Dreamlands Read Online Free PDF Page B

at me thoughtfully. I could see that she thought I was besotted with the boy. I wasn’t; however, he was someone I could mold for my own pleasures. Keno could become an entertaining companion with the correct education.
    “If I may take my leave of you, my lady?” I asked Tamazusa.
    She nodded, and I gestured for Keno to follow me. He froze, wondering what he was supposed to do.
    “Bow low again, boy, and follow your master,” Tan’yu hissed.
    Keno clumsily did so and scurried after me as I strode out of the gardens.
    “And what did Tan’yu-san tell you?” I asked when we were walking toward the practice ground.
    “That… that I was just … um … slightly torn, no need for stitches,” Keno stuttered. “You―I’m just repeating what he told me―you shouldn’t have sex with me for a couple of days.”
    “Probably longer than that,” I said, considering the distaste he had shown for intimacy. “But for now, I wish to test your skill level with the sword.”
    “It’s been a while,” Keno said, “and I didn’t do a lot of working out before―”
    “Do you want to know where you are now?” I asked him.
    Keno shook his head. He was afraid to ask, afraid to act like he had a right to such basic information.
    I wanted to curse again the ones who had abused him but kept my tone disinterested and calm. I didn’t want to frighten him again. “You are in the Dreamlands,” I said. “The place where oni and other magical beings live. I am an oni .”
    Telling Keno of my true nature might frighten him, but I felt I should be honest with him. The boy wasn’t a fool; he knew this place was different from where he had been.

    27

    DREAMLANDS
    He stopped. “That’s… Heiseg was doing research on that. I… I thought that it was just craziness.”
    “As you can see, it is not,” I said.
    So that was how my lady knew the fool. The man had meddled in things he didn’t understand, magic and power beyond his ability. It didn’t matter now, because the fool was dead. He deserved his fate, because of the rudeness to my lady and the betrayal of his own people.
    I have no doubt, hearing about the damage from Keno, that the man enjoyed hurting those who had been working for him.
    “It… it seems like a nice place,” Keno said after a few moments.
    He was trailing behind me, uncertain about where he should be. I thought that would be a problem with the boy for a while. It was something those idiots had caused, imprisoning him the way they had.
    “I like it,” I said.
    I did. I just wished I had the option of leaving.
    We arrived at the practice grounds for the samurai. Keno shrunk toward me when he realized the place was full of men. I was sure that was because of where he had been. The others who had been abusing him had been the warriors of that place, from the note my lady had sent me.
    I found Okita, the master at arms, and gestured to Keno. “I need to know the level of his skill, Okita-san.” He smiled. “How do you know he had any training?”
    “I asked him.”
    “You know that if you have been lying, boy, that this is going to hurt,” Okita pointed out to Keno.
    Keno nodded. “I know. A couple of years ago, I was decent.
    Now… I know that it’s going to hurt afterward. I’m in rotten shape, sensei.”

    FELICITAS IVEY
    28
    Okita roared with laughter. Keno’s honestly was refreshing after the posturing he had to deal with from new recruits. “Call me Okita-san,” he said.
    “I do not need him to fight for my lady; I am just seeing if he can defend himself,” I told Okita.
    “And you will be sparring with him in another manner soon.” Okita cheerfully leered. Keno flushed adorably even as he shivered in fear.
    “That,” I said coolly, “is none of your business.” Okita just grinned wider before bowing and walking off to check on the others practicing here.

    KENO

    I HURT. The master at arms, or whoever Okita was, had me work until I was too sore to move. Not that it was hard right