This was certainly something I had not known before, since I did not usually concern myself with provincial politics. As matters now stood, the threat to the capital was not as far-fetched as I had originally believed.
“Possibly, Highness. It’s also possible the creature’s presence at the Widow Tamahara’s was in some way meant to benefit the Abe cause itself, yet how they would so benefit escapes me at the moment. I have no reason to believe Lord Tenshin placed the creature there because of me. I doubt he even knew I existed at the time, and certainly he had no reason to care if he did know. So we know only that it was there, but we do not know why. The answer may be critical.”
“Then you will need to find the answer within the week,” Prince Kanemore said. “Yoriyoshi needs men with experience fighting these creatures and their masters, and I need representatives to assess the true situation in Mutsu. I will provide you with the proper credentials, and tomorrow you will meet Yoriyoshi and his son. Yoriyoshi will proceed with a separate force day after tomorrow, but his son Yoshiie will delay a week until all the reinforcements are ready and then follow. Neither will give battle until they join forces with the governor’s clan, the Kiyohara, in Dewa province. When Yoshiie is ready, I want you both to travel with his forces.”
“There is more to this, I think,” I said. “Am I wrong, Highness?”
“No, you are not. What I’ve told you is true, so far as it goes—the shikigami are of great concern, but my greatest concern is for Lord Yoshiie’s safety. This is the real reason you will accompany him.”
“Yoriyoshi is the clan chieftain,” Kenji pointed out.
“True. But it is Yoshiie who is the heart of the Minamoto cause. He’s become something of a hero and rallying point for the clans who are inclined to oppose the Abe. Yoriyoshi is shrewd and fearless, but he is also an old man. Yoriyoshi’s loss would damage the Emperor’s cause, but losing his son would cripple it. My primary charge to you is to keep Lord Yoshiie alive at all costs.”
I took a breath. “Understood.”
“Well,” Kenji said, “I’ve never been to Mutsu.”
“No matter,” I said. “I have no doubt you’ll make your reputation known there soon enough.”
We were given rooms at the Sixth Ward mansion since, under the circumstances, Prince Kanemore wanted Kenji and myself close to hand. I had no objection, though I knew this arrangement no doubt interfered with Kenji’s planned nocturnal activities. He did grumble a bit but acquiesced, as there was really no choice. Our lodgings were not exactly peaceful, however. The mansion buzzed like a hornets’ nest with servants and bushi and couriers scurrying about on some errand or another. With so many people passing through the mansion, it occurred to me that, if someone of malign intent wanted to place either a magical or human agent within the compound, it would not be very difficult to do.
There was much about the situation which concerned me, and on the following morning I planned to take steps to either calm my fears or clarify them. For this particular evening, however, I had other plans. The rising moon was only just past its new crescent, for which I was grateful. No doubt a fuller moon would have required a moon-gazing party from the inhabitants of the mansion—even under their present circumstances—but when I walked out on the veranda long after sunset, I had both it and the gardens to myself.
Well, myself and one other.
I went out onto the grounds and found a convenient boulder to rest on about halfway between the veranda and the north wall. “I gather you want a word with me,” I said aloud to the darkness.
The foxfire appeared first. Small glowing lanterns—without the lantern part. Just little dancing flames which appeared around an area of greater shadow near the chrysanthemum bushes by the north wall. Their presence didn’t announce Lady Kuzunoha, since I already knew she was there. This made me wonder why she bothered with the flames. Despite our shared experiences, it was not likely I’d forget her true nature. Yet it seemed she wanted to remind me, and for a moment I expected her to appear in her true fox-demon form. But when she stepped out the shadows, she was in the human form I remembered—Lady Kuzunoha, once the primary wife of the leader of the kuge branch of the Abe Clan, Lord Abe no Yasuna. I knew, as a high-level fox demon, she could take almost any form she desired, but the one she chose was as I remembered her. A little older, perhaps—there was now a touch of gray in her long black hair—but no less beautiful.
The foxfire winked out and she approached to within ten feet from me and kneeled. “Greetings, Lord Yamada.”
