Part 21 (1/2)

”I'll send men to escort you up the mountain. I'll come to the women's rooms in the temple this evening. We have so much to plan. Don't look in my eyes,” he added. ”I don't want you to fall asleep.”

”I don't mind,” she replied. ”Sleep rarely comes to me. Send me to sleep until this evening, then the hours will pa.s.s quickly. When I slept before, the White G.o.ddess came to me in a vision. She told me to be patient, to wait for you. I am here to thank her for it and for saving my life.”

”I was told you were dying,” he said, and could not continue. After a few moments he spoke with an effort. ”Is Muto s.h.i.+zuka with you?”

”Yes.”

”And you have a retainer from the Tribe, Kondo Kiichi?”

She nodded.

”They must be sent away. Leave your other men here for the time being. Do you have another woman to accompany you?”

”Yes,” Kaede said. ”But I don't think s.h.i.+zuka would do anything to harm you.” Even as she spoke, she thought, But how do I know? Can I trust s.h.i.+zuka? Or Kondo, come to that. I have seen his ruthlessness. But how do I know? Can I trust s.h.i.+zuka? Or Kondo, come to that. I have seen his ruthlessness.

”I am under sentence of death from the Tribe,” Takeo said. ”Therefore any one of them is a danger to me.”

”Isn't it dangerous for you to be out like this?”

He smiled. ”I've never let anyone confine me. I like to explore places at night. I need to know the terrain, and if the Otori are planning to attack me across the border. I was on my way back when I saw Raku. He recognized me. Did you hear him?”

”He has been waiting for you too,” she said, and felt sorrow uncurl in her belly. ”Does everyone want your death?”

”They are not going to succeed. Not yet. I'll tell you why tonight.”

She longed for him to hold her. She could feel her body leaning toward him. In the same moment he responded and took her in his arms. She felt his heart beat, his lips against her neck. Then he whispered, ”Someone's awake. I must go.”

She could hear nothing. Takeo pulled gently away from her. ”Till this evening,” he said.

She looked at him, seeking his gaze, half hoping to be plunged into sleep, but he had gone. She cried out in alarm. There was no sign of him in the courtyard or beyond. The wind chimes rang out sharply as if in the breath of someone pa.s.sing beneath them. Her heart was pounding. Had it been his ghost that had come to her? Had she been dreaming, and what would she find when she awoke?

”What are you doing out here, lady?” Manami's voice was shrill with concern. ”You'll catch your death of cold.”

Kaede pulled the robe around her. She was indeed s.h.i.+vering. ”I could not sleep,” she said slowly. ”I had a dream...”

”Go inside. I'll send for tea.” Manami stepped into her sandals and hurried away across the courtyard.

Swallows darted to and from the eaves. Kaede smelled wood smoke as the fires were lit. The horses whinnied as they were fed. She heard Raku's voice as she had heard it earlier. The air was sharp, but she could smell blossoms. She felt her heart swell with hope. It had not been a dream. He was here. In a few hours they would be together. She did not want to go inside. She wanted to stay where she was, remembering his look, his touch, his smell.

Manami came back, carrying a tray with tea and cups on it. She scolded Kaede again, and chivied her into the room. s.h.i.+zuka was getting dressed. She took one look at Kaede and exclaimed, ”You've seen Takeo?”

Kaede did not reply immediately. She took a cup of tea from Manami and drank it slowly. She felt she had to be careful what she said: s.h.i.+zuka was from the Tribe, who had placed Takeo under sentence of death. She had a.s.sured Takeo that s.h.i.+zuka would not harm him, but how could she be certain of that? However, she found she could not control her expression, could not stop smiling, as if the mask had cracked and fallen away.

”I am going to the temple,” she said. ”I must get ready. Manami will come with me. s.h.i.+zuka, you may leave now to see your sons, and you can take Kondo with you.”

”I thought Kondo was to go with you to Inuyama,” s.h.i.+zuka said.

”I have changed my mind. He must go with you. And you must both leave at once, now.”

”These are Takeo's orders, I suppose,” s.h.i.+zuka said. ”You cannot pretend to me. I know you have seen him.”

”I told him you would not harm him,” Kaede said. ”You would not?”

s.h.i.+zuka said sharply, ”Better not to ask that. If I do not see him, I cannot harm him. But how long do you intend to stay at the temple? Don't forget, Arai is waiting for you at Inuyama.”

”I don't know. It all depends on Takeo.” Kaede could not prevent herself from continuing. ”He said we must marry. We must; we will.”

”You must not do anything before you have seen Arai,” s.h.i.+zuka said urgently. ”If you marry without his approval, you will insult him. He will be deeply offended. You cannot afford to incite his enmity. He is your strongest ally. And what about Lord Fujiwara? You are as good as betrothed to him. Will you offend him too?”

”I cannot marry Fujiwara,” Kaede cried. ”He of all people knows that I can marry no one but Takeo. To all other men I bring death. But I am Takeo's life and he is mine.”

