Beyond the Palace

Beyond the Palace

by Davina Lee

*

Author's Note

In the previous chapter, Matoaka, though not quite ready in the eyes of her girlfriend Chihiro, was allowed to accompany the shrine maidens on a mission to rescue a young runaway from The Palace. Matoaka handled herself with aplomb and delivered the girl safely to her new home among The People.

With a victory like that, you might think that Matoaka would be feeling a little invincible at the moment. And in that, you would be correct. But will Matoaka's winning streak continue?

Let's find out...

* * *

Chapter 8: The Cries of the Wolf

The old mother made her way along the switchback trail leading to the top of the bluff, back to the place she now called home. She let her head hang low as she trudged onward. The new girl pup, the one The People called by her Palace name,

Leonora,

the old mother kept the girl's scent close to her nose.

The girl pup had been shy at first, but was quick to take to the ground, rolling and playing in a way that made the old mother think of her own girl pup when she first came to stay.

But the new pup was with the one called Theodosia now, speaking in the tongue the wolf mother could not comprehend. Though the scents coming from Theodosia and the new girl had put the old mother's mind at ease. And so she continued the climb to her den, high atop the bluff, to resume her duty--keeping watch.

* * *

The crescent moon above bathed Matoaka and Chihiro in its pale light, as the two stood together outside the lodge they shared.

"What is it?" asked Matoaka. "Do I have something on my face?"

Chihiro grinned.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You," said Chihiro, reaching out to cup Matoaka's cheek in her hand. "You were amazing."

Matoaka stared.

"No. Not were. Are. You are amazing."

Matoaka nuzzled against Chihiro's palm. She turned to kiss the inside of Chihiro's wrist. "I'm not sure what you mean, but I do enjoy your affections."

"Not sure what I mean?" Chihiro laughed. She moved closer to Matoaka, sliding her hand from Matoaka's cheek to behind Matoaka's neck. Chihiro leaned in to land a peck on Matoaka's lips.

"You were amazing," repeated Chihiro. "You tracked the new girl through the thick of the forest."

Matoaka blushed. "A skill I learned from my wolf mother. Anyone among The People could do it."

"You calmed her down," continued Chihiro. "When the girl was scared and ready to bolt, you convinced her we meant no harm."

"But we were there to help her," said Matoaka. "Any one of us--"

"And when we were surprised by that man from The Palace," said Chihiro, taking a step back and resting her hands atop Matoaka's shoulders. "You took his feet out from under him with a single swing of your staff."

"I, uh... Rei would have..."

"You were amazing," said Chihiro. "Just admit it."

"Well, maybe."

"I'll be honest. I had my doubts before," said Chihiro. "Sorry. I mean, I've always thought you were a wonderful and sweet--"

Matoaka reached up with a single outstretched finger to cover Chihiro's lips. "You should have quit with amazing," said Matoaka. "I was ready to take you to bed."

Chihiro chuckled. "Amazing," she muttered around Matoaka's finger.

Matoaka smiled. "In your language," she said, letting her finger slide to rest on Chihiro's chin. "I want to hear it in your language."

"

Subarashī

," said Chihiro.

"Soo-bah..."

"

Subarashī

," repeated Chihiro. "Amazing."

"Soo-bah-rah-shee."

"Amazing."

Matoaka let a wide grin spread over her face as she draped both arms over Chihiro's shoulders and wrapped her hands around to touch the back of Chihiro's neck with her fingertips. "I learned it from you," said Matoaka, just before mashing her lips against Chihiro's mouth.

"Amazing," mumbled Chihiro.

Matoaka paused and pulled back. "Tell me again," she whispered.

"

Subarashī

," said Chihiro. "Amazing."

Matoaka went in hard against Chihiro's mouth.

* * *

Matoaka lay on her side with her knees bent and pulled up. Behind her, Chihiro lay in the same pose, wrapped around Matoaka with an arm over the young woman's waist, holding the blanket down tight around them. Outside the lodge, crickets chirped and frogs bellowed in the distance.

"I'll never tire of receiving your sweet kisses," muttered Matoaka, pressing backward to better snuggle into Chihiro's embrace.

Behind Matoaka, Chihiro smiled just before leaning in to plant a peck on the back of Matoaka's neck. "And I'll never tire of giving them."

"In the morning, we go back?" said Matoaka.

"Yes."

"More training."

Chihiro nodded. "Mm-hmm."

Matoaka sighed. "And more of Rei clobbering me, I suppose."

