The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea(37)

How…?

Leaning against the side of the boat is a pink-and-white flower, plucked from the lake. A lotus in bloom, the petals open to reveal its star-colored center. Shin must have gone back to retrieve the boat in the night, after I’d fallen asleep.

I bring the boat and the flower to my chest. A strange feeling burns inside me. My eyes follow the ribbon as it winds its way out the window, pale red against the morning sunlight.



* * *



Although Kirin dispelled most of the pain, my hand takes a couple of days to fully recover. After that first night, Shin doesn’t return to the room. I learn from Nari that a courier arrived the morning after our visit to Moon House, and Shin left with Namgi and Kirin in pursuit of the thieves. Two men that fit the thieves’ description—one bearlike, the other weasel-like—were seen leaving the city.

Though the days are long, I keep busy. Betrothal gifts arrive from all the prominent houses—tea sets, celadon vases, mother-of-pearl jewelry boxes, wall scrolls with paintings of landscapes and poems, and a huge chest of embroidered silk blankets. It makes me wonder what will happen to these items once the truth of our betrothal is revealed. The same servants from my first morning at Lotus House attend me, sisters who have served Shin for many years, though you wouldn’t be able to tell from their youthful appearances. I help them with chores around the house. We scrub blankets in water pulled from the lake, then hang them out to dry in the south fields, like great clouds billowing in the wind.

Though no one forbids me from leaving the grounds, I remain behind the walls of Lotus House. I spend the days collecting acorns and drying flowers to hang them upside down in Shin’s room, livening up the empty space. The younger maidservant and I even attempt to draw a landscape on the paper screen.

After I get underfoot one too many times, the older sister finally orders me outside. I wander to the main pavilion, meandering down to the water’s edge. I find a small rowboat, push it into the lake, and climb over the side. Lying on my back, I gaze up into the sky. It’s a clear day, with only a few fish, and what looks like a humpback whale in the distance.

I close my eyes, drifting off.

Suddenly there’s a sharp yelp, and the boat jerks to a stop. “Hey, watch it!”

I scramble to my knees and peer over the side.

Dai floats on his back in the water with Miki balanced on his stomach, looking very much like an otter that’s caught a Miki-shaped fish.

“Dai!” I shout. “What are you doing? Get out of the water—it’s dangerous.”

“I’m swimming,” Dai says matter-of-factly, as if he isn’t floating in the middle of a lake with an infant balanced on his stomach.

A voice comes from behind me. “Don’t worry, Mina. Dai won’t let Miki come to harm.”

I turn to find Mask sitting across from me in the boat, her grandmother mask rosy-cheeked and smiling. She’s completely dry.

I gape at her. “Are you a goddess?”

“I’m a spirit. I told you that the first time we met.”

I look around at the clear, open sky. “Spirits can fly?”

“Some spirits. Not me, though. I’m a lesser spirit, remember?”

“Then how—”

“It’s a nice day out.” Mask tips her face up. Her painted red cheeks seem to grow larger beneath the sun. I can see the long, slender line of her neck.

There’s an old fishing rod at the bottom of the boat. She leans over, picks it up, and drops a line into the water.

“There’s no hook,” I say, “or bait.”

“Oh, I don’t want to catch anything,” she says confusingly.

The boat has been drifting, but now, as if caught by a small breeze, it begins to glide across the lake.

“I’ve been watching for you in the marketplace,” Mask says, “but you haven’t left the house.”

“Kirin said I wasn’t to use my hand. The burns…”

“Mm.” A noncommittal noise. Her face remains showing its pleasant expression, but there’s a hint of reproach in that “mm.”

“I’ve been helping the maidservants with the cleaning,” I say, somewhat defensively. “They’re spirits, like yourself. We’re brightening up Shin’s—the room I’ve been staying in. It’s very bare, you see. I’ve been bringing in flowers from the gardens. The younger maidservant found some pots of ink, and we painted a landscape on the paper screen. Mountains and some trees.”

Mask tilts her head to the side, musing, “For a girl whose hand was burned, you’ve been using it quite a lot.”

I blush deeply. “Yes, well, it doesn’t hurt so much today.”

Mask nods lightly.

I look away, my eyes catching movement in the water. Where are Miki and Dai? We’re not moving very fast, but it would be difficult for Dai to keep up with the boat, balancing an infant on his stomach.

I peer over the side to see Dai has grabbed hold of the fishing line. He and Miki are being tugged along.

“When you first arrived, you were determined to save the Sea God.”

I grimace, hunching my shoulders. “I was. I am. I just—I wonder if it’s even possible.”

She gives another vague “mm,” which, for some inexplicable reason, makes me want to pour my soul out to her.