“Come with me to my…to our quarters,” she urged.
Two guards stepped forward and saluted, presenting themselves as escorts. Jelena took Ashinji’s hand and, together with Amara and Gran, they followed the guards into the castle.
Eikko waited in the entryway to Jelena’s apartments, little Hatora riding her ample hip. When the baby saw her mother, she burbled with delight.
Jelena plucked the child from the hikui girl’s arms. “Here is your daughter,” she said.
Ashinji stood gazing at the baby as if trying to memorize every detail of her, then gathered Hatora into his arms and laid his cheek against her tawny curls. The baby settled into her father’s embrace, relaxed and calm, as if she already knew who held her.
When Ashinji could finally speak, his voice emerged in a hoarse and broken whisper. “She…she’s…beautiful!”
Jelena took Ashinji’s arm and gently steered him into the sitting room toward the couch, where he sat, clinging to Hatora as if he feared to let her go. Jelena stood for a moment just watching. She wanted to etch this memory indelibly in her mind, so that she could recall it with perfect clarity in the years to come.
I’ve always believed our daughter had more of Ashi’s looks than mine , she thought. I’m so glad I was right!
Father and daughter each stared into the eyes of the other. In a sudden flash of understanding, Jelena realized their minds had joined in a link.
“You see, Ashi? I told you so,” Gran said.
Smiling, the baby reached out and laid a finger on Ashinji’s chin. “Gran told me that as soon as I saw my child, it would be as if we had been together from the beginning,” he explained in response to Jelena’s questioning look. Hatora continued to stare at him, as if at this moment, no one else existed in her universe except her father.
After a few more heartbeats, Jelena sat on the couch beside her husband and daughter while Amara and Gran settled into chairs opposite. Eikko brought in a tray and poured tea.
For a time, no one spoke. So many questions clamored, demanding answers, but Ashinji needed to gather his strength first. Jelena waited patiently, content just to have him close to her again. She thought back to that day a week ago, when Sonoe had come to her with the news. She had not believed it at first, thinking someone or something-the Nameless One, perhaps-aimed to perpetrate a monstrous hoax upon all of them as a distraction, but when Amara had confirmed it, she had collapsed in shock.
The last few days had passed in a fog of exquisite torture. Jelena suffered through emotional swings that left her exhausted and feeling like a twisted rag. Delirious with joy one moment, she had been wracked with guilt the next, for had not she given Ashi up for dead, abandoned him, sought comfort in another man’s arms?
How could she be a real wife to Ashinji again with such a stain of betrayal on her soul?
And what of that other man? Loyal, kind, steadfast Mai?
Mai had been there to give her comfort, support, friendship and love. His courtship of her had been gentle, patient, and above all, considerate of her grief. He had offered marriage and the promise to raise Hatora as his own, even though he knew the woman who had claimed his heart did not feel the same way about him.
Jelena gazed at Ashinji’s profile and felt the heat of desire warm her body, a unique fire only he could kindle in her. She had felt desire for Mai, yes, but it had never been the deep, flesh-searing passion she had felt for Ashinji.
I do love Mai , she thought, but Ashi is the love of my life. I just hope that both of them can forgive me!
“There’s so much to tell,” Ashinji began, at long last breaking the silence. Hatora lay in his arms in perfect contentment, sucking her tiny fist.
“It all began at the battle of the Saihama Fords,” he continued. “The human army lay across the river, but they sent raiding parties to fire the meadow where our army camped. It was a stupid mistake for us to be caught like that! Within moments, the fire had us hemmed in on three sides. I managed to break through and I rode toward the river, hoping to stop anything else from happening.” He shook his head.
“It was a foolish thing to do, riding out alone like that. My sergeant tried to stop me, but I wouldn’t listen. I rode straight into an ambush. One of the raiding parties lay in wait on the riverbank. They gutted my horse and when I fell to the ground, they attacked me.” Ashinji fell silent and closed his eyes, hands clinched into fists.
“Ashi, what’s wrong?” Jelena whispered.
“What is it, my son?” Amara leaned forward in her chair.
Ashinji drew in a deep, shaky breath. “There were too many of them for me to have any chance,” he continued. “I knew I was going to die, but still…I tried. I fought as hard as I could and just when I thought it was finished, I saw someone, an elven horseman, riding toward me. I called out for help, but he just stopped and…and watched.”
“One of our people refused to help you?” Jelena exclaimed. “I don’t understand! How could an elf stand by and watch a gang of humans kill another elf?”
“I didn’t understand either, not at first.” Ashinji’s voice began to fade. “Not until I caught a glimpse of the man’s armor did I realize his identity.” Now, he spoke in a whisper. “It… he …was…” Ashinji’s head dropped and his voice failed.
Amara stiffened as if beneath an unseen blow and her hands flew to her mouth. “No,” she moaned.
“Who was that man?” Jelena gripped Ashinji’s arm and squeezed it.
He looked at her with haunted eyes. “Sadaiyo,” he replied.
The hazy afternoon sunlight had given way to evening’s purple shadows by the time Ashinji had finished his tale. Eikko ghosted around the sitting room, lighting the lamps. The warm glow cast by their tiny flames beat back the encroaching darkness. Hatora sprawled in her father’s lap, sleeping.
“Your father and I failed you, Son.”
Amara had listened in silence to Ashinji’s narrative, a soft shimmer of tears in her eyes the only clue to her inner turmoil. “We failed both you and your brother,” she whispered. “It caused your father such anguish that he could not love Sadaiyo as he loved…loves you, Ashi,” she continued. “Both of us were guilty of turning a blind eye to Sadaiyo’s jealousy, and by doing so, we ultimately set this terrible thing in motion.”
“No, Mother. I beg you, do not blame yourself or Father for any of this,” Ashinji pleaded. “My brother made his choice long ago. What I don’t understand is how he hid the truth from you, of all people.”
Amara dropped her face in her hands, and after a moment’s hesitation, Jelena stood and put her arms around her mother-in-law.
“He most certainly had magical help,” Gran said. “Some kind of memory-altering spell. Such magic doesn’t come cheap.”
Amara looked up and nodded. “Sadaiyo has the financial means to purchase such a spell.” She pulled a small square of yellow silk from her sleeve and dried her eyes. “I will find out exactly how he did it.” The grim look on her face made Jelena shiver.
Hatora stirred and whimpered, catching her thumb in her mouth. Sucking contentedly, she lapsed back into sleep. Ashinji’s face lit with joy, but then he sighed and the light faded.
“Sadaiyo is with Father, of course. Eventually, I must ride south to join the army…” He paused to look into his mother’s eyes. “How am I going to tell Father about all this?” Pain infused his every word.
Amara did not answer at first. Instead, she stared at her upturned palms, as if by studying the intricate tattoos marked into her skin she could somehow divine a way to deflect the sorrow that lay in store for her family.