Yatagarasu Series
Volume 3:
The Golden Raven
Author: Chisato Abe
Part 5: The Well Gone Dry
The moment the man struck her with a stone, the girl turned around and saw his face.
Damn it. I’m really in for it now.
Breathing heavily and staggering, the man climbed the stairs leading to his house. Blood dripped down the forehead of the girl he carried over his shoulder—a girl whose name he didn’t even know.
After throwing this girl into the well, he would have to come back and wipe away the bloodstains left on the stone steps. Thinking calmly, he walked steadily toward his destination: the well.
There was no turning back now.
No, that wasn’t right. He’d passed the point of no return a long time ago.
It had all started the day the well had run dry. That was seven summers ago. Among his fellow water sellers, who made their living just as he did, rumors spread that the wells lower down the mountain were running low. At the time, he hadn’t thought it was such a serious problem. Everyone knew that the wells higher up the mountain had more valuable and potent medicine water. Water sellers who owned good wells lived higher up the mountain as a matter of course.
Conversely, those who owned wells at the foot of the mountain had always been at a disadvantage. He thought of them as shallow, third-rate water sellers. Unlike these newcomers, he took pride in being a water seller from a long-established family business.
Over time, the strange changes in water level spread all the way to the upper parts of the mountain. A winter came when the man’s well started running low.
The man was confused. His family were all water sellers. That was the only thing he knew how to be.
His fellow water sellers went out of business one by one. The man visited the dry wells of the water sellers and despaired. Sometimes he borrowed money and purchased water from other wells to keep his business going. There were fewer and fewer wells to purchase water from as time passed.
In the end, the man turned to the gods for help.
He built a household shrine in front of a dried-up well and offered sacred food and blessed rice wine. He poured rice wine into the dry well and prayed.
“Please, water, come back. Please save me. I’ll do anything I can.”
The strange event happened about three days after he started making offerings to the gods. When he opened the door to the building that housed the well, he noticed that the offerings he had placed on the shrine were gone.
For a moment, he wondered if someone had stolen them, but he quickly realized that was impossible. This was the home of a water seller; water was the family’s treasure. Several locks secured the building with the well in it. He would have noticed a break-in.
So where had the sacred offerings gone?
Puzzled, he walked around the well, inspecting the area. Suddenly, someone called out to him.
“Are you the owner of this well?”
Startled by the voice, the man looked around. He saw no one. As he tilted his head in confusion, the low, muffled voice spoke again from behind him.
“Here, here.”
The man realized that the voice was coming from inside the well.
“You are a Yatagarasu, aren’t you? Thank you for the delicious food. It was very tasty.”
“Who are you!?” he shouted. He peered into the well, but all he saw was darkness.
“It doesn’t matter who I am,” the voice echoed hollowly. It sounded like a kindly old man was speaking to him. “If you’re so curious, you can think of me as the god you pray to. You want help, don’t you?”
The man swallowed the complaints that threatened to spill from his throat. “Will you return the water?” he asked.
“No. Unfortunately, I cannot do that.”
The man was disappointed.
“However, I can give you what you desire.”
“What I desire?”
“I’ve heard your lamenting prayers. Wasn’t it gold coins that you wanted?” The voice sounded faintly amused.
The man gulped. “Yes. I want money.”
The voice laughed, harsh and grating. “Very well. I’ll give this to you.”
A small bundle flew out from the depths of the well. The man picked up the bundle and frowned.
“What is this?”
“It is a very good medicine for Yatagarasu.”
The man opened the bundle in his hand. Inside was a white lump, like a bone or a stone.
“This is medicine?”
“What I just gave you is a sample.”
The voice from the well laughed again and then said he should take it to a doctor or a pharmacist in the city.
“If you want more, pour rice wine into the well. If I smell it, I’ll come again.”
After that, there was a dragging sound, as if clothing were being pulled along the bottom of the well. The man heard nothing else that day.
At first, he thought that he’d hallucinated the voice, but the strange white lump in his hand told him that some part of that experience had been real. He’d gone into town and given the white lump to a somewhat questionable doctor who lived in the Valley and also sold medicine in the city.
The doctor had accepted the white lump disinterestedly. “If I have time, I’ll look into it.”
The morning after receiving the bundle, the doctor burst into the man’s house, his eyes bloodshot.
“You! Where on earth did you get that? Bring me as much of it as you can, right away!”
The doctor’s behavior was clearly abnormal. The man was about to express his concern when the doctor said the magic words.
“I’ll pay you as much as you want.”
The man no longer cared about how strangely the doctor was acting. He wanted money. This was how he would get it. He went to the well and offered as much rice wine and mochi as he had in his house. The next day, he received a large bundle full of white lumps.
“Thank you for the delicious food,” the voice said. “But I want more. Next time, I’d like some meat.”
“Meat, huh? Understood.”
“I’m looking forward to it. I’ll bring more medicine for you as well.”
The medicine sold extremely well. It was fortunate that the doctor was an honest man. He used the medicine himself and also gave it to his patients. The medicine was never openly discussed anywhere; its use and distribution was left up to the doctor.
“What exactly is that stuff?” the man asked the voice from the well after several encounters.
“Those who have used it before call it sagecap,” came the reply.
“Sagecap…”
“The skull of an immortal. Sagecap.” The voice laughed.
The doctor told the man that taking just a little bit of the medicine made him feel euphoric. He felt like he’d become stronger than anyone else and that the entire world was full of happiness.
The man was interested in the medicine, but he wanted money more than he wanted to try it. Unlike the doctor, who lived alone, he had a family to support.
The voice from the well made more and more demands. They wanted more rice cakes, more chicken, more rice wine. The man poured barrels of rice wine into the well every single day.
Sagecap always sold for a high price, though, so the man wasn’t wanting for money.
One day, the voice demanded something else.
“Thank you for the delicious food. But now I want something even tastier.”
“Oh? What is it this time?”
“A woman would be good.”
“A woman?”
For a moment, the man thought that the voice from the well wanted a courtesan. This was not the case.
“I haven’t eaten a woman’s flesh in a long time. I can smell a woman on you when you visit. The scent makes me crave the flesh.”
The man had never been frightened of the voice from the well until that day.
He remembered the innocent, happy face of the girl who’d just bought a new kimono for herself and shook his head. “I can’t give her to you.”
“Why? Is she your wife or your daughter?”
“It’s impossible!”
The man refused the voice from the well’s demands for the first time.
The voice from the well sounded somewhat displeased. “If you gave me a woman’s flesh, I would give you even more sagecap.”
“There’s no way I can give you a woman’s flesh. That’s impossible.”
“Why not?” a woman asked, her voice as clear as a bell.
Startled, the man turned around. No one else should be here.
The woman stood behind him, smiling. “So this is how you’ve been making money lately,” she said sagely. “I never thought you were doing actual work. You’d never do that,” she added with a chuckle. “You didn’t need to hide this from me. If you’d told me sooner, I would have helped you.”
“What nonsense are you talking about?” the man asked.
“You want a woman’s flesh, don’t you? It doesn’t have to be mine, right?” she replied.
She asked this while keeping a safe distance from the well.
The voice from the well rumbled out a laugh. “Oh, I don’t mind. Any woman’s flesh will do.”
“In that case, why not find some?” the woman asked, smiling brightly.
The man could never resist her smile.
“There are plenty of ways to do this,” she said.
***
Not long after, the man threw a kidnapped girl into the well.
The girl had been unconscious when he’d tossed her in, but the shock of impact made her return to her senses.
“Huh? What?”
“Well, well,” the voice from the well said. He sounded delighted. “I’ve received the girl. Thank you for the delicious treat.”
The bundle thrown up from the well was larger than any that had come before.
The man left the well carrying the bundle. He heard the girl’s horrible screams echoing in the well and shuddered. That could have been his daughter. He learned that when a young woman faced a truly life-threatening situation, her scream was deep and harsh and very unpleasant to hear.
The woman was waiting inside the house. She greeted him with a joyful smile.
“Oh, wonderful! Now I can buy new lipstick!”
She often nagged the man to make more money. She was the most important person in the world to him, so he always tried to please her. He didn’t want her to abandon him. He would do anything for her.
He kidnapped several women over the course of the next few weeks and gave them to the well. Each time, he grew more and more uneasy about what he was doing. He worried that he would soon be caught.
“Hey, I can’t do this anymore. The Underground is growing suspicious. Their people are snooping around.”
The doctor had disappeared some time before, but a trustworthy pharmacist took his place and started doing business with the woman. The amount of sagecap in circulation was increasing rapidly. The Underground took notice, and that was what led them to investigating the man and his activities.
