Part 13 (1/2)

The wind gusted more strongly. Here in the center of the house they were protected from its full force, but even so, the beams and pillars shook and the roof creaked.

”May I see my sisters?”

”When Lord Arai has finished his campaign against the Otori, we may go to Inuyama in a year or so.”

”May I write to them?” Kaede said, feeling fury build within her that she should have to beg for such favors.

”If you show Ono Rieko your letters.”

The lamp flames flickered in the draft and the wind moaned outside in an almost human voice. Kaede thought suddenly of the maids she'd slept alongside at Noguchi Castle. On wild, stormy nights, when the wind kept everyone awake, they would scare each other more with ghost stories. Now she felt she could hear the same ghostly voices she'd imagined then in the many-tongued speech of the wind. The maids' stories were all of girls like themselves who'd been killed unjustly or had died for love, who had been abandoned by their lovers, betrayed by their husbands, murdered by their overlords. Their angry, jealous ghosts cried out for justice from the world of the shades. She s.h.i.+vered a little.

”You are cold?”

”No, I was thinking of ghosts. Maybe one touched me. The wind is strengthening. Is it a typhoon?”

”I believe so,” he replied.

Takeo, where are you? she thought. Are you out somewhere in this weather? Are you thinking of me at this moment? Is it your ghost that hangs behind me, making me s.h.i.+ver Are you out somewhere in this weather? Are you thinking of me at this moment? Is it your ghost that hangs behind me, making me s.h.i.+ver?

Fujiwara was watching her. ”One of the many things I admire about you is that you show no fear. Not in the earthquake, not in a typhoon. Most women are thrown into a panic by these things. Of course, that does seem more feminine, and your boldness has taken you too far. You must be protected from it.”

He must never know how afraid lam of hearing of their deaths, she thought. Takeo most, hut also Ai and Hana. I must never show it Takeo most, hut also Ai and Hana. I must never show it.

Fujiwara leaned forward slightly and, with one pale, long-fingered hand, indicated she should look at the chest.

”I have brought a wedding gift for you,” he said, opening the lid and lifting out an object wrapped in silk. ”I don't expect you are familiar with these curiosities. Some are of great antiquity. I have been collecting them for years.”

He placed it on the floor in front of her. ”You may look at it when I have left you.”

Kaede eyed the package warily. His tone warned her that he was enjoying some kind of cruel teasing at her expense. She had no idea what it might be: a small statue, perhaps, or a flask of perfume.

She raised her eyes to his face and saw the slight smile play on his lips. She had no weapons and no defenses against him except her beauty and her courage. She gazed past him, serene and immobile.

He stood and wished her good night. She bowed to the floor as he left. The wind shook the roof and the rain lashed against it. She could not hear his footsteps as he walked away: It was as if he disappeared into the storm.

She was alone, though she knew Rieko and the maids were waiting in the adjoining rooms. She let her gaze fall on the deep purple silk and after a few moments picked it up and unwrapped the object inside.

It was an erect male member, carved from some reddish, silky wood, cherry perhaps, and perfect in every detail. She was both repelled and fascinated by it, as no doubt Fujiwara had known she would be. He would never touch her body, he would never sleep with her, but he had read her awakened desire, and with this perverse gift he was both despising and tormenting her.

Tears sprang into her eyes then. She rewrapped the carving and placed it back in the box. Then she lay down on the mattress in her marriage chamber and wept silently for the man she loved and desired.

7.

I feared I would have to report your disappearance to your wife,” Makoto said as we made our way through the darkness to the shrine. ”I dreaded it more than any battle I have ever faced.”

”I was afraid you would have deserted me,” I replied. ”I hope you know me better than that.' It would have been my duty to tell Lady Otori, but I was going to leave Jiro here with horses and food and return as soon as I had spoken to her.” He added in a low voice, ”I would never desert you, Takeo; you must know that.” I felt ashamed of my doubts and did not share them with him. He called to the men who were keeping guard and they shouted in reply.

”Are you all awake?” I said, for usually we shared the night watch and slept in turns.

”None of us felt like sleep,” he replied. ”The night is too still and heavy. The recent storm, the one that delayed you, came up out of nowhere. And for the last couple of days we've had the feeling there is someone spying on us. Yesterday, Jiro went to look for wild yams in the forest and saw someone lurking in the trees. I thought the bandits the fisherman mentioned might have got word of our presence and were checking out our strength.”

We'd been making more noise than a team of oxen as we stumbled along the overgrown path. If anyone was spying on us, they would have no doubt of my return.

”They're probably afraid we're compet.i.tion,” I said. ”As soon as we get back with more men we'll get rid of them, but the six of us can't take them on now. We'll leave at first light and hope they don't ambush us on the road.”

It was impossible to tell what hour it was or how long it would be till dawn. The old shrine buildings were full of strange noises, creaks from the timber, rustling in the thatch. Owls called all night from the woods, and once I heard a pad of feet: a wild dog, perhaps, or maybe even a wolf. I tried to sleep, but my mind was full of all those who wanted to kill me. It was quite possible that we had been traced here, and the delay made it even more likely. The fisherman-Ryoma, even-might have let slip something about my trip to Os.h.i.+ma, and I knew only too well that the Tribe's spies were everywhere. Quite apart from the edict they had issued against me, many of them would now feel bound by blood feuds to avenge their relatives.

Though by day I might believe in the truth of the prophecy, as always in the early hours of the morning I found it less comforting. I was inching toward achieving my goal; I could not bear the thought of dying before I'd succeeded. But with so many arrayed against me, was I as much of a lunatic as Jo-An to believe I could overcome them?

