We saw Governor Abé, Mayumi, and the children off just before dawn. The children cried a bit as they were leaving. While I felt a bit like crying myself, I was relieved to see them and the mirror leaving the city.

Forty-one days had passed since Akiko’s death. We had only eight days left to lay Akiko’s spirit to rest. Unfortunately, with the preparation for the defense of the Spring Palace and the trip to see the Dragon King, there was no time to even think about it.

Surei and Professor had canceled practice, morning drill and activities so everyone but those on duty could get some sleep. However, everyone was up and working by noon. Surei wasn’t going to let a little thing like an attack by spectral tigers, a mujina, and an onmyouji disrupt the operation of her business.

The day was hot. Even the garden by the pond, which was shaded by the sakura trees, was hot. I was sweating so much I was as drenched as if someone had poured a bucket of water over my head.

I made the mistake of entering the kitchen to get lunch. Although Cook had removed the solid wood panels and installed light latticed screens around the building to allow air to flow through, it didn't help. The kitchen, heated by the ovens, was as hot as one of the Nine Hells. I grabbed a bowl from the counter and grimaced when I tasted it. It was barley soup. I looked around to see if something else was available.

Cook saw my reaction and glared at me. “Barley soup is not good enough for imperial princes?”

“Well, I prefer rice.”

“Humph. Nobles eat nothing but rice and they’re sick all the time. Peasants eat barley and don’t get sick so often. You eat barley.”

Clearly, barley soup was all I was going to get.

“Rice is too expensive to serve staff all the time, anyway,” Cook muttered as I left.

I retreated back outside and ate, seeking the slight relief provided by the shade in the garden.

A boy who I had seen working around the stables came running up. “Minamoto-sama, the mistress asks you to join her in her office.”

I sighed. That meant a long walk all the way across the compound, and my leg still hurt abominably from the fight the night before with the mujina. As I passed the Winter Hall, I was surprised to note the number of patrons inside drinking. Like the kitchen building, the solid panels had been replaced by latticed screens, but it couldn’t have been very comfortable inside. When I went past the Summer Hall, it was even more crowded. Worried-looking men clustered together in small groups and talked quietly.

As I approached Surei's office, the air filled stench of fresh varnish. I knocked on the doorframe and went in.

The smell was so overpowering in the building I began coughing. “Ugh,” I said, fanning my face to try and get some untainted air.

“Paints and dyes bleed when immersed in water.” Surei waved a something around in one hand while pointing to a bucket full of water on the floor in front of her. “I need to make sure that any water-breathing spell I come up with doesn’t stop working halfway to the bottom of the lake because the characters got wet.”

She looked at the object she had been waving around and tapped it with her fingernail. Nodding in satisfaction, she handed it to me. “This will last for days underwater. Fasten it to your wrist.”

It was a small plaque of wood sized to fit on a wrist. Surei had cut slots in both ends and threaded a leather strap through the slots. The wood had four Chinese characters on it, but I recognized none of them.

I attached it to my arm. The fit was snug but comfortable. “Now what?”

“We are going over to the bathhouse, and then you are going to try and breathe underwater. It would be foolhardy to meet the onryou without confirming that the spell works.”

I didn’t really want to be the first one to try out her magic. “Why don’t you test it?”

“I have to deal with customers, so I can’t get my hair wet. It takes hours to dry. You swore you would help me, Yoshi. This is your plan, after all.”

Grumbling under my breath, I followed her to where Dimples and Reiko had bathed me after my initial arrival at the Spring Palace. I shook my head. So much had happened since then, it seemed like a thousand years had gone by.

I stripped down to my fundoshi, climbed into the tub, and sat down. To my intense relief, the neck-deep water was cool and refreshing.

At last, a respite from this oppressive heat!

Surei watched from the doorway, holding something in her left hand.

I stared at the talisman on my wrist, reluctant to start. I wished I could just sit in the cool water for a while.

“Yoshi…” Surei said, putting her hands on her hips.

“All right, all right.”

