Spirit's Chosen (29 page)

“Your precious Rinji couldn’t even do that much, and yet he’s living like a lord under Master Daimu’s roof,” Lady Sato replied. She turned her scowling face to me. “What are you staring at, girl? Your master gave you orders: obey them! Take care of my silly daughter-in-law first, then bring Lord Ryu a new tunic and scrub this floor while you can still get the stink out of it. You can wash the clothes in the morning.” She made a face at her son. “
Another
brilliant idea of yours, telling our one remaining slave to do laundry at night! If she wouldn’t have the sense to run off as soon as she was out of the gateway, she’d fall into the river and drown, and then who’d be left to serve me?”

I helped Chizu undress and lie down in her bedchamber before bringing water from the village well for my
chores. Lady Sato and Ryu were still quarreling when I returned, though she paused just long enough to snipe at me for taking too long. As I cleaned Chizu’s face and cooled her body with wet cloths, I heard the argument grow more heated. Apparently Ryu could win tribute from clan after clan without ever achieving enough to satisfy his mother.

Two names in particular kept cropping up on Lady Sato’s sharp tongue. I knew who Rinji was—clan shaman and
“the only person even less competent than you!”
—but who was Master Daimu?

The answer came on the breath of a sigh from Chizu’s pale lips. “I wish she wouldn’t do that to him.”

“Do what?” I asked as softly as I could.

“She always compares him to Master Daimu, and never nicely. She makes it sound as though she wishes she were the shaman’s mother instead.”

“I thought Master Rinji was your clan’s shaman.”

“Not exactly. He was Master Daimu’s apprentice.”

“What happened to his master?” I remembered the death of my own beloved teacher, Lady Yama, and felt a pang of pity for Rinji. It was hard to lose someone with whom you worked so closely and who understood some aspects of your spirit better than anyone else, even your family.

“Oh, Himiko, don’t look so sad!” Chizu whispered. “Master Daimu isn’t dead, he’s just gone. He left us many seasons ago. The spirits told him to make a great pilgrimage, though he never told any of us why. He will be back some day.” She sighed again. “I hope it’s soon. Master Rinji tries hard but … my mother-in-law is right about him. He’s
not
very good as a healer. If all goes well, I won’t need him
to help with the birth, but I feel so sick, and I’m so afraid it means I’ll need someone besides a midwife, and if Master Rinji makes a mistake I know I’ll be blamed because my husband always takes his side, and—”

I patted her hands, trying to calm her before she became so overwrought that she attracted Ryu’s unwanted attention. “
Shhh, shhh
, you mustn’t fret. It’s perfectly normal to feel sick when you first become pregnant. A few more turns of the moon and it will pass. Remember, I am always ready to help you. Now if you’re comfortable, why don’t you go to sleep?”

“I am tired,” she admitted. She settled down on her bedroll only to bolt upright and beg to know: “Do you think I’m
too
tired, Himiko?” I reassured her that weariness was just as normal as an unsteady stomach during early pregnancy, and she was able to sleep without further worries.

The following morning, Lady Sato kept finding fault with her breakfast. First she demanded a fresh bowl, then a helping of rice gruel scooped from the top of the pot, then the bottom, then the middle. Ryu scolded her for calling me back and forth so many times, not because he felt bad to see me being run ragged but because his mother’s fussiness was bringing me into unavoidable contact with Noboru.

“She is
not
to spend any time with the brat,” he said. “Is that so hard to accomplish?” He glared at my little brother, who had scarcely begun to eat his breakfast. “Get out of here! Hide yourself! Go!”

“Stay right where you are, boy,” Lady Sato commanded.
She regarded her son coolly. “Is this the sort of man you’ve become? One who starves innocent children?”

“Mother, he can take his food with him.”

“And spill it everywhere! Of course, certainly, why not?
You
don’t have to clean up the mess.”

“Neither do you.” Ryu’s jaw was tight. “The girl will take care of it.”