I must have dozed off, for when I next opened my eyes the sky was light gray and birds were starting to sing. Jiro was still asleep next to me, breathing deeply and evenly like a child. I touched his shoulder to wake him and he opened his eyes, smiling. Then as he returned from the other world I saw disappointment and grief spring into his face.

”Were you dreaming?” I said.

”Yes. I saw my brother. I was so glad he was alive after all. He called to me to follow him and then walked away into the forest behind our house.” He made a visible effort to master his emotions and got to his feet. ”We're leaving right away, aren't we? I'll go and get the horses ready.”

I thought of the dream I had had about my mother and wondered what the dead were trying to tell us. In the dawn light the shrine looked more ghostly than ever. It was a bitter, hostile place and I could not wait to leave it.

The horses were fresh after the days of rest, and we rode fast. It was still hot and oppressive, with gray clouds and no wind. I looked back at the beach as we went up the cliff path, wondering about the fisherman and his remaining child, but there was no sign of life from the hovels. We were all jumpy. My ears were alert to every sound, straining to hear above the pounding of the horses' feet and the creak and jingle of the harness as well as the dull roaring of the sea.

At the top of the cliff I halted for a moment and gazed out toward Os.h.i.+ma. It was hidden in the mist, but a heavy crown of clouds showed where it lay.

Jiro had stopped alongside me, the others riding on into the forest ahead. There was a moment of silence, and in that moment I heard the unmistakable sound, somewhere between a creak and a sigh, of a bowstring being drawn.

I shouted out a warning to Jiro and tried to reach him to push him down, but Shun leaped sideways, almost unseating me, and I found myself clinging to his neck. Jiro turned his head and looked toward the forest. The arrow pa.s.sed whistling above me and struck him in the eye.

He let out a cry of shock and pain; his hands went to his face and then he fell forward onto his horse's neck. The horse neighed in alarm, bucked a little, and tried to take off after its companions in front, its rider swinging helplessly from side to side.

Shun stretched out his neck and went snaking across the ground toward the shelter of the trees. Ahead, Makoto and the guards had turned. One of the men rode forward and managed to grab the panicked horse by the bridle.

Makoto lifted Jiro from the saddle, but by the time I reached them the boy had died. The arrow had penetrated right through his head, shattering the back of the skull. I dismounted, cut off the bolt, and drew out the shaft. The arrow was ma.s.sive and fletched with eagle feathers. The bow that had sent it must have been huge, the sort that solitary bowmen use.

I was filled with almost unbearable anguish. The shot had been meant for me. If I had not heard it and evaded it, Jiro would not be dead. Mad rage erupted in me. I would kill his murderer or die myself. Makoto said in a whisper, ”It must be an ambush. Let's take shelter and see how many there are.”

”No, this was meant for me,” I replied, as quietly. ”This is the work of the Tribe. Stay here; take cover. I'm going after him. There will be only one-two at the most.” I did not want the men with me. Only I could move silently and invisibly; only I had the skills to get close to this a.s.sa.s.sin. ”Come when I call you; I want to take him alive.” Makoto said, ”If there's only one, rather than take cover we'll ride on. Give me your helmet; I'll ride Shun. We may be able to confuse him. He'll follow us and you can come on him from behind.”

I did not know how far this deception would work or how close the bowman was. He would have seen the arrow miss me. He would guess I'd be after him. But if my men rode ahead, at least they would not be hindering me. The bowman might be anywhere in the forest by now, but I reckoned I could move faster and more silently than he could. As the horses trotted off with their sad burden, I went invisible and ran up the slope, threading my way between the trees. I did not think the bowman would have stayed in the place from which he had sent the fatal arrow; I figured he would have moved in a southwest direction to cut us off where the road turned back to the south. But even if he was still watching us, unless he had supreme Tribe skills, he would not know where I was now.

Before long I heard the sounds of a man breathing and the slight pressure of a foot on the soft earth. I stopped and held my own breath. He pa.s.sed within ten paces of me without seeing me.

It was Kikuta Hajime, the young wrestler from Matsue, with whom I had trained. I had last seen him at the wrestlers' stable when I had left for Hagi with Akio. I had imagined then that he had thought he would never see me again. But Akio had not been able to kill me as he had planned, and now Hajime had been sent against me. The huge bow was slung over his shoulder; he moved, like most heavy men, balanced on the outside of his feet and, despite his weight, swiftly and silently. Only my ears could have discerned him.

I followed him toward the road where I could hear the horses ahead of us, moving at a swift canter as if in flight. I even heard one of the guards shout to Makoto to ride faster, addressing him as Lord Otori, making me grin bitterly at the deception. My quarry and I went at speed up the slope and down again and came out on a rocky outcrop that gave a good vantage point over the road beneath.

Hajime planted his feet firmly on the rock and took the bow from his shoulder. He set the arrow in the cord; I heard him take a deep breath as he drew it back: The muscles stood out on his arms and rippled across his neck. In close combat with him I wouldn't stand a chance. I could probably get him with Jato if I took him from behind, but I'd have to be sure to kill him with the first blow, and I wanted to take him alive.

He stood motionless, waiting for his target to appear from under the trees. I could barely hear his breathing now. I knew the technique he was using and I was familiar enough with the training he'd undergone to recognize his total concentration. He was one with the bow, with the arrow. It was probably a magnificent sight, but all I was aware of was my desire to see him suffer and then die. I tried to calm my rage. I had only a few moments to think.