Guardian of the Spirit

by Nahoko Uehashi

They answered him, “A demon ate the soul of one of our children, and now the boy has disappeared into the mountains, disguised in the demon’s shape. This same evil creature awakes once every hundred years. So it has been since ancient times.” Throwing themselves upon the ground before Torugaru, they begged him to slay the monster and save them all.

  “Fear not,” he told them, “for I am protected by Ten no Kami, who sent me to perform this very task.”

  Farther up the river they climbed until they came to a dense wood, where the mist lay deepest. There they found a spot where the water gushed from the ground. Beside it sat a young boy. When he saw Torugaru, he pointed to the spring and said, “Worship me, for I am the keeper of the water in this land. In return, I will charm this spring so that your fields will always bear plenty.”

  Torugaru realized the evil creature had reassumed the boy’s appearance. Undeceived by its words, he swept Star’s Heart from its scabbard. The boy transformed into the slippery water demon and attacked him. For three days and three nights, Torugaru and his eight mighty warriors fought the demon. At last, they severed its head and let the blue blood that gushed from its neck pour into the spring. A flash of lightning split the heavens and struck the spring, filling it with light, and the water burst up into the sky. Purified by the heavens, it turned to rain, which fell upon the earth and cleansed it of the demon’s influence.

  Thus Torugaru brought bountiful harvests to the land and became its first Mikado, our divine ruler. He named the land New Yogo, which means “new land blessed by Ten no Kami.” And that is how Torugaru proved he was truly the son of Ten no Kami and protected by his grace.

  As Shuga approached the Star Palace, his mind went back to Torugaru’s mentor, Nanai. The Star Readers have guided the people since the country’s founding, he thought. Nanai had become Master Star Reader, and it was he who instructed the first Star Readers in the laws of Tendo. He sought out boys who showed unusual promise, regardless of rank, and brought them to the Star Palace for training. The one who proved most talented eventually rose to the supreme rank of Master Star Reader, versed in all the secret knowledge and rituals.

  Even two centuries after Nanai’s death, it’s still the same, Shuga mused. While most people believe the Mikado is in charge, it’s really us Star Readers, led by our Master, who guide his decisions.

  The instant Shuga passed through the Star Gate, which was studded with mother-of-pearl to symbolize the brilliance of the stars, his troubled mind filled with calm. He had lived here for eight years now, yet every time he entered he felt the same flood of peace. And as always, he thought that anyone other than a Star Reader would experience indescribable loneliness at the sight before him.

  While lush green trees surrounded all the other palaces, the Star Palace was encircled by a vast courtyard of white sand, with not a leaf nor blade of grass to be seen. Every Star Reader knew the reason for this: The slightest sigh could become an enormous obstacle when trying to catch the faint whisper of the gods in the movement of the heavens. Thus, to accomplish their task, the Star Readers had to block out every distraction — not just sounds, but their awareness of other creatures and their own thoughts and desires. This was why the first Master Star Reader, Kainan Nanai, had insisted that the palace be surrounded by sand. He had also forbidden anyone but single men to live in the precincts, because family, too, could be a distraction. Married men lived in Ogi no Naka and traveled from there.

  The sand shifted softly under Shuga’s feet as he walked toward the palace — a perfect hexagon of white stone roofed with black tiles. The Star Tower, where Readers on duty read the sky day and night, soared up from the center. When he had first seen it, Shuga felt he had stepped into a new world: No longer was he a fisherman’s son. If he succeeded in becoming a Star Reader, he would gain noble rank, a place in this sanctified world, and eventually, the power to run the country’s affairs. Now, eight years later, the tranquility of that space, paved in white sand, had penetrated his very soul. This was the only life he knew.

  Morning was the slowest time of day at the palace. An elderly man moved his broom methodically near the entrance, sweeping the sand smooth. When he noticed Shuga, he stopped and silently bowed his head.

