The Jade Lioness

by Christina Courtenay

  It never occurred to him he wouldn’t get his way. Being the eldest of four sons, he’d always ruled the roost at home. If the others dared to protest, he’d simply resorted to underhand measures to prevail until they stopped opposing him. If all else failed, he’d administered a beating in secret and with no witnesses nothing could ever be proved against him. His brothers had learned that he wasn’t someone you crossed, not if you didn’t want to regret it. Mistress Marston would soon learn the same lesson.

  After a while she came out of the Chief Factor’s house and crossed the street to her own abode, a small room on the ground floor of the building opposite. Her servant boy slept in an anteroom, but it was unlikely he was still awake. Haag made his way round to the back of the house where her windows were situated. She made sure to keep them shuttered at night and whenever she undressed, but he’d found a way around it. The walls of the buildings were made of wood and by borrowing a drill from one of the carpenters when the man wasn’t looking, Haag had managed to make a hole big enough to look through, but not large enough to be visible unless you knew it was there.

  And what he’d seen had almost taken his breath away.

  As he put his eye close to the hole now he was rewarded with the same vision – Mistress Marston shedding her mannish clothing and giving him tantalising glimpses of her beautiful body. Soft, creamy skin and a figure that could drive any man half-crazed with desire; high, full breasts, a flat stomach and perfectly curved backside. How everyone else on the island had failed to notice that she was a woman he’d never know, but they all just thought her a very handsome, if effeminate, youth.

  As such, there were those who desired her, and at first he’d been afraid he had discovered such tendencies in himself, which had never happened before. Once he began to spy on her, however, he was relieved to find his instincts had been perfectly normal and all male. He’d just been the only one to subconsciously see through her disguise, which admittedly was very good. The extra large and loose shirt and waistcoat hid her curves admirably and covered her behind as well. The baggy breeches concealed the perfection of long, shapely legs.

  He watched her free her lovely, blonde hair from the queue she always kept it in. Let loose it caressed her shoulders as she brushed it out with sure strokes. The sight of those amazing breasts before she pulled on a clean shirt made Haag draw in a hasty breath as lust hit his groin like a lightning bolt. He couldn’t wait to touch them, knead them, make her moan …

  Breathing heavily now, he had to close his eyes and lean his forehead against the rough wood for a moment. He wanted to rush in there this minute and just take her, but he knew his victory would be all the sweeter if she came to him willingly. Or as willingly as blackmail would permit. Submissive was how he wanted her. She had to be aware she had no choice, that she must acquiesce to his every demand. Then and only then would he have her completely in his power, just as he wished.

  He couldn’t wait.

  Chapter Four

  Two years previously, Temperance had sailed with Nico and Midori halfway across the world to Japan in search of adventure. She’d been sixteen years old when they left and had just survived four long years of civil war in her staunchly Puritan home town of Plymouth, which had been besieged by Royalists for most of that time.

  ‘Is it any wonder I dreamed of escaping to wondrous foreign lands?’ she’d commented to her cousin, and Midori understood only too well, having lived through the same.

  It had been a difficult time for them all and Temperance was sure she hadn’t been the only one wishing herself thousands of miles away from the harsh life of a country at war. Once it was over, Temperance couldn’t get away fast enough and had pleaded with Nico and Midori to let her come along. By that time her mother had succumbed to congestion of the lungs and her father had died defending the town so the only other family she had left was her brother, Daniel, six years her senior.

  ‘Do you really want to go traipsing round the world pretending to be a boy?’ he’d asked, obviously trying to take his new role as head of the family seriously. ‘I really shouldn’t allow it.’

  ‘Oh, please, Daniel, don’t say that! If this war has taught me anything it’s that you have to live life to the full and staying here in Plymouth will seem so dull compared to what Midori and Nico will be doing. I don’t think I can bear it! And it’s only for a few years.’

  Although Daniel, being a very kind brother, had given in, Temperance realised now that she’d been totally unprepared for the realities of what lay before her. Nico did try to warn her that it may not be as thrilling as she imagined it, but she had refused to listen, preferring to think that anything would be better than being left behind. Now she wasn’t so sure.

