Spirit's Chosen (9 page)

If he thought he could make me back down with such a ferocious outburst he soon learned I was as stubborn as he. “Did you ever
listen
to Masa’s reasons for refusing to be our chieftain?”

“Pff! They weren’t reasons; they were excuses. He claims he can’t be our chieftain and our blacksmith too.” He dismissed this with a curt wave of one hand. “His wife’s father was our blacksmith before, and he isn’t too old to take up the job again. Your brother also insists he knows nothing about how to use weapons. We lost the war! Why would our chieftain need to fight for us now? Last of all, he wants us to believe he can’t make others follow him. Ridiculous! Why couldn’t he make others obey him—?”

“—when they won’t even pay attention to him?” I asked evenly. “
You
don’t.”

“It’s true,” Masa said, eyes downcast. “I know who I am. I’m a good blacksmith, a good neighbor, and—and I hope I’m a good husband.” He glanced at his wife Fusa, who gave him
a loving look and squeezed his arm protectively. “I would not be a good chieftain. I don’t deny that we need one, I’m just saying it shouldn’t be me.”

“But you are our chieftain’s only living son!” one of the other gray-haired nobles shouted. He should have said “
grown
son,” but was too eager to take Lord Hideki’s side to speak accurately.

Such a small slip of the tongue shouldn’t have been important. I noticed it, but imagined I was the only one.

“Only … living … son?”

The words were slivers of ice melting against my spine. They trembled on the air as my mother rose to her feet, clutching Takehiko close, and stepped toward the man who had spoken. Her eyes glowed with a strange brilliance. She looked like something from another world, a place of eternal night and unending horror. The clan elder was no coward, yet he backed away at her approach. Takehiko squirmed and kicked, whimpering for his mother, but when Yukari tried to take him from Mama’s arms she got a vicious kick that sent her staggering.

“Keep away from us!” Mama screamed, tightening her grip on the terrified child. “You’re insane! You want to hurt my precious Noboru, but I won’t let you! I’m a good mother; I’ll never let anyone take my baby from me. I will always protect him,
always
! Just because your child is gone, you think you can steal mine? And you!” She made a blood-chilling face at our gathered clan. “She’s turned all of you against us. I know! You think I don’t hear the lies? You call
my
son by
her
son’s name! There’s only one reason I’ve allowed you to get away with such hatefulness,
such falsehood: because we know the truth, my precious Noboru and I. Isn’t that right, my love?” She pressed her lips to the top of Takehiko’s head.

My little brother uttered a half-smothered protest, then jerked his head up. “I’m not Noboru!” he yelled in Mama’s face. Small as he was, he fought and pushed his way out of her arms and ran to Yukari. My stepmother seized her son and darted to Lord Hideki’s side, seeking protection.

Mama stared at her empty arms, then collapsed into a wailing huddle of pain and misery. “Demon, demon, give me back my boy! Have mercy, pity me, give him back!” She stretched out her hands to Takehiko. “O my youngest, my dearest, my lastborn treasure, my Noboru, why do you flee me? What has this madwoman done to turn your heart away from your own mother?”

I threw myself onto my knees beside her and once more tried to bring her back from the depths of renewed delusion. “Mama, you know the truth,” I murmured, hugging her. I had not seen her in such a bad way since the evening of my homecoming. “That’s Takehiko, not Noboru. Noboru is with Emi and Sanjirou, among the Ookami. He isn’t here, but he’s alive. Do you understand me?
Alive
.”

Her lips were trembling as she looked up at me. “Alive?” she repeated. I could sense nothing but emptiness behind her eyes. She lived, but her spirit was wandering. I had to bring it back.

“Master Michio!” I called. I didn’t need to say anything more. Our shaman was with me in an instant, his strong arms supporting my mother. I was free to reach into the folds of my sash and take out my wand and talisman.
I touched the clay image of the sun goddess to Mama’s brow and tilted my head back, beginning a chant for restoring balance and calm.

