The Fires of the Gods sa-8

by I. J. Parker

  ‘You got hit? By accident?’

  Tora grimaced. ‘No. The bastards meant it.’

  Akitada wondered how badly Tora had been injured. ‘What bastards? I thought constables pulled you from a burning house?’

  ‘Yes, later. I was attacked on my way home. Some female jumped from an alley and knocked me down. The thieving bitch was scooping up my money when a bunch of street kids came, and one of them hit me on the head with a piece of wood.’ He rubbed his head. ‘Come to think of it, maybe she was really a he. What I had a hold of didn’t much feel like a woman. Didn’t fight like a woman either.’

  Akitada stared at Tora. ‘What money?’

  Tora blushed. ‘I won it at dice. Silver and a few pieces of gold. Enough to pay off my little farm. I hope the bastards roast in hell where they belong.’

  ‘You’ve been gambling?’

  ‘Don’t tell Hanae, sir. She wouldn’t understand.’

  Akitada was about to snap that he did not understand either – or rather, that he understood only too well that Tora had returned to his old ways. He swallowed his words and asked, ‘What of the fire?’

  ‘When I got up, I smelled the smoke. The fire was one street over. A shopfront was blazing when I got there, and the owner was jumping around looking like some demon. His clothes were on fire – that’s how my hands got burned. He asked me to get his father out. I tried, but as I said, the old man was gone. Smoke, I think, because the fire hadn’t reached the back of the house yet.’

  Akitada said, ‘I see. Well, I’m very glad you’re live. We’ll forget about the gambling in view of the good deed you tried to do. I’m sorry that you lost the money, but if you waste your time in low pursuits, you attract the notice of criminals. No doubt they worked together, your attacker and his or her companions.’

  Tora pulled something from his shirt and laid it on Akitada’s desk. It was an amulet bag with a broken string. One of them dropped this,’ he said. ‘I was hoping you could tell who it belonged to and I could try to get my money back.’

  Akitada reached for the small bag. The material was blue silk with a pattern of golden wheels. ‘I doubt this will help. The wheels are symbols of Buddha’s law. I expect they stole it also. Or if you tangled with a female, she may have dropped it. Prostitutes are superstitious and get such presents from wealthy clients.’ He fingered the pouch. ‘The silk is very good, and there’s something inside.’ He started to open it.

  Tora said quickly, ‘Don’t! You’ll break the spell.’

  ‘What do you care? It’s not your spell.’

  ‘Oh.’

  In the bag was a small but finely made ivory figurine of the Bodhisattva Fugen riding a crouching elephant. Akitada turned it this way and that. ‘This carving is extraordinarily good. I doubt anyone would give it to a woman of the streets. More likely, it’s stolen.’ He put the figurine back, pulled the drawstring and returned the amulet to Tora. ‘Sorry.’

  Tora opened the pouch and peered in. ‘Is it worth a lot of gold?’

  ‘I don’t know. You’d have to take it to a dealer in religious objects.’

  Tora sighed. ‘Will you keep it for me? I’d rather not explain it to Hanae.’

  DISMISSED

  Akitada’s day did not improve at work. Munefusa, an unpleasant and ignorant junior secretary, had made several mistakes in a legal document. Akitada did not relish discussing the matter with him. He missed Nakatoshi, that bright and eager young man who had worked with him a year ago during that dreadful summer. But Nakatoshi had moved on and now served as junior secretary in the Ranks Office of the Ministry of Ceremonial.

  He made the corrections and was debating how to present the matter most diplomatically when a clerk appeared with a summons from the minister.

  Since the minister seldom appeared at work, Akitada decided to have a word with him about Munefusa. Fujiwara Kaneie was approachable and seemed to like Akitada. Today, however, he greeted Akitada stiffly and would not meet his eyes. After Akitada was seated, he said, ‘You may be aware that His Excellency, the new chancellor, has been reviewing the positions in the various ministries?’

  Akitada’s first thought was that Kaneie, a pleasant and harmless young man, had lost his position to another stupid purge of anyone connected to the previous crown prince. A number of high-ranking noblemen had resigned lately or accepted reassignments. He said cautiously, ‘I hope there is no bad news, sir.’

