Yamada Monogatari: The War God's Son

by Richard Parks

  I considered other possibilities. One was that he had decided to escape and join his distant relations in Mutsu, but the northeast countryside was crawling with Minamoto scouts. There was simply no way he could evade them. Southwest to the capital? More likely, but there were pickets on all the roadways now, and someone would have seen him. Besides, it would have been extremely foolish to attempt the roads alone, and I knew Lord Yasuna to be no fool. But just to satisfy myself, I left the temple grounds long enough to confer with the guards and anyone present who might have noticed a lone nobleman wandering about. As I expected, no one had seen him.

  Strange. How could he have left without being caught or seen?

  When the answer came to me, I could have cursed myself for a fool. I ran to the back wall of the temple compound, leaving several startled priests in my wake, only to find one of the rope ladders hanging down over the wall. Either someone from the outside had entered, or someone had left. I made an educated guess as to which, and made a note to ask Yoshiie to either destroy the ladders or post a guard, but that last had to wait. I climbed up and over and back down into the ravine. I moved as cautiously as I dared, but there was no sound except the occasional call of a crow. There were fewer of the birds now, but they were still a common sight around the unfortunate temple. I looked but could not see where the call had come from. I kept moving all the way to the end of the ravine, and I was back at the beach.

  Lord Yasuna was there.

  He had found a rock to sit on about twenty feet from the surf and was staring out over the sea. The waves were steady and calm, but there were dark clouds on the horizon. I made my way down to the beach and walked up beside him, making no effort at stealth. He kept looking out over the water.

  “It seems we may have a storm coming,” I said.

  “If I were a braver man,” he said, “I would be gone before it arrives.”

  I took a slow breath, wondering how much honesty this conversation was capable of sustaining. There was no choice except to find out. “I don’t believe we’re speaking about the same thing, Lord Yasuna.”

  “Living is one storm after another, and as long as one does live, one cannot avoid them all,” he said

  “There are those,” I said, “who are concerned for your well-being.”

  “Why should they be? I am not. If I were a braver man . . . ” He didn’t finish.

  “You would have walked into the sea by now?” I asked.

  He finally looked at me. “Have you ever done something you’ve regretted, Lord Yamada? I mean truly regretted, to the core of your being?”

  I didn’t even need to pause to think. “Yes, Lord Yasuna. I have.”

  “How do you live with it? How do you make it right?”

  I considered all the things I could have said to him, all platitudes and hollow things I didn’t believe. When they were all dismissed, the only thing I had left to say was the risky, dangerous truth. “You cannot make it right, Lord Yasuna, because such things can never be undone.”

  “Then my only choice is to die,” Lord Yasuna said. “This was my own conclusion.”

  “And take your regret to the grave? How many more ages in hell would this require? No, Lord Yasuna, one has to live as deeply and as long as one can. It’s true the past cannot be changed, but the future is like blank paper and it lets you create something closer to your heart. You can work to lessen the suffering you have caused, heal the injuries you created. I do not know what your regret may be or how deeply you feel the weight of it, but I tell you this, as one with more regrets than I can count—whatever it is, you must find ways to make certain that as few people as possible pay the price for your mistake from this day forward. Only the living can do this. The dead have no part to play.”

  “You are very kind, Lord Yamada,” he said, after a few moments’ silence.

  I quickly dismissed the notion. “Lord Yasuna, there is no kindness in anything I have said to you, for I personally know how difficult such a path is to walk. Telling you to let the ocean tides take you would have likely been kinder.”

  He kept his silence for a while, and I kept my own. He finally turned to me again. “I will think about what you have said. For now, perhaps it would be best to return to the temple.”

  We walked together up the bluffs to the ravine and back toward the temple. I heard the crows calling again.

  “Don’t you think it’s strange?” Lord Yasuna asked.

  “What is strange?”

  “The crows,” he said. “Following us the way they have. Surely you noticed?”

  “I have,” I said. “Does the smell of death cling to us?”

