The Initiate Brother Duology (31 page)

T
HE SMALL STREAM which branched from the Grand Canal lay still in the gathering dusk. Willow trees hung over the bank dripping leaves into the dark waters. Hidden along the bank, Shonto guards waited for the boats they knew would come. A whistled signal went from sentry to sentry as their lord’s sampan passed—the sound of a night bird calling in the dusk.

The flotilla had been left alongside the stone quay of the nearby town, the crews allowed a few hours ashore—“a break from their toils.” The truth, though, was that the Imperial Governor wished to pay a visit to a very old man who had once been his gii master.

Shuyun was surprised at this whim of Lord Shonto’s. It was apparent to the young monk that more than just the currents of the canal swept Shonto toward Seh. Other forces, too, powerful forces, propelled the lord north—toward what, Shuyun did not know. Yet Shonto had somehow slipped aside, sloughing off the grip of the currents, to steal down this backwater on an endeavor that seemed merely sentimental.

The Lord of the Shonto sat beside his Spiritual Advisor in the sampan, saying nothing. Shuyun wondered about this Shonto predilection for loyalty. It had been loyalty that had allowed the first Yamaku Emperor to trap Shonto Motoru’s father—and on that occasion the Shonto had almost been entered on the long scroll of names of Great Houses that were no more.

This trait of the Shonto, it is both a strength and a weakness, Shuyun thought, so it must be watched, and watched carefully.

The boats pushed out of the stream onto a small lake, released from
shadow into the last of the day’s light. The colors of evening spread in a wash across the western horizon, running from cloud to cloud. There wasn’t a breeze to stir the surface of the lake and the sky seemed to lie on the water like a perfect print of the unfolding sunset.

On the far side of the lake, smoke curled out of the trees, and, as Shonto’s sampan approached, a dock came into view, seeming to detach itself from the shadow of the bank. And then, behind it, the outline of a roof appeared. The boats of Shonto’s guards lay drawn up on a narrow, sand beach, and the soldiers stood watch from the shadows of ancient trees.

As they approached the small wooden dock, a captain of Shonto’s elite guard gave the “all clear” handsign from the wharfhead and the sampan slipped alongside. The guards knelt as Lord Shonto and his Spiritual Advisor emerged from their craft.

Raising his head, the captain nodded to his lord.

“Yes?” Shonto said.

“Excuse me, Sire,” and he gestured toward the nearby point.

There, in the shallows under the branches of a tono tree, a tall bird stood silhouetted against the sunset in the waters.

“An autumn crane,” Shonto whispered, his pleasure evident.

“A good omen, Sire,” the guard said.

Yes, Shonto thought, and his mind went back to the coins of Kowan-sing—the crane had been the pattern cast for his daughter. Nishi-sum, the lord thought, you will be safe, I will not fail. He stayed for a moment, watching.

The crane stood, unmoving, and as the dark flowed out from among the trees and across the lake, it became easier to believe that the great bird was nothing more than a bent branch emerging from the waters. Just as Shonto was no longer sure of what he saw, the crane struck, coming up with a wiggling fish in its bill. It took two steps to the sand, disappearing into the shadows and then, an instant later, it emerged on the wing, sweeping across the water in slow powerful strokes. Where the wingtips touched, perfect rings appeared in the water’s surface.

Shonto nodded to the captain and then turned toward the shore, Shuyun a step behind.

The lord had said very little on the short trip from the town, and he did not seem to want to break that silence now. Shuyun had expected to learn something more of the man they went to visit, but this did not happen. A
favored teacher of the Shonto and a famous gii master, that was all the information he had—except for the man’s name, Myochin Ekun, and that Shuyun recognized from his own study of the board. The games of Myochin Ekun were among those chosen as exemplary, by the teaching Brothers. These were then examined by the Neophyte monks, who were taught to play gii so that they might learn to focus their young minds.