“Did it ever occur to you that I might have some
necessary
work for her to do today?” Lady Sato was a human rockslide: there was no stopping her once she got going. “Your tunic is still filthy from last night. Were you planning to
yell
at it until it gets clean? And the stench!”

“Himiko!” Ryu shouted at me. “Go wash my tunic at once!”

“Meaning that
I
must clear away the breakfast dishes?” Lady Sato’s eyes narrowed.

“Chizu will do—”

“In her condition? Look, she’s barely eaten anything! She’s going to be sick again, mark my words.” (That was only partly true: Chizu wasn’t eating because she was too fascinated by her mother-in-law’s tirade.) “No doubt you’ll want
me
to swab that up too. Why not? It’s just another mark of how much you
respect
the woman who gave birth to you.”

“How can you claim I don’t respect you?” Ryu threw his arms in the air, half mad with frustration.

“What sort of respectful son puts his miserable old mother to work in the very house where she used to have
seven
slaves to care for her?”

“We only had five!”

“Oho, so now I’m a liar? Yes,
that’s
how you honor me! Himiko, go to the cookhouse and fetch me whatever the field workers are eating today.
They
will be better fed than I.
They
are valued.”

Ryu uttered an incoherent exclamation of exasperation and stomped out of the house.

Lady Sato sat primly in her place until the last reverberation of his feet on the ladder faded. Then she cackled again: “Ha! I thought he’d never leave. Chizu! Stop picking at your food. Either eat it or leave it, but be done with it. Noboru! Stay here and finish your breakfast, then clean the dishes. Himiko! Close your mouth before it fills with flies, splash some water on your cheeks, and pull your hair out of your face. Rinji is a hopeless excuse for a shaman, but until the gods have pity and send Master Daimu home, he’s the only one we’ve got. You will look presentable before him.”

“Lady Sato, why must I see the Ookami shaman?” I asked.

“For two reasons: because I am your mistress and I say so! Now let’s go.”

Lady Sato knelt on the wide, airy platform in front of the Ookami shaman’s house and looked around her with distaste. Chizu was hunched over next to her, as though trying to fold her body into itself and disappear. I stood to one side, taking my place in the ranks of the shaman’s slaves. There were six of them—three men and three women, none from my clan. They were all gray-haired and wrinkled, but sturdy and well-fed. Judging by their comfortable attitude, they had a kindhearted master. As slaves, they had no choice about the lives they led, yet I got the feeling that even if they had been free, they would have picked this path.

Their master did not share their contentment. He had reacted to Lady Sato’s unexpected arrival like a speared frog and had not stopped twitching since. He would have been a good-looking young man if not for his alarming skittishness. Everything about him reminded me of a praying
mantis caught in a cookpot—long, skinny limbs and body, goggling eyes, and an air of jumpy desperation. The only difference was that the mantis had some hope of escape. I did not think it was possible to find someone who could arouse more pity than Chizu until I met Master Rinji.

“This is—is a great honor, Lady Sato,” he said, absent-mindedly cracking his knuckles. “I have been wanting to congratulate you on the approaching birth of your grandchild—your
first
grandchild, that is, for surely the gods will send your son and his lovely bride many more children. I have offered prayers every day for Lady Chizu’s safe pregnancy and delivery, and I hope—”

“Do
they
have to be here?” Lady Sato cut in rudely, jabbing her hand at the shaman’s servants.

“Oh! I am sorry. Shall I send them away?”

“
Shall
you?” Lady Sato performed a cruelly accurate mockery of the awkward young man’s tremulous voice. “
I
don’t know. Why don’t you ask their permission?”

Rinji bent his head, his face scarlet, and muttered words of dismissal. They retreated into the house and I was about to join them when a harsh command from Lady Sato brought me up short:

“Where do you think you’re going, troublemaker? Come here and sit. I didn’t bring you here to enjoy idleness. You’re lazy enough as it is! You are the reason we’re here, and the sooner I take care of things, the sooner you can get back to doing
real
work.”

