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RIN WOKE BACK IN HER original chamber with a faint headache and a foul taste in her mouth. She rolled over and touched her temple. The last thing I remember was the witch coming into the shrine dressed as a priestess. She sat up and looked around the room. The chamber she had been staying in for the past few weeks looked all but the same. She ran her hands through her dark hair. Her hands shook. What will I do about Shin? She knelt on the futon and crawled over to grab a robe that had been hung over a screen in the corner of the room. She slid it on. It felt good to dress herself again. I suspect the servants are too terrified of me to even try to come attend me. That suits me fine.
She went barefoot out into the adjoining garden. She inhaled deeply the decaying scent of leaves on the ground and the dirty water of the pond. I thought I would never leave that place.
She raised her hands palm up and let the wind twine in her fingers. She inhaled and exhaled, trying futilely to access her fox fire. It remained locked away, as good as extinguished by the witch’s vile spell. She opened her eyes and stretched her mouth open into a scream, but no sound came out. All she managed to do was strain her throat from trying. She flung her arm in an arch and her hand collided with the tree. The pain was bright against her skin. She looked at her blotched red skin with disdain. The pinpricks traveled along her flesh, reminding her of her mortality. The scab on her arm broke open and bled anew. Now all I have is a sore hand for my troubles.
“Lady Nishimori?” Hikaru called from beyond the veranda.
She did not turn around. She would rather have a moment’s peace. She was beginning to wonder if the witch would ever turn her back. She uses me as her puppet. I doubt I was ever meant to break this spell.
He stepped into the garden, his sandals clacking on the cobblestones as he approached her. She held her breath. She knew she should be putting on a smiling face for him, doing her best to seduce him and break the spell, but she just didn’t have the heart for it. When he had looked at her with fear and damnation the night Shin killed the guard, something inside her snapped. She had not realized how much she had come to care for him until his affection was taken from her.
“I’m sorry to bother you. I wanted to see how you were feeling.” His address was formal and full of uncertainty. He knew he had hurt her and he was sorry for it. It would be better if he went on fearing me. What future could we possibly have together?
She waved her hand in a dismissive gesture.
He exhaled. She imagined he was wringing his hands together, searching for the words to say. He was probably staring at the ground in that charming insecure way of his. She glanced over her shoulder at him, just a peek. But instead of avoiding her gaze as he had done so many times before, he watched her. His expression was difficult to define. It was hungry, and she felt her own feelings reflected there. She wanted him more than she should. It was not just an infatuation; this was stronger than anything she ever felt before.
“I wanted to apologize for how I acted before. I should have tried to understand, but instead I ran away.” He frowned but did not look away. “It was shameful. I did not even give you a chance to explain.” He pleaded with his eyes. He wanted her to tell him that she was human, that she had nothing to do with Shin’s actions. But the truth was if she had not brought Shin into this household, that warrior would be alive. It was her fault.
I should let him go now, his brother can work to my purpose, and I won’t run the risk of breaking any hearts. She raised an eyebrow as she crossed her arms over her chest, playing at being upset with him.
“I have always prided myself on being a man of reason, but for some reason with you, that all goes out the window. You drive me mad.”
Her eyebrows shot up almost to her hairline. She bit her lip to keep from smiling. She couldn’t even properly pretend to be mad at him.
He ran his hand through his hair, stopped at the top of his head and jerked his hand away as if burned. “I don’t mean it that way. But you must see what a fool I am for you?”
She nodded and that was the problem. She had never had a man treat her as if the sun and moon rose and set to the rhythm of her heart.
“I have had my entire life planned out. My days are ruled by routine and schedule. Everything in its place, my entire destiny mapped out before me, and then you came along...” He laughed and shook his head.
She moved closer and for once he did not step away or try to avoid her, he was focused on her only.
“Recently, I went into the forest on my way back from a political meeting with a nearby clan. I saw a woman in the forest, or something akin to a woman. She had coppery hair and...”
