the base of the rubble slope, Taya sent the magelight up through the breach and set it to hovering. Together, they began to climb.
When Ashinji reached the place where the magelight bobbed, he paused and tried to feel the magic of the portal.
Yes, there it is, and there’s the trigger!
He felt a rush of excitement. “Princess, I think I can activate the portal myself,” he declared.
“You can feel the trigger?” Taya sounded a little dubious.
Ashinji nodded. “I just form a picture in my mind of the place I want to go and…”
“It’s not quite that simple, young Sakehera,” Taya snapped. “If you don’t have a perfect mental picture of the locator glyph, you could end up materializing inside of solid stone!”
They climbed the remainder of the way in silence. At the top of the slope, Ashinji paused to catch his breath, then demanded, “Show me the glyph.” An image formed before his mind’s eye like ink-strokes on paper. He nodded sharply. “Got it.”
“Everything depends on you now.” Taya said. “Go quickly, and may the One keep you safe.”
“Keep your promise to me, Princess,” Ashinji replied.
Before he reached with his mind to trigger the portal, Ashinji called out, “Princess Taya, you haven’t told me the name of the spirit!”
“Shiura Onjara.” Taya’s brow creased as if the appellation left a bitter residue in her mouth.
“If we all survive this, I’ll meet you back in Sendai.” Ashinji triggered the portal and darkness engulfed him.
***
“Poor child.” Amara sat on the altar, stroking Jelena’s cold cheek. “The day my son first brought you to me, I knew you would change all our lives. I just didn’t know how.” She dabbed her eyes with the hem of her sleeve. “I will carry the burden of this day to my grave,” she sighed.
“Jelena understood the necessity of what we all had to do, Amara.” Gran squeezed her friend’s shoulder. “She possessed remarkable courage, and so does your son. He won’t fail us, just as Jelena did not.”
“How will we do what we promised, Chiana?” Amara continued to stroke her daughter-in-law’s cheek. “We haven’t the strength left for another major Working. A resurrection must be attempted within the first hour of death. Any later, and the risk of failure is all but certain. By the time our strength is restored, it will be too late.”
“There is a way,” Gran replied softly. “I can give up my life energy to complete the spell.”
Amara stared at her friend. “Chiana…you would do this for my son and daughter-in-law?”
“My life, my true life, ended when I destroyed everything I loved in a mad quest for power. Exchanging my life for hers,” Gran continued, glancing at Jelena then back at Amara, “won’t bring my husband and children back, I know, but perhaps, just perhaps, the One will show mercy and reunite me with them on the other side.”
Amara looked away, too overcome to speak.
“You and Taya will need to act without delay. Jelena’s body is gravely injured. She’s lost a great deal of blood, and could die again if she’s not attended to properly.”
“Yes. I had thought of that,” Amara said. “We should first draw out the knife and bind the wound.” She looked around, then slid off the altar and strode across the chamber to gather the remnants of Sonoe’s clothing. “These should do nicely for bandages,” she said dryly.
Taya returned to find them wrapping strips of cloth around Jelena’s chest. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“Preparing Jelena for resurrection,” Gran replied.
“Sister, we haven’t the strength…”
Gran raised her hand and Taya fell silent. “I’m giving Jelena my life force,” the elder Kirian said.
If Taya felt shock, dismay, or any emotion at all, she gave no sign. Stone-faced, she stood with arms folded, watching as Gran and Amara finished their task.
“These rags are poor bandages, but they’ll have to do,” Gran muttered.
“I’m no doctor,” Taya said, “but I haven’t spent forty years married to one without learning a thing or two. She’s lost too much blood to live. Your sacrifice will be for naught.”
You grieve for her, Amara. I grieve as well, though I may not show it. You and I are made differently that way.
Yes, I know…You didn’t love her as I learned to, but I saw how you came to respect her. Chiana is…
I’m willing…more than willing, to do this.
“I think Jelena will fight to live,” Gran said aloud. “Her love for her husband and child will give her the strength.” She sighed and wiped her bloodied hands on the tops of her breeches. “Once this is done, just go. Don’t stop to see to my body.” Her pale eyes wandered around the chamber before settling on Taya’s face. “This will be a far better resting place for me than I deserve.”
She r
ose to her feet and said, “Sisters, the Society must never fall into such a state again. The one who can bring us back to our full power has just left to perform the task, on his own, that the three of us could not. If he succeeds, he is the future of the Society.” She looked at Amara.
“Traditions must at times give way to necessity. Amara, send your son to the Kan Onji. His life is wasted as a mere soldier. He needs the proper training so he can fulfill his true destiny.”
