Soul of the Sword (Shadow of the Fox #2) - Julie Kagawa Page 0,41
guest in Hakumei castle. Please forgive my rudeness—we cannot have anyone thinking the Kage are not polite, even to peasant girls who are more clever than they seem.”
His smile looked so sincere and heartfelt that it almost balanced the ominous tone of his previous statement. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean, Masao-san,” I told him. “I’m only a peasant who was raised in a temple of monks. Everything I know, all the skills I possess, I learned from them.”
“You needn’t worry, Yumeko-san,” Masao said, making me start. I didn’t remember telling him my name. He smiled again, wry and amused. “I have no grand aspirations to summon a god. I want only what my daimyo wants. Her wishes are my wishes. I exist to serve the Kage, and Lady Hanshou, as best I can.”
Again, he sounded completely genuine, but my suspicions prickled all the more. I thought of Tatsumi, remembered his flat, emotionless claim that he was only a weapon for the Kage, and my heart twisted a little. Tatsumi would throw himself off a cliff if his clan ordered it—he truly believed his life was not his own. Kage Masao seemed more like a noble who moved through the court like an eel through water. “Then why are you telling me this?”
His eyes glittered, though his tone remained the same. “Because, Yumeko-san, I wanted to remind you that you are in Shadow Clan territory. Secrets do not exist here. Darkness is our ally, and nothing can hide from us for long. Remember that, when you speak to Lady Hanshou. She has been alive a very, very long time. She knows things about the clans that would cause the emperor himself to never sleep again. So, consider this a friendly warning. Whatever Lady Hanshou asks, it is best to answer truthfully. She already knows everything about you.”
I swallowed, resisting the urge to pin back my ears. Not everything.
Masao smiled at me, as if he knew what I was thinking and was too polite to say I was wrong. With a quiet, “Please follow me,” he turned, swept past the samurai and opened the painted door between them. I stepped through the frame, and the panel snapped shut behind me.
Instantly, I was struck by the heat; the room beyond was dark, smoky and chokingly warm. Incense hung thick in the air, burning my nose and clogging my throat, but beneath the overpowering smell of sandalwood and cloves, the air reeked of alcohol. As my eyes adjusted to the dimness, I could see the walls were painted fusuma panels depicting more beautiful imagery—a pair of cranes at the edge of a pond, a tiger in a bamboo grove—but looking at them made my tail bristle. It seemed as if the paintings were staring back at me, or that shadowy presences lurked behind them, watching as I took in the chamber. The room had no windows; the only light came from a pair of cast-iron braziers, glowing red with heat, and a single lantern overhead, casting an orange circle of light in the middle of the tatami mats.
Just beyond that light, flanked by the two braziers, a figure waited for me, seated on a thick red cushion. At first, it was an indistinguishable lump, wrapped in layers of robes and hidden in shadow. I thought I could make out the silhouette of a head, and a single arm that held a long-handled pipe, the end trailing curls of smoke into the air. But the light was hazy, and the figure seemed almost hunched over, so it was impossible to see it clearly.
“Is this her?” came a low, feminine voice from the lump in the center of the room. The smoothness of the voice startled me; for some reason, it didn’t match the silhouette it was attached to. Masao stepped forward and bowed.
“Yes, Hanshou-sama. As requested, this is Yumeko of the Silent Winds temple. The one who accompanied the demonslayer until his…unfortunate incident.”
“Come forward, girl,” purred the voice. “Do not lurk at the edge of the shadows, step into the light.”
Beside me, Masao gestured at the circle of lantern light, and I edged forward until I was in the center of the soft orange glow. When he gave a nod, I knelt and bowed to the still shadowy form of Lady Hanshou, touching my forehead to the mats, as one did when facing the daimyo of a great clan.
A ripple of power washed over me, the same soft, cool touch of Tatsumi’s