Part 22 (2/2)

I heard footsteps above our heads and a voice called out, ”Who's there? Name yourself.'”

Ryoma answered in the dialect of a Hagi fisherman, ”Only me. Got a bit lost in this dirty mist.”

”Got a bit p.i.s.sed, you mean,” a second man called back. ”Get out of here! If we can see you when the fog clears, we'll put an arrow in you.” The sound of the oar faded away. I hissed at the other two-I couldn't see either of them-and we began to climb. It was a slow process; the wall, washed twice a day by the tide, was coated in seaweed and slippery. But inch by inch we crawled up it and eventually came to its top. One last autumn cricket was chirping and it fell suddenly silent. Kenji chirped in its place. I could hear the guards talking at the far corner of the bailey. A lamp and a brazier burned beside them. Beyond them lay the residence where the Otori lords, their retainers, and families would be sleeping.

I could hear only two voices, which surprised me. I'd thought there would be more, but from their conversation I gathered that all available men had been posted on the bridge and along the river in antic.i.p.ation of Arai's attack.

”Wish he'd get it over with,” one of them grumbled. ”It's this waiting I can't stand.”

”He must know how little food there is in the town,” the other replied. ”Probably thinks he can starve us out.”

”I suppose it's better to have him out there than in here.”

”Enjoy it while you can. If the town falls to Arai, it'll be a bloodbath. Even Takeo ran away into a typhoon rather than face Arai!”

I felt alongside me for Taku, found his shape, and pulled his head close to me. ”Go inside the wall,” I mouthed in his ear. ”Distract them while we take them from behind.”

I felt him nod and heard the tiny sound as he moved away. Kenji and I followed him over the wall. In the glow from the brazier I suddenly caught sight of a small shadow. It flitted across the ground and then divided in two, silent and ghostly.

”What was that?” one of the guards exclaimed.

They were both on their feet and staring toward Taku's two images. It was easy for us: We took one each, soundlessly.

The guards had just made tea, so we drank it while we waited for daybreak. The sky paled gradually. There was no separation between it and the water; it was all one s.h.i.+mmering surface. When the conch sh.e.l.ls began to sound, the hair stood up on the back of my neck. Dogs howled in response from the sh.o.r.e.

I heard the household within erupt into activity: the padding of feet, not yet frantic, cries of surprise, not yet alarm. The shutters were thrown open and the doors slid apart. A group of guards rushed out, followed by Shoichi and Masahiro, still in night attire but with their swords in their hands.

They stopped dead as I walked toward them, Jato unsheathed in my hand, the mist wreathing around me. Behind me the first s.h.i.+ps were appearing; the conch sh.e.l.ls sang again over the water and the sound echoed back from the mountains around the bay.

Masahiro took a step back. ”s.h.i.+geru?” he gasped.

His older brother went white. They saw the man they had tried to murder; they saw the Otori sword in his hand, and they were terrified.

I said in a loud voice, ”I am Otori Takeo, grandson of s.h.i.+gemori, nephew and adopted son of s.h.i.+geru. I hold you responsible for the death of the rightful heir to the Otori clan. You sent s.h.i.+ntaro to a.s.sa.s.sinate him, and when that failed, you conspired with Iida Sadamu to murder him. Iida has already paid with his life, and now you will!” I was aware that Kenji stood behind me, sword drawn, and hoped Taku was still invisible. I did not take my eyes off the men in front of me. Shoichi tried to regain his composure. ”Your adoption was illegal. You have no claim to Otori blood nor to the sword you carry. We do not recognize you.” He called to the retainers. ”Cut them down!”

Jato seemed to quiver in my hands as it came alive. I was prepared to meet the attack, but no one moved. I saw Shoichi's face change as he realized he was going to have to fight me himself.

”I have no wish to split the clan,” I said. ”My only desire is for your heads.” I thought I'd given them enough warning. I could feel Jato thirsting for blood. It was as though s.h.i.+geru's spirit had taken me over and would have his revenge.

Shoichi was the closer and I knew he was the better swordsman. I would get rid of him first. They had both been good fighters, but they were now old men in their late forties and they wore no armor. I was at the height of speed and fitness, flesh and bone planed by hards.h.i.+p and war. I killed Shoichi with a blow to the neck that cut him diagonally. Masahiro swung at me from behind, but Kenji parried the stroke, and as I spun to meet my other opponent I saw fear distort his face. I pushed him back toward the wall. He avoided each stroke, weaving and parrying, but his heart was not in it. He made one last appeal to his men, but still not one of them moved.

The first s.h.i.+ps were not far offsh.o.r.e. Masahiro looked behind him, looked back, and saw Jato descend on him. He made a frantic, ducking movement and fell over the wall.

Furious that he had escaped me, I was about to jump after him when his son, Yos.h.i.+tomi, my old enemy from the fighting hall, came running from the residence, followed by a handful of his brothers and cousins. None of them was more than twenty.

”I'll fight you, sorcerer,” Yos.h.i.+tomi cried. ”Let's see if you can fight like a warrior!”

