Gloria Oliver (32 page)

Just as he was about to pick one of the paths at random, he stopped as he heard a rapid rustling sound somewhere behind him. He turned, wondering who or what might be there, and let his hand fall to the hilt of his wakizashi.

Seeing nothing untoward, he stepped deeper into the trees.

The shadows on the path were long and deep. He kept his eyes moving, looking for anything that might be hiding in them. A small part of him screamed he’d been discovered, that his enemies had found him.

He paid the small voice no heed. As he went on, he heard a muffled sound off to his right. Tensed and ready, he noticed the path branched off into the deeper shadows. Taking a deep breath, he took the new path.

The bamboo thickened on either side, crowding out the trees. He couldn’t see what lay ahead on the curving path. His heart beat faster. The muffled sound came again as he rounded the turn. He stopped, surprised by what he found there.

A large bench sat nestled in the shadows of bamboo at the end of the small path. Draped over part of it was a young woman. Her voluminous cherry-blossom-colored kimono spread out grandly about her with its many layers. Long, glistening black hair flowed almost to the ground, hiding some of the blood-red flowers stitched onto the pinkish fabric of her clothes. The woman’s face lay hidden from him.

He realized the muffled sounds he heard were the sounds of weeping. Not wanting to interfere, or to let the woman know he had witnessed her pain, he stepped back to get out of the grove. His gaze stuck to her, though, as her shoulders shook with misery. He backed up onto a broken piece of bamboo and stumbled.

He fell hard on the path and cried out before he realized what he was doing.

“Who’s there?”

The fierceness in the voice caught him offguard. He tried to scramble backward out of the grove but ended up smacking into a clump of bamboo. He struggled to his feet as he gazed upon one of the most beautiful and stoic faces he had ever seen.

For a moment, it occurred to him that maybe he hadn’t stumbled on a woman at all but rather some kind of spirit in disguise. What else would explain the delicate oval features, the rounded lips, the soft, tearstained cheeks and the flaming brown eyes that pinned him where he stood?

“Please, forgive me. I hadn’t meant to intrude.” He felt his tongue trying to trip him. “I’d come into the garden for a walk and ended up losing my way. I heard a noise and came to investigate. I never meant any offense. Truly, I—”

He forced his mouth shut, hearing himself starting to babble like a child. With some misgivings, he stared at the small, sheathed blade he saw the beauty holding in her hands.

“Who are you?” she demanded.

“Oh, yes, that. Please, forgive me. My name is Kazete Toshiro. I’m a visitor here.” He bowed low, realizing from the diminutive painted brows on her face she was an aristocrat and a samurai. He noticed she barely returned his bow as she began dusting off her kimono.

“Hm, I’ve never heard the name, and I am pretty familiar with most prominent samurai families.” She turned her steely gaze on him. “Have you any idea who I am?”

“No, my lady, I’m sorry, but I don’t.” He stumbled the words out even as he pondered if telling her the truth might have been a mistake.

She stared at him long and hard, almost as if she didn’t believe him. “My name is Himiko.” She turned away from him, extracting a handkerchief from the long sleeve of her kimono.

“Again, I wish to tell you how sorry I am for my rudeness. I will leave you to your privacy.” He bowed again, ready to make his exit.

“You will not leave,” she commanded.

He stopped. Her tone left no doubt this was not a request. He wondered if he’d somehow offended her again.

“I wish to speak with you, if it would not prove too inconvenient.” Her voice softened.

“I would be honored to, Lady, if it is what you wish.”

“Good, I’m glad to hear it.”

He was shocked by her bluntness but didn’t dare let it show on his face. With a calculated swirl of silk, Himiko moved to sit on the bench she’d moments ago been leaning against. Seeing her sit down, he immediately sank to the ground, keeping his head lower than hers, hoping to cause no further offense.

“You say you are a visitor, yet real visitors haven’t been allowed entry to the castle for some time. How do you account for this?”

He glanced at her and had his gaze met by one of steel. Somehow, it seemed out of place in her delicate features.

“I have a writ from Lord Asano. It was able to get me in past the guards.”

