I didn’t believe her at first. What was she imagining? “Little Sis, there’s no such thing as demons.”
“I’m not joking.” She still whispered. “There are strange men with pointy sticks at the door.”
Pointy sticks? “What are you talking about?”
“Father’s in trouble!” Hotaru was squeaking. Genuinely terrified. She was always like this with bed demons, though something told me she saw what she saw. She was never able to describe what she saw.
“….. Okay,” I measured myself. “I’ll go check on Father.”
Hotaru grabbed me by the sleeve as I stood up. “No, don’t go in the house! They’ll see you!”
“…? Then what do you want me to do?”
“I don’t know… We should hide…! And get Father to hide too!”
“Didn’t you say they were talking to him?”
“Yes, but Father is smart. He’ll run and hide too.”
I don’t think that’s how that works. “Here, then, we’ll sneak around the side of the house. I need to know what’s going on.”
Little Sis murmured a silent affirmation. She was out of ideas at this point, simply following close behind me as we creeped through our yard and into the tallgrass. I remembered an untamed patch we had in our clearing, just north of the house, that could offer a clear view of our door. I made my way there, keeping low to the ground, weaving through the overgrown grass and into the shade of the tall bushes. I felt like I was playing soldier again with my friends. Except this time, it didn’t feel like a game.
I got to a good position, with plenty of low-lying bush branches, and turned to approach the house. Hotaru managed to follow me surprisingly well without tripping over the roots and branches that enveloped us. Pushing some leaves out of the way, I got my first glance of our doorstep.
I saw Father, in his loose robes, sitting with his legs crossed on the front deck with the door fully shut behind him. There were two brown men opposing him, standing out in the open sun. They looked identical, though one was shorter than the other. That man did indeed have some sort of a stick with a point at the end, though the other man did not. He held it in the palm of his hand, like a bowl, at stomach height, while the other end leaned on his shoulder. I then realized. It was a gun.
Father looked calm. The soldiers didn’t look threatening, aside from the gun. They stood a measurable distance away from the house and Father. Yet, as I stared, I picked up a touch of weariness in Father’s face. I couldn’t see the faces of the soldiers, but I could tell one of them was speaking to Father. I listened carefully to hear what they were saying, catching their words in glimpses.
“… understand… the western… mainland… quickly…” Many of the words I couldn’t recognize from this distance.
Father spoke up, with a hair-raising sternness in his voice. “You already took my younger siblings. And now, you want to take me?”
I froze. Father was actually in trouble. I missed the soldier’s response.
“Do you realize I have two young daughters to take care of?”
“Hand them to your Father and Mother.” The soldier’s voice was rising with Father’s.
“My parents have long passed.”
“Then your Uncle. Aunt.”
“And burden them with the task of raising yet another set of children?”
“They should be honored.”
“I refuse.”
“You cannot, sir.” The soldier wasn’t quite shouting, but he was gaining a sharp clarity to his voice.
“To take me is to trespass our inheritance.”
“Again, an invasion on the mainland is imminent! If you don’t protect it now, there will be nothing else left.”
“If this is the degree that the army is willing to take, even if we saw off the invading forces, the country’s foundations will be in shambles.”
“A tattered society or a tattered flag.” The soldier stopped short of a shout and tempered his voice back down. “Both painful outcomes. But one must be chosen. And the emperor has clearly dictated which you should follow.”
Father was silent for a moment, staring stone-faced at the soldier.
When he finally responded, he was too quiet to hear. The soldier matched his volume, and the rest of the conversation was lost to our ears. Eventually, the two men turned around and strode away, leaving Father sitting on the front deck, watching them. They never touched him. I relaxed. Relieved they had given up.
Hotaru tugged my sleeve again, whispering in a hiss. “They’re coming this way!”
I tensed once more, staring out of the tiny slit in our bunker as the two men walked our way. I saw their faces for the first time. A stern, stone face, and a softer, yet lifeless face to pair with his partner. This shorter man with the gun could easily be mistaken for a boy.
They really did look like they were looking our way. I wondered how they spotted us. My mind scrambled on what to do next. Hold our spot, or run. But then, gradually, I saw them veer their direction away from us, following the path through our clearing and back into the forest. We were safe.