Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa

Author:Julie Kagawa
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2018-08-07T20:17:42+00:00

18

Curses and Gaki

Something was wrong with this village.

I felt it, Hakaimono felt it and I was fairly certain Yumeko felt it as well, though the ronin seemed oblivious. It wasn’t just the air of excitement and fear that hovered around the village like a dense mist. Or the way the villagers were almost frantic to give away their food, despite the fact that it wasn’t uncommon for farmers to starve during the winter months and rice was more precious than gold to them. Suspicious behavior, though it wasn’t unreasonable for the village to overcompensate for our needs, especially if they had been treated poorly by wandering samurai in the past. Our food hadn’t been poisoned at least; part of my training involved intimate knowledge of the various toxins and what they tasted like, and the meal had been clean.

But there were other, smaller indicators that made my instincts bristle. The fences around the rice paddies, the bamboo tops sharpened to lethal points. The houses with the heavily fortified doors. The fact that there were no animals of any kind in the village; no dogs, cats or chickens. Yamatori had a secret. I just didn’t know if it was one we should be concerned about.

The guesthouse was empty, and the embers glowing in the fire pit threw long shadows over the bare wooden walls. Yumeko stepped through the doorway, then knelt and dropped the bundle of food in a corner with a sigh. The ronin followed her example, only he kept the jug of sake, taking a pull before tucking it into his jacket.

“I don’t know about you two, but I like this place,” he announced, flopping down before the fire pit. “I haven’t eaten this well in weeks, and there’s plenty more where that came from.” He patted his stomach with a lazy smile. “We’ll be gorging like princes all the way to the capital.”

“Baka,” I said quietly. Idiot. “This village is hiding something. They weren’t feeding us to be kind. We were put here for a purpose.”

Yumeko looked relieved. “You felt it, too,” she said, and I nodded. “It’s the strangest thing,” she went on, gazing back toward the village. “I got the impression that they wanted us gone, but at the same time, they were desperate for us to stay. Everyone was trying so hard to make us feel welcome even though they were terrified.” She paused, then glanced back at me, her eyes troubled. “You don’t think they brought us out here to rob or kill us in our sleep, do you? That would be terribly dishonest.”

On the floor, the ronin snorted, lying on his side and resting his head on a hand. “Farmers are a cowardly lot,” he said, as if speaking from personal experience. “The only time they’d attempt to cut our throats would be while we slept, but from what I saw, they’re too scared even for that.” He yawned, scratching his neck, and glanced out the door. “But we should probably post a watch tonight, just in case.

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