Soul of the Sword (Shadow of the Fox #2) - Julie Kagawa Page 0,60
around this maze of a castle. And don’t pin your ears at me.” She returned my frown. “If we get lost or separated, I don’t want to spend even more time trying to find you as well as Taiyo-san and the baka ronin. You’ll be safer here. A guest being attacked by shinobi in their own quarters would bring eternal shame and dishonor to the clan hosting them. If you’re safely in your room, you won’t raise any suspicions.”
“What about Lord Iesada?” I asked. “He could have shinobi of his own. There could be assassins hiding under the floors or in the wall paintings, waiting to ambush you.”
“All the more reason I should go alone. I’m just a humble shrine maiden. I’m not carrying anything important. No one will care if I disappear.”
“I would care, Reika-san.”
She gave me a pointed look, as if that were the end of it. “You’re not coming with me, Yumeko-chan. End of story.”
She wasn’t going to change her mind, so I nodded and sighed. “All right, Reika-san,” I told her, “but how will you find the others? This castle is like a maze. Oh, do you need string? I could probably make you a ball of string.”
“No. I’ll get Chu to follow their trail. He should be able to track them by scent, as odorous as the ronin is.” The shrine maiden wrinkled her nose. “He’ll be able to find his way back, as well. What I don’t want to do is go gallivanting through Hakumei castle without knowing where you are.” She pointed a finger at the floor. “So you are going to stay right here, in this room, and not leave, understand? If anything strange happens, remember that Master Jiro and Ko are across the hall, and neither of them are defenseless.” Her lips thinned. “Still, I need to hurry. I don’t like the idea of leaving him alone in this place. Baka men.” She walked to the door, shaking her head, as Chu followed. “What could have come over those two, that they would just up and leave without a word to anyone?”
“Okame-san hasn’t been himself since the Path of Shadows,” I said as Reika pushed open the shoji and peered into the hallway. A dark, polished floor, flickering lanterns and fusuma panel walls greeted her as she leaned out of the room. “I hope he’s all right.”
Reika sniffed. “He probably wandered off to get drunk, and dragged Taiyo-san along with him,” she muttered, gazing up and down the corridor. “It looks clear,” she said, and glanced back into the room. “I’m going. Remember what I said, Yumeko. Stay here. Don’t get into trouble. Promise me.”
I nodded. “Be careful, Reika-san.”
“Chu,” the miko said, gazing down at the dog. “Let’s go. Find the ronin and Taiyo-san.”
The small orange dog immediately put his nose to the floor and trotted into the hallway, his claws clicking over the wood. With one last stern glare at me, the shrine maiden shut the door between us, and I listened to their footsteps pad away down the corridor.
As soon as the sound faded into silence, I rose and walked to the door. I trusted Reika-san, and I knew she was just trying to protect the scroll, but if Daisuke and Okame were in trouble, I certainly wasn’t going to sit by myself and do nothing. The miko would be cross, but I’d never actually agreed to stay in my room. As I’d once pointed out to Jin when he had made me promise not to eat the rice cakes he’d left on the counter, I had never spoken the actual words out loud, thus I couldn’t be held to it.
However, when I opened my door, I came face-to-face with my maid. Even with a full tea tray in her hands, I hadn’t heard her approach; it was like she’d materialized out of thin air, or had learned to hover over the ground like a yurei ghost when she walked.
“Oh,” she exclaimed, taking a quick step back as if startled. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were coming out. Please excuse me, miss.” She bobbed her head and slipped past me into the room, averting her eyes as she did, and put the tea on the low table. I watched her suspiciously, looking for any sign that she might’ve been spying on us, but she acted perfectly normal.
“Is there anything else you need?” she asked, still keeping her gaze demurely on the floor as she straightened. “If I can