My heart sank. Countless nights I had lain awake, blaming myself for what had happened. I didn’t regret following Raikama and learning what she really was. But what if I had run to Father first, and not my brothers? What if I had been more careful, had listened to Kiki and not gotten caught?
What if I had never agreed to learn magic from Seryu?
I could have done a hundred things differently, but it was too late now.
I retreated to the corner, hoping to disappear among the shadows. My brothers, still arguing, barely noticed.
“You think our sister is a demon like our stepmother?” Yotan exclaimed. “You must be more bird than man, Reiji, for your wits to be so scrambled!”
“Father forbade magic for a reason,” Reiji said tightly. “Ourancestorsforbade magic for a reason.”
“So you would have our sister banished?” asked Hasho.
“I would have her tell Father the truth instead of getting us all cursed!”
“Enough.” Andahai raised a hand to stop the arguments. In the past, that was all it took for my brothers to listen, but Reiji still sizzled with anger.
“Enough, Reiji,” Andahai warned. “Shiori is returned to us, and we go forward together. Understood?”
When Reiji finally nodded, my eldest brother exhaled.
Hasho found me in the corner, and he took my damp cloak, hanging it up and exchanging it for a thin blanket, which he wrapped around my shoulders. “Come outside,” he said. “Let Reiji calm down.”
We stepped out onto the ledge, and I sucked in the brisk air. Trees rustled below, and crickets chirped against the howling wind. Stars shimmered in the evening sky, but I could no longer see the moon.
“We missed you, Shiori,” said Hasho. “Reiji, too, though you must be patient with him. The curse has been…difficult, especially on him. He knows you did the right thing. He’s just taking longer than the rest of us to accept it.”
I looked up at my youngest brother. His eyes were the same gentle ones I had always known, yet now there was a sadness that wasn’t there before. Seeing it made my heart sit heavier in my chest.
Hasho’s shoulder brushed against mine. “Perhaps there is some good to come of this curse. The six of us are learning to work together. Now that we’ve found you, it’ll only be a matter of time before we defeat Raikama.” He gave me a half smile. “We must stay together if we are to break her enchantment.”
Hasho and I returned to the cave, and the first thing I did was seek out Reiji. He loitered by the hearth, watching lotus root and chestnuts boil. When he saw me, he started to turn away.
I didn’t let his attitude dishearten me. I approached his side, waiting until, little by little, his shoulders—tight with tension—relaxed.
Reiji released a quiet sigh. “I would never want Father to banish you, Sister,” he said, “whether or not you have magic.”
It wasn’t an apology, but it was enough for now.
I touched his hand, showing that I understood.
Hasho broke between us with a smile. “Come, let us celebrate your return. We don’t have much by way of food.” Hegestured at the paltry supplies in the back of the cave—asack of bruised oranges, a smattering of chestnuts, and a set of broken clay cups. “But beginning tomorrow, we’ll have to double our efforts, knowing your hearty appetite.”
Already my stomach was grumbling, but the stew boiling in the pot wasn’t finished cooking, and I had questions.
I pointed at their arms and legs, then at the moon outside.You turn into men at night?I asked, mouthing the question that had been nagging at me since their transformation. I’d been worried they were cranes forever.
Benkai was the one who answered. “Yes, but it isn’t the consolation you might think, Shiori. Our minds are sharper than most cranes, but the days blur together when you’re a bird, and we don’t always remember that we’ll transform at dusk. It’s especially dangerous when we’re flying—several times, we’ve almost fallen from the sky….”
His voice trailed, and he folded his long arms over his legs.
But when you’re men, you can try going home.I drew the character for men and home on my hand.Father will—
“Father won’t recognize us. No one does. The curse follows us even when we are men. If we try to give any indication of who we really are, we turn back into cranes.”
The curse followed me too. I’d tried to write my name to that sentinel, but Raikama’s snakes warned me away.
“We have no hope of reaching Father,” said Andahai grimly. “The nearer we are to home, the more powerful our stepmother’s enchantment becomes. Even if the moon is risen, we won’t turn back into men.” My brother’s tone darkened. “What’s more, Raikama has ordered the guards to shoot any cranes that venture too close to the palace.”