“From my father?” He saw a wispy look of surprise cross her face, but in no way did it equal his own.

Himiko was Asano’s daughter?

“Do you still have this writ?” Her tone made it quite clear she hadn’t believed a word he’d said.

“Yes, Asano-sama, I still have it.”

“Show it to me.” Her tone was hard.

Nodding, he reached into his kimono and extracted the bamboo case holding the writ. He was forced to move forward on his knees before he was close enough to hand it to her.

Himiko snatched the case from his hand and opened the container, taking out the paper safeguarded within. Ignoring his presence, she read the writ twice before carefully studying the stamped signature at the bottom. He saw a second look of surprise cross her features, but it was quickly replaced by enmity and distrust.

“How did you come by this? I suppose my father gave it to you himself!”

He cringed as she threw the writ at him. “No, Lady, Lord Asano didn’t give this to me. It was my lord, the original recipient of the writ, who passed it onto me.”

She eyed him warily. “Why would a lord give such a valuable document to you?”

He bristled at the implied insult but at the same time realized the reason for her question. “My lord has fallen on hard times. As unworthy as I am, I was still the only one left with any chance of accomplishing that which Lord Asano had bidden my lord to do.”

Her small brow arced high, though the rest of her remained impassive. “And just what was it my father had supposedly bidden your lord to do?”

He hesitated, but after a moment realized he really had no choice. If she was truly Lord Asano’s daughter, she might prove his only way to reach his goal. “Your father had asked my lord to find and deliver this to him.”

He brought his wrapped bundle before him.

“Let me see it.”

He stared hard at the ground. “No.”

“I believe I just told you to show it to me.”

He hung his head low. “I’m sorry, Lady Himiko, but I can’t.” He forced himself to go on. “I won’t. This package is meant for Lord Asano’s eyes alone.”

He heard her scoff, but refused to react to it.

“I could have you killed for your impudence and see the contents anyway,” she said.

He bowed, his blood turning cold at the seriousness in her tone. He lowered his head all the way to the warm earth but never let his hand stray from the kettle. “If that is your wish.”

He waited in silence to see what she would do next.

“You’re not Tsuyu’s man, are you,” she said.

Her odd statement made him look up. He saw a strange expression cross her face as she looked away to stare at the bamboo around them. Abruptly, her gaze returned to him, pinning him where he knelt.

“You’re obviously not from Narashi. Would you tell me where you come from then, Kazete-san?”

He hesitated, not sure what to make of her new conversational tone. “I come from the north, from the port city of Shinsha. It is in the Toyama Bay.”

“How long have you been in Narashi?”

He glanced up at her again. “Five days.”

“Have you seen much of it?” she asked eagerly.

He sat up, seeing true curiosity in her face. “Only what could be seen on the streets on the way up to the castle.”

She sighed, her eyes drifting from him. “That’s a pity, for Narashi is a marvelous city, what with its grand, paved streets, its eateries, its most excellent shopping districts and, best of all, its plays and art.” Himiko looked up, as if seeing what she spoke of in her mind’s eye. “You really should have availed yourself of them before coming here.”

Toshi once again became the object of her stare. He saw her eyes soften before she turned to look away.

“Please forgive me for my previous rudeness,” she said. “Things just haven’t been as they once were, and I’m forced to be careful.”

He bowed to the ground again, accepting her apology but also wanting to hide his confusion.

“My father hasn’t granted an audience to anyone for some time. My father hasn’t been my father for some time.” Her words were all matter-of-fact. It was the way. “Please stop groveling in my presence.

We’re both samurai. We’re alone, and, in truth, I hold no position of importance.”

Hesitant to break decorum, he sat up slowly. Himiko scooted over to one end of the bench.

“Come, sit here with me.” She patted the empty seat beside her. “You’re getting your clothes dirty.”

With some relief he noticed her sheathed blade was gone. He stood up, retrieving the thrown writ, and dusted off his clothes.

“Sit here, next to me. It’s been a long time since I’ve had anyone new to talk to.”

“I mean no offense, Lady Himiko, but I don’t really think it would be proper that I—” She slapped her hand against the stone bench, cutting him off. He could see a touch of anger growing in her eyes.