My incantation wove a spell that embraced my mother but also drew me into its rhythmically beating heart. The words and their deep, entrancing melody swirled around us. I could almost see them taking shape, becoming graceful, dancing creatures of mist and music. I felt my mother slump into my lap as Master Michio gently released her from his grasp. Her body moved with the deep, regular breath of peaceful slumber.

“Everything will be all right, Mama, you’ll see,” I whispered, cradling her limp body. “When spring comes, I’ll find a way to bring Noboru home again, I swear it. I don’t know how, but I’ll try, and with the spirits’ help—”

“… not fair.” The words were uttered in a low, dangerous growl.

I blinked. Had she spoken? “Mama?”

“It’s not fair!”
She punched both fists into my chest, knocking me over backward, and was on her feet before I fully realized that her tranquil slumber was a trick. “Why should
her
son live when mine are gone? Let her know my suffering!” She sprang away so suddenly and so fast that Lord Hideki hardly knew what was happening when she wrenched the firewood cudgel from his hands.

“You took my son!” she screeched. “I’ll take yours!” She brought the bludgeon down on Takehiko’s head. We heard the sickening crack of bone.

Yukari screamed.

I scrambled after my mother, but I was too late. Lord Hideki had recovered from the shock of her assault and tore the cudgel from her hands while my stepmother Yukari’s shrieks and sobs echoed through the wintry air. She lay curled up on her side, a ring of helpless, confused onlookers hovering over her, too ignorant to know what to do, too stunned to move away.

Beside her, miraculously unharmed, my little brother Takehiko stared at his mother’s unnaturally bent right arm, the one she had thrust into the path of the descending club to shield her child.

Master Michio moved with astonishing speed, his expression grave as he examined the broken bone. I should have run to fetch the supplies he would need to help her, but I could not leave my mother; not now.

“Kaya …” I only had to speak her name and my friend was there, poised to help me. As briefly and accurately as
possible, I described the things that Master Michio would need and where he kept them. She nodded crisply and was away.

I wished our clanfolk had behaved half as helpfully. In the wake of this scarcely averted tragedy, only a few of them did anything actually useful. While Shoichi’s widow took charge of my weeping little brother, Masa’s wife, Fusa, saw to it that the new mother, her infant, and her little son were taken home safely. Masa himself remained where he was, shocked by what had happened, yet ready to take a stand for our mother’s sake.

The rest of our clanfolk gathered to gawk at her, now limp and whimpering in Lord Hideki’s unyielding grasp. The old warrior’s face was flushed scarlet, though I couldn’t tell if it was from rage or the humiliation of having a woman disarm him. When her legs folded under her, he didn’t relax his grip, letting the weight of her body dangle painfully by one arm. Her sobs could have melted stone.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt Yukari, forgive me, I don’t know what happened to me, I can’t … I can’t …” She gasped for breath and covered her face with her free hand, filling her palm with tears.

“Let her go,” Masa said, his lips a small, taut line. “You’re hurting her.”

“After what she did?” Lord Hideki snarled. “If you want to talk about
hurting
someone …”

“I’m done talking.” Masa seized Lord Hideki’s wrist and squeezed. My big brother had a blacksmith’s strength. Mama’s captor grunted in pain and released her. Masa caught her as she fell and swept her into his arms as if
she were a child. She clawed at the front of his tunic and moaned. “It’s all right, Mama,” he said kindly. “I’m taking you home.” He turned and began to walk away.

“You
dare
—?” Lord Hideki thundered.

Masa paused and looked back. “You wanted me to be a chieftain, to make decisions for our clan. This is my decision.”

“This? Treating her as if she did nothing wrong? She tried to
kill
that child!”

Mama heard his words and uttered a cry so terrible my heart flinched in pain. “She didn’t know what she was doing!” I protested. “She isn’t well.”

“For a sick woman, she has a demon’s strength,” Lord Hideki countered. He lifted his chin at Masa. “Go now, but see to it that she is ready to face the consequences of her crime tomorrow.”