Several years before, I had been involved in yet another expedition to wipe out a nest of pirates (when I thought about it, I had spent an awful lot of the previous eleven years killing pirates). We were coming in from the ocean, trying to catch them by surprise. We failed. The pirates knew we were coming and were waiting with fire arrows. My ship caught fire and sank. I am a good swimmer, but it takes time to get out of armor underwater. It took so long to get back to the surface I swallowed some of the sea water. I wasn’t looking forward to a possible repeat of the experience. I took a deep breath and ducked my head underwater.

It was quiet. The normal background sounds of the saké house were almost nonexistent down there—what little I could hear was reduced to a low background rumble. It was comfortable, too. With my head submerged, the water did an even better job of fighting the heat.

Now, all you have to do is to try and breathe in a little water. Just open your mouth and let a little in.

Nothing happened.

Come on, just a little breath.

It wasn’t working. I couldn’t convince myself to take that little breath. My mind might order it, but my body refused to do it.

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Finally, as my lungs were burning for lack of air, I opened my mouth. Unfortunately, I had waited too long. My lungs were so desperate for breath that instead of taking a small sip of water, I sucked in a lungful…

I catapulted out of the tub, coughing and hacking, spitting water everywhere. I tore the talisman off my wrist and threw it on the ground.

Surei looked at a scroll in her hand. “Hmmmm. That must not have been the right character. I was sure it was qí. But it must have been kong. Lord Mao stepped on the scroll with wet paws and smudged the character.”

She looked at the four talismans in front of her. Poking through them, she selected one and handed it to me. “Here, try this one.”

I was still coughing up water. Finally, I gasped out, “What? I have to do this again? How many times do you expect me to do this?”

Surei soothed me, “It was only the one character that was smudged, but there were only four possibilities, so worst case, you only have to do this three more times.”

“Three more times? Why don’t you have the cat try the talismans, instead of me?”

“Don’t be silly. We need Lord Mao to keep the mice down. I couldn’t take a chance of drowning him.” She shook her head. “Besides, you won’t have to try all three. I am certain the final character was kong. Remember, going to see the Dragon King of the Lake is your idea, not mine.”

She’s never going to let me forget that.

I attached the new talisman and ducked my head underwater. It was even more difficult this time, but I managed to take a breath more quickly, only sucking in a small bit of water. Instead of the choking, gasping reaction I was braced for, sweet, clean air filled my lungs. It was strange, but I didn’t have any sensation of breathing water, it just seemed like regular breathing. I luxuriated in the cool water for a moment or two.

Can’t risk drowning Lord Mao, can she?

I took a deep breath and gave a violent shudder. I convulsively threw my arms around and twitched my legs, imitating a drowning man. Finally, I floated to the top of the tub, face down and arms spread, my body motionless.

Surei yelled, “Yoshi! Yoshi!” I heard the sound of running feet. When she got close to the tub, I sat up and splashed her with water.

I smiled at her. “That’s for almost drowning me.”

“Ooooh, you!” She pushed my head back under the water. It was still nice and cool there. I thought about closing my eyes and taking a nap.

Surei reached into the tub, grabbed me by the hair and dragged my head above the surface. Then, she hit me on the shoulder. “Don’t do that! I’m already worried enough that my life might be tied to yours. You attract trouble the way honey attracts ants.”

“Your life is tied to mine?”

She rolled her eyes. “Remember the ‘We were not born on the same day, we simply ask that we die on the same day’ part of the oath?”

“Oh, right.”

She shook her head. “What kind of evil karma do I have to warrant such a destiny?” She blinked as if surprised by something she thought of. “Destiny…”

Surei gave a chuckle, which soon became snickers, which finally turned into out and out laughter. In fact, she couldn’t stop laughing.

“What’s so funny?” I said, annoyed.

In between gulps of breath and hoots of laughter, she managed to gasp out, “A great treasure. The most important men in the nation. Don’t you see it?”

Still irritated, I said shortly, “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“What exactly did that old Chinese fortune teller say to you?”

