The Dragon King's Palace

by Laura Joh Rowland

  A violent spasm jerked his body. A deafening screech burst from him. Agony wrenched his features into a horrible mask. His fingers pried at hers. Reiko hung on, digging her nails into the soft, tender globes of flesh. He twisted her wrist. Reiko yelped as pain shot up her arm and broke her hold on him. He scuttled away, moaning. Exhausted and disoriented, Reiko raised herself on her elbows. The Dragon King was hunched a short distance from her. He whimpered and cupped his injured private parts in both hands. She looked for the swords. Both lay far away across the room. As she mustered the strength to crawl toward them, the Dragon King staggered to his feet.

  “I’ll . . . kill . . . you!” Wheezes expelled each word from him. He lumbered toward Reiko.

  Through her mind flashed the knowledge that she would never reach the swords in time. But her will to survive heightened her perception. The Dragon King’s furious bellow, and the gunshots outside, roared in her ears; the candles on the altar shone dazzling bright. She saw the Dragon King’s naked body and crazed face with preter-natural, vivid clarity as he came at her. Time seemed to expand, slowing his approach. The teal kimono that lay on the floor along his path caught Reiko’s attention. The moment he stepped onto the kimono, she leapt up and lunged in a single fast, instinctive motion. She grabbed the edge of the kimono in both hands and yanked.

  The smooth silk cloth whipped out from under the Dragon King’s feet. Emitting a yowl, he flipped up in the air, his body horizontal and arms outspread for an instant. Then he crashed down. His head struck the floor with a thud. He lay immobile, his face frozen in blank surprise.

  Reiko felt her expression mimic his as she stood staring at him and her heart hammered with lingering panic. Her senses subsided to their normal intensity; time resumed its normal pace. Was the Dragon King dead, or stunned unconscious? Reiko rushed for the sword, intending to make sure he never rose.

  Just then, excited voices called from the lower story. Fresh panic beset Reiko. Footsteps pounded along the corridor beneath her. She mustn’t let the guards catch her. Quickly she donned the teal kimono and tied its sash. She picked up the long sword, then ran from the bedchamber into the anteroom. Now the men were hurrying up the stairs. Aware that she couldn’t get past them out the door, she raced onto the balcony.

  Wind tossed her hair; the dark trees and lake spread before her under the star-pricked sky. The guards reached the corridor outside the room.

  “Troops are crossing the lake in boats!” Ota shouted. “We’re under siege!”

  Reiko didn’t pause to wonder who the invaders were or worry about the danger of exiting from the balcony. She climbed over the rail, gripped the sword, then jumped. A short drop through a rush of darkness, and she crashed down into a bush. Rough, thorny branches enmeshed her. She tore herself loose. From above her came the guards’ exclamations in the palace: They’d found the Dragon King. She drew his sword, let its scabbard fall, and sped across the garden. By now, Ota must have figured out what had happened to his master; he’d have discovered she was missing. He knew where she would go. She had to get there before he did.

  The shouts and gunfire continued as Reiko hurried around the castle buildings. She heard rhythmic splashes from the lake, saw torchlights moving through the grounds. At last she located the familiar open passageway. She raced up it, into the building, and groped along the dim corridor. Her hand found the door. Panting, she yanked out the metal beam that secured the latches. She flung it aside and threw open the door.

  Inside the room, Lady Yanagisawa, Keisho-in, and Midori sat huddled together, outlined by moonlight that streamed through the window. They exclaimed at the sight of her—bruised, bloody, disheveled, holding the sword, and alone.

  “Reiko-san!” cried Midori. “What happened?”

  “There’s no time to explain,” Reiko said. “We must run!”

  31

  Reiko hurried through the castle grounds, carrying the sword and supporting Midori, who clutched the squalling baby as she toiled beside Reiko. Behind them, Lady Yanagisawa towed Keisho-in along. Lights moved in the gardens, flashed on ruins, and streaked across Reiko’s vision. The night reverberated with a tumult of arrows whizzing, men crashing through woods, and spurts of gunfire. The women scrambled out from the castle buildings. Ahead, past a crumbled wall, Reiko saw the lake glittering through a stand of trees, and the dark shape of the dock. But as she hastened her friends toward the boats, footsteps thundered from their right.

  “Hey, you! Stop!” Ota’s voice ordered.

