Yamada Monogatari: The War God's Son

by Richard Parks

  “That would be ‘no’ then,” she said.

  I had to admit she had it right. “By everything I have seen, it is simply not possible one of the assassins gained entry. Yet we know this did happen.”

  “Our dead sisters are proof enough of this. I don’t know how they did it, but I confess I do not care. The ‘how’ of it makes no difference to the ones we mourn now.”

  Nor should it, I though, but it still does to me.

  “I’m going to ask you a question, sister, and I need an honest answer.”

  “Brother, do you think I am inclined to lie to you?” she asked mildly.

  I sighed. “I merely meant the question is a bit . . . indelicate.”

  Rie raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

  “We all know monks and priests are not always in full accord with the vows of their orders, especially in, shall we say, matters of the heart?”

  “You mean priests and monks sometimes take lovers? Yes, brother, I was aware of this. Some abbots are more tolerant of this behavior than others, but it does happen, as witnessed by the sealing of the back gate to the temple compound. Are you about to suggest my sister nuns might have been guilty of the same behavior?”

  “Is it possible?”

  “Honestly, brother. If you’re suggesting one of my sisters opened the gate for a lover who proved to be an assassin . . . well, yes, it’s possible. But consider how improbable it is! Such relationships do not develop without time and the right set of circumstances. Yet the attack on the nunnery could not have been more than a precaution to quell possible alarms, so why go to the trouble? Besides, quarters for the prioress and the senior nuns were always set closest to our rear gate by design. So the chances of anyone using the gate in such a manner—ever—without being discovered are remote at best.”

  “Was that by design?” I asked. “You’re saying your prioress did not trust either the monks or the nuns under her supervision?”

  Rie laughed. “I’m saying, brother, she trusted human nature to do as human nature often does. Honestly, aren’t you being far too clever? One set of rope ladders such as you discovered on the monks’ compound would have served just as well to get the enemy inside the nunnery with far less left to chance. Yet you find nothing.”

  I clearly had been grasping at straws, and my sister had ably demonstrated how flimsy this particular straw was. I was at once chagrined and frustrated, but even a flimsy possibility was better than none. Except for the undeniable fact the nuns had been slaughtered, one would be forced to conclude the assassins could not have gained entry. I was baffled, and there were few conditions I hated more.

  “You could be right,” I said. “Painful as it is to admit.”

  “I am right,” she said. “And it won’t be the first time, brother. You’ll survive it. You always did.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  I’ve never had the knack of just letting go of something puzzling me. Rie knew this. So it would have been no surprise to her, had she known, that I took it upon myself to make a circuit of the nunnery walls from the outside. All I had to do was go out the main gate, walk back to the small outside gate which marked the northernmost point of Yahiko-ji, and walk the boundary, all the way to where the nunnery compound ended and the main temple compound began, just short of the ravine.

  This did not teach me anything I did not already know from my examination of the inside wall, but at least I was able to eliminate the idea of a discarded scaling ladder, improbable as it was. There was no sign. No footprints, no out of place indentations in the ground along the perimeter, not even an animal trail Nothing.

  The assassin did not scale the wall. The assassin did not break through the wall. If the assassin did not have a mistress on the inside, how had the breach occurred? The answer I kept coming back to, time and again, was that it was impossible. Yet it had happened, so it clearly was not impossible. Somewhere there was another possibility I had overlooked, and all I had to do now was find it. So far I had considered every possibility that made any sense whatsoever—

  Perhaps it is time to consider a possibility which makes no sense at all.

  Which turned out to be easier than I had believed it would be.

  What if I was right about the method but wrong about the reason? Suppose one of the nuns had indeed opened the gate, not for a lover, but for the assassin, knowing all along what he was, what would happen?