  Entering the palace from the bright light of day, Shuga needed a second to adjust to the dimness within. Everything was perfectly still. Although close to a hundred people lived in the palace, the sound of movement and the hush of voices were swallowed by the silence. Shuga removed his sandals inside the dirt-floored entranceway and stepped onto the chill stone tiles of the corridor. He headed toward the Master Star Reader’s room deep inside, tendrils of smoke trailing after him from the incense burners at each of the building’s six corners. A white cloth hung beside the door to the Master Star Reader’s room, a fact Shuga noted with relief. Purple would have meant that he was meditating and could not be disturbed for at least a day — perhaps many days.

  He was about to announce his presence when the door suddenly slid open. Unfortunately, the short, middle-aged man who appeared there happened to be the last person Shuga wanted to see at that moment — his superior, Gakai. Shuga bowed and drew back politely. Gakai swept into the hall, and for an instant Shuga thought that he would pass him by, but the older man stopped and stared up at him suspiciously.

  “What’s your business with the Master Star Reader? If it’s about Ninomiya Palace, I have already informed him in detail.”

  “I wished to ask a question about how to read the stars last night,” Shuga answered quietly.

  Gakai snorted derisively. “Really? Then why do you smell like smoke?”

  Shuga’s expression remained unmoved. “I went to see the palace after I finished Star Reading.”

  Before Gakai could open his mouth, a voice came from inside the room. “Is that you, Shuga?”

  Shuga straightened abruptly. “Yes, Master Star Reader.”

  “Come in. You’ve arrived at a good time. There’s something I want to discuss with you.”

  Gakai glared angrily at Shuga before stalking away.

  The large room inside the door was tiled in stone. The far end of the room was raised above the stone floor and covered in thick mats of woven reeds. Heavy brocade curtains concealed the Master’s sleeping quarters on the left, while the right side of the room opened onto the inner courtyard with the Star Tower at its center. At the moment, all the wooden shutters were raised, and the white morning sun filtered softly through the opening, which was covered by a thin curtain.

  The Master Star Reader was sitting on the platform in the sunlight, his legs folded under him, one hand stretched out toward the warmth of a charcoal brazier. His name was Hibi Tonan. Large and sturdy, with broad shoulders, he looked more like a warrior than a Star Reader. At seventy-four years of age, his eyebrows had turned pure white, but his large eyes were still so keen and piercing that Shuga automatically tensed when they gazed at him; and a majesty that only came from many years of wielding great power emanated from him. But it was the sharpness of his wits, undimmed by age, that commanded Shuga’s respect.

  Shuga knelt on the stone floor before the platform and bowed deeply. The Master inclined his head slightly and spoke. “Last night seems to have been busy. Are you here about the Ninomiya Palace incident?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. I wished to speak with you about that. Gakai, with whom you seem to have been arguing at the door, just reported — with evident joy — that the prince burned to death and therefore our problem is solved.”

  Shuga raised his head and looked up at him. “Your pardon, master, but I am afraid I do not agree.”

  The Master Star Reader nodded. “Nor do I. But tell me why.”

  It was time, Shuga decided, to share what had been troubling him for so long. “When you first summoned Gakai and me and told us that some creature had nested within the prince’s body, it reminded me of two things. The first was the story of the evil water demon vanquished by our sacred ancestor Torugaru, whic
h is recorded in The Official History of New Yogo. The second was the sign of the Great Drought, which appeared in the sky at midsummer this year. Although nothing has happened yet, the omens indicate that next year there will be a drought of terrible proportions, as we have already discussed.

  “I was disturbed by the connection between these two things, so I went through the records in the storehouse, and I discovered something very strange. The Nayoro Peninsula has been devastated by drought about once every century. And according to the records, during the drought a hundred years ago, a demon appeared and either ate a child or ripped it apart — a very bloody story, though it wasn’t reported in much detail. This sounds exactly like the tale in The Official History of New Yogo, where the Yakoo claimed that an evil demon appeared every hundred years to devour a child’s soul.

