SKY OF PAPER: AN ASIAN STEAMPUNK FANTASY

CHAPTER 16

I did not cry, but I was surprised, shaken by a mixture of sadness, anger and regret.

"You stupid, worthless child," she said sharply. "Your sister gave up everything for you, including her life; and this is how you honor her? She gave you a chance to learn in the finest school in the Empire, to serve in the Imperial court, and you tossed it away because you let your anger and your pride get the better of you.

Do you think that Rune is the only village suffering right now? The plague is all over the country. Hundreds of people are dying everyday and yet, you selfishly think that you are the most unfortunate of them all.

You are lucky to be alive. And you are even more lucky that I do not toss you out onto the street. If Master Hotaka had asked me to give back the money the temple paid me for finding and delivering you, I would have already done it. Both he and Master Ichiro have asked that I save what little future you have as a chienkuu ko in return for allowing me to keep the earnings. I will train you, and you will work hard. Honor your sister. Do not shame everything she has done for you."

Her words rang like ripples upon a pond, shattering every hope I had of ever seeing my sister again. Confused, wrecked and torn, I knew at that moment of only one thing; that somehow I must pickup the pieces one by one, and see what kind of person I would become.

Kassashimei had not said anything. Nothing at all. What could she say? Even as the servant led us to our rooms on the third floor, she kept silent, like a solemn priestess at a funeral procession. We were given separate rooms. Mine was hardly larger than a closet. It was drab and filled with dust, a sign that it hadn‘t been used in quite sometime.

I laid on my futon, nursing the sting on my cheek as I looked up at the ragged, wooden ceiling, barely able to think. My sister, my village, everything that I had known or held dear was gone. What lay before me still lay hidden, shrouded by the whims of an uncertain fate.

I heard the faint patter of footsteps approaching my room. The light from the hallway lit the outline of a girl’s silhouette against the paper and wood door. It was Kassashimei.

"Terr, I wanted to tell you that I knew you weren't going to cry. Even when she slapped you, you didn’t give in, " she said in what sounded like the first caring voice I’d heard since leaving the temple. "I take back everything I said about you being a coward. I would have broken down in an instant if I knew my family was gone. And don't you dare worry about me, or apologize for everything that has happened. I never liked that drafty temple or its teachers. Besides, I have a feeling that being around you is going to be a lot more interesting."

She stood there for a long while, perhaps wondering if I was going to reply. But after a few more silent moments she wished me good night, then scuffled away.

Morning in the capital was nothing like the temple. The ringing of the sunrise bell, the hustle and shuffling sounds of students waking up, the morning caller, making his rounds as he rang his chimes and called out the hour of the rabbit; none of that happened. Instead, I woke up to an eerie silence, one that seemed so still, I could almost hear the dust settle.

For a moment, I thought that I was still dreaming.

Then, as if someone knew that I was awake, the sound of footsteps rustled to my door. I gave a start at the snapping sound the door made as it swiftly slid open. It was the servant woman. She immediately pulled away my bedding and told me to get up.

I did exactly as she told, but she continued to regard me with a very impatient look on her face.

"Well?" she said. "Do you expect me to clean up after you? Put away your bedding."