“What does she know?” Hana asked.
“She knows what it’s like to have something that you desperately want.” Keishin wiped the sweat dripping into his eyes. “Knowing full well that it’s not what it seems.”
“What are you going on about?” Haruto said.
“I think I know what kind of punishment the Shiikuin had in mind for Hana’s mother, what torture would be worse than death. The Shiikuin don’t care about justice.” Keishin’s eyes fell on Haruto’s broken hands. “They care about causing the most amount of pain. And what greater pain is there than being so excruciatingly close to something you long for,” he said, shifting his gaze to Hana, “but that you know isn’t really yours?”
“I don’t understand,” Hana said.
“The Shiikuin saw how desperately your mother wanted to hold you. They knew how much she loved you,” Keishin said. “Death would have torn you from her, but that punishment wasn’t enough. The Shiikuin wanted her to suffer.”
“How?” Haruto said.
“By giving her a life sentence,” Keishin said. “By letting her live out her days in a place where she would be constantly reminded of the daughter she left behind.”
Haruto shook his head. “Even if you are right, where exactly are we supposed to look for her? Are you planning on searching every prison in our world?”
“You may not have to.” Masako walked into the room.
Haruto turned to his mother. “What do you mean?”
“I believe the outsider is right. Exiling Chiyo to the other world would have erased her and her pain. But exiling her to a place where she would be surrounded by something she wanted but could never have would be crueler than death. What better punishment for someone who took something that wasn’t hers? As a mother, I can think of only one prison that would inflict such torture.”
“What prison is this?” Haruto said. “Where is it?”
“I do not know where it is, but I have heard whispers of it at the Night Market. They say that it is a place where children who are not really children dwell. Children who spend endless days and nights crying for a mother.”
Keishin frowned. “What do you mean by ‘children who are not really children’?”
“If you need more answers, you will have to get them for yourself,” Masako said.
“Then we should go to the Night Market as soon as possible,” Haruto said.
“Keishin and I will go to the Night Market,” Hana said. “You need to stay here.”
“Hana is right,” Masako said. “You are not well enough to travel. You would only slow them down. If you are truly concerned about Hana’s safety, the best thing that you can do for her is to stay here.”
Haruto hung his head, heaving a sigh.
“We need to make one stop before we go to the Night Market,” Hana said.
“Where?” Haruto asked.
“It is better if you do not know.”
“I agree,” Masako said.
Hana turned to her. “I know that I have already asked for too much, but there is one last thing I will need to ask of you before we go.”
“If it will make you leave sooner, then I am happy to provide you with whatever assistance you require.”
Chapter Thirty-eight
The Lights in the Lake
The lights from the village grew smaller as Keishin and Hana paddled down the river. Fireflies swarmed around trees in animated constellations rivaling those shining down on them from the sky. Even the water was alive. Tiny glowing creatures, smaller than grains of sand, swirled around Keishin’s oar and trailed behind their small boat, filling the river with stars. Keishin peeked over the boat to get a better look. The creatures circled and swarmed, shifting in shape until they created the mirror image of his face. Keishin jolted back from his living reflection.
“We call them hansha,” Hana said. “They like to copy whatever they see.”