She smiled. She remembered him. Saving him in the forest had been an impulsive thing; she never imagined it would bring her here.
He stared at her for a moment. “That was you, wasn’t it?”
She nodded again.
He tilted his head back and laughed. “I must be losing my mind.”
She touched him on the shoulder; he did not tense this time.
“Why are you here? Why can you not speak?”
Even if she could explain, she would not. These sorts of spells always had repercussions if they were revealed. So she leaned forward and planted a kiss on his lips. Curse be damned, and consequences be damned, she wanted him, and for once she would take what she wanted. He grasped the back of her neck and suddenly her entire body was aflame. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer, needing him more than she thought possible. Then without explanation, he pulled away.
She scowled at him and crossed her arms over her chest. Not again! Can you not forget your damn honor for one moment?
He ran his hands across his scalp. “You have to understand, I am very much infatuated with you, but I cannot take advantage of you. I have a wife. She is on her way to the palace, in fact. Your honor would be ruined if even a rumor of any of this got out. You could never make a good marriage—” He caught himself and laughed again. “Do your kind care about these sorts of things?”
She smiled and shook her head. Humans were so melodramatic in their affairs. What difference did it make if you had a casual partner or two? Love and lust were two different things. He kept her at a distance, and when she tried to fill the gap, he moved his head away.
She huffed and turned away from him. She was fed up with his excuses and his unfailing duty to his father and the household. But when she turned away from him, he grabbed her shoulder and spun her around.
“Do not mistake me, I care for you more than I should.”
She shook him off. Words will not break my spell. She was not one to weep, but she realized tears were falling down her cheeks despite that. Rin touched the stream of tears. Why am I crying?
Hikaru’s eyes had grown large. “Please do not cry. I came here to make amends.”
She shook her head, but before she could walk away from him, he pressed his lips to hers again.
He pulled away and paced a few feet from her. “I should not have done that. Why can I not get you out of my head? Is this some spell?”
She walked over to him, grabbed his shoulder and twirled him to face her. She kissed him hard and fierce. He was stiff at first and then little by little he relaxed, and he grabbed onto the back of her kimono and they were nothing more than two parts of one heartbeat. His hands tangled in her hair and she traced the clenched muscles along his back. She kissed the side of his mouth and down his neck while he whispered her name over and over like a prayer.
She was burning; all the frustration and the rejected advances had culminated into this moment. His hand slid up her side and brushed against her waist and then cupped her breast beneath the layers of fabric. She gasped. It was all the sound she could make. There was no turning back now. She pulled him by the hand and led him into her chamber.
He looked at her with a hooded gaze and she kissed away any protests before he could form them. He undressed her first, fumbling with the multitude of layers of her kimono, and when she was down to nothing but her undergarments, he stared at her, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. She was not inexperienced, but standing before him, she felt vulnerable and exposed. This has to be some side effect of being human. She tried to cover her naked body, but he held onto her wrists to stop her.
“You are the most beautiful thing I ever laid eyes on,” he said.
She blushed. She had never been one to do that before. Then she slid off his kimono, kissing the exposed flesh on his chest and downward. He groaned as she released the last of his clothes and then they lay on the futon together, nothing between them but the fire that threatened to consume them both.
“Are you sure? Once we do this, there is no going back.”
She smiled up at him before pulling him down for another kiss. That’s what I am hoping.
***
YOSHIROU’S IMPRISONMENT had left him plenty of time to work, not that much had been done. Every so often he would get up under the pretense of stretching his legs only to pace the room like a caged animal. Of all his children, he never expected this from Hikaru. Hotaru was the one he had watched and feared would rise against him. Why, Sayuri, is your son doing this to me? Is this also my punishment for my sins? The guard, one of his own men turned against him, watched him warily. Yoshirou had not neglected to see the way the young man’s hands hovered near his sword or how his eyes skimmed over the lord, his muscles tensed, ready to pounce. Keeping his cool was getting harder all the time. He had woken on the first night of his imprisonment with his futon torn to shreds and feathers scattered across the room with no recollection of how it had happened.
