Fortune's Fool - Mercedes Lackey [30]
“Ah,” the shogun said with a raised brow. “I think this is where I come in. I have arranged for all of us to take a journey on the morrow.”
And so it was. The next day, three litters and an entourage embarked from the shogun’s palace. Runners went out beforehand, looking for men of rank and influence who had suddenly collapsed in the night. This had happened, of course, as the demons controlling them had been ripped from their bodies at the defeat of the witch. Each time one was found, the shogun offered to resolve the tragedy. As the son of the famous Ghost-hunter Prince, he was welcomed warmly by desperate and frightened families.
Once in the presence of those families, the shogun soothed their fears while the kitsune went to work, taking the stone from Katya—for it seemed to be most “comfortable” in her presence—and releasing the spirit held within it back into its proper vessel.
After a night of hospitality, they would move on. With every soul released, the stone grew dimmer, quieter.
Finally there was only one left. And this was where they made a slight detour. The shogun diverted them all down a path through the forest, a path so overgrown that Katya wondered how he could find it. And yet, when they came to the end of the path, there, in the midst of forest that seemed to have never felt that presence of man—
There was a Temple. And not merely a Temple, but an entire complex that included living spaces, smaller shrines, teaching rooms, halls for meditation, and several spaces for the training of martial arts. This was a place full almost to bursting with priests and monks.
But before they could step onto the grounds of the Temple, a priest appeared before them, holding up his hand.
“It devastates me to demand this of you, honorable visitors,” he said, “but only you, Prince, may go forward. I beg your companions to remain here.”
The kitsune looked startled, the Prince frowned, and Katya felt as if she had been slapped.
“Why?” Katya asked, making no effort to hide the fact that she felt insulted by this. The trek through the forest had been long and tiring and she had been a long time from open water….
“It is not because you are female, valiant foreign devil,” the Priest said, with a smile that softened the unflattering term. “Nor is it because you are a foreign devil. It is because you are both creatures of magic, and your presence will disturb some delicate magical workings, I fear. That stone you bear, weakened though it is, certainly will affect those workings, and I doubt that you would care to leave it in another’s custody.”
Katya blinked. “Oh,” she said, as Tamiko, who had been looking a bit irritated herself, relaxed. “I understand that completely. In that case—”
“And in that case, perhaps you will honor us by accepting our hospitality here,” the Priest replied. And before they could blink, a swarm of young monks had assembled a pavilion, brought tea, and a delightful old scholar had come to ask them about their adventure.
When they left, they did not go empty-handed. With them came six monks of a martial and magical order, and a magical craftsman.
And within three more days, it was all over. The last spirit was restored to his body, the craftsman had replaced the stone in the statue where it belonged, and the six monks were installed in the shrine to guard it from any more thieves. The old man was retrieved from the village, and set up as the chief of the new order here.
The shogun remained at the shrine while Tamiko escorted Katya to the sea coast, for the two women had become quite fond of each other over the past several days. They both had a passion for lovely things to wear that had left the poor Prince looking at them with bewilderment from time to time. And Katya was determined to learn as much about Nippon as possible. The next time she came here, she would be better prepared.
“Now you must go, I suppose,” Tamiko sighed, as they both stood on the rocks above the water. Katya had already removed the lovely robes she had just about gotten used to wearing, and given