”This is not the way the world works,” s.h.i.+zuka said. ”Remember what Lady Maruyama told you, how easily these warlords and warriors can crush a woman if they think that you question their power over you. Fujiwara expects to marry you: He must have already consulted Arai. It is a match Arai can only be in favor of. Apart from that, Takeo has the entire Tribe against him; he cannot survive. Don't look at me like that: It distresses me to hurt you. It's because I care so much for you that I must say this to you. I could swear to you never to harm him, but it would make no difference; there are hundreds out there who will try. Sooner or later one of them will succeed. No one can escape the Tribe forever. You have to accept that this will be his fate. What will you do after his death, when you have insulted everyone who takes your part? You will have no hope of Maruyama and will lose s.h.i.+rakawa. Your sisters will be ruined with you. Arai is your overlord. You must go to Inuyama and accept his decision on your marriage. Otherwise you will enrage him. Believe me: I know how his mind works.”

”Can Arai prevent the coming of spring?” Kaede replied. ”Can he order the snow not to thaw?”

”All men like to believe they can. Women get their own way by indulging this belief, not by opposing it.”

”Lord Arai will learn differently,” Kaede said in a low voice. ”Make yourself ready. You and Kondo must be gone in an hour.”

She turned away. Her heart was beating wildly, excitement building up in her belly, her chest, her throat. She could think of nothing other than being joined with him. The sight of him, his closeness, awoke the fever in her again.

”You are mad,” s.h.i.+zuka said. ”You have gone beyond reason. You are unleas.h.i.+ng disaster on yourself and your family.”

As if in confirmation of s.h.i.+zuka's fears, there was a sudden noise; the house groaned, the screens rattled, the wind chimes sounded as the ground shook beneath their feet.

10.

As soon as the snow began to melt and the thaw came, word spread like running water that I was at Ter-ayama and was going to challenge the Otori lords for my inheritance. And like running water, first in a trickle, then in a flood, warriors began to make their way to the mountain temple. Some were masterless, but most were Otori who recognized the legitimacy of my claim as s.h.i.+geru's heir. My story was already a legend, and I seemed to have become a hero, not only to the young men of the warrior cla.s.s, but also to the farmers and villagers of the Otori domain, who had reached a state of desperation after the bitter winter, the increased taxation, and the ever-harsher laws imposed by Shoichi and Masahiro, s.h.i.+geru's uncles. The air was full of the sounds of spring. The willows put on their gold-green fronds. Swallows darted over the flooded fields and crafted their nests under the eaves of the temple buildings. Every night the noise of frogs grew louder, the loud call of the rain frog, the clacking rhythm of the tree frog, and the sweet tinkling of the little bell frog.

Flowers bloomed in a riot along the dikes: bitter cress, b.u.t.tercups, and bright pink vetch. Herons, ibis, and cranes returned to the rivers and the pools.

The abbot, Matsuda s.h.i.+ngen, made the considerable wealth of the temple freely available to me, and with his help I spent the early weeks of spring organizing the men who came to me, equipping and arming them. Smiths and armorers appeared fromYamagata and elsewhere and set up their workshops at the foot of the holy mountain. Every day horse dealers came, hoping to make a good sale, and they usually did, for I bought all the horses I could. No matter how many men I had and how well they were armed, my main weapons would always be speed and surprise. I did not have the time or the resources to muster a huge army of foot soldiers like Arai. I had to rely on a small but swifter band of hors.e.m.e.n.

Among the first to arrive were the Miyos.h.i.+ brothers, Kahei and Gemba, with whom I had trained in Hagi. Those days when we had fought with wooden swords now seemed impossibly distant. Their appearance meant a great deal to me, far more than they suspected when they fell to their knees and begged to be allowed to join me. Jt meant that the best of the Otori had not forgotten s.h.i.+geru. They brought thirty men with them and, just as welcome, news from Hagi.

”Shoichi and Masahiro are aware of your return,” Kahei told me. He was several years older than me and had some experience of war, having been at Yaegahara at the age of fourteen. ”But they don't take it very seriously. They feel it will only take one quick skirmish to rout you.” He grinned at me. ”I don't mean to insult you, but they've formed the impression that you're something of a weakling.”

”That's the only way they've seen me,” I replied. I remembered Iida's retainer, Abe, who had thought the same thing and had been taught differently by Jato. ”They are correct in some ways. It is true that I am young and know only the theory of war, not its practice. But I have right on my side and am fulfilling s.h.i.+geru's will.”

”People say you are touched by heaven,” Gemba said. ”They say you have been given powers that are not of this world.”

”We know all about that!” said Kahei. ”Remember the fight with Yos.h.i.+tomi? But he considered the powers to be from h.e.l.l, not heaven.”

I had fought a bout against Masahiro's son with wooden swords. He was a better swordsman than I was then, but I had other skills that he thought cheating and I had used them to prevent him from killing me.