The Seabird of Sanematsu (11 page)

**
*

“I never knew a bath could feel so wonderful.” Aderyn sank farther into the hot water until it lapped over her chin. At times, she was overwhelmed with amazement at how easily she had become used to Nihonese customs in a short half-year.

“Did you not bathe in your world?” Sachi shared the tub. Sweat, the result of the hot water and steam, dripped from their faces. Their hair hung limply.

“Not like this!” Aderyn dropped water through her hands. “We bathed only when absolutely necessary, like after the monthly bleeding. And never in winter! Mother would simply haul seawater up and dump it over our heads. It froze your soul, even in summer! And the soap was horrible. It left your skin red and sore.”

“I do not think I would wish to subject myself to that.” Sachi’s face curled into a mask of displeasure.

“It was a punishment to bathe.” Aderyn laughed. “Now, I hate to get out!”

“Perhaps that is the difference between a child and an adult,” Sachi commented, easing against the tub’s edge. “Children here do not often like bathing.”

“Do you have children, Sachi-sama? You do not say much about yourself or your home.”

Six months and she knew little about the woman who shared her waking hours. When she asked certain questions, Sachi deftly avoid answering them. Perhaps talking about her family would not be so taboo.

“My husband has given me three sons.” Sachi spoke with pride. Her angled eyes twinkled with excitement and her face light up.

“How old are they? Are they here, in the castle?” She had never seen children with her teacher and only Sanematsu’s daughters lived inside her wing. Her sightings of them were brief.

“My eldest is eight, the youngest, five, and the middle one, seven. A foster mother who lives in the samurai estates below the yashiki cares them for. It is a common practice that leaves me free to tend my husband and his household.” Sachi rose from the edge, wiping her face with a towel. “I did not realize you were so interested in children. I will seek permission for you to meet them.”

“I would like that, and to meet Lord Sanematsu’s daughters. He has told me many stories about the girls.”

“I am sure our master will see to it you and his daughters meet. Now, we must depart.”

“Arrgh,” Aderyn growled.

**
*

The weeks passed without boredom as Aderyn kept busy with Sanematsu and Sachi. She tried to teach Sanematsu to sketch and ended up struggling not to laugh at his stick figures. Among his many gifts were several colored ink stones, allowing her to create more elaborate works. He admired the work and seemed anxious for each finished piece.

Most frequently, she drew Lord Sanematsu--fierce and savage in full armor; regal and proud in formal
kami-shimo
, which combined a hitatare with hakama; youthful and virile in casual kosode, daimon and hakama; precise and agile in his practice clothes. One portrait, a sketch of him lost in contemplation and unaware of her attention, was the one she kept closest at hand.

In turn, he taught her to write with brush and ink. Taking to the art of calligraphy with ease, Aderyn found writing Nihonese helped build her vocabulary.

“Tori.”

Sanematsu broke one of their unusual silences. They were in his sitting room facing an open shoji to look seaward. Maids had opened the wooden shutters that during the night had closed out the torrential rains that pounded the residence. Even at the later hour of morning, almost midday, the sun had not shown its face. A gray shadow covered the ocean as clouds hung low; a chill touched the breeze.

“I would ask a favor.”

“Anything, my lord, if it is in my power.” Something had bothered him all morning. she supposed it had to do with the council, since he always returned to her agitated after a meeting with them.

“I think only you can.” He drew a hard breath. “Must you view everything you draw? Or can a person describe something for you to make a picture?”

“I have never done so, but I can try.”

Aderyn was sure she would try to fly if he asked it of her.

“Could you try now?” His face showed deep disquiet. Worry and puzzlement clouded his eyes.

“As you wish.” His preoccupation and now dour expression worried her. She did not like seeing him upset.

Sanematsu sent a servant for her art materials. At the same time paper and charcoal arrived, a middle-aged couple shuffled into the room. They settled well away from Lord Sanematsu.

“Today I gave audience to the inhabitants of Nishikata,” he explained. “Tori, this is Shimoda and his wife Fuyu. They seek their child, a boy of about thirteen new years. They will tell you what Taro looks like, and you will provide a picture for my men to show around the other villages.”

Aderyn readied herself as Sanematsu spoke with the grieving parents. They kept their eyes from his face, but Aderyn caught their curious looks toward her. After he finished speaking, the room settled into an uncomfortable quiet. She awaited their words then exchanged questioning looks with Sanematsu when no one was forthcoming. He nodded once in her direction.

“Shimoda-sama, you may speak to me,” she addressed the peasant. Their palpable unease piqued her curiosity. “I understand your language well.”

At last, the farmer spoke, and Aderyn began to draw. When Shimoda mentioned the boy’s resemblance to his wife, she looked at Fuyu to sketch some of her features onto the paper and noticed the woman’s silent tears.

It was not long before she held up the picture. Fuyu gasped, her hand rising to her mouth to hold in the astonishment.

“It is as if he is here,” her husband said. “You do us much honor with your concern, Sanematsu-sama. We are forever indebted to you.”