Myochin Ekun. Shuyun felt as if he was about to meet someone from the past, a legend in fact—Myochin Ekun: gii master of gii masters.

How is it that the Shonto drew such people to them? Shuyun wondered. The answer was almost too obvious—they were the Shonto. And now he had come to them, Initiate Brother Shuyun. This thought left him with nothing but questions.

Unlike the Lady Nishima, Shuyun thought, I cannot see the future. My history will be bound with that of the Shonto or I will be unknown. It does not matter, he reminded himself. One’s karma is not dependent on one’s service to the Shonto.

They approached the house in the trees. Shuyun could make it out now, a low building with a simple tile roof. There was no garden wall, though a sparse garden had been arranged around the porch.

An old man who does not take an interest in his garden, Shuyun thought, how odd.

Servants knelt beside the walkway to the house, most of them older. They smiled with great pleasure as Shonto passed, and Shuyun was surprised by the lack of respect this showed. But then, Shonto stopped before an old woman who glowed like a proud mother.

“Kashiki-sum, you grow younger by the year.” The lord smiled, almost boyishly.

The woman laughed, the laugh of a girl, musical, light, without cares. “It is the waters, Sire, we all approach the Immortals here. But it is you who have remained young.” She broke into a large grin. “Young enough to take another wife, I’m sure all would agree.”

Everyone laughed, Shonto harder than the rest.

“I am waiting until I am older, Kashiki-sum, I must slow down somewhat before a young woman will be able to keep up with me.” Shonto bowed to the woman and, as he did so, gave a hand signal to a nearby guard. “I have brought you something from the capital. Something for each of you.”

The staff bowed their thanks and Shonto went on.

Of course, he knows all of these servants, Shuyun realized, perhaps they helped raise him as a child.

There was only a single step to the porch and here knelt the senior member of Myochin Ekun’s staff.

“You honor us with your visit, Lord Shonto, Brother.”

“The honor is ours, Leta. Where is your master?”

“He awaits you inside, Sire.” The man rose, and taking a lantern from a hook, led them into the darkened house. It was a small and comfortable home, open on three sides where screens had been pushed back. The servant held the lantern aloft to light three wide steps that led to the next level. There, in the gloom, Shuyun could just make out the form of a man, sitting, bent low over a table.

“Master Myochin?” the servant said in a loud voice.

The form straightened, surprised by the sound.

“Your guests are here, Master.”

He turned to them now, long white hair in confusion, framing a face old with the whiteness of age, skin as translucent as the wax of a candle. Shuyun was startled by the man’s eyes, porcelain white, pure, unmarred by the dark circle of a pupil.

He is blind, Shuyun thought, he has been blind all of his days.

This apparition in a white robe smiled as benignly as a statue of Botahara.

“Motoru-sum?” came a soft voice.

“I am here, Eku-sum.”

“Ah, what pleasure your voice brings. Come. Bring light for our guests, Leta. Come, Motoru-sum. You are not alone?”

“I am with my Spiritual Advisor, Brother Shuyun.”

“I am honored. It is always a pleasure to have a pilgrim of the Seven Paths in my home. Do the young monks still play gii, Brother Shuyun?”

“They do, Master Myochin. And your games are chief among their lessons.”

“After all these years?” His already apparent pleasure increased noticeably. “I do not deserve to be so honored. Still play my games? Imagine.”

Servants brought lamps and mead for the gii master and his guests. It was a most pleasant house, warm with the colors of rich woods. The scent of the nearby pines traveled freely through the open walls and an owl could be heard, calling softly over the lake.

Lord Shonto and his teacher talked briefly of Shonto’s staff, the old man asking specifically after several people, Shonto’s son and Lady Nishima first among them. To be polite to Shuyun, the conversation then turned to other things, the old man impressing the monk with his knowledge of the affairs of the Empire. It was hard to imagine how he received his information, the lake seemed so far removed from the rest of Wa. But the truth was, it was close to the canal and, as an Empress had once said, “if we could tax the rumors traveling the Grand Canal, we should not need to bother with the cargo.”

