Page 15 of Tsumiko and the Enslaved Fox
The rooms were changing? Was that even possible?
And then Suuzu’s warning from Akira’s texts came back to her.Be careful of tricks.This was exactly the sort of thing kitsune were supposed to do, leading astray hapless travelers. Tsumiko was willing to bet that her fox had enough tails to cause all kinds of trouble.
“Argent,” she muttered.
“Yes, mistress?”
She jumped, for she’d barely whispered his name. Yet her butler had not only heard, he’d stolen up behind her. Argent bowed, the picture of subservience, but Tsumiko didn’t trust his sly smile.
“Did you need something, my lady?”
“Yes, please. Will you show me the way to the kitchen?” she asked. “I’m a little mixed up.”
“Tsk. The stairs are right here, mistress.”
And so they were. Now.
She quietly followed her butler downstairs, intrigued by this turn of events. It would seem that foxes really were tricksters, and for two days, she’d been easy prey. What’s more, Argent had clearly enjoyed messing with her. Tsumiko could feel his malicious glee.
It was a petty sort of revenge, but she let him have it. She’d been raised to turn the other cheek, but it was more than that. While Tsumiko definitely didn’t trust his smile, hewassmiling.
TEN
Circulating Letter
Sansa sat at the kitchen table, chin on her fist as she scanned what appeared to be a foreign newspaper.
Tsumiko was still trying to figure out how to behave around Michael’s reserved wife. Although Tsumiko knew better than to put too much stock in appearances, Sansa’s was formidable. Tall and broad-faced, her aproned uniform couldn’t disguise her musculature. Wide shoulders, browned skin, callused hands—Sansa was the kind of woman that made you suspect that she took after her father. Quiet, confident, watchful, and polite. Tsumiko couldn’t have called her pretty, but Sansa had her husband’s respectandregard.
Tsumiko wondered how they’d met.
Just then, Sansa turned a page, and Tsumiko’s attention was caught. Unlike the newspapers in her school library’s reading room, this one was printed on paper with a creamy hue. The pages were strangely delicate, crinkling like the onion skin of old Bibles.
As Sansa gently smoothed the page and continued to read, Tsumiko felt a tug and shuffled forward as if obeying an implicit command. Whose, she couldn’t say. But the compulsion was impossible to ignore. Confused by her own boldness, Tsumiko reached out to touch the paper’s edge.
Sansa’s questioning glance softened into a pleasant smile. “You may look, miss. You want to, yes?”
“Very much,” Tsumiko admitted with a blush. “But I don’t understand why.”
Easing from her chair, the woman nudged Tsumiko into her place. “This paper is moth-made, and the allure is strongest the first time.”
Tsumiko leaned forward, trying to make sense of the strange combination of symbols, insignias, and text in three languages—English, Japanese, and Russian. She brushed her fingertips over the page, exploring the sensations pulling at her soul. Although the ink gleamed as if wet, nothing smudged. “It looks freshly written,” she whispered in awed tones.
“No, no. This is a week or more old. Reports are passed along from one reaver to the next.” Sansa moved to the cupboard. “We are quite low on the priority list, but old news is better than none. And Michael likes being at the end of the line because he can keep the issues.”
“I can see why he’d want to. This is a work of art.” Row upon row of neat brushwork fanned out around a strange seal. Tsumiko couldn’t seem to stop stroking the silky paper. “It looks handwritten.”
“It is.” Sansa brought cups of tea and took the seat beside Tsumiko’s. “The clan who makes our paper also trains scribes. Dimityblest craftsmanship is good, yes?”
“Wouldn’t email be more efficient?”
“Not for secrets.” Sansa wrapped large hands around her cup. “Sometimes, the old ways are best.”
“What’s this?” Tsumiko asked, touching a symbol that looked like a striking cat’s paw surrounded by twisting branches.
“You have heard of the Five?”
“The five largest Amaranthine clans—cat, dog, wolf, fox, and dragon.” Tsumiko had familiarized herself with the basics. “They led the Emergence.”