“There’s a limit to how many young women I can abduct. More and more guards are patrolling this area, so it’s not easy to do it anymore,” the man said to the well.
The voice from the well contemplated that for a few moments. “In that case, we’ll handle it ourselves.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll send someone, so could you prepare a suitable hunting ground? If possible, make sure the other Yatagarasu don’t notice. A place where people are unlikely to come is best. My messenger can’t speak your language, but I will explain everything carefully, so please take him to the hunting ground you’ve prepared.”
The man was deeply troubled. If he did as the voice instructed, he might be able to manage to create such a hunting ground once, maybe twice. After that, he would almost certainly be found out.
Moreover, the man had already earned a considerable amount of money. The woman’s collection of kimonos had grown, and their lifestyle was quite luxurious. The only things he had not yet obtained were social status and rank. Money’s allure no longer drew him to the well. The voice from the well’s demands were nothing but a burden now. He always worried about his secrets being exposed.
When he consulted her, the woman he relied on more than anyone else laughed and said, “I have an idea.”
***
The news reached the Sun Palace shortly after dawn.
Yukiya was getting ready in a small room next to the Crown Prince’s chamber—a room that had been his own until two months earlier.
Suddenly, there was a commotion from the Crown Prince’s room, and then Sumio rushed in.
“Koume’s father has been found!”
“Did he turn himself in?”
“No. His corpse was found hanging from a bridge girder near the Central Gate.”
Yukiya gasped. “He’s dead?”
“Yes. But not much time has passed since he was killed.”
They’d confirmed that Koume’s father hadn’t died in the attack on Sugō. But where had he been all this time? And how had he gotten to the capital?
Many thoughts raced through Yukiya’s mind. Before he could voice any of them, the Crown Prince appeared behind Sumio.”
“We’re heading straight for the bridge,” the Crown Prince said.
“I’m coming with you,” Yukiya said. He tied the sash that denoted his rank over his feather robe and then followed the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince’s prized horse was already saddled and standing by the gate in front of the Sun Palace. Yukiya rode on the same horse, in the front. Sumio rode his own horse. They flew toward the Central Gate.
By the time Yukiya and the others arrived at the scene, the bridge in front of the Central Gate had already been sealed off. On the cliff above the street, a crowd of onlookers had gathered, eager to take a peek at the man who had died in such a strange way. The area around the bridge girder was surrounded by soldiers trying to establish order. Not all of the gawkers were on the cliff above.
Yukiya looked over the Crown Prince’s shoulder and saw the man hanging from the bridge. The skin from the man’s neck down had been peeled off across his entire body. He must have suffered greatly. His face was pure white, a contrast to the rest of his red-and-black mottled body. His eyes had rolled back in his head and there were tear trails on both cheeks. His tongue hung loosely from his mouth. He’d died exhausted, and possibly screaming.
The first thing Yukiya felt, before disgust or horror, was pity. No man deserved to die like that.
The soldier in charge of keeping order on the bridge approached the Crown Prince and Yukiya. “Your Imperial Highness. Lord Rokon asked us to inform you of this situation as soon as possible.”
“I thank you for your efforts. Who was the first person to discover the body?”
“It was one of the soldiers assigned to guard the gate. The body wasn’t there yesterday evening, so someone must have put it there overnight.”
What could not be seen in the darkness became visible with the morning light.
“The smell of blood was noticed a little before dawn. Not much time has passed since the body was discovered.”
“I see…” The Crown Prince grimaced.
The soldier offered him a cloth bundle full of papers with great respect. A sealed letter was on top. “The letter was wrapped in oiled paper and tied around the man’s neck with a strip of cloth. After reading the letter, we determined that this man is Jihei, the man on all the wanted posters.”
While the soldiers struggled to pull the corpse up onto the bridge, the Crown Prince silently read through the letter. He took a long time to finish reading. Then he sighed.
“It probably goes without saying, but please confirm that this man is Jihei.”
“Understood, Your Imperial Highness.”
“Also, please deliver this to the appropriate authorities and make sure it is properly stored.” After returning the letter to the soldier, the Crown Prince headed back to his horse.
“What was in the letter?” Sumio asked quietly.
The Crown Prince was about to mount up, but he paused. He looked down and said, “It was a confession. ‘It was all my fault. My daughter bears no blame.’ That sort of thing.”
Sumio, Yukiya and the Crown Prince returned to the Sun Palace. The Crown Prince remained silent as they waited for Natsuka and the others to arrive.
***
Waiting made them all antsy, so the Crown Prince decided to inform Koume of her father’s death. This task was given to Yukiya, who knew Koume best. The Crown Prince and Sumio accompanied Yukiya to the room where Koume was being kept under guard.
Nodding to the soldiers on watch, Yukiya requested entry. He entered the room alone.
Koume sat in the dimly lit room, hugging her knees. As soon as she realized it was Yukiya who had come in, she sprang to her feet.
“Yukiya! Did you find out anything? What’s going on?”
As Koume approached, Yukiya held out three slips of paper in front of her.
“I need you to confirm something. Do you recognize any of this handwriting?”
The slips of paper were envelopes bearing the names of imperial officials. Koume pointed to one of the three. “There’s no mistake. That’s my father’s handwriting.” She asked if this meant that her father had tried to contact someone.
“So he really was alive! That fool—if only he had come sooner, I wouldn’t have had to go through all this.” She grumbled, but her shoulders relaxed.
Yukiya observed Koume’s reaction carefully. “Miss Koume,” he said. “There’s something else I need to tell you.”
“Like what? Now we’ll finally know what happened, right? I’ve been thinking about it. I still believe there must be some misunderstanding. After all, my timid father could never do something so terrible—”
“Miss Koume,” Yukiya said, more sternly this time.
Koume abruptly fell silent. “Yukiya?” She looked at his face. “What is it? Did something happen?”
“We took that letter from your father’s remains. Or at least, we think it was his remains.”
She gasped sharply. “His… remains? No. No, that can’t be true.”
“We haven’t confirmed it yet, but you’ll see for yourself later.”
Koume’s shoulders shook slightly.
Yukiya explained that her father had apparently intended to turn himself in, at least according to the letter he’d written. Coming to the capital could have meant that he knew he’d be killed. He’d written that in the letter, too.
Koume was stunned. “No way. That man, that good-for-nothing… why did he do this to me?”
Jihei’s letter filled in a lot of missing information. He’d been plagued by financial difficulties for quite some time. He’d gone to visit the home of a water seller who’d helped him in the past. However, the water seller had abandoned his business after giving up on his dried-up well, and the house was now vacant. Unlike the completely dried-up well at his own home, this well still seemed to have a small amount of water left. Remembering the rituals his family used to perform, Jihei had whimsically decided to make an offering at the well.
Something—a strange voice—had accepted his offerings. The voice had spoken to him and given him sagecap.
By then, it was too late to turn back. Jihei had followed the monkey’s commands by attacking young women and throwing them into the well. Eventually, he was compelled to accompany the creature on hunts in the countryside. He wanted to stop committing these terrible acts, but he didn’t know how.
At around this time, people in the Underground started noticing his activities. He thought that this might be a good opportunity to expose the Kuisaru and its activities. He set up Sugō as a hunting ground for the monster and staged the scene.
The only snag in his plan was his daughter. He didn’t want her to hate him, so he’d never told her how he was making money. He couldn’t leave her at home or the Underground might kidnap her or harm her. He needed to take her along to Sugō. He decided that he would keep her safe while the Kuisaru hunted by hiding her while she slept. She would awaken after the attack ended and the Kuisaru were gone. Then she’d be able to return home without knowing anything about what had happened.
While the Kuisaru feasted, two travelers entered the village. This was not expected. The Kuisaru attacked the travelers, but they were soundly defeated. The travelers began to check each house one by one. Fearing he would be suspected, Jihei quickly hid himself in a storage room before they could find him. He placed his sleeping daughter in a long chest so she could be carried out at any time, and he closed the lid. The travelers found her.
Jihei realized he would be in trouble if he was found during a more organized search, so he fled to the city and had been in hiding ever since. He’d seen his wanted poster in circulation and knew that his secrets had been brought to light. When he learned that Koume was going to be turned over to the Underground, he decided to turn himself in. He worried that the Underground might find him before he surrendered himself to the authorities, which was why he’d written the letter.
If Tobi or the Golden Raven discovers this letter first, I do not care. Only know that my daughter is innocent. That was the last thing he’d written.
