Beneath Ceaseless Skies #53 Read online

  “I’m sorry,” I said, though the word seemed like nothing.

  “I do not need your pity, Lord Yamada. I need for you to understand me. If Lord Akio did not marry Suzume, he would marry another. If the gods will that this be the end of our love, then it will be so. But I do not think that will be the case. Perhaps that hope is an illusion, but I will cling to it. Now. Is there anything else?”

  “No, Lady Ayame.”

  “Then this audience is at an end.”

  * * *

  On the evening of the third day I found Nobu pacing the perimeter of the mansion, his prayer beads in hand. “I’m glad you’ve returned,” he said. “I think we’ll need all the aid we can find.”

  “Did the creature return last night?”

  “Yes, but the seals held. It didn’t get in. But I warned you that the seals were losing potency, and my messengers have not yet returned from EnryakuTemple. If they don’t come after tonight we’ll be back to bare exorcism.”

  “You have no seals at all?”

  He grunted. “Only two that I still trust, but that’s not enough to secure the chamber where Lord Akio is being tended.”

  I breathed a silent prayer of thanks to whoever might be listening. “Two may be just enough. Has Lord Kinmei returned?”

  “Yes, though he was weary from his journey. I believe he is asleep in Lord Akio’s chambers, since they were not otherwise in use. Shall I awaken him?”

  “No, but I would like to check on him. First give me one of the wards, just in case I meet the creature before you do. You take the other and keep watch. I’ll be back shortly.”

  There was an attendant at the door. I ordered him to go join the guard around the room where Lord Akio was confined, and when he was gone I slipped inside the room where Lord Kinmei was sleeping. I tarried there for a few moments but was careful not to awaken him, and then I left as quietly as I could and returned to where Nobu and the others kept watch outside Lord Akio’s sick room. On my way back I saw the ghostly figure floating across the ground in the courtyard.

  “The ikiryo is coming,” I said.

  In an instant Nobu had the spirit ward in his hand. “You saw it? Where?”

  “Close by. Be prepared.”

  The ikiryo manifested just beyond the veranda, in manner and appearance exactly the same as I had seen it two nights before. It floated toward Lord Akio’s sick room as if it didn’t even notice us. I wondered if perhaps that was indeed the case. I leaned close to Nobu.

  “Once the seal is placed, be prepared to move quickly.”

  He started to ask me something, doubtless to inquire what I was talking about, but there was no time. He stepped into the spirit’s path and placed his last remaining ward.

  “Hsssss....”

  I have no idea how the creature hissed like a cat with no visible mouth, but then I halfway expected the thing to be stronger than before. Nonetheless, Nobu’s spirit seal performed its duties admirably, and the creature began to fade. I turned to the other priests and attendants nearby as I took a torch out of the hands of one startled servant. “Stay here. Make sure no one approaches Lord Akio until we return. Master Nobu, follow me!”

  I saw the confusion on the old man’s face but he didn’t hesitate. I sprinted down the corridor, across the main wing and back into the west wing of the mansion with Nobu close behind.

  “Is Lord Kinmei...in danger as well?” he managed to gasp.

  “Extremely so!”

  There was a bewildered attendant at the door to Lord Akio’s quarters where Lord Kinmei was sleeping. I sent him off to join the guard around Lord Akio’s sick room.

  “Why did you send him away?” Nobu asked as I slid the door aside.

  “So he wouldn’t see this,” I said.

  Lord Kinmei lay on his bedding right where I’d left him, still fast asleep, only now the ikiryo hovered above him, its no-face mere inches from his face. Nobu grabbed his prayer beads and immediately began a rite of exorcism, but I stopped him.

  “If you value Lord Kinmei’s life, wait,” I said.

  Nobu stared at me, uncomprehending, but there wasn’t time for questions. I darted forward and slapped Lord Kinmei awake.

  “What—?”

  He started to scramble to his feet but I held him down. “Look, Lord Kinmei. Look at it.”

  Despite his obvious fear, he did as I commanded, and comprehension finally came. “Is this...?”

  “Yes, my lord. It is.”

  “I-I swear I didn’t know. I didn’t mean....”

