Sunstone - Dishonor's Bane (Book 2)
Page 18
Shiro breathed into her mouth and prayed to his family god to save her.
Ashiyo pushed on her chest after Shiro breathed in her mouth until she coughed up water. Shiro helped her sit up. She put a strong, but shapely hand to her forehead. “I died?”
Ashiyo nodded. “Your disguise disappeared so I would suppose you came very close to it.”
Chika put a hand to her face and felt her skin. “I haven’t looked like this since I arrived at Shiuki’s inn five years ago.” Tears came into her eyes. “She is dead, isn’t she? I didn’t dream of my sisters’ deaths, did I?”
Shiro shook his head. “We turned the Sekkoro dungeons into a funeral pyre.”
Ashiyo looked off towards Sekkoro. “We might have done a bit more than that.”
A glow came from the west. They all got up and staggered along the stream that created the inlet, and walked up a hill until they could see a beacon in the distance. The castle burned with a fury, lighting up the night sky.
“Serves them right,” Ashiyo said, with tears again running down his face. “A fitting send-off. Oh my Shiuki!” He fell to his knees and pounded the ground. Chika put her arms around him and they both cried as they looked on as Sekkoro burned.
Shiro stood gazing at the conflagration and the grieving pair. He had escaped with Ashiyo, but at what cost? He couldn’t blame himself for the women’s deaths, although Shiro still felt like he had let them down. Couldn’t they have used their magic to stave off the guards? Yet the guild had killed them, just as surely as the Lord Sekkoro’s guards. They had stripped the women of their ability to defend themselves. What a tragedy!
He sat down, now drained physically and emotionally. The flames likely eliminated the discovery of their escape. He plucked the drenched cloth of his clothing. At least the smell of their night’s work and flight wouldn’t dwell with them.
What a waste of life! He’d seen little brutality in his life, and nothing had prepared him for what he had seen in the dungeons.
Ashiyo took a deep shuddering breath and looked over at Shiro. “I want to kill them all,”
“Who? Who was behind all of this?” Shiro said. “Were you the one who sent Boreko and me to the prison island?”
Ashiyo nodded. “The Guild would have killed you. No one is supposed to survive the desert. They only send those who don’t know how to transport to Diakko Island. I didn’t know Boreko very well, but I knew the Guild had trackers on you from when you left the village at the edge of the desert. You arrived after they had told me to watch out for you to come. I had no choice. Forgive me.” The man had no reserves left in him.
“There is nothing to forgive, only thanks for your deflecting our punishment. Roniki and Yushidon were ready to dispose of me anyway. They had Boreko poisoned and I had to escape before they had a chance to do the same to me. Now that I can shield my magic,” Shiro nodded to Chika, “they won’t know where to find us. What’s your story?”
Ashiyo bowed his head to collect his emotions. “Ashiyo and I grew up together. The day he tested for magic, my family had gone to another city for an aunt’s funeral. I didn’t see him until after I had come into my powers. He had become a sorcerer and helped advise the Lord Sekkoro. I became his servant and he taught me all that he knew.”
Shaking his head, Ashiyo continued. “He would have never let the Guild take Boreko. I’m not as noble as my former master. He sent me to the west to inspect an estate he considered retiring to. I stayed at the White Chrysanthemum and met Shiuki. I never would have believed I could fall so thoroughly in love at my age.” Ashiyo broke down in to sobs and then collected himself. “I returned to Sekkoro, but Shiuki and I both found excuses to visit one another. After a few years we married. We would have moved in together, but Ashiyo took ill. He made me promise him, as he lay dying, to take his identity. I pretended that I was the one to die and took places with my Master three years ago.
“Once I intervened on your behalf, the Guild had me watched. I visited one of Shiuki’s sisters to get the message to her of the latest round up of the White Rose Society and they caught me. Not knowing I wore a magical disguise, the spell is a secret closely guarded by the White Rose Society, they imprisoned me and forced me to talk.” He began to sob again. “I… I betrayed my own beloved.” Chika tried to console him but he gently pushed her away. “I’m better, thank you.”
“Why didn’t you use magic to escape?”
“There are wards in the jail cells that shield the walls and doors from magic. They made it very clear that if one were to escape they would all be killed. They killed them all anyway.” Ashiyo turned to look at the burning city.
“Did the Guild capture all of the White Rose Society?” Shiro said.
“I only gave them the locations of the society from Sekkoro to Shiuki’s White Chrysanthemum that I knew of. There might be others. Would that I could have resisted their spells.” He broke down again.
How could Shiro comfort the man? He felt useless when it came to this kind of thing and looked at Chika again reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder. At least they had revived her and she could give Ashiyo the help that Shiro couldn’t provide.
He grit his teeth, their next step clear in his mind. “Then we will head east and warn the women.”
“You can’t free them all,” Chika said. “They won’t come. Where would you even take them?”
“I know a place far to the north, where I used to live. A nexus is there in a valley. We’ll assemble there and fight the Guild.”
~~~
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
~
CHIKA ASSUMED THE GUISE OF THE YOUTH again. Shiro looked at her in the light of the moon. Chika, the young woman was as tall as Chika the young man. Shiro had to admit he preferred the woman.
