The Heike Story (46 page)

"We're close now," Kiyomori warned, sending three riders ahead to reconnoiter. When they had gone some distance, they saw the dull glow of fires on the moor and guessed that they had come upon the enemy encampment. Death now lay in their path. Faces grew strained, and the fingers on bows seemed paralyzed.

"Gather round. Draw up close," Kiyomori ordered in a low voice. "Stay together; charge for the thinnest spot in their line and break through. Remember—no hand-to-hand fighting! Our aim is to get to the capital. Shigemori, don't get separated from the rest," Kiyomori warned, turning anxiously to his son.

Shigemori had once heard his uncle Tokitada remark that Kiyomori had not the physique of a warrior. Though Kiyomori sat well in the saddle, Shigemori had lately noticed that his father was beginning to get stout and lacked the lightness and agility for single combat.

"No fear, Father. Take care that you don't lose your stirrups when we start galloping."

"Confound you!" Kiyomori laughed. "How dare you talk to your father like that! Keep quiet and get into line. Don't touch whip to your horse until I give the signal. You're not used to fighting, remember. Those who brag before the battle are most apt to lose their heads when they meet the enemy."

As the horsemen moved forward slowly, they spied figures galloping toward them with flaming torches and brought their bows into position with a shout, but Kiyomori waved them down.

"Hold! Wait! I hear them calling. Let's hear what they have to say."

Several warriors rode up hallooing eagerly: "Are you soldiers of Kiyomori of the Heike on your way to the capital? Is Lord Harima among you?"

Kiyomori spurred his horse forward. "This is I, Kiyomori of the Heike. Who are you? Are you not Genji?"

A warrior quickly dismounted and approached Kiyomori.

"We are not Genji, but come from Isй. We heard that your lordship was in great need."

"Heike of Isй?"

"We are Heike whom your father once befriended. We have never forgotten his favors to us and have held ourselves in readiness to come to your aid."

"Ah, Isй—the cradle of the Heike!"

"A thousand have left Isй—two hundred for Rokuhara. Some five hundred more are on their way there by now. Three hundred horse have come to meet you and give you escort."

"The gods be thanked! Those troops of which we were warned were not the enemy, then? I take no credit for this. I owe all this to my father, who in his lifetime sowed the seeds of this good fortune," Kiyomori cried in his gratitude.

There was great rejoicing that night when Kiyomori rode into the friendly camp. Before dawn they were once more on their way, and Kiyomori, looking back from his saddle, felt his heart swell at the sight of the sun flashing on that host of four hundred—no small company.

The sun was still high when the company reached Fushimi Shrine, several leagues south of the capital, where it was customary for pilgrims returning from Kumano to offer the yew leaves they had brought with them from Kiribe Shrine. Kiyomori called for a halt long enough to offer prayers for victory. As he bowed his head to pray, the vanishing tail of a fox seemed to dart before his closed eyes; he suddenly recalled that hunting trip so many years ago when he had stumbled on three foxes, and Kiyomori, who jeered at superstitions, longed to believe that the gods were on his side.

Kiyomori and his troops reached Rokuhara that night. No lights shone anywhere, and the streets were deserted, though it was nearly the end of the year. Only the sound of dogs howling at the winter moon broke the stillness. With the news of Kiyomori's approach, however, the pent-up feelings of the inhabitants burst forth in cries of relief. The old and young, men and women, soldiers and servants poured from every house into the streets, waving and shouting wildly.

"Tokiko! Tokiko!"

Kiyomori rode up to the two-storied gate, surrounded by a sea of faces. He caught sight of a few members of his household, and called out his wife's name.

Tokiko, who had been waiting outside in the cold with her children, stood holding the hem of her robes up out of the mud. At the sound of her name, she let fall the folds of her skirts, stumbled forward, and clung to the reins of Kiyomori's horse.

"Welcome home! Safe!"

"Ah, here you are," Kiyomori cried, searching her face anxiously.

"The children—our good mother?" he added quickly.

"They have been waiting impatiently for you."

"Are they all well? A miracle this—a miracle indeed!"

Kiyomori rode into the courtyard, where his stepmother and children waited beside the entrance. The darkened space was soon alive with the sound of running feet.

On learning that his stepmother, Tokiko, the children, and all the women in the household had gone that same morning to the hills to hide, but had returned when they heard that he was on his way back, Kiyomori frowned.

"Who ordered you to return? The very opposite of what should have been done. You may stay the night, but at dawn you must all be off to the hills again. I cannot have you look on the horrors to come. The worst is ahead of us, and Rokuhara may soon be a smoking ruin."

On the day that Kiyomori returned to Rokuhara, Nobuyori and Korekata had called a council which all courtiers were ordered to attend on pain of death. Many, none the less, failed to come. Though news had reached Kyoto that warriors from Isй and neighboring provinces were on their way to Rokuhara, and Kiyomori himself was arriving soon, Nobuyori was less concerned with these reports than the sight of the empty seats at the council.

Nobuyori occupied the dais of the Great Hall, staring down uncertainly at the rows of courtiers, when a late-comer appeared, not by the usual way, but by crossing the plaza and mounting the stairs leading up to the hall. His five attendants, in cloaks thrown over their armor and long swords, waited at one of the gates. Nobuyori's cheeks blanched under the powder as the newcomer, his uncle, Mitsuyori, stared grimly at the high dais.