As expected, he’d been killed by people from the Underground. The letter was not destroyed, since the Imperial Court and the Underground still had a non-aggression pact.
“Seems a shame for the Underground to overreact like this,” Rokon said. Either Tobi or Saku would have needed to command Jihei’s brutal death, and both of them knew that Jihei had been more valuable alive. “The Underground can exercise some of its authority in the city, but its true power is in the Valley and below it. To catch Jihei would have taxed their resources. He wasn’t hiding in the city the entire time. It makes me think they were cooperating with the Imperial Court to learn about his movements.”
It was likely that Jihei had come out of hiding near one of the regional government offices. The Underground had been tipped off that he’d be there somehow, and they’d ambushed him. They’d left his face untouched so that the Imperial Court could identify him.
If he had truly sacrificed other Yatagarasu for his own gain, then Jihei would be an irredeemable villain. No matter how much he loved his daughter, being slaughtered by the people from the Underground could only be seen as his just deserts.
In the letter, he’d described everything: the deal with the Kuisaru, the secret passage that the monsters had used to enter Yamauchi, and the events leading up to him writing the letter. The handwriting was shaky and hard to read due to many corrections, but the information it contained was invaluable.
Although the letter was sentimental and overflowing with excuses for his actions, there was one section of it that could be independently verified as factual. Jihei had described the arrival of Yukiya and the Crown Prince in Sugō and their confrontation with the Kuisaru.
Yukiya was permitted to read through the letter. That section of it made him believe that Jihei had been an eyewitness to those events. Sugō’s inhabitants had all been dead by that point; only Koume and her father had lived through the attack on the settlement. The factual account that Jihei had given of Yukiya’s and the Crown Prince’s battle with the Kuisaru gave credence to his other claims.
The Crown Prince and Yukiya went to the well where Jihei had heard the Kuisaru’s voice next. They found a dried-up well that had a tunnel at the bottom of it. They made inquiries of the neighbors and learned that a couple had lived in the house near the well until recently. They’d moved out some time ago and the house was now vacant.
To confirm that information, armed soldiers entered the well and found a horizontal tunnel that continued underground in a straight line. They walked as far as they could, but the tunnel ended in a dead end.
The soldiers suspected that the tunnel continued further, but they couldn’t find a way through. The dead end was blocked by heavy boulders.
There was a proposal to simply seal off the well and the side tunnel, but in that case, it would not be possible to confirm that this was truly the tunnel the Kuisaru had entered Yamauchi through.
There was another important point, one that troubled a great many people. The voice from the well spoke the Yatagarasu language—and not only that, it spoke with a Souke Territory accent. The existence of this speaker caused great confusion in the Imperial Court.
“If the contents of the letter are true, then it is certain that the Kuisaru entered Yamauchi after negotiating with the voice from the well and the water seller.”
“Ridiculous! Are you saying there is a Kuisaru who understands our language?”
“If that’s the case, where did they learn it?”
“Can we even be sure that they’re one of the Kuisaru?”
“What on earth is lurking in that well?”
Until now, the main way that the Imperial Court had used to distinguish Kuisaru from Yatagarasu was to test a person’s language skills. No Kuisaru they’d seen had spoken the Yatagarasu language. If the Kuisaru could speak the Yatagarasu language, then they could hide in plain sight everywhere they went.
The capital devolved into chaos. People panicked. The Imperial Court met in closed-door sessions to discuss the crisis and their response. After a full day and night of deliberation, they authorized an attempt to lure the voice from the well with more offerings. It was a risk, but a calculated one. They needed to know if the voice from the well was a Kuisaru or not.
Jihei had written that he’d poured rice wine into the well to attract the voice. Heavily armed soldiers would surround the well, pour in large quantities of rice wine and wait for the voice—or more Kuisaru—to appear.
The Crown Prince offered to speak to the voice from the well personally.
Yukiya was certain that Natsuka would try to dissuade his brother from doing such a dangerous thing, but Natsuka remained silent.
“Our opponent is a threat to Yamauchi and its people,” Natsuka said. “This is the kind of threat that my brother was born to counter. I couldn’t talk him out of facing this enemy no matter how hard I tried.”
The Crown Prince nodded. “This is a crucial meeting. If the voice from the well appears and I’m not there, the whole thing will be pointless. There’s a risk, but this isn’t just another petty assassination attempt or a squabble among nobles. I must be present.”
Yukiya shrugged. He was looking over the Crown Prince’s armor with a critical eye. They would both need to arm themselves before going to the well. “I’m sure your presence will make the guards and soldiers feel better. I’ll try not to worry too much.”
Instead of wearing the formal ceremonial uniform of a military officer, the Crown Prince chose practical clothing designed for ease of movement in real combat situations. His feather robe was slightly loose. He wore gauntlets, armored gloves, and greaves. Members of the Yamauchishu would have worn more armor like a chest plate and carried a shield, but the Crown Prince rejected these options in favor of an armored plate that he could tie behind him to protect his stomach and part of his back.
When putting on this equipment, it was necessary to use a special knot that could be quickly untied in case of emergency so as not to hinder swift movement. This knot was one of the first things taught to those born into warrior families. The Crown Prince didn’t know the knot, so he was grateful for Yukiya’s help. He asked Yukiya to come with him to the well.
Yukiya nodded. “I was already planning on going.” He was too short and skinny to wear any of the standard sizes of armor, so he settled for wearing his feather robe and carrying a short dagger. He wouldn’t fight if it came to violence; he’d transform and fly off to find help. Sumio and the Crown Prince could keep the voice from the well preoccupied while Yukiya fetched reinforcements.
The Crown Prince left the Sun Palace with Yukiya and Sumio. When they arrived at the well, many soldiers were already stationed around it. Several government officials had also been dispatched to observe and record their observations. None of them looked happy to be here. Natsuka and Rokon were also present; they were both armed with swords but wore no armor. A tent had been erected in front of the house. The guards and soldiers used that as their temporary barracks so that they could watch the well in shifts.
Rokon took in the nervous faces of the Crown Prince and his attendants and smiled. His hands were in his pockets. “We have no way of knowing if more Kuisaru will come. You can’t stay nervous forever; you’ll wear yourselves out. Relax.”
The Crown Prince wasn’t the only one on edge. Rokon’s advice wasn’t bad, but it was hard not to be tense in this situation.
Now that the Crown Prince had arrived, the soldiers awaited their orders expectantly. The Crown Prince commanded them to pour jars of rice wine into the well. The well was enclosed inside a small building, so it was quite dark. The soldiers used only a single torch to find their way around.
The thick, cloying smell of the rice wine filled the space. The door that led inside the building was firmly closed so that it couldn’t let in more light.
The smell of the guards pressed into close quarters along with the overpowering stench of rice wine made Yukiya feel sick to his stomach.
Nothing happened for awhile after that.
One of the soldiers suggested that the Crown Prince should wait outside in the fresh air, but the Crown Prince refused. He stood there, bow in hand, and glared at the well. Yukiya sat quietly behind him. Sumio and the other Yamauchishu waited in positions that would allow them to spring into action at any moment.
About an hour after the rice wine had been poured down the well, Yukiya heard a faint sound like rocks scraping against each other.
Everyone was instantly on high alert. A soldier dashed outside to inform Natsuka and the others that something was about to happen.
The rest remained, waiting in silence.
After a while, a dragging sound—something being pulled—accompanied the sound of the rocks scraping together. The scent of alcohol mingled with the musk of a wild beast.
Swallowing nervously, Yukiya rose to his knees and placed his hand on the hilt of his dagger.
The dragging sound stopped. Yukiya heard deep, raspy breaths echoing at the bottom of the well.
“Who’s there?”
The voice sounded like an old man’s—an old, weary man’s. His accent was a bit strange, but his words were easily comprehensible to everyone.
The Crown Prince rested one hand on the edge of the well and peered into its depths. “And who are you, to ask that of me?”
Flickering torchlight illuminated the Crown Prince’s pale profile as he looked into the well.
Sumio reached out to pull the Crown Prince back, but the Crown Prince was immovable.
They waited for the voice in the well to respond.
“Ah, I see.” The voice groaned. “So I’ve been discovered at last. I thought that someone would come soon. Are the others dead?”
The Crown Prince took a few moments to consider his answer before saying, “The ones who attacked the Yatagarasu are dead, yes.”
“You killed them?”
“I couldn’t stand around and let myself be killed, could I?”
“Fair enough,” came the reply.