  Having come all this way, however, Temperance had had no choice but to accept her situation. The first few months were exciting, but soon the monotonous routine and lack of space began to irk her. She tried to dispel the boredom by learning as much as she could of the native language – in secret since the official interpreters would not approve as their jobs would be at stake – and both Midori and Nico had also given her lessons in self-defence and fencing, which they said could prove useful.

  In addition, Temperance and Nico studied the mysteries of the strange Japanese writing, again in secret as the foreigners weren’t supposed to learn. The rest of her time was taken up with acting as Nico’s clerk, helping him with letters and ledgers. She didn’t mind that, but the enforced confinement on the island frustrated her beyond belief.

  ‘Never mind,’ Midori soothed her, whenever she noticed Temperance’s irritation with the situation, ‘we’ll go and visit my brother soon, then you’ll see a bit more of the real Japan and all the wonderful things I’ve told you about.’

  Midori’s English mother, Hannah, Temperance’s aunt, had been married to a Japanese warlord, Taro Kumashiro. She’d lived in a castle in northern Japan until her death and that was where Midori had grown up, together with an older half-brother named Ichiro. Midori’s brother was now the daimyo, a powerful man, and he had promised to arrange a secret visit to his castle for Midori and her family. They had to be very careful, however, and therefore the promised outing was slow in materialising. Temperance grew tired of waiting and was beginning to wonder if it would ever happen at all.

  She knew the foreigners, or gai-jin as they were called by the Japanese, were viewed with suspicion and the Shogun had decreed that there was to be no contact between the foreigners and his subjects. Most especially there was to be no spreading of religious beliefs. Any Christians found in Japan were dealt with swiftly and severely, and as all foreigners were thought to be Christians, they were apprehended on sight. Temperance thought this appalling.

  ‘If only there was some way I could persuade the Japanese authorities that not all gai-jin are the same,’ she said to Midori. ‘I’m not here to convert anyone, I merely want to visit their country.’

  Her cousin shook her head and smiled. ‘That’s impossible. Why should they listen to you? You are a foreigner, that’s all there is to it. Sorry, but you’re just going to have to be patient.’

  Temperance tried her best, but it wasn’t easy and now that she’d had a taste of freedom, their confinement seemed an even greater burden. It was an impossible situation.

  ‘Can you please take Emi for a short walk while I put Casper down for his nap?’ Midori asked, the day after Temperance’s little excursion. As her cousin looked exhausted, Temperance felt guilty for having added to her worries and gladly agreed. Childcare wasn’t really part of her duties, but everyone had been told Temperance was Nico’s step-cousin, and therefore family, so no one would question the fact of her spending time with his children occasionally.

  ‘Yes, of course. Come, Emi, let’s go outside.’

  Five-year-old Emi wasn’t their natural daughter, but Midori and Nico loved her as if she were their own. The child’s father had been an employee of the Dutch East India Company whose long-term liaison with a Ja
panese courtesan resulted in pregnancy. When the mother died giving birth to a second child, who also died, and the father succumbed to a tropical fever soon after, Midori and Nico adopted Emi. No one else seemed to care what became of her and the child, being so young, quickly accepted them as her parents. She was a sweet and biddable little girl, no trouble to look after apart from expecting answers to a seemingly endless stream of questions, but Temperance heaved a sigh of impatience anyway as they left the room. Both Emi and little Casper were a delight, but as they were not hers, their antics didn’t fascinate Temperance to the same extent as they did their doting parents.

  She wished herself far away instead, in a small sunlit bay, swimming in the cool water, perhaps with a companion whose dark eyes teased wordlessly … With another sigh, she forced herself to concentrate on the present instead.

  It had been raining all morning, as it had done on and off almost every day for weeks, but now the sun was out once more. The heat from its rays turned the air into humidity so thick it felt like walking into a moist wall. Temperance almost turned back, hating the sticky sensation on her skin, but one look at Emi’s expectant face made her continue.