  The idea made me shudder, but once the possibility was considered, I realized there need be no assassin. Someone in league with the temple’s attackers would simply have opened the nunnery’s main gate to the temple compound directly and let the attackers who were already inside the walls into the nunnery itself. The small outside gate need never have been opened at all, not for a lover or anyone else. So . . . if not a lover, then why? Money? A nun grown tired of the ascetic life of contemplation in alliance with her sister nuns’ murderers for gold? As distasteful as such a possibility remained, I now had to consider it. I also considered it just as likely the corrupt nun was immediately cut down for her pains, since from the reports of both Tomoko and Rie, who had seen the attack from different positions, it was clear the attackers did not plan to leave anyone within the nunnery alive, and thus she would have become the very first victim . . .

  I went back into the temple compound. My sister had gone into the village of Yahiko on an errand, but I found Tomoko. The old nun was praying and lighting incense in their temple. I waited until she was done.

  “Tomoko-ana, I need to ask you something.”

  “Certainly, Lord Yamada. How may I be of service?”

  “I apologize for raising such a painful issue, but you and my sister were the primary attendants for the fallen nuns, yes?”

  “Primary and only, my lord,” she said.

  I took a breath. “Can you tell me whose body was found closest to the main gate?”

  Tomoko frowned. “Let me think . . . oh. There were several near to the gate, but the closest was our late prioress, the Shibata nun.”

  I thanked Tomoko and made my way back to our quarters. I found Kenji and Mai engrossed in a game of shogi. “I didn’t realize Mai-chan knew the game,” I said.

  Kenji grunted. “She didn’t before I taught her. She even beats me now and again.”

  No small feat in itself. If Kenji was not a shogi master, he was certainly the closest to one I had ever met. I could not beat him in more than a third of our matches, and I was a better than decent player in my own right. “Mai-chan, please excuse us for a moment. There is something I need to discuss with Kenji-san.”

  Mai bowed and withdrew to a discreet distance, although she never left our sight. I kept my voice low as I related what I had found—or rather not found—in my examination of the nunnery walls. I then related my theory on the traitor nun. Kenji listened very attentively and withheld all comment until I had finished. Then he just sighed deeply.

  “Lord Yamada, have you lost your mind?”

  “I’m beginning to wonder this myself.”

  “Considering this is the Shibata family temple, it should not be too surprising the prioress, by tradition, is recruited from that family. While there was some reluctance at the time of the nunnery’s founding, the position is now deemed a great honor. Why would she betray it?”

  “I agree, it makes little sense,” I said. “Unless, painful as this is to consider, Tomoko, Mai, or my sister Rie were somehow involved?”

  “You do realize this makes even less sense?” Kenji said. “Knowing what we know now about the nature of the attack, that those three survived attests more to their innocence than any suspicion of complicity.”

  “I thought so as well, but my judgment where my sister is concerned cannot be dispassionate. Still, everything that does make sense has proved impossible, and I’m left with almost nothing. Regardless, the Shibata nun was closest to the gate at the time of the attack, which is suspicious, but even if she were responsible I cannot prove anything, and even if I could, doing so w
ould not be . . . wise.”

  “By which you mean you’d be dropping a steaming pile of nightsoil directly into the Minamoto/Shibata alliance?”

  While I did not like Kenji’s choice of metaphor, I had to admit he had summed up the situation accurately. “Yes.”

  “So—even if you are correct, you cannot prove it. If you could prove it, you would not because doing so would compromise Lord Yoshiie’s mission, and thus our own. Nor would proving anything explain why the Shibata nun would commit such a despicable act, because the only one who could shed any light on the question is dead. Is this about right?”

  “You’re forgetting about Mai. We know she saw something. Perhaps it was the sight of the Shibata nun opening the gate that has so overwhelmed her.”

  “Perhaps, but even if she did see exactly that and was able to say so, the reality of the situation is that she must keep silent. So. Is there a point to this line of inquiry?”

  “Kenji-san, something is still not right here. I may not have Lady Kuzunoha’s instincts, but I do have my own. The danger is nowhere near past.”

  “I agree, and so we must concentrate our efforts on keeping Lord Yoshiie safe until we can depart this place. You cannot do this by chasing ghost-lights through the forests of Echigo, can you?”