"Alas, an extraordinary sight! Do I see the high seat occupied by dandies and men-about-town, and the rightful occupants cowering below? Is this an entertainment in a teahouse with dancing-girls? Can this be called the Court?" he burst out bitterly.

Nobuyori hung his head in confusion at his uncle's words, while the others looked on in consternation. Mitsuyori, Korekata's elder brother, who rarely appeared at court councils, was held in awe by the nobles.

A courtier left his seat near Nobuyori and came forward. "Sir, we have been expecting you. Will you not be seated?"

"Then this is the Court, after all?"

"Yes—"

"If this is the Court, there is an order of precedence. Who is that painted dandy up there?"

"The new General of the Guards, Minister Nobuyori."

"I have never heard of the man. There is no General Nobuyori of the Guards. Possibly you speak of the Vice-Councilor Nobuyori?"

"He was lately appointed."

"Absurd! Where is his majesty, who alone makes appointments?" Mitsuyori inquired, smiting his thigh angrily with the flat of his wooden mace of office and pointing it at Nobuyori.

"Nobuyori, you are occupying the high seat; where do you propose to seat me, who precede you in rank?"

"As for today's council—what do you intend to discuss? And you, gentlemen, why should those who absent themselves today deserve punishment by death?"

"His majesty alone presides over such councils as this. Where is he? Will no one answer me? Strange and marvelous, indeed!" Mitsuyori exclaimed as he strode from the hall toward a wing of the Palace.

"Korekata, what are you doing here," he exclaimed to his brother, whom he found cowering in an inner apartment.

"Is it you—my brother?"

" 'Brother'? You dare to call me 'brother'?"

"Yes—"

"Then, indeed, am I disgraced, for your guilt is my guilt. This is more than I can bear."

"I have done wrong."

"You acknowledge it, then? What led you to do this?"

"You, an officer of the Police Commission, let yourself be taken to view Shinzei's head? You never stopped to think of what people would say of you? I shrink at the rumors about you. It doesn't seem possible that my own brother could commit such folly. I doubted it all along."

"Our name has never been dishonored until now and you are the first who deserves the name of fool! Think how you have disgraced the name of our dead father—brought shame on our aged mother. What led you to such madness?"

"My own stupidity. I have watched Nobuyori these several days and now regret my folly."

"If you speak the truth, then see that his majesty is released without a moment's delay and taken to safety."

"It shall be done."

"I will not have you abetting these deeds. Do you understand Korekata? Ah, Korekata," Mitsuyori added pityingly, "why must you risk your life so foolishly?"

With Mitsuyori's unexpected appearance, the council broke up in confusion.

The 19th of December drew to a close. That night news reached the Imperial Guards that Kiyomori had returned to Rokuhara, and the rumor spread that Kiyomori was mustering his fighting men.

That night Nobuyori, who had taken up residence in the Palace, could not sleep for anxiety and sent a gentlewoman to Korekata's apartments, begging him to appear. To his surprise, he was told that Korekata was not there. He next summoned Tsunemunй, but the courtier was not to be found at the Palace.

In the meantime dawn came without the expected attack from Rokuhara. Birds began to call to one another from the frosted treetops in the Palace gardens. Nobuyori, who waited for the sun to rise, fell into a sound sleep.

THE EMPEROR KIDNAPPED

The 20th, 21st, and 22nd of December were passed in un certainty at the Imperial Palace where the coming and going of armed men in the bleak gardens replaced the customary bustle preceding the New Year. There was constant talk that Kiyomori would attack the Palace. At Rokuhara the strengthening of its defenses continued as word went round that the Genji would march from the Palace on the Heike stronghold. Yet neither side showed any sign of taking the offensive.

But during this lull there was one who bestirred himself. It was the Nose. Korekata and Nobuyori, leaders in the Palace revolt, one night quietly visited Bamboku's house on Fifth Avenue, and soon after they left, Red-Nose made his way to Rokuhara with a letter for Kiyomori.

For almost a week there were rumors that negotiations for a truce were under way, but by the night of the 26th, Nobuyori realized that not even a decree in the name of the throne could stave off conflict, for the Genji captains had grown restive and the Heike continued with their warlike preparations. The entire situation had now resolved itself into a struggle between the Genji and the Heike, and if the Heike were to be crushed, the moment was ripe for it.

The ex-Emperor Goshirakawa, a close prisoner in the Palace Archives since the night of the 9th of December, was visited one night by masked men who said:

"Your majesty, make no outcry and you shall come to no harm. There is talk of fighting before the night is out. A litter awaits you, and we shall accompany you to Ninna-ji Temple."

Goshirakawa made no resistance and allowed himself to be carried through the Northwest Gate. A horse awaited him there and he was quickly made to mount and led away.

At about the same time—three o'clock in the morning—the Emperor, who was imprisoned in another part of the Palace, was suddenly wakened by whispers that he was to leave at once for a place of safety. He was astonished to find that Tsunemunй and Korekata had come for him. They carried swords and wore armor under their cloaks. Too terrified to reply, Nijo let Korekata wrap him in a lady's cloak and lead him away.

Tsunemunй led the trembling Nijo outside and bundled him into a carriage with his sister, the Princess. The carriage quickly got under way. Two ox-tenders and a few attendants hurried the conveyance toward a gate on the west side of the Palace wall, where they were challenged by a Genji guard, Juro.

"Who goes there?"

Soldiers swarmed toward the carriage and brought it to a stop.

"Something suspicious-looking here. Where could this be going at this time of the night?"