Free Dragons on the Sea of Night by Eric Van Lustbader Page B

exceptional divers, and part of their fortune had been amassed through the sale of pearls.
    As Chiisai came and sat next to the Dai-San, she took his hand, her fingertips closing over the familiar warmth of the extraordinary pearl. She had been delivered of the secret knowledge of the pearl’s properties by her mother before she had died, and one day, after she had taught her own daughter how to dive, she would divulge the secrets of the Kray oyster’s blue pearl. Her father, the Kunshin, did not know these secrets, and neither did the Dai-San. She saw it as a symbol of the depth of her love for him that she had given him this gift of such hidden power.
    â€˜Must you go?’ she said, although of course she knew the answer.
    â€˜I was created for war, Chiisai. Not for me home or hearth, family or love.’
    She leaned forward, her face creased with worry. ‘But we love one another.’
    His high helm flashed darkly as he turned his head. ‘We have been one, and when we couple I see your heart. That is very special to me.’
    She wanted him to continue but she knew that he had already said more than he would to almost anyone else. Only Moichi Annai-Nin, his bond-brother, meant as much to him as she did. ‘I would go with you,’ she said in an almost defiant voice.
    The Dai-San wiped his mouth, pushed his plate away. ‘Why do you desire this?’
    â€˜You know why,’ she said. ‘It is because I desire you.’
    â€˜That is not enough,’ he said in his enigmatic way. ‘Besides, there are compelling reasons for you to stay.’
    â€˜Do you believe Ojime?’ she asked. ‘Are the forces of Chaos massing once again beneath a new banner? Is there really a successor to the Dolman?’
    â€˜I believe the roll of the snow-hare bones,’ the Dai-San said. He rose and, with him, Chiisai. They crossed to the slitted windows, staring out at the geese flying in formation above Haneda’s fields and paddies, and beyond the dark, rising slopes of Fujiwara. ‘But as for High Minister Ojime, he is why I want you here in the capital. He has plans far and above those which he publicly espouses.’
    â€˜Have you heard something? How do you–?’ She gave a tiny gasp as those baleful eyes were turned upon her. Was it her imagination or did they glow with a febrile, unearthly light? What was he? Neither man nor god, but something in between, a creature for which there was no current definition.
    â€˜Ojime fears me,’ the Dai-San said, ignoring her questions for which there were no answers – at least no rational ones. ‘Perhaps he hates me as well. I daresay I would if I were him. But he bears close watching. He is a liar and a cheat. Also, he harbors grandiose ambitions. I am a stumbling block to those ambitions – as is your father.’
    â€˜But what if this mission he has sent you on is false? What if he means only to get you as far away from Ama-no-mori as possible?’
    The Dai-San regarded Chiisai’s exquisite face. ‘Then your reasons for remaining here are all the more compelling.’ He lifted her chin with one huge knuckle. ‘You are a warrior in your own right, Chiisai. It is not your karma to be either my concubine or my assistant.’
    She nodded and sighed. ‘I returned from Sha’angh’sei and the continent of man to be with you. I had thought to stay there a long time.’
    â€˜And you will go there again,’ he said. ‘But your instincts are solid. I can assure you that you did not return home simply to be with me. There is danger here – serious peril. And it is your destiny to confront it.’
    He stared again out the slitted window and she could feel his desire to be lifted into the clouds, to begin his long journey. It was as if a third entity had slipped into the hall and now stood, silent as a shadow, between them.
    Chiisai shivered a little, despite herself. It