  Fujiwara Kaneie was younger than Akitada by nearly ten years. He had the sort of smooth skin that flushes easily and he flushed now. His eyes briefly met Akitada’s, then he looked down at the sheaf of papers studded with official seals on the desk before him. ‘I am afraid you will think it so,’ he said in a voice so low that Akitada leaned forward. ‘You are to be demoted to the rank of junior secretary.’ He heaved a sigh and raised his head. ‘Believe me, Sugawara, this was none of my doing. I was told that one of the controllers, Kiyowara Kane, questioned your qualifications. Kiyowara has the chancellor’s ear. I tried to tell them about the good work you have done for me, but you probably know that my voice has no weight these days.’ He sighed again unhappily.

  Akitada had difficulty digesting this news. ‘Junior secretary? But we already have a junior secretary. Not that he is qualified. I had my hands full this very morning with the mistakes he’s been making. Still, the position is filled.’

  ‘Hmm, er, not exactly.’ The minister shifted on his cushion and bit his lip. ‘Er, Munefusa will trade places with you.’

  ‘What?’ Akitada was shocked. ‘The man knows nothing of the law, let alone of the duties of a senior secretary. You know very well that you have always relied on me to see that things are done properly.’

  The minister flushed more deeply. ‘I wish you would not imply that I am also unqualified for my duties,’ he said testily.

  Akitada was only dimly aware that he had overstepped his bounds. He was still wrestling with the unfairness the decision. Of course, Fujiwara Kaneie was unqualified to run the Ministry of Justice. Most of the high-ranking nobles were merely figure-heads. Only a year ago Kaneie had taken the place of the villainous Soga, who had died in the epidemic. At the time, Kaneie had admitted to Akitada that the work was beyond him. Akitada had covered for him. What would happen now if the inexperienced minister had to depend on an incompetent secretary to carry out the duties normally assigned to this office? More to the point, what of all the hard work Akitada had done to make sure that no one realized the minister was unfamiliar with all but the social and ceremonial functions of the office? Meanwhile, Akitada’s reward for his loyalty and effort would be a drastic loss of income just when they needed the money most. And to be replaced by the incompetent Munefusa was an insult.

  Clenching his fists, Akitada snapped, ‘Don’t pretend you tried to defend me. I don’t believe it. I think there’s some political advantage to you. You know very well that you were unqualified for your duties the day you arrived. In my view you’ve made little effort since to grasp the basic aspects of our work here. I have covered for you, and the thanks I get is a demotion. No, worse than that. You’re putting an idiot in my place.’ Seeing the minister begin to bluster, Akitada raised his voice a little. ‘Don’t bother to deny it. You’ve buckled down to the new chancellor’s demands. And that was not only ungrateful, but also cowardly, sir.’

  He regretted his outburst the moment the words left his mouth, but it was too late. Kaneie shot to his feet, his face an alarming shade of scarlet. ‘I believe,’ he said in a shaking voice, ‘it will be best if you take a leave of absence. Immediately. Clearly, the news has deranged your mind. You will be told when – or if – to report back.’

  Akitada stood also, his face hot with anger and embarrassment. He considered resigning or apologizing, but in the end he just bowed and left.

  Breathing hard, he stalked back to his office, thinking to sit down to gather his thoughts and calm the rage that had caused him to lash out at Kaneie. The minister was the last man he
should have attacked, and he had acted with little foundation, too. He had no proof that Fujiwara had not made an attempt to defend him. In fact, the minister himself was on shaky ground with the present administration. Besides, Kaneie had always been fair with him, had even been a friend in the past.

  He was considering the situation more rationally until he walked in on Munefusa rearranging the furnishings in his office.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Akitada snapped, seeing his desk pushed against the opposite wall.

  ‘Oh,’ said Munefusa with a silly grin, ‘I got the news before you and thought I might have a look at my new office. You’re to take mine, I believe.’ He turned to eye the array of books and scrolls on the shelves and went to take down a large tome.

  ‘Those are mine,’ said Akitada quickly. ‘Aren’t you rushing things a bit?’

  Munefusa put the book back and turned, smiling more widely. ‘Not at all, Sugawara. You’ve always said yourself we shouldn’t waste time. Do you want some help moving these things?’