  Aghast, Reiko saw Ota and another samurai speeding at her. Midori screamed. Reiko heard Lady Yanagisawa cry, “No!” She turned to see Keisho-in limping back toward the castle, and Lady Yanagisawa chasing her. Both women vanished into the grounds. Horrified to see her escape thwarted and panic disperse her friends, Reiko ran, tugging Midori, after the other two women. They wove around trees whose branches snagged them, and they tripped on weed-covered rubble. Reiko heard cries from Lady Yanagisawa and Keisho-in, but she couldn’t see them in the darkness. She also heard Ota and his partner trampling debris and panting in close pursuit.

  “Stay here and hide,” she whispered to Midori. She knew she was the one Ota most wanted to catch, and if they separated, maybe he would spare Midori.

  “No, don’t leave me!” Midori cried.

  But Reiko shook her friend loose and sped onward. The men followed her, as she’d hoped. She squeezed through shrubbery, darted around buildings. With her small size and quick agility, she gained distance from her pursuers. She turned a corner—and crashed smack into someone. Alarmed shrieks burst from them both. Then she recognized Lady Yanagisawa.

  “Reiko-san, I’m so glad I found you!” Lady Yanagisawa exclaimed. “But I’ve lost Lady Keisho-in.”

  As Reiko felt her heart sink at the thought of the shogun’s mother wandering alone, she heard the men coming. She and Lady Yanagisawa raced hand in hand through the night. Out of the castle the men chased them, into the forest. Fatigue dragged at Reiko’s legs. She grew breathless from exertion. Lady Yanagisawa moaned, clutching a cramp in her side. They staggered out from the forest. Before them, the high, ruined tower of the keep rose from its surrounding trees. The jagged segment of wall on the top story pointed at the moon.

  “I can’t run anymore.” Dropping Reiko’s hand, Lady Yanagisawa wheezed to a standstill.

  “Yes, you can,” Reiko urged. She heard crunching leaves and snapping branches: Their pursuers were coming. “Hurry!”

  A mewl of terror issued from Lady Yanagisawa. She faltered up the steps to the keep.

  “No!” Reiko cried. “We mustn’t let them trap us inside!”

  Such panic gripped Lady Yanagisawa that rational thought fled her. All she wanted was shelter where she could rest and hide from the enemy. She stumbled through the portals of the keep. The dark, damp-smelling room enclosed her. She saw Reiko running toward her up the steps.

  “Where are you?” Reiko called, her voice fraught with urgency. She rushed into the room, and the darkness erased her from Lady Yanagisawa’s view. “Come out!”

  Though Lady Yanagisawa was thankful that Reiko hadn’t abandoned her, she didn’t answer. If she went, Reiko would make her run until those men caught and killed them. She ducked behind the old cannon.

  Ota’s partner staggered, panting, in through the doorway. Lady Yanagisawa glimpsed a swift motion behind him, and a flash of moonlight on steel. The samurai yowled. There was a loud thud as he fell on the floor. Lady Yanagisawa realized that Reiko had cut him down.

  “We have to go now,” Reiko hissed. “Ota is coming. He knows where we are. Quick, before he gets here!”

  Lady Yanagisawa didn’t want to leave her shelter. As her eyes adjusted to the dimness, she saw a shaft of faint light beaming down through the ceiling. Into it rose the stairway. Lady Yanagisawa clambered up the rickety slats. Through the second level she ascended. Vermin skittered and nesting doves cooed, disturbed by her noise. Reaching the third story, she heard Reiko’s rapi
d footsteps on the stairs, and Ota’s pounding after them. The racket echoed through the keep. Lady Yanagisawa climbed faster. She saw the moon, round and radiant, framed by the square hole above her. She flung herself up the last steps, out the hole, and onto the summit of the tower.

  Its uppermost story was exposed to the sky and wind, and littered with broken roof tiles, flaked plaster, and charred, splintered timbers. From the crumbling edges of the floor, the tower’s lower portion extended in a steep drop. On three sides spread the forest’s treetops; below the fourth side, the lake shimmered. The height dizzied Lady Yanagisawa. She crouched within the corner of the remaining wall.

  Reiko burst up through the hole. Ota followed, grabbing at Reiko’s skirts. She ran across the rubble-strewn floor and teetered at the brink. Pivoting, she raised her sword at Ota.

  He laughed and said, “If you’d rather die than surrender, that’s fine with me.” He drew his sword.