Amara nodded, tears once again filling her eyes.
“You were our leader once, Chiana,” Taya said quietly. “I’ve never doubted your wisdom or insight. If you say young Sakehera is the future of the Society, then so be it. I’ll supervise his training myself…if he succeeds.”
“He will.” Gran replied. “And now, I must fulfill my promise. Help me, please.”
The three mages linked hands and Gran completed the connection by taking up Jelena’s.
They began to chant.
The Pursuit Commences
Ashinji stumbled as he landed on the hard packed earth of the portal chamber. The lamps they had left behind, though still burning, flickered close to exhaustion. Snatching one up, he bounded to the door and tried to throw it open. It wouldn’t budge. He stared at the door in confusion for a few tense heartbeats until he remembered that Taya had secured it with a locking spell. He reached out with his mind. The energy of the spell had a definite structure; if he could study it long enough, he would be able figure out how to unravel it. He did not have that kind of time. He simply cut through the spell, flung open the door, and ran up the corridor toward the stairs.
It did not occur to him to wonder at the ease with which he destroyed the spell; his mind remained focused on reaching his daughter. He would have time enough for exploring the limits of his newly unbound Talent only if he could stop the thing that now wore Sonoe’s body. If he could find it in time. If he could stop it from killing Prince Raidan If he could prevent it from opening the Void…
If, if, if! Too many ifs! I’ve got to get to Hatora first!
He felt the familiar tug of the link binding his daughter to him, a link stronger, even, than the one that had bound him to Jelena. Hatora’s energy felt calm and unafraid. For the moment, she seemed to be in no danger. That could mean one of two things: The Nameless One had passed her by and was no longer in the castle, or the spirit lay in wait, ready to ambush him when he came for his daughter. Whatever the case, he had no choice but to go to her, and his fears would not be allayed until he had seen for himself that Hatora remained truly safe.
When he reached the secret door that opened into the library, Ashinji did not stop to check if anyone might be on the other side; it didn’t matter anymore that the portal remain a secret. The library lay deserted; he pelted through the empty rooms and out into the corridor, running at full speed toward the apartments where Hatora waited. Sweating profusely beneath his heavy clothes and growing light-headed from the trapped heat, Ashinji paused to shed his coat before continuing.
He pulled up outside the apartments where Jelena had lived as his widow for the last year, breathing hard. Eikko let out a shriek as he burst through the doors, then cried “Captain Sakehera, it’s you!” A heartbeat later, her face blanched with fear. “My lord, your hands are all bloody!” she gasped.
“Where is my daughter?” Ashinji softened his tone as the girl cringed. “Eikko, I’m sorry.” Looking down at his hands, he added, “I didn’t mean to frighten you.” He had been so intent on reaching the baby, he had not noticed just how much of Jelena’s blood stained his skin. No wonder Eikko had screamed. “Has anyone come here while we’ve been gone?” he asked.
The girl gulped and ducked her head. “Uh, no Captain, no one.”
“Lady Sonoe didn’t come here?”
“N…no, my lord. Was she supposed to?” Eikko looked scared and bewildered, as if she thought she may have made a mistake, but didn’t know exactly what she had done wrong. “If she did come by, I swear I didn’t hear her knock…”
“Never mind.” Ashinji pushed past the flustered maid and rushed toward the bedchamber. Despite what his magical sense told him, he had to see with his own eyes that Hatora lived.
The baby lay on her back in the center of the big bed, sleeping.
Thank the Goddess! Ashinji blinked back tears of relief as he eased himself down beside her.
“My little bird, my sweet little baby,” he whispered, stroking her shock of wheaten curls. “Eikko,” he called out, never taking his eyes from Hatora’s face.
“Yes, Captain,” The hikui girl peered around the door.
“Where are my sisters?”
“Lady Lani took the little ones down to the bath house, my lord. They should all be back very soon.” Eikko smiled at the sleeping child. “She’s such a good baby, my lord, hardly any trouble at all. Always grinning and burbling.”
“Gather whatever you’ll need for the baby and yourself. I’m taking you both to a place where you’ll be safe…safer, anyway…until I can come back for you.”
And if I don’t come back…if Hatora disappears, perhaps Shiura Onjara won’t bother to look for her.
He could see fear spark in the hikui girl’s eyes, but that couldn’t be helped. To her credit, she asked no questions; within a short time, she announced she was ready to go.
“What about Lady Lani and the twins, my lord? Shouldn’t we wait for them?”
Ashinji shook his head. “No time. Besides, my mother will be returning soon.” Hopefully, Lani wouldn’t panic when she and the twins came back to an empty apartment. “Do you know where the weaver Sateyuka lives?” he asked.
