Dragon Sword and Wind Child Read Free Page B

belt?”
    The girls, who had raced to the top of the bank, stopped in their tracks, eyes wide with surprise as they caught sight of the strange group of people. Grateful to her friends for rescuing her from an awkward situation, Saya hastily explained, “These people found it for me. They’re the musicians for the festival. I’m taking them to the head chieftain. Won’t you come with me?”
    The girls’ faces brightened. Anything out of the ordinary was a welcome diversion. Laughing excitedly, they rushed back to collect their washing.
    â€œWhat odd people!”
    â€œThey remind me of Ground Spiders.”
    â€œStop exaggerating. That’s not a very nice thing to say.”
    â€œBut just look at them. You know what they say. Ground Spiders are either long of leg and arm or really short. They sleep in nests in the trees in summer, and in winter they live in caves. That description fits them perfectly, doesn’t it?”
    Everyone laughed. None of them had ever met a Ground Spider. They knew that it was a derogatory name given to the frontier people who refused to worship the God of Light, but, not knowing any better, they used it for anyone who looked odd or different. As such, it aptly expressed the musicians’ strangeness, and Saya laughed, too. But her smile froze as she recalled her friend’s words: “long of leg and arm or very short.” At last the reason for her anxiety crystallized. She glanced quickly behind her at the sober black figures on the grassy riverbank. The disparity in their sizes was almost comical. And there were five of them. Five.
    Suppressing the sudden racing of her heart, Saya told herself fiercely, Impossible! It’s just a coincidence. My dream couldn’t possibly have come back to haunt me, not on such a sunny day as this. Not in broad daylight. It can’t be.
    2
    â€œ PROMISE ?”
    â€œYes. I promise,” Saya said solemnly. “I swear before the God of Light that I will not accept gifts from, or reply to, the songs of Akihiko, Muraji, Toyo, Ohiro, and—um—Mahito.”
    â€œAll right, then. That’s settled.” Although they spoke lightly, the girls were serious. Beneath their excitement and anticipation lurked an insecurity they could not totally suppress. The surrounding hills were robed in a breathtaking display of fresh, new leaves that seemed to tinge even the white cloth of their garments green. Intoxicated with their own youthful beauty, they wavered between shyness and pride, aware that the pure white of their clothes, the alpine roses in their hair, and the azalea adorning their sashes became them now more than they would at any other time.
    â€œIt looks as if I’ve lost out,” Saya remarked to the girl beside her.
    â€œWell, it’s your own fault. You’re the one who didn’t choose somebody.”
    â€œDon’t worry about Saya. She won’t have any trouble finding a partner!” interjected a girl who wore a bright yellow sash.
    â€œWhy do you say that?”
    â€œWhy, she asks! Saya, you’re unbelievable!” exclaimed a girl crowned with a wreath of green leaves. “Don’t you know how attractive you are? Just the other day someone was saying you don’t look like any ordinary village maid.”
    â€œWhat do I look like then?” Saya retorted.
    â€œCheer up. They meant that you’re beautiful.”
    â€œBeautiful. Just like a princess. Princess Saya.”
    â€œOh, stop it!” Saya exclaimed irritably. She was in no mood for joking about herself after what she had overheard the one-eyed musician saying. “She has the face of . . .” Whose face? Was she really that different from everyone else?
    The girl beside her gave her shoulder a friendly pat and laughed. “Don’t worry! No one who knows your true character could ever mistake you for a princess.”
    Meanwhile, on the southern slope of Mount Itsuki,