The Initiate Brother Duology (63 page)

“At this moment,” Nishima said, “I wish I were seven years old.”

“Oh?”

“For if I were that delightful age I could throw myself into your arms again.”

“At your present age that would be a most unseemly thing to do.”

Nishima nodded. “That is true.”

“Brother Satake, however, had different beliefs about the nature of time…”

He did not finish. Nishima flung her arms about him and crushed him to her.

Shonto managed to emerge from the folds of her silk sleeves and said with difficulty, “As a seven-year-old you would never have missed my correspondence.”

Without looking, Nishima reached back and tipped the contents of his table—cha, inkstone, and brushes—spreading them across the porch.

“Better,” Shonto said and though Nishima laughed he felt a cold tear run down her cheek and onto his own.

At length, they parted and Shonto clapped his hands for a servant. “Cha.”

The servant noticed the pile of correspondence and the lord saw the surprise register.

“Do not bother with it now.”

The servant disappeared.

“Here only a moment and already creating disorder for the staff.”

“They are fortunate my younger self is forever banished to the past.” She gestured to the litter of ink and correspondence. “This, after all, is contained within a single room.”

Cha arrived, which Nishima took charge of.

“Do you wish to hear the story now, or does your office require your attention?”

“Now would be convenient. I am most anxious to know how we will explain your presence here to our Emperor who expended great effort to ensure that you could not come to Seh without deeply insulting the throne.”

“I would never dream of offending our Emperor, Uncle. The Son of Heaven generously arranged for me to study with an artist of great stature and I continue to do so. Lady Okara has accompanied me.”

“I see,” the lord said, and sounded annoyed. “That was my plan also…if I felt it was necessary for you to come to Seh.”

Nishima looked down and sipped her cha. “I did not come without a good reason.”

“I do not doubt you for an instant, Nishi-sum.”

She smiled. “Kitsu-sum came also.”

Shonto shook his head. “Naturally, one would hope she would not miss an outing to the country.”

Nishima laughed. “She also has good reason.”

Shonto nodded, half a bow of acknowledgment.

“But first my own. Only a few days after you had left, I received a letter from Tanaka. Your vassal-merchant had information that disturbed him and he acted accordingly. A former officer of the Shonto, now an old man, learned from his grandson, who is an Imperial Guard, that the guard was involved in the secret movement of very large quantities of gold. Gold coins being sent north by ship.”

“Coins?”

Nishima nodded and reached into her sleeve. Removing a brocade purse, she emptied the contents into her hand and held them out to her uncle. “Shipped north secretly. The involvement of the Imperial Guard and the sheer quantity of gold…. It spoke only of Seh and our worst fears.”

Shonto reached out and picked up one of the coins.

“I could trust this to no one else, Sire, nor did I feel I could remain in the capital with this knowledge. We have always known that he could not abide the Shonto strength and the name of my family.”

“And who might that be?”

“Sire, only the Emperor, of course.”

“And why not Jaku Katta?”

“It seems if Jaku plotted against you, he would hardly have saved your life so recently.”

“True. If you believe that he saved my life.”

“Father?”

Shonto rubbed the coin between his hands. “The Black Tiger saved his own life, I believe.”

“The assassination was directed at Katta-sum?”

Shonto nodded and Nishima stared down at her hands.

“Have you heard of our delay in Denji Gorge?”

“Not in detail, Sire.”

“There is every indication that Jaku plotted with the Hajiwara to end my journey there, though we escaped, thank Botahara. Now it is said that Jaku is in disfavor with his Emperor.” Nishima looked up in surprise. “You had not heard? He comes north, apparently ‘bringing order’ to the canal that he kept in disorder for so long. It is rumored that this is an exile. I expect him to arrive in Seh at any time. No doubt he will have sensitive information with which to prove his break with the Son of Heaven. A perfect Shonto ally at a time when the Shonto need allies. Huh. He must believe I am a fool.”

“No, Sire, I believe he reserves that judgment for me.”

“Nishima-sum?”

She took a deep draught of her cha. “I have been in correspondence with the general recently and I met with him, briefly, on the canal as we came north.”

Shonto said nothing.

