"Well, nothing can ease it," he said. "I will never get over it. I must either follow her into death or live with it as we all must live with grief. In the meantime..." He sighed deeply.

The rest of the household had retired. It was a little cooler, and the screens stood open to catch the slight breeze that now and then crept down the mountain. A single lamp burned at Kenji's side. Shizuka moved slightly so she could see something of his face.

"What?" she prompted.

He seemed to change the subject. "I sacrificed Shigeru to the Kikuta for the sake of unity. Now they have taken my daughter from me too." Again he fell silent.

"What do you plan to do?"

"The boy is my grandchild-the only one I'll ever have. I find it hard to accept that he's lost to the Muto completely. I imagine his father will have a certain interest in him, too, if I know Takeo. I said before that I would not seek Takeo's death; that's partly why I've been hiding out here all summer. Now I will go further: I want the Muto family to come to an agreement with him, to make a truce."

"And go against the Kikuta?"

"I will never do anything in agreement with them again. If Takeo can destroy them, I will do everything in my power to help him."

She saw something in his face and knew he was hoping Takeo would give him the revenge he craved. "You will destroy the Tribe," she whispered.

"We are already destroying ourselves," he said bleakly. "Moreover, everything is changing around us. I believe we are at the end of an era. When this war is over, whoever is the victor will rule over the whole of the Three Countries. Takeo wants to gain his inheritance and punish Shigeru's uncles, but whoever leads the Otori, Arai will have to fight them: Either the Otori clan must conquer or they must be utterly defeated and wiped out, for there will be no peace while they simmer on the border."

"The Kikuta seem to be favoring the Otori lords against Takeo?"

"Yes, I've heard Kotaro himself is in Hagi. I believe in the long run, despite his apparent strength, Arai will not succeed against the Otori. They have a certain legitimacy to claim the Three Countries, you know, because of their ancestral link with the emperor's house. Shigeru's sword, Jato, was forged and given in recognition of that, hundreds of years ago."

He fell silent and a slight smile curved his lips. "But the sword found Takeo. It did not go to Shoichi or Masahiro." He turned to her and the smile deepened. "I'm going to tell you a story. You may know that I met Shigeru at Yaegahara. I was about twenty-five; he must have been nineteen. I was working as a spy and secret messenger for the Noguchi, who were allies of the Otori then. I already knew that they would change sides during the battle and turn on their former allies, giving the victory to Iida and causing the deaths of thousands of men. I've always been detached from the rights and wrongs of our trade, but the depths of treachery fascinate me. There is something appalling about the realization of betrayal that I like to observe. I wanted to see Otori Shigemori's face when the Noguchi turned on him.

"So, for this rather base motive, I was there in the thick of the battle. Most of the time I was invisible. I have to say, there was something intensely exciting about being in the midst of the fray, unseen. I saw Shigemori; I saw the expression on his face when he realized all was lost. I saw him fall. His sword, which was well known and which many desired, flew from his hands at the moment of death and fell at my feet. I picked it up. It took on my invisibility and seemed to cleave to my hand. It was still warm from its master's grip. It told me that I had to protect it and find its true owner."

"It spoke to you?"

"That's the only way I can describe it. After Shigemori died, the Otori went into a state of mad desperation. The battle raged for another couple of hours, which I spent looking for Shigeru. I knew him: I'd seen him once before, a few years earlier, when he was training in the mountains with Matsuda. It wasn't until the fighting was over that I came upon him. By then Iida's men were searching for him everywhere. If he could be declared dead in battle, it would be convenient for everyone.

"I found him by a small spring. He was quite alone and was preparing to take his own life, washing the blood from his face and hands and scenting his hair and beard with perfume. He had taken off his helmet and loosened his armor. He seemed as calm as if he were about to bathe in the spring.

"The sword said to me, 'This is my master,' so I called to him, 'Lord Otori!' and when he turned I let him see me and held the sword out to him.

"'Jato,' he greeted it, took the sword in both hands, and bowed deeply. Then he looked at the sword and looked at me and seemed to come out of the trance he was in.

"I said something like 'Don't kill yourself,' and then, as if the sword spoke through me, 'Live and get revenge,' and he smiled and leaped to his feet, the sword in his hand. I helped him get away and took him back to his mother's house in Hagi. By the time we got there we had become friends."

"I often wondered how you met," Shizuka said. "So you saved his life."

"Not I but Jato. This is the way it goes from hand to hand. Takeo has it because Yuki gave it to him in Inuyama. And because of her disobedience then the Kikuta started to distrust her."

"How strange are the ways of fate," Shizuka murmured.

