The Fires of the Gods (14 page)

THE WITCH

T
he new closeness Akitada had found in Tamako’s arms was both deeply moving and upsetting to him. She was clearly feeling better but, far from being reassured, he now realized how profoundly her loss would affect him. And that thought kept him in an almost continuous panic – a panic that was always worst in the mornings when he left her bed.

The morning after Akitada’s meeting with Abbot Shokan, Akitada was once again pondering the thin line between happiness and despair, when an unsmiling Superintendent Kobe arrived. He was shown into Akitada’s study by Tora, who withdrew again quickly.

In spite of a sinking feeling that he would not like what Kobe had to say, Akitada offered a jovial greeting: ‘Good morning, my friend. You’re out and about early, but it’s always a pleasure to see you.’ When Kobe did not respond to this and continued to glower, he asked, ‘Is something amiss?’

‘You might say so.’ Kobe sat down and glanced around the
room, then seemed to remember his manners. ‘I hope all is well with your lady?’

When he had left her, Tamako had been curled up under the quilt and smiling sleepily up at him. Akitada, putting aside his perverse fears, said, ‘Thank you. She is feeling much better.’

‘I’m very glad to hear it,’ Kobe said stiffly and fell silent.

‘Will you take a cup of wine?’

‘No.’

This blunt refusal was an unpleasant surprise. Akitada tried to ignore it. ‘How may I be of assistance, then? Have there been more disturbances in the city?’

‘Another fire night before last, but I expect Tora told you about it. I’m here on the other matter.’

The other matter could only be the Kiyowara case. Hoping to distract Kobe, Akitada said, ‘Tora reported his suspicions of some young hoodlums, but I’m afraid he was too generous in giving me credit. I had nothing to do with it.’

Kobe fidgeted impatiently. ‘It has come to nothing. There’s no proof. The fact that they were near two fires was probably due to curiosity. The young don’t have enough to do and roam the city at night.’

Raising his brows, Akitada said, ‘Tora caught them twice running from a fire. Surely that’s a little too much coincidence, don’t you think?’

Kobe scowled. ‘Don’t waste my time with the fires,’ he snapped. ‘I’m here because you’re in the pay of the Kiyowaras. In spite of my warning! I won’t speak of the effect your involvement in the murder is bound to have on the Bureau of Censors or of the repercussions for your career. If you wish to ruin yourself and your good name, that’s your business. But I will not tolerate your ruining mine.’

Akitada gasped, then sputtered, ‘I’m not in the pay of the Kiyowaras, as you call it. And in what way am I ruining your career?’

Kobe seemed to swell with anger. ‘When you use our relationship to interfere in a murder investigation and to protect the guilty, you call my honesty and my loyalty to my emperor into question. I came to warn you that you may not count on the police to help you, and I have already informed Lady Kiyowara of this. Naturally, she was unhappy that you won’t be able to protect them from us.’

The room had become chill. Akitada felt as if all his blood had drained from his upper body and was forming a painful knot in his belly. Kobe’s figure swam before his eyes. What had he done to deserve this from a man he had counted his friend for years? They had fallen out before, but Kobe had never insulted him like this, not even when Akitada had worked on a memorial to the emperor that criticized the police. He sat frozen, searching for an explanation, and finally hit on his dismissal from the ministry.

‘I see,’ he said bitterly. ‘This is a mere pretext. Now that I have lost my position in the government, you’re using this to cut the bonds of friendship. I had no idea you felt that way.’

Kobe’s face flushed. ‘That’s a damned lie. How dare you accuse me of such cowardly behavior?’

The knot in Akitada’s belly dissolved into red-hot fury. He shot to his feet and shouted, ‘Because it
is
cowardly. And I shall
not
stop working for Lady Kiyowara to please you.’

Kobe was on his feet also. He had turned nearly white. ‘Then I must warn you that you’re cutting your own throat and ruining your family. Given your refusal to stay out of this case, I shall have to assure the chancellor that I cannot be responsible for your actions now or in the future.’

