Soul of the Sword (Shadow of the Fox #2) - Julie Kagawa Page 0,66
find somewhere else to drink.”
“Where’s Daisuke-san?”
The noble suddenly ducked through the doors of the gambling hall, looking both embarrassed and apologetic as he strode forward. I blinked. Like Okame, the Taiyo wore a clean but unmarked haori, dark blue with four white diamonds patterned on the shoulder. His long hair had been tied behind him, but even with a wide-brimmed straw hat perched on his head, there was no mistaking his noble bearing.
“My apologies, Okame-san,” Daisuke said as he joined us. “You were doing so well. I was unaware that you had been…escorted out.” His gaze slid to me, slender brows lifting. “Reika-san. What are you doing here? This is not a place for respectable priestesses.”
“Or respectable samurai,” Okame muttered.
“Rei…um…Yumeko and I were worried about you,” I told them. “We couldn’t find you in the castle, and thought something might’ve happened.”
Daisuke gave a slight frown. “Odd. I specifically told a servant girl that we were going into the city, and to let our companions know that we would return by the hour of the Rat. No one gave you this message, Reika-san?”
I started to answer, when a shiver ran up my back, and my tail bristled. My kitsune instincts were telling me something wasn’t right.
“Above you, fox!” hissed a shrill voice from the shadows. “On the roof!”
My blood chilled. I looked up, and saw a figure in black perched on the roof across the street, arm raised as if to hurl something.
“Daisuke, behind you!” I cried, and the noble whirled around, his sword clearing its sheath in an instant and slashing the air in front of him. There was a clang, and something glinted as it was knocked aside, skittering into the street. At the same time, a flash of cold, dark metal streaked past my head, ruffling a few strands of hair, and thunked into the post behind me.
Heart pounding, I looked up to see the figure on the roof dart back into the shadows, and I immediately sprinted across the road, hearing Daisuke and Okame call after me. Ducking into the alley between buildings, I searched the roof tiles for a figure in black, foxfire tingling against my fingertips, to no avail. The mysterious assailant had disappeared into the night.
“Reika-san!”
Pounding footsteps echoed behind me, and the noble and ronin entered the alley. “Reika-san,” Daisuke repeated, as Okame stumbled forward, glaring blearily around. “Did you see who attacked us? Or where they went?”
“No,” I said, and he exhaled.
“As I feared.” He straightened, gazing up at the rooftops as well, his voice contemplative. “It seems that someone in the Kage has taken offense to our presence here.”
“That didn’t take long,” Okame muttered. “Though I wonder if this was a planned attack by some pompous noble who couldn’t be bothered to do it himself, or if some shinobi took offense to my face and decided to use it for target practice.”
“It was Lord Iesada,” I supplied, making Daisuke’s pale brows arch. “He’s been at odds with Lady Hanshou over…a thing, and he didn’t want us to interfere.”
“Iesada-sama.” Daisuke didn’t look surprised, though he did appear a bit tired. “Even on the other side of the empire,” he sighed, “the game of court never changes. We are all but pawns in an endless match of power and favor, until fortune abandons us and we are removed from the board.” His brows lowered, his voice taking on a faint edge. “Though it seems that the Kage method of removing problem pieces from the game is much different than that of the Taiyo. The Sun Clan would not stoop to such cowardly attacks in the dark.” Daisuke sniffed, then gave me a contemplative look, tilting his head. “How did you come to find this out, Reika-san?” he asked.
“It’s…a long story.”
“Indeed.” He set his jaw, looking grim. “And one best told away from dark alleys where something just tried to assassinate us. We should return to Hakumei castle immediately.”
“An excellent idea,” said a familiar voice from the mouth of the alley, one that made my stomach drop.
Okame’s brows shot up. “R-Reika-san?” he stammered, as the shrine maiden materialized from the darkness, arms crossed, blocking the way out of the alley. Chu stood beside her, gazing at us all with a bored expression on his canine face. “But…you’re right here…How…Is this your long-lost twin we didn’t know about?”
The priestess gave a very loud, despairing sigh and turned to me. “Are you enjoying yourself?” she asked. “Would you care to show these gullible fools what is going