Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [300]
“Oh, I am. I just don’t want to see myself right now.”
For that would make the transition back all the more painful. Wayfinder Lau took his hand off the lamp and put it back upon his knee.
“I’m going to fight, and this time, I’m going to win.” Beyond the circle of light, the girl’s eyes sparkled.
“This is why you come to me tonight? To tell me this?”
“Yes.”
“All that way?”
“I wanted to let you know that this time, no matter what you do, you won’t be able to stop me.”
“Oh?”
“Not in the slightest. I’ll be working with Wataru, you see. I’ll show you.”
“Not with Mitsuru?” Wayfinder Lau asked, though he knew her answer. He saw her flutter in the corner. “Mitsuru was too tough a nut to crack, is that it?”
She sighed. “He’s useless,” she said with a pained expression on her face.
Wayfinder Lau lowered his eyes. It was a simple thing to imagine how things must have gone. Mitsuru was quite talented, and his eyes were sharp. “You beckoned to him, and he saw through your disguise and pushed you away. Is this not what happened?”
The girl did not answer. Wayfinder Lau could see her slender shoulders hunch over tightly. “Wataru is nicer,” she said in a little voice. “That’s why I want to help him. That, and his determination is unlike that of any Traveler I’ve ever seen. Oh, I’m sure he’ll go far.”
Wayfinder Lau brushed his robes, shivering. When did it get so cold? “Wataru is not the only one with a will of stone. Mitsuru is the same. I wonder why you cannot see this?”
Continuing, he said, “It is because they are young, m’lady. For the very young to rail against their own bitter fate, they must draw upon all their strength and spirit. That is why they are so steadfast.”
And that steadfastness is why you will not succeed. No matter how gentle Wataru may be—so Wayfinder Lau thought.
“Remarkable, simply remarkable,” the girl said, with a voice that sounded like grinding teeth.
Outside, the relentless patter of the rain marked the passing of time.
“I’m sure that even if Wataru knew my true form, he wouldn’t push me away. That’s why it’s going to work. I’m sure of it.”
Wayfinder Lau turned back to his desk and picked up his pen. He began to write. Before he had even finished a sentence, the girl standing by the window disappeared. Wayfinder Lau did not bother to look up. Even though she was gone, he still felt a presence—something low to the floor, weighty and vile, slinking away from the light of the lamp.
When he could no longer feel the presence, Wayfinder Lau stood up from his chair, walked over to the window, and opened the heavy shutters. A fine mist of rain brushed against his face, dampening the white hairs of his brows and whiskers. The trees in the forest swayed. They were shaking their heads, scratching their branches together, all of them wide awake.
“Sorry about that,” the Wayfinder said to them in a little voice. “To bed with you now. There’s nothing to worry about. Nothing will happen to our Vision. Sleep, and I’ll see you in the morning.”
The rain continued to fall quietly. The trees of the forest clung together, half frightened and half wary. They continued their sentry of the Village of the Watchers—the rain falling like silver from the sky.
Chapter 43
The Plan
In the morning, Wataru lay on his simple wooden bed and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. Bright sunlight streamed through the window. His late-night chat with Kutz seemed more like a dream than anything else.
I’m awake. A new day is starting. It wasn’t a dream.
Last night, Kutz had revealed her plan to Wataru. A select team of Highlanders was to sneak into the Northern Empire and assassinate Emperor Gama Agrilius VII. She wanted Wataru to be part of that team.
“We’ve been planning the assassination itself for a long time. Still, our means were limited. We thought we might wait for trade season to begin and sneak aboard a merchant sailship. But the danger involved is rather high. You and your wyrmflute changed the situation considerably. If we ride on a dragon, we can get to the north by air.