Part 6 (1/2)

”You see everything! You know everything about me! Are you sure you're not a fox spirit?” She wondered if he had discerned her affair with Is.h.i.+da and prayed he would not speak of it. ”I have Tribe blood in my veins too,” he returned. ”If I am far from Takeo, I will not be torn two ways,” she said. ”The same goes for you.” She walked on for a while in silence and then spoke abruptly. ”I suppose I do pity him.”

”Yet, people say you are ruthless.” His voice had recovered its hint of mockery.

”I can still be moved by suffering. Not the sort people bring on themselves through their own stupidity, but the suffering that is inflicted by fate.”

The slope steepened and she felt her breath catch. She did not speak until it lessened again, but she was thinking of the threads that bound her life with Takeo and Kaede, and with the destiny of the Otori.

There was room on the path now for two, and Kondo came up alongside her.

”Takeo's upbringing among the Hidden, his adoption into the warrior cla.s.s by s.h.i.+geru, and the demands of the Tribe seem irreconcilable elements in his life,” s.h.i.+zuka said finally. ”They will tear him apart. And now this marriage will arouse more hostility against him.”

”I don't suppose he'll live for long. Sooner or later someone will catch up with him.”

”You never know,” she replied, pretending a lightness she did not feel. ”Perhaps it would not be possible for me, or anyone else, to kill him-because we would never get near him.”

”Two attempts were made on his way to Terayama,” Kondo said. ”They both failed and three men died.”

”You did not tell me that!”

”I suppose I didn't want to alarm Lady s.h.i.+rakawa and make her ill again. But with every death the rage against him grows stronger. It's not a way I would like to live.”

No, s.h.i.+zuka thought, nor would any of us. We would like to live without intrigue and suspicion. We would like to sleep deeply at night, not listening for every unfamiliar sound, fearing the knife through the floor, the poison in the meal, the unseen archer in the forest. At least for a few weeks I can feel safe in the secret village nor would any of us. We would like to live without intrigue and suspicion. We would like to sleep deeply at night, not listening for every unfamiliar sound, fearing the knife through the floor, the poison in the meal, the unseen archer in the forest. At least for a few weeks I can feel safe in the secret village.

The sun was beginning to set, sending brilliant rays between the cedars and turning their trunks black. The light spilled extravagantly across the forest floor. For the last few minutes s.h.i.+zuka had been aware that someone was following them.

It must he the children, she thought, and remembered with a flash of clarity how she had honed her own skills as a child in this very area. She knew every rock, every tree, every contour of the land. ”Zenko! Taku!” she called. ”Is that you?”

One stifled giggle was the only reply. She thought she heard footsteps; loose rocks fell somewhere in the distance. The children were taking the quick way home, running up the ridge and down again while she and Kondo followed the winding path. She smiled and tried to shake off her dark mood. She had her sons; she would do whatever seemed best for them. And she would follow her grandparents' advice. Whatever they told her to do, she would do. There was a certain comfort in obedience, and, as Kondo said, it meant everything to the Tribe. Again, she tried not to think of her own deep disobedience in the past and hoped it would remain buried with the dead.

They left the main path and, clambering over a pile of boulders, followed a smaller one that wound through a craggy ravine. At the far end it made one more twist and began to descend into the valley. s.h.i.+zuka stopped for a moment; the view never failed to enchant her, the hidden valley in the middle of the rugged mountain country was so surprising. Through the slight haze made up of mist rising from the stream and smoke from hearth fires they could look down on the small collection of buildings, but by the time they had followed the path through the fields the houses stood above them, protected by a strong wooden wall.

The gate, however, was open, and the men guarding it greeted s.h.i.+zuka cheerfully.

”Hey! Welcome home!”

”Is this how you greet visitors now? Very casual; suppose I was a spy?”

”Your sons already told us you were coming,” one of the guards replied. ”They saw you on the mountain.”

A sweet relief ran through her. She had not realized until this moment the depth of her constant anxiety for them. But they were alive and healthy.

”This is Kondo-” She broke off, realizing she did not know his given name.

”Kondo Kiichi,” he said. ”My father was Kuroda Tetsuo.”

The guards' eyes narrowed as they registered the name, placed him in the Tribe hierarchy, and summed him up by appearance as well as by history. They were cousins or nephews of hers: She had grown up with them, spending months on end with her grandparents, sent there for training while she was still a child. When they were boys she had competed with them, studied and outwitted them. Then her life had led her back to k.u.mamoto and to Arai.