  Reality penetrated Lady Yanagisawa’s dazed fright. She’d brought Reiko up here; now Ota was going to kill Reiko. Horrified by the prospect of losing her only friend, Lady Yanagisawa watched Reiko swing her weapon. Ota parried. The clanging impact of their blades knocked Reiko perilously close to the tower’s edge. They whirled, lunged, and slashed as they skirted the perimeter. The moon illuminated Reiko’s determined, terrified face in flashes as she spun. Although she fought with skill and courage, Ota managed many more strikes than she did. He kept her busy parrying and dodging. He was using his greater strength to tire her out. Lady Yanagisawa realized that there was nobody to help Reiko except herself.

  She hefted a wooden beam in both hands. When Ota came near her, she swung with all her might. The beam hit the backs of his knees. They buckled under him. He staggered and pitched forward with a grunt of surprise. As he flung out his hands to break his fall, Reiko slashed her blade across his throat. A horrendous, liquid squeal came from him. Blood spurted, gleaming black in the moonlight. He collapsed facedown, dead.

  In the sudden stillness, Lady Yanagisawa and Reiko gazed across Ota’s corpse at each other. Reiko let her sword fall. She breathed in shallow, rapid puffs, her mouth open, shocked at their sudden victory. Lady Yanagisawa dropped the beam. She and Reiko hugged, sobbing in relief.

  “You saved my life,” Reiko said. “A million thanks!”

  Lady Yanagisawa basked in their closeness. For once she felt truly cherished. But Reiko suddenly withdrew from her.

  “Look!” Reiko cried, pointing toward the lake.

  Dots of light on the water surrounded the island like a glowing rosary of beads. As Lady Yanagisawa and Reiko watched, the lights moved closer, borne on small boats crammed with men. Lady Yanagisawa could see them rowing. Above the gunfire and yells that pierced the night, she heard the oars splashing.

  “They’re coming to rescue us!” Reiko hurried to the tower’s edge. Jubilant, she waved at the boats. “We’re saved!”

  Gladness filled Lady Yanagisawa but quickly drained away. Now that rescue was near, mixed feelings assailed her. She wanted badly to see her daughter, yet she experienced dismay at the thought of going home to Edo. There waited the familiar pain of her unrequited love for the chamberlain. There, Reiko would return to her adoring husband and perfect son. There, Reiko wouldn’t need Lady Yanagisawa. Now the ever-present jealousy of Reiko skewered Lady Yanagisawa’s heart.

  Reiko turned, still poised at the edge of the tower. Her beautiful, joyful face ignited the ever-present furnace of anger in Lady Yanagisawa. Possessed by irresistible impulse, she thrust her hands against Reiko’s chest and pushed.

  Surprise jolted Reiko as her feet faltered off the tower and she listed backward over the edge. She flung out her arms, trying to regain her balance. Lady Yanagisawa’s face, twisted with cruel, gleeful triumph, hovered over her for a moment. Then Reiko was falling through empty space, arms and legs flailing. The tower wall rushed upward past her horrified eyes. A scream tore from her. Then she hit the lake.

  The tremendous splash against her back knocked the breath from her lungs. Cold water swirled around Reiko as she plunged through its depths. Its roar filled her ears; its turbulent blackness blinded her. As she bobbed up, her heart hammered with panic, and she fought the urge to inhale. She beat her hands and pumped her legs against the water, trying to reach air. Her long hair, sleeves, and skirt entangled her.

  She couldn’t believe Lady Yanagisawa had pushed her off the tower! After everything they’d gone through together, Lady Yanagisawa’s ill will had once again prevailed over their friendship.

  Reiko’s head broke the surface. She gulped a huge breath. The moon and stars glittered through the water that streamed down over her eyes. The tower loomed above her; the world rocked with her frantic struggles to keep afloat. How she wished she knew how to swim! Her thrashing produced not the slightest motion across the short distance to the island. As she began to weaken, she saw the tiny figure of Lady Yanagisawa, standing high up on the tower, watching her.

  “Help!” Reiko cried.

  Lady Yanagisawa vanished from sight. Reiko wished she’d been imprisoned with anyone else in the world except that demented woman. She’d felled the Dragon King and escaped his palace, only to be attacked by the ally that circumstances had forced her to trust. Now she strained to keep her head in the air, gurgling and spitting the water that washed over her face. Helplessness overwhelmed her. Unless a miracle happened, she would drown, and her spirit would join the real, legendary Dragon King in his palace at the bottom of the sea.

