Free Dragon Sword and Wind Child by Noriko Ogiwara Page A

serious. Saya could not help trembling, but she mustered the courage to speak, knowing that to show her fear would only increase the Princess’s enjoyment. “I have come here solely to serve Prince Tsukishiro.”
    Princess Teruhi looked taken aback, and the Prince laughed aloud.
    â€œYou see, sister. She’s an interesting girl.”
    â€œAn infant will reach out its hand even to grasp hot iron,” the Princess said with a snort. “It realizes its mistake only once it has been burned. Whether this child will still appeal to you then is another question.”
    â€œI have no intention of letting her get burned,” Prince Tsukishiro replied. “I will keep her just as she is.”
    â€œWell said,” Princess Teruhi sneered. With a scornful smile upon her face, she resembled a sleek and elegant feline. “And I shall see with my own eyes whether or not such a thing is possible. Why do you concern yourself with this child of Darkness? I can’t decide whether you are brave or foolish to boldly invite a mortal enemy to your side. Of one thing I’m certain, though.” The Princess leaned forward and looked coolly at Prince Tsukishiro. “Whenever you tire of the war, you find the Water Maiden and bring her home.”
    â€œTeruhi!” He scowled.
    Her eyes gleamed with satisfaction as if to say, You see. “I don’t understand you, brother. How can you tire of the war that prepares the earth for our father’s coming? I have never desired to rest from this task, anxious only for its speedy accomplishment. If it weren’t decreed that we should govern Mahoroba alternately, I would never leave the battlefront. Yet you persist in this perversity, suddenly deserting the battlefield in your attraction to the people of Darkness.”
    Prince Tsukishiro looked grim. Although he did not show his feelings as much as his sister, his smile was cold.
    â€œThere’s no need to hurry, sister. Neither god nor demon can divert the will of the illustrious God of Light. What is the will of our divine father is the destiny of this world. His advent will surely come.”
    â€œYou are hard-hearted, brother. It’s difficult to believe that we’re children of the same father,” said Princess Teruhi, disgruntled.
    â€œNo, I am his child. Even what you call my perversity is part of him,” Prince Tsukishiro replied quietly.
    â€œOur celestial father does not desire you to sully your eyes with Darkness!” Princess Teruhi shouted, slamming her sake cup down on the floor. Her anger flared like a sudden blaze of flame. Unconsciously, Saya recoiled and gradually began edging away.
    â€œWhat business does the God of the Pure Light have with them? Only by sweeping the Darkness from the face of the earth will a new and radiant world be created. That’s the reason our divine father intends to descend to this earth.”
    â€œI wasn’t proposing anything to the contrary,” the Prince responded, evading outright argument. “What you say is always true.”
    Having lost a target for her anger, Princess Teruhi folded her arms and scowled at him. “Why is it that you always go round in circles? I have despaired of the youngest member of our family, who is a total failure, but you never do what I want you to either. What’s wrong with you?”
    Prince Tsukishiro regarded his sister with an unfathomable expression. Finally he said, “We get along best when we don’t spend much time together. When you’re at Mahoroba, I’m at the battlefield. And when I’m at Mahoroba, you’re at the battlefield. So it has been since ages past. Yet originally you were our divine father’s left eye, and I, his right. Both of us should be looking at the same thing.”
    Princess Teruhi rose indignantly. Her long hair swept the floor. “Nay, brother, you and I look at all things with our backs turned to each other,”