  “Exactly a century has passed since that time. Surely this can’t be coincidence. I realize how grave a sin it is to doubt that our sacred ancestor vanquished the water demon and purified the land … and yet a true Star Reader should never allow the fear of being disrespectful to prevent him from sharing what he has learned.”

  A spark of humor gleamed in the Master Star Reader’s eyes.

  “If I am right,” Shuga continued, “the nature of the demon possessing the prince is water. If that’s true, then it couldn’t possibly have set fire to the palace. For this reason, I cannot believe the prince died in that fire.”

  For some time, the Master Star Reader stared silently at the pattern cast by the morning light filtering through the curtain. Finally he raised his head and looked at Shuga. “It seems I made the wrong choice. I should have let you handle this when you first asked for permission. But Gakai is the eldest disciple, and I thought to give him the opportunity to show his ability. My indulgence has made things much more complicated.” He gazed keenly at Shuga, who bore his gaze stolidly. “You are so young, only twenty, yet it appears that you alone have the capability to become my successor. I must warn you, however: If you get involved in this any further, there can be no turning back. Are you still willing?”

  Shuga nodded without hesitation. “I feel there is some deeper meaning hidden in these events,” he said.

  “That may be. But let me tell you one more thing. The work that must be done is not pure and noble. If you become involved, you will be forced to see the dark side of the sacred Star Palace — a side dirtier and uglier than you have ever imagined.”

  A chill touched Shuga’s heart, and he felt his skin prickle. He was, he realized, standing at a crossroads in his life.

  “I was taught that this world is a tightly woven tapestry of light and shadow,” he said. “As a Star Reader, I must encounter the shadow. No matter how dark and crooked the road, if it leads to Tendo, I will follow it.”

  There was no longer any hint of amusement in the Master Star Reader’s eyes. They burned with an intensity that Shuga had never seen before.

  “Keep that thought in your mind always, for it will become the light that illumines your path. The road to becoming Master Star Reader is filled with a darkness terrible and foul. If you stumble and fall, you will be lost forever.”

  He stood up abruptly and raised the cloth curtain, peering into the inner courtyard. There was not a soul in sight. He lowered the curtain and sat down again. “That our sacred ancestor, the first Mikado, vanquished the evil water demon and purified the land,” he began quietly, “is proof that the royal line is descended from the gods. Just think what would happen if people knew that same demon now possesses the Mikado’s son! It is for this reason that the Mikado has twice attempted to murder the Second Prince.”

  Shuga could only stare at him in astonishment. “This is not the time to condemn the cruelty of killing an innocent boy,” the Master Star Reader continued. “Both attempts were carefully planned to look like accidents. The first was intended to scald the prince with water from the hot spring, but instead he slipped and fell into the bath. The second attempt occurred yesterday, when the ox pulling his carriage received a shot from a dart as he crossed the bridge from the mountain. The ox panicked and threw the prince into the river, but while he fell from a great height, he was rescued by a bodyguard, a woman who just happened to be passing by at that moment.”

  “Water!” Shuga exclaimed. “Both attempts involved water!”

  “That’s right. It was I who planned them. I believed that if his life were in danger, the creature inside him would reveal its true nature. It seems it is indeed related to water.”

  “Then last night’s fire! Did you order the palace burned in order to kill him?”

  The Master Star Reader smiled ruefully. “It is true that I planned to use fire to kill him at some point, but not last night. I intended to wait until the other attempts on his life were no longer fresh in people’s memories. Besides, I wanted to find out just what that creature is! So it certainly wasn’t I who started the fire.”

  “Then who?”

  “Personally, I suspect the Second Queen. She is a very intelligent woman. I think she sensed her son’s life was in danger and made a plan to help him escape. Gakai was foolish enough to tell her what he suspected, and she immediately sent a letter to Master Torogai asking for information. I issued orders to have Torogai captured and killed, but that old magic weaver disappeared without a trace. Several Hunters are still looking, but I have had no word.”

  “Hunters?”

  “Men who live in the darkness of this palace — assassins who act at the bidding of the Mikado or myself alone. No one except the two of us knows who they are; you are now the third to know that they even exist. You too will use them.”

