Spirit's Princess (25 page)

My escorts had their arms linked through mine and were moving so fast, my feet nearly left the ground. “Stop, please stop!” I cried as we passed under the shadow of the sacred pine tree. “I’m all right; I can get home on my own.”

“We only wanted to help you reach safety, Lady Himiko,” one of them said.

“Thank you, but you don’t have to worry about me. You’re needed elsewhere.” They bowed and ran off to arm themselves.

I leaned against the venerable tree and caught my breath while I watched every able-bodied man in our village swarm past, feet pounding thunder from the ground, swords or bows or polearms in their hands. Father and Shoichi ran by without seeing me, coming so close that I could have reached out and touched them. I couldn’t see Masa, but he was probably working frantically at the blacksmith’s side, searching the forge for usable weapons.

As the men rushed to close our gates and defend the palisade, women, children, and the old were moving as fast as they could away from the wooden walls, taking shelter in their houses.

I should go home too
, I thought.
I should, but I don’t want to. I should go, so that Mama, Yukari, and Emi know I’m safe, but then what? They’ll want to know what happened to Aki, and once I tell them that—!
I shuddered, already hearing their wails of grief. Mama would be devastated, and who knew how much harm
such a shock might do to Emi’s unborn child? The news of the armed strangers had put my poor mothers under enough stress; they shouldn’t have to handle more just yet.

Suddenly I had an idea that would relieve their minds about me but shield them from hearing of Aki’s fate for as long as possible. I emerged from the shelter of the pine and looked around until I saw one of our village boys, too old to cling to his mother, too young to help defend us, but just the right age to hope he could be a part of all the excitement. I called him to me at once.

“Yes, Lady Himiko?” he said, clearly thrilled to be needed.

“Listen, I have a very important job for you. Go tell my mother you saw me and that I’m going to Lady Yama’s house. Above all, tell her not to worry because Aki said the men coming here are probably a trading party. They carry weapons too.”

“Really?” The boy looked disappointed.

“Yes,
really
. Now please, remember everything I told you.”

“Trust me, Lady Himiko!” he said, showing a gap-toothed smile, and sped away.

I watched him go, then headed in the other direction.
It wasn’t a lie
, I told myself.
It
wasn’t,
but it wasn’t the whole truth, either. I
am
going to Lady Yama’s house. What’s the harm if Mama believes our shaman sent for me? I don’t want to go home yet. How can I help our clan if I’m hidden away, cowering like a baby mouse? Lady Yama must be preparing to call on the spirits to protect us. Maybe there’s something I can do to aid her. Oh, gods, punish me for lying if you must, but let me save my people!

I was only a few steps from Yama’s house when I heard my father’s voice ring out from high overhead. I looked to the watchtower and saw him gesturing with his sword to the massed men below. “Open the gates!” he bellowed. “My son is coming! Open the gates!”

I forgot all about seeing the shaman. Instead, I hurried toward the village gateway in time to see the great doors swing out just wide enough to let Aki come running in. His face was flushed, but he was smiling ear to ear. He opened his mouth to speak, and the men surrounded him, cutting off my view. I couldn’t hear what he said, but their reaction told the tale: loud cheers filled the air, and every face shone bright with happy relief.

Father pushed his way through the roaring crowd. He’d descended from the watchman’s post so swiftly that I wondered if he’d jumped while partway down. “Stand aside! Where’s my son? Aki, are you all right? What happened?”

“They’ve come here peaceably, Father,” my brother replied, giddy with his own good news. “They don’t want a fight. As soon as they told me that, I ran ahead to tell you. They’ll be here shortly.”

“They, they,
they
?” Father barked. “You keep saying
they
as if I would know what you’re talking about. Who are
they
? What do they want here? To trade with us? To ask our help? What?”

“I—” Aki began. His face fell into confusion. “I don’t know why they’ve come. They’re from the Ookami clan, the wolf people, and their chieftain is with them.”

“The Ookami …” Father’s face became impenetrable. “I have heard their name.” He turned to his men and began
giving orders for the village to prepare for a ceremony of welcome instead of a battle. Aki might as well have become a drop of water sinking into parched ground without a trace.

