Part 18 (1/2)

I could already hear Arai's voice from the interior of the temple, angry and powerful.

At the veranda's edge a servant came with water and I washed my feet. I could do little about the rest of me; my armor and clothes were filthy, coated in mud and blood. I was amazed that Akita could look so spruce after the battle and the pursuit through the rain, but when he led me into the room where Arai and all his senior retainers were gathered, I saw they were all equally well dressed and clean.

Among these large men Arai was the biggest. He seemed to have grown in stature since I had last seen him at Terayama. His victories had given him the weight of power. He had shown his characteristic decisiveness in seizing control after Iida's death, and s.h.i.+geru's; he was physically brave, quick-thinking, and ruthless, and he had the ability to bind men to him in loyalty. His faults were rashness and obstinacy; he was neither flexible nor patient, and I felt he was greedy. Whereas s.h.i.+geru had sought power because with it he could rule with justice and in harmony with heaven, Arai sought power for its own sake.

All this flashed through my mind as I took one quick look at the man seated on the raised section of the room, flanked by his retainers. He wore elaborate armor, resplendent in red and gold, but his head was bare. He had grown his beard and mustache and I could smell their perfume. Our eyes met for a moment, but I could read nothing in them other than his anger.

The room must have served as an audience room for the temple; beyond the inner doors, which were half-open, I could hear movements and whispers from the monks and priests, and the smell of incense floated in the air.

I dropped to the floor, prostrating myself.

There was a long silence, broken only by the impatient tapping of Arai's fan. I could hear the quickened breathing of the men around me, the beating of their hearts like drums, and in the distance the song of the town rebuilding itself. I thought I heard Shun whicker from the horse lines, the eager sound of a horse seeing food.

”What a fool you are, Otori,” Arai shouted into the silence. ”I command you to marry and you refuse. You disappear for months, abandoning your inheritance. You reappear and have the audacity to marry a woman under my protection without my permission. You dare to attack a n.o.bleman, Lord Fujiwara. All this could have been avoided. We could have been allies.”

He continued in this vein for some time, punctuating each sentence with a thwack of his fan as if he would like to beat me round the head. But his rage did not touch me, partly because I had cloaked myself in darkness, partly because I sensed that it was mostly a.s.sumed. I did not resent it; he had every right to be angry with me. I waited, face on the floor, to see what he would do next.

He ran out of rebukes and insults and another long silence en-sued. Finally he grunted, ”Leave us. I will speak to Otori alone.”

Someone to his left whispered, ”Is that wise, lord? His reputation...”

”I am not afraid of Otori!” Arai shouted, taking rage on again immediately. I heard the men depart one by one and heard Arai stand and step down from the platform. ”Sit up,” he ordered.

I sat but kept my eyes lowered. He knelt down so we were knee to knee and could speak without being overheard.

”Well, that's out of the way,” he said, almost affably. ”Now we can talk strategy.”

”I am deeply sorry for offending Lord Arai,” I said.

”All right, all right, what's past is past. My advisers think you should be ordered to kill yourself for your insolence.” To my amazement he began to chuckle. ”Lady s.h.i.+rakawa is a beautiful woman. It must be punishment enough to lose her. I think many are jealous that you went ahead and did what they wished they dared do. And you lived, which many consider a miracle, given her reputation. Women pa.s.s, though; what matters is power-power and revenge.”

I bowed again, to avoid revealing the fury his shallow words aroused in me.

He went on: ”I like boldness, Takeo. I admire what you did for s.h.i.+geru. I promised him a long time ago that I would support you in the case of his death; it irks me, as it must you, that his uncles go unpunished. I did speak to the Miyos.h.i.+ brothers when you sent them. Indeed, Kahei is here with my men; you can see him later. The younger one is still in Inuyama. I learned from them how you outwitted the main Otori army and how many of the clan favor you. The battle at Asagawa was well done. Nariaki had been bothering me and I was pleased to see him removed. We came through Maruyama and saw your work there and Kahei told me how you dealt with the Tribe. You learned s.h.i.+geru's lessons well. He would be proud of you.”

”I don't deserve your praise,” I said. ”I will take my own life if you desire it. Or I will retire to a monastery-Terayama, for example.”

