The Iris Fan

by Laura Joh Rowland

  “Do you know Lord Mori?” Masahiro asked.

  “Slightly,” Sano said.

  Lord Mori had been a suspect in that long-ago murder that Sano had investigated. Everybody was acting as if everything were normal. All the while, Reiko was caught in a nightmare deeper and more real than when she’d gone to the castle to see Lady Nobuko.

  “Yanagisawa’s messenger said you would be coming.” The sentry opened the gate and said with cool courtesy, “Welcome to you and your people.”

  Surprise joined the horror, nausea, and panic that gripped Reiko. “Yanagisawa got us invited here? He’s friends with Lord Mori?”

  “That’s right.” Sano dismounted and told his household, “Get inside.”

  “But why would Yanagisawa protect us?” Masahiro asked.

  “He and I are allies now,” Sano said.

  It was an alliance made in hell. But Reiko had more immediate cause for objection. “I can’t go in there!” she cried.

  Sano grabbed her shoulders, brought his face close to hers, and said urgently, “I know why you don’t want to, but this is the only place that would take us in. The people who hurt you aren’t there. Go in or you’ll be arrested!” He pushed Reiko.

  As she stumbled with Midori and the children into a courtyard, she retched. Only water mixed with bile came up; she’d been too anxious to eat today. Mori troops loitered outside the barracks and around the inner gate to the mansion. She wiped her mouth on her sleeve and kept her head down, afraid someone would recognize her. More memories fed the panic that squeezed her chest; she couldn’t breathe. She’d been pregnant with Akiko when she’d been framed for murder here. Had she not been exonerated, they both would have died.

  Sano and his few retainers and Masahiro led in their horses. He asked a guard, “Has Yanagisawa arrived?”

  “Not yet.”

  “He’s staying here, too?” Reiko couldn’t believe this horror on top of everything else. “With his family?”

  “Yes.” Sano seemed even more uncomfortable than the occasion warranted. He glanced around, as if seeking something to distract her. “Look—here’s your father.”

  Magistrate Ueda rode through the gate with Detective Marume. His stout figure bounced on a horse laden with bulging saddlebags. He cradled a little potted bonsai pine tree in one arm. Akiko ran to him, calling, “Grandpa!”

  He handed her the pine tree and grunted as he climbed off the horse. “This is my favorite. I didn’t want to leave it behind.” Tatsuo and Chiyoko danced around him. Shunned by their own relatives, they’d adopted him as their substitute grandfather. He patted their heads, hugged Akiko, then greeted Sano and Reiko.

  Reiko clung to her father, a source of comfort. He put his arm around her, but he didn’t seem to notice that she was upset or recall what had happened to her inside this estate. “Well.” He looked around with lively interest. His topknot was white, he was short of breath, and his mind wasn’t as sharp as it had been before his retirement. “This is a nice change.” He was happy to be in the thick of the action.

  “We all got away just in time,” Marume said. “On our way here I ran into a friend of mine from the army. He warned me that Lord Ienobu’s sent troops after us.”

  From the street came the sound of hooves and footsteps pounding, men yelling. In the distance a war trumpet made from a giant seashell blared like the voice of a sea monster. Reiko heard Yanagisawa shout, “Open up! Let us in, damn it!”

  Into the courtyard galloped Yanagisawa and Yoshisato on horseback, then their mounted troops and two gangsters on foot. An oxcart carried in three women wearing hooded cloaks. One was Yoshisato’s mother. The others clung to each other, a homely older woman pressing a younger one’s face against her bosom. She gazed at Reiko with flat, expressionless eyes.

  “Lady Yanagisawa. Kikuko.” The last people in the world Reiko wanted to see. The gate slammed shut. She was trapped in here with these two who’d tried to kill her and Masahiro. They’d all died and reunited in hell.

  The war trumpet blared louder. The children covered their ears. Distant hoofbeats escalated to a rolling thunder. Their rhythm broke into splatters and stomps as the legion halted on the slushy road outside the estate. “It’s the Tokugawa army!” called a soldier in one of the fire-watch towers that rose from within the estate on wooden stilts. “They’re surrounding us!”

  Reiko’s horror worsened as she realized that she had more to fear than Lady Yanagisawa, Kikuko, and the memories that the Mori estate harbored.

