Bloodline, 8/10

[astrangestorm]

He thought Jun might have been more upset with how easily he’d been stripped of his inheritance. Instead his brother simply laughed when they met secretly that night in the palace gardens, a hedge separating them in the darkness. Nino sat cross-legged on a bench, pretending to be stargazing, knowing that Kanna, Kasumi, and Natsuna were busy packing up his chambers for the move to the opposite end of the residential wing come morning.

Sho had worked with stunning efficiency as soon as Nino had brought him the news, clearing the secret compartment of its contents and hiding them in his own room in the servants’ quarters.

“You managed to save him where I could not,” Jun admitted.

“Three months ago, I lacked the clout to save him. But things have changed. Our dear grandfather now knows that the kingdom falls without my power.” He chuckled quietly. “No offense.”

“None taken,” Jun replied. “Sho will serve you well when you are king.”

Nino rolled his eyes. It was the last thing he wanted to be. He’d play along for now, attending meetings and becoming acquainted with the affairs of state, such as they were. But none of it really mattered so long as Kotaro clung to life. There were more important things at stake.

“What about your mother?”

“I have not been granted an audience for another three days,” Jun admitted. “That is when my mother is supposed to be summoned before him. Even with what Masaki and Satoshi found, I cannot be certain she will be cleared. But I will fight for her with everything I have.”

“Do you wish for me to intervene? I seem to have a knack for getting my way now…”

“No, it will only complicate things. This is our fight, my mother’s and mine, against that witch. She’s wanted us gone for years. She will not succeed.” Jun took a breath. “But thank you. Truly. You did a lot to help.”

“Masaki would have helped you anyway. You know that.”

“It was Satoshi’s intelligence that mattered most,” Jun said. “I know it makes you uncomfortable to give them orders but…”

“I didn’t order him,” Nino interrupted. “I just asked him.”

Jun was quiet for a while.

“I know that our father wished for them to be free,” Jun finally admitted, his steady voice slipping through the branches and into Nino’s ears. “And I know that is why he sent Sho to find you.”

Nino said nothing, shutting his eyes. Jun had always known.

“I loathed him. I loathed him because he loathed me,” Jun muttered. “But still I believed in his cause, even if he never knew. I prepared for a time when he might be desperate enough to finally seek my help. The power that keeps Masaki and Satoshi here is tied to those symbols, to their words. My mother’s people revere the gods, so I gathered what I could of their language from people my mother trusted. Nothing but scrolls and scraps of ancient paper, paid for with gold and jewels, with my inheritance. I thought that maybe if our father exhausted everything in the Sun Kingdom library that he might finally come to me. That I could help him with what I’d found.”

He heard Jun let out an irritated sigh. Yukio had been a fool to ignore Jun all those years. An out and out fool.

“Instead he sent Sho away, knowing and not caring that it would get him killed. After all Sho had done for him, our father was willing to sacrifice him so easily. He sent Sho off and had you brought here. And then he died before I could tell him that I wanted to help.”

“Jun…”

“When you arrived here, you arrived with the witch. I didn’t know you. I didn’t know if she’d corrupted you or not. I kept clear and kept watch. The witch had you marked, and I watched you hurt Masaki with such ease.”

“I didn’t…”

“Let me finish, Kazunari. I saw all of that happening around you, but then you sent Sho to me. You wished to arrange a meeting. Not even an hour before, my mother had received a letter from an acquaintance in the north. A trader had appeared in town, his cart overflowing with old things. Books, priceless things. I was already preparing to go and see if anything might have the language of the gods. I couldn’t trust you or him with where I was going. I let Sho believe I was unchanged, indifferent. Off for a meaningless holiday.”

“That was what he told me. You couldn’t meet for a week because you were getting away from the heat. I thought you were running away from me.”

“I bought everything the trader had that had at least one character from their language. The trader had no idea of its worth. He had no idea what he even had, just that it was old. I was going to ask Masaki to help me, especially if you grew stronger and couldn’t be trusted. Masaki said I was wrong about you. And after what you’ve done for my mother, I know that he was right.” Jun’s voice grew stronger. “It is all yours, everything I’ve gathered for more than 10 years. I want you to have it. I want it to help you free them.”