"Yes, there is some bond between us all that I cannot fight. It's mainly because Jato chose Takeo, through my daughter, that I feel we must work with him. Apart from that, I can keep my promise never to harm him and maybe make amends for the role I played in Shigeru's death." He paused and then said in a low voice, "I did not see the look on his face when Takeo and I did not return that night in Inuyama, but it is the expression he wears when he visits me in dreams."

Neither of them said anything for a few moments. A sudden flash of lightning lit the room, and Shizuka could hear thunder rolling in the mountains. Kenji went on: "I hope your Kikuta blood will not take you from us now."

"No, your decision is a relief to me because it means I can keep faith with Kaede. I'm sorry, but I would never have done anything to hurt either of them."

Her admission made him smile again. "So I have always thought. Not only because of your affection for Kaede-I know how strong your feelings were for both Shigeru and Lady Maruyama, and the part you played in the alliance with Arai." Kenji was looking at her closely. "Shizuka, you did not seem completely surprised when I told you about Shigeru's records. I have been trying to deduce who his informant in the Tribe might have been."

She was trembling despite herself. Her disobedience-treachery, to give it its true name-was about to be disclosed. She could not imagine what the Tribe would do to her.

"It was you, wasn't it?" Kenji went on.

"Uncle," she began.

"Don't be alarmed," he said quickly. "I will never speak of it to another soul. But I would like to know why."

"It was after Yaegahara," she said. "I gave the information to Iida that Shigeru was seeking alliances with the Seishuu. Shigeru confided in Arai, and I pa.s.sed the information on. It was because of me that the Tohan triumphed, because of me that ten thousand died on the battlefield and countless others afterward from torture and starvation. I watched Shigeru in the years following and was filled with admiration for his patience and fort.i.tude. He seemed to me the only good man I had ever met, and I had played a leading part in his downfall. So I resolved to help him, to make amends. He asked me many things about the Tribe, and I told him everything I could. It was not hard to keep it secret-it was what I had been trained to do." She paused and then said, "I am afraid you will be very angry."

He shook his head. "I should be, I suppose. If I had found out anytime before this, I would have had to order your punishment and death." He was gazing at her with admiration. "Truly you have the Kikuta gift of fearlessness. In fact I am glad you did what you did. You helped Shigeru, and now that legacy protects Takeo. It may even make amends for my own betrayal."

"Will you go to Takeo now?"

"I was hoping to have a little more news. Kondo should return soon. Otherwise, yes, I will go to Maruyama."

"Send a messenger-send me. It's too dangerous to go yourself. But will Takeo trust anyone from the Tribe?"

"Maybe we will both go. And we will take your sons."

She gazed steadily at him. A mosquito was whining near her hair, but she did not brush it away.

"They will be our guarantee to him," Kenji said quietly.

Lightning flashed again; the thunder was closer. Suddenly rain began to fall heavily. It poured from the eaves, and the smell of earth sprang from the garden.

The storm lashed the village for three or four days. Before Kondo returned, another message came, from a Muto girl who worked in Lord Fujiwara's residence in the South. It was brief and tantalizing, telling them none of the details they wanted to know, written in haste, and apparently in some danger, saying only that Shirakawa Kaede was in the house and was married to Fujiwara.

"What have they done to her now?" Kenji said, shaken out of his grief by anger.

"We always knew the marriage with Takeo would be opposed," Shizuka said. "I imagine Fujiwara and Arai have arranged this between them. Lord Fujiwara wanted to marry her before she left in the spring. I'm afraid I encouraged her to become close to him."

She pictured Kaede imprisoned within the luxurious residence, rememberecd the n.o.bleman's cruelty, and wished she had acted differently.

"I don't know what's happened to me," she said to her uncle. "I used to be indifferent to all these things. Now I find I care deeply; I'm outraged and horrified, and filled with pity for them both."

"Since I first set eyes on her I've been moved by Lady Shirakawa's plight," he replied. "It's hard not to pity her even more now."

"What will Takeo do?" Shizuka wondered aloud. "He will go to war," Kenji predicted. "And almost certainly be defeated. It may be too late for us to make peace with him."

Shizuka saw her uncle's grief descend on him again. She was afraid he would indeed follow his daughter into death and tried to make sure he was never left alone.

Another week pa.s.sed before Kondo finally returned. The weather had cleared and Shizuka had walked to the shrine to pray again to the war G.o.d to protect Takeo. She bowed to the image and stood, clapped her hands three times, asking also, helplessly, that Kaede might be rescued. As she turned to walk away, Taku came shimmering out of invisibility in front of her.

"Ha!" he said in triumph. "You didn't hear me that time!"

She was astonished, for she had neither heard him nor discerned him. "Well done!"

Taku grinned. "Kondo Kiichi has returned. He's waiting for you. Uncle wanted you to hear his news."