  The soldier in the fire-watch tower yelled, “They’re surrounding other estates, too!”

  Voices clamored outside as Lord Mori’s troops faced the army. A sentry at the gate shouted, “What do you want?”

  “Yanagisawa, Yoshisato, and Sano,” replied the army’s spokesman. “We have orders to arrest them and their people.”

  Reiko, Midori, and the children gathered fearfully around Sano, Masahiro, Marume, and Magistrate Ueda. Yanagisawa called, “We’re not coming out!”

  A pause, then, “We have a message for Lord Mori.”

  In the courtyard, the daimyo’s troops muttered and agitated. Reiko supposed they didn’t know what to do; there had never been a situation like this in their lifetime.

  Yanagisawa took charge. “Go get Lord Mori.”

  Troops scrambled to obey. Reiko heard garbled commands from nearby estates—the same thing was happening there. The gate that led to the mansion opened. Into the courtyard marched guards with huge, fierce dogs on chains. The dogs bared sharp teeth as they barked. Akiko smiled at them. Chiyoko squealed in fright; Midori drew her and Tatsuo close. The guards accompanied Lord Mori Enju, daimyo of Suwo and Nagato provinces. He was much the same as when Reiko had last seen him eleven years ago. In his midthirties now, he still had a tall, lithe build and fine features. Cool and self-possessed, he seemed untroubled by the uproar. His gaze alit on Reiko. She wished the ground would open up and swallow her. She felt as naked and exposed as on that day eleven years ago. But Lord Mori looked right through her. If he remembered that he’d once accused her of murder, she couldn’t tell.

  He acknowledged Sano and Yanagisawa with a curt nod, then called through the gate, “What is Lord Ienobu’s message?”

  A dark, cylindrical object flew in over the wall and landed on the ground near Lord Mori. It was a black lacquer scroll container. He picked it up, opened it, read the scroll, and frowned. “Lord Ienobu is stripping me of my title. He’s taking over my province.” His cold anger reminded Reiko of a burn from touching ice. “The army is here to confiscate my property. He’s sent the same message to the other daimyo who don’t want him to become shogun.”

  His men exclaimed in outrage. Lord Ienobu’s action would make them rōnin. Their protests were echoed by those from other estates where the message had been delivered.

  Yoshisato said to Yanagisawa, “That was a great idea you had, seizing control of the provinces. Too bad it’s Lord Ienobu carrying it out.”

  “Don’t surrender,” Yanagisawa said fiercely to Lord Mori.

  “I have no intention of surrendering.” Lord Mori called out, “Here’s my reply to Lord Ienobu.” He hurled the scroll over the wall, then addressed his men in a loud voice that would carry to the soldiers in the fire-watch towers. “We’ll resist. So must everyone else. If we all do, Lord Ienobu can’t take us. Spread the word!”

  “Resist! Resist!” The cry rang through the air, taken up by other soldiers in towers at other estates. Outside, yells arose as the army tried to force its way to gates and daimyo troops rallied to protect their masters. Lady Yanagisawa enfolded Kikuko in her arms. Magistrate Ueda clutched his bonsai. Taeko clung to Masahiro, whose eyes shone with excitement. Reiko, with Midori and the children, couldn’t believe this was happening. She wanted to shut her eyes, scream, dig her fingernails into her arms, and wake herself up from this insane nightmare.

  “Fire!” Lord Mori shouted to the archers on his roofs.

  They and the archers
at other estates let loose a barrage of arrows. The army yelled, then the commotion outside quieted. Lord Mori said, “They’ll be sending messengers to tell Lord Ienobu what’s happening. They’ll wait for his orders.”

  Yanagisawa smiled with satisfaction. “If he thought we would go down without a fight, he’s in for a surprise.”

  Lord Mori nodded and turned to Sano. “Forgive my bad manners. I welcome you and your family to my humble home.” He didn’t mention the murder investigation during which he and Sano and Reiko had clashed.

  Sano bowed. “Many thanks.”

  Lord Mori’s cool gaze included Yanagisawa. “This may be a long standoff. You might as well get your people settled. I’m giving you guest quarters in the same wing of my house. It seems appropriate.”

  This was no nightmare. It really was hell. Reiko looked at Sano, aghast that they would be living in close proximity to Yanagisawa and his family. And there was apparently even more to the situation than she’d thought. “What does he mean?”