“I will be under constant watch now,” Nino said. “The king will have minions watching my every move. I will not be able to meet with you like this again. They will know everything and everyone that comes in or out of my rooms. Even if you smuggle things to me, the king’s spies will uncover my hiding places. And Sho will be watched just as closely. I cannot afford to put him at risk, using him to go between us again.”

“I know. But given how my mother has been targeted, I know it’s only a matter of time before someone finds my cache of divine treasures. It must all go to you now or we will never manage to free them,” Jun said. “Which is why I’ve taken Masaki’s advice, and I’ve already spoken with Satoshi.”

“What?” he hissed, turning around on the bench even though it was too dark to look through the hedge and see his brother’s face.

“You are right that we cannot put Sho in danger after all he’s already endured. And it will be suspicious if Masaki is seen visiting you with regularity. So that leaves only one person to help.”

“He agreed to this?”

Jun chuckled. “He’s a man of few words…or should I say a god of few words…well, either way, he said only that he knew what to do. If I had to wager on it, I’d say that he likes you. And he never likes anyone.”

Nino rolled his eyes, trying not to read anything into Jun’s phrasing. “I don’t see how he will accomplish any of this without being seen.”

He could tell Jun was smiling.

“He longs to be free, brother, and he must believe that you will help him achieve that. So have a little faith in him in return.”

—

Everyone at the palace knew that Nino’s position had risen. His first three days in his new, too large set of apartments had been chaotic. When he wasn’t in meetings with the king, other staffers and advisors had come to pay their respects, to try and find a place in his household. Even though Nino wouldn’t be named heir for two months, it was clear to most courtiers that the title would soon be his.

Instead of the three rooms that had made up his guest quarters, he now had double that. The apartments had been Yukio’s before him, and they were fit for a future king. They also came with enough servants for a king. Seven maids. A personal chef. A secretary to go through any letters or petitions that arrived and to complete his correspondence. And a “gentleman of the chamber,” some sycophantic minor aristocrat who would help him dress for court or for advisory meetings. Though he couldn’t bring him to royal meetings (as the king loathed the sight of him), Nino kept Sho with him at almost all other times, simply to have someone he trusted at arm’s reach.

His first room was a room meant only for receiving guests, filled with plush sofas and chairs. The next was a dining room with seating for up to ten guests. The next room was a personal study with a desk and bookshelves as well as a table and chairs to meet with advisors and staff. The fourth room was a more private sitting room, open to the courtyard outside and with the same thin curtains as his previous sitting room. But instead of a simple pool, there was a statue in the center.

A voluptuous nude woman holding her hands to the sky. From her hands water spouted, shooting up into the air and falling into the pool around her. Water also trickled a bit more gently from her nipples and from between her thighs. The statue had been commissioned by one of the earlier kings in the bloodline, and Yukio had ordered it removed from the palace gardens and installed here in his own chambers.

“Tacky,” Sho had commented. “Your father had the most alarming tastes.”

Ugly statue aside, his new bedchamber and private bath were comfortable. He was glad for it after enduring all the meetings and calls paid to him by people he didn’t care to know. It was well past midnight after his third day of pretending to be an eager heir when he finally asked Sho to return to his own rooms.

“Jun’s mother is on trial tomorrow,” Nino said, stifling a yawn.

Sho nodded gravely.

“I know Masaki will be there. Will you go to him after, find out what happens?”

He bowed his head. “Of course.”

Nino reached out a hand, grazing Sho’s jaw to force him to look up. He could see true fear in Sho’s dark eyes. Sho, who had until just recently had a death sentence hanging over him. “We have to believe that she will be found innocent.”

“I sent those people to serve her,” Sho whispered. “I recommended them to Prince Yukio.”

“She will go free. Rumiko will not win this.”

“I want to believe that. For the princess’ sake.” And for Jun’s sake, Sho didn’t have to say out loud.

“Get some rest, Sho.”

Finally he was left alone.

He changed into more comfortable clothes, a loose-fitting tunic and trousers, after a long day of dressing as his position required. In two months, he’d officially be named heir to the throne. He was not looking forward to it.

He left his bedchamber behind, heading for his private sitting room. He pulled the curtains aside, listening to the splatter of water in the pool just outside. He looked up as he’d looked up the last few nights in his new rooms, praying to see a pair of bare feet.

He was once again disappointed.

Perhaps Satoshi hadn’t yet found a way to reach him.