“I was not informed of the truth of the incident in my lord’s garden. I do not make excuses, but I labored under a mistaken impression that Jaku Katta had saved your life.”

Neither of them spoke for several minutes. Finally Shonto broke the silence. “It is my habit to share information only where it is absolutely necessary.” He looked for a moment at his daughter, who sat before him with her eyes cast down. “Discretion is not a characteristic of our race.”

“The mistake, Sire, was mine entirely. Fortunately it has not proven too momentous. Have I come to Seh on the errand of a fool? Do you already know of the coins?”

Shonto shook his head. “You have acted wisely in this. It is true I know of the coins, but the information you have learned from Tanaka is new and valuable.” Again he rubbed the coins between his hands. “The coins are put on a ship and what then?” He made as though he threw the coin off the balcony but palmed it instead, as though he did a magic trick for a child. “They next appear on the corpse of a barbarian raider; though one coin has been embossed with the design of a strange dragon. Remember your fortune telling?” Shonto smiled. “Most unusual. Today I discover that a major family in the province of Seh has coins that are very likely identical.” He took the letter from his sleeve and read to Nishima.

“My assumption was,” he said, returning the letter to his sleeve, “that the barbarian’s coins had been stolen from the Kintari in a raid. We will see. Why is this great fortune in gold being secretly shipped north? Guardsmen, you say, ship this gold? Does that point to the Son of Heaven or the Commander of the Imperial Guard? And why does this gold appear in the hands of the least-favored son of a major family of the Province of Seh?” He gestured to the sky with his hands. “And how is it that a barbarian raider possesses what appear to be the same coins? Most unusual. Do you know my own staff tried to hide the evidence of raids from me?” he asked suddenly, outraged.

“Several men paid for this with their lives.” Shonto shook his head somewhat sadly. The anger disappeared. “But you have acted wisely. The Emperor will be very angry when he learns that he has been outwitted. He trusted too much to Lady Okara’s reputation. He did not know that her time with you would make her long for her youth again—long for adventure.” Shonto laughed and smiled at his daughter.

“Certainly that cannot be the case. I’m sure I have had no such effect.”

“Oh, I’m sure you have. It is a family trait; I have that effect on people all the time.”

Nishima laughed.

“You laugh? Only moments ago you yourself wished to be seven years old—hardly younger than you are now but a year or two.”

Nishima clapped her hands together and laughed. “The Emperor will be less pleased when he discovers that Lady Kitsura Omawara has also left the capital, and in my company at that.”

Shonto raised his eyebrows.

“The Son of Heaven suddenly began to pay a great deal of attention to poor Kitsu-sum.”

“Nishima-sum, are you saying the Son of Heaven paid court to your cousin?”

“I would not use the word ‘court.’ I have seldom seen such a display of bad manners. He acted as though she were…” Nishima searched for words and then said with disdain, “a Fujitsura, or a Nojimi. Not an Omawara. It was unconscionable. Lord Omawara acted correctly in this matter, though this has placed my lord in a less than comfortable position.”

Shonto seemed to brighten; a look closely akin to a smirk threatened to appear. “I am far from the capital, Nishi-sum, and little aware of the goings on of the court. Lord Omawara asked if Lady Kitsura could accompany my daughter to Seh; after all, he is very ill and may wish to spare his daughter pain. Lord Omawara is a friend of many years. I agreed, of course. Do you have any other surprises for me?”

“Not that appear to mind immediately, my lord.”

“Oka-sum is well?”

“She seems to be, though she is quite…thoughtful.”

“Poor Okara-sum, torn from her retreat after so many years. And look where she has come? To the eye of the storm.” Shonto produced the coin again, staring at it as though it might reveal its origin. “All because of these.”

“I hope she will not find reason to regret this journey.”

“That is my wish for us all.”

*   *   *

“It was not possible for you to know.” Kitsura said soothingly.

Nishima shook her head. “How is it that someone in Seh would know of Jaku’s alleged fall from favor before I knew in the capital?”

“It seems that Jaku’s fall occurred simultaneously with our departure from the city. You would be a fortune teller indeed if you had known.” They walked along a high wall in the last light of the day.

“It was understandable. I would have been no less tempted than you.” Kitsura flashed her perfect smile. “And may have shown less resistance at the end.”

