Journey Through Fire (14 page)

A
s the days passed, I worked with a new resolve to fit in with the nobility by which I was surrounded. I joined Hana as she recited poetry, I worked hard at my flower arranging, and I even joined the women as they embroidered
temari
balls for the children, my fingers bleeding and sore from the pricks of the needle in my clumsy hands. Slowly Mother began to forgive me. But I had to work hard to retrieve her affection. Thank goodness Moriyasu was much quicker to forget—he challenged me to daily games of Go and we both kept improving. Hana flitted about the court, charming the men and women like a songbird. We got occasional glimpses of Tatsuya, as he guarded the compound, but we didn't have another chance to speak to him in private and he refused to meet our glance as he marched past.

I wondered what was going on outside the compound. Emiko would pause by our rooms sometimes, on her way to the kitchen, and give me details of the
estates. She even shared more secrets from court.

“The latest gossip is that your family's cause is gaining ground. People feel sorry for you and all the clans are waiting to hear what the Shogun will say,” she told me one morning.

I gave a hollow laugh. “If pity helps my family win, I'll take it all!” I joked. There was only one question that still plagued me, circling my mind. What was Uncle planning? There had been little word of him and I did not trust this silence.

One evening, as the mists gathered in the courtyard, Akane stopped by our apartment. It was rare to see her outside of the Administrator's rooms and we scrambled to our feet to greet her.

“Good evening,” Mother said, bowing low.

Akane was dressed in a primrose-blue kimono with a red obi sash. She glanced around the room and her nose crinkled. Mother threw Hana and me an alarmed glance.

“These rooms are so cramped,” Akane said, ducking her head to walk through the doorway, though it was more than tall enough to accommodate her height. “You must have new rooms immediately!”

Mother blinked in confusion. “We are very happy here. The Shogun has been most kind.”

She shook her head vehemently. “No,” she decided. She walked quickly out onto the walkway and signaled
to a servant. She pointed into the room. “Pack up their belongings immediately. This family is moving to my apartments.”

The servant cast us an impressed glance and began picking up our personal belongings. My hand twitched to snatch my clothes out of her hands—I wanted to organize my own things! But I knew I could not afford to offend Akane. We watched as servants rifled through our belongings. Then Akane waved a hand at the doorway.

“Follow me,” she said. Her actions were meant to be kind, but I had the feeling we were being issued a command that would brook no contest. Hana smiled weakly at me and we followed her out of the room.

When we arrived in Akane's wing of the compound, more servants jumped to attention. We were shown into a set of rooms that were beautiful by merit of their simplicity. Everything here made our previous apartment seem gaudy: The tatami mats were clean and aromatic, the paper screens discreet. In one room was a folding screen decorated with pheasants and peonies; in another stood a single, perfect orchid in the alcove. As we walked from room to room, gazing around us, we realized that Akane had given us a room each. Moriyasu's room was decorated with replicas of samurai equipment and implements. He ran into the room and shouted out in delight.

Mother turned to our hostess and smiled. “But why?” she asked. “We were perfectly happy where we were.”

“I wasn't,” Akane said, as servants unrolled the mattresses. “I had to go down endless walkways if I wanted to see you.” Hana and I shared a glance—this was the first time Akane had ever tried to visit us. “I want good people by my side. Please, make yourselves comfortable.”

Hana kneeled in front of one of the scrolls that hung on a wall. It carried an elegant poem and I could see her trying to memorize it. Mother was unpacking our things and handed over my Go board.

“Go! You play?” Akane asked and when I nodded, a competitive smile broke out on her face. “I would be honored if you shared a game with me.”

I was happy for the challenge and wondered what type of player Akane would be. I sat on one side of a low table, and Akane kneeled on the other. We both gazed at the squares scored on the board, and I waited to see where Akane would place her first pebble. She lifted it between her forefinger and middle finger and her hand hovered above the board. Then she brought the pebble down with a sharp click.

