Yamada Monogatori: The Emperor in Shadow (15 page)

“That may not be my decision. Have we heard back from Kyoto?”

Kenji frowned. “We’ve heard nothing so far, which is surprising. Our couriers have had plenty of time to reach the Capital and return with word.”

“Has Morofusa returned? I need to speak with him.”

“I’ll find out. You stay where you are.”

I had sent Morofusa on an errand the previous day, and much could depend on what he discovered. However, before Kenji had taken three steps, Morofusa appeared at the sliding screen that served as the door to my quarters.

“Come in. I was just inquiring about you.”

Morofusa entered the room and dropped to his knees. “Your pardon, Lord Yamada. I searched, and made inquiries, but . . . ” He looked unhappy.

“You couldn’t locate Harutada’s men?”

“Actually, I did. Several of them. They were a bit wary, of course, but over drinks—which I bought—a few consented to talk to me. They all confessed themselves baffled, Lord Yamada. Not one of them could name the reason Harutada was executed, beyond what they were told. I am convinced none of them knew what ‘disobedience’ meant in regard to their late
shōshō.
At most they would say he was acting strangely when they were summoned for escort duty, but that was all.”

On the face of it, what Morofusa was telling me was not logical. In any large group of men, one would expect a certain amount of gossip and grumbling, and with enough wine there were few who wouldn’t say what they really thought. That none of the late Harutada’s
bushi
understood or could even speculate as to what he had done to deserve such a harsh penalty was more than odd.

“Where is Akimasa-san?”

“Making his rounds of the walls, I believe. Do you require him?”

“I require four really good scouts. Would you please confer with your counterpart and choose them for me?”

“Certainly, my lord. What do you wish them to do?”

“Send two each to discreetly approach the barriers at Yamashiro and Settsu and report what they see there.
Only
report, mind. They are to take no other action, whatever they may find, and return as soon as possible. Am I understood?”

“Perfectly, Lord Yamada. We will see to it.”

When Morofusa took his leave, Kenji turned to me again. “I know that tone in your voice. You’re following a trail, aren’t you? What do you expect to find at the border crossings?”

“Say rather it is what I hope I do not find, but we’ll know soon enough.”

At Prince Kanemore’s estate, we were not even a day away from Kyoto, and even less to either of the two barriers we could cross to reach it. By late afternoon, the scouts had already returned. Morofusa brought me the news himself.

“Two hundred? Is he certain?”

“If not more. It was difficult to count them all without being seen. The same for Settsu. Traffic into Kawachi province was mostly unhindered, but it seemed everyone seeking to leave was searched. What does it mean?”

“It means Princess Tagako is in even more danger than I thought. You and Akimasa together command forty
bushi.
I have seen for myself how they perform under threat, and I am satisfied. I trust you are, as well?”

“Yes, my lord. They are all good men.”

“They’re about to have another chance to prove it. I want them all ready to ride in two days, as well as the garrison of Taira
bushi.
That will add another ten.”

“As you wish, my lord, but do we dare leave the princess unguarded?”

“She will not be unguarded. She is coming with us. In the meantime, I have another mission for your scouts. This one will not take as long.”

Once I had given Morofusa his instructions, I hobbled off to find Kenji. I was not surprised to find him in conversation with a small group of Tagako’s attendants on the south veranda. The women wore their kimonos in autumn colors now, yellow, gold and red, almost like delicate maple leaves. They all bowed as I approached, except for Kenji, who had his back to me and turned to see who it was.

“Preaching the true path, Master Kenji?”

He sighed. “I’ve found that an unnatural clinging to one subject, even a spiritual one, can make a person a bit of a bore. We were chatting about the weather.”

The women laughed, placing their sleeves in front of their mouths.

“Ladies, I hope you will pardon me, but I need to borrow this gentleman for a while.”

The women merely bowed again, though I think more than one of them looked disappointed. As we walked away, I heard them begin to talk among themselves.

“I wonder what they say about us when we are not around,” Kenji said.

“Assuming they speak of us at all, probably something along the lines of, ‘I thought the old goat would never leave.’ ”

Kenji shrugged. “I am old. And a bit of a goat, yes, but perhaps not completely unwelcome. Women find me amusing, I think.”

