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"I should have The area was fraught with danger--Kimiko warned me to be cautious when I first arrived And if I hadn’t encouraged her to sneak out with me, Yoshiko would have still been alive" He paused, then looked up "Leaving her there, helpless to do anything, I’ve never forgotten that feeling And when Hyto captured you--it all ca I couldn’t stop hi you, and we let you down" He looked up at me, his eyes haunted in a way I’d never seen hiret Both of his challenges--the deret over perceived failures And he felt he had failed me, too

"You did not fail me" I took both of his hands, pressed them to my breasts "My love, listen to me People die Monsters are real As Chase would say, ‘Shit happens’ There isn’t any way to predict soedies we’ll encounter You didn’t kill the monk--the demon did You were seduced and deceived It happens And you didn’t kill Yoshiko--the snakes did Both of you were young, in the throes of that youthful passion, and you didn’t think--either of you And that’s normal"

He pushed to his feet and held out his hand "I know that logically And logically, I know that Hyto would have found a way to get to you, no matter e did I know that on an intellectual basis, but emotionally…"

I took his hand and let him pull me to my feet "Emotionally, you feel like you’d be a bad person if you let the guilt go?" It was a suspicion, not a certainty, but I thought I understood as going on "You don’t have to wear the guilt around like a hair shirt, especially when it wasn’t your fault Nobody’s going to think less of you if you set it down Guilt io, my love I don’t blaone, except in your h, he conceded "I know you’re right"

"Then say it Tellit out loudtall "This is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, you know"

"You areas you can--to reclaiave to thosethose you loved"

The Moon Mother filtered down through hto her speak, watching her as she watched Morio "Clai, Morio let out a slow stream of breath and I knew he could see the Moon Mother in the reflection of my eyes

"Yes, my lady I…I was not responsible for their deaths I was not responsible for Hyto kidnapping you There was nothing I could have done to stop any of it fro I did the best I could under the circuht shot down from the moon, into my body I raised my hand and pressed it to his forehead "Be cleansed"

As he shuddered, a black cloud--buzzing like a hundred bees--rose froht, brilliant green and filled with a thick flurry of sparkles--ca out from the forest It washed over me, and I raised my other hand and pressed it to his heart

"Be one with the Lord of the Hunt"

Morio fell to his knees as, fro His antler tines rose high and dangerous into the air He was old--so old thatlow like it did off the cedars and fir in the forests His eyes were brilliant red, and he was as tall at his shoulder as I was He approached Morio and bellowed, nostrils stea his expression, Morio reached out and stroked the King Stag as the ancient elk let out a bugling cry Morio backed up, and I could tell that nothing else existed in thisinto his fox for into the wood, Morio followed I started forward, crying out, worried, but I tripped over a stone and went down hard

As I sat there nursing my bruised backside, I realized that the ritual was Morio’s I couldn’t interfere It was his to experience, his run to , I wearily rose and found otten draped over a nearby bush--and slowly dressed

The night grew chilly as I waited, and I wondered where Aeval was Usually she can of her now Nor had Morio returned Getting a little worried, I began pacing around the peri for hio find Aeval?

I had learned to wait for instruction--you couldn’t just go your ohen it ca was hard and intense I’d been subjected to so ht rituals and harsh tests over the past few y, immersed in it to the point where, on some days, there was little else in h Priestess of the Moon Mother back in Otherworld, had told h Priestess of the Moon Mother that Earthside had seen in thousands of years Years of rigorous training looht wore on, a chill an to rise and the temperature crept lower and lower The Pacific Northas not known for war by around two in thehad led Morio showed nothing And a glance down the trail back to the hot springs and the palace again showed nothing A stirring here or there told me that I wasn’t alone--but when I reached out, all I could sense were the stray ani the forests

I looked up at the o find Morio?" I asked, quietly, but the Moon Mother wasn’t talking to lade Finally, after another interrabbedthe direction in which the stag and Morio had gone

The passion and drive of the night had fallen off Now I felt on edge Warily, I pushed e was thick, but at this point, I wasn’t facing briars and thorn-covered huckleberries The ferns were huge, and other bushes ierous