  ‘So, where shall we go today?’ she asked the little girl.

  ‘The pigs.’

  Emi was fascinated by a large sow who wandered freely around the island, her brood of piglets following in a squealing, disorganised group. Temperance thought it an ugly beast, but she had to admit the piglets were sweet and they were not averse to being picked up and petted, to Emi’s delight.

  ‘Very well, let’s see if we can find them. Can you hear them?’ Emi nodded. ‘Then you lead the way.’

  They walked past two storey buildings in the Japanese style, some with storage areas on the ground floor and living quarters above, some where both floors were used by the Japanese officials and translators who worked on the island. The main buildings were arranged along what Temperance jokingly called the ‘main street’, a wide pathway that ran from the Chief Factor’s residence, where Nico and Midori lived near the sea gate, to the other end of the island where there were gardens and a cattle pen. There were further houses containing kitchens and merchants’ offices round the edges of the island as well, but Temperance seldom ventured there.

  It was a very restricted environment and Temperance was heartily sick of it. She wanted to be on the mainland, to see the wondrous castles, forests, lakes and valleys that Midori had described to her. She wanted to mingle with the people of Japan and partake in their festivals and customs. Above all, she wanted adventure. In the little bay she’d found it, but it had been short-lived and only made her long for more.

  Kazuo had gone to accomplish his mission, and no doubt it would take some time, but perhaps when he returned she could persuade him to accompany her on a secret journey? He’d seemed the type of man who wouldn’t baulk at minor difficulties, such as foreigners not being allowed in his country. Temperance wondered if he could find a way around it – a disguise of some sort perhaps? Midori’s brother seemed to be having difficulty with this whereas Kazuo appeared to be a man of action and he would be the perfect travelling companion – cheerful, resourceful, able to defend her.

  Playing half-heartedly with the piglets, Temperance allowed herself to daydream.

  ‘So, you’re going to the mainland, did you say?’

  ‘Uh-hm.’ Kazuo stared straight ahead and tried to sound nonchalant. He was sitting in the prow of a small boat, having paid for passage across the Kammon Strait. He could have gone by boat all the way along the Inland Sea to Kobe, but he’d decided to take the long way round the coast on foot in order to throw any potential pursuers off the scent. Not that he thought he was being followed, but it was just possible that someone could notice his absence from the Oki Islands and he wasn’t taking any chances.

  The islands lay west of the Japanese mainland, Honshu, and he could easily have reached his destination between Kyoto and Kobe by going straight across due east. However, his father had advised him to travel a long way south first so that no one would know where his journey had originated. It seemed like a good plan.

  What he didn’t need, though, were nosy fishermen asking too many questions.

  ‘You on a mission for your employer?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Ah, a man of leisure seeing the sights, eh?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Then let me guess – you’re being transferred from one of your employer’s properties to another?’

  The fisherman was nothing if not tenacious and Kazuo swallowed a sigh and decided he’d better make up some story. ‘No, I’m an artist. I’m looking for beautiful views to draw,’ he improvised. He was able to draw, quite well in fact, so that part was true at least.

  ‘Honto? Well, you’ll find plenty around here.’

  Thankfully the man didn’t ask to see what Kazuo had drawn so far and the talk turned to more general matters. Kazuo was able to steer the conversation onto the topic of the man’s own family and business, and this lasted until they reached land.

  ‘Good luck with your drawings!’ the fisherman called after him as he hurried to jump out of the boat. ‘Perhaps you’ll come back and show us, eh?’

  Kazuo nodded and smiled, bowing his thanks for the journey, but he had no intention of ever seeing the man again.

  ‘That’s another load on its way then. Should make a tidy profit if they reach Batavia and Amsterdam safely,’ Nico said as he swept into the dining room just in time for supper.

  He seated himself next to Midori, after first bending down to give her a tender kiss. The couple sat close to each other, their bodies touching wherever possible, and it was apparent to any onlooker that they were sublimely happy together. Temperance suppressed an unexpected stab of jealousy.