  “I know.”

  I reached forward and plucked Nobu’s last remaining spirit seal, the one he’d given me earlier, from Lord Kinmei’s chest where I’d left it after I saw the ikiryo emerge from him only few minutes before. With the barrier dissolved, the ikiryo returned to its rightful place inside Lord Kinmei as the man began to weep.

  * * *

  I joined the guard surrounding Lord Akio until Nobu returned to fetch me later in the evening. “He’s ready to receive you now.”

  “How is he?”

  “Devastated, as one might expect. He wants to become a monk.”

  “Do you think that’s a wise decision?”

  He smiled. “As a rule? Yes. But he’s in no condition to be making that choice now. Besides, his father requires heirs to the clan line and would never allow it. He’s in negotiations for an arranged marriage even as we speak.”

  “Hmmmm.”

  Nobu smiled. “Lord Yamada, I have been a spiritual counselor to both families for a long time. Do you think I didn’t know of Lord Kinmei’s inclinations? This does not change the fact that he is a loyal son and will do what is expected of him. But the ikiryo? That I did not know, or even suspect, but at least I understand now why you halted my exorcism.”

  I sighed. “I’ve often asked you to trust me during this time, but now it seems that I must trust you, Master Nobu. You are quite correct. With the ‘grave’ of the spirit blocked, an exorcism might have worked too well, and Lord Kinmei would have lost that part of himself forever. I’ve seen that happen once before, and I’d call the result an improvement. But in this case? I think we would have done irreparable harm.”

  “Perhaps we already have. Is this really necessary?”

  “‘A poisoned wound never heals.’ Lord Akio will recover. Now we must make sure Lord Kinmei does the same.”

  Lord Kinmei was waiting for us in Akio’s quarters. Upon first glance, I’d say “devastated” was an understatement. At that moment Lord Kinmei had to be the most miserable human being I’d ever seen, and that included my own reflection. There were cushions there on the floor by the bedding, and he motioned for Nobu and me to sit.

  “I will never forgive myself, Lord Yamada,” he said without preamble. “When I think of what I almost did....but I didn’t know. How did you?”

  “In order to answer that, I must ask you a question or two yet. Are you prepared?”

  He took a long breath and then indicated assent. I recited the unfinished poem I’d found in Lord Akio’s writing table. “That was yours, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes, Lord Yamada.”

  “The allusion to the cut sleeve was obvious, a reference to shared love between men that has been used in poetry since ancient times. But Lord Akio did not return your affections, did he?”

  There were tears in Lord Kinmei’s eyes. “Lord Akio has great regard for me, as one might a brother. My feelings for him were...are, deeper. No, Lord Yamada, he did not share those feelings.”

  “There is much I don’t understand,” Nobu said, “but I realize now that the attacks began only after Akio’s engagement to Suzume was formalized. Why was she not attacked instead?”

  I smiled then. “Obviously, because Lord Akio’s upcoming marriage was an accident of timing, not the cause. Would you agree, Lord Kinmei?”

  He looked at the floor. “I had no reason to resent my sister. If Akio had truly returned my affections, the technicality of a wife would not prevent our
relationship, just as it does not for other men and women whose affections are elsewhere, whatever their inclinations.”

  I nodded. “In truth, even after the poem, I tended to suspect that Suzume might be the real culprit. The appearance of the spirit was...ambiguous, and the death of the groom is one sure way to prevent an undesired marriage.”

  Kinmei sighed. “May I ask how Suzume convinced you of her innocence?”

  “At the end of our audience she told me to find a way to save Lord Akio,” I said.

  Now Nobu scowled. “You believed her? Just because of a plea?”

  I almost laughed. “Plea? No, Master Nobu—it was a command. With, I might add, implied consequences for failure.”

  Kinmei managed a weak smile. “Even as a child, Suzume was never easily nor lightly thwarted.”

  I bowed. “Thus your sister thoroughly squelched any suspicion that the match was undesirable in her eyes. With that fact established, the nature of the ghost itself argued against her involvement. If the ikiryo had awakened within Lady Suzume, it would certainly have gone after the Lady of the Ghost Willow, not Lord Akio.”