“That old fraud? Ummm, something like—You have exceptional destiny. You will receive great treasure. Most important men in nation will seek you out.” I shook my head. “It was all a bunch of crap.”

Surei managed to slow her laughing. “What is the greatest treasure of the nation?” she asked. “Well, one of three,” she corrected herself.

“One of three? The Imperial Regalia?” I shook my head in confusion. “The Three Sacred Treasures? Yata-no-Kagami?”

Suddenly, I realized what she was getting at. “What! You mean that because I have been carting around Yata-no-Kagami—”

Surei started laughing again. “You received a great treasure, one of the Three Sacred Treasures. And at Benkon’s exorcism, you told me how—”

“Having the Minister of the Right asking me all those questions about Akiko made me nervous,” I finished. “Oh, this is great!” I shouted. “What kind of stupid destiny is that?”

Surei kept laughing. “Exactly what he promised you. Oh, I must find that old man! He is an amazingly talented seer! Do you remember where you met him?”

“No! And if I do find him again, I’m going to—”

Surei put her hand on my arm. “Relax, Yoshi. You shouldn’t get upset, although I wonder if the old man told you that as a joke.”

She unfastened the talisman on my arm. “Besides, we need to get ready to go. I need to make another talisman for me. I also want to put a couple more layers of varnish on yours.”

I got out of the tub and started dressing. “I’ll go talk to the stable boys and have them prepare horses for us.”

Surei stared at me. “Horses? I can’t ride a horse. Can’t we walk?”

“No, we wouldn’t make it in time. The onryou come out after nightfall. We need time to deal with the Dragon King, and we want to be back here by tomorrow afternoon. Horses are the only way to do it unless you can make us fly.”

“You were there the only time I ever rode a horse. Do you remember how that went?” She had fallen off after only a brief time. She swore off riding and vowed she would walk or be carried anywhere she needed to go for the rest of her life.

I assured her, “You just hang on, and I can lead your horse. It will be a little slower, but it’s much faster than walking.”

Surei sighed. “All right.” She appeared to be more worried about the prospect of riding a horse than about being dragged by an onryou to the bottom of Lake Awaumi. Sometimes I wondered about her.

She started walking back to her office. “Meet me at the stables at dusk. Bring your weapons.”

As if I needed to be reminded to go armed. I yelled back at her, “Don’t forget the talismans!” She waved her hand without looking back.

*****

I got some incense and went to Akiko’s butsudan. The odds of me surviving the night were probably the worst I had ever faced. I needed every bit of assistance I could get, and it was long past time I report to my father.

I lit candles for my father and three brothers, threw incense into the brazier and knelt.

“Father, I am sorry I have not been as conscientious in my devotions as I should have been.” I winced. “I always seem to start that way, don’t I?”

I took a deep breath. “I am not sure how much you can see from the next world, but my life has suddenly turned into something out of a monogatari. Onmyouji, animal spirits, kami, ghosts, and now a dragon king. It is almost too fantastic to believe. I am living it and I can’t believe it’s happening.”

This wasn’t making a lot of sense. I rubbed my head in frustration.

Let’s try again.

“When we were young and Surei and I had one of our ‘adventures,’ you always punished me. I resented that, feeling Surei was actually the one responsible for the trouble. I understand now, the lesson you wanted me to learn was I needed to protect her.” I stared at the candle. “Why? Did you sense something about the two of us? Did you know our fates were tied together and we would need each other to overcome these challenges?”

Responsibility weighed heavily on my shoulders. I felt overwhelmed by all I needed to do.

“I don’t know if I can accomplish everything I am supposed to do. I have turned from the task you gave me to aid Surei and Akiko, but I fear I will fail at that as well. I know that for myself, I am not worthy of your assistance, but I hope what I am trying to accomplish is worthy of some aid. I will need all the help you and my ancestors can give me.”

I bowed my head. “I believe you would approve of my choices, and I ask for your blessing as we go forward.”

As I stood from my prayers, I felt a momentary calm that might have signaled my father’s approval.

Or maybe I was fooling myself.

I wondered if I would ever know.