  “Somebody just jumped from that tower.” As Sano crossed the lake in the boat he shared with Detectives Inoue and Arai, he leaned over the prow for a better look at the tower, where the plummeting figure and shrill cry had caught his attention. He squinted at the water near the tower’s submerged base, where he’d heard the splash.

  A thunderous premonition struck him. His heart began thudding; wild excitement surged in him.

  “Row over there,” he ordered, pointing at the splashes that still rippled the lake.

  Inoue and Arai obeyed. The boat pulled ahead of the flotilla approaching the island. When they reached the spot where the figure had dropped, it had sunk below the surface. Sano reached into the water. His groping fingers found and grasped long hair. He pulled. Up came the head of a woman. She blinked water from terrified eyes; she wheezed through her gaping mouth. Her arms waved within the billowy folds of the patterned kimono she wore.

  “Reiko-san!” exclaimed Sano.

  As her gaze focused and she recognized him, Reiko moaned and clutched at Sano. He and Detective Inoue hauled her, drenched and dripping, into the boat. Filled with joy, he caught her in a tight embrace.

  “Thank the gods you’re alive,” he said in a voice thick with emotion.

  Reiko sobbed with relief, shivered from the cold. “This is a miracle!”

  “You took a dangerous risk by jumping from that tower,” Sano said. “You could have been killed.”

  “I didn’t jump,” Reiko said between chattering teeth. “She pushed me.”

  Sano removed his cloak and wrapped it around her. “Who did?” “Lady Yanagisawa.” Hysterical laughter bubbled from Reiko. “She did me a favor, and she doesn’t know it.”

  “What are you talking about?” Sano said, fearful that the near-drowning had addled his wife.

  “Never mind. We have to save Lady Keisho-in and Midori.”

  Another boat neared theirs. From it Chamberlain Yanagisawa called, “SMsakan Sano! What’s going on?” His face registered surprise as he beheld Reiko. “I see you’ve found your wife.” He said to her, “Where is Lady Keisho-in?”

  “We got separated,” Reiko said. “The last time I saw her, she was in the castle grounds.”

  Yanagisawa ordered his men to row him around the island to the castle. Their boat sped away. Others were reaching shore, the troops disembarking. The siege had begun. Reiko turned to Sano. “I left Midori in the grounds, too. We must find her.”

  While Detec
tives Inoue and Arai rowed their boat after the chamberlain, Reiko wrung out her wet hair. Sano said, “Where is Dannoshin?” Reiko looked puzzled. “The man who kidnapped you,” Sano clarified.

  “Oh. I didn’t know his name,” Reiko said, averting her gaze. “How did you discover who he is? How did you find this place?”

  Sano summarized the events that had led up to his arrival. Reiko listened without comment, distracted by her own thoughts. “Did Dannoshin hurt you?” Sano said anxiously.

  Though Reiko shook her head, Sano knew something was wrong, but he didn’t press for an explanation. Right now, it was enough to have her back alive and apparently uninjured. And they had work to do.

  Their boat rounded the island and drew near the castle buildings. “Have you seen Dannoshin?” Sano said.

  After a moment’s hesitation, Reiko nodded. “He was in the palace. I’ll show you where.”

  Chamberlain Yanagisawa, accompanied by six bodyguards, hastened in the castle gate. Their lanterns illuminated the path through the overgrown garden, then the dingy, vine-choked palace and its gaping doorway. Although the sounds of shooting, scuffles, and clanging blades multiplied as the invaders stormed the island, an unnatural stillness cloaked the palace.

  “Let’s reconnoiter the area,” Yanagisawa told his men.

  As they stole around the castle, watching for signs of life, Yanagisawa’s pulse accelerated and urgency fevered him. His purpose had evolved beyond rescuing Lady Keisho-in and scoring a point with the shogun. He needed more than to save his lover from execution. General Isogai’s refusal to obey his orders had revealed the disturbing fact that he’d lost control of the army. Tens of thousands of Tokugawa soldiers would ally with Lord Matsudaira, Lord Kii, Priest Ryuko, and his other foes. Rescuing Keisho-in had therefore become a matter of survival. Success would allow him to maintain his hold on the shogun and country long enough to rebuild his power base. Failure would slide him farther down the slippery slope toward ruin.