"Well, are we going, or do you two need a moment?" Suzume interjected.
She turned so she couldn't see Rin. She was undoubtedly giving Suzume another look. I really don't like that woman.
"We're leaving right now. Follow me." Kaito strolled down the road before turning to cut between two fields. The path he was taking faced a distant mountain range.
Great, more mountain climbing. "Can't you just fly us there or something?" Suzume asked.
Rin gasped. "How could someone as low as you ask something like that of the master?" She pressed her hand to her chest as she spoke.
"We're going to walk all the way over there? Why can't he transform and fly?" Suzume asked with a puzzled expression. It made perfect sense to her.
"Sure, you can ride," Kaito said with a devious gleam in his eye.
Suzume raised a brow. "What's the catch? You're being too nice."
"No catch, get on." He transformed in a puff of smoke.
His forelegs straddled the two fields and bent grain sideways under his feet. The coils of his body wrapped back and forth across the fields rising and falling under the tall grasses. His whiskers brushed against the ground and rustled with every breath. His breath brushed over Suzume's skin like a cool breeze. Rin wriggled back and forth, her tail swinging to and fro. She held her hands to her chest as her body swayed while staring at Kaito in adoration, while Suzume eyed him with suspicion.
"I don't trust you," Suzume declared. Nothing was ever this easy with Kaito. Nothing.
He laughed and the sound echoed off the hills and rumbled like thunder. "Well, I do have less control of my human mind in this form and I have been known to drop riders from great heights. Oh! And I sometimes eat them."
"Never mind, I'd rather walk." There's always a trick with him.
He laughed again and the sound reminded Suzume of a babbling brook. He transformed back into his human form and said, "Well, if there are no other arguments, let's head out."
Kaito led the way and Suzume hung back, concocting a plan in which she could learn more about her own powers and somehow seal Kaito away--and maybe Rin for good measure. Yeah, it should be simple enough. She almost believed herself. Almost.
The trip took the remainder of the daylight before they arrived at the temple. The temple itself was at the top of a flight of stairs. When Suzume saw them, she groaned. The stairway disappeared into the treetops.
"Why is there so much climbing! Can't they just make temples easy to reach?"
"They're high up so the unworthy cannot reach them," Kaito replied.
Suzume shot Kaito a dirty look before they proceeded to climb the endless staircase. As it was with the mountain by the roadside shrine, Kaito and Rin climbed with ease while Suzume huffed and puffed, taking the occasional break.
When they neared the top of the stairs, it had gotten fully dark and Suzume had to squint to find her way. I can't see a thing, not even Kaito and Rin. Then out of the darkness, hanging lights appeared. She followed them the rest of the way. When she arrived panting at the top of the stairs, priests in brown robes greeted her, holding onto lanterns attached to strings at the end of poles. They nodded to her as she joined the others. Rin and Kaito were standing nearby. Rin looked around with interest, and Kaito, in the dim yellow light of the lanterns, looked bored.
The priests led them to the temple courtyard. More priests lined up in rows in front of one of the shrine buildings. The man in the forefront was ancient with deep creased wrinkles on his face and a completely bald head. Despite his great age, he stood upright and had a certain glow to him.
"Lord Dragon, thank you for honoring us with your presence." The priest bowed low from his waist.
The other priests followed suit and bowed in unison to Kaito. He smiled down at them before lifting his hand. He's loving this.
"And this must be the priestess you mentioned." The old priest approached Suzume and brushed his hand against her face. His hands were deceptively soft and gentle. She normally didn't like people touching her, but she found the priest's touch soothing. He felt familiar, as if they had met before. "You have a very old soul. It has seen much over the centuries."
He smiled down at her and Suzume felt a warm glowing feeling grow in the pit of her stomach. A yellow light haloed the old man's head and she gasped in wonder.
"It would appear we have met in a previous life." He smiled at her.
"How do you know that?" Suzume asked.