  She was old enough to be wed but had never met anyone who’d taken her fancy as yet. At home in Plymouth it would have been Daniel’s task to find her a suitable match, although she was sure her brother would have allowed her a say in the matter. If she’d been here as a woman, there were several of Nico’s employees who could have made offers for her hand in marriage, just like Haag. But she didn’t like any of them and found their lecherous talk about women disgusting. In her guise as a boy, they spoke freely around her and she’d learned to hide her blushes whenever they mentioned fornication and such things. If they’d tried to court her, however, she would have felt nothing but revulsion or indifference for them, and having seen the outright love between Midori and Nico, she was determined not to settle for anything less herself. Most girls couldn’t afford to be so choosy, but Temperance was far from home and not in a position where she needed to marry at the moment. She’d thought she could take her time and wait until the right man came along.

  The Dutch employees gathered in the dining room of the Chief Factor’s residence twice a day for lunch and dinner, so there were quite a few people around the table. Apart from Mr Haag, who was the Coopman, third in rank to Nico after the Deputy Factor – or Weede Persoon, as he was called in Dutch – there was the warehouse foreman, the bookkeeper, the physician and several assistants. Sometimes they were joined by Japanese officials as well, but on this occasion there were none present.

  Haag sat on the opposite side of the table to Temperance and whenever she looked up he seemed to be sending her meaningful glances. She tried not to feel intimidated and ignored him as best she could. She didn’t need to give him an answer yet and hopefully by the time she did, she’d have found a way to thwart his schemes.

  The Chief Factor’s house was the most imposing building on the island and consisted of a storage area on the ground floor and several large reception rooms on the first floor. Most of these were covered with tatami mats, a type of flooring woven from rice stalks, which was soft and slightly springy to walk on and which gave off a lovely fragrance reminiscent of a summer meadow. Temperance loved it. The walls and ceilings were papered with a patterned paper and European furniture had been placed on the tatam
i mats, which looked slightly odd. Temperance was used to this incongruous sight now, but for her own sleeping quarters, in the building opposite, she had opted for a traditional futon and a few Japanese low tables and cushions instead. This looked more in keeping with their surroundings.

  ‘It looks like I’ll have to go to Edo soon,’ Nico told them over supper. ‘As you know, we have to pay our respects to the Shogun from time to time, and I have been given hints that my predecessor was remiss in attending to this. I really don’t know what he was thinking. The man was an idiot.’ Nico shook his head in disbelief. ‘Haag, you’ll have to come with me as I can’t take my deputy. He’ll need to take command in my absence.’

  Haag bowed slightly. ‘As you wish. And what about young Marston, will you bring him?’ The question was accompanied by another look which made Temperance want to shudder, but Nico didn’t seem to notice anything unusual.

  He shook his head. ‘No, the mainland is no place for young boys. Tom can stay here and keep my ledgers up to date.’

  ‘How long will you be gone?’ Midori looked unhappy at the prospect of being separated from her husband. ‘I don’t suppose I could go with you as interpreter?’

  ‘No, sorry sweetheart, only men are allowed. I believe we may be gone as little as three months so you won’t be on your own for too long.’

  ‘Three months? That’s ages!’

  ‘It will pass quickly, you’ll see.’

  ‘I suppose so. I do hope he receives you graciously.’

  ‘As to that, we shall have to wait and find out. In the meantime, I must look out some suitable gifts to bring with me. It won’t do to arrive empty-handed, of that I’m sure. Will you help me choose something, my love? You will know better than I what the Shogun might like.’

  Temperance smiled inwardly. By asking Midori’s advice regarding suitable presents, Nico had neatly deflected his wife from worrying about the proposed trip and how long he would be gone. And when that subject had finally been exhausted, he turned to Temperance. ‘So, no more outings today then, young varmint?’ he joked, although in a low voice so that the others present wouldn’t hear. They had always dealt well together and he treated her the same way her older brother Daniel had always done.