By the time the Ookami party reached our palisade, the gates were wide open and Father stood ready to greet them, attended by his fellow nobles. My brothers were there as well, summoned by his command. Shoichi and Masa stood next to Aki at his right side while Yama remained a few steps back, at his left. Our shaman was an imposing presence, her neck hung heavily with beads, a crown of dried flowers on her silvery hair. Her hands were crossed over her chest, one holding a mirror, the other a bronze bell. A second mirror hung from her neck and flung reflected shafts of sunlight in all directions at her slightest move. More mirrors dangled from her belt, girdling her with brilliance.

On Father’s orders, most of our clanfolk had laid their arms aside—out of sight but near at hand, just in case. However, he’d also commanded five of his brawniest men to stand in a row by the gateway, bearing polearms. When the Ookami entered, it would be under the shadow of our weapons. I observed all this from my own place, at Yama’s back. I carried a bamboo platter laden with the things our shaman would need to perform her ritual of greeting, as well as a small clay bottle of rice wine as a welcome gift for our guests. If Father noticed my presence at all, he must have shrugged it off as part of my continuing “service” to our shaman.

The Ookami party crossed our moat and stopped just outside our gateway. Now that there was no immediate danger, I was avid for my first close look at them. I peered
around Yama and saw a group of eight men who didn’t look all that different from us. Five of them carried polearms, like Father’s guards, and wore swords at their sides. Two more—a thickset, gray-haired older man and a lean, handsome one who looked about Aki’s age—were richly dressed and armed with swords alone. The last man in the group wore a tunic that was badly stained and tattered. His back was bent under a pile of bundles that must have contained supplies for the Ookami party’s journey. His face was thin, his eyes were empty, and an awful air of weariness hung about him.

No one had to tell me what he was. I knew I saw a slave, and the sight was bitter.

The gray-haired man and Father regarded each other steadily for the time it took me to draw five breaths. Then our uninvited guest pulled back his shoulders, stood taller, and bawled, “I am Nago, chieftain of the Ookami clan. I come with open hands and swear in the sight of the gods that all I seek are words with your own chieftain.” He then shouted orders to his escort to disarm themselves. They all laid down their polearms but didn’t remove their swords.

Father returned Nago’s formal greeting in a strong, carrying voice. “If you come to the Matsu for words and nothing more, I welcome you!” He clapped his hands, and Yama stepped forward, lifting her voice in an eerie chant that bored its way into my bones. As she sang, she swayed like a tree in a high wind and slowly traced the tightly woven pattern of a brief dance. When she was done, she struck the bronze bell and held the mirror above her head so that sunlight stabbed the eyes of the Ookami chieftain. He stood his
ground, never flinching or raising his hand to shield his eyes. When Yama lowered the mirror at last, she nodded, then beckoned me to offer Nago the wine. He drank deeply and passed it to the younger man, who sipped it as if he suspected a live snake were lurking at the bottom of the jar. It was then passed to the remaining free men, and the ceremony was over.

“Well done, Himiko,” Yama whispered to me as we watched Father lead the Ookami away. “Now come help me store these things.” She started toward her house.

I lingered, devoured by curiosity. “Why isn’t Father taking them to our house?” I asked.

Yama shrugged. “I’d guess he doesn’t want their presence to upset Emi. It could be that, or else—Does your family still have that trophy? The one your brothers brought home from the wolf hunt, years ago?”

“Oh!” I understood what Yama meant. It would have been a very bad thing to invite the wolf clan men into a house that displayed a wolf’s skull. “We do. No wonder Father’s entertaining them in someone else’s house.”

I must have sounded disappointed because Yama smirked and said, “Don’t worry, Himiko, you’ll have your chance to get a good, long look at the strangers when it’s time to feed them. Smell that smoke? Our women are all busy cooking a feast for the visitors, to impress them with how rich and strong we Matsu are. No doubt our chieftain will want our prettiest girls to serve them, and that’s when he’ll call for you.”

But Yama was mistaken. Father sent for me much
earlier than that. We had just reached her doorway when Masa came running up to us, calling my name. “Come with me, Little Sister. Father has something important for you to do.”