"Souls recognize one another, even if the vessels do not," the priest said. His eyes flickered towards Kaito for a brief second and Suzume's heart raced. The priest looked back to Suzume and then took a step back. "I think there is much we can learn from one another."
Suzume avoided looking at Kaito, but a smile was creeping over her face. I hope so as well.
***
Rin could not sleep. The energy of the temple felt wrong. It filled her head with thoughts of Hikaru, and each time she closed her eyes she thought of that last day. After an hour of trying, she gave up and paced her tiny chamber for several minutes. She never spent too long indoors and the walls were closing in on her.
She exited her chamber in the dark of night, padding silently down the hall in search of the Dragon. When they had talked before, he had thought Suzume was Kazue's reincarnation, but ever since the flash of light, he had been acting strangely. At first she thought it had all been part of his plan to trick the priestess, but she slowly realize he had forgotten everything. How this untrained priestess had this sort of power, Rin had no idea. Is it a good idea to train her? I do not trust her. Kazue betrayed the Dragon, what's to stop her reincarnation from doing the same?
Outside the Dragon's chamber, she hesitated. Memories from a lifetime ago swam through her thoughts as her words caught in her throat. He does not remember our conversation in the woods, what if he gets the wrong impression as to why I am here?
"Come in, Rin, I know you're there," he called from beyond the doorway.
She swallowed her anxiety and went inside. As to be expected, the Dragon's room was slightly larger than her own, with a single futon against a far wall and a window that looked out to the garden beyond. He sat on the futon, his back against the wall, his knee bent and one arm dangling over it. He looked out the room's only window to the night sky.
"Why did you come here?" he said. His voice was distant and remote.
It broke her heart to see the great Dragon brought down this low. His kingdom torn apart, and the lower-ranking Yokai ruling their own tiny micro-kingdoms. He would not admit it, but he had yet to return to his full strength and still struggled to be the man he had once been. Betrayal, anger, and the priestess' spell had changed him.
She knelt down beside him as she said, "I could not sleep and I figured you would still be awake as well." I should tell him what the priestess did. I cannot believe she has his best intentions at heart.
He did not look at her when he spoke. "I did not mean this evening, I meant why did you come to me when the seal broke? I released you from my service long ago."
Rin pushed her hair behind her ear and thought of how to answer. When she had been in the Dragon's service, she never would have come to him in this way, approached him as a friend, but time changed her. Hikaru changed her, and she no longer felt like the unworthy servant she had been.
"We were lovers once." She paused. "I thought perhaps you needed an ally, someone you can trust."
"How did Hikaru die?"
The question was unexpected, and one she did not want to answer. She shook her head. "It doesn't matter, he's gone now."
He rested his hand on hers. She looked into his face, and she saw the man who for a brief time she had thought she loved. What an innocent she had been in those days. She had experienced true enduring love, and what she shared with the Dragon so long ago had been an infatuation. A brief and glorious fever.
"You're lonely, I can see it." He leaned in and she did not back away.
She had been lone
ly. With Hikaru dead and Shin haunting her like a yaori, she had lived twenty years as an old woman at the shrine, waiting for the rebirth, never knowing if she would ever feel the touch of another. Dying for contact but afraid she would be betraying the man she loved.
When Kaito leaned forward and kissed her, there was no passion, no spark. Just a hot meeting of lips. With one hand on the back of her neck, he held her close, and with the other he pulled loose the ties on her kimono. Her heart raced as she thought to that brief tryst, those passionate nights when the most powerful Yokai in Akatsuki had worshiped her body, had been hers, if only for a short time. But now everything about it felt wrong. She did not love him, and as desperate as she was for that intimacy, she couldn't, not with him. They were two damaged people, and she was not the one who could heal his wounds. If they got tangled together now, they might both unravel.
She pulled away. "Don't," she said with her hand on his chest. Her kimono had slid down and hardly covered her breasts.
He looked at her with a hunger in his gaze. But it wasn't her he was looking at. He was looking for something to fill the void Kazue had left in him. She had seen a hint of it in the forest; now she saw it displayed on his face. That raw vulnerability that so few glimpsed, the hurt that shook him to his core and even now stopped him from recovering from his imprisonment.