He headed back inside, moving to close the curtains again when he heard his name coming from high above him.

He looked up, but saw nothing.

Until there was a sudden blur of movement, a figure flying out from the rooftop and into the open air over the courtyard.

He’d jumped. Satoshi had just jumped off the roof.

Nino almost cried out in alarm, covering his mouth to keep in a shout, as he saw the god come hurtling down toward the pool. But at the last moment, the water that was spurting out of the ugly statue merged into one powerful stream, surging upward out of the statue’s left hand.

It was there that Satoshi landed, his bare feet floating mere inches above the spout of water. He looked down at Nino, offering him a friendly wave.

Nino, still trying to catch his breath, scowled in reply. “Show off,” he managed to whisper.

Satoshi chuckled, the water spout lowering at Satoshi’s unspoken command until he was floating in the air just over the statue’s hand. A new water spout floated up from the pool beneath it and Satoshi stepped over onto it, letting it lower him down. He walked across the water for his final few steps, stepping onto the edge of the pool and hopping down to stand before Nino.

“Your Highness.”

“I almost had a stroke watching you fall,” he snapped, not raising his voice too loud. “I might still have one.”

“It has been dull these last few days without you,” Satoshi joked, moving to follow Nino into his sitting room.

Nino halted him with a palm raised. “Don’t even think about coming inside. Just a moment.”

He retrieved a towel from his washroom, returning and kneeling down before the god. He smacked at Satoshi’s damp foot. “Lift.”

Satoshi obeyed, moving his feet to let Nino put the towel beneath him.

He rose to his feet, watching Satoshi bend down to dry himself. “I have more maids now than I know what to do with. You think they won’t be confused to find footprints coming from that pool?”

“It would have been dry by the morning.”

“I’m not taking any chances,” Nino said. “Nice little magic show there. Satoshi, he who walks on water.”

“Masaki could do that too,” Satoshi admitted, finally stepping into the sitting room, dried again. “He just prefers to use doors like you humans. He’s not much of a daredevil these days.”

Nino had to admit it was clever though. Jun had told him that Satoshi would find a way to get to him without anyone else seeing him. His grandfather’s spies were watching the door, had probably just seen and noted that Sho had left for the night. He doubted any of them had been watching the rooftop.

“Is this how you’ll be visiting me now? Leaping from my roof and into my pool?”

“Admit it, Kazunari. I impressed you.”

“Never mind that. What brings you here?”

Satoshi had a seat on the floor at Nino’s table, digging inside the waistband of his trousers for a bundle of cloth tied tight with ribbon. He set it down on the table, sliding it over as Nino sat across from him.

“Courtesy of Prince Jun. There will be more.”

“I have nowhere to store this. I am inundated with spies now,” Nino pointed out, untying the ribbon and unrolling the cloth to reveal nearly a dozen identically-sized scraps of paper, likely pages torn from a book. They were in far poorer shape than what had been in the palace library, but there was no mistaking the characters on them. The language of the gods, untranslated.

“I understand that,” Satoshi said. “I’ll bring whatever we need and take it back with me. I have my own hiding places.”

Nino looked up, smirking at him. Satoshi offered a smirk in return.

He shook his head, laughing. So their language lessons would continue, no matter the risk. “It’s after midnight, and they’ll wake me just after sunrise.”

“That problem is yours, not mine.”

They got to work, tackling the new sets of words Jun had spent years collecting in hopes of helping a father who’d all but abandoned him. It became clear soon enough that the words had been written by a human with little knowledge of the gods. Satoshi was annoyed, finding many of the characters to be written incorrectly, finding many of the sentences to mean little. But it was the words that mattered, and they pushed on.

Over the next few hours, even as his eyes itched, desperate for sleep, they worked. Finally Satoshi gave up, bundling up the papers again.

Nino was half asleep, yawning as Satoshi tied the ribbon. “You and Masaki know exactly what the words are, don’t you?” he mumbled. “You know what Raku said to trap you.”

“Not all of them,” Satoshi admitted. “He’d already marked himself with the storm. The tattoos you bear. He’d already done that to himself when we arrived. We’ve believed for many years that he simply taught himself how to order us not to leave, to obey all those from his bloodline forevermore.”

Nino thought for a moment. “But to break it, do I really need his original words? Don’t I simply have to say that I remove Raku’s curse on you?”