  Yanagisawa smiled with sardonic amusement at Sano. “I gather you haven’t told her yet. Now would be the time.”

  * * *

  “TOLD ME WHAT?” Reiko asked.

  She and Sano were in the guest quarters, a series of rooms built around a garden and connected by covered corridors to the daimyo’s mansion, a large, half-timbered structure with multiple wings and peaked tile roofs, mounted on a granite foundation. The space was as large as their whole house, furnished with clean, fresh-smelling tatami, elegant landscape murals, and well heated by charcoal braziers under the floor. Akiko, Tatsuo, and Chiyoko happily explored. Sano busied himself with stowing his clothes and swords in the cabinet.

  His gut clenched.

  The moment he’d been dreading was here. Just when he’d hoped things between him and Reiko were improving, now this.

  He knew he’d done a terrible thing by bringing her here. The sick pallor of her face told him how terrible. This was exactly the wrong place and time to tell her about his deal with Yanagisawa.

  Masahiro dumped his own baggage on the floor. “What did Yanagisawa mean?”

  Sano faced his wife and son. His stomach felt sick, his heart heavy as lead. “Sit down.”

  Reiko ran to him. “You’re scaring me. Out with it!”

  This was the hardest thing Sano had ever had to do. He would rather disembowel himself. “Yanagisawa wanted assurance that I wouldn’t betray him. He demanded that we cement our alliance with—” Sano swallowed. He forced himself to go on. “A marriage between his daughter and Masahiro.”

  Reiko and Masahiro smiled and frowned as if he’d made a bad joke. Their smiles vanished; their frowns deepened. “You didn’t agree?” Reiko asked. Sano swallowed again. Her eyes and Masahiro’s widened in alarm. “Did you?”

  Sano wished that one of the many people who’d tried to kill him during the past twenty years had succeeded. “I agreed.” He watched his wife’s and son’s stricken faces. He forced himself not to run away like a coward. “After the wedding, Masahiro and Kikuko will live with Yanagisawa.”

  Masahiro shouted, “No!”

  “How could you?” Reiko turned from side to side, caught between puzzlement and horror. “You and Yanagisawa are enemies, and you know Kikuko tried to kill Masahiro when he was little.”

  “I won’t do it!” Masahiro cried.

  Reiko pointed to the door. “Go tell Yanagisawa that Masahiro isn’t going to marry Kikuko. Offer him anything else but that!”

  “That’s what he wants.” More wretched than ever, Sano said, “It’s settled.”

  Masahiro shouted, “I’m not marrying anyone but Taeko!”

  “Why are you giving in so easily?” Reiko demanded.

  “What did Yanagisawa say he’ll do unless I marry Kikuko?” Masahiro asked.

  They were too perceptive and too strong-willed. Sano couldn’t put anything over on them or make them accept his decision without argument. “He knows about Dr. Ito.”

  Reiko and Masahiro stared at him with appalled enlightenment. Sano didn’t need to say more. They were among the few people who knew about his illegal business at Edo Morgue. They also knew what would happen to them should Yanagisawa make the secret public.

  Reiko snatched up her baggage. “Masahiro, we’re leaving.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “Someplace else.” Reiko glared at Sano. “You let Yanagisawa find out about Dr. Ito, and I’m not letting our son pay the price!”

  Sano knew she was angry at him for more than this fiasco, which was only the latest in the series of troubles he’d brought upon his family. “You can’t go. We’re surrounded by the army. If you leave the estate, they’ll arrest you and deliver you straight to Lord Ienobu.”

  Reiko groaned in agony and frustration. “This is all because of your bullheaded honor! You’ve sold our son to it!” She flung her bundles at Sano. He didn’t try to dodge. They hit his chest; he welcomed the punishment he deserved.

  “You betrayed us! I’ll never forgive you!” Reiko screamed. “If we get out of this alive, I’m leaving you. I don’t want to be your wife anymore!”

  She knelt and moaned into her hands. Masahiro’s face was a tragic mask. Nobody needed to tell him it was his duty to honor his father’s agreement, marry Kikuko, and protect his family. Masahiro knew that Bushido demanded filial piety. Sano had often struggled with Bushido’s harsh dictates, and now he’d used them to bind his son.

