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spied her crossing the garden, walking toward me. She smiled and shook her head when she was by my side. “I should have known that you would care for him gently.”

    FELICITAS IVEY
    24
    I smiled. “I fear that this was not the first time that he had been
    ‘bruised’ in such a manner, so I wanted to have Tan’yu-san examine him.”
    Her eyes darkened. “I had hoped that… no matter. How is he?” I shrugged. “Frightened. Confused. And docile.”
    “He must taste as sweet as he looks,” she teased.
    “I must thank you for telling me of that odd custom of kissing,” I said.
    “And knowing you, you have not gone beyond that,” she half scolded me. “He is a gift. Enjoy him.”
    “When it will be enjoyable for him also,” I reminded her. “I have no taste for pain.”
    Her eyes darkened. “I wish that you had been my patron earlier.” We looked up when we heard the shoji door to Tan’yu’s rooms slide open. Tan’yu caught sight of the two of us and immediately knelt.
    Keno was slightly slower, puzzled about what he had to do, but he paid his respects to Tamazusa in the same manner.
    “And how is Samojirou-sama’s companion?” she asked.
    “Not as damaged as was thought, Tamazusa-sama,” Tan’yu said.
    “He will heal soon.” I noticed Keno was bright red, embarrassed by this.
    Tamazusa walked over and lifted Keno’s chin gently. “He is beautiful. So delicate. One would almost think that he was a woman.” I laughed. “You know that I enjoy such beauty.” I liked pretty young men, not the ones who had over-muscled themselves as fighters. Keno would never be like that, since he was boyish, even with his haunted eyes. I prized androgyny in my companions. I thought I might dress Keno as a woman when I showed him off to the society here. It would also hide who he was from Fuse and her sons.

    25

    DREAMLANDS
    “One would think that he should be called Sakura-chan rather than Keno-chan,” Tamazusa said thoughtfully.
    “In certain situations, that might be true,” I agreed.
    I knew what she was hinting at. It wouldn’t do for Fuse’s informants to know too soon that I had this prize. We all spied on one another, playing a Game with complicated rules, and to an outsider, incomprehensible ones, having to do with honor and pride. But such things happened when one was almost immortal. We could be killed by violence or accident, but oni were almost indestructible. While I was not an active participant in the Game, Tamazusa was. I knew that Fuse was also, with her sons.
    Keno looked adorably confused over the conversation. I would explain it to him later, but I sensed he was not one for schemes and plots or other kinds of deceptions. He also needed to be tutored in the protocol for my lady’s court. Lessons, many of them, I saw in his future, besides ones with a katana. I had decided during the night that I wanted a companion more than a doll. Keno seemed to be clever, beautiful, and someone I wanted to explore. It might have been because he was my lover’s avatar, but it also might have been because of himself. I knew this wasn’t the Keno I had fallen in love with, but I did want to see if I could love him too.
    “Such innocence!” she exclaimed, letting go of his chin.
    I laughed again. “He has been sheltered to a certain extent, but I doubt if he considers himself an innocent.” Keno didn’t seem to mind that we were talking about him. The note Tamazusa had sent with my breakfast informed me that Keno had been a prisoner for a number of years, kept captive by an odd organization that hunted our kind, taking care of their machines, as he had said earlier. She didn’t tell me how she had come in contact with the one called Heiseg. I didn’t care, nor did I care about how messily he had died. In my mind, it had been too quick. He had been betraying his own kind. Hypocritical of me to think so, but I had learned loyalty over the intervening centuries.

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    26
    Tamazusa looked