  “Likely so,” he said. “Sometimes I think I can sense it upon me. Still, it is unusual behavior, don’t you think?”

  I did indeed. And with just a little more reflection, I was pretty certain I knew what Lord Abe no Yasuna’s regret was. I sincerely hoped I was wrong. When the time came, that idea would need to be tested, but now was not the time. I saw Lord Yasuna safely back into the temple compound and then climbed the rope rungs again myself, only this time I was very careful to cut each ladder loose and leave them all in a pile down in the ravine. No one else would be coming or going from that direction for the immediate future. That left only three gates to watch, which, in my current circumstances, were still far too many.

  I found the proof of this when I returned to our quarters to find Kenji and Mai both missing. A courier soon directed me to the main hall, where I found Kenji placing wards on all the doors and windows.

  “The guards would likely suffice, but it’s best to be safe,” he said.

  “Kenji-san, what’s happened?”

  “I destroyed a shikigami inside the compound not more than an hour ago. It had disguised itself as an abnormally large mamushi, but I knew what it was the moment I saw it.”

  I remembered to breathe again. “Well . . . a strange choice of disguise considering where we are—I’ve never seen many snakes this far north myself—but we’ve been expecting something of the sort, and a venomous snake is a natural for a shikigami assassin. Is Lord Yoshiie all right?”

  “Quite all right,” Kenji said grimly. “It seems the snake wasn’t after him in the first place.”

  “Not . . . ? But who was it after?”

  He looked at me. “Mai-chan.”

  For a moment I felt dizzy. “But . . . that makes no sense! Is she . . . ?” I couldn’t finish.

  “She is alive and lucky to be so,” Kenji said. “And you are right—it makes absolutely no sense. What would any of the onmyoji or Lord Sadato have to gain by harming Mai? I’m astonished they even know of her existence, but obviously one of them does.”

  At this point I was not surprised at anything Lord Sadato and his minions knew, but what did surprise and puzzle me as much as it did Kenji was why an attempt had been made on Mai’s life in the first place. “Can you tell me what happened?”

  “After you left, Mai followed me as I assisted the Shibata priests, but there was less that needed doing now, and we returned to our quarters. I don’t think Mai slept well last night, since she started yawning and withdrew to her room. Just as she did, I felt the presence of one of these creatures and started after her, but no sooner had she closed the screen than she screamed and threw it open again and ran into the hallway with this thing close behind her. It looked like a mamushi, as I said, but it was bigger than any such snake I’ve ever seen. Its fangs were as long as my thumbs! It ignored me and chased after her, but fortunately I was able to catch up and brain it with my staff before it caught the poor girl.” He pulled a battered piece of paper from a pouch on the ties of his robe. “Look at this.”

  It was clearly the remains of a shikigami but relatively crude compared to most of the ones I had seen lately. I studied the calligraphy carefully. “This reminds me of Lord Tenshin’s work, but it’s far too crude. Possibly one of Abe no Sadato’s lesser minions is responsible, or an apprentice to Tenshin.”

  Kenji
nodded. “That was my impression as well. The snake, not even considering its abnormal size, wasn’t very convincing as a living creature, but I have no doubt, if it had managed to bite Mai, she would be dead now. She’s under guard in one of the outbuildings until I’m done; then she’ll be returned to our quarters.”

  “I’ll need to report to Lord Yoshiie now, but as soon as we’re both able, we’d best check on her.”

  “Agreed.”

  It was only the work of a few moments to gain admittance to the temple hall and inform Lord Yoshiie that Lord Yasuna had been found and where. He accepted my explanation, which was the man had shown poor judgment in going off alone but had not intended to leave. Which, I knew, was not completely true but close enough to the truth to fit the situation. For my own part, I was relatively certain Lord Yasuna was no longer a threat to himself or others. Which did not mean the matter was entirely closed.

