us to the Steel Feather temple. Nothing else matters. If you are caught and executed, the mission ends here.”
His hand rose, the back of his knuckles coming very close to my cheek. I looked into his eyes and saw conflict burning within.
“Tatsumi...”
“You cannot die, Yumeko.” His hand didn’t move any closer, but he didn’t pull back, either, and his voice was very soft. “We both made a promise, to find the Steel Feather temple together. I need you to show me the way. The mission isn’t over yet.”
“I’ll be all right.” Carefully I reached up and took his hand. He flinched as our skin touched and then, almost tentatively, his fingers curled around mine. I met his gaze and smiled. “I know what to do, Tatsumi. Trust me.”
He held my gaze a moment longer, brow furrowed and eyes shadowed, then nodded once. I backed out of the trees, feeling the delicate strands of magic fray apart as I moved, and turned toward the emperor’s platform.
Taiyo Morimasa met my gaze, his eyes widening in relief, as if he had been looking for me and hadn’t been able to see me until now. Gesturing impatiently, he waved me forward. Resisting the urge to look back at the trees, I took a deep breath, lifted my chin and walked toward the platform and the emperor of Iwagoto.
29
The Emperor’s Fortune
I watched the girl walk away, her stride confident, toward the emperor in gold who waited on his platform, surrounded by nobles and samurai. The eyes of the court followed, all gazes on the slight figure in billowing red and white, her long braid swaying behind her. She did not look frightened or even tense, but there was an unfamiliar sensation in the pit of my stomach that compelled me to make her vanish. To drop down, cover us both in darkness and spirit her away. Or, if that wasn’t possible, to draw Kamigoroshi and slaughter everyone who was a threat, nobles, samurai and emperor alike, to save the girl striding so boldly toward the person who could order her death.
I could still feel her hand, her soft fingers curled around my palm, and clenched my fist against my leg. Yumeko could not die tonight. Letting her walk away was foolish. I didn’t know what she was planning, if she even had a plan, but I’d said I would trust her. A peasant girl with no magic, who had grown up in a temple sheltered from the rest of the world, who was brave and unassuming and clever but ultimately no onmyoji—I was letting her face the most powerful man in Iwagoto with nothing but the assurance that she would be fine. I saw the ronin, the shrine maiden and the noble press forward with the rest of the crowd, forming a semicircle behind the girl, and my chest tightened. For the first time, I wished I could be there, in the crowd, instead of lurking at the edge of the light, hiding in the shadows.
Great Kami, I found myself thinking, watch over her. Tamafuku, God of Luck, if you can lend your aid to one person tonight, let it be her.
Yumeko stopped her approach about fifteen feet from the emperor’s dais, sank to her knees and bowed low with her hands and forehead touching the ground. It was clumsy; her posture wasn’t quite rigid enough and her fingers weren’t at the right position, but at least she had the general idea of how to behave when facing the ruler of the country. And it appeared to satisfy the emperor, for he smiled and held out a billowing golden sleeve.
“Onmyoji Yumeko,” he said in clear, high tones. “Welcome to the Palace of the Sun.”
“His Highness honors me,” Yumeko replied, sitting up slowly. “I am not worthy to be here, but I will try my best to please.”
I sensed disapproval and scorn emanating from the watching crowd, from the nobles and aristocrats in particular. Yumeko’s common birth was suddenly painfully clear in the way she spoke, without nuance or the flattering, flowery phrases of the court. I had the sudden image of dropping into their midst and cutting them all into bloody ribbons, and I wasn’t quite sure if those were Hakaimono’s thoughts, or my own.
“My advisor tells me you learned onmyodo without a master,” the emperor went on, and a murmur went through the crowd. “Is that correct? You have truly mastered the ancient knowledge on your own?”
“Yes, Your Highness. That is correct.” She