ears were ringing, and the smell of blood and death that
clung to me was nauseating me. Kaede looked unattainably clean and pure.
“I prayed for your safety,” she said, her voice low. Sugita’s
presence made us awkward with each other.
“Take some tea,” Manami urged us. I realized my mouth was
completely dry, my lips caked with blood.
“We are so dirty…” I began, but she put the cup in my hand and I
drank it gratefully.
It was past sunset and the evening light was clear and tinged
with blue. The wind had dropped and birds were singing their last songs of the
day. I heard a rustling in the grass and looked up to see a hare cross the
clearing in the distance. I drank the tea and looked at the hare. It gazed back
at me with its large, wild eyes for many moments before it bounded away. The
tea’s taste was smoky and bitter.
Two battles lay behind us, three ahead, if the prophecy was to be believed:
Two now to win and one to lose
.
4
One month earlier, after Shirakawa Kaede had left with the
Miyoshi brothers to go to the temple guest house at Terayama, Muto Shizuka had
set out for the secret village of her Tribe family, hidden in the mountains on
the far side of Yamagata. Kaede had wept when they said farewell to each other,
had pressed money on Shizuka and insisted she take one of the packhorses and
send it back when she could, but Shizuka knew she would be quickly forgotten
once Kaede was with Takeo.
Shizuka was deeply uneasy about leaving Kaede and about the
impetuous decision to marry Takeo. She rode silently, brooding on the madness
of love and the disaster the marriage would be to them. She had no doubt they
would marry: Now that fate had brought them together again, nothing would stop
them. But she feared for them once Arai heard the news. And when her thoughts
turned to Lord Fujiwara, a chill came over her despite the spring sunshine. She
knew he could only be insulted and outraged, and she dreaded what he might do
in revenge.
Kondo rode with her, his mood no better than hers. He seemed
distressed and annoyed at being dismissed so suddenly. Several times he said,
“She could have trusted me! After all I’ve done for her! I swore allegiance to
her, after all. I would never do anything to harm her.”
Kaede’s spell
has fallen on him too
, Shizuka thought.
He’s
been flattered by her reliance on him. She turned to him
so
often; now she will turn to Takeo
.
“It was Takeo’s order that we leave,” she told him. “He is right.
He cannot trust any one of us.”
“What a mess,” Kondo said gloomily. “Where shall I go now, I
wonder. I liked it with Lady Shirakawa. The place suited me.” He threw his head
back and sniffed.
“The Muto family may have new instructions for both of us,”
Shizuka replied shortly.
“I’m getting on,” he grumbled. “I wouldn’t mind settling down.
I’ll make way for the next generation. If only there were more of them!” He
turned his head and gave her his ironic smile. There was something in his look
that unsettled her, some warmth behind the irony. In his guarded way he was
making some kind of advance to her. Ever since he’d saved her life on the road
to Shirakawa the previous year, a tension had existed between them. She was
grateful to him and had at one time thought she might sleep with him, but then
the affair had begun with Dr. Ishida, Lord Fujiwara’s physician, and she had
wanted no one but him.
Though, she thought ruefully, that was hardly being practical.
Kaede’s marriage to Takeo would effectively remove her from Ishida forever. She
had no idea how she could ever meet the doctor again. His farewells had been
warm; he had pressed her to return as soon as possible, had even gone so far as
to say he would miss her. But how could she return to him if she was no longer
in Kaede’s service and part of her household? Their affair had been conducted
with great secrecy thus far, but if Fujiwara were to hear of it, she feared for
the
clung to me was nauseating me. Kaede looked unattainably clean and pure.
“I prayed for your safety,” she said, her voice low. Sugita’s
presence made us awkward with each other.
“Take some tea,” Manami urged us. I realized my mouth was
completely dry, my lips caked with blood.
“We are so dirty…” I began, but she put the cup in my hand and I
drank it gratefully.
It was past sunset and the evening light was clear and tinged
with blue. The wind had dropped and birds were singing their last songs of the
day. I heard a rustling in the grass and looked up to see a hare cross the
clearing in the distance. I drank the tea and looked at the hare. It gazed back
at me with its large, wild eyes for many moments before it bounded away. The
tea’s taste was smoky and bitter.
Two battles lay behind us, three ahead, if the prophecy was to be believed:
Two now to win and one to lose
.
4
One month earlier, after Shirakawa Kaede had left with the
Miyoshi brothers to go to the temple guest house at Terayama, Muto Shizuka had
set out for the secret village of her Tribe family, hidden in the mountains on
the far side of Yamagata. Kaede had wept when they said farewell to each other,
had pressed money on Shizuka and insisted she take one of the packhorses and
send it back when she could, but Shizuka knew she would be quickly forgotten
once Kaede was with Takeo.
Shizuka was deeply uneasy about leaving Kaede and about the
impetuous decision to marry Takeo. She rode silently, brooding on the madness
of love and the disaster the marriage would be to them. She had no doubt they
would marry: Now that fate had brought them together again, nothing would stop
them. But she feared for them once Arai heard the news. And when her thoughts
turned to Lord Fujiwara, a chill came over her despite the spring sunshine. She
knew he could only be insulted and outraged, and she dreaded what he might do
in revenge.
Kondo rode with her, his mood no better than hers. He seemed
distressed and annoyed at being dismissed so suddenly. Several times he said,
“She could have trusted me! After all I’ve done for her! I swore allegiance to
her, after all. I would never do anything to harm her.”
Kaede’s spell
has fallen on him too
, Shizuka thought.
He’s
been flattered by her reliance on him. She turned to him
so
often; now she will turn to Takeo
.
“It was Takeo’s order that we leave,” she told him. “He is right.
He cannot trust any one of us.”
“What a mess,” Kondo said gloomily. “Where shall I go now, I
wonder. I liked it with Lady Shirakawa. The place suited me.” He threw his head
back and sniffed.
“The Muto family may have new instructions for both of us,”
Shizuka replied shortly.
“I’m getting on,” he grumbled. “I wouldn’t mind settling down.
I’ll make way for the next generation. If only there were more of them!” He
turned his head and gave her his ironic smile. There was something in his look
that unsettled her, some warmth behind the irony. In his guarded way he was
making some kind of advance to her. Ever since he’d saved her life on the road
to Shirakawa the previous year, a tension had existed between them. She was
grateful to him and had at one time thought she might sleep with him, but then
the affair had begun with Dr. Ishida, Lord Fujiwara’s physician, and she had
wanted no one but him.
Though, she thought ruefully, that was hardly being practical.
Kaede’s marriage to Takeo would effectively remove her from Ishida forever. She
had no idea how she could ever meet the doctor again. His farewells had been
warm; he had pressed her to return as soon as possible, had even gone so far as
to say he would miss her. But how could she return to him if she was no longer
in Kaede’s service and part of her household? Their affair had been conducted
with great secrecy thus far, but if Fujiwara were to hear of it, she feared for
the
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