Yukiya thought this whole conversation was weird. The voice from the well didn’t seem saddened by the deaths of his co-conspirators at all. It seemed like he’d expected something like this to happen. Yukiya wanted the fighting to start already; he didn’t think this encounter could go any other way.
“Was it you who killed the child at the garbage dump?” the voice from the well asked.
Yukiya sucked in a breath.
The Crown Prince showed no sign of agitation. “What are you talking about?”
A long silence followed.
“You don’t know? One of our children was killed. Poor thing. The child did nothing wrong.”
“In the village you attacked, many Yatagarasu children were killed. Those children did nothing wrong, either.” The Crown Prince spoke without emotion. His eyes narrowed. “I have a duty to protect my people. You attacked first. We will fight back however I see fit.”
“You… Are you the leader of the Yatagarasu?” the voice from the well asked. The voice sounded less tired now and more cheerful.
“I am a true Golden Raven,” the Crown Prince said. He frowned slightly. “Who are you?”
Silence. Then, “I see. So you are a true Golden Raven. How should I address you? Is it polite to say that it’s nice to meet you?”
The Crown Prince’s eyes narrowed further. “Answer me. Who are you? How do you know our language?”
“You don’t have to act so hostile, you know. I’ve lived for a very long time, so I know much more about Yatagarasu and humans than they do themselves.” The voice laughed.
The soldiers around the well looked distinctly disquieted.
“Why do you eat Yatagarasu?” the Crown Prince asked
“Why? I get hungry, just like everyone. It was so easy to eat humans in the past, but that’s gotten more difficult lately. I tried eating Yatagarasu and liked it. Honestly, you shouldn’t be picky about food. Yatagarasu are quite delicious.” The voice added a surreptitious “Thank you for the meal.”
“You mock us,” the Crown Prince said coldly.
“Wait! I’m not mocking you. To be honest, I never thought a day would come when I’d have such a ridiculous conversation with you, of all people.”
Yukiya heard cloth rustling below.
“It seems my long life still has surprises in store,” the voice said. It sounded farther away now.
“Stop! Don’t leave!” the Crown Prince shouted into the well. He threw away his bow and snatched the torch away from the guard who was carrying it.
Sumio tried to restrain the Crown Prince, but the Crown Prince wriggled free and dove into the well.
***
The Crown Prince heard raised voices behind him, but he ignored them. As he fell, he spotted a gaping horizontal hole on one side of the wall. He immediately kicked off the opposite wall and rolled into the side tunnel.
Rising with the momentum of his landing, the Crown Prince grabbed the dropped torch and raised it, catching sight of a huge brown shadow fleeing down the tunnel. He shouted angrily and gave chase.
The creature was quick and agile despite its monstrous size. Before the Crown Prince could catch up, the creature slipped through a gap between a few large rocks.
The Crown Prince heard a heavy sound as the rocks began to close from the other side.
“Wait, Kuisaru!” the Crown Prince shouted desperately.
He saw a pair of huge golden eyes peering out from the gap between the closing rocks. In the darkness, the torchlight caught and held those eyes, making them glow ominously. They curved into a crescent shape as the creature grinned.
“We shall meet again.”
With a deep, heavy rumble, large rocks sealed the passage right in front of the Crown Prince.
“Nazukihiko!”
Sumio rushed over to him, asking if he was hurt.
The Crown Prince was uninjured. He stood with his hand pressed against the sealed rock wall. No matter how venomous his glare became, it did no damage to the rock wall. The tunnel was sealed shut.
***
The next day, the Imperial Court decided to seal the well. Soldiers would remain on constant guard until they were certain that it was closed off for good.
A thorough investigation of all other wells and caves in Souke Territory was underway. No one knew how the creature in the well had come to know the Yatagarasu language. With the well sealed, it was determined that the immediate threat had been dealt with.
Koume’s innocence had been proven by her father’s letter, so she was no longer kept under house arrest. Since learning of her father’s death, Koume had withdrawn into herself. After the shock wore off, she started living and working as before.
Hamayū and Masuho no Susuki visited the Sun Palace together to discuss Koume’s future.
“I feel sorry for Koume, but that doesn’t really matter,” Masuho no Susuki said. “I’m responsible for the safety of the Princess of Sakura Palace. I can’t allow Koume to remain in Sakura Palace anymore.”
Hamayū frowned bitterly. Princess of Sakura Palace was her official title. Masuho no Susuki didn’t use it most of the time. “I wish I could dismiss your concerns. I would if only my own safety was on the line. But I have to consider the Crown Prince’s safety, too.” Hamayū was used to doing as she pleased for the most part, but she understood and respected certain boundaries regarding behavior and public image. Koume was the daughter of a heinous criminal. She didn’t belong anywhere near the Imperial Palace or nobles.
After she was released from custody, Koume had moved into a corner of the Sewing Hall in Sakura Palace. One of the ladies-in-waiting that Masuho no Susuki trusted watched over Koume at all times. There was some uncertainty about just how much Koume knew about her father’s crimes. No one wanted to condemn her solely because of what her father had done, but suspicion would always follow her like a bad smell.
Koume was suspected of being dangerous in some way, so she couldn’t be permitted to stay anywhere in the Imperial Palace. On that point, Masuho no Susuki and Hamayū agreed.
“What happens to Koume next might be simple.” Masuho no Susuki bit her lip. “I have a message from someone who’s offered to take her in.”
Yukiya, who was present because the Crown Prince was present, looked up in surprise. “Who?”
“Lady Azusa.”
“My mother said that? She offered to take Koume in?”
Yukiya didn’t believe that. He stood up abruptly.
“Calm down,” Hamayū said in a soothing voice. “We haven’t agreed to send Koume anywhere yet.”
“Of course you haven’t,” Yukiya said, “and you won’t send her to Taruhi Village. Not ever.” He was almost shouting. “What is my mother thinking?!”
Taruhi Village was the worst possible place for Koume to go. Taruhi Province had suffered terribly because of Koume’s father. Sugō had been wiped out and nearby Shimaki Province had been attacked. The people of Hokke Territory could only see Koume as a traitor to her own kind. Yukiya couldn’t imagine any peaceful, happy ending for her there.
“Koume herself must know that Taruhi Village is the worst place for her,” Yukiya said. “There’s no way she would accept such an offer. If she did, she’d be dumber than a box of rocks or completely shameless. Or both.”
“Yukiya, you’re getting quite agitated,” the Crown Prince said. “That’s enough.”
“You expect me to keep quiet about this?” Yukiya asked. “This concerns my family. It’s not someone else’s problem to worry about. I’m not letting someone we can’t trust into my own home.”
The idea that Azusa had made the decision to invite Koume to Taruhi Village without consulting him hurt. It hurt a lot.
“I can’t just sit here,” Yukiya said. “I need to go home. Now.”
He’d talk to his mother and correct her misunderstandings about Koume. Everything would be fine.
“Um, about that,” Hamayū said. “If you want to talk to your mother, you don’t need to go home.” Her eyebrows drew together. She couldn’t quite look Yukiya in the eye.
Masuho no Susuki’s gaze was fixed on the floor.
“Is my mother here in the capital?”
“Yes, that’s right,” Hamayū said.
Yukiya almost boiled over with rage. If she was here, did that mean she’d come to pick up Koume and take her back to Taruhi Village?
“Hey, where are you going?” Masuho no Susuki asked as Yukiya turned away.
“It’s obvious. I’m going to speak to my mother right now.”
“Wait, wait. You don’t even know where your mother is right now, do you?”
“If my mother’s here, she’s staying at the Lord of Hokke’s city estate. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out where she is,” Yukiya snapped. “I know where I’m going. Get out of my way.”
Yukiya brushed past Hamayū and Sumio, who each tried to stop him or at least slow him down, but he wouldn’t be deterred.
“Yukiya, wait,” the Crown Prince said.
Yukiya froze. “What is it, Your Imperial Highness? There’s no need for you to interfere in my family matters.”
“I have no intention of interfering. But in your current state, anything you say will just come off as confrontational. You should wait until you’ve calmed down a bit before you go.”
“I am calm.”
“Have you ever been calm in your life? Anyway, I ordered you to wait. That’s a command.”
Yukiya scowled. The Crown Prince was used to everyone doing as he said simply because he’d commanded it.
“I never swore loyalty to you!” Yukiya shouted. He stormed out.
***
Masuho no Susuki watched Yukiya go with a complicated expression on her face.
“This is troublesome,” the Crown Prince said.
“Why?” Hamayū asked.
“Koume is meeting with Lady Azusa right now.”
“What did you say?” Hamayū looked to Masuho no Susuki.