“What is it?”

“Baby tending.” My youngest brother laughed, then made a sour face. “The Ookami chieftain’s son has already grown tired of listening to the older men talk. He’s been shifting and squirming in his place this whole time, like an impatient child. His own father either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care, because he hasn’t said a word about it, but our father looks ready to
bite
! He took me aside and told me to fetch you. He wants you to take the child for a walk and distract him until it’s time to eat, but said if doing that makes you feel ill at ease, he understands and you don’t have to—”

“It would be my pleasure to help Father.” I spoke so demurely that Masa gave me a profoundly skeptical look before leading me to the house where the chieftains were meeting.

Father presented me to our guests. “You remember my daughter Himiko, Lord Nago?”

The Ookami chieftain chuckled. “The pretty one who greeted me with such excellent rice wine is your girl? Are all of your daughters so graceful and lovely?”

“I have no other daughters.”

“Then you’re a lucky man to have this one, isn’t he, Ryu?” The Ookami chieftain turned to his son. The younger man nodded, and a thin smile parted his lips.

“I asked Masa to bring Himiko here,” Father said. “As
my daughter, it’s her job to make our visitors feel at home by making our village as familiar to them as their own.” It was a half-truth to rival the message I’d sent to Mama, since this was the first time we’d ever
had
visitors. “You’ve said you want to be on your way again before sunset, and we have much to talk about, but could you spare your son from our discussions? Himiko takes such pride in what she does that she’d be horribly disappointed if she couldn’t escort at least one of your party through our village.”

Lord Nago’s grin was a little unsettling. “It’s bad luck to disappoint a beautiful girl. The gods give us so few of them. Ryu! Go with Lady Himiko and thank all the spirits for the gift that’s fallen into your lap.” With a barely perceptible bow, his son obeyed and followed me out of the house. I could almost hear the sighs of relief from Father and my brothers.

I decided that it might be best to show the chieftain’s son our fields first, then return inside the palisade so that we’d be easy to find when it was time to eat. As we walked, I was pleased to notice that Ryu was listening carefully to my every word. After what Masa told me about Ryu’s constant fidgeting, I’d expected a bored and reluctant companion. Instead, I never once sensed his eyes wandering away from me. Since I wasn’t talking about anything more fascinating than the crops and the weather, so much attention was especially flattering. When he spoke to me about his own village, I was free to study his face, so very strong and handsome.

I wonder what he thinks of me?
I mused, drifting off into a daydream.
His father said I’m pretty, but he was just being polite. And yet … does Ryu think so?
It did no harm to let my mind
wander that way. Any fantasies I’d had about love were empty. Ganju was the only boy in our village who’d been bold enough to approach a chieftain’s daughter, but when I wasn’t able to meet him at the wine-making festival, he’d looked elsewhere. The next day, every gossiping tongue in our village was wagging over how shamelessly he’d flirted with Ume that night—Ume, of all people!—and how she’d wrapped herself around him like a damp petal ever since. I told myself that if he was that shallow, I was fortunate to have lost him. But to
Ume
? That hurt.

Oh, I do hope Ganju sees me walking with Lord Ryu!
I thought.
Ganju
and
Ume!
I imagined their reaction and bit back a giggle.

As I guided our footsteps toward the gates once again, I said, “Thank you very much, Lord Ryu. You’re a gracious guest.”

“Am I?” The Ookami chieftain’s son seemed amused. “What makes you say that?”

“You’ve spent all this time humoring me, tramping all around our fields when you’ve already had a hard day’s march and more to come. I can’t believe you’re going to leave us before sunset. My father must have misunderstood—”

“He didn’t. We’re the wolf people. We sleep in our own dens or under the sky, nowhere else.” A proud note came into his voice, hard and sharp as an arrowhead. “It keeps us stronger than the other clans.”

We were crossing the simple wooden span over the village moat, but his arrogant words checked me where I
stood. By that time of day, everyone was already at their work. Unless our tower lookout happened to glance down, there was no one to witness me confronting Ryu.

“The Matsu are strong too!” I cried, leaping to defend my people.