Back to the Dream

by Felicitas Ivey

  "Kindling,” Logan said.

  "A pity,” I remarked with a shrug. I didn't want him to know how badly that shook me. How had the two of us survived? Why hadn't anyone else?

  "Keno-chan, you are still ill from our experience,” Tamazusa said in Japanese, looking annoyed.

  "I needed—” I started in the same language. At least she wasn't scolding me in a language the others understood. “I am supposed to protect you. I promised Samojirou-sama that I would."

  "I have accepted Mason's protection for the moment,” she said. “He is a man of honor. It is not that you cannot protect me. It would just be better that Mason appears to be my protector."

  I nodded and regretted doing that when the room shifted. Logan caught me and sort of guided me to another bunk. “Sit. And when's the last time you ate?"

  "I don't know,” I said truthfully. “Wolf had a bowl of gruel for me, but I insisted on seeing how my sister was doing."

  "I'll get it,” Logan said. He left, and I looked at Mason.

  "New guy,” he said shortly, knowing what I wanted from him. “Lab rat."

  I nodded and then, when the room spun around again, decided that lying down was a good idea. Tamazusa slipped from the bed and checked on me. I didn't know if I should be surprised or shocked to see she was only wearing a T-shirt. I had never seen her this undressed, and I thought that I blushed.

  "Our clothing's ruined,” she said calmly. “And for now, we're going to have to depend on these people, as well as deal with the Northerners. That is why I agreed to Mason being my protector."

  I looked at her and knew how much she hated that. But there was something wrong here. Why did we have to depend on Wolf's protection? “Big Sister?"

  Tamazusa smiled at me, proud that I hadn't called her “my lord.” “I fear I have fallen victim to part of Iida's plot. I haven't left Nippon voluntarily."

  My eyes widened, but other than that, I fought not to react. I knew what she was hinting at. All of her power was tied to the land, the kuni she had fought for and claimed. She had been driven from her land; therefore, she could no longer draw upon it for power. She was as powerless as if she had been a mere mortal. Not helpless, I'd never think that of her. Then it hit me: Samojirou would know this, too, and think we were dead—or worse. He'd know it and have to try and claim Tamazusa's kuni before someone else did. If he wanted to.

  "I understand,” I whispered. I had to get back. I didn't know what Samojirou might do if he thought I was no longer with him.

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  Chapter Six

  Samojirou

  I was restless, for some reason. The scroll of poetry I was reading wasn't holding my attention. It wasn't like Keno hadn't been gone from me before. There had been several days in the beginning of our relationship that we had been separated because Fuse had taken him away while Tamazusa and I were dealing with Collins. Then there was the time he spent with his family upon occasion, without me, even if it wasn't often. So why was I so restless now?

  I wandered out of my study and into the iris garden. For some reason, all the Reavers seemed to be gathered in this spot. I didn't know how many of them were on the estate; they paid more attention to Tamazusa and Keno than to me. Reavers and creatures like that were attracted to unusual power. They had decided to form a guard for Tamazusa, but very few Nipponese lords had allies such as they were. I had seen other such arrangements in other lands, with other intelligent beings of the Dreamlands, but they were rare. While we oni and other beings like that lived here, it was the Reavers and the Hakarl that were natives of this place. We had simply moved in and claimed it as ours, it seemed, from what little that I have discovered about the history of the Dreamlands. Tamazusa hadn't been wrong when she'd said that the Dreamlands just are.

  A handful of the Reavers had gone with Tamazusa when she had decided to negotiate with Iida. I wondered what kind of alliance the man wanted. There had been a rumor or two that he was interested in taking a consort, which was why he probably approached my lady. I believed he thought that since I had Sakura to amuse me, Tamazusa would consent to his proposition. That he was stupid enough to believe that she would let a man run her life, much less her kuni, showed me she would never ally with him. She had decided to talk with him, because he was powerful enough that she'd didn't want to unnecessarily insult him by ignoring his request. Besides, Iida might be getting something out of this, just not my lady or her lands. And she would get to plot and plan to her heart's content.

