The Initiate Brother Duology (48 page)
Read The Initiate Brother Duology Online
Authors: Sean Russell
A knock on the shoji brought Nishima out of her reverie. “Yes?”
“I have your robes, my lady,” came Kento’s soft voice.
“But where is Lady Shishika?”
“Pardon me, Lady Nishima, but I have taken the liberty of replacing her so that we may speak. Rohku is having your rooms watched and I will appear less suspicious if I come to help you dress.”
“There is no end to foolishness!” Nishima said, bitterly. “Enter.”
Nishima’s favorite swept in, a number of inner robes of the sheerest silk folded over her arm. Stopping far enough away that Nishima could see without moving, Kento displayed each robe in turn.
“No, too dark—there is enough darkness. No Kento-sum, lighter still. Pure white is what I want. Bring me a robe made of the snow itself.”
The lady-in-waiting bowed and hurried out in a swish of silk. Nishima closed her eyes, and ran her fingertips over her thighs, falling back into thoughts of the poem she had received that morning. The hot bath seemed to hold her, easing her tensions. She knew she was exhausted, yet she could not sleep.
Kento returned, seeming to Nishima to bring the world with her in her concern for her lady’s dress.
“Ah, yes. Now that is closer. Yes, that one. And the other, a shade darker. Perfect. Leave them, I will dress and come out to you.”
Maids hurried in bringing towels for their mistress, but Nishima sent them out and dried herself with the narrow lengths of rough cotton, rubbing briskly as though the roughness would bring her mind back to matters at hand. From a shelf she took an ornate lacquered box of turquoise and azure which bore a pattern of white warisha blossoms—the symbol of the ancient House of Fanisan.
The jewelry box, and much that it contained, had belonged to Nishima’s mother and the young woman treasured it for more than its perfectly wrought contents. She twisted the handle in the special way and the lid popped open without a sound. Just the sight of what lay within gave her deep pleasure. Her long fingers caressed a set of silver bracelets and then a smooth jade pendant and a string of black pearls.
Lifting out a small tray, Nishima uncovered Tanaka’s letter and her own decoding of it. Beneath these lay the coins. She examined them again carefully, looking for signs of their origin. They had been struck with great skill even though they appeared very plain. She turned them over on her palm, each coin about the size of her thumbnail and unmarked but for perfectly
round holes in their centers. As Tanaka had written, they could well have come from the Imperial Mint, but there was nothing specific about them that would prove this true.
Taking a length of mauve silk ribbon, Nishima strung the coins along it, the metal catching the sunlight and seeming to gain depth as only true gold could. Wrapping this around her naked waist, she felt the cold metal warm to the soft skin of her stomach. Nishima slipped the robes over this, being certain that no signs of the coins could be seen. Once dressed she knew that the many folds of her sash would conceal secrets far greater than this.
Nishima slid open the shoji and stepped into the next room where her lady-in-waiting had several wooden wardrobes open and an array of kimonos displayed according to color and formality.
“A letter has arrived from Lady Okara, my lady.”
“Ah. Let me see it.” Nishima said quickly.
A tiny branch of sweet smelling lintel herb, a vine often found growing on old stone walls, was attached to a fine cloth paper of pearl gray.
Lintel herb, Nishima thought, used to purify water. She dropped to her knees on a cushion, forgetting entirely about the kimonos spread about her. The letter was folded in the manner called “Gateway” though it scarcely resembled this, but Nishima noted it duly. Such things were invariably part of the message or added an additional level to it. For a second she was disappointed by the simplicity of the hand and then she smiled. It was absolutely correct for Lady Okara and on closer inspection she realized that “simple” was not an adequate description. “Pure” would perhaps be a better word.
I have read your letter through now several times, Nishima-sum. And though I do not know your reasons for this proposed journey I do trust you. I can’t help feeling that this situation you find yourself in is my fault and I feel great resentment over being used in this way. Not toward you, my dear, but to others. There is only one solution to our problem; I will travel to Seh with you. In this way you will not incur the displeasure of the Son of Heaven, for the Emperor said nothing of us staying in the capital to pursue your studies. I have not seen the great canal in many years and I cannot imaging a more suitable place for us to consider the essence of our artistic endeavors.
The white blossoms
Of the lintel vine
Are scattered by the winds.
They flow north on strong currents
Like the crests
Of a thousand small waves.
How will we open the gates
Now that the arches crumble?
Nishima read the letter again and then refolded it as it had come. Suddenly she felt an overwhelming need for sleep—she could, now. Rohku Saicha would have no argument against this!
May Botahara bless Okara-sum, Nishima thought, I am going to Seh.
T
HE EMPEROR REALIZED he was pacing and felt his anger return again. He crossed to the dais and looked down on the pile of scrolls and letters scattered across the mats. All of this, he thought, and no news to gladden the heart. Without warning, he kicked a silk cushion across the room. Its collision with the shoji brought a horde of guards and attendants rushing in from all sides.
“Yes?” the Emperor said loudly. “Did I call any of you? Get out! You!—bring me my cushion. Now get out.”
He slumped down on his newly returned cushion and regarded the yards of paper spread around him. “May the gods take Jaku Katta. I
need
that young fool!” Reaching for the letter he had received from Lord Shonto, the Son of Heaven read it again carefully, looking for any sign that Shonto lied—that the lord pointed a finger at Jaku only to take away the Emperor’s valued servant.
Sire:
By now the Emperor knows of my difficulties at Denji Gorge but I have taken the liberty of writing, briefly, my impressions of what occurred there.
The northern locks of Denji Gorge have, for some years now, come under the control of the Hajiwara and during this time the Hajiwara House has used this control to increase their fortunes at the expense of the Imperial Treasury. The Hajiwara financial records I have sent to Your Majesty will show that this is true.
