Page 3 of Whispers of the Dragon
“It is time to see Itako.”
The front door was open before they even approached, and if that wasn’t telling enough that they were already expected, the old woman sitting at the tiny table in the darkened home only confirmed it.
“Ryu, I’ve been waiting for your visit for a long time now.”
Quickly adjusting his eyes after entering, he understood why she made no qualms about getting up to greet them when he saw the all-whites of her eyes.
“Itako.” He bowed respectfully before he took the waiting seat across the table from the blind lady. “Thank you for seeing me.”
“I have been waiting,” she repeated with disappointment while somehow looking straight at his face before her hunched-over body managed to turn to his father, who was still standing at the door. “Come in, Tatsu. I’ve been waiting many moons for you, too.”
It wasn’t a coax but a command, leaving Ryu stunned. It had been a long time since he’d heard his father addressed in that manner, and even though Tatsu didn’t seem to falter as he royally entered, Ryu could sense the uncomfortable fear within as he watched his father be the one to bow to someone else for the first time.
“You’ve avoided coming to see me,” Itako spoke with an otherworldly wisdom. “Let us see what your insolence cost us, as there is no time to waste.”
Ryu’s hands that he had clasped together on the table were suddenly grabbed by thin, withering ones.
“Ahh,” Itako breathed, as any remaining candlelight in the home disappeared before it slowly returned. “I see now.”
It was Tatsu who eagerly asked, “What is it? What do you see?”
The look on the blind lady’s face told them she would roll her eyes if only she could. “It is not only a fated mate that you must seek, but a soul mate.”
Ryu gave his own look, clearly confused. “Are they not one and the same?”
Itako merely laughed. “No.”
“I don’t understand,” he said when she didn’t go on.
“A fated mate are two souls destined to be together inthislifetime,” she began explaining. “A soul mate are two souls destined to be together ineverylife.”
“I see.” Tatsu wiped an exasperated brow that was beginning to sweat. “So, it’s even harder to find.”
“Eh.” Itako shrugged nonchalantly. “Fated mate, one in a million. Soul mate, one in two billion.”
His father had to finally take the other chair.
“Oh …” Ryu breathed, knowing exactly what his father was feeling at this moment. “Now, I see.”
“Told you.” Itako palmed the back of Tatsu’s head that was finally in reaching distance to her short stature. “Should have come to me sooner.”
Rubbing the back of his head, Tatsu clearly thought better than hurting a hundred-year-old blind bat. “You know why I didn’t want to come.”
“Yes,” the woman answered, all knowingly. “She told me you wouldn’t.”
Both Ryu’s and his father’s skin went pale.
“The spirits of the dead want us to honor them, Tatsu, not fear them,” she said, placing a frail hand over his now. “Or have you forgotten your faith after all this time?”
With glistening eyes, he shook his head. “I have not.”
“Then you must trust in Kana to protect your son, as you know his fated mate is not here.”
Tatsu cleared his throat as a tear streamed upon his cheek from hearing his late wife’s name for the first time in years. “I will.”
“You will?” Ryu asked as shock overtook the depths of sadness from the topic of his mother.
“He must,” Itako said simply, “or village life as we know it will cease to exist, along with the Tei family name.”
