My business with both Prince Kanemore and Lord Mikoto had to wait, despite its obvious urgency. When we arrived at the capital it was too late in the day and we were far too exhausted to attempt either obligation. Lord Tadanobu and his escort departed to arrange our audience with Prince Kanemore for the following morning. Kenji withdrew to whichever of Kyoto’s abundant temples had not yet thrown him out, and I immediately returned to my rooms at the Widow Tamahara’s establishment to arrange a bath and whatever she could manage for a late meal. I found the formidable old woman in a rather foul mood, and for a moment I wondered if I’d forgotten to catch up my rent again, but she quickly arranged matters to my satisfaction, so it was clear to me the heart of her grievance lay elsewhere.
It was Kaoru, a young woman in Widow Tamahara’s employ, who brought me a bowl of cold rice and two rather sad-looking dried fish shortly after my bath, but in truth I hadn’t expected better considering the hour. I also didn’t expect to glimpse a bandage showing at the edge of the girl’s kimono at the shoulder. She winced as she placed the tray in front of me.
“Are you injured, Kaoru-san? What happened?”
She looked away. “It is nothing, Yamada-sama.”
“It is indeed something,” said someone who wasn’t Kaoru. The Widow Tamahara stood scowling in the doorway. “Kaoru was attacked the day you left here in my very compound. She has only today been well enough to return to any of her duties.”
This was both unusual and disturbing. An establishment such as the Widow Tamahara’s was always subject to disturbances of various sorts by its very nature, but her livelihood depended on keeping everything in order and—relatively—calm. Security was as important to her as discretion was to her patrons, but there were always free-lance or down on their luck bushi available for hire, and she normally had a minimum of three in her employ for security.
“What happened, Kaoru-san?” I asked.
The young woman glanced at the Widow Tamahara, who grunted assent. “Tell him.”
“I was serving a group of gentlemen in the main hall, and we’d run out of saké. I went to the storeroom to fetch some and found Taka-san standing by the veranda just outside the storage buildings.”
“Oh? And who is this Taka?”
“A samuru I had hired to replace one of my former guards who had preferred staying drunk to performing his duties,” said the Widow Tamahara. “Taka was supposed to be on duty at the north entrance. Kaoru knew he wasn’t where he was supposed to be and spoke to him.”
“That’s all? Then he attacked you?” I asked Kaoru.
“Hai. He grabbed my arm and twisted it. I don’t know why, but his eyes were so strange. It was as if the only reason he didn’t cut me down then and there was that he was too angry to think clearly. It made no sense.”
“None at all,” the old woman added. “It’s true Taka was assigned to one of the entrances rather than within the compound, but it turned out he’d simply switched duties with one of the other guards. They do that sometimes and I don’t mind, so long as both entrances and the compound are covered by someone. Of course Kaoru didn’t know that, but there was no reason to attack her.”
It was indeed strange, but I had the feeling it was about to get even stranger. “What happened then?”
Kaoru stared at the floor. “I screamed. He hurt me, and I was so frightened . . . then the other guards came running.”
“They knew they’d damned well better,” Tamahara-san said, betraying a bit of satisfaction. “What sort of reputation would I have if I didn’t protect those in my employ? But Taka let Kaoru go and took off as soon as he saw them. They said they chased him down the alley between two storerooms, and Kaoru saw them, but it was a dead end. There was no way he could have escaped, except . . . ”
“Except he did.”
The old woman sighed. “They both swear that, when they reached the wall, he was gone. Only a monkey could have scaled the wall there, and Taka was more of a boar-hog. I fear I may have been harboring a shape-shifter or worse.”
“What if he comes back?” Kaoru asked plaintively.
I was practically asleep on my feet, but I also wasn’t averse to doing the Widow Tamahara a favor. I knew it might mean the difference between staying or going if I happened to be late with the rent again. In either case, I considered it might be in my own best interest to confirm my suspicious, if that turned out to be possible. “If it eases your mind at all, I will have a look.”
“I would appreciate it,” Tamahara-san said. Kaoru just bowed.