  “I can understand his melancholy,” Lord Yoshiie said. “One such as Lord Yasuna is a creature of the capital. This must all be very strange and unsettling to him. I do regret the necessity of his presence, but perhaps it will not be for very much longer. I have reliable reports from my father that the Abe are in some disarray.”

  “Forgive my asking, but do you have any indication as to what caused this disturbance among the Abe?”

  “Apparently an internal matter of some sort, yet I do not believe for a moment that Lord Sadato is ready to submit to the Emperor’s will.”

  Neither did I. The history of this conflict was one of pain and loss on both sides, and I fully expected it to end in the same manner, but that was mostly Lord Yoshiie’s concern. He personally, Lord Yasuna, my sister, and the surviving nuns were mine, and they were more than enough. I took my leave then and found Kenji again. “Let us go see Mai.”

  I hoped she would not blame me for not being there when she had been in danger, but she seemed genuinely glad to see both of us. She had been brought her mid-day meal under Kenji’s instructions, but there were portions waiting for us as well. Mai herself served us with very passable skill. Considering what had happened, she seemed remarkably undisturbed. I did notice her face seemed to grow more animated when Kenji spoke to her. Kenji noticed my noticing.

  “This started even before the snake,” he said. “I think I remind her of someone, someone who she considered a kindly and harmless old man Actually, Lord Yamada, I find her attitude a bit insulting.”

  “You’d best hope she keeps it, for your sake. Otherwise my sister will be after both of us with a very large cudgel. Regardless, you do realize Mai-chan can hear you?” I asked. “I wonder if she understands your implication.”

  Kenji grunted. “I know she can hear me, and I’m sure she does understand. She thinks it’s funny.”

  I was astonished to see Kenji was correct—Mai was smiling, although she’d clearly learned enough decorum from the nuns to hide her mouth with her hand as she did so. I hoped this was an indication of her further recovery, but time would tell.

  “I need to know more about the snake. I assume it got into her room through the shutters?”

  “There’s no other way it could have. I’m a fool for not warding our rooms yesterday, but it never occurred to me someone would send an assassin after us, with Lord Yoshiie the person here who matters.”

  “Not ‘us.’ Mai specifically. Besides, Lord Yoshiie has very loyal and dedicated guards both around the perimeters of his quarters and within. A shikigami so crudely made would have been spotted by any of them, especially since most of Yoshiie’s men have some experience with the creatures. I am forced to the conclusion this construction was never a serious threat to Lord Yoshiie, and therefore Lord Yoshiie was not its intended victim. Mai was. You said as much yourself.”

  “It could just as easily have entered our quarters as Mai’s, but it did seem focused on her completely. But kill Mai? Why?” Kenji asked. “Can you tell me what possible reason there might be?”

  Mai’s cheerful mood had naturally gone more somber as we spoke, but I didn’t feel comfortable leaving her alone again, and there were things Kenji and I needed to discuss. Since most of it concerned her, I couldn’t deny Mai had a right to know.

  “The only reason Mai is here in the first place is because I planned to question her about the day of the attack, once she regains her voice, and this was only for the sake of being thorough. If someone else knew this, one could deduce this someone does not wish me to discover what Mai might know. Yet what could she possibly have seen that would make a difference now? For all that I do want to talk to her, I’m not sure what she could add we don’t already know.”

  “She might not know anything,” Kenji said, and then turned to the girl. “But obviously there is someone working in the shadows who thinks—or fears—otherwise. Mai-chan, I know you cannot talk yet, but perhaps you can tell us this much somehow—did you see something during the attack? Something unusual, something that perhaps an enemy would not want known? Please think carefully.”

  Simple and direct. The response was the same—Mai began to weep. Then her mouth moved. No sound came out of it, but the shape it made as Mai tried to push out a word with her breath was very familiar.

  “Hai. That’s what she’s trying to say, Kenji.”

  There was no doubt in my mind, now. Mai did see something, and for this, someone among our enemies wanted her dead.

  Kenji was livid. “How? How did they know? Do they have eyes in every tree?”