I stood and gave a bow. “And to you, Lady Kuzunoha. It . . . it is good to see you again.”
She looked at me and smiled a little wistfully. “You may not think so once our meeting is done. I’m afraid I must once more place myself in your debt.”
“Are you in some sort of trouble?”
“My trouble is one you well know, nor has it changed since our first meeting. It is for this reason I have come to you. While I do not pretend to know what your involvement in this gathering of bushi may be, you must understand what is happening—this force is being mustered to punish the Abe Clan.”
“This was my understanding as well,” I said. While I realized it was possible Lady Kuzunoha and I might be on opposite sides of the matter, I didn’t see any point in denying the obvious. Lady Kuzunoha’s interest guaranteed she would discover what she needed to discover, her discretion about my own part notwithstanding. “But what has this to do with Lord Yasuna? He is of the Court branch of the Abe. I have no seen no indication they are involved.”
“Their name involves them, and the conspicuous fear at Court isn’t bound by such nice distinctions. Lord Yasuna is a hostage in this very mansion.”
This was something I had not known, and I said as much.
“The Emperor’s government insisted Lord Yasuna be held as assurance of the Court branch’s good behavior. Prince Kanemore assumed responsibility for him,” she said.
The panic at Court must have been greater than I had imagined. “The kuge branch of the Abe have no forces at their disposal—or at least no more than a few dozen bushi and those mostly for show. The only real threat they could pose . . . ”
I stopped, and Lady Kuzunoha let out a sigh. “You see it now. They are not a military threat, but their presence and connections at Court mean they could relate every facet of the Emperor’s forces’ plans and strategy to their kinsmen in Mutsu if they so chose.”
“I have met your former husband,” I said. “I cannot imagine him being so great a fool. Except, possibly, where you are concerned.”
Lady Kuzunoha smiled a very faint smile and blushed faintly as she did so. “But the one does not change the other.”
I could see the potential threat, and from a tactical viewpoint it made perfect sense. Yet I could not see this benefit as being worth the risk of making an enemy of Lord Yasuna. He had a reputation as a wise counselor and a discreet confidant and friend, and those two attributes alone made him more of an influence at Court than even his family connections would suggest.
“This is indeed troubling, but I cannot believe Lord Yasuna is in any great danger. There are no charges against him, nor is he in the hands of his enemies. Prince Kanemore’s custody of him is enough of a guarantor of his safety.”
“For now,” Lady Kuzunoha said. “But when the Minamoto reinforcements leave for Mutsu province, he will be with them. What about then?”
I let out a slow breath. “Would you mind telling me how you knew all this?”
“Oh, please, Lord Yamada . . . there are advantages to being a shape-shifter, and there is very little the servants do not know. My husband . . . my former husband, has few enemies, but this is not the same as none at all. Someone at Court, either out of fear or spite, persuaded the Emperor my lord has more influence with his distant relations than he really has. I can’t imagine Lord Abe no Sadato caring a rotten plum about Lord Yasuna’s safety, but if the Minamoto believe otherwise . . . ”
She didn’t finish. She didn’t have to. “What is it you want me to do?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t know what you can do. But whatever happens, I would like you to be Lord Yasuna’s friend. He may need one.”
I smiled. “I can do that.”
We both heard voices. Distant but coming closer. Lady Kuzunoha rose. “You have my thanks, Lord Yamada, and my trust in your discretion, meaning you will not mention this meeting to Lord Yasuna.”
“It is never my inclination to reopen an old wound,” I said.
Lady Kuzunoha looked grim. “But there is one thing I probably should mention—I, too, will be traveling to Mutsu, and if the Minamoto harm my lord in any way, I will destroy them. I will personally tear out the throat of Yoriyoshi, his son, and any other progeny either may have. I will not stop until the Minamoto cease to exist as a clan. I promise you this.” She turned to go.
“Lady Kuzunoha—” I began, but she turned back and smiled at me. It was perhaps the saddest smile I had ever seen.
“Lord Yamada, I am as my nature dictates, and I will do what my nature and my own inclinations compel me to do. This is no more than fair warning. I feel I owe you that much courtesy, even if there had been no debt between us.”
