Spirit's Chosen (14 page)

Stop that!
I told myself.
You’re imagining things. There is no cook and no cookfire anywhere nearby; there
can’t
be! Remember what Lord Hideki told you? The first village you’ll encounter is at least a day’s march farther on, maybe more. Do you want your greedy gut to lead you astray in the dark? Lie still, close your eyes, and don’t be a fool!

I forced myself to find sleep, but it was not restful. I woke up the next morning feeling oddly tense and on guard. The smell of roasted game still haunted me, now so faint that I could believe it was nothing but the remains of a dream.
A very
provoking
dream
, I thought testily as I rose to wash my face in the stream.

The crisp-skinned leg and thigh of a bird was waiting for me when I returned. It lay on a bed of tender young oak leaves spread over a flat rock. I stared at it for a long time, then cast searching glances left, right, and all around, seeking answers to this mystery. Even though I had woken up hungry, my appetite was gone. The delectable scent, now strong again, had lost its power to tempt me.

It looks like a pheasant’s joint
, I thought, extending one finger gingerly. I half expected to have the apparition vanish at the slightest touch, but it was solid enough, the browned skin cold and shiny with grease. I brought my hand to my
mouth and licked my fingertip. Delicious! I wanted to sink my teeth into the meat then and there.

No, better not. At least not until I can find out where this came from and why I’m being favored like this by some invisible giver
. I folded my hands in my lap and gazed at the roasted leg as though it were a puzzle to solve.
That taste … That first taste seemed to be all right. It didn’t make me sick. Maybe I could have just a pinch of the skin and see how that sits on my stomach
. I leaned forward, my hand trembling just a little as I reached for the meat.
Just the smallest bit of skin and meat to find out if—

“For the love of all the gods,
eat
it already!”

Kaya strode out of the trees, scooped up the food, and shoved it into my hands. With a loud snort worthy of Lady Badger, she plopped down beside me, glaring. “Do I have to tell you how to do
everything
?” she demanded. “I thought you’d know enough to feed yourself, but it looks like I was wrong. Honestly, Himiko, it’s a good thing I’m coming with you on this trip, or you’d starve to death in the middle of a chieftain’s wedding feast!”

I gaped at her for a moment, then burst out laughing. “How long have you been on my trail, Kaya?”

“From the moment Lord Hideki came back through the village gates and I knew my path was clear. Don’t worry: I told your stepmother my plans. That way, if my mother should happen to send a messenger to your clan in order to see how things are with me, he can tell her I’m fine, just … elsewhere.” She spread her hands.

“This journey to the Ookami lands is a
big
‘elsewhere,’ ” I reminded her.

“Pff! As long as it’s big enough for two, it’s where I belong.”

“I must admit, I’m happy to have your company,” I told her.

“You’ll be happier to have this”—she pointed at the large sack she’d been carrying—“and this.” She jabbed a thumb at her bow and arrows. “What were you going to do to protect yourself on the road?”

I showed her the blade Lord Hideki had given me. She raised one eyebrow skeptically and asked, “Do you know how to use that?” When I gave her an
Are you serious?
look, she made haste to add: “I
meant
, do you know how to use that on something that’s still alive and dangerous?”

I pursed my lips. “If you keep talking to me as if I were a child, you’ll get the chance to show me how
you
handle something alive and dangerous.” That made her laugh first, apologize second.

Almost
apologize.

“A thousand pardons, O great shaman!” Kaya exclaimed, raising her hands as she bowed her head to the ground. “Surely the spirits will make the wild boars and the wolves and every other perilous creature flee before you the instant that you throw herbs at them.”

She was still bent over when I sprang forward and sat on her back, pinning her down. She squawked and struggled, but I was not so easy to dislodge. “Now you listen to me, you flattened badger,” I said with good humor. “I might not know how to use Lord Hideki’s blade to protect myself, but I do know that it’s no match for wolves or wild boars or any big animal. I wouldn’t try to make a stand
against them. As for smaller dangers, I
used
to have a good friend with some skill as a fighter. I was hoping she’d give me a lesson or two, but I heard she’s been spending most of her time talking to earthworms, so there’s really no hope she’ll ever—”

Kaya took a deep breath, thrust her fists against the ground, and bucked. I fell off her back, giggling. Scowling, she wiped the dirt off her face and chest, then declared: “I must be seven kinds of fool for wanting to help you when I could have stayed safe at home or nice and comfortable in your village.”

“Don’t you mean
in your village with Yari
?” I asked, looking sly as a well-fed fox.

Kaya’s face turned red. “What do
you
know about Yari?” she said.

“Well, he
is
one of my sister-in-law’s brothers,” I replied. “Fusa told me that they were never close, yet he always seemed to find a reason to see how she was faring whenever you and I were visiting my brother Masa this winter. And wasn’t he the one who came by Mama’s house with firewood every chance he got? Firewood that he never managed to carry up the ladder himself. Somehow you were always the first one to dash out the door, ready to help. I wonder why it took so long to bring up the firewood even with two pairs of hands working at the task.” I grinned.

“You’re awful,” Kaya grumped at me, chin tucked in. She sounded so unhappy that I felt a pang of remorse for teasing her.

“I’m sorry, Kaya,” I said, touching her arm. “I shouldn’t make fun of you about this. The truth is, I’m glad you and
Yari are … getting along. I’m hoping that when we return home, maybe the two of you will, well …”

“He wants to marry me,” Kaya said. She spoke so low that I had to ask her to repeat her words, to make sure I’d heard them correctly.

“He does?!” I clapped my hands. “That’s wonderful! You know that I count you as my sister, but once you take Fusa’s brother for your husband we’ll
really
be kin!”