“I don’t care about what’s proper. You will sit here!”

Bowing in apology, he hurried to the bench and sat on it as far away from her as he could.

“That’s much better. Thank you.” Himiko stared at him without saying anything else for several minutes.

He tried hard not to squirm under her intense gaze. “How long has it been since your lord met with my father?”

She offered him the bamboo tube; and he shyly took it back, putting the writ inside it.

“It’s been a number of years. Eight or more,” he said.

“How old are you?”

He didn’t dare look at her as he answered. “I’m fifteen.”

“Fifteen?”

He felt his cheeks growing hot.

“You say your lord had no one else he could send but a boy of fifteen? Surely, he’s in desperate times.

Either that, or you are an unusually remarkable boy.”

Though he tried, he couldn’t make sense of her light tone. Was she making fun of him, as she probably should; or did her words imply something else?

“Kazete-san, please, tell me about yourself,” Himiko said. “I’m terribly interested in hearing about your trip here. Please, give me every detail.”

He stared uneasily into her face and was surprised by the genuine eagerness he saw there.

“Himiko-sama, I—I haven’t really done much. None of it is really all that interesting.”

“Yes, yes, but tell me anyway.” Her eyes were bright.

He couldn’t tell her the truth, of that he was sure. He somehow had to come up with a convincing tale for her. Luckily, he never got a chance to try.

“Himiko-sama! Himiko-sama!”

He turned in the direction of the distant call.

“Damn them.”

He looked back as he heard Himiko curse under her breath. He stared at her, astonished at the anger on her face. She noticed his stare and smoothed the feelings out of her features.

“My retinue is looking for me,” she explained. “I’m going to have to leave you so they may find me. The wretched creatures never leave me a moment to myself.” There was a flicker of her hidden anger in her eyes as she looked in the direction of the calls. “It would be best if you remained here after I leave, at least for a short while. It would be inconvenient if word got out you and I had spent time together, alone.

I will send for you by the proper channels so you may visit me later. Please, take care until then.”

Moving faster than he would have thought possible in her layers of silk, Himiko left the grove. He stared after her, wondering at her strangeness, and waited for a long while before he left as well.

After some searching, Toshi was eventually able to find his room again. Not sure if Asano’s daughter would really call for him, he sat down on his porch to wait. As time slipped by, he grew excited at the prospect of getting to see her again.

The sun was lowering on the horizon when a soft knock came at his door. He stepped into the room as Yuko slid it open and bowed toward him.

“Kazete-sama, I’ve brought a request from the Lady Himiko. She asked if you would honor her by joining her for some tea.”

He couldn’t help but hear the wonder coloring the woman’s voice. “The honor would be mine,” he replied. “Please tell Lady Himiko I would be greatly pleased to join her.”

He was puzzled as Yuko bowed very deeply and hid her face from him as she spoke. “The lady anticipated your reply and asked I take you straight to her.”

Trying not to seem eager, he waited for her to stand up. He brought the kettle with him as he followed Yuko out of the room. “Yuko-san, would you tell me about her?”

Yuko slowed her pace as she lit their way. “Lady Himiko is our lord’s only daughter. He has four strong sons, but over the last few seasons they’ve been assigned to far-off provinces, despite their wishes. Of all his children, she is the youngest. Her father had always adored her, granting her every whim. Yet, even with her he has become as distant as with everything else.”

He had to strain to hear her. She fell silent as they entered the lighted area of the castle. The farther they went in that direction the more people they encountered. Through their buzzing activity, Yuko led him to a flight of stairs. He followed her as she led him two floors up.

Four guards glared at them from the landing. He was surprised to see two of them wearing a different crest than Lord Asano’s. The new crest was made of a large triangle with a smaller one at each tip. Yuko led him past without interference, though he could feel their eyes on his back.

Two doors stood open not far from the landing, revealing a large room. Yuko stopped before the opening, bowed and indicated for him to go inside. He took a deep breath and did so. Once there, he knelt on the floor and bowed deeply.

A number of stockinged feet shuffled past him, followed by partially muffled giggles. As he sat up, he heard the doors slide shut behind him.