  “You found her?” Nobu asked. “Then how did you know that she was not the culprit?”

  “Suzume’s innocence argued for that of Lord Akio’s lover as well. An ikiryo is a very special sort of assassin, conjured in a moment of great emotional upheaval, which by then I was certain that Suzume only experienced after the first attacks, not before. The Lady of the Ghost Willow knew about the marriage arrangement long before Lord Akio was attacked, which likewise removed the heat of passion as an issue. I’m afraid, Lord Kinmei, that left only you.”

  “I want to die,” he said.

  Nobu glared at me, but I just smiled again. “Why? For saving Lord Akio’s life?”

  Lord Kinmei stared at me as if I’d slapped him. “For...? I almost killed him!”

  I shook my head. “No, my lord. Your resentments, your jealousy, those powerful emotions that sometimes get out of our control almost killed him. But you? That part that is and always remains Fujiwara no Kinmei felt nothing but love and concern for your friend. You almost certainly prevented his death as if you’d shielded him with your own body.”

  Tears were streaming down his face now. “How? How did I do this?”

  “You summoned me. With all due respect to Master Nobu and his associates, if you had not done so, Lord Akio would likely be dead now.”

  “That is no more than simple truth,” Nobu said ruefully.

  Lord Kinmei would not meet my gaze. “You are kind,” he said.

  I shook my head. “No, my lord, I am not. As Master Nobu just pointed out, I have told you the truth, no more and no less. If there is any kindness here, you must find it for yourself.”

  “But what must I do now? Akio remains in danger so long as I live!”

  Nobu bowed. “With respect, I rather doubt that.”

  I nodded. “Again, Master Nobu speaks truly. An ikiryo feeds on repressed resentments, unacknowledged emotions. That was why I sealed you off, so it could not return to you without your full awareness. Now you know, and that changes everything. I do not believe the creature will return. If you can make peace with yourself now, I guarantee it will not.”

  “I will speak to your father,” Nobu said. “I’m sure he will approve a time of retreat at EnryakuTemple. You will not be taking the tonsure, mind, but you can rest and recover and, most of all, satisfy yourself that there is no danger. If anything were to happen, we would be prepared.”

  “What do you think, Lord Yamada?” Kinmei asked.

  I grunted. “I think you should listen to a man who understands spiritual matters better than I do, and that man is sitting beside me.”

  I took my leave of Nobu and Lord Kinmei then. My duties were at an end, but for someone like Master Nobu, they had just begun. I rather thought he had a more difficult mission than mine, but then perhaps his rewards were, eventually, greater.

  It wasn’t very late. I looked up into clear evening sky, and then smiled and headed toward Shijo Bridge while there was still time. Lord Kinmei was a man of his word, and I had no doubt that my payment would arrive soon, and then there would be saké.

  Right now, there was a lovely moon.

  Copyright © 2010 Richard Parks

  Comment on this Story in the BCS Forums

  Richard Parks lives in Mississippi with his wife and a varying number of cats. He collects Japanese woodblock prints but otherwise has no hobbies as he is, sadly, temporally challenged. His fiction has appeared in Asimov’s SF, Realms of Fantasy, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, Fantasy Magazine, Weird Tales, and numerous anthologies including Year’s Best Fantasy and Fantasy: The Best of the Year. His third story collection, On the Banks of the River of Heaven, is due out from Prime Books on Nov. 16, 2010.

  http://beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/

  THE CURSE OF CHIMÈRE

  by Tony Pi

  5th of Prairial, Year 120 of the Graalon Revolution

  I was late for a film premiere at Le Téâtre Pégase and a block away in an alembic cab, when the doors to that grand hall burst open. Ladies and gentlemen in eveningwear spilled forth, running for dear life. A man in a rumpled tailcoat dashed in front of us, forcing my driver to brake hard. I barely braced myself in time against the jolt as we screeched to a stop centimetres away from the hapless fellow.

  “Goddesses!” The driver blared his horn at the man, who scampered off with the other patrons fleeing the cinema. “Which flicker’s this, Professor?”

  “The Lioness in Summer,” I told him.