I had to concede this talent was probably somewhat useful. For people with such constrained lives as Tagako and the women who served her, even the chance to speak to someone outside the Princess’s inner circle must have had novelty value, if nothing else.

“Your dedication is an inspiration to us all,” I said.

“Lord Yamada, you are in a strange mood, even for you.”

“These are strange times. Speaking of which, your
shikigami.
How is that going?”

“It is not ‘going’ at all. I told you I was uncomfortable with this technique. Spirit wards I understand. Exorcism, yes, but the desire to bind elements of the physical plane to do your bidding? My path is to disconnect from this world, not control it. This seems wrong to me, and I let my curiosity get the better of my judgment. Still, it was a magnificent bird, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, and for the sake of Princess Tagako I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to allow your curiosity to get the better of your judgment one more time.”

Once we were announced, the governor himself came out of his mansion to greet us. I’m not sure if I have ever seen a man more surprised and utterly delighted than Minamoto no Yorinobu as we filed through the gate of his compound with our small escort, bearing the palanquin of Princess Tagako.

“Lord Yamada! Highness! To what do we owe this honor?”

“There is a plot to assassinate the princess,” I said, “and we no longer felt secure in Prince Kanemore’s estate. What better place to ensure her safety than behind the walls of the provincial governor?”

“What better place, indeed?” At a signal from Yorinobu, thirty Minamoto archers raced from behind his mansion and took up their positions on either side of the courtyard, arrows nocked. “You will fire on my command,” he said, and then turned back to me. “I assume you will fight, but it is useless.”

“Lord Yorinobu, what is the meaning of this?” I asked.

“And you were reputed to be clever,” he said. “Frankly, I thought you’d never leave Kanemore’s compound. It was impregnable. I was thinking of some excuse to get the princess to an audience, but now you just walk in of your own accord with only a handful of
bushi.
Thank you.”

“Yes, that was rather convenient of us, wasn’t it?”

I saw a shadow cross Yorinobu’s face. “Don’t imply what you can’t enforce, Lord Yamada. You are in my power now, and I will fulfill my mission.”

“That was why you had Harutada executed, wasn’t it? His orders were to wipe out our escort and kill the princess, even though I’ll wager none of his men knew ahead of time. The size of our escort surprised him, plus it was clear we didn’t trust him from the start. He knew he could not succeed under those circumstances, so he chose discretion. Sensible.”

“He was a coward,” Yorinobu said.

“You really thought the nature of our deaths could be concealed?” I asked.

He laughed. “Just as they will be, though in Harutada’s case it would have been easy enough to claim he acted on his own in a misguided attempt to curry favor with the Fujiwara, and so I would have executed him anyway. When you were announced, I had the servants all confined, Lord Yamada. My
bushi
are loyal, and there will be no gossip. What happens here today is what
I say
happened. And there will be none to dispute me.”

“That remains to be seen, but there are a few subjects on which I’d appreciate your comments. It was the Montoku Genji who secured the temple when Her Highness stayed at Heijo-kyo, which is how you arranged the
inugami
waiting for her after Harutada had failed. Also the
shikigami
at Osaka Bay. Was that you yourself, or do you employ an
onmyōji
?”

Yorinobu smiled. “You’re stalling. It is pointless what you know or do not know now, too late as it is.”

“Oh, but it isn’t. I know we took a huge risk coming here, because every sign, not all of which I have related here, pointed straight at you. Yet I had no proof . . . until now.”

“All very interesting, I’m sure, but meaningless.” His expression turned as cold as a stone. “Kill them.”

As one, the archers drew their bows—and aimed their arrows at the governor.

“Do
not
kill him,” I said. “Yet.” I kneeled before the palanquin. “Have you heard enough, Highness?”

“I will hear more in time, but for now, yes, more than enough. In the name of the emperor, Lord Yamada, I assign his fate to you. Do what you think is proper.”

I bowed. “Remove the princess from the courtyard,” I said to the palanquin bearers. “And rejoin her guard outside while we finish our business.”

