Part 19 (2/2)
”Your mother doesn't know you're here? I nearly killed you! What would have happened to the truce then?” I hit him again, but not so hard. ”You little idiot!” I realized I sounded just like Kenji. ”Are you Zenko orTaku?”
”Taku,” he whispered.
The younger one, I realized. ”Where's s.h.i.+zuka now?”
”Not far away. Shall I take you there?”
”At a decent hour of day, perhaps.”
”I should go back,” he said nervously. ”She'll be really angry when she finds I'm gone.”
”Serves you right. Didn't you think about that before you took off?”
”Sometimes I forget to think,” he said ruefully. ”I want to try something and I just do it.”
I repressed the urge to laugh. ”I'm going to tie you up till morning. Then we'll go and see your mother.”
I told s.h.i.+ro to bring some rope and tied the boy up, instructing one of the shamefaced guards not to take his eyes off him. Taku seemed quite resigned to being a prisoner-too resigned, in fact. I thought he was sure he'd be able to escape, and I wanted to get some sleep. I told him to look at me. Somewhat reluctantly he obeyed, and almost immediately his eyes rolled back and his eyelids closed. Whatever his talents-and I had no doubt they were considerable-he had no resistance against the Kikuta sleep.
That's something I can teach him, I caught myself thinking, just before I, too, fell asleep.
He was still sleeping when I woke. I studied his face for a while. I could see no similarity to me or to the Kikuta; he resembled his mother mostly, but there was a fleeting likeness to his father. If Arai's son had fallen into my hands... if the Muto really wanted to make peace with me... It wasn't until the relief started to wash over me that I realized how deep had been my dread of a meeting with my old teacher, Kenji, and its outcome.
Taku slept on and on. It did not worry me. I knew s.h.i.+zuka would come looking for him sooner or later. I ate a little breakfast with s.h.i.+ro and sat on the veranda with the plans of Hagi Castle, memorizing them while I waited for her.
Even though I was looking out for her, she was almost at the house before I recognized her. She'd seen me, but she would have gone straight past if I had not called to her.
”Hey, you!” I did not want to name her.
She stopped and spoke without turning. ”Me, lord?”
”Come inside if you want what you're looking for.”
She approached the house, stepped out of her sandals onto the veranda, and bowed deeply to me. Saying nothing, I went inside. She followed me.
”It's been a long time, s.h.i.+zuka.'”
”Cousin. You'd better not have harmed him.”
”I nearly killed him, the little fool. You should look after him better.”
We glared at each other.
”I suppose I should check you for weapons,” I said. I was extraordinarily pleased to see her and tempted to embrace her, but I didn't want a knife between my ribs.
”I haven't come to harm you, Takeo. I'm here with Kenji. He wants to make peace with you. He's called off the Muto family. The Kuroda will follow, and the others, too, probably. I was to bring Taku to you to prove our good faith. I didn't know he was going to take off on his own.”
”The Tribe's record of trust with me is not high,” I said. ”Why should I believe you?”
”If my uncle comes, will you talk to him?”
”Certainly. Bring the older boy too. I'll give your sons to my men to look after while we speak together.”
”I heard you had become ruthless, Takeo,” she said.
”I was taught it by our relatives in Yamagata and Matsue. Kenji always said it was the only thing I lacked.” I called to s.h.i.+ro's daughter and asked her to bring tea. ”Sit down,” I said to s.h.i.+zuka. ”Your son's asleep. Have some tea and then bring Kenji and Zenko to me here.”
The tea came and she sipped at it slowly. ”I suppose you have heard of Yuki's death?” she said.
”Yes, I was deeply grieved by the news. And outraged that she should have been used like that. You know about the child?”
s.h.i.+zuka nodded. ”My uncle cannot forgive the Kikuta. That's why he's prepared to defy Kotaro's edict and support you.”
”He doesn't blame me?”
”No, he blames them for their harshness and inflexibility. And himself, for many things: s.h.i.+geru's death, encouraging you and Kaede to fall in love-maybe for his daughter's death too.”
”We all blame ourselves, but fate uses us,” I said in a low voice.
”It's true,” s.h.i.+zuka said. ”We live in the midst of the world; we can live no other way.”
”Do you have any news of her?” I did not want to ask about Kaede. I did not want to reveal my weakness and my humiliation, but I could not help it.
”She is married. She lives in total seclusion. She is alive.”
”Is there any way you can contact her?”
s.h.i.+zuka's face softened slightly. ”I am on friendly terms with Fujiwara's physician, and a Muto girl is a maid in the household. So from time to time we hear about her. But there is very little we can do. I dare not make any direct contact. I don't suppose even Kaede fully realizes the danger she is in. Fujiwara has had servants, sometimes even his companions, put to death for no other reason than a dropped tray, a broken plant, or some other misdemeanor.”
”Makoto says he does not sleep with her...”
”I believe not,” s.h.i.+zuka replied. ”Generally he dislikes women, but Kaede appeals to some part of him. She is one of his treasures.”
My teeth ground in rage. I imagined penetrating his mansion at night and seeking him out. I would cut him to pieces, slowly.
”He is protected by his relations.h.i.+p to the emperor,” s.h.i.+zuka remarked, as though she could read my mind.
”The emperor! What does the emperor do for us, miles away from the capital? There might not even be an emperor. It's like a ghost story, made up to frighten children.'”
”If we are speaking of guilt,” s.h.i.+zuka said, ignoring my outburst, ”I feel I am to blame. I persuaded Kaede to attract Fujiwara. But if it had not been for his support, we would all have starved at s.h.i.+rakawa last winter.”
She finished her tea and bowed formally to me.
”If Lord Otori is willing I will go and fetch my uncle now.”
”I'll meet him here in a couple of hours. I have some arrangements to see to first.”
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