Just before her arrival, Masuho no Susuki had spoken with the lady-in-waiting who was in charge of keeping watch over Koume. She knew that Koume would be meeting Lady Azusa soon. Sumio and the Crown Prince had overheard details about the meeting, but Masuho no Susuki hadn’t had a chance to tell Hamayū yet.
“Koume is being looked after by one of your people, right?” Hamayū asked.
Masuho no Susuki nodded. “Koume learned that Lady Azusa was in the capital and requested a meeting this morning.”
The Crown Prince and Sumio exchanged glances.
“I’ll stop him,” Sumio said.
“Please do.”
“Sorry, Sumio. I was careless,” Hamayū said. Even if she’d had all the information from the start, she didn’t think she would have been able to prevent Yukiya from storming off.
Sumio scratched his head and muttered obscenities under his breath as he left. “Remind me not to talk to him about any family stuff. Ever.”
Masuho no Susuki looked out the window of the Sun Palace. The garden trees were neatly trimmed. Beyond them were rolling green hills and tilled fields.
She didn’t see Yukiya anywhere.
***
Yukiya left the Sun Palace in his feather robe and the sash that denoted his rank. He had nothing else with him.
He transformed and flew toward the Lord of Hokke’s city estate. Sweat stood out on his forehead as his rage burned through him, leaving him cold and shivering after a few minutes.
The sun dipped low on the horizon. It had rained that morning; the air was crystal clear. Trees cast deep shadows on the ground. Hydrangeas shaped like billowing summer clouds formed undulating blue waves on each side of the rain-soaked stone path of the estate’s garden.
Yukiya saw two people walking on the path and descended a little ways away from them. He transformed into his human shape again.
Koume stepped away from him, startled. Her shoulders relaxed when she recognized Yukiya.
There was no emotion on Yukiya’s face. “Why are you here?” he asked tonelessly.
“I heard that Lady Azusa was in the capital and I just couldn’t stay away. Did you come to see your mother, too?”
Koume looked tired and spoke more slowly than usual.
Yukiya remembered the description of the woman who’d been seen with Jihei in Tamari. She was young, quite pretty, and appeared determined. Koume fit that description perfectly.
“Don’t bother going to the estate,” Yukiya said to the lady-in-waiting accompanying Koume. “Return to the Sewing Hall.”
Koume blinked in confusion. “Why? Did something happen?”
“There is a matter I need to discuss with my mother before I speak to you.”
Koume stiffened. “Wait a minute. I didn’t come here to make any special requests or anything. I just wanted to talk about what comes next.”
“Talk? Are you asking for advice on how to hide your identity while living in Taruhi Village?”
Koume raised her voice in protest. “I’m not thinking about anything like that! Even now, I can hardly believe what’s happened! But I do understand what my father did. I don’t expect to be forgiven. But I really didn’t know anything! I had no idea what my father was doing. I know I didn’t stop him or act on my suspicions, but I also didn’t cooperate with him. Please, Yukiya. I’m begging you. Believe me.”
Yukiya’s heart was unmoved.
“Sorry, but I can’t trust a word you say.”
“Why? Why don’t you believe me? You read my father’s letter, didn’t you? He risked his life to prove my innocence. I suppose I deserve some blame for not acting on my suspicions, but you can’t possibly blame me for anything else. Was my father’s death in vain?”
Yukiya scoffed. “I told you before, didn’t I? Your father met with a pharmacist that was selling sagecap.”
Koume appeared puzzled by the sudden shift in topic. “So what?”
“It seems that a woman matching your description was seen there. Unlike your father, she tried to hide her face.”
Koume’s reaction was striking. Her mouth snapped shut. She didn’t widen her eyes dramatically or gasp; her face went completely blank.
Yukiya thought that he might be seeing Koume’s true face for the first time.
“Fine,” she said slowly. “You think that was me, don’t you? And the other nobles do, too, don’t they?” she asked calmly.
Yukiya didn’t answer.
Koume sighed. She looked at him for a few awkward moments before dropping her gaze to her feet. “It’s a shame, Yukiya. I really hoped we could get along. It seems we can’t,” she said with a faint smile. “I’ll be going home today.” She sounded more cheerful now—more like her usual self. “Give my regards to Duchess Masuho no Susuki.”
She turned on her heel and left, accompanied by the lady-in-waiting.
Yukiya stood there, confused. He glared at Koume’s back for awhile until he was convinced that she was really leaving. Then he headed to the estate.
Almost everyone in the Lord of Hokke’s city estate knew Yukiya on sight. When he asked to be announced, he was immediately shown inside and was able to see his mother right away.
Azusa sat at a writing desk in one of the guest rooms. She turned around and looked at Yukiya’s face. She knew at a glance that he was in a terrible mood.
“Did something happen? You look so grim. And why are you here? Koume should be coming soon.”
Yukiya’s eyes narrowed. “I came to speak to you about that. We absolutely cannot have Koume live in Taruhi Village with us.”
Azusa nodded rapidly. “I agree. Bringing her back to Taruhi Village would be dangerous now. But she’s the daughter of a criminal. No matter where she goes, her situation won’t change much. She is known in the capital, so it will be difficult for her to find a new job. I was thinking of arranging a place for her somewhere in the countryside. Somewhere quiet where she can work.
“That girl has nowhere to run,” Azusa added. “We have no choice but to look for a place that knows her circumstances and is willing to accept her.”
Azusa thought it would be too harsh and unrealistic to expect Koume to find such a place on her own. If she were abandoned now, she would have no choice but to sell herself to the Valley.
Yukiya considered what his mother had said. He still thought that Koume wanted to exploit his family, but Azusa saw the situation differently.
“Koume may not have done the right thing, but she didn’t harm anyone,” Azusa said. “She has the rest of her life to live. Punishment means atoning for one’s wrongdoing in an appropriate way. Casting her aside now would accomplish nothing.”
Azusa’s words were logical and certainly sounded reasonable. She and Yukiya disagreed on only one point.
“I believe that Koume was fully aware of her father’s actions,” Yukiya said. If he was right, then Koume was just as responsible as her father for all those deaths in Sugō.
“Why do you think that?” his mother asked, not looking particularly surprised.
Yukiya’s gaze sharpened on her. “A woman matching her description was seen at a place where Jihei was selling sagecap.”
Azusa blinked. “It doesn’t sound like you have any real proof that it was her. Jumping to conclusions based on such uncertain information is premature, don’t you think?”
“Koume’s been acting suspiciously from the start,” Yukiya said. “Even when her father’s fate was still unknown, she kept making inappropriate remarks.”
“She was convinced that her father was alive, so it’s only natural she would act that way. She suspected her father was conspiring with the Kuisaru and kept silent about it. That’s her only crime.”
Yukiya realized that he couldn’t clearly explain why he found Koume suspicious. He tried to expand on his reasoning better. “When Koume came to Sakura Palace, she was happy. She blamed her father for everything and tried to secure a better life for herself. Why would she do that if she hadn’t planned it? She probably hoped her father was dead so that she wouldn’t have to go back to her old life.”
“‘Probably’ is not proof,” Azusa said gently. “I understand that you have a negative impression of Koume. She can be a bit flighty and is easily misunderstood, but she’s not a bad person.”
Yukiya pouted. “That just means you have a better impression of her than I do. It doesn’t mean I’m wrong.”
“I have far more life experience than you. I’m confident in my ability to judge people.”
Yukiya was stunned silent for a long moment. “But in Taruhi Village,” he insisted, “she tried to curry favor with the family so that she could go to the palace or get a position at the estate. She was always watching our reactions and constantly trying to flatter us. She tried to win you over by saying that even if her father was alive, she wanted to stay in Taruhi Village forever.”
“But she would have returned to her father if he were alive,” Azusa said patiently. She sighed. “I suggested that she should work in our home well before we knew her father’s fate. She agreed enthusiastically at first, but she quickly reconsidered. Her father might have been hopeless, but he was her only family. She said that him coming back would cause trouble, but she was convinced that he still lived. ‘If he’s alive, my father will definitely come back to me. I can’t just ignore him.’ That’s what she said to me.”
***
Koume had told Azusa all about her father. Jihei was an extremely timid man. He lost money at gambling and hardly worked. He never raised a hand against Koume, though. He’d never been violent.
“Normally, he would never get into fights, but there was one time when he hit someone at the store where I was working,” Koume said.
The man Jihei struck had taken a liking to Koume while she was serving customers at the storefront. Every time this man visited the store, he made lewd remarks and made fun of Koume’s reactions.