She had placed it slightly off center, with no clear indication of her plan and she continued by spreading her black, shiny stones in different places on the
board. There was no single allegiance here, no loyal grouping of pebbles. I was confused and increasingly uncertain of my own moves. I tried to bring my pebbles close to Akane's, so that I was ready to capture. I'd used this technique to capture many of my brother's pebbles, but Akane ignored my tactic and continued to calmly arrange different groups of pebbles across the board. I became uncertain—which group should I try to surround? I changed my tactics and—too late—realized my mistake. Within a few easy moves, Akane had closed in like a net around a group of my small white pebbles. I was surrounded.

“You're losing, Kimi,” she said, her cheeks flushed red with excitement. I studied the board and realized that Akane had been a politician. She had been spreading herself thinly—it was true—but she had covered all her options. Akane had followed one of the golden rules of Go that Daisuke had shared with me: “The only person who can make you lose is you,” Daisuke had said. “You need to see into yourself, understand your own moves, to win.” I looked at Akane. Clearly she had no intention of allowing herself to lose; she had looked deep into her own soul and found the strength to conquer. Could I ever be as determined?

I nodded my head in congratulations and was about to suggest another game when my opponent
got to her feet. A cool breeze came in through an open window and I realized that the night was turning cold.

“I must retire now,” she said. She nodded at the board. “It's all about territory and influence. Find the balance and the board is yours.”

Before I could thank her, Akane was already walking to the door. With a regal wave of her hand, she departed. I looked at Mother and Hana and they were both watching the empty space Akane had left behind her, surprised expressions on their faces.

“Time for bed,” Mother said sharply. “Come on, all of you.”

“Another new bed! How many have I slept in these past weeks?” Moriyasu joked, as he ran to his room. I dragged my covers off the bed and wrapped myself up as I lay on the cool floorboards.

“Why do you think Lady Akane has brought us to these rooms?” Hana asked.

“I don't know. Enough talk,” Mother said. “It gets in the way of sleeping.”

Mother retired and Hana climbed beneath her bed covers. There was a fourth room for Hana, but we did not want to be parted—not even for a night—so we had dragged her mattress through to my room. I listened to the sounds from outside—the cooing of the birds as they settled for the night, and the
branches of the trees shifting in the breeze. I listened for other noises, too—for the snap of a twig or the telltale crunch of gravel—but everything was quiet. We would be safe here, so close to the Shogun.

I turned over and waited for the kiss of sleep. It did not arrive. I looked over my shoulder and saw Hana padding to a window where she pulled back the screen. Above us, stars twinkled in the night sky. I thought of the head scarf—midnight blue with pinpricks of white—that Daisuke asked for.
What is he doing now?
I wondered, not for the first time.

“Kimi!” Hana whispered, interrupting my thoughts. I sat up sharply in bed and looked over at her. She pointed out of the window at something, and I scrambled out of bed to sit beside her at the open window. She squeezed my arm and pointed again.

It was a night heron. It must be after the water in the pool. I could just make out the patches of blue around its eyes, and the bird's tawny red feathers reflected the glitter of the pond water. It was beautiful.

When I looked back at Hana, she was watching my face.

“What?” I asked. Hana gazed back out of the window. The heron spread its wings and flew over the walls of the compound.

“Why did you go to the kitchen?” she asked, as
we watched the bird soar into the sky. “Why did you want to make things difficult for us?”

I stayed silent for a moment, still watching the heron. I wished that I could follow it…be free…free to do all the things I needed to. “I just want to see things
happen
, Hana,” I finally said. “After all we have been through, we're reduced to dressing up like ladies and bowing our heads, keeping quiet and arranging flowers. How is this helping the estates?”

Hana opened her mouth to speak when—

“What's that?” I whispered, holding up a hand to silence my sister. Beneath the wings of the heron I had noticed a flicker of light down on the ground—the white of an eye.

“What?” Hana started to ask, but I jerked my head at a corner of the courtyard. Hana's eyes widened as she saw what I had already noticed.

The figure of a man. A ninja!

