murmured. “Forgive me, Suki-chan. I don’t think I would like being a ghost.” He raised his chopsticks, then selected a pink mochi ball from the platter and stuck it in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully before swallowing. “Well, please enjoy yourself anyway, Suki-chan. Lord Seigetsu will be joining us soon. He is always hungry after meditating.”
Suki looked back toward Seigetsu, noting the faint glow surrounding the man, before drifting down to sit beside Taka. Unease gnawed at her, like the feeling of being lost in a dream, the sensation that the world around her wasn’t quite normal. Of course, she was a yurei, so perhaps this odd nightmare world of yokai and flying carriages was something only ghosts experienced.
Why am I here? Suki wondered in a rippling burst of clarity. Am I doing something wrong? Why haven’t I moved on?
“Brr.” Taka suddenly shivered and rubbed his arms. “That’s strange, it got cold all of a sudden,” he muttered. “Suki-chan, did you feel…?”
She turned to face him, and Taka jerked, then went as rigid as a steel pole. His huge eye widened, glazing over, the pupil expanding until nothing was left but darkness. That terrifyingly blank gaze fixed on Suki, as his mouth gaped open and a hissing voice emerged.
“Lost soul,” he rasped, and Suki shrank back from him, nearly losing her human form as she did. “The chains of longing cannot be undone, the flute snaps in the shadow of a god and the world grows red with blood. The white-haired prince seeks a battle he cannot win. He will break upon the demon’s sword, and his dog will follow him unto death.”
Terrified, Suki floated back and felt a shadow fall over her from behind. Shivering, she turned to gaze into Seigetsu-sama’s amused golden eyes.
“And she comes into the story at last.” His voice was a caress, gentle but triumphant at the same time. “I was wondering if it was you,” he continued, as Suki floated there in abject fear and confusion. “If you were indeed the ‘lost soul’ Taka had glimpsed from time to time.” One corner of his mouth curled in subtle amusement. “Deciphering his visions is an art in itself, one that has taken me many years to perfect, and even then, I must work within the bounds of metaphor and vagueness. They are usually not quite so literal.”
Suki trembled. Part of her wanted to fly away from this man and his frightening, terrible predictions of the future. Claims that she was part of something much greater, something she didn’t understand, terrified her. She was a simple maid, and the ghost of a maid at that. She was too insignificant to play a part in his grand story, whatever it was.
At the same time, a tiny voice of curiosity rose to the back of her mind, breaking through the fear and confusion. Could she, a simple maid, be important in death as she never was in life? Was this why she had lingered?
“You needn’t fear this, hitodama.” Abruptly, Lord Seigetsu stepped around her and lowered himself to one knee on the blanket. Startled, Suki watched as he eased the limp, shivering Taka onto his back and placed a hand on his forehead. “All souls have a destiny. Some are simply brighter than others. It is very difficult to change one’s fate, even if one knows about it. Sleep, Taka.”
A tremor went through the yokai’s body, before he relaxed. His mouth fell open, and a raspy snore emerged between sharp fangs. Seigetsu watched the slumbering yokai a moment, before rising with the fluidity of water and turning to Suki again.
“The future is a very fickle mistress,” he said. “Think of it as millions of streams, running into each other, crisscrossing, forming an endless network of rivers. If you dam one stream, it does not simply stop. It changes course and runs into another, which might also overflow its banks, thus disrupting yet another stream. Sometimes the results are negligible. Sometimes they are catastrophic. For many years, I have tended those streams, carefully nudged them in the direction they needed to go. I have guided the souls that required my help, and removed the ones that would hinder them. And now, we are nearing the end of a very long shogi match, and all the pieces are finally in place.” His golden eyes seemed to bore into her, brilliant and mesmerizing. “I would prefer to have all the pieces in my hand, but I realize I cannot force you to