“Yes, my lord. I’ve been there once with Princess Jelena,” Eikko answered. “I think I can find my way.”
“Good. Then I’ll need you to lead us there.” He scooped the still-sleeping baby into his arms and settled her against his chest. “Come.”
Without another word, he left the apartment with a confused but trusting Eikko in tow, a rucksack slung over her round shoulder. They encountered no one; Sendai Castle appeared deserted, though Ashinji’s magical sense told him otherwise. He felt the energies of those left behind whose jobs were to make sure the castle continued to function, albeit at a very low level, while most of the court was away.
When they reached the broad corridor that led to the king’s apartments, Eikko balked. “Lord Ashinji,” she squeaked. “I’m not allowed up here! I’ll be punished if I’m caught!” A sheen of moisture glistened on her brow.
“You won’t be punished, Eikko, I promise,” Ashinji reassured her. “You’re with me.” The hikui girl wrung her hands, but followed at his heels as Ashinji approached the tall, ornate double doors.
Two soldiers of the King’s Guard stood rigid at their posts; nothing looked out of place but Ashinji’s newly heightened magical sense jangled in alarm. The energy residue of a powerful enchantment clung to both men like a pall of smoke.
Cautiously, he extended his mind toward the guards.
His consciousness rebounded off slick walls of black ice.
Those are not normal mental shields. This is very bad.
Ashinji looked at Eikko, who stared at the guards with wary eyes. “They’re bound by some sort of enchantment,” he said. “They don’t even know we’re here. Follow me.”
Taking care not to jostle the baby, Ashinji pushed open one door then entered the darkened anteroom. Neither guard moved. He closed the door on their stiff backs then carefully transferred Hatora into Eikko’s arms. “Wait here,” he said.
Swiftly he crossed the room to pause before the smaller set of double doors leading to the king’s bedchamber. No King’s Guard stood watch here, yet another bad sign. Once again, Ashinji extended his senses to quest through the doors into the room beyond. He detected no enchantments and no telltale warmth of a living, shielded mind.
He pushed the doors open and slipped inside.
The room appeared exactly as he had seen it last, when he and
Jelena had come to bid goodbye to her father. His eyes darted to the bed where Keizo lay unmoving, hands folded atop his chest. He took a step forward and felt something soft crunch beneath his boot. In the dim light, he could just make out the shape of Jewel, Sonoe’s dog, sprawled lifeless upon the mats.
With a soft curse, Ashinji sidestepped the tiny corpse. He approached the big, silk-draped bed and peered down at the king’s waxen face. No residual magical energy lingered and he saw no telltale physical clues that could lead to any conclusion other than Keizo had died from his illness. Nevertheless, Ashinji knew with unshakable certainty that Sonoe had murdered him, perhaps even before they had all left for the Black Fortress. The ensorcelled guards at the outer doors and the slain dog all stood as proof.
“My lord?” Ashinji looked up to see Eikko peeking through the open doorway. When she caught sight of the king’s corpse, her eyes grew huge.
“I thought I told you to wait for me by the outer door!” Ashinji moved away from the bed, grabbed the girl’s shoulders then ushered her—Hatora still sound asleep in her arms—out of the bedroom and back across the dark antechamber.
“I’m sorry, Lord Ashinji, but I got scared,” the girl whimpered, fat tears rolling down her florid cheeks. “I thought I heard something!”
Ashinji’s annoyance fizzled. “I’m sorry I snapped at you,” he said in a kindlier tone.
“The king. He’s dead, isn’t he?” The girl sniffed and scrubbed at her dripping nose with the hem of her sleeve.
“He is,” Ashinji replied. “I don’t think anyone but us knows it yet, though.” He steered Eikko through the doorway back out into the hall and shut the heavy panel behind him, then paused to think.
I’ll need to wash my hands and change clothes, get a horse from the stables…
Princess Taya’s warning about his quarry sprang to his weary and traumatized mind.
The Nameless One is more dangerous than you can possibly imagine.
He glanced at the frozen guards, then at Eikko, hoping she had not seen him shiver. “Come,” he said. Wordlessly, Eikko followed.
***
“This is it, my lord, right here,” Eikko said, pointing to a tidy, mid-sized house nestled between two smaller ones. Lamplight spilled out onto the dark street through a beautifully carved wooden window screen, forming a complicated pattern on the beaten earth. The street itself was quiet, but all around him, Ashinji heard the muffled sounds of people in their homes preparing the evening meal, laughing with their spouses, playing with children, arguing with one another. He reined in the horse then waited while Eikko slid to the ground before carefully dismounting.
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