We both thanked him, and the elderly servant beamed at us and took us back into the main hall. This time, we took a right instead of passing straight through and found ourselves climbing a winding wooden spiral stair. We passed doorways onto two floors. The first was bustling with activity; shouting and the smell of cooking. The second seemed very quiet and empty.
When we reached the third floor, Win bowed and gestured us into a wooden corridor hung with more paintings. Some of the artwork depicted incredibly detailed, stylized representations of warriors. I saw portraits of men in fierce poses, dressed in armor and wielding swords similar to those I’d seen in my vision of Otara before we’d stepped through the portal. Others were pictures of mythical scenes; a forest scene featuring a fox-spirit similar to the Kitsune I had met in the psychic plane after the battle at the shrine. With that thought, I felt the Kitsune Persona twitching at the edge of my awareness. I pushed it back for the moment. Now was not the time to be experimenting with that.
“Here is your room,” Win said, sliding a door to one side.
Cara and I both smiled at that—here, all the doors seemed to take the form of sliding screens, not the hinged and swinging variety which we were used to in Saxe.
“If you need anything, pull on this rope to ring the bell on the servants’ floor.” He gestured to a red bell pull hanging just inside the door. Then he bowed and retreated from the room, leaving us alone.
Cara slid the screen door back in place, and we looked around the room together. It was spacious, clean, and simple, with two generously-sized sleeping mats, a side table with bowls of wash-water, towels, and a bowl of fruit. At the far side of the room, another screen door opened on a small balcony. It provided a wide view of the majestic cliff walls that bordered the valley, along with the wild green expanse of trees, brush, and fern that lay at their feet.
“You trust him?” Cara asked me.
I thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “I do. I don’t think we have anything to fear from Toshiro. You can leave your weapons here safely, I think.”
“Good. I think so too, but I wanted to make sure you agreed. Today was truly incredible.”
“It was,” I said.
“I wonder when we will work out how to share the Personas?”
“I’m sure we will come across that skill in time. From the way the Keeper spoke, it was something we would discover by chance, rather than something we could actively seek out.”
There was a brief cough outside the door, and I pulled the screen across to reveal a woman and a young man, carrying trays of food, bowls of warm, scented wash water, and a pile of washcloths and towels. I stepped aside, and they laid these all out on a long low table by the wall, then bowed their way out, closing the door behind them.
“Look, Leo,” Cara said, and I saw that she was holding up a green dress of fine gauzy cloth. “They’ve provided me with something more comfortable to wear.”
I smiled and turned away as she took off her potion belt and her weapons, laying them in the corner. To give her a bit of privacy, I wandered off toward the window to look out at the view. From behind me, I heard the sound of splashing and Cara making pleased sounds as she washed the sweat and the road dust from her body.
“Leo?” she said, after everything had been quiet for a moment. “What do you think?”
I turned from the window and looked back into the room.
She was wearing the green dress, and it fitted her well. She was a lithe woman, and the thin material hugged her toned figure and left little to the imagination. It had a high neckline and a drop that fell almost to her ankles, and yet the fabric was so fine that I almost thought that I could see the fine ribbed gooseflesh around her erect nipples.
I cast an admiring glance up and down her body, and she put her hands on her hips and struck a pose. I laughed, and she chuckled, too. Impulsively, she took a step toward me then hesitated.
“Leo...” she said, but then trailed off.
“Yes, Cara?”
She blushed suddenly. It was so unlike her to be embarrassed about anything that I almost laughed again.
“What is it?” I asked gently, restraining the laugher.
She blinked a few times, seeming lost for words. After a moment, she spoke again. “In Saxe, you made no secret of your admiration for me. And I think I made it clear that I felt the same about you.”
“That’s right,” I said. “But we both knew we could never take it any further, since the laws of Saxe prohibit warband leaders from getting involved with each other. When the Keeper asked you if you would come through the portal, you agreed. I made a joke about it, but it was truly part of the reason you came, wasn’t it?”
“It was,” she said. “By stepping through that portal, we left our homeland behind us. We’re not in Saxe anymore. Perhaps we never shall be again.”
“That’s true...”
She took three quick steps toward me and looked up into my eyes. Her lips parted slightly, and I reached out to place a hand on her hip. At the same time, we both leaned in to each other’s embrace. It was true. We were no longer in Saxe, and there was no prohibition against our relationship here in Yamato.
Our lips met in a gentle, exploratory kiss which quickly became firm. She let out a soft moan as I pressed a hand to the small