Akitada snapped, ‘So you also plan to ruin my chances of getting another appointment. When have you ever been responsible for my actions? Not once. But you liked it very well when you benefited from them because you were inadequate to the job. No, I had it right in the first place: now that my enemies have the upper hand, you consider me a heavy stone that threatens to drag you down. You’re nothing but an opportunist, Kobe.’ Akitada clenched his fists to control the tremor in his voice. ‘The fact that I have to earn a living outside the civil service is lost on someone who is in the pay of corrupt officials. No wonder you think me so dishonest that I would use your name to subvert the truth and protect a murderer.’

They stood glowering at each other for a moment. Suddenly, Akitada felt drained. ‘You’d better leave,’ he said and turned his back on Kobe.

He heard receding steps, and then the door slammed.

The sound echoed in Akitada’s head as he walked unsteadily towards the veranda and looked out at the garden without seeing it.

Eventually, he realized that Seimei and Tora had come into the room. Seimei cleared his throat, but Akitada did not turn until Tora plucked at his sleeve.

‘What was that all about, sir?’

‘Superintendent Kobe has accused me of… dishonorable behavior.’

Tora sucked in a breath, then muttered a curse.

Seimei came up. ‘It is said that we must inquire seven times before we doubt a friend. Surely there was a misunderstanding.’

‘No misunderstanding.’ Akitada turned and looked at them bleakly. ‘Tora, your report has come to nothing. Kobe says the boys were not involved in the fire.’

‘What about the one that stole my gold?’ Tora clenched his fists. ‘Did he think I lied?’

‘Forget it, Tora. Take the horse and ride to the farm to get Genba and the dog. I’ll give you money for old Matsue so he can pay the workers and buy more seed rice.’

Tora and Seimei looked at each other, then Tora left while Seimei remained to help count out coins and enter the new expenses in the account book. Neither Akitada nor Seimei referred to the quarrel again, but Akitada’s hands shook as he handled the silver and gold.

When he was alone again, Akitada took out his flute and returned to the garden. The sun was already high, and the leaves of trees and shrubs drooped in the heat. Even a bird flying from branch to branch seemed listless. The hot wind hissed in the miscanthus and moved a tendril of the wisteria vine across an open shutter with a dry, scraping sound. Akitada tried a complex melody to distract his mind, but the music jarred, splintered, and broke into dissonance. Silence fell. The city beyond the trees seemed to be waiting fearfully, and Akitada searched his heart.

What had he done that his old friend should reject him so harshly? Surely Kobe could not believe that he would protect either Lady Kiyowara or her son if either should prove guilty. Perhaps Lady Kiyowara had believed it, but that did not make it true. And Abbot Shokan – had he also called on him because he thought the payment of gold bars would keep his protégé from being arrested? Did they all see him as a corrupt or corruptible official?

He knew he was innocent, but he had taken their gold. They would consider that a tacit acceptance of a bribe. He laughed
bitterly. Maybe he should have asked for more since he was selling his honor.

It did not matter. They needed the money. He would earn his pay quickly and honestly and prove them all wrong.

But that was easier thought than done. He had no idea where to start on either case.

In his misery, he sought out Tamako to share his troubles.

‘How odd,’ she said when he had explained. ‘I wonder what happened.’

‘Happened? Nothing happened, except that Tora mentioned the Kiyowara son, and Kobe became suspicious.’

‘Oh, I don’t think so. I expect he knew already. Your visit there would not be a secret when the police were in and out of the house.’

Akitada considered that. ‘But then I don’t understand why Kobe was so very furious all of a sudden.’

‘Yes, it’s very strange. Perhaps you had better wait a while before judging your friend.’

Akitada made a face. ‘Much too late for that. He said some things… and I’m afraid I said some things… Well, I was naturally very angry.’

‘Naturally.’ She hesitated, then laid her hand on his. ‘I’m sorry. You have much to plague you just now.’

He felt a little better for having talked with Tamako and returned to his study. It was time to see Tora off on his trip. He had missed Genba – and Trouble. The dog was something of a clown who performed foolish tricks and made them all laugh. And Genba would bring his horse so he could ride into the countryside again. He had almost forgotten how beautiful the mountains were until his visit to Abbot Shokan. He would manage quite well without Kobe.

At this point, the witch walked into his study.

Customarily, women did not pay visits to strange men unless they were nuns or courtesans and entertainers belonging to the outcast class. The only other exceptions were
miko
, who were nominally shrine maidens, but more usually promiscuous females versed in exorcisms and fortune-telling. He assumed his visitor belonged to this group. Tora, who had let her in, gaped at her with an awed expression.

