Cold Blood by Katherine M. Lawrence

Author:Katherine M. Lawrence [Lawrence, Katherine M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Heian, samurai, Medieval, Japan, woman warrior
ISBN: 9780991266715
Publisher: Toot Sweet Ink
Published: 2014-11-23T16:00:00+00:00

Twelve:

Are My Teeth Black?

The monk’s name was Akibō—“bō” being the suffix that monks added to their names to denote their religious status. The other monk was called Iebō. She knew monks were discouraged from discoursing with females, but these two seemed at ease with her—as if she were a sister. Yamabuki had a momentary fantasy where she, like them, had become an itinerant Buddhist. Then her name would have been Yamabukiama—Yamabuki the nun.

“Have you been to the Main Isle before?” asked Iebō.

“It’s been some years,” she said.

“But that was before you were a samurai.” Akibō nodded in answer to his own question.

“Heian-kyō is a magnificent city,” said Iebō.

“That it is,” she said.

“With palaces and wonders. And more people than you’d ever thought existed,” Iebō said. “Tens of thousands of people.”

“Hundreds of thousands,” she corrected.

Akibō cocked his head, casting quick glances at both Blue Rice and Long Sword. “You seem to be traveling by yourself.”

“No.” Yamabuki grinned slightly. “I have my colt.”

Iebō’s eyes sparkled as he laughed. “True. A good companion. Those born under the sign of the horse are said to be quick and smart, though sometimes so quick and so smart that people will say that such a person is hotheaded.”

Yamabuki laughed along with him. “Then you know Mochizuki well. He is all of that.”

“Do you know the places to stay on your way to Heian-kyō?” Iebō asked.

Yamabuki grinned enigmatically.

Akibō said in a friendly tone, “We know many temples along the imperial highway at which to stay, friendly to monk and warrior alike.”

She began to wonder why these monks were seemingly asking her to accompany them, when suddenly she felt the boat slightly list.

In an instant, Long Sword, still at the stern of the craft, was standing. “You!” he shouted almost in accusation, and again addressed her as a familiar. “A woman?”

The boat continued listing slightly as Long Sword made his way forward.

She noticed immediately that his field sword, along with the rest of his blades, lay next to his stacked armor. If he wanted to start trouble, he would not be using those weapons, at least not without retreating to get them.

He scowled, stopping three steps away and pointedly looked her over as if for the first time.

She returned a look of dead calm.

His scowl changed into an expression which on any other face would have been haughty, but on his was more of a grimace. “Are the Taka men so short of warriors that they are training up women as samurai?”

“Are the Ōuchi women not taught how to defend their castles when their husbands are away in battle? Does the blood of the warrior Goddess Jingū no longer flow as strongly as it once did through their veins?”

She knew she should not have made the sly reference to the clan’s diluted ancestry, especially since it was not true, but his cheek needed to be checked.

“Do you have a husband whose castle you defend?” he demanded, eyes narrowed.

“Are my teeth black?” she quipped, and to prove her point she smiled broadly, though not warmly, showing her perfect white teeth.

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