”Yes, I can see that working,” he replied dryly. ”I'm aware of your reputation. I'd rather use it myself than have you holed up in some temple, attracting all the malcontents from the Three Countries.” He added offhandedly, ”You may take your own life if you wish. It's your right as a warrior and I won't prevent you. But I'd infinitely prefer to have you fighting with me.”

”Lord Arai.”

”The whole of the Three Countries obeys me now, apart from the Otori. I want to deal with them before winter. Their main army is still outside Yamagata. I believe they can be defeated, but they will fall back to Hagi and it is said that the town cannot be taken by siege, especially once the snows begin.”

He stared at me, studying my face. I kept my expression impa.s.sive, my eyes turned away.

”I have two questions for you, Takeo. How were you able to identify the Tribe in Maruyama? And was your retreat to the coast deliberate? We thought we had you trapped, but you moved too quickly for us, as if it were premeditated.”

I raised my head and met his eyes briefly. ”I accept your offer of an alliance,” I said. ”I will serve you loyally. In return I understand that you recognize me as the lawful heir of the Otori clan and will support me in reclaiming my inheritance in Hagi.”

He clapped his hands and, when a servant appeared at the door, ordered wine to be brought. I did not tell him that I would never give up Kaede, and he no doubt was less than frank with me, but we drank ceremonially to our alliance. I would have preferred something to eat, even tea. The wine hit my empty stomach like fire. ”Now you may answer my questions,” Arai said.

I told him about s.h.i.+geru's records of the Tribe and how I had been given them at Terayama.

”Where are they now? At Maruyama?”

”No.”

”So where? You won't tell me?”

”They are not in my possession, but I know where they are. And I carry most of the information in my head.”

”So that's how you were so successful,” he said.

”The Tribe seem eager to a.s.sa.s.sinate me,” I said. ”There were not many in Maruyama, but each one represented a threat, so I had to eradicate them. I would have preferred to make use of them; I know what they can do and how useful they can be.”

”You will share those records with me?”

”If it helps us both attain our goals.”

He sat for a while, brooding on my words. ”I was enraged by the part the Tribe played last year,” he said. ”I did not know they were so powerful. They took you away and managed to keep you hidden while my men scoured Yamagata for you. I suddenly realized they were like damp beneath a house or wood-boring insects that chew away at the foundation of a huge building. I also wanted to wipe them out-but it would make more sense to control them. That brings me to something else I want to talk to you about. You remember Muto s.h.i.+zuka?” Or course.

”You probably know that I had two sons with her.”

I nodded. I knew their names, Zenko and Taku, and their ages.

”Do you know where they are?” Arai asked. There was a curious note in his voice: not quite pleading, but close to it.

I did know, but I was not going to tell him. ”Not exactly,” I said. ”I suppose I could guess where to start looking.”

”My son from my marriage died recently,” he said abruptly.

”I had not heard of it. I am very sorry.”

”It was smallpox, poor creature. His mother's health is not good and she took the loss very badly.”

”My deepest sympathy.”

”I've sent messages to s.h.i.+zuka to tell her I want my sons with me. I'll recognize them and adopt them legally. But I've heard nothing from her.”

”It's your right as their father,” I said. ”But the Tribe have a way of claiming children of mixed blood who've inherited their talents.”

”What are these talents?” he said curiously. ”I know s.h.i.+zuka was an unparalleled spy, and I've heard all sorts of rumors about you.”

”Nothing very special,” I said. ”Everyone exaggerates them. It's mainly a question of training.”

”I wonder,” he said, staring at me. I resisted the temptation to meet his gaze. I realized suddenly that the wine and my reprieve from death had made me light-headed. I sat still and said nothing, drawing up my self-control again.

”Well, we'll talk about this again. My other question concerns your retreat to the coast. We expected you to fall back to Maruyama.” I told him about my pact with the Terada and my plan to enter Hagi by s.h.i.+p and infiltrate the castle from the sea while sending an army to decoy the Otori forces and tie them up on land. He was immediately taken with the plan, as I knew he would be, and it it increased his enthusiasm to tackle the Otori before Hagi was closed by winter. ”Can you bring the Terada into alliance with me?” he demanded, his eyes fiery and impatient. increased his enthusiasm to tackle the Otori before Hagi was closed by winter. ”Can you bring the Terada into alliance with me?” he demanded, his eyes fiery and impatient.

”I expect they will want something in exchange.”