Both Shimoda and Fuyu lay in a bow to the floor.

“Your difficulties are always my concern. I hope this will help us locate your son.” Sanematsu inclined his head.

The parents left, and Sanematsu’s servant took the picture to the captain of the guard.

“Is there anything special about this boy?” Aderyn asked. Why would a ruler be so concerned with the disappearance of a child? Those in authority seldom worried about the day-to-day dealings of their people.

“All my subjects are special to me, since I am responsible for their well-being,” he explained. “As a father, I share their sorrow. With this man, especially, I empathize. He has one son--no one else to help with his rice or to look to in his old age for care. Most of all, he is their child and it touches the inner heart.”

“Could he have run away?”

“For what reasons? He is fed, clothed, housed and treated with honor as the firstborn son. A second son might, but not a firstborn.” He shook his head. “I fear something evil has happened.”

“I find your deep concern for your subjects admirable, my lord.” Aderyn fought the urge to place a hand on his arm in comfort.

**
*

The following day, Matsumoto reported to his daimyo.

“The boy cannot be found, sire.”

When he received the barbarian-created picture, he had recognized the boy. He did not think the family would want him back in his present condition and destroyed the likeness of the soft, effeminate, longhaired boy at his first opportunity. It irked him that the foreign woman should be used to make such a tool of investigation.

“I do not like it, Matsumoto-uji.” Sanematsu paced his garden, his general accompanying him. Around them, the gardeners prepared the plants for winter. “It is not natural for children to disappear within my province.”

“Who knows?” Matsumoto shrugged. “Perhaps it was not his karma to be a rice farmer.”

He recalled his last encounter with the boy. Those soft hands were not suited for manual labor, and the delicate mouth was perfect for the service he demanded of him. His round buttocks made a nice cushion for Matsumoto’s Jade Root. No, the boy was not suited for outdoor work.

“I have done all I can. Remain watchful for him.” Sanematsu left for the stables.

“I prefer to remain watchful of someone else,” Matsumoto muttered. “Someone nearer, female…and foreign.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Five days after Matsumoto met with Sanematsu to report his unsuccessful search for the rice farmer’s son, Aderyn and Sachi ventured down the shore on their routine walk. Led by Hamasaki, five of their military escort preceded them into a small cove around the arm of rocks. Watched over by two men, the women, chatting, giggling and enjoying the day, did not bother to keep up with the advance escort.

Hamasaki rejoined them before they rounded the bend. As he trotted down the shore, his hand rested on his swords to prevent their clanking.

“So sorry,” he spoke, out of breath and red-faced. “Tori, you must remain here with Sachi-sama.”

“What is it, Hamasaki-sama?” Sachi used the elite, polite words for conversation between men and women.

“Nothing to concern you. You will be taken care of here. I must return.” The young samurai guard moved away.

Aderyn fought her natural curiosity and remained where her guard had ordered. Well, more like requested. Moments later, they heard the men approaching. Four carried a bundle.

Curiosity overwhelmed any good sense Aderyn ever had and she rushed to them.

“What do you have?” she asked, working to maintain the calm tone Sachi used so often.

“It does not concern you,” the man nearest her spat, trying to continue on his way.

“Please, show me,” she demanded, stepping to block their path. Her personal guard caught up with the group, so she felt comfortable instructing the guards.

“I do not think Lord Sanematsu would wish it,” Hamasaki said.

“Excuse, please.” Sachi stepped up. “You should be aware that Lord Sanematsu allows Tori almost all she wishes. I realize you are charged with her welfare, as I am. For this, I will take the responsibility.”

“Very well, Sachi-sama.” Hamasaki signaled his men to lower their load.

“Tori,” Sachi spoke, resting her hand on Aderyn’s arm. “are you sure you want to view what may be a body?”

“It may be something, or someone, from my father’s ship,” she said, eager to know it her suspicion was true.

“It has been six moons, Tori,” Sachi pointed out.

“Things could still be coming ashore. We have never been this far down the shore.”

Her heart longed for something from her past life. There were days when she woke expecting her family to appear out of nowhere only to remember they were gone forever.

As instructed, one man opened the wrappings, and Aderyn studied the grotesque mask death and the sea had made of the boy who had been the subject of her drawing. He lay, abused in death as he appeared to have been in life. She fought the wave of nausea creeping up from deep within her body and turned away. The four bearers were allowed to move toward the yashiki.

“Who could have done such a thing?” she asked Sachi as they continued their walk with Hamasaki and two soldiers. The cold ocean breeze increased and stirred her hair loose from it bindings. She hugged her waist beneath her heavy outer robe.

“It will probably never be known. It appears the body was in the water for quite some time.”

Sachi moved her paper parasol from one shoulder to the other to try to include Aderyn in the shade. Although winter approached, she was always conscientious of the sun’s ability to damage complexions so carefully kept pale. Every time she tried to get her to carry a
kasa
, though, Aderyn laughed at her concern. She did not care if the sun darkened her skin the way the ladies of Nihon did.