One time, the man had asked Koume, “How much?” She’d realized he was asking for the price for her. Before she could say anything, the man was sent flying from his chair.
Her father had been in the store that day. The man’s question had infuriated Jihei so much that he’d punched the man in the face. “Don’t touch my daughter,” Jihei had said.
“I was fired after that because of all the commotion,” Koume said. “At the time, I was so embarrassed that I got angry and told him he should have handled it more quietly… But honestly, I was a little happy that he got angry for my sake.”
Her father was good-for-nothing, but he was still her father. Koume smiled bashfully.
***
Yukiya was stunned.
“The only person Koume desperately tried to please was you.”
“Huh?”
Azusa was exasperated. “She likes you. Didn’t you know that already?”
Yukiya had never even considered such a possibility. His mind went blank.
“I kept a close eye on her in Taruhi Village, but I never thought she’d interpret my attention that way.”
Azusa wondered how he could be so dense.
“Wait,” Yukiya said, holding up a hand. “I’m thinking about this.” There were several things that made more sense to him now, even though Koume’s actual behavior hadn’t changed. “Hmm, I see. That’s how it was, huh?”
Yukiya doubted himself. Maybe he was the idiot here. “Um, it seems there have been a lot of misunderstandings and miscommunications… I’ll see her again and listen to what she has to say.”
“Yes, do that. As soon as possible.”
Yukiya left the guest room, flustered.
Sumio was waiting for him in the hallway.
When Yukiya realized that Sumio had heard everything, he wanted to vanish into thin air.
“You get your tendency to overthink from your mother,” Sumio said quietly.
People who didn’t know the circumstances of Yukiya’s birth often told him that he had a lot in common with Azusa. That made a certain kind of sense. Yukiya certainly hadn’t inherited his father’s personality.
***
Sumio helped Yukiya search for Koume. They found no trace of her on their way to the Sun Palace. Natsuka and the Crown Prince noticed that Yukiya had deflated quite a bit since storming off in a rage, but they didn’t comment on his reappearance in the Sun Palace now. They heard what had happened from Sumio.
Natsuka’s frown spread to the Crown Prince. Sumio matched their expressions.
“I know what’s going on,” Masuho no Susuki said. “Not understanding a woman’s feelings is clearly due to the Crown Prince’s terrible influence.”
The Crown Prince’s eyes widened. “Is it really my fault?” he asked quietly.
“There was no need to antagonize Koume,” Hamayū said. She looked up at the sky.
“Hurry up and make up with her,” Masuho no Susuki said. “I’ll go with you.”
Masuho no Susuki led Yukiya to the Sewing Hall. She made a displeased face the entire time. Hamayū came along as well.
To make matters worse, the half-finished garment spread out in the room looked familiar.
“Whose kimono is that?” Yukiya asked.
“It’s my younger brother’s formal attire, which you managed to ruin,” Masuho no Susuki replied.
The parts of the outfit that had survived were brought back from the Underground, but even those were dirty or torn. Masuho no Susuki had decided to remake the outfit from scratch.
Yukiya felt vaguely guilty. He hadn’t meant to ruin the outfit, but he also hadn’t thought very much about it. “I’m sorry. I have no excuse.”
“Save your apologies for Koume.” She shrugged. “You were going to the Underground. I didn’t expect to see this outfit ever again. Giving it to you was just a distraction so that the Crown Prince could escape.”
Yukiya tilted his head. He hadn’t heard the story of how the Crown Prince had escaped his confinement in the Sun Palace. When he asked, Hamayū grinned.
“It was nothing, really. The Crown Prince swapped places with an impostor when no one was looking.” She said that not even Sumio had expected him to flee from the Sun Palace dressed in a woman’s garb.
“But surely Sumio would have been suspicious of you,” Yukiya said. Sumio knew that Hamayū had served as the Crown Prince’s stand-in before.
“Oh, he was,” Hamayū said. “But I didn’t switch places with the Crown Prince this time. Kikuno did it.”
Yukiya couldn’t immediately remember who that was.
“Kikuno… You mean the lady-in-waiting who used to serve Masuho no Susuki?”
While Hamayū and the other duchesses of the Four Families were in Sakura Palace competing to become the Crown Prince’s bride, Kikuno was the lady-in-waiting who’d taken care of Masuho no Susuki’s daily needs. Yukiya hadn’t seen her much, but he remembered that she was a tall and graceful woman who looked a lot like Hamayū.
“Kikuno is still working as my right hand in Sakura Palace,” Masuho no Susuki said.
“Sumio was careful,” Hamayū said. “He suspected that I would try to switch places with the Crown Prince, but he didn’t consider any other possibilities. So I decided to trick him, just a little.”
After Yukiya was taken away, Hamayū had been sent back to Sakura Palace by the cautious Sumio. The next morning, Hamayū had returned to the Sun Palace with a ceremonial sword for Yukiya’s use. She’d asked to see Yukiya’s formal attire so that she could gauge its appropriateness. She’d managed to get into the same room as the Crown Prince by carrying in the formal attire along with some ladies-in-waiting.
The Saike family were known for being soft when it came to children. Masuho no Susuki had genuinely feared for Yukiya’s safety and was all too willing to cooperate with Hamayū’s scheme. The Saike family also didn’t care for Sumio much, so they’d take any excuse to bruise his stellar reputation.
Kikuno and the Crown Prince had pretended to fight very loudly to distract Sumio. During the chaos, they’d swapped outfits that they’d prepared in advance.
“The Crown Prince didn’t speak to Sumio for almost a whole day,” Hamayū said. “He said it was because Sumio had disobeyed him. He ordered Sumio to keep his distance until he was forgiven. All of that was just excuses, of course. He couldn’t risk Sumio getting too close to him after he switched with Kikuno.”
Sumio had felt guilty for disobeying the Crown Prince, even though he was only trying to keep him safe. He hadn’t looked too closely at the Crown Prince’s face after the fight between his lord and Kikuno. Hamayū remained next to Kikuno at all times and made no attempt to conceal her face, which put Sumio more at ease. Kikuno had kept her back to Sumio as much as possible.
“I had Sumio guard me while I pretended to be the Crown Prince many times. It’s not surprising that he had some preconceived notions,” Hamayū said.
Sumio and the Crown Prince had been friends since childhood. Sumio sometimes let his feelings of friendship cloud his judgment. That was a weakness that he needed to overcome, but his loyalty was unquestionable in part because he and his lord were genuine friends.
Yukiya finally understood why Masuho no Susuki and her ladies-in-waiting had come to him in person on the morning he’d left for the Underground.
“Koume’s late,” Masuho no Susuki said. “She’s never returned to the Sewing Room so late before.”
Shortly after their arrival, Masuho no Susuki had asked one of the attendants in the Sewing Hall to search for Koume and her companion. She muttered impatiently under her breath.
Hamayū rested her elbow on Yukiya’s head, using him as she would an armrest. “Maybe the woman you assigned to watch her took her out to a sweets shop or something to cheer her up.”
Hamayū’s elbow poked sharply at the crown of Yukiya’s head. His eyes filled with pained tears. “Have mercy on me.” He apologized several times. He felt like he was shrinking under the pressure of Hamayū’s elbow.
Suddenly, there was a commotion outside the room.
“Duchess Masuho no Susuki!” The woman who’d been assigned to watch over Koume sprinted into the room.
“What’s wrong?” Masuho no Susuki asked.
“Tell us what happened.” Hamayū straightened up and faced the woman.
The woman gave Hamayū a formal bow. “Princess of Sakura Palace, please forgive me. I lost Koume.”
Hamayū’s expression became stern. “Explain the situation in detail.”
After Koume had left Yukiya, her face had lost all color. Her cheerful facade had been nothing but a lie. The woman had tried to engage Koume in conversation, but Koume wouldn’t speak to her.
“After a while, she said her stomach hurt, so I asked if we could use the restroom at a nearby merchant’s house. I thought she probably wanted to cry somewhere no one could see, so I left her alone even when she didn’t come out for a while…”
When Koume hadn’t come out for a very long time, the woman had called out to her, but there had been no reply. She’d opened the door of the bathroom and had found it empty.
“She took one of the robes hanging in the bathroom and exchanged it with hers, which she left behind,” the woman said.
“Hamayū,” Masuho no Susuki said. “She has a gate pass.”
A gate pass was required for anyone who wanted to enter or leave the Imperial Palace. It could serve as a substitute for an identification card in most circumstances. If Koume had one, then none of the security checkpoints would prevent her from passing through them.