  “Remember what I had said about our enemies tracking our every move? They are still doing it, and so they know about Mai. It’s the only explanation which makes any sense to me.”

  “Again, how?”

  “ ‘Eyes in every tree,’ isn’t that what you said? You may be closer to the truth than you know. I think it’s time we found out. Mai? We need to go outside, and I want you to come with us.”

  The girl obeyed, but she and Kenji both appeared puzzled as I led the way out into the temple courtyard. There were still a few crows about but, as I had observed earlier, far fewer of them now that the bodies had been removed. I found Akimasa with his contingent of men on guard duty near the main gate. “Master Akimasa, who is your best archer?”

  Akimasa didn’t even hesitate. “Tokisuge, my lord,” he said.

  “If you don’t mind, I’d like to see a demonstration.”

  Akimasa seemed a little bemused but quickly agreed. “As you wish, Lord Yamada. What is the target?”

  “Let’s clear this section here,” I said, indicating the right side of the courtyard. The few people there were quickly relocated. I took a bamboo pole and used my dagger to score one section until I was able to break it off, yielding a piece about five feet long. “We can use the wall itself as a berm to make certain no arrow goes astray.”

  I found a soft patch of ground near the wall and pushed the pole in until it could stand upright. On top of it I place a small piece of melon rind which some careless diner had discarded in the temple garden. I then paced off a distance of eighty feet while Akimasa brought his archer forward, a lean young man I’d guess to be in his mid-twenties, with long fingers and a rather sharp nose

  “You are Tokisuge-san?” I asked.

  “Yes, my lord. You wanted me to see me shoot?”

  “I do. Can you hit that bit of melon?”

  He frowned. “At this distance, my lord? Any of us could hit it.”

  “I will require you to prove this, in your own case, but a demonstration will be enough. Please take your position.”

  Tokisuge took his place at the mark I had defined, but before he took his arrow to draw, I leaned forward and whispered “Forget the melon rind. Your real target is perched at the top of that maple tree behind us. You will have to shoot quickly, and I do suggest you use a line-cutter. Clear?”

  “Yes, my lord.”

  I stepped back. “Whenever you are ready,” I said aloud.

  Tokisuge selected a different arrow than the one he had intended and drew.
He held the draw for a moment or two and then pivoted smoothly in place, raised his bow and let his arrow fly.

  “Craaww . . . !”

  The creature’s scream was almost like a real crow as the arrow cut through it. As I had suggested, Tokisuge had used a type of arrow commonly called “the frog’s crotch,” an inverted point with two blades sharpened on the inside edges which could cut a ship’s lines or a man’s throat, depending. In the case of the false crow, it cut it nearly in half, but what fluttered to the ground was no more than a piece of paper.

  “A fine shot indeed,” I said. “Thank you for the demonstration.”

  “What was . . . ?” Tokisuge began, but it was clear he already knew.

  “You were with Lord Yoshiie on the previous campaign, weren’t you?”

  “Yes, my lord. We lost several good men to those . . . are there any more of those things about?”

  “If you see any, you have my permission to treat them the same way.”

  Tokisuge looked grim. “With pleasure, my lord. With pleasure.”

  Word spread through the camp quickly, as I had expected, but the summons to Lord Yoshiie’s presence came almost sooner than I believed it would. Since both my and Kenji’s attendance was required and I wasn’t about to leave Mai alone, she came along, kneeling at a discreet distance. Lord Yoshiie sat on a folding chair on the dais as Kenji and I kneeled before him.

  “Lord Yamada, we knew we were being spied upon, but when did you discover I was being spied upon by crows?”

  “Only today, my lord, and it wasn’t a crow, as I’m sure you realize. It was a shikigami in the form of a crow. Your experience of them is in an approximation of the human form, but they can take almost any shape the onmyoji desires. I apologize for not realizing what they were sooner, but under our current circumstances, a few crows are to be expected, and since they kept their distance, as a crow normally would, it made their true natures difficult to detect.”