Page 11 of The Tainted and the Tamed
“Not much more than that. He told me to inhale diluted oils and steam.”
“Indeed. Has the bathhouse been a help to you?”
Murasaki hesitated. “It’s awfully damp.”
“Naturally.”
She nodded her head, embarrassed to have said something so obvious.
“The air is thinner here in the mountains. You will need time to adjust, and the seasons are changing besides. When the last typhoon has passed for the year and we have less rain, your lungs will improve. Until then, stay well away from the rift. The sulfur gasses will do you no good.” He eyed Ms. Tanabe. “Keep her off dusting duty for the next two weeks. And no polishing silver.”
Ms. Tanabe gripped her hands together. “And what, then, does that leave?”
The doctor shrugged. “She may serve his lordshi—the chairman.”
Ms. Tanabe raised a brow.
“Why not? He won’t bite.”
Ms. Tanabe snorted. “I’ll adjust the schedule. But be forewarned, Ms. Mukai—it is no less strenuous, meeting Chairman Asami’s needs than those of the house. The two are truly one and the same.”
“I’ll do my best,” Murasaki said with a bow.
Murasaki thought of the first thing she’d learned upon her arrival, that the chairman feared germs. No wonder he kept such an astute physician on his staff.
Imagine, having the money to do so, while the rest of us struggle to pay for treatment.
Except she didn’t have to anymore. Not if she could retain this position.
She resolved then and there to do whatever the chairman required. She’d worked in a factory since she was still a girl, after all. He’d be amazed by how industrious she could be.
Murasaki was about to become his most dedicated servant. And if she had it her way, she’d become his favorite, too.
Fusae Castle is going to be my home for the rest of my days.
However many they may be.
Chapter 6
Murasaki
Huddled with two other maids, Murasaki listened for signs the conversation in the neighboring room was waning. Every time she heard the low, cultured voice of the chairman rumbling through the thin walls, a thrill went through her.
Maybe today I’ll finally see him.She couldn’t wait to tell her mother, who’d already written to her asking if she’d spotted the elusive ruler yet.I’ll have to eventually.
Yet in the ten days she’d been cleaning his house, she’d barely seen more than a glimpse of his black kimono.
It wasn’t only Chairman Asami who had a way of slipping out of sight. A mysterious air hung about Fusae Castle, as if the outbuildings and grounds swallowed up its residents. Whenever Murasaki walked them, members of the grounds crew flitted in and out of her vision, ducking behind a crooked pine one minute and completely gone the next. Likewise, the handsome Mr. Haruno was nowhere to be found.
A pity, that,she thought with a wistful smile. While Murasaki was past the point of hoping for one final, great romance, she would’ve liked to have seen him again—almost as much as she longed to spot the chairman.
“He’s winding down the conversation,” one of the two youngest maids, Kanako, whispered.
Murasaki strained to make out his words. They were too low and muffled to make sense of. “How can you tell?”
“There’s a knack to it. You’ll learn.”
“Hush,” the senior maid among them warned, the word barely more than a breath. Eriko clutched the sides of a red lacquerware tray, a cast iron teapot and cups sitting perfectly steady upon it. Murasaki could hear the light pops of the still-boiling water.