  “One would not think so,” I said, “except I—at this moment—feel fairly useless in any other capacity. Perhaps chasing ghost-lights is all I can do for Lord Yoshiie.”

  I had not realized what I said to Kenji might prove to be literally true—the guards on the road spotted the ghost-lights that very evening. Apparently not knowing what else to do, Master Akimasa had sent for me. Fortunately, Kenji and I had not yet retired, although we were near to it. We were forced to rouse Mai as well, since after the mamushi, neither of us was willing to risk leaving her alone and unguarded.

  We left the compound by the main gate. To the left I could see where a new meadow was being created. Woodcutters from Yahiko and the surrounding area had been recruited to clear a large section of forest for both space and wood to fuel the funeral pyres that would be lit soon. It was not yet summer, but the corpses could not be left as they were for much longer without very unpleasant consequences. For the moment they remained guarded by both bushi and priests to keep scavengers—and worse—at bay. Tomorrow, if all went well, the bodies would be given up to the flames and their souls hastened to whatever awaited them beyond this world. Kenji, naturally, had his certainties about what that would be. I could never be so sure, until perhaps my own time to take my leave of the world had come. I had long since chosen not to consider the matter overmuch beforehand.

  Master Akimasa met us there on the road, together with two of his archers. “This way, Lord Yamada.”

  I had expected him to lead us in the direction of the shrouded bodies, but instead he proceeded north on the road toward the outer wall of the nunnery. We hadn’t gone very far before I could see what he was talking about. Kenji had already taken out his prayer beads and began to mumble something I recognized as part of the Diamond Sutra. Frankly, I was surprised he hadn’t already started a full exorcism, as his first instinct when confronted with a ghost was to banish it from this world. He considered doing so an act of kindness, but at the moment he just looked puzzled.

  “Why just the onibi? And so few?”

  I understood what he meant. There were ghost-lights hovering at the edge of the wooded hillside on side of the road opposite to the nunnery gate. Not ghosts themselves, or at least not full-blown ones, the small blue orbs danced in the air almost like fireflies. They were indications of the presence of a ghost, but their number suggested we were dealing with one ghost only, not a horde.

  “What did you expect, Kenji-san? An invasion?”

  “Weren’t you? Have you forgotten what happened here? What lies back down the road waiting on their funeral pyres?” he asked.

  “Sudden and violent deaths may produce confused spirits,” I said. “But you know as well as I do this isn’t enough to produce a ghost. Ghosts linger in this world for their own reasons, and we don’t always understand what those reasons are.”

  “Anger and revenge are powerful incentives for a ghost,” Kenji said dryly. “I would have expected more than one. No matter, and no matter their reasons, this one must depart. We must see to it.”

  Kenji had his perspective. I had mine. “If this is the ghost of a nun, I need to talk to her.”

  Akimasa turned about as pale as I’ve ever seen a living human being. “Talk . . . ?”

  I smiled then. “Master Akimasa, despite what you may have been told, most ghosts aren’t especially dangerous. Startling, yes, even frightening, but seldom harmful unless one remains too close to one for an extended period. They feel the lack of living energy, and they tend to take it into themselves from whatever sources are handy—food, plants, and even people. With the proper precautions, I’ll be fine. Kenji?”

  Kenji produced a paper spirit-ward from a pouch he kept tucked into his robes. This he gave to me. “Just keep it on your person. It will prevent the ghost from draining you like a wine gourd. Otherwise, be careful. We don’t yet understand what sort of ghost we’re dealing with.”

  I took the ward and tucked it into my hitatare. “Master Akimasa, Kenji and I are going forward. Please look after Mai-chan until we return.” I turned to Mai and told her to wait there with Akimasa and his men, and she bowed to let me know she understood.

  “We’ll remain here, but please don’t get yourself eaten,” Akimasa muttered. “Lord Yoshiie will blame me for it.”

  “I will do my best to avoid such an unfortunate outcome,” I said.

