~~~

The best thing about travelling in a palanquin adjacent to the sea was the constant influx of curious mosquitoes flying in through the window, even at night, even in early spring when it wasn’t yet warm.

To humans it would’ve been irritating, but to Atta Noe, it was fun, letting them land on her face, roam a little, prod their tiny proboscis into her ersatz skin…and then consuming them in a ball of purple mist. And when that got boring, she’d swoosh them over to the elder Shingen and guide them into his earhole, then tell him to shut up when he turned around to moan about it.

‘All that childish sulking is making you miss the view…’ he said, finally, hitting the side of his head to try and dislodge the latest insect invader.

‘Don’t care.’

‘It may not be Sunpu, but the streets are quite delightful with the winter lanterns still hung up. Peaceful too. No drunken louts leering, making caveman noises.’

‘Because they’re all at the castle.’

‘Yes, Nishio castle. That will be quite a sight. I admit, I haven’t seen it since its renewal. Apparently it’s unassailable, and the only way to infiltrate is by climbing up the cliff face.’

‘Not unassailable then.’

‘Bah, you’re impossible. Is there no part of you that understands the art of basic conversation?’

Atta Noe opened her mouth to say fuck off, weakling in her native tongue, but was pre-empted by the neighing of the horses outside, followed by that over-dressed Tadachika child ordering them out of the palanquin.

Allowing the elder Shingen to stumble out first, Atta Noe waited a full minute before pushing open the door and half-stepping, half-gliding down to the path.

‘Congratulations, you move slower than an old man,’ said Tadachika, standing at the front of a semi-circle of bored-looking ashigaru, one hand on the guard of his katana.

‘Where is my box?’ she asked, looking first behind the palanquin, then over towards the cliff edge on the left, and finally up at the five-floor honmaru looming on the plateau above.

‘It has been taken ahead to your chambers.’

‘Which are where?’

‘You will see soon enough. Come.’ Tadachika held out his gloved hand, tilting his head slightly, as two of the ashigaru behind him struggled against the forces of a moderate sea wind to pull down the Sakai banner.

Glancing at Gen’ichiro to the left, Atta Noe tilted her own head, assessing the likelihood of the Sakai daimyō’s outstretched hand being pulled back as soon as she reached it, then decided, no, he wouldn’t, his pupils were dilated, which in her experience of male humans meant one of two things: sexual desire or self-destruction.

She moved forward, riding on discreet platforms of purple mist, and accepted the retainer’s hand. To her surprise, it wasn’t sweaty at all, a sign that he either didn’t comprehend what she truly was or simply didn’t care.

‘Your skin is cold,’ he said, guiding her towards the stone steps that curved up through an opening courtyard towards the side of the main compound. ‘I can feel it even through my glove.’

‘Winter habit.’

‘But it is almost spring.’

She smiled, not even attempting to make it sincere, and looked left at the smaller structures with cheaper-looking lanterns hanging from their walls. ‘That is where your soldiers are kept.’

‘Stationed, yes.’

‘Beneath the eyes of their lord.’

‘As it should be.’

‘Interesting. In Lord Shingen’s castle, the samurai are positioned farther from the honmaru.’

‘That is the old style. And unnecessary. Here in Nishio, we do not fear our own men.’

Atta Noe looked at the medium-sized child in full battle dress and nodded, biting her tongue in the name of diplomacy, and sublimating the voice in her head telling her this young fool could be steered her way if she played him correctly. The traditional type, elevated too young to leadership, stuck with an emaciated clan living off its glory days…that weren’t that glorious to begin with. The Sakai Clan…definitely a challenge…as long as this boy could keep it in his yukata and not force her into any reactionary measures.

‘Tell me…Atta Noe…what do you think of our castle?’

‘Not a witch anymore?’ she asked, turning back to him and keeping a lock on her human face for a few moments…then slipping into her own variation of the smile she’d learnt in training.

‘A slip of the tongue. And perhaps an ill mood at the time.’

She maintained the smile a little longer, then switched to pensive. ‘It is not completely inaccurate. To humans, I am certainly more witch-like than any of your own kind.’

‘Yes…I admit, I am curious about the extent of your powers.’

‘Powers?’

‘The tricks you are able to perform.’

