Tora crept quietly down the dim corridor. Her slippers made tiny rustling noises on the smooth wooden floor and her heart pounded hard enough to make her kimono shake. Kanzen na Ryu's chambers were just ahead. Tora clutched at the small quartz tiger on its thong around her neck but found no reassurance there.
Enter the room, steal the necklace, she thought. Enter the room, steal the necklace. But why, Teacher? Why?
A spark of frustration flared within her but she pinched it out almost without thinking. No anger. Tora's teacher, Kanzen na Ryu, had her reasons.
Control your anger, Tora, she told herself. Control your anger or you will never find your focus.
The corridor made a sharp turn ahead and Tora peeped cautiously around the corner. Two husky men clad in red stood on either side of the paper shoji screen, hands on their sword-hilts. Tora blinked. Guards? Kanzen na Ryu had never put guards outside her chamber before.
Tora squinted into the dim light, then bit her lip to keep from crying out. The younger of the two men had broad cheekbones and large, dark eyes that gave him a boyish, even mischievous look despite the serious expression on his face.
Okamoto Namio. Why did it have to be Namio?
The warm evenings he and Tora had sat watching the ocean waves that were his namesake dropped into her memory with excruciating clarity, filling her mind with cool salty breezes and soft, warm sand. They were both anticipating the day when she would become a full sorceress and they could marry. Though Okamoto Namio, as a samurai, could marry any woman not of common birth, Tora had kept the idea at arm's length, not wanting to enter into an unequal partnership.
Now Tora was going to force him to commit suicide.
For a moment she was torn between her love for Namio and the duty she had sworn to Kanzen na Ryu ten years ago. It was a painfully short moment; hard duty and inflexible honor had to win out. Namio would have felt the same way.
Tora firmly wiped all expression from her face, then slipped a talisman from its place on her belt and ran shaking fingers over the round porcelain surface, checking for imperfections out of long habit. There were always imperfections, though most of the time only Kanzen na Ryu could see them. Only this morning, Tora had shown Kanzen na Ryu her best talisman to date--a black pear inlaid with gold sigils. It would change the person who swallowed it into a giant cat. That is, Tora had thought it would until Kanzen na Ryu had decreed it inexcusably flawed and taken it away to destroy later. It had taken several minutes of breathing exercises for Tora to calm herself.
But she is teacher and you are student, Tora reminded herself. That means she is right. Now go.
She took a deep breath and rounded the corner. Instantly Namio and the other guard tightened their stances, then Namio relaxed.
"Good evening, Okamoto-san," Tora said, careful to use Namio's formal name in public. She nodded a brief greeting to the other guard. "I must see the Lady."
"She is sleeping, Lady Tora," Namio said with a shy smile and bow. He had a low, pleasant voice. "Perhaps you can return later."
"That I cannot do." Tora paused and looked away. She pushed deep inside herself, looking for her focus to power the talisman. But, as usual, she only found the impenetrable wall of her temper. Nothing but a small flicker of power answered her call. "Can you forgive me, Okamoto-san?"
Namio furrowed his brow. "For what?"
"This." And Tora dropped her talisman. The delicate porcelain shattered almost silently and a cloud of white, sweet-smelling mist burst from the shards. Namio and the other guard had time to give her a surprised look before they dropped unconscious to the floor while Tora, immune to her own spell, looked on with an impassive expression. Inwardly, however, she was thankful that the swirling smoke hid Namio's face--she didn't know if she could bear to look at him now.
Perhaps it is not so bad that I cannot focus properly, she thought in an attempt to concentrate on something else. Otherwise the entire palace would be sleeping.
Tora squared her shoulders and slid open the screen to Kanzen na Ryu's sleeping chamber. Now that she was past the guards, she had no more need for quiet. The paper walls of Kanzen na Ryu's palace did little to muffle sound, and the sorceress certainly knew Tora had arrived.
She crossed the threshold. Moonlight flowed into the room through the garden window opposite Tora and a fresh breeze had already swept away the last of her sleeping mist. In the far corner, Kanzen na Ryu's round form lay face-up on her sleeping mat. The sorceress snored hard enough to rattle the paper walls, but even a child could tell she wasn't really asleep. Beside the sleeping mat lay a wooden tray which, judging from the crumbs and empty cups, had once been piled high with sweetmeats and sake jars. Open boxes spilled jewels and coins over the floor, some in neat piles, most in disarray. A low worktable occupied the exact center of the room and Tora padded quickly toward it, wrinkling her nose at the mess. She had never seen Kanzen na Ryu like this. What was happening here?
In the center of the worktable lay the necklace, an ugly thing constructed from jade and onyx stones bound by silver links. Even in the dim moonlight Tora could see symbols etched into the gems.
Tora hesitated. The necklace seemed to be waiting for her to pick it up, a snake hungry for the approach of prey. It had belonged to Kashiwara Toshi, a rival sorcerer, until Kanzen na Ryu had defeated him in battle three days ago and made him her vassal. Kanzen na Ryu had taken the necklace--along with the rest of Toshi's treasure--as tribute.
And now she wants me to steal it from her. But why? Tora shook her head. No--you do not ask questions. Just obey.
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