“My lord?” The warrior backed up an inch as he glared at him. The coward.
“Yes?” Yoshirou said, filling his tone with all the icy remoteness of a detached ruler. Because even if his son betrayed him and locked him away, he was still the elder until he drew his last breath.
“The priestess is here to see you.”
He made a sharp gesture with his hand, indicating she should enter. The guard scurried backwards, eager to be out of his presence.
She entered, head bowed, but he knew her in an instant. When Hikaru had made his move and imprisoned him, he had felt her hand moving the pieces. Not Sayuri’s son, who loved to learn more than to fight, and who trembled beneath his stare. Hikaru did not have the forethought to do such a thing, but this was the witch’s type of game. He had seen it before, but had never been on the receiving end. He clenched his hands tight on the edge of his table, hard enough to splinter the wood. The guard slid out the door, and as he did, she raised her head, a wicked smile on her face. He broke a nail and blood welled along the bed, but he did not move to wipe it away.
She sat down in front of him and spent a few moments arranging the folds of her sleeves and straightening the billowing folds of her her haori, then folded her hands on the table in front of her and glanced up at him. He clenched his jaw. He must not let his temper get the better of him, the witch wanted something, and losing his cool now would play into her hands. He folded his hands in front of him. The blood from his broken nail rolled down his finger and onto the tabletop. He ignored the throbbing pain, he was numb to it by now, as he was absorbed by the witch and her knowing smiles. Let her play her games as long as the Kitsune was gone.
“It is done, then, you’ve exorcised the Kitsune as promised?”
The witch smiled, a slow creeping smile that made his stomach drop. “She was no Kitsune, my lord, just a woman possessed by the spirit of Sayuri.”
Hearing her name again after so many years felt like a knife to his gut. Old wounds reopened to bleed anew. He thought he had buried her and the guilt over her death long ago, but since the Kitsune’s arrival, he had become obsessed. He could not sleep, he refused to eat, and all the while he was wondering about her, waiting for the revenge he knew was coming.
“You’re lying.”
“Why would I lie?”
He slammed his hand on the table. She had to be a Kitsune! Why else would she taunt him, never speaking, but she moved as Sayuri did, every gesture an echo of his lost love. She even resembled Sayuri, dark eyes, round face and her smile. If he closed his eyes, he could still see Sayuri laughing in the garden, feeding the koi, carrying his child. He opened his eyes. The witch looked on him with an expression of pity. She thought he was mad, but she had been the one to warn him. She had been the one who told him how dangerous Kitsune were. He opened his eyes to the truth that Sayuri would destroy him had she gotten the chance. So he tried to exorcise the Yokai energy from her, to make her human, truly, but it had killed her instead. He ran his hands through his hair. Sayuri’s gaunt face haunted his nightmares. Towards the end she had been nothing but skin stretched over bones, begging, pleading for her life.
“Sayuri...” he moaned.
It had to be her. Lady Nishimori had to be Sayuri’s kin come for revenge. He looked up and he saw her standing there behind the witch’s shoulder. She looked sad, so sad. He reached out for her, but when he tried to grasp her outstretched hand, she disappeared into the mist. Had it been an illusion or a vision? He could not be certain.
He turned back to the witch. “You told me a Kitsune was in the area, that they were coming for me.”
“They are. Their kind and Sayuri will never be satisfied until you are dead.”
His hands trembled. Sayuri, why will you not forgive me? I loved you, I still love you. I was a fool to do what I did.
“What can I do? How can I stop this?”
She shrugged. “Your death is what she wants. Blood pays for blood.”
“And the girl, she is bewitching my son. I can see it, I am not blind.”
“Then deal with her. I have done all I can, it is up to you now.”
She rose to leave, but he did not watch her go. His eyes were drawn to the guard standing outside the door and the sword at his hip. Sayuri had returned and she pointed one pale ghostly hand at the weapon. He knew what he had to do.