The Widow Tamahara had other business to attend, but when I finished my late meal, Kaoru led me to the spot where she had met Taka, as it turned out, five nights before.
“Here?” I asked, standing in the spot she had indicated.
“Yes, but he was turned toward the building. I believed he was watching your door, but maybe it was just the building itself. I would have told him you weren’t there, but he didn’t give me the chance.”
“And then he fled between the storage buildings?”
“Hai. Which—which also makes no sense. He’d been here long enough to know it was a dead end.”
Indeed it should have known. I’m guessing it did know.
The sun had already set, but there was still a good bit of light, probably enough for what I needed. I told Kaoru to wait outside while I entered the alley.
Dim as the light was between the buildings, I could still see clearly to where the back of the storage buildings met the wall. There was no gap between the rear of the buildings and the compound wall. It was simply cheaper to use the wall itself as the back section of each building, rather than use additional timber, and the Widow Tamahara was nothing if not a practical person. I was familiar with the alley. During the worst of my drunkard period I had once slept in it for two days, thinking it was my room. Fortunately the weather was warm. It was only when it rained and the overflow from two separate roofs was pouring down on me I finally sobered up enough to realize my error. Naturally, there was no good reason to revisit the alley since.
If I’m right, it will be around here.
Tamahara’s two bushi hadn’t found anything, but that was only because they didn’t know what they were looking for. I did. It only took me a moment or two to spot it—a small slip of paper, undamaged, wedged into the planking of the building on the left. While I had dealt with the physical manifestations of the yin-yang magician’s art more than once, examining an undamaged example was a rare opportunity.
The thing tried to avoid me. It had a sort of life, bestowed upon it by its master and the charm written upon it. Nor was I unaware of the danger—while its master’s will had been withdrawn, it could return and refocus in short order, which is no doubt why the creature had been directed to hide rather than let itself risk being destroyed. There was a purpose to its presence in the Widow Tamahara’s compound which had not yet been fulfilled.
The paper itself had been folded into a roughly human shape, and the characters written on it were strange, probably an older version of the Chinese writing used at Court. I could make out a word or two, but most of it was gibberish to me. I knew someone who could possibly interpret the script, and I put the thought away for later consideration. I had several orders of prior business to take care of but, in one regard, this discovery came first. I very carefully ripped off the part of the paper representing the head of the shikigami, after first making certain nothing was written there. The rest of the writing I compared to the example I possessed of Lord Tenshin’s work and satisfied myself they were one and the same. Then I went back to where Kaoru was waiting for me.
“Kaoru-san, Tamahara said you were attacked the day I left on business. Do you remember when Taka was hired?”
“About two weeks before then,” she said. “He was usually at the south gate, so you might not have noticed him.”
It occurred to me I might not have noticed him if I’d walked past him every day, if the quality of his creation was anything like that of the shikigami who impersonated Lord Tenshin himself.
“Two weeks? You’re certain?”
“Hai, Yamada-sama. I remember seeing him for the first time on the night of the Chrysanthemum Festival, just over two weeks ago.”
If Kaoru was correct, then the presence of a shikigami, and specifically one created—as I was certain this one was—by Lord Tenshin, made absolutely no sense. Why would he send one of the creatures, either as a spy or an assassin, a full week before his brother had even hired me? Besides, I knew my involvement was not a decision Lord Mikoto had made at leisure or in consultation with anyone, including his traitorous brother.
A shikigami disguised as a bushi would make a credible spy but a better assassin. Yet the creature’s presence here only makes sense if neither I nor Tamahara or any of her women were the target—the creature had plenty of time to act before it was discovered. Which leaves only a client. I know Lord Mikoto does not frequent this place, so who was it after?
Whatever the answer to that question turned out to be, in a way it was fortunate Kaoru had somehow triggered a defensive response from the creature. Otherwise it would still be roaming the compound with impunity.
“Yamada-sama? Do . . . do you think he will come back?”
I looked at the young woman and felt a little ashamed of myself for taking so long to realize how afraid she was. Serving the Widow Tamahara could not have been the best of all possible lives, but there were far worse options for poor girls of no family, and at least with Tamahara there had been some measure of safety and security. For Kaoru this was now gone, and there didn’t seem to be any way of giving it back. I simply told her what I knew.
