“Of course I can’t hear her!” Mask says, exasperated. “Her voice is a magpie, after all. I’m just using my wits. What do you think a human girl like her, caught alone in an alley in the middle of the Sea God’s city, would ask? Who are you? What are you? Why are you here? What do you want? I’ve answered all of these questions. Nod, girl, if I’m right in answering at least the one you asked.”
I nod.
Dai claps his hands. “Ask the girl her name, Mask! She’s very pretty.”
“How would you know if she’s pretty or not? You’re just a little boy!”
I ignore their bickering and latch onto Mask’s words. Her voice is a magpie.
I wave my hands in the air to grab their attention. Placing my thumbs together, I move my fingers up and down, mimicking the flight of a bird’s wings.
“I’ve got it!” Dai snaps his fingers. “I know what she’s trying to say.”
I nod my encouragement.
“She wants to fly. Like a bird. Should we take her to the highest waterfall, Mask? We could push her off. Then she could fly!”
I gape.
“No, that’s not what she’s saying!” Mask cackles. “I knew your bloodline was inferior!”
“Take it back, Mask! Say you’re sorry.”
I lean upward on my knees and wave my hands, trying to keep the two of them focused. “How did you know my voice is a magpie? Did you see what happened to me? Do you know where they’ve taken my voice?”
Mask and Dai give me blank looks. Or at least Dai looks at me blankly. Mask’s grandmother mask remains showing its beatific smile.
“Uh,” Dai says, scratching the bridge of his nose. “Do you know what she said just then?”
Mask shakes her head. “We’re not mind readers,” she says kindly. “Neither are we skilled lip readers. Treat us as if we couldn’t hear you even if you were able to speak.”
“Magpie,” I say, mouthing the word. Again, I lift my hands, making the shape of the bird, this time bringing it down in a dramatic swoop through the air. It’s more like the flight of a falcon than a magpie, but at this point, I’m past worrying over the details.
Dai points to my hands. “That looks like a falcon.”
“Ah!” Mask exclaims. “I see now. Magpie, right? We saw Lord Kirin and that wily thief Namgi got your soul, trapped as a magpie in a cage. You need it back, otherwise the Sea God won’t recognize you as his bride.”
My eyes widen. “You know I’m his bride?”
She must gather an impression of what I’m asking, because she answers, “What else could you be? The only humans allowed to enter the Spirit Realm are the Sea God’s brides—the only humans that are whole humans, not the spirits of humans.” She points between herself and Miki and Dai. “Like us.”
She tilts her head to the side. “You’re not dead, are you?”
Even if I had a voice, I’d be speechless.
“Every human has a soul,” she explains. “When they die, they leave their bodies in the world above, while their souls travel down the river. Spirits are the souls of humans who’ve pulled themselves from the river, too stubborn to move on to another life. We linger here in the Spirit Realm, wreaking havoc and growing fat on ancestral rites.” She pats her belly, and Miki giggles.
I stare wide-eyed at them. If what Mask says is true, then they are dead.
“Let’s help her, Mask,” Dai says, wincing as Miki bites down on his shoulder. “I can get her into Lotus House. That’s where Kirin and Namgi will be heading. We’ll just tell whoever’s in charge that she’s looking for a job.” He pats my head gently. “You’re so quiet. They’d be sure to hire you.”
“Unless they find out you’re a human and not a spirit.” Mask laughs. “Then they’d want to eat you!”
I blanch. She must be jesting.
Mask holds out her hand, and I take it. She pulls me to my feet, turning me so that she can brush the dirt off the back of my dress. We are of the same height, she and I.
With her profile to me, I study her freely. The mask she wears ties around the back of her head with thick strings. Her warm brown hair is styled in a long braid, signifying her status as an unmarried maiden. That and the youthful curve of her neck suggest she’s around my age.
“Let’s go!” Dai says, Miki giggling from her place on his back. Mask straightens to join him. I hesitate. I am not usually a mistrustful person, but my run-in with Shin and the others has made me wary. Still, I feel a strange affinity to these spirits, so friendly and filled with life—even if they are dead.