In a moment she was gone as if she had never been there. Two slightly inebriated bushi came stomping through the garden on their way to the mansion. I watched them go.
Lady Kuzunoha has not forgotten what she is. She just made certain that I would not forget as well.
At least now I understood the foxfire.
Our formal audience with Lord Yoriyoshi was scheduled for the following afternoon. When Kenji and I arrived at the audience hall, we found Prince Kanemore and Lord Yoriyoshi sitting formally on the dais. Fortunately Prince Kanemore had anticipated my and Kenji’s relatively limited wardrobe and had seen fit to loan us clothing worthy of the occasion. My green brocade hitatare was the finest I had ever worn, and Kenji looked almost respectable with his freshly-shaven head and new surplice. Both Prince Kanemore and Lord Yoriyoshi were as resplendent as one would expect.
Lord Yoriyoshi’s tachi stood beside him on a black lacquered stand brushed with gold. It was little inferior to Prince Kanemore’s own weapon. While Prince Kanemore had the habit of keeping his sword close to hand, it was an unusual custom for a member of the royal family and revealed the prince’s martial inclinations. For Lord Yoriyoshi, keeping his weapon on display was no more or less than what one would expect. I had, however, expected Yoriyoshi’s son Yoshiie to be present as well, and found myself a little disappointed when he was not. As Prince Kanemore had noted, the young man’s exploits during the war were already taking on the color of legend, and I was curious about him, as I was of his father as well.
Prince Kanemore himself made the introductions, and Kenji and I bowed low.
“Lord Yamada, Prince Kanemore speaks very highly of you. I hope and trust his confidence is not misplaced.”
“As do I, my lord. My associate and I are at your service.”
Lord Yoriyoshi studied Kenji and myself as if he’d found some curious creature dwelling at the bottom of a horse trough. I did the same with, I hope, some objectivity. The leader of the Minamoto Clan was at this point in his early seventies, still strong and active, but the years were taking their toll. His thin face showed one scar, almost lost in the wrinkles, though his eyes were clear and focused. Even so, it was my understanding that, as the war dragged on, by necessity his son Yoshiie was assuming more and more of the command obligations in the field, while Lord Yoriyoshi had overall command of the expedition.
“I think we should drink to our success,” he said finally, and I almost winced. While saké no longer had the hold on me it once had, I had learned not to underestimate its power. Regardless, when the occasion called for a drink, I trusted myself to do what was necessary and no more.
A young male servant brought saké in a fine porcelain bottle and five cups, even though there were only four of us. Four was shi, and a symbol of death and therefore unlucky. As the servant approached the dais, Kenji’s posture stiffened and he glanced at me, but I signaled him to wait. Prince Kanemore and his guest were served first, and it was only my somewhat shaky faith in my understanding of the situation that kept me from leaping to the dais as Kenji had doubtless intended to do. I waited until Kenji and I were served before I raised my cup.
“To your health, Lord Yoriyoshi,” I said, shooting a sideways glance at Kenji who nodded almost imperceptibly. We both immediately dashed the contents of our cups into the face of the young servant, who expressed shock before turning into a writhing piece of paper, and then shriveling away.
Neither Prince Kanemore nor Lord Yoriyoshi, on the other hand, was shocked at all. I wasn’t surprised to see both men break into grins. Yoriyoshi took his fan and slapped it across his knee. “Well done. When you allowed the creature to approach the dais, I admit I had my doubts.”
“That did surprise me as well,” Prince Kanemore said. “Surely you would not have risked both our lives? For a moment I thought my confidence was misplaced.”
I bowed low to hide a smile. “I simply knew my own confidence had not been misplaced, Highness,” I said. “Would the Prince Kanemore I know be fooled by the presence of such a one on his own personal staff? I should say not, so the only logical conclusion I could draw was this was a test, and neither of you was in any danger.”
“Less a test and more a demonstration,” Prince Kanemore said. “And we do have our own magicians at need. Lord Yoriyoshi, are you satisfied?”