Satoshi rubbed at the bridge of his nose. “We are not the only gods, those of us from the Great Sea. There are gods of the air and sky, gods of the soil and gods of the sun and moon. And gods are not always benevolent. We don’t exactly like being double-crossed.” He looked at Nino sadly. “So I should probably tell you that there are more than two hundred variations of the word ‘curse’ or ‘punishment’ in our language. Raku only had to pick one.”

“More than two hundred,” he sighed.

Satoshi got to his feet slowly, returning the bundle to his waistband. “It’s why I’ve had you learn other words. You should know almost every sound by now. Once you do, we can then combine them to try and make the sounds of the different words for curse. And if it’s none of those, then we can try the words for punishment. For trap. For…”

Nino held up a hand. “What do you mean combine?”

Satoshi grinned. “If I tell you to give me the first two syllables from ‘river’ that you learned tonight and the third syllable for ‘beetle,’ then what do you have?”

He searched his brain for the syllables, for the exact sounds. He spoke them aloud.

Satoshi nodded. “Correct.”

“What’s correct? Was it one of your variations on curse?”

The god smiled. “You have just told me the word for ‘handsome,’ so thank you very much for the compliment.”

Nino backed away from the table in a huff, getting to his feet. “Teach me the words I need to know, Satoshi. If I have to learn two hundred words for curse, then teach me two hundred words for curse. We can’t afford to waste time.”

“I know that,” Satoshi grumbled. “Just like I’ll have to find a way to teach you fifty ways to say ‘break’ and ten ways to say ‘remove’ and I don’t even remember how many ways to say ‘free.’ I don’t know what Raku said, and so we will have to try every single variation! You think I don’t fully grasp the challenge we’re facing here?”

He came around the table, moving into Satoshi’s space. “Then I want you here, as much as you possibly can be. I’m going to complain. I’m going to be tired. And I’m going to be frustrated. But together, you and I are going to break this. You will be able to return to the far place. You will be able to go home.”

Satoshi took a step forward of his own, until he was close enough to touch. “Then I will be here, Kazunari. As much as I possibly can be.”

Nino looked down, unable to meet Satoshi’s determined eyes. “You and your brother will be free. You will never have to think of this place again.”

“Why would I want that? To never think of this place again?”

Nino scoffed, shaking his head sadly. “You’ve suffered here for hundreds of years.”

“But you are part of this place, too.”

“You’ve been trapped here against your will all this time, suffering for generations. Suffering for a length of time I can’t even comprehend. And I’ve only been here three months. I’m simply here to correct a long and terrible mistake.”

“In three months you’ve shown more kindness than I’ve received in eight hundred years, Kazunari. So I ask again: why would I want to forget this place? Why would I want to forget you?”

His left arm burned, warmth traveling up from the tattoos to his shoulders and radiating back down his spine. Satoshi’s fingertips traced along his chin, his hand moving to cup his cheek. Nino, exhausted, was unashamed of the tears forming in his eyes. He let them fall, breath unsteady as Satoshi stroked the droplets away with his thumb.

“You asked me, a short while ago, if I had any other human weaknesses,” Satoshi whispered.

“Just your lungs,” Nino mumbled, moving more firmly against Satoshi’s touch, overwhelmed, barely able to find words. “Just your lungs. And alcohol.”

“No,” Satoshi admitted, his other arm wrapping around him. “I have one more.”

Satoshi leaned forward, the clean scent of him surrounding him, flooding his senses. But Nino couldn’t bear the weight of it all.

“Stop,” Nino whispered.

His order was obeyed.

He felt Satoshi’s breath against his face, against his lips. “Why?”

“Because it isn’t equal between us.” He was unable to keep his tears in check, feeling them slide down his face as Satoshi held him close. “Because I have power over you.”

“You do have power over me,” Satoshi muttered. “But it doesn’t come from your tattoos.”

He finally looked up. Back in Toyone-mura, he’d dreamed of leaving the caravan. Leaving his simple itinerant life and finding somewhere to settle down. He’d even been selfish enough to dream of finding love.

And now here it was, standing before him.

He surrendered, closing his eyes. Surrendering to the love of a god.

Satoshi’s kiss was soft, sweet. Freely given. He moved his head gently, leaning into it, showing Satoshi he wanted this just as much. That perhaps he’d wanted this from the day they’d met. From the day Satoshi had cried and Nino had fallen.