  “All right,” Masahiro said in a hard voice fissured with pain. “I’ll marry her. When is the wedding?”

  “Tomorrow.” Sano stood in the ruins of his marriage and his relationship with his son. Knowing he’d destroyed all chance of reconciliation was a desolate, lonely feeling.

  He heard a sob and looked toward the open door. There stood Taeko, biting the back of her hand, her eyes filled with tears. She’d overheard the conversation. She turned and fled.

  * * *

  TAEKO RAN DOWN the corridor, crying so hard she couldn’t see where she was going. Her worst fear had come true: Masahiro was going to marry someone else.

  He called her name. She ran faster, blindly, outside to a cold garden of boulders, snow, and twisted, leafless shrubs. She fell to her knees by a boulder, leaned against it, and wept. Masahiro knelt beside her and awkwardly patted her shoulder.

  “Go away!” Taeko could barely speak through the sobs that erupted deep within her and tore at her stomach, lungs, and throat on their way up. It seemed that her body, in its agony, was trying to expel her broken heart through her mouth.

  “I’m sorry you had to find out this way.” Masahiro’s voice shook. “I wish I could have told you myself.”

  As if that were the only thing wrong! She turned to him and cried, “You broke your promise!”

  “Let me explain.” Masahiro’s face was blurred by her tears, filled with his own sorrow.

  “There’s nothing to explain! You’re dumping me to marry Yanagisawa’s daughter!”

  “I’m not. I love you. I want to marry you, but I have to marry Kikuko or my family will die. So will yours.”

  Taeko understood that. She knew he was trapped and he was unhappy about it, but she said, “I don’t care! You said we would marry, and now we aren’t going to.” And the baby was due in a few months. She sobbed harder. “What am I supposed to do?”

  Masahiro grabbed her hand. “Listen.” Taeko tried to pull away, but he held tight. “After I’m married, you can be my concubine.”

  Married men often had concubines; it was the custom. If she were Masahiro’s concubine, she could live with him and the baby would be recognized as his and supported by him, and his wife would have no right to object. But the very idea revolted Taeko.

  “No!” she cried.

  “It will be all right,” Masahiro tried to soothe her. “Our parents will be upset, but they can’t stop us.”

  “I don’t care about them,” Taeko said, angry because he’d misunderstood her objection. “I wo
n’t share you with your wife!” His wife would have all the privileges of marriage. Her children would be legitimate, his official heirs. Taeko and her child would be second-class members of his household. And her heart sickened at the thought of Masahiro making love to another girl.

  “Yanagisawa’s daughter will be my wife in name only,” Masahiro said. “I won’t touch her. I won’t even look at her.”

  Taeko’s resistance started to crumble. She wanted so much to be with Masahiro, and this awful compromise was better than nothing. “Do you promise?”

  “I promise.” Masahiro’s eyes overflowed with sincerity. “It’s you I love. My being married to somebody else won’t change anything between us.” He clasped her hands to his chest. “I’ll never love anyone but you as long as I live.”

  She had to trust him. She had no choice. She nodded and whispered, “All right.”

  Masahiro dropped her hands. “Here comes your mother. I’d better get lost.”

  He ran off. Confused and forlorn, Taeko leaned against the boulder, shivering in the cold. Footsteps crunched the snow. Warm, soft fabric draped her. Her mother was wrapping her in a padded cloak.

  Midori put her arms around Taeko and said, “I’m so sorry.” Her voice was gentler than Taeko had heard in a long time. “I know you thought I was being mean when I separated you from Masahiro, but I was just trying to protect you from something like this.” She’d apparently heard about his engagement to Yanagisawa’s daughter. “I didn’t want you to be hurt.”

  Her unexpected sympathy made Taeko cry again. Midori rocked her like a baby. “I know what it’s like being in love with the wrong man,” Midori said. “It happened to me when I was about your age.”

  Taeko was surprised. Her mother never talked about her youth.

  “My father didn’t want me to marry your father,” Midori went on. “My father is a daimyo. Yours was only a police patrol officer. But your father and I fell in love, and I was desperate for us to marry.” She sighed. “I was pregnant, with you.”

  Shocked, Taeko pulled back and stared up at her mother.

  “Yes.” Midori smiled sadly, shamefaced. “We were so much in love that we couldn’t help ourselves.”