“I miss your lovely face,” Shiro said.
She scoffed at him. “It will be easier for you to converse with a young man, rather than Chika Udishi, banished daughter of one of the South Isle lords.”
Shiro sighed, not getting her real image out of his mind. “Suit yourself. It will be easier for you to travel in your present guise, anyway.”
“I always wanted strapping sons,” Ashiyo said. They had been traveling on foot for ten days. “Now I have two.” He grinned as they continued walking east into the night. Shiro’s idea had given the man a mission.
Since their escape from Sekkoro, Chika hadn’t plied him with double entendres. Shiro had to admit he had enjoyed playing the game with her, but perhaps the prospect of traipsing around in her father’s domain depressed her.
“Did you read Ashiyo’s real library on Affinity and how to use it?”
Ashiyo nodded his head. “I did. Unfortunately, my power level is barely apprentice level; at least that’s what the real Ashiyo told me.”
“By the way, what is your name? I can’t be calling you Ashiyo when we’re talking about Ashiyo,” Shiro said.
“Ah. My name is Himura. I’m from a little village east of Rumoto.”
Shiro laughed. “I am too.”
“What?” Himura furrowed his brows in confusion.
“That was my story when they asked about my history when I joined the army at the castle. We lived on a farm, so I didn’t tell them my village.”
“Well, I can be more specific. Ashiyo’s father was the largest merchant in Rumoto and I grew up in a smithy.”
Shiro grew curious. “A smithy? Maybe you might know something about my sword. It’s time for a break anyway.”
Himura carried their food, purchased from a roadside inn, and distributed rice cakes and chicken jerky. After getting something in his stomach, Shiro unsheathed his sword. “What can you tell me about this?” He handed it over to Himura.
“Quite unconventional. Ancient, I’d say. The blade is made out of a steel I’ve never seen. What is underneath this wrapping?” Himura moved to take it off. “There is something with power underneath.”
Shiro took a deep breath and let him unwrap it.
“The Sunstone? I wondered if it could be the actual thing.”
Chika touched the stone. She grunted and had to sit down. “That is pure power.”
Himura examined the blade. “I wouldn’t show this to anyone, Shiro. It’s legendary.”
“I know little about it. Four stones were created in ancient times, when the world was ruled from the continent of Ayrtani. The wizard-ruler made three for his continental rulers and kept one. Some kind of cataclysm occurred,” Shiro shook his head,” and then they were lost.”
“Not lost. Only the Purestone and the Sunstone have been gone for centuries. The Moonstone was recently lost in Zarroni and the Bloodstone is in the possession of the ruler of the Red Kingdom on Besseti.”
“That’s right,” Shiro said. “The one who ruled over Roppon ordered the sword destroyed. It didn’t happen.”
“You sharpened the blade?” Himura said as he looked at the edge.
“I did with a bit of magic. It has held an edge for weeks.”
“Indeed. As the magic dissipates, so will the edge. The shape of the blade is very recognizable, even without knowledge of the stone. Why don’t you place a spell on the blade to hide it.”
Shiro had never even considered that. “You know what kind of spell?”
The older man laughed. “I know all kinds of spells but I don’t have sufficient power. You have sufficient power, but don’t know the spells. We can’t fix my situation, but together, we can solve yours.”
“I’ll use the knowledge, in the memory of Shiuki.” Shiro said. He might not be able to comfort the man’s feelings, but he still could do something for the woman who befriended him.
Himura grabbed onto Shiro’s wrist. “We’ll do it together.” His breath hitched. “For her.”
Chika pursed her lips. “Or we’ll die trying…”
Shiro glared at her. “No try. Not acceptable. We’ve made this far.”
She’d returned his glare and narrowed her eyes even more. Shiro had never seen Chika show such anger. “You think walking through my prefecture and just plucking up the White Rose Society will be easy? My father hates my sisters.”
“Do you know why?” Shiro asked. He really wanted to know.
“My grandmother had the power and used it on his uncle. Killed him. My mother said the man tried to rape her. My father said she did it to install her son-in-law as Lord of the Prefecture. He was the son-in-law and he hated her for raising him to his position with magic. It lacked all honor.”
“Who do you believe?” Himura said.
“I don’t know the truth!” Chika said putting her hands to her head. “Ever since I knew I had Affinity, my life has been a mess.” She looked miserable as she said it. “You’d think my father would thank his mother-in-law for giving him a domain, but he didn’t.”
Shiro wondered what he could say. “Perhaps he’s scared you would kill him to put your own son in his place.”
“I’d never do such a thing!”
“Does he know that?” Shiro said. “Did you ever talk to him about it?”
The question silenced Chika. “No.”
“Himura, have you ever known sorcerers to eliminate rulers to advance their own political agenda?”
The older man shook his head. “Only among sorcerers. The Guild would have a sorcerer removed if they tried to become a noble. That’s why all progeny of all nobles are inducted into the Guild if they show power. They cannot rule.”
“Wild talents are the real problem,” Shiro said. “The White Rose Society needs to be set up as a Guild for women with rules that Roppon can trust to be enforced.”