  Okita and I dealt with anything that needed to be done in Tamazusa's absence. I even managed to sit justice in her place, which seemed to startle many people. But I said nothing on the matter, just glaring at the one fool who hinted that I had deposed her. Fortunately, there had been enough witnesses to her departure and journey to the coast that many knew she was still living, in a manner of speaking. I didn't need the rumors of her trip to spread throughout Nippon, which would make most of our neighboring lords eye the borders of the kuni and wonder if they needed to be altered. I did, however, restrict my travels, sending regrets to those who inquired that Sakura was ill. That sent even more confusing and contradictory rumors around Nippon. It would have been amusing if I weren't worried about Keno and Tamazusa.

  The Reavers abruptly all at once turned to the north, and I shivered. Reavers were alike as beans in a pod, with their inky blank faces, but even this was too just eerie for me. Suddenly they all launched into the sky as one, flying away, their powerful wings taking them out of my sight in minutes. I shuddered at the sight. I went to return to my study when my knees buckled and I fell, vomiting. Something was wrong. I thought of poison as I vomited up what I had eaten for breakfast. I dismissed that thought, though, when I realized how off things suddenly felt to me.

  I was powerful enough to have claimed my own kuni. I had just chosen not to, preferring to support Tamazusa instead. I had no interest in wielding that kind of power. If I were honest, I would say that something had happened when the first Inuzaka Keno had banished me here, a change in me that had caused me to lose all ambition for power. It was difficult to admit, but I confess that after the first century or so, I was relieved I didn't have the interest or the drive to play the Game as Tamazusa and so many others did. I was content with the scholarship that was my life here.

  Keno coming back into my life was wonderful. We didn't have the relationship I'd had with his ancestor. It was better, I'm not ashamed to say. Keno was innocent in ways that his ancestor had never been, having been consumed by the vengeance his vow had forced upon him. Coaxing Keno into trusting me had been a delightful experience for the two of us. We were in love and able to spend our lives here as we desired, something we had been denied before.

  I saw Okita running toward me, and I wondered what was wrong. The samurai had been checking on me daily, something I knew Keno had asked them to do. I was amused that Keno thought I couldn't take care of myself.

  I struggled to stand up, trying to ignore the fact that I was shaking and weak. I got to my feet, and then it hit me: a wave of power I had never felt before, making me feel drained and energized at the same time. I staggered under its impact, and Okita barely caught me. I was overwhelmed by the power filling me.

  Then I shook off his help and looked around me in horror. I recognized what was happening, why I was feeling this way. The power of Tamazusa's kuni had been unleashed. While I was the most powerful oni here, that didn't mean that I would be its lord. Everyone was feeling this, to some extent.

  Okita stared at me, worried. I opened my mouth to reassure him, and all that came out was a howl of pain and loss. If Tamazusa had lost control of her kuni, that meant she was dead. If she was dead, then Keno was also, since he would have died protecting her. I howled again over the loss, anger, and pain his death caused me. I was grateful when Okita hit me on the back of the head with the hilt of his katana. I didn't want to be awake anymore. I didn't want to be aware of the fact that I had lost Keno again
.

  * * * *

  Tamazusa

  Mason was the one to give me something to wear, along with the man named Logan. Between the two of them, I was clothed. Not decently, though. I was dressed in something called cargo pants and a T-shirt, both too big for me, altered for my wear in various ways. The only pieces of my clothing to survive were my undergarments. Rinsed out, they were clean, even if the silk had been ruined by the salt water and smelled like smoke. I assumed I had only gotten them back because they were too small for any of the women here.

  Mason giving me clothing also showed the barbarians that he was my “protector". I had to use McGann's spare pair of boots, though, because these barbarians wouldn't even give me a rough pair of sandals. I wondered what Keno was going to do, since he was smaller than I.

  "You're looking good,” Mason told me with a grin.

  "Please,” I almost snarled at him.