The Hajiwara have accomplished this theft by controlling the Imperial Keep above the northern locks with the unspoken approval of the Imperial Governor, the Lord Hajiwara’s kinsman.
As I refused to pay a tithe to the Hajiwara, I was held in the Gorge for several days and prevented from fulfilling my duties to my Emperor. This situation was intolerable and an affront to your Majesty, so I arranged to take the locks from the Hajiwara forces and return them to the control of Imperial Authorities. Unfortunately, in this struggle Lord Hajiwara and his family died. This I regret for I will miss the pleasure of seeing the Hajiwara before an Imperial Court.
It seems that an Imperial Messenger, one Jaku Yasata was sent to Itsa some months ago, no doubt to deal with this situation, but such was the arrogance of the Hajiwara that Lieutenant Jaku was ignored—in fact the situation grew worse after his visit, as all Imperial Representatives were disallowed entry to the lock areas and were deprived access to the lock records.
I believe, Sire, that I have acted as the situation dictated and to restore respect for my Emperor. In this matter I was aided greatly by Lord Butto of Itsa whose bravery and loyalty were readily put at the service of the Throne.
I remain Your Majesty’s servant,
Shonto Motoru
The Emperor realized that his palms were damp and he wiped them unceremoniously on his robe. Shonto must believe it was the Emperor who arranged this stupid escapade. All of the effort and cost that had gone into sending Shonto to the north and now this! If the lord had held any doubt that Seh was a trap, that doubt was gone now.
I am in danger, the Emperor thought. Shonto and his one-armed advisor and that accursed monk plot even now—I can feel it. Katta, you fool! You have placed me in danger when every effort had been made to hide the hand that held the knife. Fool! Stupid fool! Now what would he do? Be calm. His father had always remained calm and it had won him a throne. Akantsu stared down at the pile of reports as though they were responsible for his loss of tranquillity.
He tossed the letter back onto the pile.
There was a similar letter from Lord Butto or, more correctly, from his
youngest son though under the old lord’s signature. What a fiasco! And this visit by Yasata. The Emperor massaged the temples of his throbbing head. Jaku had long recommended that this stupid feud be allowed to continue as it weakened those involved which, he argued, could never be to the Emperor’s disadvantage—but it now appeared that he might have had other reasons for his recommendations. What could he have been thinking?
Picking up a long scroll, the Emperor began to read the report prepared for him by his own agents—as if they could be trusted! He read each word looking for hidden meanings, seeing the hand of a traitor everywhere.
The brief war that has taken place in Itsa is a continuation of the feud between the two chief Houses of this province with one significant difference. In these last battles Lord Shonto Motoru has sided with the Butto, no doubt planning all of the actions with his own formidable staff.
Lord Shonto’s reasons for involving himself in this affair seem to be self-interest only—he was being prevented from continuing his journey north—though it is almost certainly true that the Hajiwara plotted against him, no doubt as agents for another party.
The Governor of Itsa is presently traveling to the capital to lodge official complaints with the Imperial Government and no doubt to plead his innocence to any charges that he has misappropriated funds destined for the Imperial Treasury—a blatant lie.
There is as yet no evidence of who the Hajiwara served in this matter and we are endeavoring with all haste to discover this while it may still be possible to do so.
There is one other note that should be recorded. Shonto found a way to move an army out of Denji Gorge without the assistance of the Butto. This was formerly believed to be impossible. We have not yet determined how this was done.
The Emperor found his heart was beating too quickly, and he put his hand to his chest to try to calm himself. This escape from Denji Gorge was what unsettled him. How had Shonto managed that? The Emperor knew the gorge from personal experience, knew its high barren walls. It must be a trick, he thought, the army must somehow have come across the land. It isn’t possible for a single man to escape from Denji Gorge, let alone an army. But the Emperor knew that this was the lie and that the truth was Shonto had escaped
from an impossible situation. This knowledge did not bring Akantsu II comfort.
The Emperor began rolling the scroll, keeping the paper tight. So much hangs in the balance, he thought, and now this? Who hid behind the screen of this feud and whispered the orders to Hajiwara? And who would be so stupid as to believe that fool Hajiwara could outmaneuver the Lord of the Shonto? Could it be, as Shonto implied, that Jaku Katta had arranged this entire escapade?
Katta, the Emperor thought, you have been like a son to me, and now, like a son, do you grow impatient for the father to pass on?
A quiet knock on the shoji interrupted the Emperor’s thoughts. A screen slid aside and an attendant knelt in the opening.
“Yes?”
“Sire, Colonel Jaku Tadamoto awaits your pleasure.”
“Ah.” The Emperor gestured to his reports. “Have this arranged and then I will see the colonel.”
Two servants rushed in and began rolling scrolls and picking up papers. “Leave them with us,” the Emperor ordered, “and give me my sword.”
Doors at the end of the audience hall opened, revealing Jaku Katta’s younger brother, a tall, slightly built, handsome man who looked to be the scholar he in fact was. He knelt outside the doors, his head bowed to the mat.
“You may approach, Colonel.”
Jaku Tadamoto came forward on his knees, stopping a respectful distance from the dais.
“It gives me pleasure to see you, Colonel.”
“I am honored that you feel so, Sire.”
A half-smile crossed the Emperor’s face at Tadamoto’s words, but then it hardened into the look of a man with many things weighing upon him. “Tadamoto-sum, events in our Empire have made me aware again that the throne draws to it traitors of all kinds. There are so few we can trust, so few whose loyalty is not a mask for private ambitions.”
“It grieves me that this is so, Sire.”