  Disarmed by the offer, Akitada nodded sourly. Munefusa was not to blame for the vagaries of fate.

  Munefusa clapped his hands and told the man who appeared, ‘You will assist the junior secretary by taking a few things to my old office.’ Then he looked around one more time and said, ‘I’ll leave you to it, Sugawara. Make sure to take the inventories in the Tomonori case with you. I’d like to see them finished and on my desk by this afternoon.’

  Akitada glared at him, then said coldly, ‘I am to take a leave of absence. You’ll have to find someone else to do your work.’

  Munefusa raised his brows. ‘Dear me, it’s worse than I thought. What did you do?’

  Akitada turned away. By now completely demoralized, he made no attempt to settle into Munefusa’s small office, but took only a few of the most valuable books and his father’s writing box before leaving the ministry. In better days, he could have summoned one of the ministry’s servants to carry his things, but seeing the secret smirks and blank stares, he did not have the courage to ask. He had thought he was well liked, but in this world a man’s value was judged by his influence.

  The smoke had been dispersed by a hot wind. Walking from the ministry in his official robe, while carrying a heavy and awkward armful of objects, caused him to perspire. He thought of Tamako and the bad news he was bringing, thought of her condition and the discomfort she must feel in this heat. They could ill afford it, especially now, but he would go later and purchase some lengths of hemp. Oyuki and Hanae could soak the panels in water and hang them around Tamako’s room. Then fanning the air might bring her some relief. He envied the wealthy, who were accustomed to large vessels of ice cooling their houses. The ice was brought into the capital in winter by their servants and slaves and stored in cellars or earthen pits until it was needed during the summer heat. But the Sugawaras could not afford such luxuries. And now, after the way he had insulted the minister, he would surely be dismissed, and times would get much harder.

  He expected his early return with his books and writing box would cause instant consternation among his people, but only an astonished Seimei greeted him.

  ‘Back already, sir?’

  Akitada said, ‘I shall want to speak to you about our expenses.’

  Seimei stared at the box full of books. ‘But we discussed the accounts only this morning, sir. Is anything wrong?’

  ‘Later,’ Akitada said brusquely and went to Tamako’s pavilion, clearing his throat outside to give her warning and steeling himself for the sight of his grossly pregnant wife. It was strange that he had not felt either fear or this shameful reluctance to be near Tamako during her first pregnancy. But they had both been younger then and full of life and hope. Tamako had been rosy and healthy and happy. When they had lost that child, his beloved Yori, a few short years later, they had both changed.

  Tamako called out, and he opened the door. The room was nearly dark with the shutters closed against the heat. Tamako sat alone, enveloped in a loose gown of stiff rose-colored silk, and moved her fan listlessly to stir the stagnant air.

  ‘How are you?’ Akitada asked, scanning her pale face and the dark-ringed eyes. As he came closer, he sniffed the air. It smelled vaguely still of smoke, but also of sweat and illness.

  ‘Well. Thank you,’ she said and looked away. ‘I’m sorry this is taking so long. You must be tired of waiting.’

  ‘No, not at all,’ he said quickly, but he knew she was right. Instead of a wife and companion – a lover, even, in happier moments – she was an invalid and, frighteningly, a reminder of death waiting just beyond the closed shutters. Would he be trading her life for that of another son? Men everywhere faced that fear and bore the guilt of having caused their wives’ deaths.

  He sat down beside her, taking the hand that rested on the swollen belly. ‘I’m afraid, Tamako,’ he said more honestly, bowing his head. ‘You’re not as strong as last time. I blame myself.’

  She squeezed his hand and, for a moment, her eyes twinkled. It occurred to him that he had not heard her laugh for weeks now.

  ‘No, no,’ she said. ‘You mustn’t worry. I wanted this child as much as you. Besides, I’m quite strong. I’m just tired, and it has been so hot. It won’t be long now. I can feel it. Be just a little patient with me.’

  That almost brought tears to his eyes. He said nothing and raised her hand to his cheek and lips.

  ‘You’re home early,’ she said. ‘Is it because of me or has the ministry run out of interesting cases?’

  He lowered her hand, cradling it in both of his, and looked away. ‘Neither,’ he said bleakly. ‘I’ve been given a leave of absence.’

