“Ochan!” Yuna shouted when she saw Van limp from the tent. She broke into a run, but Kiya grabbed her from behind.
“Yuna, no! Don’t jump on him. He’s been hurt.”
Van laughed. “It’s all right,” he said, and gestured for Yuna to come. She approached solemnly and gave his bandaged thigh a gentle poke.
“Does it huht?”
“Not so bad. I’ll be fine.” He put a hand on her head and stroked her soft, sun-warmed hair. The spring breeze felt good. He inhaled the scent of grass and savored the joy of being able to stand and walk.
“Van!” Tohma came running. “Is it okay for you to be up already?”
“Sorry to give you a fright,” Van said. “I’m feeling fine. Really.” He looked around. “Where’re Chida and the others?”
“At the market. We won some prize money, and they wanted to get some stuff before we go home.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll go tomorrow. Thought I’d take Mother and Yuna with me.”
Van realized they must have decided to leave someone behind because they were worried about him. “Thanks,” Van said.
Tohma laughed shyly. “I didn’t do anythin’.”
Picking up familiar scents, Van looked around and saw figures approaching from an area thick with tents.
“It’s Auntie Sae! And Auntie Milalle, too!” Yuna exclaimed. Before anyone could stop her, she scampered over and leaped into Sae’s arms like a little puppy. Sae laughed and raised her, and Milalle poked her cheek with a finger, making Yuna giggle.
Squinting against the sun, Milalle looked at Van. “You shouldn’t be up yet.”
“I just wanted some fresh air.”
Milalle smiled but shook her head. “I know how you must feel, but it’s still too soon. You shouldn’t take a blow to the head lightly.”
At her urging, Van turned toward the tent, and Kiya hurried forward to take Yuna away from Sae.
“No!” Yuna clung to Sae’s neck. “I wanna go, too. It’s all wight.”
“Yuna, you have to wait outside with me,” Kiya said. “They need to dress his wounds.”
Yuna’s lips began to tremble. Before she could start bawling, Sae looked at Kiya. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep an eye on her.” Turning to Yuna, she said, “Do you promise to be a good girl?”
Yuna nodded emphatically.
“Are you sure?” Kiya asked.
Sae smiled and nodded. “She’s been so worried about Van. It’s no wonder she wants to be with him. We should let her.”
“I guess so. But let me know if she gets to be too much to handle.”
Van lay down inside the tent, and Milalle deftly removed his bandages. “Are your wounds still quite painful?” she asked.
“They do hurt a bit, but not as much as before.”
“Hmmm. The swelling has gone down, but the wound on your thigh hasn’t healed over yet.” Milalle sighed. “You really shouldn’t be walking. This one’s much deeper than it looks, you know.”
Van nodded. His thigh still throbbed dully. Milalle told him to keep his eyes on her finger while she moved it back and forth, then asked him to close his eyes and raise both arms. “Does that make you feel nauseous at all?” she asked.
“No.”
“How about your headache?”
“It’s almost gone.”
Milalle’s frown eased. “I think you’re going to be all right, but you should never take chances with a concussion. Be careful not to jar your head for a while, okay? Even if you think you’ve recovered, a second blow could end your life.”
Van frowned. “How long do I need to rest?”
“Don’t ride your pyuika for another two weeks.”
Van frowned, and a sharp pain shot through the gash on his forehead. “That long?”
“Yes. You were knocked out for a short time, so to be on the safe side, I’d recommend avoiding strenuous movement for another two weeks.”
“That could be a problem,” he replied, glancing at Yuna.
She was sitting on Sae’s lap and doing her best to stay still, but now she leaned forward. “Ochan, you gotta pwoblem? What’s wong?”
This brought smiles to their faces.
“I’m fine,” Van said. “You just behave yourself, okay?”
Yuna pursed her lips. “I am!”
Sae laughed. “So you are.”
Stroking his chin, Van said, “Tohma and the others need to get back to Oki, but I suppose I could let them go ahead and catch up with them later.”
“Yes, please do. Hohsalle and I would feel much better if you stayed here for a while.”
At the mention of Hohsalle, Van remembered a question he’d meant to ask for some time. “Has Shikan been captured yet?”
Milalle shook her head. “No. And we’ve got no leads.” She rolled the bandages up with a puzzled frown. “It seems odd, doesn’t it? He should’ve been with Ohfan and the others. But if so, then how could he have slipped away with so many people watching?”
She raised her head and gazed at Van. “It just doesn’t make sense. The Kinma dogs ran into the tournament grounds, but they only chased the pyuika and ran away without biting anyone.”
Van frowned. “Kinma dogs?”
“Don’t you remember?”
Van narrowed his eyes and gazed off into space. An uneasy feeling squirmed in his gut.
I’ve forgotten something important.
Following the thread of his memories, he reeled back the pieces of that scene, one by one. Black beasts slipping under the fence into the tournament grounds. Sae asking him if he could see who was controlling them.
That’s it. He’d felt nothing. No one controlling them; no sensation whatsoever of turning inside out. A shock ran through him.
It must have shown on his face because Sae peered into his eyes and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Van gazed back at her. “Those weren’t Kinma dogs.”
For an instant, the two women froze.
“What did you say?” Milalle whispered.
“Are you sure?” Sae pressed.
“I just remembered. I’m positive. They were nothing but ordinary hunting dogs.”
“Then—”
“That’s right. Shikan wasn’t there.”
Milalle blinked. “Really? But why?”
Van groaned. Thoughts ran through his mind, setting off others like a string of firecrackers. “A dropped knife. Ohfan pulled the same trick on us again.”
“A dropped knife?” Milalle asked.
“A feint. You brandish a weapon in front of your enemy, then deliberately drop it, pretending you’ve made a fatal error. When your opponent lets down his guard, you kill him.”
Milalle paled. “You mean Shikan hasn’t just run away, then? He’s got some other plan up his sleeve?”
Van nodded. “Something about all of this seems wrong. The way they used those firebombs was odd, sloppy. Why would Ohfan waste his life like that? It doesn’t make sense unless he had some other objective.
“Shikan must have been in a different place all along, enacting the real plan. Ohfan gave his life to make it look like they’d failed, knowing that we’d turn careless.”
No one spoke for a while.