Read Emperor of the Eight Islands: Book 1 in the Tale of Shikanoko (The Tale of Shikanoko series) for Free Online Page A

again?”
    “No, our work together is finished.”
    She stroked his face tenderly as though he were her child.
    He was so unused to affection, he felt near tears.
    “That was part of my mission, which one day you will understand,” she said. “And it was the final ritual of the mask. Love is bound into its creation but so is lust, the force that drives the world to re-create itself, unconstrained by human rules.”
    “I understand nothing,” he said.
    “Use the mask carefully—it will bring you wisdom, but it will also lead you into danger. Practice abstinence and all the other disciplines our friend taught you in the forest. Subdue your body and mind so that when you meet her you will recognize her.”
    “Who is she?”
    She did not answer him but told him to bathe himself again. The water was like ice on his body. When he came out she was gone.
    *   *   *
    The next morning just after daybreak Lady Tora rode out with Akuzenji and his men. She gave Shikanoko no sign of recognition, no glance, no smile. It was as if there were some other realm in which their meetings took place far removed from the conventions and relations of the everyday world. He wondered what Akuzenji’s reaction would be if he knew; he was a violent man and Shikanoko had already seen the punishments he handed out for minor disobedience: an eye torn out, a hand amputated, brandings …
    He shivered and kicked the brown mare he was riding. She still lagged behind the others. She was the oldest and slowest horse in the group, given to him because he was the newest arrival and the youngest. There was something about him that unsettled her, as horses were often alarmed by deer, and she tried many ways to rid herself of him, rubbing his legs against posts or walls, carrying him under low-hanging branches, taking him by surprise by shying or bucking. Her name was Risu. He had lost count of the number of times he had fallen off, a source of endless entertainment to the other men.
    In her contrary way Risu had formed a bond of affection with her previous rider, a lanky man called Gozaemon, and whickered after him as he cantered ahead on the sturdy dark bay horse to which he had been promoted. Now she swung her head back and tried to bite Shika’s foot.
    Akuzenji was leading his men down the forest-covered slope toward the trail through the valley where Lord Kiyoyori rode every morning. The rest of the group were some way ahead, out of sight. Risu lifted her head and neighed as Gozaemon came trotting back.
    “Hurry up,” he said. “Lord Akuzenji wants you to kill someone.” He grabbed Risu’s rein and led her alongside his horse. She moved faster than she had all morning.
    Akuzenji and his men had concealed themselves in a grove of bamboo on a rocky outcrop above the trail that ran between the forest and the cultivated fields. The rice had been cut and was hanging in sheaves to dry. Farmers were already at work, spreading manure and mulch. Akuzenji beckoned to Shika and said, “Get off your horse and take up position. I want you to shoot him in the neck or the chest. Don’t hit his head whatever you do.”
    They could hear the sound of horses approaching. At the same time Shika became aware of a woman calling in the distance. She was running across the rice field, shouting and waving both arms. She looked awkward, almost comical, a noblewoman not used to running, her layered robes tangling round her legs. She slipped and fell sprawling into the manure.
    Why was she running? He frowned, trying to work out what was going on.
    The riders, a small group, not wearing armor, swept into view, the black stallion in the lead.
    “Now,” Akuzenji breathed. “Shoot him!”
    “Shoot who?”
    “The Kuromori lord! On the black!”
    “That is not the Kuromori lord,” Shika said, lowering his bow slightly. “It’s his horse, but it’s not him.” It was the man he called Neversmile.
    “Shoot!” Akuzenji screamed in his ear.
    Shika shrugged and