No one answered him.
Aki’s body shuddered and arched and she cried out. He looked down and saw that the snake had fastened itself to her ankle, its fangs sunk deep, the venom already coursing through her veins.
“Akihime!” he called, seeing her life flee from her before his eyes. He looked around. “Sesshin, master, help her! Kuro, is there some antidote?”
“There is no antidote,” Sesshin said. “I warned you.”
“You should have kept quiet, old man,” Kiku said. “You upset Kuro. When he is upset he likes to hurt people. That’s his nature, and mine, too.”
Shika was barely able to speak. He could not look at either Kiku or Kuro. “Go,” he whispered. “Let me never set eyes on you again.”
“But you will see us again,” Kiku said. “You know our lives are bound together. You know we carry out your secret desires.”
He hardly heard them, nor did he see them, as they faded into invisibility and passed unseen through the doorway. He continued to hold Aki close while his tears pooled behind the mask and spilled like a waterfall through the eyeholes.
“The Princess is dead,” Sesshin said.
“No,” he wept. “No, she cannot be.”
“Lord,” Eisei said at his side. “She is gone.”
Sesshin said, “Be thankful for this moment, for it is part of your journey. It shows you the true nature of existence. Everything suffers, everything will be lost.”
Shika said, “Why should you be spared death, you who are old, blind, and powerless? Why did you not die in her place?”
“It is not my fate. It is hers and yours. You have come into full possession of your powers. You overcame the Prince Abbot, with her help. The dragon child himself answered her call, then recognized you and helped you. I am proud of you, my boy.”
Shika would have killed him at that moment, except that the old man would not die.
Eisei touched his arm. “We must go. The fire is taking hold.”
Where shall I go? he thought. There is nothing left for me.
Eisei lifted Aki. Her arm moved, making his heart leap with hope, but he saw clearly that life had fled from her.
“What about the old man?” Eisei said. “Will he come with us?”
“No!” Shika said.
“I must stay here,” Sesshin said. “My place is at Ryusonji now. I must turn my attention to the Book of the Future.”
The outer yard was flowing with water. Nagatomo was waiting with Shika’s weapons, Jato and Kodama. Nyorin was stamping and fretting in the shrine. Shika could hear Risu squealing somewhere. The foal cantered up to him, its eyes huge and dark with meaning.
He took the sword and the bow from Nagatomo and said, “Untie the white stallion and the brown mare.”
“But they belong to the horse god,” Eisei said.
“They were my horses before that. They will be mine again.”
He hoped the horses would attack and kill him, but Nyorin came with him docilely, and Risu followed, calling out to him in her old way.
They fastened Aki’s body to the stallion’s back. All three horses lowered their heads and moisture formed in their eyes as though they were weeping.
The water came up to their hocks as Shikanoko led them through the flooded city. The deer’s child was returning to the Darkwood.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
I would like to thank in particular Randy Schadel, who read early versions of the novels and made many invaluable suggestions.
ALSO BY LIAN HEARN
TALES OF THE OTORI
Across the Nightingale Floor
Grass for His Pillow
Brilliance of the Moon
The Harsh Cry of the Heron
Heaven’s Net Is Wide
Blossoms and Shadows
The Storyteller and His Three Daughters
THE TALE OF SHIKANOKO
Emperor of the Eight Islands
A Note About the Author
Lian Hearn is the pseudonym of a writer—born in England, educated at Oxford, currently living in Australia—who has had a lifelong interest in Japan, has lived there, and studies Japanese. She is the author of the bestselling series Tales of the Otori. You can sign up for email updates here.
All four volumes of Lian Hearn’s The Tale of Shikanoko will be published in 2016.
EMPEROR OF THE EIGHT ISLANDS
April 2016
AUTUMN PRINCESS, DRAGON CHILD
June 2016
LORD OF THE DARKWOOD
August 2016
THE TENGU’S GAME OF GO
September 2016
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Epigraph
The Tale of Shikanoko List of Characters
Map
1. Shikanoko
2. Masachika
3. Aki
4. Takaakira
5. Shikanoko
6. Aki
7. Yoshi
8. Shikanoko
9. Hina
10. Aki
11. Masachika
12. Hina
13. Masachika
14. Tama
15. Takaakira
16. Aki
17. Shikanoko
Also by Lian Hearn
A Note About the Author
Books in the Tale of Shikanoko Series
Copyright
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
18 West 18th Street, New York 10011
Copyright © 2016 by Lian Hearn Associates Pty Ltd.
All rights reserved
Originally published in 2016 by Hachette Australia
Published in the United States by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
First American edition, 2016
Map by K1229 Design
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Hearn, Lian, author.
Title: Autumn Princess, Dragon Child / Lian Hearn.
Description: First American edition. | New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2016. | Series: The tale of Shikanoko series; 2
Identifiers: LCCN 2015042557 | ISBN 9780374536329 (softcover) | ISBN 9780374715021 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Japan—History—1185–1600—Fiction. | BISAC: FICTION / Literary. | FICTION / Fantasy / General. | GSAFD: Fantasy fiction. | Adventure fiction. | Historical fiction.
Classification: LCC PR9619.3.H3725 A96 2016 | DDC 823/.914—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015042557
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