"So make sure you don't hear it too," she teased him.

"I like hearing things," he replied. "I like knowing everyone's secrets."

He ran ahead of her up the dusty street, going invisible every time he pa.s.sed from sunshine to shadow. It's all a game to him It's all a game to him, she thought, as as it used to be for me. But at some point in the last year it stopped being a game. Why? What's happened to me? Is it that I learned fear? The fear of losing the people I low it used to be for me. But at some point in the last year it stopped being a game. Why? What's happened to me? Is it that I learned fear? The fear of losing the people I low?

Kondo sat with her uncle in the main room of the house. She knelt before them and greeted the man who two months earlier had wanted to marry her. She knew now, seeing him again, that she did not want him. She would make some excuse, plead ill health.

His face was thin and haggard, though his greeting was warm.

"I'm sorry I have been so delayed," he said. "At one point I did not think I would return at all. I was arrested as soon as I got to Inu-yama. The failed attack on you had been reported to Arai, and I was recognized by the men who came with us to Shirakawa. I expected to be put to death. But then a tragedy occurred: There was an outbreak of smallpox. Arai's son died. When the mourning period was over, he sent for me and questioned me at length about you."

"Now he is interested in your sons again," Kenji observed.

"He declared he was in my debt, since I'd saved your life. He wished me to return to his service and offered to confirm me in the warrior rank of my mother's family and give me a stipend." Shizuka glanced at her uncle, but Kenji said nothing. Kondo went on: "I accepted. I hope that was the right thing to do. Of course, it suits me, being at the moment masterless, but if the Muto family object..."

"You may be useful to us there," Kenji said. "Lord Arai a.s.sumed I knew where you were and asked me to give you the message that he wishes to see his sons, and you, to discuss their formal adoption."

"Does he want our relationship to resume?" Shizuka asked. "He wants you to move to Inuyama, as the boys' mother." He did not actually say and as his mistress and as his mistress, but Shizuka caught his meaning. Kondo gave no sign of anger or jealousy as he spoke, but the ironic look flashed across his face. Of course, if he were established in the warrior cla.s.s, he could make a good marriage within it. It was only when he had been masterless that he'd seen a solution in her.

She did not know if she was more angered or amused by his pragmatism. She had no intention of sending her sons to Arai or of ever sleeping with him again or of marrying Kondo. She hoped fervently that Kenji was not going to order her to do any of them.

"All these things must be considered carefully," her uncle said. "Yes, of course," Kondo replied. "Anyway, matters have been complicated by the campaign against Otori Takeo."

"We've been hoping for news of him," Kenji murmured. "Arai was enraged by the marriage. He declared it invalid immediately and sent a large contingent of men to Lord Fujiwara. Later in the summer he himself moved to k.u.mamoto, close enough to strike at Maruyama. The last I heard was that Lady Shirakawa was living in Lord Fujiwara's house and was married to him. She is in seclusion, virtually imprisoned." He sniffed loudly and threw his head back. "I know Fujiwara considered himself betrothed to her, but he should not have acted in the way he did. He had her seized by force; several of her men were killed-Amano Tenzo among them, which was a great loss. There was no need for that. Ai and Hana are hostages in Inuyama. Matters could have been negotiated without bloodshed."

Shizuka felt a pang of sorrow for the two girls. "Did you see them there?"

"No, it was not allowed."

He seemed genuinely angered on Kaede's behalf, and Shizuka remembered his unlikely devotion to her.

"And Takeo?" she said.

"It seems Takeo set out against Fujiwara and met Arai's army. He was forced to retreat. After that it's all very unclear. There was a huge, early typhoon in the West. Both armies were caught close to the coast. No one really knows yet what the outcome was."

"If Arai defeats Takeo, what will he do with him?" Shizuka asked.

"That's what everyone wonders! Some say he will have him executed; some that he wouldn't dare because of Takeo's reputation; some that he'll make an alliance with him against the Otori in Hagi."

"Close to the coast?" Kenji questioned. "Which part, exactly?"

"Near a town called Shuho, I believe. I don't know the district myself."

"Shuho?" Kenji said. "I've never been there, but they say it has a beautiful natural blue pool, which I've always wanted to visit. It's a long time since I've done any traveling. The weather is perfect for it now. You had both better come with me."

He sounded casual, but Shizuka sensed his urgency. "And the boys?" she asked.

"We'll take them both; it will be a good experience for them, and we may even needTakus skills." Kenji got to his feet. "We must leave at once. We'll pick up horses in Yamagata."

"What is your plan?" Kondo said. "If I may ask, do you intend to make sure Takeo is eliminated?"