“Sanematsu-sama will not take the news well,” she said. “He was very upset when the father told him the boy was missing.”

“I agree, but he will deal with it as he must.”

**
*

The way Aderyn wanted to shield the Great Lord from any unpleasantness was curious. Was it their friendship that led her to do so or was it another emotion growing within her breast? Sachi wondered. Did Aderyn harbor the same desire to protect Lord Sanematsu as she did to shield her husband from pain or harm? Was the relationship between her master and his companion changing?

“May I suggest we return to the castle? You will no longer enjoy your walk since your thoughts will be with Lord Sanematsu. And I speculate his will be with you.”

Pink spread over the foreigner’s face.

**
*

Sanematsu Yoshihide took the news of the boy’s death in grim silence. Retreating to the shrine of Hachiman Taro, he spent an hour listening to the raging of his own soul.

Following his orders, his doctors had inspected the body, and when he exited the shire, they gave him the information he needed to act. He made his way to the council chamber.

At his request, the Council of Elders assembled in a large room designated for governmental meetings and other important gatherings inside Nishikata-jyo. On a high dais at the north end, he had both arm- and backrests because he often sat for long periods. His grandfather half-sat, half-lay below the dais at his right. The council rested farther down before him.

“Honorable lords, I have called you together to discuss matters which are very disturbing to me.” He gave a stern look to the old men who stared back at him, daring them to interrupt him. “It appears someone is murdering the children of Nishikata. While bushido grants that a warrior may use his sword to slay another--man, woman or child--with honor, for a justifiable offence, neither it nor I allow murder.

“I find this situation appalling. While I will not dictate a man’s appetites, I will see those who find pleasure in such fatal lusts do not fulfill them in my ryo-chi.”

“What do you propose to do to prevent it?” his grandfather asked. His high-pitched reedy voice carried across the room. “Are you going to enter the houses of the floating world and police the futons?”

The other elders made noises of agreement.

“No, but I will issue orders to the women of those houses regarding the dealings they will have with the men who visit. Children are not to be harmed. Any member of the floating world who permits such perversions will have the house closed and all her possessions confiscated. The women will be turned into the streets to fend for themselves.”

This would be the most disagreeable consequence for any of the women, as they would then be among the prostitutes of Nishikata.

“I wonder what has brought about this concern for men and their sexual excursions in the willow world. Could it be the result of contamination by your foreign devil plaything? Do you feel guilty for your hunger for her? Someone not of the land of the gods?”

The old man’s eyes widened with speculation. The accusatory tone of his voice grated on Sanematsu.

“The children of Satsuma Province are not toys to be used and tossed away! I will tolerate and allow mutual pleasure as the Cloudburst and Rain should be, but that children should die for someone’s pleasure is far from acceptable.” His breathing came rapid and heavy gulps, as if he had finished a physical fight. “And as far as my guilt, it is between me and my conscience.”

“I do not see it is right for my heir to dirty his hands with such matters,” his grandfather commented. “You should not concern yourself with what a man does upon the futon.”

“Hmmph,” Sanematsu scoffed. “And when did the futon fall outside of
your
concern? Especially mine? It seems to me you have more interest in how, when and with whom I take my pleasure than anything else.”

His rage cooled as he made himself relax, shrugging to ease the knots in the muscles between his shoulder blades. They remained tight, and he attempted the exercise he had been taught years before.

“This meeting is concluded.”

He made an attempt to rise to his feet. Before he could stand, Imaizuni, a squat, round man, the youngest on the council, spoke with feigned abjectness.

“I beg your forgiveness, Lord Yoshihide.”

Sanematsu acknowledged him across the space of the chamber.

“As you wish.”

“For moons now we have been subject to rumors concerning the yabanjin in our midst. As yet, you have given us nothing but delays and excuses in regards to our viewing her. It is time we insist, for the good of Satsuma Province, that she be brought before us.”

He gave a hard stare to the man when he finished speaking. It was not uncommon for the council members to speak in such harsh terms to him yet he chaffed under the barrage. How much longer could he take these old men who stuck their noses into his business?

“Lord Imaizuni.” His voice carried through the hall. “I do not have to remind you that I alone am Lord of Satsuma Province, and I will do with anyone in that province as I wish. I see no need for the council to meet with her. Tori is a girl, neither warrior nor politician, and thus of no value.”

“So sorry, Sanematsu-uji,” Lord Kaihara spoke up, “but a yabanjin’s presence, be it male or female, has never been permitted. We cannot allow the Lord of Satsuma Province to be open to ridicule.”

“You do not
allow
me anything! I, on the other hand, allow you to live and advise me. Advice I may or may not heed! The matter of Tori is my concern, and when, or if, I wish to present her to you will be my decision.”

Sanematsu Yoshihide rose and, without bowing, stormed out of the chamber. Still, he knew he would succumb to their demand. Then, once more, Ko-tori’s life would be in peril. Could he save her?