  As I drew closer, it was easier to count the precise number of onibi, but I still did not see the ghost. Kenji was barely a pace or two behind me. “It’s strange,” he said.

  Many things were strange, so I had to ask, “What in particular?”

  “Ghosts are many things, but one thing they are not is capricious. They are very specific about what they want and where they abide, though as you say, it’s not always clear to mortals why they do what they do. Yet you and I have both been on this road as night falls, and neither of us has seen anything here before. Why now?”

  “A new manifestation, possibly, and its location which would suggest this was, indeed, one of the unfortunate nuns. Or it could be a monster of some deadly sort pretending to be a ghost, specifically to lure you and me in close.”

  “Oh, fine,” Kenji said, “so many other people had been the targets of assassins lately. I was beginning to feel unwanted.”

  “Don’t fret. I’m sure there are multitudes who would wish you dead. Probably the husbands and fathers and estranged lovers of your many inappropriate liaisons.”

  “There are more than a few of those,” Kenji conceded. “But I’m doubtful . . . ah. I see our ghost now.”

  So did I. The ghost hadn’t moved, but our angle of vision through the trees showed a gap, and there was the ghost, kneeling on the ground. I had seen ghosts manifest as giant lanterns, skeletons, floating heads, and in one case, a large fish, but this image was strictly human. A dignified-looking older woman in a nun’s robe and cowl, kneeling in prayer under the trees while the onibi swirled around her, blue flames in thrall to an elegant moth. I knew the ghost’s appearance was a nothing but memory and could change at any moment depending on the situation, but right now the spirit either perceived itself as a human being or merely wished to give that impression to observers. Either way, I hoped she would be in the mood to talk—or was even still capable of speech. I had known ghosts who could converse like any living person and others who were little more than a remembered purpose, and woe to any who were perceived as an obstacle to that purpose, whatever it might be.

  “Do you think it is the prioress?” Kenji asked. “I never saw the body, so I don’t know what she looked like . . . assuming her attackers left her corpse in a recognizable state.”

  “Let us find out.”

  I ap
proached cautiously, for all that I was reasonably certain the ghost was already aware of our presence. Even so, she appeared to take no notice. I realized, even as she prayed, her eyes never closed. They were fixed on a point across the road, and the intensity of the spirit’s gaze made me tremble a little. I tried to look in the direction she did, but all I could see was the wall of the temple and the rear gate to the nunnery. When I looked back at the ghost, I finally did notice something else.

  The ghost-lights were disappearing.

  I stopped where I was, just past the edge of the woods, and counted. Then I waited for a moment and counted again. There were definitely fewer of them the second time, and this was one more matter of the last several days that didn’t make any sense. Onibi were not spirits themselves but more like moths drawn, for whatever reason, to the spiritual flame that was a ghost. For the onibi to be disappearing meant either the ghost was losing coherence as an entity and was about to dissipate, or—

  She’s eating them!

  The glow surrounding the ghost had been growing in intensity but so slowly I hadn’t even noticed. It was the disappearance of the ghost-lights that finally helped me make the connection and showed me what I should have been looking for. I took another step forward, and now I could feel it—the sensation was like standing on the edge of a cliff, only you knew the cliff wanted to pull you down. I felt light-headed and sick at once. It took a great effort to move back.

  “My name is Yamada no Goji,” I said. “I wish to speak to you.”

  The ghost turned to me, and her face changed. There was nothing about the serenity of praying nun about it then. Her visage was monstrous.

  “Kenji, move toward the wall,” I shouted, just as the creature began a low growl in the depths of its throat.

  “Why?” he asked.

  “The ghost is gathering strength, and it would have taken mine except for your ward. That tells me it is planning something. I have the distinct feeling that whatever it is will not be pleasant.”

  I circled the ghost until I was between it and the gate, with Kenji a few paces behind me. The ghost finally stood and approached the road, and there were no ghost-lights to be seen. I spoke to the creature directly. “Again, I would speak to you. I am Yamada no Goji. Are you the Shibata nun?”