  ‘Oh, how nice!’ she said brightly.

  For a moment he considered hiding the truth from her, but he knew she would guess, perhaps had guessed already. Yes, she was searching his face. He heaved a sigh. ‘It may well be a mistake, but someone close to the new chancellor decided that my promotion to senior secretary was premature.’

  ‘What? How stupid! You’re the best man they have.’

  He liked the fierceness in her voice and squeezed her hand. ‘Thank you, but I’m not as wise as you think. I lost my temper with the minister and that is why he told me to take a leave of absence. I expect it will be permanent unless I can convince them to reconsider.’

  Tamako was silent. She just looked at him and curled her fingers around his. He had not really intended to beg for reinstatement, but seeing Tamako’s eyes full of faith and loyalty, her free hand on the unborn child, he suddenly felt a powerful bond between the three of them. Yes, of course he would humble himself for Tamako and his unborn son.

  He smiled at her. ‘I still have friends and must see what can be done. Don’t lose faith, my dear.’

  ‘Never,’ she said.

  He returned to his study, pondering his options. His friend Kosehira, who had once briefly filled the post of minister of justice, had long since been dispatched to the desirable assignment of governor of Yamato province. It was not too far from the capital, but Akitada did not want to make the journey when Tamako was so close to her time. He must, of course, apologize to the current minister. That was only just, even if it would be shameful and likely be interpreted as an attempt to reverse the demotion. He imagined the detestable Munefusa’s sneering comments. Then a dim memory surfaced. The minister had mentioned the name of the man who had spoken against him.

  He cursed his inattention. The name had not registered because he had not recognized it, but it must be someone important to have the chancellor’s ear. The family name escaped him, except that it was not Fujiwara.

  Seimei waited, his face anxious.

  Akitada sighed. ‘I’m afraid there’s bad news, old friend. I expect to be dismissed from the ministry.’

  Seimei’s eyes widened. ‘What happened? You’ve been promoted, and you’ve always been hard-working. Whatever you are charged with, sir, it must be a mistake.’

  Akitada winced. People would qui
te naturally assume that he must have committed a serious offense – or at least a stupidity – to be treated as he had been.

  ‘I don’t know what happened,’ Akitada said, ‘but I suppose I shall find out. Only, don’t expect that the matter will be righted. In my experience, that never happens to men in my position.’

  THE ANGRY GODS

  When she saw Tora’s face, Hanae stopped bouncing little Yuki on her knees and asked, ‘Are you in pain again?’

  Tora shook his head and winced. ‘No, I’m fine,’ he lied. ‘I’m going out. Don’t know when I’ll be back.’ He looked for his boots.

  Putting the baby on the floor, Hanae jumped up. ‘Don’t go. You aren’t well.’ She shook his arm when he ignored her. ‘Surely the master wouldn’t make you run errands after what’s happened to you.’

  The abandoned baby started crying, and Tora went to scoop up his son, wincing again. ‘Where are my boots? The master doesn’t know. And don’t tell him. This is my business.’

  Hanae stood in front of the door, her arms folded. ‘You’re not leaving,’ she said. ‘It could be your death to walk around with that big swelling on your head. We need you alive.’

  Tora’s face softened. He kissed the baby and handed him to Hanae. Retrieving his boots, he sat to put them on. ‘I just want to look in on the man whose father died last night.’

  Hanae looked uncertain. ‘Is that all you’ll do? You’ll come right back afterwards? You won’t get into any more fights?’

  He nodded, kissed her and, moving his wife and son out of his way, left the house.

  The street that had seemed a living inferno the night before looked merely depressing by daylight. He recalled the urgency and excitement of the flames, sparks, moving shadows, and screams. Now there was only the wet, smoking pile of rubble. The houses on either side were scarred by the heat, and a few neighbors moved about, making repairs. No one bothered with the ruin.

  The Kaneharus had made and sold tatami floor mats. The grass mats, of course, were a great fire hazard, and so the disaster might be blamed on carelessness with open flames and cooking fires, but Tora recalled the old woman’s calling to the gods. He shuddered. That fire had seemed unnatural. Could the gods really be so angry that they would kill an old man?