They were interrupted from further awkwardness by a knock on the door. Kaito rose to answer it, and he locked away his emotions, shut tight behind his mask of power. Rin exhaled. How can I tell him about the priestess now when he's like this?
The door slid open, and Kaito said, "Oh ho, come to sneak into my bed late at night, Priestess?"
Rin looked around, sitting on the Dragon's bed late at night, her clothes falling off of her, she knew how it must look. And she saw the accusation in the priestess' eyes. She did not trust the priestess, she feared her intentions, but when she saw her expression, she knew she had misjudged her. The look on her face was that of betrayal.
Chapter Thirty-one
Kaito rested his hands on his hips as he stared down at Suzume. Despite her deep mortification from finding Kaito and Rin alone in his room, her eyes traveled over Kaito's well-defined chest. Her sight skimmed over the top of his pants before shooting back up to his face. Too bad he's too annoying to even consider taking as a lover. She had to shake herself. Get it together. Why did I come here in the first place? She couldn't remember and looked to Rin, whose kimono hung off her shoulder. There can only be one explanation, of course. Just because he had a human lover does not mean he turns away his own kind. Rin is beautiful, and I knew from the start what she wanted. But still her chest hurt. She shouldn't care what the Dragon did or who he slept with, but it hurt just the same.
"Well, I guess I've discovered what Rin's service to you was," Suzume said. Her hand trembled and she realized she was holding a clean robe for the Dragon.
Rin came to peer over Kaito's shoulder, her robe hanging off her shoulder and the top of her breast revealed beneath the silky fabric. Her auburn hair was tousled and she looked at Suzume with a half-lidded smile. Neither of them attempted to deny their actions, which stung more than Suzume thought it should.
"It looks like you're both busy. I won't bother you, the priest asked me to give you this." She shoved the clothes against Kaito's chest and turned to walk away. Bad enough she was being used like a servant girl and then to be humiliated on top of it.
"Wait!" Kaito called out to her.
Suzume's heart clenched and she chastised herself. Stop it. She took a breath before glancing back at him with what she hoped was an indifferent expression. "Yes?"
"There's room for one more if you'd like to join us." Kaito grinned and pulled Rin under his arm and held his free hand out to Suzume.
"No, thank you," Suzume said with an icy tone.
The smile left Kaito's face. The spiritual energy crackled around her, electrifying the air between them. They held one another's gaze for a moment. If she hadn't been embarrassed and upset, she would have said something to turn the shame back on them, but she couldn't think of anything to say. She twirled away, her wet hair flipping behind her just in time to hide the flush of her cheeks.
She stomped away, making sure to make every footstep echo off the walls as she withdrew. They're perfect for one another. They're both annoying beyond reason and they're both immortal. Suzume arrived at her room. She threw open the door. Once inside, she slammed it behind her and the paper screen shuddered beneath the force. Suzume flopped down onto the futon that had been laid out for her.
She lay on her back, her arms and leg spread-eagled, while staring at the ceiling. It's not like I care who he has a relationship with. He loved Kazue not me. She rolled over onto her side and brought her knees to her chest. Sure, he can be charming when he wants to. And he's not ugly...
"That's some dangerous thinking," she said to herself.
The silent shrine did not answer. Even the wind through the trees was hushed as if it too had witnessed her humiliation.
Kaito may be handsome, but he has also sworn to kill me if he ever finds out who I was in a past life. Not the ideal start to a relationship. I am better off sealing him before this gets out of hand.
Eventually, Suzume fell asleep. She woke early the next morning on top of the futon, wearing the robe from the night before. She had a crick in her neck and her hair was a tangled mess since she hadn't brushed it out after the bath. Suzume groaned and climbed to her feet. The temple air vibrated with energy. She heard distant chanting. The words were too low to decipher, but they caught Suzume's attention despite her sleep-addled mind. What is that? Please tell me it's not something trying to kill us all. I'd like to eat something before having my life threatened today.
