The Wings of Dreams

“He’s all yours, Mr. Guardsman, Take good care. Make sure nobody else gets too close.”
    “I know,” the boy sniffed. He took the reins from Gankyuu, though he couldn’t hide a touch of timidity as he looked up at the formidable face of the kijuu.
    “Is he the same kijuu as before?”
    “Ah, my last kijuu was killed by a youma.”
    The boy turned his attention back to Gankyuu. “By a youma? Are you okay?”
    “More or less, as you can see for yourself. How’s Ken doing? No youma about, I take it?”
    “There are,” he said bluntly, already resigned at his young age to the impending state of affairs. “They show up now and then.”
    Twenty-seven years had passed since the death of the empress. The kingdom was gathering speed in its downhill course. Ken was well prepared for the inevitable youma onslaught. But youma showing up even here meant they must be thick on the ground elsewhere.
    The boy caught his breath like he’d just remembered something. Regripping the reins he said, “What kind is it?”
    The kijuu resembling a horse, except for its sharp, intimidating horn and thick claws instead of hoofs. Gankyuu pressed a coin into the boy’s hand and removed the travel bags strapped to the kijuu’s back. “It’s a haku.”
    He gave the kijuu a slap on the flanks and the boy a tap on the head and crossed the covered courtyard. As soon as entered the inn, he addressed himself to the back of the man standing there.
    “Got a room?”
    The man’s head was slumped forward as if examining his feet. His head snapped around and he smiled, the movement revealing the unkempt little girl in front of him. Gankyuu thought at first he’d be whiling away the time with her, but it looked like he and the girl were engaged in some sort of business.
    The man crossed the room with long strides. “I do believe it’s Gankyuu! Long time, no see.”
    “It can’t have been that long. What about that room?”
    “Oh, sure.”
    The innkeeper smiled broadly as he took Gankyuu’s bags. For some reason, he was more pleased than usual to accommodate this request.
    “Hey, nothing fancy, remember. All I need is a place where I can get a good night’s sleep.”
    “Understood, understood. I’ve got the last one here.”
    “Nick of time.” That’s what life in Ken was like when the spring equinox fell the very next day. “I left my kijuu in the stables. I trust it’ll be well taken care of.”
    The innkeeper nodded. “No problem—”
    A shrill, demanding voice cut him off. “You wait just one minute!” The little ragamuffin of a girl—the child the innkeeper had been previously tending to—glared at him. “I asked for that room first! By what right are you giving to him?”
    Gankyuu gazed down at the girl with a small jolt of surprise. The innkeeper groaned and held his head in his hands. “Miss, it was a bad joke to start with. You’ve pushed it too far. Go back to your mother. What inn is she staying at? I’ll send for her.”
    “This is no joke. This is an inn, is it not? I want a room.” Her pale cheeks flushed red with anger.
    An interesting turn of events, Gankyuu thought, taking the innkeeper by the arm and depositing the money in his palm. No way was his losing the last vacancy in town at this juncture. “Put my things away, would you? I’m off for a bit to eat.”
    “I said, wait!” The girl scowled at Gankyuu. Not only scowled, but marched right over to him and looked him up and down. “You have no shame, cutting to the head of the line like that?”
    She looked no older than the boy at the gate. Gankyuu said with a slight smile, “All in a day’s work for me. When you think about a girl staying by herself at an inn, I’ll save the shame for you.”
    “This is no laughing matter. Whether child or adult, a guest is a guest.”
    “Well, then, find yourself an inn that will treat you as such.”
    “I would if I could!”
    Gankyuu laughed out loud. The inns of Ken around the spring equinox would be packed in any case. No surprise that “No Vacancy” signs were already going up. Gankyuu wasn’t about to risk giving up the sure bet he already had in hand.
    “There are bound to be more hospitable lodgings in one of the towns back the way you came.”
    “Do you think any of the gates would still be open if I left now? Are you suggesting that I sleep under the stars at this time of year? You are right. I am a child, but that child needs a room too. Why don’t you try camping out at the