  What had gone wrong inside? Tonight’s premiere was supposed to be the final but finest of Chimère’s trilogy of silent colour films. Katarin Bertho’s invitation had said this film was a pulse-pounding adaptation of the legend of Queen Aliénor and her conniving daughters, but I had not expected this level of terror. I checked my fob-watch: only a half-hour into the presentation. What could have panicked them so?

  I climbed out of the cab with walking stick in hand, braving the chaos. I offered the driver a crisp twenty-graal note, more than double his hiring fee. “My good man, bring the police, post-haste! And if Sergeant Carmouche is on duty, tell him Tremaine Voss sent you.”

  The driver saluted me with the folded bill. “Certainly, Professor!” He engaged the engine and sped off, leaving behind a cloud of alchemical stink.

  The marquee, backlit by magnesian flame-jars, billeted three new silent flickers:

  CHIMÈRE STUDIOS PRESENTS

  IN BRILLIANT COLOURS

  A GOAT IN VALHALLA - 3 PRAIRIAL 8 PM

  SERPENT OF THE NILE - 4 PRL. 8 PM

  THE LIONESS IN SUMMER - 5 PRL. 8 PM

  Each film was based on a creature that comprised the mythical chimera: a clever marketing ploy by Katarin for her studio’s first productions in full-colour. This night should have been a triumph, yet this disastrous turn of events could bring ruin to her company.

  I donned my new spectacles and looked for Katarin among the terror-stricken crowd, but there was no sight of her. If only I had found the accursed things earlier, I might have arrived at the ciné on time and helped stem this panic. I headed for the building, praying that no one had been trampled in the commotion, least of all my friend.

  The opulent cinema foyer was empty but for two people descending the grand staircase. The exquisite woman was Laure Harbin, a starlet who had captivated audiences last year as Helen of Troy, and was the star of these new colour films. The older man helping her was Bernard Marec, a Chimère designer in his early sixties, whose waxed moustache had a life of its own. We had worked together before on one of Katarin’s earlier films on Aigyptian alchemy.

  “Wrong way, Voss!” Marec shouted.

  “What happened? Where’s Madame Bertho?”

  Marec wiped his brow with his sleeve. “Madame’s tending to the others in the gallery. She’s not bleeding from the eyes, Goddesses be praised.”

  Bleeding eyes? “Show me, M
arec.”

  “No! Forgive me, Voss, but my eyes are my life. May Lady Fortune protect you.” He escorted the dazed Harbin towards the exit. For a man with arthritis, he moved with alarming speed.

  I dashed upstairs and flung open the doors to the auditorium gallery. I shielded my eyes, not knowing what to expect. “Katarin!”

  “Tremaine? Here!” Her voice was straight ahead.

  I decided I had to look if I were to help her. Once my eyes adjusted to the dark, I could discern unmoving shapes that might have been people in scattered seats, thickest near the balcony’s edge. But instead of music from the pneumatic harmonium, all I could hear was the sound of clicking gears from the projection booth.

  On the silver screen, a larger-than-life Laure Harbin garbed in gay medieval costume was admiring her own reflection in a hall of mirrors. This new colour technology showcased aspects of her beauty that black-and-white could never have captured, like the startling shades of her reddish-blonde hair. She caressed her own lips, oblivious to the golden lioness darting across the room behind her.

  An orange-against-black intertitle explained the scene:

  The Ruby Knight’s kiss still haunts

  Princess Sabelline, as do his odes

  to her beauty. So enrapt is she with

  their scheme to steal her mother’s throne,

  she does not see Queen Aliénor in

  the skin of her Lionheart curse.

  How in the world could such a lovely scene as this have caused a stampede?

  Katarin was near the balcony rail.

  I walked down the aisle, passing frozen spectators whose eyes were riveted to the screen and weeping blood. I shuddered at the thought that the affliction might strike me as well.

  Katarin was tending to two unmoving figures in the front row. I recognised the Mayor immediately by his bold muttonchops, and beside him, the actor Franchot Aucoin, whose lecherous exploits were as legendary off-screen as on. Both men were bleeding as though their eyes had been gouged out and pressed back in.