  I had gotten cleaned up a little and had managed to braid my hair back. I'd had to borrow Logan's comb to do so, and it had taken about an hour. I felt dirty, though, and longed for a soak in my onsen. Washing up in a cold-water tub does not get you either clean or relaxed. I knew I should be polite and charming to the one who was my protector; however, I had a feeling that such things would be wasted on Mason.

  "Hell, it's still black,” Mason told me with a grin, not put out by my temper. I suddenly thought that if I had been charming, that would have disturbed him more. “Not like we stuck you in a Hello Kitty T-shirt or something."

  "I have no idea what you're talking about,” I said. I liked the color black, and I had decided centuries ago that it would be the only color I would be seen in, since I didn't have to dress as a woman of the pleasure class anymore. However, it seemed I was doomed to play that role again. Not that I thought Mason would press his claim on me, since the man had a rough sort of honor. I didn't know about the one called Logan, though.

  "I think that she'd look good in—” Logan started, and then he must have decided being here wasn't a good idea, because he stopped speaking and quickly left the area.

  Mason just shook his head. “Shit, he's worse than Wolf at times."

  Something in me eased when he said that. Logan would be no threat to me. But Keno knew our predicament now. I was proud of the control he had shown when I told him, but I also knew he, too, feared for Aboshi's sanity. I thought I was going to have to have someone watch him closely so that Keno didn't try to swim back to Nippon. But I really couldn't ask someone to do so without telling them the reason why, which I would never do.

  Helga stomped up to us again and glared at me. “You will help."

  I opened my mouth to protest and then saw that McGann had also been “invited” to help this woman, since she was following her. It would be a good time to get to know the other woman and find out why these real world people were here again. McGann looked almost as thrilled to be doing this as I was. It wasn't like I didn't know what went on in my kitchens, but I left those arrangements to Aboshi to deal with. And I had never worked in one!

  What we were to help with was plucking chickens for dinner, a dirty and demeaning job. That didn't bother me too much; it was the fact that we were supposed to wring their necks before we cleaned them. I didn't have a problem with killing them; it's just that I had no idea how to do so. In my entire existence, I had never had to do something like this. But while I was simply was ignorant, McGann got almost physically ill at the snap of the bird's neck that Helga cheerfully slaughtered it in front of us. I saw the color drain from McGann's face and hurried her out of the cooking area before she disgraced herself. I got her outside and made her sit down before she collapsed. She leaned against the side of the hut, struggling not to vomit, her complexion a most interesting shade of green.

  "I don't suppose there's a reason for your reaction?” I asked her after a few minutes.

  She looked at me and swallowed heavily. “Chicken is supposed to be wrapped in plastic and bought in the supermarket. Not...."

  "They're not going to understand that,” I said, wondering what a supermarket or plastic was. I'd have to ask Keno about that later.

  "She... I felt....” McGann stuttered to a stop before she turned her chin and started retching. I held her head while she did so, wondering exactly what her problem was. She was reacting worse than Keno did about such things, and he never touched flesh to eat.

  Helga eventually came out to check on us, looking annoyed that she had to. McGann was shaking and washed out. I had managed to clean up the mess she had made by kicking loose dirt over it. That had worked because she had mostly bile in her stomach.

  "You breeding?” Helga demanded.

  I swear that McGann stared at her in shock for a full minute, before blushing bright red. Keno used to do that when the samurai had embarrassed him somehow. It didn't happen as often now as it had in the beginning.

  "Your first?” Helga persisted.

  I was surprised she didn't start examining McGann to confirm her guess. I doubted that was the real reason for McGann's squeamishness, but neither was the explanation she had given me, that she was unused to seeing an animal butchered. I wondered what her real reason was, and then I decided I didn't care. I had to get back to my kuni and my power. When I was safe, then I could worry about what the Trust was doing here again.

  "Your man's, right?” Helga continued. “Not the strange looking one's?"