She lifted her chin and regarded me uncertainly, as if checking to see if this were a fresh joke at her expense. “You like the idea?”

“I welcome it!” I cried, hugging her. “And I welcome your company on this journey more than ever. With your cleverness and skills as a hunter, we’ll be able to travel faster, find a way to rescue my little brother more easily, and go home sooner so that
I
can perform your wedding rites!” Joy possessed me. I couldn’t help but leap to my feet, draw my wand, and begin to dance, offering the spirits a prayer that was part thanks, part praise, and all hope for my friend’s happy future.

Kaya shook her head. “You’re
never
going to eat that pheasant leg, are you?” She sighed.

I think that in spite of her protests, my friend Kaya was as much of a shaman as I. She was the master of a magic spell that transformed our path from a journey through unknown lands into a pleasant outing. When the road we were on began to climb the foothills leading into the sunset mountains, her jests and songs and funny stories distracted me from the ever-increasing challenge of the route.

At least that challenge was solely on account of the terrain. We did not have to deal with the added trouble of not knowing which way to go. Lord Hideki’s directions held true, his memory was accurate. He gave us many landmarks by which to guide our footsteps, mostly rocks or other enduring features of the land, but sometimes trees or other plants whose appearance or location made them stand out.

Whenever I announced something like, “Next we have to look for a pair of ‘man-and-wife’ cedars,” Kaya became uneasy and snappish.

“Why did Lord Hideki have to choose
trees
as trail markers? They’re too easy to destroy! Even a ‘man-and-wife’ pair, with their branches knotted together, can’t stay standing if a really big storm washes out their roots or hits them with a bolt of lightning! He should have relied on rocks and rivers. Nothing ever happens to change them.”

“I agree with you,” I said mildly. “I don’t believe in landslides or droughts, either.”

She snorted and threw a fallen pinecone at me.

One day, we both caught wind of the unmistakable scents that could only come from a village. It lay in a wide highland meadow where spring flowers bloomed pink and white and blue. Thatch-roofed houses just like the ones we knew from our own villages peered over the top of a wooden palisade, but there was no encircling moat and no watchtower. As we came downslope, we saw terraced fields rising along the flank of the farther hillside. We lingered in the shelter of the trees, watching the people go to and fro and waiting for the right time to reveal our presence.

“It might be best if we entered the village now,” I said in a low voice. “There are so many people in the fields that probably not too many will be inside the walls. If they don’t like strangers we can go on our way without causing too much fuss.”

“Do we have to go into the village at all?” Kaya asked. “Our bags are still fairly heavy, you’ve managed to forage plenty of fresh food, and I’ve been having lots of luck hunting. We don’t
need
these people for anything.”

“But we
do
need to cross their land. If we try to do that
by night, we’ll get lost, and if we go slinking along by day and they spot us, we’ll look like we were up to no good. I’d rather deal with introductions than explanations. Let’s go.” I stepped out of the trees and went about ten strides before I realized Kaya was not right behind me. Turning in my tracks, I peered back at her and softly called, “Kaya? What’s wrong? Are you afraid?”

She emerged from hiding with small, reluctant steps, her expression both shamefaced and grim. “I’m being
careful
, not afraid,” she said gruffly. “And you would do better to learn a little caution. What are you planning to tell these people, once you’re inside their walls? ‘Excuse me, but we’re on our way to visit the Ookami. They enslaved my little brother, so I’m going to steal him back. I don’t have any idea if you’re friends or enemies with the wolf clan, so why don’t we make a bargain? If they’re your enemies, we’ll all sit down together and chat about how horrible they are. What fun! But if they’re your friends,
please
don’t send a messenger ahead to warn them about our plans, all right? Thank you
so
much, and now feed us.’ ” She ended with an infuriating Lady Badger smile.

I folded my arms. “That was not what I had in mind to do,” I said crossly.

“Is that so?”

With an exasperated sigh I grabbed her shoulder and told her exactly what I had planned. She listened wide-eyed, and by the time I finished speaking, her smirk had become an excited look of admiration. “That’s
perfect
. I love it. Let’s try it right away. Where do you get these ideas, anyhow?”

“Not down badger burrows,” I told her, and we both giggled.

A short while later we were at the village gates. At that time of day they stood wide open, and though there was no watchtower, there was a middle-aged man standing guard. He looked bored and was so inattentive that we were less than five arm-lengths away before he noticed we were strangers, not members of his clan.

“Stand where you are!” he shouted, shaking his spear. “Who are you? What do you want here?”

I stepped aside and let Kaya address him. “Greetings, great warrior,” she said smoothly. “I am called Karasu and this is my lady Iyoko. We have traveled for many days and are tired and hungry, yet we want nothing more than to know if the spirits have led us to a place of blessing or a cursed land. We will not trouble you long with our presence, for my lady is called to continue on a pilgrimage far into the west, even beyond the lands where the Ookami rule.”

“The Ookami?” The guard shuddered slightly. “What business do two girls have with that den of wolves?”

Kaya gave him her most bitingly scornful look. “For your information, Lady Iyoko is both chieftess and shaman of the badger clan, with a voice so powerful that every word she utters summons the spirits of this world and those of the shadowy realm of the dead. If this
girl
were to open her mouth and speak your name, you would be surrounded by the avenging ghosts of every person you ever offended, disappointed, or angered!” She narrowed her eyes and with a wicked smile added, “Would you like to see her prove it?”

The guard shivered even more violently than he had at the mention of the Ookami. “No, no, not at all!” He raised his hands in a warding-off gesture. “There’s no need to bother the dead over trifles. Let them enjoy their rest undisturbed. Ladies—
noble
ladies, you are welcome in the land of the willow clan. Follow me, if you please. I will bring you to our chieftain’s house so that his wives can make you comfortable.”