  Cold sweat trickled down Shuga’s spine. The dark side of the Star Palace … He had never imagined that the Master Star Reader would go calmly about something as horrifying as this. He felt a strange hollow fear, as if the familiar world around him had suddenly transformed into darkest night.

  The Master Star Reader apparently divined his thoughts. “Do you regret the choice you’ve made?” he asked.

  “No,” Shuga replied.

  “Good. There is another reason I believe it was the Second Queen who aided the prince’s escape. I received a message from a Hunter who was spying on Ninomiya Palace. According to him, the queen invited the bodyguard who saved her son to dinner. She could have given the woman money and been done with it, yet she chose not only to invite her to be entertained at the palace but also to stay the night. This bodyguard disappeared during the uproar over the fire and has not been seen since.”

  “So you think the queen placed the prince in her keeping. Who is this bodyguard?”

  “A drifter. According to the Hunters, she looks like she’s from Kanbal, yet she speaks Yogoese without a trace of an accent. She is known as Balsa, Spear-wielder. As she has won considerable fame as a bodyguard, she must be a formidable woman.”

  Shuga frowned. A female, spear-wielding bodyguard? She must be a strange woman indeed.

  “Four Hunters have already been sent after her, so it’s only a matter of time before we know more. Their instructions are to find her and, if she has taken the prince, kill her and bring the prince to me.” He looked hard at Shuga. “You have not slept since you read the stars last night. Get some rest, and at the third bell, come to me in formal dress. Tonight I will introduce you to the Mikado.”

  Shuga felt his blood race. He bowed low and backed out of the room. He knew that he had just taken the first step along a path from which he could never turn back — the path to becoming the Master Star Reader.

  But right now, that position did not look as brilliant as it once had.

  The sewer pipe from Ninomiya Palace drained into the Torinaki River on the east side of the city. Exiting the nose-shriveling stench onto the gravel riverbed, Balsa was struck by how sweet fresh air smelled. Chagum, grimacing in disgust, tried to scrape the pungent muck of the sewer from the soles of his straw sandals. Although night still permeated the forest depths, the white mist of morni
ng crept slowly along the riverbed, and it was light enough now that Balsa could see the pale blur of his face.

  “Let’s go, Chagum,” she said. He frowned up at her indignantly, but she ignored him and, grabbing his thin arm firmly, began walking. He had been worshipped as a descendant of the gods from the moment he dropped into this world from his mother’s womb; if she was to have any chance of saving him, the first thing she had to do was get him used to being an ordinary kid. And that doesn’t look like it’s going to be easy, she sighed to herself.

  “Where are we going?” he asked sullenly.

  “Hmm? Oh, well, first we need to get some rest. Then we have a lot to do. So I’m thinking we’ll go stay with someone I know.”

  Chagum lapsed back into silence. As they walked downriver, Balsa noticed him stumbling occasionally. “You’re half walking in your sleep, aren’t you?” She smiled wryly. As a prince, he must have been coddled from infancy, and he was probably dead tired. “Come on. I’ll give you a piggyback ride.” She crouched down in front of him with her back toward him, but he did not move. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “Up you get!”

  “What is pig — piggyback?”

  “Ah, I see.” Suddenly she pitied him. Through no fault of his own, his father was trying to kill him; he had been wrenched away from his mother, deprived of all the tenderness that had always enveloped him, and thrown out into a world with no familiar faces. He must be pretty tough not to have dissolved in tears by now.

  “Chagum.” Balsa brought her eyes level with his and looked him squarely in the face. “ ‘Piggyback’ means being carried on someone’s back. Commoners carry their children on their backs from the time they are born. If you don’t understand something, just ask me. It’s perfectly natural that you don’t know, so don’t feel ashamed. Just take it one step at a time.”

  She saw his jaw clench; he was struggling desperately to hold back his tears. She picked him up and swung him lightly onto her back as if he were a baby. “You’ll be warmer this way. Now go ahead and sleep.”