"And me bathing you after, don't forget," said Chihiro.

"There is that." Matoaka wiggled around until she was on her back, looking up at Chihiro. "I like that part."

Chihiro leaned in for another kiss. "I like that part, too."

Cutting through the night air, and interrupting their next kiss, came the distant howl of a lone wolf mother. Chihiro rolled back and Matoaka propped herself on one elbow. Another wolf's cry joined in, closer this time.

"It seems we may not be waiting for morning to go back," said Matoaka.

Chihiro shook her head. "Are you ready to do this again?"

Matoaka nodded. By the time her own wolf mother had joined in to add her voice to the call, Matoaka and Chihiro were already on their feet and pulling on their clothes.

* * *

The crescent moon above was sinking to the horizon as the cluster of mounted shrine maidens gathered on the ridge. But the dim light it cast was not enough to paint the ground with even the faintest shadows of the riders.

The young women on horseback spoke in hushed tones and gestured to the dark mass of brambles and trees below. In the direction they pointed, a young woman's muffled cry cut through the chill air of night.

"I don't like it," said the woman in black.

"Agreed," said another, a young woman dressed in the same red

hakama

and white

kosode

as Matoaka and Chihiro.

"There is no mistaking her cries," said Rei, already dismounting and holding her horse by the reins.

"A runaway alone in the woods doesn't cry out like that," said the woman in black. "There will be others."

"Precisely why we must get to her quickly. Before the others do."

The young woman let out a wail.

"And if they harm her, they will regret it." Rei pulled forth her staff and held it with both hands. She turned to face Matoaka. "Matoaka-san," said Rei, "

Yakan no tsuiseki sukiru wa dōdesu ka?

"

Matoaka cocked her head.

"She's asking how you are tracking at night?" said Chihiro.

"Oh." Matoaka nodded. "As good as daytime. Though we'll need to move more slowly to avoid revealing ourselves. Picking out a path by moonlight takes time."

Chihiro relayed Matoaka's words to Rei.

"I assume we don't want to reveal ourselves?" said Matoaka, sliding down from her horse.

"I don't like this," said the woman in black.

The young woman in the forest let out another scream.

"Neither does she," said Rei, striding toward the downward slope.

"We're walking into a trap," said the woman in black.

"Matoaka-san," said Rei. "

Anata no tsuiseki sukiru ga hitsuyōdesu.

"

Chihiro turned to Matoaka. "She says she needs your--"

"Tracking skills," finished Matoaka, marching forward. "Yeah, I got it."

The woman in black opened her mouth to speak and then closed it again.

"Sorry, Sensei," said Matoaka, hustling to join up with Rei.

Chihiro swung her leg and dismounted her horse to catch up with Matoaka and Rei. The woman in black blew out a sigh and did the same.

* * *

Matoaka crept forward, keeping low to the ground, and darting her eyes over every feature of terrain before her. Occasionally, she would stop, turn to face the line of others behind her, and point. Only when the other shrine maidens in her party nodded, did she turn forward again to pick her way through the brambles.

Matoaka pushed aside a low hanging branch and took another few halting steps forward. After only three steps, she froze. Those behind her stopped as well. Matoaka turned around to scan the faces of the shrine maidens before pointing in front and to her left.

The group of young women behind Matoaka turned their faces as one, narrowing their eyes to concentrate in the direction Matoaka pointed. When the man in the distance shifted his weight from one leg to the other, the group responded to Matoaka's pointing with a collective nod.

Choosing a new direction, Matoaka and the others crept forward. After another pause and a few more hand gestures from Matoaka, the group changed direction yet again. Pushing forward, they arrived at the edge of a small clearing.

Matoaka stopped and crouched. Beside her, Chihiro and Rei took to the ground as well. Matoaka pointed a short distance ahead, where a young woman appeared to be standing beside the thick trunk of a tree. Matoaka gestured to the group.

Standing beside the young woman was a man. A glint of the scant moonlight showed he held a knife in his hand.

Rei pushed herself up to standing and raised her staff. The woman in black tiptoed forward on bent knee to put a hand atop Rei's shoulder and wordlessly convinced her to crouch once again.

Rei clenched a fist and made a stabbing motion with her hand. The woman in black nodded, moving her eyes to the blade of the knife and then back to Rei. No words were spoken, but she never removed her hand from Rei's shoulder.

Matoaka squinted into the distance, looking over the young woman beside the tree from head to toe. Matoaka turned around and made a gesture with her hands around her waist and then pointed to the young woman.