He let Satoshi pull him closer, their bodies flush against one another. He gave in, he gave over all his control, letting Satoshi coax his lips apart with his tongue. He lifted his hands, needing to touch, sliding his fingers through Satoshi’s unruly hair. It was too perfect, it was too good.

It was Satoshi who stopped first, the kiss starting and ending entirely on his terms. He pressed his forehead against Nino’s, breathing desperately, as Nino continued to stroke his hair. “You said they will wake you just after sunrise.”

“They will.”

“Then I will return to you tomorrow, as soon as I am able. As soon as they leave you alone.”

He moved back, wiping his eyes, enjoying the gentle flush he saw in Satoshi’s face. Nino couldn’t help wondering when he’d last kissed anyone…or at least when he’d last kissed anyone of his own free will.

“We still have to have language lessons,” Nino pointed out. “We cannot be too selfish.”

“Not too selfish,” Satoshi replied. “But maybe a little selfish.”

He grinned. “I look forward to that then.”

Satoshi smiled in return. “Good night.”

The god parted the curtains, and Nino followed him into the courtyard. He watched with a full heart as Satoshi stepped up onto the edge of the pool, the water rising up to greet him. He stepped over it, letting it surround him, lift him into the air. Nino could see all of the water coming together for his purpose, draining from the edges of the pool to form the quietly churning column of water that lifted him higher and higher.

He rose through the air, all the way to the roof, riding atop the water he commanded with such ease. The column moved, sliding from the center of the pool and allowing him to walk across it like a bridge until he could hop back onto the rooftop. And as soon as he stepped off, the water column noiselessly slid back down, Nino’s pool returning to normal.

Nino collapsed onto his bed, still in disbelief. But his lips were warm, he realized as he brushed his fingers against them. His lips were so beautifully warm.

—

He struggled to keep awake and alert as he was given a tour of the agricultural bureau. It wasn’t much more than a handful of rooms and a handful of people. There was little in the Sun Kingdom that might fall under the purview of the agricultural bureau anyway. There was farmland in the north where plants could better take hold, but he was told that there were methods for working in the desert that were as yet untested. A very dull man who seemed to be more interested in seeds than people was explaining to him what the bureau might accomplish with more funding. With the meetings Nino had taken the last few days, it seemed like many things might be accomplished across the kingdom if more funding was delivered. How many technological advances had been stalled the last several hundred years with the Matsumoto royal family content to languish behind their walls, content with keeping things as they already were?

Nino doubted that the king would ever shift funds away from the Kingsguard, so the technological stagnation would continue.

“Now,” the poor dull fellow was saying as he showed Nino a model aqueduct, “a partnership with the Empire of Salt was up for consideration during last year’s budgetary talks. We had Prince Jun’s ear on the matter for a while, but unfortunately he was unable to convince the king that…”

The door to the bureau slammed open, startling the people within. Nino’s eyes widened at the sight of Rumiko, hair wild and eyes wilder. She rushed in like an oncoming storm, pushing chairs and even people out of her way. Charging right behind her were half a dozen members of the Kingsguard, their swords drawn.

“Kazunari, my blood!” she shouted at him, making her way across the room. Her hands were shaking as she came up to him, grabbing hold of him, fingernails digging in. “Kazunari, my blood, won’t you speak for me?”

“You will unhand him,” the leader of the Kingsguard ordered. “You will come this way, Madame.”

She let him go, but only so that she could stand behind him, cowering in fright.

“Dear aunt,” he said uneasily, “what’s all the fuss about?”

While Nino had been receiving his lecture about seeds and plows, Princess Mariya was supposed to be standing before the King, her fate about to be decided. Rumiko ought to have been there. Jun ought to have been there. Masaki too. Something wasn’t right.

“You will defend me,” she told him, breath hot against his neck. “You will speak to Father for me.”

The Kingsguard took another step, the remainder of the agricultural bureau staff fleeing the chamber in fright. “Your Highness, I apologize for this. The king has just been informed of her treachery, and he has called for her to be banished again.”

“I will not go back there,” Rumiko was babbling behind him. “I will not go back to that place.”

“Treachery?” Nino asked, even though he knew very well what had likely happened. Jun had presented his arguments, calling out the names of his mother’s servants, the ones that Rumiko had turned against her. The king had not liked what he’d heard.