The city had many transportation options available. Koume could have easily hired a flying palanquin to carry her out of the city to anywhere she wanted to go.
“Yukiya, go inform Nazukihiko of this, now!”
Yukiya dashed outside without even giving Hamayū a proper reply. He spun around and headed straight for the Sun Palace.
The Crown Prince received Yukiya’s message and immediately mobilized the Yamauchishu. They would start searching for Koume. The Imperial Court had cleared Koume’s name, so she was no longer considered a criminal. The Aerial Army of Heaven couldn’t be deployed to search for an ordinary civilian.
While watching the Crown Prince issue instructions, Yukiya held his head in both hands. How should he interpret this? What was Koume thinking? Had his thoughtless words hurt Koume?
Is this all my fault? His mind was in chaos. Calm down, he told himself. Reflect, don’t regret.
If Koume had left because she’d been overwhelmed by her emotions, then there was no immediate problem. The worst-case scenario would be that she had some involvement with sagecap and the Kuisaru. In that case, her flight would be motivated by a fear of being investigated or caught, and that would make her much more difficult to find.
It was unclear if Yukiya’s careless words had hurt Koume, but her behavior at their parting had certainly been strange.
I told her that I could not trust her, and that a woman matching her description had been seen at the pharmacy that was selling sagecap. She asked me if I thought that woman was her, and if the other nobles thought so, too.
Koume hadn’t outright denied that the woman seen at the pharmacy was her, though. If the woman and Koume were one and the same, maybe Koume had thought herself caught already. She might have decided to run before she could be arrested again. That would be a dumb, careless move, but it wasn’t out of character for Koume.
Koume should have known that fleeing in this situation would accomplish nothing; she would be followed.
If the woman who was seen was not Koume, then why would Koume flee?
Yukiya decided to accept what Azusa had said at face value for the moment. Azusa believed that Koume hadn’t lied about anything. She’d complained a lot and tastelessly, but she’d said that she loved her father. She’d harbored suspicions about her father’s connection to the Kuisaru, but she’d said nothing about them because she’d wanted to protect him.
Her father had been killed while attempting to protect her.
And when Koume had heard what her father had done, she hadn’t believed it. My father was definitely a good-for-nothing, but he’d never get involved in something like this.
Yukiya looked up. Sumio was rushing to and fro, following the Crown Prince’s instructions. Then he left, flying off. Yukiya remembered how Sumio had been outwitted by Hamayū and Masuho no Susuki.
Sumio had been on guard against Hamayū because of past precedent, but he hadn’t anticipated that another woman would swap places with the Crown Prince.
“Oh,” Yukiya said to himself. “Oh.”
If the woman who’d been seen at the pharmacy wasn’t Koume, then there was a different person involved. A different woman. One that had escaped detection until now.
When they’d first met, Koume had been dressed neatly but not extravagantly. He’d heard no rumors from Jihei’s neighbors about him being rich. Yukiya had assumed that Jihei was using the money he earned from sagecap sales to pay off his debts, but what if that money had ended up in someone else’s hands?
Yukiya covered his mouth with one hand.
Yukiya had told Koume about the woman. Koume hadn’t known about her before; she couldn’t have, based on her stunned reaction. But what if Yukiya’s information had been enough for her to guess the woman’s identity? Yukiya could guess at that himself, now that he’d accepted the existence of a different woman involved with selling the sagecap.
Koume knew she wouldn’t be believed. Yukiya had told her flat-out that he couldn’t trust a word she’d said. What if she’d gone to confront this woman so that she could clear her own name?
That would make sense. Far more sense than fleeing for emotional reasons or because she was just stupid. The Yamauchishu were chasing her now, and she wanted that. If they found her, they’d find the other woman and interrogate her.
And who was this other woman?
A woman matching your description was seen there.
How was Koume able to identify her so easily?
Inspiration struck when Yukiya remembered what the neighbors had said about the house with the well. Jihei hadn’t lived there by himself; he hadn’t lived there at all. He’d been a squatter after the house was abandoned by a previous water seller…
…and a couple had lived in the house before that. Two people, a man and a woman.
“Your Imperial Highness.” Yukiya felt the blood drain from his entire body. His voice shook.
The Crown Prince gave the rest of the Yamauchishu present their commands and then turned to Yukiya. “What is it? Did you notice something?”
Yukiya looked up. “I… I may have made a terrible mistake,” he whispered, his voice barely audible.
***
In Hokke Territory, there was a junction where three roads met. A merchant town called Shimobara had popped up at the junction of the three roads. It was the largest town in Hokke Territory and was a necessary stop for anyone traveling by land from Souke Territory to any of the three provinces: Taruhi, Shimaki, and Shigure. Shimobara lacked the opulent elegance of the capital, but it was a lively, bustling place.
On a road lined with relatively upscale shops, there was an inn. The inn’s workers were very busy because it was almost time for dinner.
Koume looked over each of the workers one by one until she found the woman she’d been searching for. She had glossy, chestnut-colored hair. Her face closely resembled Koume’s and was painted with rouge. Her clothing used expensive dyes that created vibrant colors. She worked inefficiently, like a child assisting an adult with household tasks.
“Miss Hatsune, when you’re done with this, you can go upstairs,” one of the other workers said.
“Oh, really?”
“Your husband will be home soon, right? Go enjoy your dinner together.”
Hatsune laughed cheerfully and then excused herself.
Koume felt the blood drain from her face. Hatsune was so beautiful—much more beautiful than she’d been the last time she’d seen her. She was like a butterfly that had finally emerged from their chrysalis.
“I found you,” Koume said, speaking loudly enough so that everyone could hear her.
Hatsune turned around. Her eyes went wide. She rushed over to Koume before anyone else could say anything.
“Come with me,” Hatsune said. She pulled Koume into a vacant room and shut the door. The strong scent of face powder filled the air. This was Hatsune’s private room. The window faced west; evening sunlight streamed in and bathed the room in a deep red glow. Kimonos and accessories were crammed into every drawer and closet until they were overflowing. The sunset light glimmered on gold and silver embroidery. Jewels adorned dozens of hairpins scattered all around. The makeup on the dressing table was as excessive as everything else, and high-quality.
Just one jar of Hatsune’s makeup could pay for half a year’s worth of food for Koume and her father. Koume looked around for a few moments, dumbstruck and numb inside.
Hatsune pushed Koume further into the room. “Why are you here?”
“I figured out where you were. I told my dad not to waste money on such an expensive inn, but he insisted on paying for it no matter what I said.”
Koume and her father had stayed in several inns on their way to Sugō. During the journey, her father had been especially eager to stay at this particular inn. He’d never explained why, but his restless behavior had left a strong impression on Koume.
“That coward could never do something so cruel on his own. Someone must have made him do it, and the only person he’d do such terrible things for is you.”
Father really was a fool, Koume thought.
“I’m surprised you’re still living with that man,” Koume said. “You heard the well dried up and just left. You’re only interested in people with money, aren’t you?”
“How dare you talk to your own mother like that!”
“I’ve never thought of you as my mother,” Koume said. “Not once in my entire life.” She looked up at Hatsune. “You were gone. When did you start messing with my father again? Answer me!”
Koume’s neighbors had whispered that Jihei’s wife had left because of his own incompetence, but that wasn’t the entire truth. While Hatsune had been around, Jihei had worked diligently and done everything he could to keep the family business going. He’d negotiated with many moneylenders and tried new strategies for attracting customers. Despite his efforts, Hatsune had abandoned him. She’d gone to live with another water seller. That water seller had been much richer than Jihei, and the water in the family well was running out.
The real reason Jihei’s life had fallen apart was not because the well had run dry. His wife had left him and their daughter without a word, and that had broken him.
“All those deals written about in his letter—you did all of them, didn’t you? But you blamed everything on him and ran away as if nothing happened. Even then, he still loved you!” Koume cried out in anguish. “After using him for your own gain, you abandoned him again!”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” her mother replied coldly.
Koume glared at her cruel mother. Sometimes she wished that looks could kill. “He was useless and lazy, but he was still my father. He was my only family. You’re a murderer!”
“Enough! Be quiet!” Hatsune shouted back. Her voice sounded very much like Koume’s. “What do you hope to accomplish by causing trouble for your own mother?”
“I only want one thing: for you to be caught and for the truth to come out. That’s all I want,” Koume said.
Faced with her daughter’s resolve, Hatsune frowned. “So you want to blackmail me, is that it? Why try to dress things up with pretty concepts like ‘truth’? How much do you want from me?”
Koume blinked, not understanding what her mother meant. “What are you talking about?”