Chika threw up her hands. “Now you want to run the White Society!”
“You know me well enough, Chika. Do you think that’s ever been in my mind?”
Chika looked away. “You had designs on changing the White Society after you had rescued Shiuki.” She folded her arms and turned back to drill him with narrowed eyes.
“Who would be running the society?”
“Shiuki.”
Shiro nodded his head. “Shiuki. I only wanted her to be safe, for those with Affinity to be safe from the depredations of the Guild. As a shadow organization you are subject to the whims of those in power. Lord Sekkoro wanted women sorcerers put to death. He got his wish and we’ve found out as we’ve traveled that he paid for the act with his own life.”
“Good. He deserved burning in his castle with my sisters.”
“But did Shiuki and her sisters deserve it? We might have been killed along with them had circumstances not gone our way.”
Himura snorted. “If you call that our way.” He put up his hand. “I’m in agreement with you on this Shiro and you should agree, too, Chika. Don’t get mad at Shiro about what you think might happen. You’re doing the same thing your father did, ascribing motives that simply aren’t there.”
Chika got up, huffed around a bit and took off down the road. The two men hurriedly gathered their things and followed her, but not too close. Shiro imagined smoke coming out of her ears and he’d rather discuss their plans when she might be a bit more amenable. Himura must have really hurt her with his last words. Now they might have alienated her and, among other things, Shiro needed her knowledge of the east.
~~~
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
~
CHIKA STILL WALKED FAR IN FRONT OF THEM as she entered a village, not waiting for them at all. She walked into an inn. Shiro and Himura sighed at the thought of finally being able to talk to her.
“A youth came into the inn a few minutes ago,” Shiro said after he walked up to the innkeeper’s counter.
“No,” the innkeeper said. “A woman came in and asked if I needed a good cook. I always need a cook, been doing it myself for the last few months. I hired her. Strange lady wearing arms like some soldier… Like you for example,” the innkeeper said looking at Shiro.
The two of them had really upset her. If Chika wanted to work her frustrations out on cooking food, then let her do it. Shiro wanted to be ready to do whatever he needed to do to have her rejoin them when the time came. In order to do that they’d need to stick around somewhere.
“We’re looking to stay here for a few weeks and wait for our companion. Do you rent rooms for that long?” Shiro would let Chika work out her frustrations, but he couldn’t dream of moving on without her.
The man shook his head. I don’t, but the general merchant up the street owns a few shacks on the edge of the village. You might talk him into something. Feel free to eat your meals here. With the new cook, I’m sure my regulars will return. She said she’s very good.”
Himura gave the man a bow. “I am sure that she will work out. Thank you for your help and we will return this evening.” Shiro gave the innkeeper a curt nod as they left to seek out the merchant.
“A few weeks?” Himura said.
Shiro shrugged. “I don’t know how long Chika will need. She’s probably very upset with us and I’d rather not have ill feelings get in the way of what we are about to do. I need to learn more magic in any event. An interlude in this village might suit us well, anyway. With the Lord Sekkoro dead, there won’t be as much impetus to drive out the White Rose Society.”
Himura kicked at a rock in the road. “I suppose you’re right. I still haven’t taught you how to disguise your sword.” He grinned. “I could use some time on a sleeping pallet rather than on hard ground anyway.”
Shiro laughed. “Depends on what’s available. Remember, Chika had most of our money,” he said as they ducked into the merchant’s shop.
“We’re looking for a place to stay for a week or two and the innkeeper up the street said that you might have something we can rent for that long.”
The old merchant looked up at them, being short,
skinny and bald. “I’ve got a house close in. Three sleeping places. No more than three weeks, though. I have a long-term tenant who’ll be working on a farm close-by the village moving in with his family. It has its own well—one of the few in the neighborhood.”
“Fortune smiles on us,” Shiro said, smiling to the merchant. “We’ll take it.” They negotiated the rent and Shiro paid for the first week in advance. He hoped he wouldn’t be staying past that.
The little house wasn’t far and the pair spent the rest of the day cleaning it out. The place didn’t have many conveniences, but enough for them. They washed down the place and themselves using water from the well.
Shiro squatted in his underclothes, pouring water over his dirty body when Chika opened the gate to the yard in her cook’s guise.
“Three pallets, the merchant said. I’ll take one of them.” She eyed Shiro’s dripping body and paused to say something, but didn’t. He had hoped for some suitable quip.
“You want one?”
She nodded. “I’m not ready to talk to you two, but the innkeeper’s eyes rove a bit too much and I found out that cooks don’t stay because he thinks that the wages include nighttime visitation privileges.”
Shiro bit off a retort this time and he heroically kept a smile from blossoming on his face.
“Preserve your privacy and your purse. You are free to sleep here.”
“Won’t be much of that. I’m to cook breakfast, lunch and dinner and any in-between meals that customers demand. I’ve much to think about, so I’m ready for the abuse.”
“That kind of abuse,” Himura said as he walked out from the house.
“You heard the conversation?” Chika said.
“Enough. I agree with Shiro. You are more than welcome here and if and when you are ready to move on, we’ll be here ready to go.”