Nishima tried to smile and failed. They stopped a moment to admire the view of a garden.

“Does your heart ache, cousin?”

“My dignity is injured, only.” They walked a few steps further. “A little, Kitsu-sum, a little.”

They moved on until they came to a view of the Imperial park and its curving canal, the sun settling into the mountains beyond.

“Perhaps you should speak of this with your Spiritual Advisor.”

Nishima shook her head. “I think not.”

“You have said yourself that he is wise beyond his years.”

“I—I couldn’t. I don’t wish to.”

Nishima turned and walked on and her companion followed.

“At least we are here, beyond the reach of the Emperor.”

“There are many things to be glad of, Kitsura-sum. I will try to be more cheerful. Please excuse my mood.”

A guard in Shonto blue hurried toward them. When he came closer, the two women could see the flying horse of the Imperial Governor of Seh over the man’s heart.

“Excuse my intrusion, Lady Nishima. Lord Shonto requests your presence.”

“This moment?”

“Yes, lady.”

Nishima turned to Kitsura.

“Of course, please, do not apologize.”

Nishima set off, followed by the guard. It was a short distance to the palace proper and not much farther to the hall where Lord Shonto awaited.

The hallway and door were manned by an unusually high number of Shonto’s elite bodyguard and Nishima noted this with some alarm. A screen was opened for her and as she knelt to enter she found herself across the room from what was certainly a barbarian warrior. Nishima stopped and then saw her father, Lord Komawara, General Hojo, Kamu, and Shuyun.

“Please. Enter. This palace is full of everyone’s spies.”

Nishima bowed quickly and moved into the room. A cushion was set for her and she took her place.

Shonto did not bother explaining why his daughter was present, though she had never attended important sessions of strategy or intelligence before. All present bowed to her.

“Nishima, this man is Kalam. He has come from the desert with Lord Komawara and Shuyun-sum.”

Shuyun spoke to the man in his own language and the tribesman bowed
as he had been shown. He hardly dared a glance at Lady Nishima but kept his eyes fixed to the mat in front of him. The man appeared suddenly disconcerted.

“Excuse us if we proceed. Certainly I will discuss this with you later.”

Nishima gave a short bow of acknowledgment.

“How is it you agreed to these terms, Shuyun-sum.”

“My understanding of the tribal dialect was at that time imperfect, Sire, I did not understand the full implications of Tha-telor. I believed that it meant he would buy his life and the lives of his kin with service of shorter duration. I did not realize that Tha-telor actually meant that we exchanged the lives and honor of his kin for his life and honor. He is bound to me for the length of his life. If I send him back into the desert, he will allow himself to die. The only honor that remains to him is in his service to me.”

“Do you believe these claims, Brother?”

“Totally, Sire.”

“Huh.” Shonto shrugged. “I myself am less trusting.”

“Excuse me for saying so, Lord Shonto,” Komawara said, “but I believe Shuyun is correct in this matter. I did not trust Kalam myself but…I believe he would jump from the balcony if Shuyun ordered him to.”

Shonto turned toward the balcony. “I wonder,” he said. “It seems, Lord Komawara, that you once suggested to me that we should take a barbarian prisoner for the purpose of gaining information. Here is such a man.”

“I thought we would have to resort to stronger means of persuasion, Sire. Kalam speaks readily, at least to his master.”

“Most convenient. So you went on then with a guide toward this place of worship?”

Komawara took up the story. “Yes, to Ama-Haji. It is a grotto hidden at the base of the mountains…an ancient place, Lord Shonto, and difficult to describe. We slipped past several guards to the edge.”

“These seem like very poor guards,” Shonto offered.

“It seems that intruders are unexpected. Kalam’s tribesmen seldom venture there and people from Seh, never.”

“But for this Brother you have spoken of.”

“Yes, Sire, and ourselves. Even so, they are little prepared for people venturing into their lands. In Ama-Haji we saw a sight that cannot be believed unless one sees it with one’s own eyes.” Komawara looked to Shuyun for an instant, who nodded imperceptibly.

“Embedded in a clay wall,” Shuyun said softly, “we saw what is unquestionably the skeleton of a dragon.”