The old warrior grunted. “More than satisfied. Impressed, I should say. I gladly accept your offer of the assistance of these two gentlemen and shall so instruct my son.”
“If it is not impertinent to ask, when will we meet Lord Yoshiie?” Kenji asked.
“This evening,” Prince Kanemore said. “I would suggest you both get a little more rest between now and sunset.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
“My son,” Lord Yoriyoshi said, “likes to keep somewhat irregular hours.”
Considering the circumstances, a nap would not have been a bad idea, but there was no possibility of it. After giving the notion a fair chance, I finally rose and sought out Kenji. I found him lying on his back in his assigned space, staring at the ceiling.
“I see sleep is elusive for you, too.”
“A clean conscience and a relaxed frame of mind are the best aids to sleep, I’ve found,” Kenji said, “and since I seldom have the first, I have to depend upon the second. Today it has failed me.”
“Then forgive me for not making the situation any better.” I related my conversation with Lady Kuzunoha, including her final warning. Kenji sighed and swung himself into a sitting position.
“She really is the most charming creature when she chooses to be,” he said. “But she is a fox-demon, after all. I think it was kind of her to remind you.”
“She called it a fair warning, and I agree. But kind? In what way?”
“Because I think her fox-demon nature is something you are more inclined to overlook than I am.”
I would have answered harshly, but I knew there was some truth in what Kenji said. “I have great respect for Lady Kuzunoha,” I said. “But even if there were more to my feelings than respect, I know there is only room for one human being in her true affections. I am not that person.”
Kenji looked thoughtful. “You would be wise to keep remembering that, but since you mention the one human she loves, I did see Lord Yasuna here in the mansion earlier today. I did not realize he was a prisoner. He certainly didn’t act like one.”
I smiled. “It’s not as if Prince Kanemore would place him in a cage . . . unless he had to.”
Kenji looked disgusted. “Nevertheless, I must share your opinion of the matter—keeping Lord Yasuna as a hostage is worse than useless—it is dangerous, and Lady Kuzunoha’s potential wrath is only part of that danger. He has many friends in and o
ut of the Imperial Court who would not forgive anyone who brought him to harm. There would be bloodshed before all is done.”
“Fear makes people do foolish things,” I said. “Though we have no authority over such choices, it is now our responsibility to make certain they do not lead to tragedy.”
“Such burdens,” Kenji said. “Once I was a simple monk, going where I would, peddling my spirit wards and charms, living as I thought I should. Then I had the misfortune to meet you.”
I grunted to keep from laughing. “If you’re trying to blame me for your lost innocence, Kenji-san, don’t waste your breath. That bit of washing fell off the pole long before our first encounter.”
“Perhaps, but it feels better to blame someone else. So, then . . . ” Kenji rose and slid aside the screen separating his temporary lodging from the outside veranda. “Sunset. Time for us to go meet the famous Lord Yoshiie.”
Due to the lateness of the hour, we had expected to meet Lord Yoriyoshi’s son at the Sixth Ward Mansion, but instead a servant led us the east gate, where we found an escort of a dozen mounted archers and five saddled mounts waiting for us. Prince Kanemore arrived a few minutes later in the company of a man I easily recognized.
Lord Yasuna.
I had not seen him in nearly ten years, but he had not changed a great deal. He was older than I, perhaps in his late forties now, but he carried the years well, for all that he appeared a bit somber. He was a very handsome man, the truth be told, but I knew this was not what had led Lady Kuzunoha to him. Their relationship had started with a random act of kindness in saving what he had thought was an ordinary fox from a pack of hunters. In time her gratitude had turned into something more. Yet also in time Lady Kuzunoha’s true nature had proved impossible to conceal, and Lord Yasuna’s clan would have been embarrassed had the truth been revealed, so they were forced to part. The woman I had loved was dead, and I knew I would grieve for the rest of my life. Lady Kuzunoha’s love was alive and well, and yet, despite their mutual desire for matters to be otherwise, they could not be together. I was not sure whose pain was the greater.
Yamada Monogatari: The War God's Son Page 4