Spirit's Chosen by Esther Friesner Page B

elation was not to last. In Lord Hideki’s absence, the most venerable of the remaining nobles took charge. “We will speak with Lady Himiko and Master Michio privately,” he declared. “The rest of you may leave. There is plenty of work awaiting your hands.”
    “But what about Master Michio’s judgment?” one woman called out. “We want to hear it!”
    “You will be summoned to hear it when it has been determined. You have spent too much time in idleness already. Go!” He made a sweeping gesture and, true to the way they had always lived, my people submitted and obeyed.
    The nobles and I followed Master Michio into his house. He did not look happy with the way things were proceeding, but his displeasure was nothing next to Kaya’s when she was told she could not accompany me.
    “This is Matsu business,” the leading elder told her curtly as he barred her entry.
    “But Himiko is—!” she began.
    “Yes, yes, your sister in all ways except the only one that counts. Wait outside or go elsewhere.”
    “It’s all right, Kaya!” I called to her. “Yukari will needyour help at home.” My friend made a face, but gave in, grumbling loudly as she stamped away.
    I had never seen Master Michio’s house filled with so many people. The elders were acting as if this were their first time visiting the shaman’s home. They reacted with suspicion and a touch of nervousness to everything they saw and wrinkled their noses at the concentration of unfamiliar smells. One by one they settled themselves on the floor, hands on knees, facing the two of us.
    “Well, my lords?” Master Michio said gruffly. “You demanded privacy; you have it. Speak your minds.”
    The leader raised one hand. “We are not here as enemies, Master Michio. Our goal is yours: to preserve and restore this clan, to give our kin renewed stability in a world that has suddenly turned upside-down and buried them.” His eyes shifted to me. “The Matsu are without a chieftain, so it is our responsibility as clan elders to guide them onto the right path. Our lives have become precarious; we cannot afford a single misstep. Lady Himiko is very eloquent for one so young and has earned our gratitude for her healing skills, but—”
    “—but you are afraid that if you pardon my mother and her madness returns, the people will lose faith,” I finished for him. “They will claim it’s the gods’ vengeance on the Matsu for not keeping the customs of our ancestors.”
    “Exactly!” The elder beamed with relief. “May the spirits be praised, you are a
sensible
girl after all! At last you see the wisdom of accepting what we
must
do about your mother.”
    “I know very well what we must do about her.” Iforced myself to sound calm and in command. “We must heal her.”
    “What!”
    For an instant, the elder’s roar of outrage brought back hard-edged memories of Father when his blazing temper ruled our home. My first instinct was to cringe, then to do or say whatever it would take to douse those angry flames.
    Then I regained control of myself. I was no longer a child, easily intimidated by an all-powerful grown-up. I was Himiko the healer, Himiko the shaman, Himiko the warrior who fought without spear or bow, yet won. I would win this battle; for my mother’s sake, I had to.
    I stood up to the furious old man. “My lord, be reasonable. Even the most powerful shaman who ever lived could not heal anyone if she did not have the right remedy for the sickness. If you have a griping stomach and I give you plain water instead of
kihada
bark, you will not recover. My mother’s mind will be restored solely when we can give her the proper medicine.”
    “By the gods, why didn’t you
do
it? What were you waiting for?”
    I spread my hands. “We could not give her what we did not have. Unfortunately, the only source for her cure is far away from our village.”
    “Ah, and with the winter weather there was no possibility for you to gather it, so you tried