“Sit,” said the woman in white.
The girl moved her gaze back to the pond.
Underwater, the tinted goldfish slipped about, skimming her thin fingers, spinning, making loops.They’re dancing, she thought.They have their own world, there, where they can play. Do they see me, peering at them, from above?
Drop a speck of blood into the water and they rise, seek to get it before it disappears.They rise for food.
Her sister stepped through the darkness by the pond.
“You have a good reputation,” she said. “Shigeo. They say you have a beautiful mind. They say you tried to stand against your father, the bright Seikiyo… yet you are a man caught between two mountains. The Keishi on the left, and the retired-emperor on the right. They say you’ve tried always to do good.” She took another step, raising her head until it entered the light. “I think that I believe them.”
Her face had its marks, its ancient letters, shifting and fading in the torchlight.
The girl watched.
He said, “Did they send you here…”
“I met your brother once,” her sister said. “Long ago… But no, no one sent me. At least, not now. I was sent a very long time ago. Now I’m back.”
She sat on the veranda. “They say this is the start of a new age. Have you heard, lord? An age of plagues. Come,” she nodded to the small stone steps, “sit with me. I hope some better things may soon arrive. Come pray with me, lord ame’in.”
He didn’t move.
“Do you not hope so, too?”
“Get out,” he said. “Now.” He’d drawn his sword. He’d stepped forward. The girl hadn’t noticed when.
She smiled. “Yes. Good warrior. Good man. Do you know who I am?”
“Guards,” he hissed.
No one would come. The air fell still.It’s waiting for us, the girl thought.Not much longer now.
“Do you know who I am?” the woman asked again. “Because… sometimes, I can’t remember. Maybe one day.”
She trailed off. She sat calmly. She was unbothered by the cold.
“Come,” she said, “please sit. I have something very important to tell you.”
“What do you want?” he asked.
“You are in pain. I see it in your eyes. I’ve been taught to help. I was a shrine maiden, once. Long ago. But now… now there is so much pain. Everywhere. Too much… What I want, sometimes I can’t remember. But I know what must be done. I am the messenger of the gods, that is who I am.”
She looked up. “Do you miss her? Your Nariko, the Blue Lady whom you loved. They killed her, you know, shot an arrow in her back. The body lay there, it was lost, in the fighting. Someone’s horse trampled on it at the end. Her perfect little skull…”
“Stop,” he said. More a cry than a word.
“What if you could see her again? Would you like to see her? Your beloved?”
“Enough of this,” he snarled, heading for the gate.
But then he stopped.
The girl had stood, with her head at an inquisitive angle, watching him.
“Hello.” She wiped a hand across her face. She looked at her hand, now stained red, and leaned over to wipe it on the snow.
Shigeo gripped the sword, pointing it at her.
