We tried to gather fruit
in this sorrowful world
Such is life –
Flowering no more
The wind came; he went out, held the slim paper on an open palm, waiting until the breeze picked it up and carried it away. She caught one last glimpse, a small white streak in deepening blue, then it was gone.
“You should get some rest,” he said, at last. “It will happen in the morning.”
On her way back to the barracks, she met the no’in she’d noticed before, a short young woman in black clothes and shin-wraps and mud-splattered cloaks.
“Ame’in,” the woman said, head low.
Kai considered her. A servant? A porter? She was clearly nervous. Kai thought,I should show a gentle hand. “What is it?”
“I… know your brother, ame’in,” the woman said. “We grew up together. In a way. But, what I mean is, I wanted to tell you… He’s a good warrior, he’s with your cousin… They’re behind us but they’re coming. He’ll help.”
Kai found it hard to meet her eyes, and didn’t know why.
“There’s still hope,” the woman said. “That’s all I meant. Thank you, ame’in.”
Before Kai could respond, the woman bowed quickly, hurried away.
Kai wondered who she was. Why a no’in porter would claim to know her brother, and wondered if Sen Hoshiakari would be the force that changed the tide. She was left with nothing but the silence of the night, the tired lines on the young no’in woman’s face, the shadows under her eyes, and the feeling that something had been haunting her.
I’m fighting for you, Kai thought.To help all people and rid the corruption from this land.But she knew she’d never understand the ghosts that haunted people like this woman, knew she’d never learn the woman’s tale. She would just pass on, another blade of grass in the windswept sea.
Kai wondered what ghosts lay behind the woman’s eyes, why it looked like she was hurting. Why it seemed the ghosts would win.
CHAPTERFORTY
Rui
Rui found herself walking through the dark hours, unable to sleep. She wandered toward the small sanctuary garden at the heart of the temple, with its ancient ceremonial well. The other two, she knew, were at the north and east gates.
“What’s on the other side of the bridge?” she asked, seeing the young noble, Atsu, sitting on the steps in borrowed armor.
Atsu shrugged. “Other temple.”
Rui had come to like the young woman, whom Myorin had found fleeing the capital. They were both outcasts, in their way, surrounded by people they didn’t know. She tried to make a joke. “What, you nervous? Never killed anyone before?”
“No.”
“It’s not so hard…”
She began to say more, to laugh it off, but her voice caught in her throat. Again Idachi Honnen’s startled face floated before her, and she fell to silence, overcome by thoughts of home, of hands on her shoulders like iron; of the spear in her grasp, and of the surprise, the terror in the young man’s eyes before he fell. She spent the next moments trying to say something else, to somehow undo what she had said, but by then the Jibashiri had called, and Atsu left, and Rui was alone again.
She walked for an hour. The temple bell began to chime, and she found herself drawn toward the biggest of the three wells, in the courtyard.Beyond them, the little path between the buildings led east toward the Onji River and its bridge. All around her, Nioh’s guard were preparing for battle alongside the river monks who’d sworn to defend them. She could hear the distanttock-tockof their hammers, building an improvised barrier they knew would never hold for long.
The Jibashiri were deep in conversation by the belltower, planning how best to make sure Prince Nioh got out before the fighting came. They would leave at first light, after the horses had a chance to rest, and make their way east, toward Tokuon’s army. “I pray we make it in time,” she heard Tsuna say.
She sat beside the well, trailing her finger along its edge. The stone, dark and polished, felt slippery under her touch. She thought of a bird landing lightly on her shoulder. She thought of eaten dreams.
“Rui.” Jobo limped toward her with one hand on the spear he now carried at all times, instead of his staff. “You shouldn’t wander alone. Come back to the dormitory.”
“I couldn’t sleep,” she said.