The woman in black moved her eyes from Rei to where Matoaka pointed. She scanned the rope tied around the young woman's waist and nodded. She tapped Rei on the shoulder. Rei nodded as well.

Chihiro stepped closer to Matoaka, crouching as she did. Matoaka repeated the motion of her hands circling her waist. Chihiro nodded.

The man standing beside the young woman began to pace, his eyes darting this way and that into the dark of the forest. Each time he drew close to the young woman, she shrank back and whimpered.

Beside Matoaka, Rei tightened the grip on her staff. Shaking her head, the woman in black tightened her grip on Rei's shoulder.

The man continued to pace.

Matoaka scanned the trees in front and beyond. She moved her eyes to one side and then the other, squinting into the distance. As she did, the man in front of the group stopped pacing.

As Matoaka was raising her arm to point, a glint of moonlight revealed the tip of the man's knife at the base of the young woman's throat. The young woman let out a scream.

Rei stood up, staff gripped in both hands. The woman in black reached out to reestablish her grip on Rei, but grasped at air as Rei charged forward. Chihiro and the other shrine maidens were on their feet in an instant.

A loud bang cut the still of the air, followed by a prolonged hissing. Up above the clearing, a shower of sparks flew from a flare floating down on a parachute. Following two more bangs, the forest clearing was lit up like daylight.

* * *

The shrine maidens turned their attention from the young woman and the man with the knife to the shadowy figures emerging from the foliage and brambles surrounding the clearing.

With no words spoken, and only a short series of hand gestures, the majority of shrine maidens formed a tight circle, facing outward with their staffs at the ready. A small opening was left for Rei. She used the exit to leave the protective circle and march forward.

The man with the knife went down in a heap after two blows from Rei's staff. After witnessing the rapid disarming, the other men pushing in from the perimeter slowed their advance. The ring of shrine maidens held the line as the hissing flares continued to the ground.

Sparks from the descending flares lit up the edges of the knives the men held. Moving as one, the shrine maidens shifted their circle to absorb Rei and the young woman into the center. Staffs were held ready.

Inside the circle, Matoaka ran forward toward the woman, tugging at the ropes that held her to the tree.

Two more loud bangs cut the air and two more flares hissed from high overhead as the previous three came to rest on the ground between the shrine maiden's defensive circle and the approaching men armed with blades.

From the forest, more shadowy figures slipped from the branches and brambles to stand in the open. The shower of sparks revealed their blades. The circle of shrine maidens pulled tighter.

Matoaka continued working at the bonds that held the young woman to the tree. It was then that the first foray was made. A man close to the circle lashed out with his knife. The crunch of a staff sent him reeling backward, clutching his arm under the shoulder.

Another man made a move and another shrine maiden put him down with a blow from her staff. Working together, the woman in black and Rei teamed up to put down another three attackers who strayed too close.

Matoaka continued working. She freed one end of the rope holding the young woman and was busy working the rest of it backward around the trunk of the tree. The young woman collapsed into Matoaka's arms, sobbing.

Another bang sent another flare high overhead.

Matoaka cast the rope aside and took her eyes off the young woman to look around. The circle of shrine maidens had pulled tighter. Men with knives were coming two and three at a time. More were streaming in from the shadows.

"It's going to be okay," said Matoaka to the young woman, placing a hand on her shoulder and squeezing briefly. Matoaka shot to her feet, placing herself between the young woman and the advancing party of knife-weilding men. She held her staff at the ready.

* * *

The old mother charged with watching over the

miko

--she was learning their language and no longer thought of them as shrine maidens in the language of The People, but

miko

, in their own language--the old mother raised her head and sniffed at the air. She immediately pushed herself up on all fours.

The scent carried by the wind was strong and unmistakable, the culmination of scents from multiple girl pups. All alike. All causing the hackles to raise on the old mother's neck.

The old mother lifted her head to the direction of the moon and howled.

Soon, another wolf mother's howl joined the call. And another.

The old mother lowered her head and pricked up her ears. She listened for the sound of horse's hooves. None came. The old mother raised her head and howled again.

* * *

Afterword

It seems like the woman in black's premonition has come to pass. The shrine maidens have walked into a trap. Their latest rescue has led to their being surrounded by armed men we can only assume are from The Palace.

With the majority of shrine maidens being part of the operation to free the young woman, and now entrapped, who is left to rescue them?

Find out in the next chapter.

And as you curse me for this cliffhanger ending, take a moment to search your favorite streaming service for the song

Qué Más Quieres

by The Warning.