"Not exactly. I'll tell you on the road." As Kondo bowed and left the room, Kenji murmured to Shizuka, "Maybe we will get there in time to save his life."

9.

No one spoke as we rode, but the att.i.tude of Akita and his warriors seemed courteous and respectful. I hoped I had saved my men and Hiroshi by surrendering, but I did not expect my own life to be spared. I was grateful to Arai for having me treated like an Oton lord, one of his own cla.s.s, and for not humiliating me, but I imagined he would either have me executed or order me to kill myself. Despite my childhood teaching, Jo-An's words, and my promise to Kaede, I knew I would have no alternative but to obey.

The typhoon had cleared the air of all humidity, and the morning was bright and clear. My thinking had the same clarity: Arai had defeated me; I had surrendered; I would submit to him and obey, doing whatever he told me to do. I began to understand why the warriors had such a high regard for their code. It made life very simple.

The words of the prophecy came into my head, but I put them aside. I did not want anything to distract me from the correct path. I glanced at Hiroshi riding next to me, his shoulders squared, his head high. The old horse plodded calmly along, snorting now and then with pleasure at the warmth of the sun. I thought about the upbringing that had made courage second nature to the boy. He knew instinctively how to act with honor, though I was sorry he had come to experience surrender and defeat so young.

All around us were the signs of the devastation left by the typhoon when it swept along the coast. Roofless houses, huge trees uprooted, flattened rice, and flooded rivers, with drowned oxen, dogs, and other animals stranded among the debris. I felt anxious briefly about my farmers at Maruyama, wondered if the defenses we had built had been strong enough to preserve their fields, and what would happen to them if Kaede and I were not there to protect them. To whom did the domain belong now, and who would look after it? It had been mine for one brief summer, but I grieved over its loss. I had put all my energy into restoring it. No doubt the Tribe would return, too, punish those who had supplanted them, and take up their cruel trade again. And no one but I could put a stop to them.

As we approached the small town of Shuho, Arai's men could be seen foraging for food. I pictured the extra hardship this huge force of men and horses was imposing on the land. Everything that had already been harvested would be taken, and what had not been harvested would have been ruined by the storm. I hoped these villagers had secret fields and hidden stores; if not, they would starve when winter came.

Shuho was famous for its many cold springs, which formed a lake of a brilliant blue color. The water was reputed to have healing qualities and was dedicated to the G.o.ddess of good fortune. Perhaps this was what gave the place a cheerful atmosphere, despite the invasion of troops and the destruction of the storm. The brilliant day seemed to promise the return of good fortune. The townspeople were already repairing and rebuilding, calling out jokes to each other, even singing. The blows of hammers, the hiss of saws, set up a lively song against the sound of water as streams ran overflowing everywhere.

We were in the main street when, to my astonishment, I heard from out of the hubbub someone shout my name. "Takeo! Lord Otori!"

I recognized the voice, though I could not immediately place it. Then the sweet smell of the fresh-cut wood brought him up to the surface of my mind: Shiro, the master carpenter from Hagi who had built the tea house and the nightingale floor for Shigeru.

I turned my head in the direction of the voice and saw him waving from a rooftop. He called again, "Lord Otori!" and slowly the town's song stilled as one by one the men laid down their tools and turned to stare.

Their silent burning gaze fell on me in the same way that men had stared at Shigeru when he rode back from Terayama to Yamagata, angering and alarming the Tohan who accompanied us, and on me when I had been among the outcasts.

I looked forward, making no response. I did not want to anger Akita. I was, after all, a prisoner. But I heard my name repeated from mouth to mouth, like the buzz of insects around pollen. Hiroshi whispered, "They all know Lord Otori."

"Say nothing," I replied, hoping they would not be punished for it. I wondered why Shiro was here, if he had been driven from the Middle Country after Shigeru's death, and what news he had from Hagi. Arai had set up his headquarters in a small temple on the hillside above the town. He was not accompanied by his whole army, of course; I found out later some were still in Inuyama and the rest encamped halfway between Hagi and k.u.mamoto.

We dismounted and I told Hiroshi to stay with the horses and see that they were fed. He looked as if he were going to protest, then lowered his head, his face suddenly full of sadness.

Sakai put his hand on the boy's shoulder and Hiroshi took Shuns bridle. I felt a pang as I watched the little bay docilely walking beside him, rubbing his head against Hiroshi's arm. He had saved my life many times and I did not want to part with him. For the first time the thought that I might not see him again lunged and hit me and I realized how deeply I did not want to die. I allowed myself to experience this sensation for a moment, then I drew up my Kikuta self like a defense around me, thankful for the dark strength of the Tribe that would sustain me now.

"Come this way," Akita said. "Lord Arai wants to see you immediately."