”Be careful of s.h.i.+zuka!” one of them now warned Kondo. ”I'd sooner sleep with a viper.”

”You've got more chance,” she retorted.

Kondo said nothing but glanced at her, one eyebrow raised, as they walked on.

From outside, the village buildings looked like ordinary farmhouses, with steep-pitched thatch roofs and faded cedar beams. Farming tools, firewood, sacks of rice, and reed stalks were all stacked away neatly in the sheds at the ends of the buildings. The outer windows were barred with wooden slats and the steps were made from rough-hewn mountain stone. But, within, the houses held many secrets: hidden pa.s.sageways and entrances, tunnels and cellars, false cupboards and floors, which could conceal the whole community if necessary. Few knew of the existence of this secret village, and even fewer found their way here; yet the Muto family were always ready for attack. And here they trained their children in the ancient traditions of the Tribe.

s.h.i.+zuka felt an involuntary thrill at the memory of it. Her heartbeat quickened. Nothing since then, not even the fight at Inuyama Castle, came anywhere near the intense excitement of those childhood games.

The main house lay in the center of the village, and at its entrance her family were already waiting to greet her: her grandfather with her two sons and, to her surprise and pleasure, next to the old man, her uncle, Muto Kenji.

”Grandfather, Uncle,” she greeted them demurely, and was about to introduce Kondo when the younger boy ran to her excitedly and threw his arms round her waist.

”Taku!” his older brother rebuked him, and then said, ”Welcome, Mother. It's been such a long time since we saw you.”

”Come here and let me look at you,” she said, delighted by their appearance. They had both grown and had lost their childhood chub-biness. Zenko had turned twelve at the beginning of the year, and Taku ten. Even the younger boy had strength and hardness in his muscles, and they both had direct, fearless eyes.

”He is growing like his father,” Kenji said, clapping Zenko on the shoulder.

It was true, s.h.i.+zuka thought, gazing on her older son. He was the image of Arai.Taku, she thought, had more of a Muto look, and he, unlike his brother, bore the straight line of his Kikuta relatives across his palms. The sharp hearing and other skills might already be manifesting themselves. But she would find out more about that sort of thing later.

Kondo, meanwhile, had knelt before the two Muto masters, telling them his name and parentage.

”He is the one who saved my life,” s.h.i.+zuka said. ”You may have heard: There was an attempt to murder me.”

”You are not the only one,” Kenji said, catching her eye as if to silence her, and indeed, she did not want to say too much in front of the boys. ”We'll talk about it later. I'm glad to see you.”

A maid came with water to wash the dust from the travelers' feet.

s.h.i.+zuka's grandfather said to Kondo, ”You are very welcome, and we are deeply grateful to you. We met a long time ago; you were only a child, you probably don't remember. Please, come and eat.”

As Kondo followed the old man inside, Kenji murmured to s.h.i.+zuka, ”But what has happened? Why are you here? Is Lady s.h.i.+rakawa all right?”

”Nothing has changed your fondness for her, I see,” s.h.i.+zuka replied. ”She has joined Takeo in Terayama. I expect they will marry soon- against all my advice, I might add. It is a disaster for them both.”

Kenji sighed quietly. She thought she saw a slight smile on his face. ”A disaster, probably,” he said, ”but one ordained by fate.”

They stepped inside the house. Taku had run ahead to tell his great-grandmother to bring wine and cups, but Zenko walked quietly next to Kondo.

”Thank you for saving my mother's life, sir,” he said formally. ”I am in your debt.”

”I hope we will get to know each other and be friends,” Kondo replied. ”Do you like hunting? Maybe you can take me out on the mountain. I've eaten no meat for months.”

The boy smiled and nodded. ”Sometimes we use traps and, later in the year, falcons. I hope you will still be here then.”

He is a man already, s.h.i.+zuka thought. If only I could protect him... if only they both could stay children forever If only I could protect him... if only they both could stay children forever.

Her grandmother came with the wine. s.h.i.+zuka took it from her and served the men. Then she went with the old woman to the kitchen, breathing in deeply, savoring all the familiar smells. The maids, cousins of hers, welcomed her with delight. She wanted to help with the food as she always had, but they would not let her.

”Tomorrow, tomorrow,” her grandmother said. ”Tonight you can be the honored guest.”

s.h.i.+zuka sat on the edge of the wooden step that led from the earthen-floored kitchen to the main part of the house. She could hear the murmur of the men talking, the higher voices of the boys, Zenko's already breaking.