Akitada had last seen her at Lady Kiyowara’s, and then she had been sitting in a dim corner. Standing, she was astonishingly tall
for a woman. The chains of beads and shells around her neck clicked softly as she lowered the red shawl from her head and draped it around her shoulders. Her hair was as wild and tangled as before, and the large brooding eyes in her handsome face fixed him as boldly. She neither knelt nor bowed, but stood before him as if she expected him to bow to her.

‘Umm,’ said Tora a little shakily. ‘This is the Lady Aoi, sir. She has something to ask you.’

‘Thank you, Tora. You may leave.’

The strange female looked after Tora with a slight frown and shook her head.

Lady Aoi? It was probably a professional name. Many courtesans chose fanciful names for themselves, and Lady Aoi was a famous character in Lady Murasaki’s novel
Genji
.

As the door closed behind Tora, she turned her eyes back to him and measured him coolly. Akitada said, ‘Please be seated – er, Lady Aoi. Did Lady Kiyowara send you?’

She knelt gracefully, then sat back on her heels. With a nod towards the door, she said in a rather deep but pleasant voice, ‘Your servant is as ignorant as you are.’

While he would admit to his own ignorance in the Kiyowara case, the criticism of Tora irritated Akitada. He said curtly, ‘I’m very busy. Could you get to the point?’

She eyed him for a moment. ‘Have you made arrangements for a
miko
?’

Somehow she must have discovered that Tamako was about to give birth. His irritation grew. ‘I don’t believe in fortune-tellers.’

She responded with a mocking smile. ‘You see? That is why I am here. You don’t believe in anything. How can you find the truth when you don’t believe?’

Akitada snapped, ‘Do you have a message for me or not? Is this visit in any way related to Lord Kiyowara’s murder?’

The mocking smile was back. ‘Of course. You know nothing, and you suspect the innocent. I told Hiroko as much, but she is another unbeliever.’

The familiar use of Lady Kiyowara’s personal name made Akitada cautious. ‘Perhaps you should explain your relationship first. Who are you?’

‘Oh, I am a cousin. She has many. I help her look into the future.’ She fixed him with those extraordinary eyes and said
with great seriousness, ‘There is only the future, and it is already ordained.’

‘If that were true, it would be pointless to try to change it. Why are you here?’

She frowned, then returned to the former subject. ‘Your wife suffers from a fever. Most likely she is possessed and will need an exorcism.’

Akitada compressed his lips. The fact that she also knew about Tamako’s fever did not surprise him. It was easy enough to get gossip from neighbors. ‘Thank you. No exorcism is required. She is quite well again,’ he said flatly. ‘Why do you say I suspect the innocent? Do you know who killed Kiyowara?’

She shook her head impatiently. The beads around her neck clinked softly. ‘Your house is filled with angry ghosts. They intend harm to mother and child.’ She paused to listen and shuddered. ‘The atmosphere here is almost more violent than at my cousin’s.’

Akitada suppressed his rage. If she was indeed Lady Kiyowara’s cousin, he could hardly throw her out. There had been some disturbing tales of high-born ladies who had gone mad and imagined they were shape-shifting foxes or hungry ghosts. Such sick fancies were part and parcel of the worst superstitions, and females were prone to them. One could understand the common people believing in such things, but he was not about to encourage them. If she was indeed mad, he must meet her crazed comments with calm.

‘My wife is a sensible woman,’ he explained, speaking slowly, as if to a child. ‘She has never offended anyone. She will be quite safe from ghosts.’

Lady Aoi nodded. ‘That may be so, but the same is not true of you, I think. You have offended many. There is a female spirit in this house who hates you with special venom. Hers is the most powerful presence here, but there are also many others, both male and female, whom you have harmed.’

He was taken aback. His stepmother had hated him. She had died in this very house, cursing him. It was also true that he had caused many evil men and women to be judged and condemned. But Lady Aoi’s words were vague enough to fit anyone’s situation. For that matter, the difficulties he had had with his stepmother might be known to her. He said firmly, ‘Unless you have information about the Kiyowara murder, I regret that we have nothing to discuss.’