‘I may not have told you everything,’ he said calmly, sat cross-legged, his hands placed regally on his knees.
‘And what you did tell me may not have been entirely true,’ she replied, kneeling on the other side of the table.
Lord Ezoe nodded.
‘You’re right, but I would ask that you don’t hold it against me. You know I respect you too much to think you wouldn’t find out. But at the time it was judicious. I needed to continue my investigations undisturbed by other concerns.’
He bowed his head.
‘I apologise for any distress this may have caused.’
He studied her but Katsuyama remained as she was. He smiled to himself. Her beauty, her charm, her culture; they all held appeal. But what captivated him was the strength concealed within her, the steely fury she could clinically dispatch. In this she was like Tetsuko, his prized falcon who would plummet from the skies like a stone – ruthless but without emotion, at that moment living only to execute her strike. Had Katsuyama been born a man it would have been a daimyō he sat in front of, maybe even the shōgun himself.
‘I presume you are aware I had greater involvement than I disclosed in the circumstances regarding your father’s disappearance?’
She nodded.
‘And perhaps you know that I have had some interaction with Genpachi and his lapdog Mizuno?’
She noted his disregard for Mizuno but remained quiet.
‘You may not be aware that it was me who abducted your father.’
This finally startled her into a reaction.
‘You took my father? But why? Where is he now?’
‘I did take your father,’ he said. ‘But unfortunately I was unable to keep him in my care. Please, let me explain.
‘The runt who slandered your family held a grudge against your father. But this wasn’t the sole cause of his derogatory remarks and their timing wasn’t by chance. He was prompted to make them for the response their instigator knew they would bring. I was warned of this, which is why I had men ready to take your father to safety when he did what honour obliged. Unfortunately I was duped. The men I had intercept him were ambushed and your father was taken again.’
‘But why?’ she asked. ‘Who would go to all this trouble? And what good would it do them?’
‘Genpachi. I was given the warning by another so no search for a culprit could implicate him. Any trail that didn’t lead to me would only reach Mizuno, for it was men he hired who intercepted mine. It would be near impossible for anyone to trace Genpachi’s hand in this affair.’
‘Except you have.’
‘Except I have. But without any proof.’
‘But again – what purpose did any of this have? Lord Genpachi has already won his battle with my father’s lord. My father meant nothing to him.’
‘That’s where the situation becomes more complicated,’ said Ezoe. ‘The restrictive measures the last shōgun forced on the daimyōs are still felt sorely by many. Others, significant names like Mizuno among them, smart from being made rōnin. Since the shōgun died and a boy took his place, there has been talk of putting things back as they were.’
‘But there are always whispers of revolts and rebellions. My family’s downfall was caused by a personal dispute. It had nothing to do with the shōgunate. I don’t see why my father would have been involved.’
‘You’re right, but others who knew him less well were less sure and times are tense. You see, at the moment there are more than just rumours. There’s a plan to overthrow the shōgun. In the course of the rebellion, I’ll be killed.’
‘You?’ she exclaimed. ‘Why?’
‘Because it’s to be led by Genpachi and he knows my power base is independent of him. If anyone was to challenge his position, I’d be the most likely to succeed.’
‘Lord Genpachi? But he’s on the council of regents until the shōgun comes of age.’
‘He is on the council but he finds it irksome that four other voices compete with his. He also dislikes the idea of his power being diluted in the passage of time. So he’s taking advantage of this period of transition and using the disaffection of others to further his own goals. He plans to take power for himself.
‘First there will be an attack in Shizuoka. It will be made to look like a rōnin rebellion, so none of the daimyō families held in Edo Castle are harmed. But the assault will be more impressive than anticipated and the bakufu will find it necessary to send further men. When they’ve made good distance, a fire will start on the outskirts of Edo. As you know, a blaze could quickly consume the city. There will be pandemonium and the castle will be left exposed. Genpachi’s men will take advantage and attack from within; other forces will launch an assault from outside. Together they will take control.’
‘What claim to legitimacy do they have?’
He silently admired the speed of her thought.
‘They’ve turned the shōgun’s mother. Genpachi found out about an affair with one of the last shōgun’s retainers – she will concede to the illegitimacy of the child. Crucially, the emperor has no affection for the shōgun. He’ll back Genpachi in the affair.’
He paused to admire his enemy’s plotting.
‘It’s a good plan. The only way to defeat it is to expose it before its implementation.’
‘Is that why my father was taken?’
‘Yes,’ said Ezoe. ‘The senior retainer of Lord Wada, you may recall, had good relations with your father in happier times. He saw the possibility of redemption and spoke to him in vague terms of the plan.
‘But Genpachi is a cautious man. He has men watching men and more to watch the watchers. He remembered that he, not the shōgun, lay at the root of your father’s misfortune. He couldn’t be sure your father wouldn’t reveal the plotting in revenge. He decided to act so he wouldn’t have to find out.’
‘So my father is dead?’
‘Your father is dead,’ he confirmed. ‘But rest assured, he was allowed an honourable death and his seppuku was exceptional. The cut was deep and wide and he allowed no second to take his head.’
She paused to reflect, her thoughts on the honour not the horror of her father’s death. But despite his fearless embrace, the rehabilitation of their family name remained incomplete.
‘How may I avenge him?’
He had known the question would come.
‘We face a challenge, you and I: you to avenge your father’s death; me to postpone mine to a more conducive time. I considered approaching the regency but it would be my word against Genpachi’s and when it comes to the council his holds more weight.’
He sipped from his cup.
‘I visited him to see if I could draw a mistake or implicate him but I was without success. The only way to defeat him is to catch the plotters as they conspire.’
‘And how do you plan to do that?’
‘They will meet once more to pledge an oath. As theirs is a plan that needs all parties united, Genpachi wants a guarantee so none can back out should they begin to harbour doubts. The daimyōs’ families are kept at the castle as hostages against rebellion – as it has been since the last shōgun so ruled. Were any to be found plotting, their families would be tortured and put to death. By signing the oath, they guarantee this fate should they back out and the plot be exposed. Their only option will be to succeed.’
‘You wish to get hold of the oath or find out where it will be signed.’
‘That’s correct. But I’m not close to either and time is running out.’
His network had done what in most circumstances would have been a superlative job. On this occasion, what they were yet to find out could lead to his death. He looked over at her furrowed brow.
‘It’s my wish to have you at my side in this matter but I’m yet to think of what you can do from within Yoshiwara’s walls.’
‘All I can think of is getting information through Kaoru,’ she said. ‘Both Lord Genpachi and Mizuno spend time with her. At present I can’t see a way to do this, but let me dwell on the matter. I’m sure I can find a way to help.’
She held his eyes with her own and he saw that despite her calm demeanour a fire burned inside. She spoke again.
‘I don’t know if it has any bearing, but the actor Chitairō is sleeping with Lord Genpachi’s wife. I imagine it would provide an unwelcome distraction should he find out at this time.’
‘I will see the news reaches his ears,’ said Ezoe, wondering what the actor had done to fall into such lethal disfavour.
He shivered, suddenly uncomfortable where he sat. He wondered at the cause of his discomfort, whether it was Katsuyama’s clinical dispatching of a man, or if the cushions he was sitting on were inadequate, or the temperature in the room too low—