She closed her eyes and tried to fall back asleep, but the chanting kept weaving in and out of her thoughts. With a heavy sigh, she climbed off the futon, ran her fingers through her hair, and tied it back hastily. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand as she opened the chamber door.
When she opened her door, she could hear the chanting better. The words, though incomprehensible, still took on a defined shape and they seemed to be coaxing her, drawing her to them. Suzume slipped out of the chamber and followed the sound down the hall. The chanting seemed to be coming from a building that adjoined the sleeping quarters. A covered walkway separated the two buildings. Suzume crossed it and glanced about the grounds that surrounded the buildings. Gingko leaves covered the large square courtyard ringed by gingko trees beyond.
The buildings were large and square as well. The entire temple seemed to be made of squares within squares, even the hallways and rooms followed the same geometric pattern. The red roofs of the buildings met at a sharp incline. On the other side, the torii arches framed a narrow walkway. At the end of the path was a small shrine building. I am not going anywhere near that shrine. Shrines and I do not have a good history.
Suzume faced a large building with open doors on all sides. Inside, the priests sat on the floor in rows, their legs crossed and eyes closed. Suzume stepped up to the threshold and listened to the haunting sounds of the chanting.
The head priest sat at the front of the group, wearing ceremonial white and black. What are they doing?
"You came just in time for their morning prayers."
Suzume spun around to see Rin leaning against a beam that supported the covered walkway. Suzume glowered at her and turned back to the priests, pretending the chanting was of deep interest to her. But even the soothing sound of the priests' chanting could not calm the anger that festered in her chest. She hoped Rin would get the hint and leave her alone. Suzume feared speaking, in case she said something incriminating and added fuel to the fire. She hung about for another moment, waiting for Rin to leave. She didn't. Instead, Rin came closer. She stood close enough to Suzume to brush against her sleeve. Suzume withdrew her hand and scowled at Rin from the corner of her eye.
"This order is known for their abili
ty to transcend into the spirit world. They also have the best mastery of spiritual power manipulation," Rin explained.
Despite Suzume's interest in learning more about spiritual powers, she feigned disinterest.
"They draw on water; that's their element of choice, you could say," Rin continued, heedless of Suzume's lack of engagement. "It's Kaito's element as well."
Suzume had to stop herself from questioning Rin further. She didn't want to give the Kitsune the benefit.
Rin stepped in front of Suzume and tried to force her to meet her gaze. Suzume turned to walk away.
Suzume heard Rin sigh behind her. "Suzume, we need to talk."
"I have nothing to say to you," Suzume said without stopping to look at the other woman. Suzume headed at an angle away from Rin and toward the courtyard where the priests had met them the day prior. Suzume tried to put distance between herself and Rin before she figured out how to use her powers and turn Rin into dust. Suzume took a deep breath. I don't care who he wants to be with. It does not matter to me.
Suzume had almost reached the courtyard penned in by large ginko trees when Rin grabbed her by the shoulder.
Suzume spun around and wrenched herself out of Rin's grasp. "I would appreciate it if you would keep your filthy hands off of me." She tried to walk again but found she could not move. Suzume glared at Rin. "What did you do to me?"
"Just a simple charm. It's time you stop being so pigheaded and listen up." Rin tossed her auburn hair over her shoulder and gave Suzume a firm look.
Suzume prepared an angry retort, but before she could, Rin placed her hand over Suzume's mouth. She tried to dodge, but the Kitsune was too quick. When Rin removed her hand, there was a leaf covering Suzume's mouth. Suzume tried to shout at her, but her entire body was frozen.
Suzume groaned at Rin, who smiled. "If you don't like it, then just use your powers and break the charm."
Suzume groaned again and struggled, trying to break free of the charm to no avail. Her powers did not even rise up to defend her. After a few minutes of fruitless struggle, she sighed--or as close as she could get to a sigh without use of her mouth.
The Priestess and the Dragon Page 22