Yorinobu scowled at the guards. “What are you doing? I gave you a command!”

“So did I,” I said. “You can see which of us is being heeded. Now then, you heard the princess. Until her return to the Capital, Princess Tagako remains high priestess of Ise. So you have just confessed to the attempted murder of a member of the royal family and the emperor’s official representative in this region. Does the word ‘treason’ mean anything to you?”

Clearly it did, as the governor turned a little pale. To his credit, he recovered quickly.

“I don’t know how you managed to coerce my guards, but it won’t save you. My men guard all border crossings in force. Kill me, don’t kill me, it is unimportant. None of you will leave Kawachi alive.”

“Do you honestly think Kyoto will stand for troops massing on their borders? The assumption would be that you are in rebellion, and your relationship with the Fujiwara will not save you. I would be surprised if you were not already declared outlaw. Lord Yoshiie hasn’t taken any heads in almost three years, so I imagine he’s getting somewhat impatient. Or do you really think the Montoku Genji can stand alone against Lord Yoriyoshi and his son and allies?”

Yorinobu laughed again, but it was a weak laugh. “That misguided fool? He’ll never even hear of this. My
bushi
—those at the borders—will remain discreet in their actions and keep some distance from the actual crossing, and you’ll be dead, remember? If I will too, well, it is regrettable, but perhaps necessary.”

I had hoped for a better opening, but I knew the time to learn what I wanted to learn was running low.

“Necessary for what? What could possibly justify the murder of an imperial princess?”

“I do pity your misfortune, Lord Yamada, dying as you will without ever knowing the reason,” Yorinobu said. “May your ghost howl in ignorance for the rest of eternity, and as for myself, if you’ve decided, kill me now and go meet your fate.”

It was a flicker of one eyelid that told me the story. I looked into the man’s face and I understood—Yorinobu was lying, but lying by what he was
not
saying.

He’s not taunting me simply for the sake of gloating. He cannot tell me because he does not know!

This understanding made me even less inclined to go gently on the man. I smiled. “A friend of mine once said ‘fate’ was the word we use for the way things happen. I disagreed, but I’m starting to understand her point. My ‘fate,’ as you call it, has yet to be written. I think yours has. My intention is to take you back to Kyoto and turn you over to the emperor’s justice.”

He sighed. “Lord Yamada, have you been listening to a word I’ve said? I wasn’t going to repeat my mistake with Harutada. My forces are overwhelming, and my
shōshō
all have their orders, and have profited by Harutada’s poor example, believe me. My men will never let you or the princess live.”

“Speaking of which, it was considerate of you to send most of your guards off on a fool’s errand. It made it so much easier to overpower the ones left. As for your ‘overwhelming’
bushi
, they are standing down even as we speak. Anyone resisting or attempting to carry out your order will be summarily executed as an outlaw. I rather think this fact has been emphasized to them by now.”

Yorinobu scowled. “You must be insane. No one is coming to save you! None of your couriers got through! I made sure of that.”

“Even the ones in the air? You’re not the only person with access to
shikigami
, you know. They make speedy messengers.”

I think I finally got the governor’s attention. “You’re lying,” he said.

“Possible, I suppose. Shall we go see your men and find out?”

“Not necessary, I assure you. Moritomo!”

In an instant we heard the cry of a great bird.
Yorinobu’s final throw of the dice.
I could only hope we were as ready as I believed.

“Yoshitsune! Find him!” I shouted.

Morofusa’s selected scout dashed in the direction we’d heard the scream, like that of a great eagle. In a moment we saw the giant bird lift over the west wing of Yorinobu’s mansion and fly over the wall in the direction Tagako had been taken. I turned to Kenji, but he already had several slips of paper in his hand, chanting to each as he let it go. Then there were seven of the great fishing owls flying in a silent, deadly flock after the giant bird. In another moment we heard the first shriek as they made contact. Kenji slumped to a kneeling position. I knew it was only because Kenji’s
shikigami
were given the same simple impetus—attack and destroy the great bird—that he was able to create so many at once, but even so it created a great strain on him and he would not be able to endure for long. I only hoped we wouldn’t need them for long.