My older brother shrugged. “So be it.” He carried Mama away just as Kaya returned with the supplies needed to care for Yukari.

As Master Michio and I examined my stepmother’s broken bone as tenderly and effectively as we could, Kaya took charge of Takehiko. His recent ordeal had left my unhappy little brother wide-eyed as an owlet and nervous as a mouse between the fox’s paws. At first he refused to be parted from his mother, but Lady Badger had her clever ways of conjuring smiles and kindling laughter. She soon had him riding on her shoulders while Yukari received the care she needed.

My stepmother was fortunate: the break lay just below her wrist. It was simple to set, and with the spirits’ help
would heal more quickly than if it had been the wrist itself that took the brunt of the cudgel blow. Master Michio sent for a bowl of boiling water, steeped some crushed herbs, and had her drink the mixture to dull the pain.

I had just finished tying Yukari’s bandage when I became aware of the muffled hum of voices all around me. Bits and scraps of words flew through the air like petals swooping on the dawn breeze. Time and again I heard my mother’s name, but never once spoken with anger or condemnation: only pity.

They understand!
My heart sang with blessings.
Our clanfolk
know
she was not herself when she attacked Takehiko! They don’t blame her for it
. I wished I could embrace them all for such wonderful compassion.
If anyone is at fault for what happened here today, it’s me. I should have watched her more closely. I wanted to believe she was well again before that was so. I won’t make that mistake again. Tomorrow I will begin her healing anew, and this time I won’t pretend that she is better until it’s true
.

Master Michio gathered up the remains of all the items we had used on Yukari’s broken arm and carried them back to his house. I stood and helped her to her feet. My stepmother cast anxious eyes all around. “Where is he?” she quavered. “Where is my son?”

“It’s all right; he’s with Kaya,” I soothed her. “Let’s walk home and wait for them while you rest.”

“Home …” Yukari drove the fingers of her good hand into my arm. “Oh, Himiko, will
she
be there too?”

I saw the desperate fear in her eyes and wanted to weep. My mother and Father’s junior wives had been as close as sisters. They shared joys, turned their backs on foolish
jealousies, and offered one another comfort in times of grief. They had made our home a place of harmony and love.

Now it was a dark haven of dread.

I took a deep breath. “I think Masa will keep her at his house. He was heading in that direction. Fusa and Toyo are good daughters-in-law; they’ll see to it that she’s well tended. You and Takehiko will be safe tonight.”

“Yes, tonight … but tomorrow?” She shivered. “What are we to do, Himiko? We can’t banish her from her own home, but if she’s there, how can I close my eyes for an instant, knowing that the madness could change her again, without warning?”

“We will do everything we can to prevent that.” I spoke as if I were the mother and she the child. “Perhaps we can have Toyo come live with us just to look after her. That would help keep the peace in our house and Masa’s.” I gave her an encouraging smile.

Yukari relaxed and let go of my arm. “Thank you, dearest child. I’m sorry for acting like such a rabbit. Your mother was kind to me from the first day I entered her home. I want nothing more than for those good days to return, but …” She sighed. “But I must protect my boy. Oh, Himiko, if only the Ookami hadn’t taken her Noboru! It was hard enough for her, having to bury two sons and a husband, but to have her youngest torn away—! Do you think they will ever permit him to come back to her?”

“We can hope for that,” I said, though I didn’t believe it. I knew that my littlest brother was much too young to be of any value to the Ookami as a slave, but he was a precious hostage. “When that day comes, we’ll see her fully
restored. Noboru’s return will heal her mind far better than any shaman’s chants or potions. Meanwhile, Master Michio and I will do what we can for her and pray that the spirits show mercy.”

I brought Yukari home and insisted that she lie down on her bedroll. I was preparing a warm herbal drink to promote the swift healing of broken bones when Kaya and Takehiko came in. My friend had performed wonders, changing our scared little mouse back into a glad-hearted, laughing boy. By the time we all went to bed, the only reminder of the day’s turmoil was my mother’s absence.