“I’ll give you money. I’ll buy you lots of beautiful kimonos. You could live a life of luxury. Only a fool would make a fuss about all this,” Hatsune insisted.
“I don’t want your blood money,” Koume said. “You got it by murdering poor girls and feeding them to monsters. I won’t take a single coin from you,” Koume spat back. She should have expected Hatsune’s shamelessness. “Don’t lump me together with you. I will never be like you,” she said, every word dripping contempt.
A flash of something like pain showed on Hatsune’s face. Then she forced herself to smile. “You can say whatever you like. You’re already like me. So calculating, and so very cunning.” She spoke in a sing-song way and smiled sweetly. “You mentioned your father’s letter. He confessed to everything, I imagine. If you accuse me now, who will believe you?”
There was a pause.
“It’s not worth doing things that don’t benefit you,” Hatsune said. “If you apologize now, I’ll forgive you. When we stand side by side like this, we look like a mother and daughter—or maybe even sisters. Tell the people in the kitchen that we’re related. If you do, I’ll introduce you to my new husband. Let’s go out for dinner together and get caught up. It’s been a long time since we were together.”
Koume shook her head. She didn’t need to talk to her mother anymore. It was enough to know that she was here. She decided to head straight to the nearest government office. She pushed past Hatsune.
As their sleeves touched, Hatsune reached out and grabbed Koume’s arm. She smiled—a fixed, unnatural smile.
Before Koume could even process what her mother was trying to do, pale fingers dug into her neck.
Koume was thrown to the floor as Hatsune strangled her with all her strength.
“Even if he was no good, you still had a father who loved you,” Hatsune whispered, her face so close their noses almost touched. She was still smiling. “No one ever loved me. You’ll never understand the pain of being sold by your own father.”
Koume’s toes and fingers scratched desperately at the floor. She felt the bones and muscles in her neck grinding together and heard a sickening sound. The edges of her vision faded to black. There wasn’t even time for her to feel pain or terror.
Hatsune’s grip did not loosen.
“Don’t think this has nothing to do with you. If you’d been in the same situation as me, you would have ended up just like I did!”
Everything went dark…
…and then the pressure around Koume’s throat vanished.
Hatsune screamed.
“That’s enough,” Yukiya said quietly.
Koume’s ears were ringing and her head felt foggy. She couldn’t understand what was happening at all. She felt more than saw someone rush over and turn her onto her stomach. She felt hands on her back, pressing firmly, and then the tightness in her chest went away and she could breathe. Her lungs filled with fresh air. She got up on her hands and knees, coughing uncontrollably.
“I’m sorry, Koume.” Yukiya sat beside her and helped her steady herself. “I’m sorry.”
Koume’s vision gradually sharpened and the ringing in her ears went away. “Yukiya?” she choked out.
He was looking straight at her, his face full of concern. He sighed in relief when he noticed that she was breathing and blinking normally again. He bowed his head. “I’m really sorry about everything. It was my fault. I should have trusted you.”
“We followed you,” a different young man said. He was restraining Hatsune on the floor. “We guessed that you would go to Hokke Territory. We already understand the situation. The Imperial Court will make sure your mother takes responsibility for what she’s done. Leave the rest to us. You’ve had a hard time, haven’t you? Everything will be all right now.”
“Yeah,” she said, but she didn’t mean it. All her strength was gone.
Hatsune’s arms were behind her back. She stared blankly at the floor.
Koume looked at Yukiya. “Why now? You said you couldn’t believe a word I said!” she cried out, old feelings overwhelming her.
Yukiya nodded solemnly, listening.
“Why apologize? Why didn’t you believe me earlier?! I thought I didn’t have anyone on my side. When I learned you’d been doubting me all this time, I just… I couldn’t believe in anything anymore.”
“Yeah. I’m really sorry.”
Koume’s tension melted away. She wept tears that she would have never shed in front of Hatsune ordinarily.
“What do I do now?” Koume asked. “My father is dead.”
Yukiya hesitated, but then leaned forward and patted her back. She didn’t cling to him, but she didn’t push him away, either. She cried herself out.
***
The Crown Prince gave Koume a sympathetic look and then focused his attention on Hatsune. He helped Hatsune to her feet. “Come on. This way.”
He had to get Hatsune to the nearest guard station. He hoped that Sumio was already on his way. He slid open the door one-handed and entered a long hallway. A crowd had gathered, drawn by the commotion.
“Someone lend me a rope,” the Crown Prince said. “Also, if anyone knows this woman’s husband, please direct him to me. I need to talk to him, too.” He walked down the hallway, issuing instructions to the crowd.
Then the sliding door behind Yukiya and Koume burst open.
Yukiya face-planted on the wooden floor before he had time to turn around. Someone had kicked him. He raised his head and saw a man with a crazed look in his eyes holding a kitchen knife to Koume’s throat.
“Nobody move!” the man shouted.
The Crown Prince stopped in his tracks.
“Dear husband!” Hatsune called to the man. She looked at him with shining eyes.
Here was the other water seller.
Yukiya cursed himself for letting his guard down.
Koume’s feet lifted off the floor as the man hauled her up, still threatening her with the knife. One arm wrapped around her neck. Her face was wet with tears. She didn’t dare resist.
“Let’s not do anything we can’t take back,” the Crown Prince said cautiously. “No matter what you do, neither you nor this woman will escape.”
“Shut up!” the man shouted angrily. He pointed the knife at the Crown Prince. “Let go of Hatsune and get down on the ground. If you even breathe funny, this girl’s life is over!” Spittle flew from his mouth. He had to know how much trouble he’d be in if he murdered a girl before all these witnesses, but he was so crazed that he might do it anyway.
Koume looked completely terrified, and so did the man.
The Crown Prince and the man stood about five meters apart. Yukiya was on the floor between them. He took in their positions and remembered when the Crown Prince had appeared to save him from the Kuisaru in the Underground’s tunnels. The Crown Prince was armed, so he should be fine.
Yukiya met the Crown Prince’s gaze. The Crown Prince had noticed Yukiya’s glance to his sword. He nodded almost imperceptibly.
“Think fast,” the Crown Prince said.
The man was briefly startled. “Huh? Shut up, you bastard—”
Yukiya leaped at the man, hanging all his weight on the arm holding the kitchen knife. “Now!” he shouted.
The Crown Prince’s expression was determined, but there was a flicker of hesitation in his eyes. He looked straight at Yukiya and then raised his sword, drawing it over his head in one swift, fluid motion. The movement looked practiced, like something he’d done a thousand times. The instant the sword left his hand, the hilt spun in his grip.
The man sputtered obscenities and tried to shake Yukiya off. Whatever he wanted to say next was interrupted by the thunk of the Crown Prince’s sword hilt as it crashed into his forehead. The hilt had struck the man just above Koume’s temple. A few strands of her hair were cut by the blade.
The arm around Koume’s neck loosened.
Yukiya tried to push away the man’s arm and escape while shielding Koume, but he was only partially successful. Koume got away, but the man hauled him in by the collar from behind.
The man had not been killed by the sword strike—he’d only been stunned.
The Crown Prince had rushed over after throwing his sword and was grappling with the man. He twisted the hand that had seized Yukiya’s collar. The knife the man held clattered to the floor during the struggle. The Crown Prince managed to get both arms around the man and throw him down with great force.
Then Yukiya was free from the man’s grip, but he wasn’t quick enough to get away before the man fell right on top of him with a dull thud. Yukiya’s forehead thunked against the wooden floor. Stars danced before his eyes. Suppressing his dizziness with a groan, Yukiya turned to look behind him.
He didn’t see the man.
Hatsune stood there, knife in hand. It was dripping blood and gore.
“Hatsune, let’s run for it!” the man called out. He’d struggled to his feet. He took Hatsune by the hand. She seemed to be in a daze, but when he ran, she ran with him. They pushed through the crowd of onlookers and escaped.
Yukiya would have run after them if he hadn’t noticed the pool of blood on the floor.
The Crown Prince had collapsed, clutching at his side. He wasn’t moving.
“Your Imperial Highness?”
There was no reply. A faint furrow formed between the Crown Prince’s eyebrows. Sweat gleamed on his forehead.
“Your Imperial Highness!” Yukiya screamed.
He heard footsteps—soldiers marching together in perfect time.
The Yamauchishu had arrived.
Translator's Notes
Kuisaru means devouring monkey or devouring ape.
Sitting seiza is the formal way to sit in Japan. To sit seiza is to kneel with the tops of the feet flat on the floor, and sit on the soles of the feet.
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