‘Ah, I see. The physical traits I possess.’

‘Is it true that you can slice a man in two with your…mist?’

‘A woman too.’

Tadachika tilted his head [and helmet] again, then laughed, placing the demon’s hand against his lips and holding it there with a long kiss. Behind him, Gen’ichiro looked away, over towards a side gate, muttering something under his breath. Atta Noe couldn’t catch the words, but she could read his lips and, pulling her hand back, asked if he’d met one of her kind before.

The sudden attention seemed to puzzle him and he looked at Tadachika for guidance…then changed his mind and went with his own thoughts. ‘As a child, there was someone similar, yes.’

‘You knew them?’

‘No.’

‘Followed them?’

‘It was not-…there was no worship aspect entreated.’

Atta Noe glided over and stopped near his sword arm. ‘Did they have a name?’

‘Name?’

‘Mine is Atta Noe. And theirs was…’

‘You’re wasting your time,’ interrupted Tadachika, coming in from the side and re-taking Atta Noe’s hand. ‘He told me the whole story on the way back here. There was no relationship, the woman was staying in his village, he saw her swirling purple a few times and then she left.’

‘Ah, she assumed a female form. Perhaps I know her…’

Tadachika sliced a hand through the air. ‘This kind of talk is for future days. Now it teeters on midnight and we must show you to your chamber. Come, this way, through this courtyard.’

‘As you command,’ said Atta Noe, glancing back at Gen’ichiro as the Sakai daimyō led her along the left-hand path and around to the rear of the castle.

It wasn’t much of a surprise to see a stone garden greeting them – most modern castles had at least one - along with template ponds and sculpted trees, though it was a little odd that the Sakai retainer was taking her to what seemed to be a large shack isolated by itself at the tail end of the compound, far from the honmaru, far from the samurai barracks too, and half-concealed by the beginning rows of the forest leading down the rear slope to Nishio.

‘To keep rumour and speculation to a minimum,’ Tadachika explained as he slid open the entrance panel and gave a signal for the remaining four ashigaru to leave.

‘By putting me in an incredibly distinctive structure closer to no other?’

‘It is the safest way. Of course, you will stay out of sight during the day. Food will be delivered by the servants and, in the rare cases that I need your counsel, I will send for you.’

‘Yes, a pleasant cage for a witch…’ Atta Noe muttered with a polite laugh, walking ahead down the short corridor with salt sacks stacked against the walls, then moving through an open wooden panel into an almost completely unfurnished chamber. The first thing that caught her eye was her box, safely positioned near the corner. She glided over, stroking the native emblems on the lid, then took in the rest of the desolate space, frowning at the double-sized futon.

‘As I understand it, you are capable of functioning in a human capacity…eating our food, drinking our drink…’

‘I do not require a futon,’ she replied sharply, without turning. ‘You may take it away.’

Tadachika walked to the box and patted the lid, nodding at the decorative patterns that were like hieroglyphics to him. Then took her hand and kissed each individual knuckle.

‘You have already done that,’ she said, pulling her hand back, losing the smile. ‘It is late and I must rest. Tomorrow, we will discuss the state of the Sakai Clan and potential operations within the next few months.’

‘Yes, you should rest. Recover your spirit. I will come by tomorrow night and lie with you.’

The line was spoken matter-of-fact, so much so that both Atta Noe had to mouth the words back to herself, while Gen’ichiro just stared blankly at the futon.

‘You seem to be regressing,’ she replied, finally. ‘I am a senior advisor to Lord Shingen, not a third-rate concubine.’

‘In Kai Province, perhaps. Here, you are my guest. To do with as I please.’

‘Ah…that tone again.’

‘Nonsense. There is no tone. I am simply telling you the role that your service will take, which, as the head of the Sakai Clan, is mine to decide. It is not anything personal. In fact, I am quite looking forward to sampling what you have to offer.’

‘Lord Imagawa will not approve.’

‘Imagawa…Lord Imagawa…will be occupied elsewhere. And if he does stop by, he will most certainly be too drunk to notice.’

Atta Noe held up her left arm and drizzled it into vapour, forcing the Sakai retainer back a step as it swirled near his face. ‘Bold words for a child retainer. Of a village club.’