“She had servants lie to the king in order to cast doubts on the loyalty of Princess Mariya,” the soldier explained.

“That weakling makes false accusations! He would see me cast aside! But I will not go!” Rumiko howled, clinging to him.

Nino held up a hand, asking the Kingsguard to stay back. He turned to her, trying to keep calm even though he could see that the bangle from her ankle was gone. She was cornered now, and she might strike. She could likely summon Masaki or Satoshi from anywhere in the palace and have them clear a path for her. How many might be hurt in the process? Nino had to keep that from happening.

“Dear aunt,” he said gently. “My blood.”

Her crazed eyes were swimming as she looked at him. “My blood. You will not turn on me.”

“Why don’t I speak to Grandfather? Learn exactly what’s happened here.”

“You will defend me.” She smiled, her teeth so yellowed and brittle. “Kazunari, my blood, he will defend me. I’ve taught you. I’ve taught you. I brought you here. I knew you were strong.”

Nino took her by the arm, whispering gently for her to stay calm. The Kingsguard parted as they passed, and dozens lined the corridor. It seemed as though the king had sent everyone under his command to fetch her. He knew very well indeed how dangerous she might be without the bangle around her ankle. She’d likely forced a servant to remove it under pain of death before attending the princess’ trial. Perhaps she’d wanted to be ready in case her schemes had backfired.

But perhaps she hadn’t expected the king to have her banished from court once again.

Nino kept speaking to her quietly, the Kingsguard warily trailing them just a few steps behind as they made their way back to the audience chamber. There were at least fifty foot soldiers between them and the king, who was seated on his throne with a dark expression. Jun and his mother were nowhere to be seen, but Nino supposed that was a good thing.

Masaki stood behind the throne with his usual expression of calm, but Nino wasn’t happy to see him there. Any moment she might try and command him. Nino wasn’t sure what would happen if Masaki was given conflicting orders one right after another. All he knew was that he had to obey the members of the Matsumoto family.

Rumiko clung to him still, so he hung back with her, feeling her nails in his flesh. If he looked down, he’d likely see that she’d drawn blood in her desperation.

“Grandfather, what is the meaning of this?” he asked. “My dear aunt tells me you seek to banish her from Amaterasu.”

The old man didn’t bother to rise from his throne. “Have you asked her?”

“That boy lied!” Rumiko shouted, tightening her grip. “He sees how you favor Kazunari now, so he is lashing out.”

The king seemed more annoyed than angry. This was not the first time this kind of exchange between them had happened, that much was obvious. “Daughter, the servants have confessed.”

“You take the side of a half-blood and his weakling of a mother!”

“Kazunari, step away. I will not see you drawn into her web. She is mad.”

She looked at him, unwilling to let him go. “You and I are alike!” she begged him. “We are the loyal ones, we are the ones who work hard. We have studied and we have bled for this family! And yet we are illegitimate. We are the ones made to suffer!”

She honestly believed that Nino might still be on her side. He didn’t pity her, knowing the horrible things she’d done. But he thought he could at least understand her pain.

“Kazunari, I will not say it again,” the king demanded, and Nino pulled away. Kotaro waved to the captain of the guard. “I want her gone this time! I want her out of my sight.”

“Masaki!” Rumiko screamed. “Masaki, I have as much power over you as my father does!”

“Masaki!” Nino interrupted, feeling the god’s cold eyes turn to him. He pointed to his mouth, using some of the simplest words he’d learned. “Cover. No hurt. No hurt. Cover. Cover!”

And before Rumiko could give a contrary order, could tell Masaki to drown the Kingsguard or wreak other havoc, a bubble of water appeared in front of her mouth, her words lost in a sputter. But she could still breathe through her nose. Masaki was not causing harm to a person of Sorcerer Raku’s bloodline. Just…an inconvenience.

Nino watched his aunt turn to him, the water covering her mouth and only her mouth, almost like she’d been gagged. The expression on her face changed as she realized that talking was now impossible. Her face turned hideous with his betrayal, and she forgot where she was, suddenly leaning down to pull a concealed knife from her boot, leaping toward him in a rage.

“Rumiko!” the king hollered as she raised it high, and she paused, letting it hang there in her hand, only steps away from Nino, who held his hands up defensively. “One more step and I’ll have your head, you ungrateful child!”

