Page 54 of Caught in the Devil’s Hand

“We’ll come upon the gate any moment now. Young Oka won’t be able to see it, but I’m curious to know if Shumei can.”

Pressured by his comment, she tried to concentrate, but as the seconds ticked by with no gate in sight, she wondered if he had passed it on purpose.

Then she spotted it: an entrance consisting of two large doors taller than the wall and situated beneath an elaborate arch. She could tell some of the forest growth had been pruned, and peered closer at the magical markings carved into the wood. She didn’t recognize any of them, but she could feel something powerful on the gate. Her eyes watered as she tried to maintain eye contact with it.

“Very good,” he said, close to her ear again.

He dismounted. Oka was rapt as Vallen approached the gate, and Shumei had to admit she was also excited. She expected something grand, like the wave of his hand and a flash of light.

However, he merely leaned into the gate, pushing with what seemed like a minimal amount of effort, and it swung open with hardly a sound.

Oka’s shoulders drooped. “That’s it?”

“For a normal human, the weight of the door would be much more difficult to push open, but yes, that’s it,” he said with a smile. “My father cast all the spells protecting this estate. If anyone but me and a few others had tried to even touch it, there would have been a great clanging noise right before you were punched away from the entrance.”

“I’m certainly glad, then, that you were the one to open it,” she replied with raised eyebrows. “Ah!” A jolt of pain in her wound made her hiss and wince. She touched the bandage Vallen had wrapped around her shoulder. Apparently, the numbness of some hastily applied medicine was wearing off.

“Are you all right?” Oka asked, trying to twist in his seat to look at her. Vallen quickly returned.

“I think I need a new bandage and probably some rest. I still feel exhausted for some reason,” she said with a sigh.

“Then let us not delay.” Vallen took the horse by the reins and it obediently followed him into the compound.

Like the wall surrounding it, the estate had been built to minimize impact on the forest. Though a few trees had been removed, the largest ones were still in place, and their canopy threw a deep shadow over everything, blocking the midday sun and its heat. The shade also cast a gloom about the place, which had clearly seen better years—better centuries, in fact.

The architectural style was not one she recognized, though what she knew of construction was limited to her village. The main building stood several feet above ground level on an array of stilts and braces. A covered porch appeared to wrap the structure. Most of the outer walls were lattice-type, wooden doors that slid open on tracks, and the paper-thin material stretched over them had ripped in several places. She would expect to see storm doors but supposed either the closeness of the forest or magic—or both—prevented most weather damage.

“I’ll take you around to the side with the bedrooms and drop you off at the sitting room. The horse must be taken care of before I forget things in our haste, but I won’t be long,” Vallen said, guiding them around the nearest corner of the main building.

Though she could see inside a couple of rooms through large holes in the paper doors, the rest of the expansive building was a mystery. The porch, it seemed, had not been cleaned in a while, though it had been swept recently.

“It’s pretty dirty,” Oka commented.

“The estate hasn’t had any staff to clean it in centuries. Maybe that’ll be your job soon.” She stiffened as the movement of the horse jostled her wound. “I just hope there are no spiders.”

“I’ll do another sweep as soon as I can,” Vallen called over his shoulder.

They arrived at the back of the building, and Vallen hopped up to the porch to slide open one of the doors. The paper looked white and fresh, as though it had been replaced recently. She smiled at a mental picture of Vallen cleaning.

The room beyond the sliding door was immaculate—and dark. Shumei spotted several sets of floor-level tables and cushioned seats with wooden backs. Vallen quickly lit a couple of lanterns, which cast a warm, soft glow. When he reemerged onto the porch, he made a clicking sound with his mouth, and she made a noise of surprise as the horse obediently sidestepped toward the porch, bringing them flush to the edge.

He helped Oka off first, who quickly made his way inside to inspect the room after shucking his shoes.

“This must be an expensive table,” Oka marveled. She looked to Vallen with an apology on her face, but he was smiling with amusement.

“Your turn,” he said, sliding his arms around her. He plucked her off the horse as easily as taking a jug off a shelf. She found her footing quickly, but he held her in a hug long enough for her to feel the erection confined within his pants and hidden behind the fall of his jacket. Of course, thanks to the binding, she had already known it was there before she had even gotten off the horse.

“If you weren’t injured and if we had privacy…” he whispered.

“Me too.”

“Whoa, this shelf thing is huge,” Oka exclaimed.

“That’s a cabinet, young Oka,” Vallen said as he guided Shumei into the room.

In addition to the furniture, a sunken hearth sat to the left, ready to be lit. Suspended from a metal rod above it was a large kettle. The rod went all the way to the bamboo ceiling, which was shaped to let out smoke through vents. The cabinet Oka had noted held other cooking implements, and a neat stack of firewood sat against the wall. The floor was made up of a mosaic of straw mats, some of which had been recently replaced. Sitting in one of the legless chairs, Oka wiggled his bottom against the cushion and stroked the smooth, dark wood of its arms.

“What kind of wood is that? It looks as black as night,” she said, gingerly sitting in the chair next to Oka’s. She gratefully leaned on her right elbow in favor of relaxing her left shoulder.