Chapter One
At The Glass Slipper
The time was nearing eight post meridian. A paltry hour. Smoke rose from the neon tip of a cigarette in intricate silver swirls that created almost tribal like designs, merging with the tiny silver clouds that colored the air, supplied by the contents of a white porcelain tea pot, whose intricate pattern of blunt swirls and punctuated lines betrayed it to be of western make. If not for the whirling of a small motor fan and the blocking of the heat by the locked windows the combined temperature of the desert inferno and fire keeping the kettle hot would have been unbearable.
In Gojyo's opinion anyone who insisted on making tea when it was over eighty degrees outside was not completely mentally stable. Like Sanzo, who he believed would drink tea if he were confined to the pits of hell…or seated across from the devil as he was now. The foreign woman may not have looked it but she was possible as close to a demon as a human could get.
Sleight of form with a height that barely surpassed Goku's, her blonde hair was twisted up into an elegant knot at the nape of her neck. Usually Gojyo preferred his women with their locks hanging in a rampant torrent all around their face, the after sex look, but the style left the pale line of her throat chest to clearer view, accented the oval shape of her face and petite characteristics of her face. She wasn't beautiful, he'd seen lovelier women, but her features were exotic, engaging, and her eyes like polished pewter were striking. At the moment she had them fixed on the tea cup she was pouring for the foul mouthed monk, who wore an impatient scowl that marked the borderline of his tolerance and ability to maintain an "indoor voice".
"So, let me get this straight." His gruff voice was grating among the melodious sounds of boiling water and china clinking together. "Goku's been kidnapped by a princess?"
"A demon princess." Hakkai's voice was its same gentle salve to Sanzo's tone as always.
His face a mask of serene disposition and patience where he sat surrounded by the voluminous cushions of the inn's couch. Gojyo stood nearby, leaned against the sitting room's door to prevent entry or, though it seemed to be little needed, exit in the case of the golden haired female. She seemed little worried about her forced visitor's however, seated comfortable at a coffee table across from Sanzo in a companionable fashion. In fact Menary Brailford didn't seem the slightest bit shaken by the turn of events and her stoic, cool attentiveness was radically different from the lively chamber maid who had offered them solstice at The Glass Slipper Inn only to betray them in the night.
"Indeed. I don't think she wants your friend for the purpose of rescuing her from a tower. Miyohiko isn't really the romantic sort, which is an awfully regretful state for a girl her age. Not that I've ever met her personally but one hears a great number of stories about the Cursed."
"The Cursed?" Hakkai's voice a lesson in polite inquiry.
"Hmm? Oh, my. Well, nothing." Her gaze flickered in Gojyo direction momentarily, pale gray depths consuming him before fluttering back to the tea pot. "They say that since she took control there have been two things on her mind. Revenge and your young friend with the large appetite." She tapped a silver spoon against the sugar bowl with a warm smile. "Did he really like the rice balls as much as he suggested? They don't have them in England."
"You're jumping the tracks here." Sanzo's voice was the slice of an arrow through her cordial banter. The arms he folded within the sleeves of his robe gave his body a relaxed looking stance but Gojyo and Hakkai knew he was anything but. "Who the hell is this Miyohiko woman and what, exactly, does she have control of."
Menary's coral lips parted in a small sigh and she regarded them like a long suffering mother would. "I am really going to have to go into detail aren't I?"
The sound of Sanzo's teeth grinding was almost audible. "It would be appreciated." Sarcasm like venom in his tones.
"Very well. Mah Laou is a demon territory about eight miles east of here. It spans from the Taimou River to the Raichi. For a time humans also made their homes in those lands, however after the estrangement with demons they were pushed off and Mah Laou was brought under the rule of a demon clan and it's Chief. Since then humans have been banned from Mah Laou altogether. Those who venture there are signing their death but as long as mortals do not cross it's boundaries they are spared the wrath of the demon clan."
Hakkai's posture had straightened and here he leaned forward, eyes gleaming with characteristic interest. "So the demons have a sort of alliance with the human villages near here. As long as they stay on the other side of the Taimou the demons will leave them in peace."
Gojyo was unimpressed. "So, who's this Miyohiko?"
"Miyohiko is the demon lord's daughter. She was born ten years before the establishment of Mah Laou as a purely demonic territory. Since her father's death recently she has taken over ruler ship of Mah Laou and the demon clan."
"Well, damn."
"So if demons and humans are so content to stay out of each other's way here why do you serve this princess?" Sanzo's question was a quick, blunt string of words.
Insult parted the blonde woman's lips and turned her eyes to silver cinders. "You are quite mistaken. I have no ties of loyalty to Mah Laou or its government officials."
"Oh, yeah? Then explain why you to lure us to your inn, offer us individual rooms and a meal free of charge, then lace all our drinks with sleeping powder so that our friend could be carried off in the night. I'd be real appreciative to know what kind of affiliation you have with this Miyohiko, lady." Sanzo's voice had risen through the course of his speech and he had risen to his feet, hands on either corner of the porcelain ladled coffee table as if he meant to upend it.
"Purely professional. I was contacted by her advisor, Tsai Soe. Quite a charming individual, for a demon in these times. He made me an offer I could not refuse. Naturally I felt guilty about deceiving unsuspecting travelers but it was a most important commercial exchange."
Her attempt at civil exchange and serene disaffection seemed only to prove more fuel to the flames of Sanzo's distemper. She'd shown similar lack of surprise or disturbance when they'd cornered her in the inn's parlor and demanded to know what she had done with Goku. Her poise remained similarly unshaken through Sanzo's threats, Gojyo's accusations, and Hakkai's questions.
In short the western woman was downright maddening.
"What precisely did you receive in this bargain?"
Her stare became quite frank and she regarded him with barely contained disapproval. "It is not really something that I feel the need, nor desire, to share."
"Listen lady-" Sanzo started in rising tones.
"Would you like cream in your tea, Master Sanzo?"
His expression was affected. "No."
"Ah. Master Hakkai?"
"No, thank you. Just sugar, if you wouldn't mind. And please, Hakkai is fine."
"How nice." She dropped two cubes of sugar into one of the miniscule porcelain cups and offered it handle out on a saucer.
"Dude…" Gojyo eyed the accepted cup with unveiled suspicion. "You're gonna drink something she gave you after what happened last time?"
Sanzo growled in annoyance. "I want to know what this Miyohiko plans on doing with Goku."
"I could not tell you for sure. If you are asking me to guess I would say summary execution."
Hakkai fanned his tea to cool it. "Oh dear. Sword or silken rope?"
"The way it sounded, I would think the princess had something like a firing squad in mind." Her regard swept the trio of them and her eyebrow lifted with direct warning. "Suitable for mass execution."