He was dressed all in brown with a cowl wrapped around his head. He pressed himself against the wall of the compound as he followed its contours around the courtyard, moving away from the Shogun's rooms—toward an almost unnoticeable rope hanging over the wall high off the ground.

“Has he attacked the Shogun? Oh no!” Hana whispered. We watched as the person leaped up into the branches of a tree and then reached out for
the rope. He leaned dangerously far out and caught hold of the rope, dragging it through the air toward him. He pulled it tight. After a final glance behind him, he threw himself forward so that the soles of his feet braced against the taut rope and his hands held him steady. Then he climbed. He was
walking
up the wall!

I jumped to my feet. “Come on, Hana! We can't let him get away!” We raced out of the room—a side door took us directly out to the garden. Hana moved to run across the gravel, but I pulled her back. The crunch of those pebbles would surely give us away. I pointed toward the compound's wall.

“If we can get over there, we can climb the wall and follow the ninja.” The main building was bordered by swept sand, soft and silent underfoot. We crept forward until we were against the wall. I felt for fingerholds between the stones and climbed. I could hear Hana giving small grunts of exertion as she followed.

Quickly I scaled the wall, pain searing my hands and feet as I crammed them between the hard edges of the stones. The mist had come down thick now, and it was difficult to see where the anonymous figure had gone—but I could just make him out feeling his way across the top of the wall, moving farther into the compound. I had thought he had been making
his escape—I was wrong.
He's using the wall to walk over the top of our heads,
I thought. It was a clever plan to move around without being seen. But where was he going?

I reached the top of the wall and heaved Hana up beside me. She was panting—having lost some quickness and stamina during her recovery. I pointed to where we could barely see the intruder balancing on top of the wall. Fortunately the compound wall was made of thick stones and we could hurry, holding our arms out for balance. Just as we were about to catch up with the faceless man, he jumped down from the wall and landed with a small thud beside three others inside the compound. We had stumbled upon a secret ninja meeting. But how could we get close enough to hear what they were saying?

As they talked, the men walked along the base of the wall. I waited until they had gone a safe distance and then dropped down into the soft soil at the roots of a yew bush. The dense leaves were just enough to keep me hidden. I looked up at Hana and smiled to let her know I was fine; she smiled back and pulled her head out of sight. Then I waited, trying to keep my breathing quiet.

The men paused, heads close together as they talked. I could see the man we'd first followed speaking animatedly. One of the men shook his head
vehemently, then all four of them turned and walked back toward me. Soon they came close enough so that I could hear what they were saying.

“Wait for orders,” one of them said in a low voice. The figure in brown hesitated, then nodded. “Succeed in your mission, and you'll get your heart's desire. Fail…” That last word hung in the air with dreadful weight. “And you will be bound to us forever.” I shuddered and the man nodded again in understanding.

Then the four men walked away to a smoother section of the wall. Three of them scaled it, with the mysterious man in brown watching. They didn't use a rope. One of them flung up what looked like a collapsible bamboo pole. Its hook caught the top of the wall and the man started to climb. Another used two hand knives to climb, piercing between the stones of the wall to find a sticking place for the blades to heave himself up. The third followed the first up the bamboo pole. I looked up and motioned to Hana to join me. She fell through the air and landed beside me, allowing herself to fall to her knees to soften the impact and then quickly standing up again.

The man dressed in brown turned away and followed the line of the wall back to the rooms of the compound. Something about his manner seemed less tense now—as if he was retiring.

That's it!
I thought.
He lives here
.

“He's one of us,” Hana said breathlessly. “He must live on the Shogun's compound.” But as we watched the man walk away, he seemed to disappear into the night. I swung around, looking for clues. Where had he gone?

“We've lost him!” I said.

“No. Come on. Let's track him down,” Hana replied, picking up speed. The two of us picked our way around the courtyard, peering into bushes and watching for reflections in the ponds' still waters. As I gazed down into the smooth surface of the largest pond, I saw a shadow pass behind my head.