  McGann looked at her as if she didn't understand what the woman was asking her. I might have been right about that, because Helga's English was rough and heavily accented. But I also thought that accusing her of adultery was terribly rude. Helga wasn't happy here, I guessed, and she was trying to do something to get into Wolf's favor. Or was she trying to get the two of us to fight, thinking we both wanted Mason? Or that McGann would actually admit she had been untrue to Wolf—not that they were really married. The ploy was crude, and I almost laughed at Helga for attempting it.

  "Do you think that she is a slut like you?” I drawled. McGann stared at the two of us in shock as I continued. “And what makes you think that Wolf would be interested in the likes of you? Or that any one of them would be?"

  Helga stepped up to me, raising her hand. “Skraeling—"

  I grabbed it, yanked her forward, and then twisted her arm behind her back, turning her around neatly and easily. I was powerless, but I wasn't a victim. I was weaker than I should be, but Helga was also a lesser sort of spirit. If she had had any power, she wouldn't be on a farm in the backwoods.

  "Slaughter the chickens without us,” I told her coolly. “We will be overjoyed to clean them, after they're dead."

  "Tamazusa,” McGann started.

  I shoved Helga away from me, and she glared at me. I glared back, not worried about it. I've felt more threatened by Hakarl, but she was someone to watch. Helga stomped off, knowing I was willing to fight back and make her rethink her campaign to snare Wolf. She was confused about why I had allied myself with McGann instead of fighting her too. I wasn't going to tell her that I would be the last woman Wolf would have bed sport with, even if I were interested in the man.

  "I don't know how to clean a chicken,” McGann said after an uneasy silence. She had no idea what was going on. I almost decided to explain it to her and then decided not to. I knew too well the fights women would have over a man. If McGann were innocent of such things, I wasn't going to be the one to enlighten her.

  "She can show us, then, since I don't know either,” I snapped. “But I doubt that you'd been able to kill them."

  McGann nodded and then looked around. We were alone, and I could tell she wanted to talk to me. Wolf may have been in charge, but McGann was the strategist of their group and the one that I was going to have to deal with. I wanted that, too, since she was much more intelligent than he was and not prejudiced by hatred, as he was. “I talked to Keno earlier."

  "And what did he say?” I asked.

  "That I should talk to you,” she replied with a cool sm
ile, attempting to get her control back. “Among other things, but that was the only one that mattered."

  "Really?” I asked, arching my left eyebrow. “And what is it that you need to talk to me about?"

  McGann got up, brushing off her knees and then the seat of her pants “Let's take a walk."

  I motioned for her to go and fell in beside her. We were out of hearing range for most everyone here, and I didn't care that Helga would be angry that she couldn't find us when she wanted to. She was lording over us because she was the lowest-ranked woman here. I didn't think she knew I had figured that out. That was one of the earliest lessons I had learned in my training and one I had never forgotten over the centuries.

  "The Trustees want an alliance,” she said after a couple minutes of silence, when we were far enough away to talk without being interrupted.

  "How interesting,” I said with small smile. “Was Collins an example of the Trustees’ honor and intelligence?"

  She winced. “Some of them,” she admitted. “Then there are others, so please don't think that they are all like that. Wolf's grandfather is a Trustee and a man of honor."

  "Why?” I asked flatly. I was in no mood to dance around the question. McGann wasn't up to playing games. She was tired and strained, the chicken incident apparently only the most recent in a long line of things draining her. I almost pitied her. She'd looked like that when she was at my kuni, so she might be one who the Dreamlands would never welcome. Her people were idiots to keep sending her here. But I supposed it could be that she was just physically exhausted from all the work that she was doing. It wasn't that she wasn't fit or healthy, but even I knew the work here was boring and draining.

  "Because they don't want to admit it, but we are losing the war,” McGann said quietly.

  "Is there really a war?” I asked. “Or is it a game to them, much like the one I play with the other lords? Or one that your Trustees are the only ones fighting and the other side seems to be as confused about their intentions as a fox is about a fox hunt?"