I sat where she directed, next to Chizu, and wondered what that thorn-tongued old woman was up to. Rinji stole a questioning glance at me, but we were partners in ignorance.

“My dear Lady Sato, it is—it is my heart’s desire to help you in any way,” he said. “What can I do?”

“Something Master Daimu would never need to do,” she replied crisply. “Prove to me that you
are
a shaman and not just a sack of wind. This girl here is Himiko. Her father was chieftain of the Matsu clan until Lord Ryu defeated him. She is no longer a princess, but she
is
a follower of the spirits’ path.” She pierced him with a hard look. “A
real
one. Unfortunately, her undeniable magic arts led to an argument in our home—the details are none of your business—and it ended with my hotheaded son slapping her. Slapping a
shaman
, the very one who foretold my grandchild’s birth! Can you imagine such a thing?”

“Uh … what do you want me to do about that?” Rinji asked, squirming. “I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to scold Lord Ryu, but if you insist …”

“What I need you to
do
, boy, is work a spell to prevent any misfortune from coming to the baby because of my son’s rash act. The Matsu girl claims she would never ill-wish the unborn child, but I want to make sure of it. Use your magic to contain hers, and do it now!”

“Now, Lady Sato?” Rinji’s eyes darted all around, as if hoping to catch sight of someone to rescue him from the formidable old woman. “It will take me a while to make the preparations. Will you and Lady Chizu be comfortable waiting here, or would you prefer to come inside?”

“We have no intention of waiting. We have too many chores to do at home, chores that Chizu and I will have to do on our own since our one and only slave will be here for the better part of the day.”

“I’m sure it won’t take me all day to—”

“Do you intend to
rush
through the ritual? You make enough mistakes when you take things slowly. I saw how badly you stumbled when you had to bless the first rice planting this spring! Do this slowly and do it
right
, if you value your position. We are entrusting you with the life of the next Ookami chieftain. If Chizu gives birth to a healthy boy, I will come to you on hands and knees and swear you are a greater shaman than Master Daimu. If not …” She did not have to specify the consequences.

Rinji drew his head down between his rounded shoulders like a frightened turtle. “I swear by my ancestors, I will use all my powers to protect Lord Ryu’s son.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” With an unnaturally large sigh, Lady Sato stood up. “Come, Chizu. We have much to do and no one to help us do it. Do try not to strain yourself, dear daughter-in-law. Who knows what effect that might have on the baby?”

“Er, would you like to have one or two of my servants for the day?” Rinji blurted.

Lady Sato gave him a coy look. “You are too kind, Master Rinji,” she said, and took all six.

I stood at the edge of the platform and watched them go. “I’ll bet she finds a way to keep them,” I said.

“Probably.” Rinji shrugged. “I’ll be given others. I don’t need slaves to do much for me, but they tend the shrine too.” His sigh was sincere as he added: “If she does keep them, I hope she’ll treat them well.”

I tilted my head back and gazed up at the high, peaked roof that jutted out above us. “I was told that your house
and the clan shrine are the same building. We didn’t have an enclosed shrine in my village. I’m eager to see what it looks like inside.”

“Ah? You are?” he asked nervously. “Well, that’s good. We have to go in so that I can, er, fulfill my promise to Lady Sato. This way, please.”

I followed him into the cool shadows of the building. Everything I saw enthralled me. The first thing I noticed was how new everything was. The roof soared steeply, its thatch still exhaling the fragrance of cut grass, and the supporting pillars still held the spirits of the trees they had once been. I placed one hand against the smooth wood and felt it tingle with the forest’s song.

Two corners of the interior were curtained off. When I gave Rinji an inquiring look, he explained: “The smaller one is where I sleep and the larger one is where I prepare medicines and keep the things I use in the rituals. Would that interest you?”