Tadachika’s eyes flashed feral lightning for a brief moment, his fist clenching. Then the hierarchal breeding seeped back in as he propped himself up to full height and looked left at Gen’ichiro, performing an unreciprocated grin. ‘Age is subordinate to ambition. And ambition is paramount. Ask your young ex-daimyō Shingen, he will confirm it…if he ever deigns to see you again.’

‘Lessons from a juvenile…’

‘Until then, you are under my command. And will refer to me as daimyō.’

‘Again, you severely misunderstand. This is simply a temporary assignment…to prop up an under-performing cog in a much bigger wheel.’

‘Is that so? Then I will have to make good use of you while you are here. Starting tomorrow night, in these chambers. Bathe thoroughly before I arrive, I detest poor hygiene.’

Atta Noe mouthed back the words bathe thoroughly as if they were poison, then sat down on the futon, stretching her arms back as if advertising her yukata for a Kyoto fashion house. Looking up at an almost salivating Tadachika, incongruous to a ludicrous degree in his battle armour, she couldn’t help but laugh.

‘No more comebacks?’ he asked, eyes running down the length of her human form.

‘You truly are of that age. Did you not ever wonder why Shingen would have me as an advisor and not a concubine?’

‘He lies with boys, everyone knows that.’

‘Ah, silly child. I am not like you. Physiologically. Biologically. This form…is not human. Do you understand that? My insides are toxic to your kind. The first thrust and your penis would dissolve into nothingness. I am literally untouchable.’

It wasn’t the prettiest warning ever, but it was enough to shut the Sakai Head up for at least thirty seconds. During which time he adjusted the tilt of his helmet and straightened his armour pads and grimaced like he’d just failed a surprise dictation test. After all that superficiality, he moved back to Gen’ichiro and whispered into the tail-end of his hair, ‘is what she said true?’

The general tugged at his red neck cloth, coughing up the courage to respond. ‘I believe so. Yes.’

‘Your one was like this too?’

‘According to rumour.’

Tutting to himself, he turned back to Atta Noe and spoke down to the gap in the front of her yukata. ‘We will see how our relationship develops then.’

‘As you command, warrior king,’ she replied, full caustic.

Digging nails into his palm, Tadachika made a grunting sound then strode to the door panel, sliding it open and leaving it that way as him and his full battle dress vanished into the salt storage corridor outside.

‘Tell me, Gen’ichi,’ said Atta Noe, lying down across the futon and gazing sideways-up, ‘did you ever get close to this other one of yours?’

Gen’ichiro coughed and looked at the wall, possibly where the window should’ve been. ‘It is late. I will leave you to rest.’

‘I’m not especially tired…now that the child’s gone.’

‘Good night,’ said the Sakai General with another cough, then a short bow, then a quick turn as he hurried out and slid the door panel back across behind him.

Ah, one of those, Atta Noe thought, closing her eyes and swirling up towards the ceiling. Useful to an extent, yet…

Outside, an owl flew onto the roof of the shack and made footstep sounds, followed by a half-hearted mating call.

Gods, a whole year in Nishio. Babysitting the Sakai Clan.

Unacceptable.

No, unbearable. Intolerable.

But how to climb out of this pit?

She swirled in purple mist form over to the box and slipped in through the gap that the sloppy ashigaru carriers had left.

The toxic vagina ruse should be enough to keep that little wretch at bay for a month or two…but I can’t be lax. He will try again. Probably after half a bottle of shōchū.

No, tomorrow must be the start of things. Scope out the surroundings, gauge my perimeter, poke around for potential schisms, then spin into superior Atashhka strategy.

Make Shingen and that Palakkji snake, Yukio Ka, regret ever sending me to this shithole.

The owl on the roof stamped its claws hard, then started making a scraping noise. Possibly annoyed that no female [or male] owls had responded to its call.

But first, Atta Noe thought, stretching out a purple trail up to the ceiling and tracing the owls movements, the young daimyō of Sakai.

All dressed up and no one to fight…

Well, that’s gonna change.

Very soon.

Funnelling the vapour into a spear tip, she prepared to pierce through the wood…then stopped at the sound of wings flapping…letting out a tiny huff of approval as the owl flew off into the night.