I had gone into an almost supernatural state, and Jato was enraged by now and had tasted blood. It moved faster than the eye could follow. Whenever I seemed to be outnumbered, Kenji was at my side. I was sorry such young men had to die but glad that they, too, paid for the treachery of their fathers. When I was able to turn my attention back to Masahiro, I saw he had surfaced near a small boat at the front of the line of s.h.i.+ps. It was Ryoma's. Seizing his father by his hair, the young man pulled him upward and cut his throat with one of the knives fishermen use to gut fish. Whatever Masahiro's crimes, this was a far more terrible death than any I could have devised for him: to be killed by his own son while trying to escape in fear.

I turned to face the crowd of retainers. ”I have a huge force of men on the s.h.i.+ps out there and Lord Arai is in alliance with me. I have no quarrel with any of you. You may take your own lives, you may serve me, or you may fight me one-on-one now. I have fulfilled my duty to Lord s.h.i.+geru and done what he commanded.”

I could still feel his spirit inhabiting me.

One of the older men stepped forward. I remembered his face, but his name escaped me.

”I am Endo Chikara. Many of us have sons and nephews who have already joined you. We have no desire to fight our own children. You have done what was your duty and your right in a fair and honorable way. For the sake of the clan, I am prepared to serve you, Lord Otori.”

With that he knelt and one by one the others followed. Kenji and I went through the residence and placed guards on the women and children. I hoped the women would take their own lives honorably. I would decide what to do with the children later. We checked all the secret places and flushed out several spies hidden there. Some were obviously Kikuta, but neither in the residence nor the castle was there any sign of Kotaro, who Kenji had been told was in Hagi.

Endo came with me to the castle. The captain of the guard there was equally relieved to be able to surrender to me; his name was Miyos.h.i.+ Satoru: He was Kahei and Gemba's father. Once the castle was secured, the boats came to sh.o.r.e and the men disembarked to move through the town street by street.

Taking the castle, which I had thought would be the hardest part of my plan, turned out to be the easiest. Despite its surrender and my best efforts, the town did not give in altogether peacefully. The streets were in chaos; people tried to flee, but there was nowhere to go. Terada and his men had scores of their own to settle, and there were pockets of stubborn resistance that we had to overcome in fierce hand-to-hand fighting.

Finally we came to the banks of the western river, not far from the stone bridge. Judging by the sun, it must have been late afternoon. The mist had lifted long ago, but smoke from burning houses hung above the river. On the opposite bank, the last of the maple leaves were brilliant red and the willows along the water's edge were yellow. The leaves were falling, drifting in the eddies. Late chrysanthemums bloomed in gardens. In the distance I could see the fish weir, and the tiled walls along the bank.

My bouse is there, I thought. I will sleep there tonight I will sleep there tonight.

But the river was full of men swimming and small boats loaded to the gunwales, while a long stream of soldiers pressed toward the bridge.

Kenji andTaku were still alongside me, Taku silenced by what he had seen of war. We stared at the sight: the remnants of the Otori army in defeat. I was filled with pity for them and anger at their lords who had so misled and betrayed them, leaving them to fight this desperate rearguard action while they slept comfortably in Hagi Castle.

I had been separated from Fumio, but now I saw him at the bridge with a handful of his men. They seemed to be arguing with a group of Otori captains. We went over to them. Zenko was with Fumio, and he smiled briefly at his brother. They stood close to each other but did not say anything.

”This is Lord Otori Takeo,” Fumio, told the men when I approached. ”The castle has surrendered to him. He'll tell you.” He turned to me. ”They want to destroy the bridge and prepare for siege. They don't believe in the alliance with Arai. They've been fighting him off for the last week. He's right behind them. They say their only hope is to get the bridge down immediately.”

I removed my helmet so they could see my face. They immediately dropped to their knees. ”Arai has sworn to support me,” I said. ”The alliance is genuine. Once he knows the town has surrendered, he will cease the attack.”

”Let's break the bridge down anyway,” their leader said.

I thought of the ghost of the stonemason entombed alive in his cre-ation and of the inscription that s.h.i.+geru had read aloud to me: The Otori The Otori clan welcome the just and the loyal. Let the unjust and the disloyal beware clan welcome the just and the loyal. Let the unjust and the disloyal beware. I did not want to destroy such a precious thing, and anyway, I could not see how they would dismantle it in time.

”No, let it stand,” I replied. ”I will answer for Lord Arai's faithfulness. Tell your men they have nothing to fear if they surrender to me and accept me as their lord.”

Endo and Miyos.h.i.+ came up on horseback and I sent them to carry the message to the Otori soldiers. Little by little the confusion settled. We cleared the bridge and Endo rode to the other side to organize a more orderly return to the town. Many men were rea.s.sured enough to settle down where they were and rest, while others decided they might as well go home, and set off for their farms and houses.

Miyos.h.i.+ said, ”You should be on horseback, Lord Takeo,” and gave me his horse, a good-looking black that reminded me of Aoi. I mounted, rode across the bridge to speak to the men there, causing them to break out into cheers, and then rode back with Endo. When the cheers died away I could hear the distant sound of Arai's army approaching, the tramping of horses and men.

They came down the valley, a stream of ants in the distance, k.u.ma-moto and Seishuu banners unfurled. As they came closer I recognized Arai at their head: chestnut horse, stag-antlered helmet, red-laced armor.

I leaned down to say to Kenji, ”I should go and meet him.”

Kenji frowned as he peered across the river. ”Something feels wrong,” he said quietly.

”What?”

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