“So you have taken this appointment to Seh, Motoru-sum?”

“I had little choice.”

The old man nodded, a gesture Shuyun knew he could never have seen.

“I suppose that is true. Sometimes you must step into the danger. You are too strong, Motoru-sum, he cannot abide that,” the old man said in his soft voice. He seemed to pause for a moment, listening. “We must accept certain inevitabilities. You will never make peace with the Emperor as equals. Do not imagine it, Motoru-sum. That is the real trap for you, but it can never be. There is only one winner at the gii board. Do not have false hopes that Akantsu will come to his senses. He will not.”

“I have thought the same thing.” Shonto said.

The old man broke into a smile. “Of course you have. I did not waste my time training you!” He laughed.

As they spoke, Shuyun noticed that Lord Shonto’s eyes were repeatedly drawn to the gii board set on the nearby table. Finally the lord could no longer contain his curiosity. “I see you cannot give it up entirely.” He reached over and tapped the wooden table.

“Ah, well. It is the habit of a lifetime and I must do something to fill my days. Do you know, I have found a third solution to the Soto problem.”

“Really?”
Shonto’s interest rose immediately.

“Yes, I was as surprised as you.”

“I know the Kundima solution.” Shonto said.

“Yes, my own teacher.”

“And the Fujiki solution,” Shuyun offered.

“Ah, Brother Shuyun, you do know the game.”

“But a third…” Shonto said, again looking at the board.

“Perhaps you can find it,” Myochin Ekun suggested. “Consider it while dinner is prepared.”

The board was brought closer for Shuyun and Lord Shonto. The pieces were already arranged for the classic problem, contrived, more than three hundred years earlier, by the gii master, Soto. Obviously the old man had been awaiting an opportunity to share his discovery.

Lord Shonto and his young advisor both stared at the board, but their companion had turned away, turned so that the small breeze, coming through the open screens, caressed his face.

“I could advance the
foot-soldier
in the fifth rank. This would put pressure on the keep.” Shonto suggested.

“Huh.” The old man considered this for a moment. “If I were defending, I would answer with the
swordmaster
to his own seventh file and you would be forced to retreat and cover. In the end this would cost you dearly in moves lost.”

Shonto moved the two pieces accordingly, that he might examine the new position. “I understand.” He said at last, and returned the pieces to their places.

“You must look deeper,” the gii master said in a whisper. “You will come to the disputed lands soon, will you not?” he asked suddenly.

“What? Oh, yes, yes, of course.”

“A puzzling situation,” the old man said, and Shuyun was not sure what he referred to. “The solution, if I may give you some indication, is entirely unconventional. It came to me like a revelation, something I’m sure you can appreciate, Brother.”

“Any obvious attack has been explored a thousand times,” Shonto said, thinking out loud.

“More, I would say, Motoru-sum.”

Suddenly Shonto looked up. “If I do not attack, what will you do?”

“An important consideration.” The gii master sat with his blind eyes closed, turning his face slowly from side to side, enjoying the feel of the breeze. “I am much like any other Emperor; it is my purpose to win.”

The two guests looked long at the board, hoping it would reveal its secret to them.

“We must attempt to draw you out of your keep, Master,” Shuyun said, “but your position there is strong.”

“That is true. I cannot be drawn out by a simple ruse.”

Shonto moved a piece. “We could sacrifice a
dragon-ship.
”

“I could refuse it.”

Shonto considered this. “Huh,” he said, and returned the piece to its position.

“A sacrifice is not effective unless your opponent has no choice but to take it.” Myochin quoted from Soto’s treatise on gii.

“It is a dangerous error to rely on your opponent’s stupidity,” Shuyun added, quoting the same source.

The gii master nodded agreement. “The Butto and the Hajiwara have reached an impasse, I understand,” the old man said, changing the subject again.