Rumiko’s eyes burned with hatred for him. She seemed like she might be happy for a beheading if it meant that he’d go down with her.

Nino took a slow, steady breath, watching her carefully. The woman who’d come to the desert, the woman with the rotting arm. His aunt, the murderer.

Rumiko dropped the knife, bursting the bubble covering her mouth with a disturbingly loud scream. The Kingsguard surrounded her, a few grabbing hold of Nino and pulling him out of harm’s way. He watched as they hauled her up, one brave soldier nearly getting his finger bitten off as he tried to cover her mouth. It took ten of them to remove her from the throne room, kicking and screaming, and Nino finally looked back at the throne, seeing the fury gradually fading from his grandfather’s face.

Masaki was just as placid as ever, though Nino couldn’t help noticing the way his hand gripped the King’s chair, his knuckles white from whatever it had taken him to strike at Rumiko with such precision but not hurt her. He looked at Nino but could say nothing.

“She will not trouble us any longer,” the king said, as though he was speaking of a pesky panhandler and not his own mad daughter.

Nino approached the throne, asking for the full story. Princess Mariya had been cleared of all charges brought against her. Prince Jun had been ordered to take his mother to a royal estate in the east so she might “recover” from the inconvenience she’d undergone. Nino knew better. It was exile. A comfortable exile for the princess, but exile just the same.

The pieces were moving, faster than Nino had even imagined. Mariya, the widow of the deceased heir to the throne, was gone. And after pushing her luck too far, Rumiko too was gone. With Jun’s devotion to his mother, it was likely he’d be staying east with her, at least for the time being. And knowing Jun like he did now, Nino imagined that he’d be staying for a while to ensure that the people who served his mother had her best interests in mind.

In one afternoon, Nino’s path to the throne had been cleared of several obstacles. But without the distraction that was his wicked daughter or his powerless grandson, Kotaro would scrutinize him more than ever.

The walls were closing in.

—

He returned to his rooms long after dark, finding a scrap of paper on the desk in his study. There were three characters on it, a word in the language of the gods, though it hadn’t been written very clearly. He summoned Sho, getting an answer.

Sho seemed a little embarrassed. “Masaki…dictated, you might say. He stopped by late this afternoon after all the commotion. Nobody else was here. I think the whole palace gathered to watch the Sorceress be hauled away in that carriage. Anyhow, he told me how to move the pen, but he didn’t explain what he was having me write. Do you know what it says?”

“Yes,” he said. “It means ‘hand.’”

“Hand?” Sho mumbled.

Nino tore the paper to pieces, just to be on the safe side. He dumped the pieces in Sho’s hands for him to dispose. He moved out of his study and into the sitting room, pulling the swaying curtains aside. “He was with you the whole time?”

“It was no more than five minutes. We stood together in your main reception room, and he told me to leave this on your desk. I never let him out of my sight.”

“Then he had help,” Nino said with a grin, moving out into the darkened courtyard. In the lantern light and starlight, he could see the familiar vial resting in the hand of the naked statue in the pool. It was, of course, just out of his reach.

Sho stood behind him, sighing. “You’d just run out, I was about to find and ask him myself but I guess I didn’t have to ask.”

Nino could see the vibrant strands of blue. More kerida blossom to grind up and add to everything he ate and drank to continue keeping the poison at bay. Masaki had provided it, but Satoshi had dropped it off.

“Thank you, Sho,” Nino replied, looking at the vial and smiling. “That will be all for tonight.”

“The king has doubled the number of guards posted at your door.” Sho rested a hand on his shoulder. “In case you have any visitors.”

He turned, seeing the way his friend’s eyebrow was raised in curiosity. “What?”

“You were nearly murdered in the royal audience chamber today,” Sho reminded him. “But you seem rather…relaxed.”

He teasingly pushed Sho’s hand away. “Never you mind.”

Sho’s expression grew more serious. “Nino. Is there something I should know?”

“Perhaps you should go visit my brother. It seems like he won’t be returning to court for a while. With all the confusion today, the spying servants will be off their game. It might be the safest time to go for a visit. Catch up on old times. Maybe you could help him…pack,” he said pointedly in reply.

Sho was a mixture of angry and embarrassed, turning away. “Good night, Your Highness,” he said haughtily, and Nino held in a laugh.


Part Nine