“I can, at the minimum, assure you Taka will not return, but there are others like him, and they may have a reason for coming here I have not yet ascertained. You’re going to have to be careful, Kaoru, as is everyone here. Do you understand?”
“One such as I should always be careful,” she said simply. “I learned this lesson long ago and was recently reminded of it. But I will tell the others.”
“Good. There is one other thing, however,” I said. “Please ask your mistress not to hire another guard until I have a chance to meet him. Perhaps I can stop this from happening again.”
“I will be grateful for anything you can do, as I’m sure my mistress will be as well.”
I almost smiled. While the old woman could appreciate the odd favor, Kaoru and I both knew real gratitude wasn’t a commodity Tamahara-san dealt in, as a general rule, whether she actually used the word or not. But it was also true the formidable old woman never forgot a debt, whether owed or owned, which was almost the same thing as gratitude in practice.
I made certain Kaoru returned to the main hall without incident, then went to my room and surrendered gladly to sleep. At one point I dreamed I was being devoured by a thousand paper fishes, but otherwise the night was restful enough. When I finally awoke, the sun was already showing mid-morning. I had no sooner finished a bath and dressed in the best hitatare I owned when Kenji came to collect me.
I yawned. “For some reason I was expecting Lord Tadanobu,” I said.
“I can’t imagine why,” Kenji said. “He’s a Fujiwara. I’m amazed he even deigns to speak to us.”
I smiled. “But he does. I gather you’ve spoken to him today?”
Kenji grunted. “He said Prince Kanemore had need of a Fujiwara, for some reason His Highness had not yet divulged.”
Undivulged but easily imagined. As a Fujiwara, doors would open for Tadanobu which would certainly remain firmly shut to one such as myself. As for Kenji, the only reason he was allowed within the Imperial Compound at all was because Prince Kanemore had, on more than one occasion, expressly ordered it. This would be the aegis under which we doubtless appeared there today, assuming this was where we were to meet Kanemore. I soon learned this assumption was in error.
“The mansion in the Sixth Ward,” Kenji said. “We are to call upon His Highness there this afternoon.”
Royalty and the nobility alike had mansions scattered about the city in favored locations in addition to whatever housing they claimed within the walls of the Imperial precincts, but the Sixth Ward was no one’s favorite location. The Sixth Ward Mansion served mostly as temporary quarters for the sick and infirm. “Is His Highness ill? I hadn’t heard anything to this effect.”
“Nor I. Doubtless he has his own reasons for meeting there.”
One possibility was it was a bit more private than the Imperial Compound. Fewer witnesses to our arrival and departure. And to the prince’s own movements, for that matter.
“You’ve spent more time out and about than I have. What have you heard?”
“The war against the Abe Clan is apparently not going well at the moment.”
That was old news. The Abe Clan were the hereditary military commanders of Mutsu province, which included lands claimed by the Emishi, a northern barbarian tribe vanquished by the Abe in the previous century. But the Emishi were never entirely quiet after their subjugation. The Abe Clan chief, Yoritoki, had a mandate to keep the barbarians in check and maintain order. The problems arose when he assumed full control, supplanting the rightfully appointed civilian governor. Worse, he took on the role of tax collector for the province and kept all receipts for his own uses. The disobedience was bad enough, but withholding revenues was such a dangerous precedent it left the government in Kyoto with no choice but to act. The Emperor had appointed Minamoto no Yoriyoshi as the new military and administrative governor of the province, and all he had to do to assume his post was to push Abe no Yoritoki out of it. This had proved to be very difficult. Including three years of temporary truces, the war had been raging back and forth for eleven years, with first one side and then the other holding the advantage. Even the death of Yoritoki some years before hadn’t ended the conflict. His son, Sadato, held the upper hand at the moment and this was unfortunate, but not a disaster. I said as much.
Kenji sighed. “You don’t understand, Lord Yamada, and if you had bestirred yourself earlier you’d have noticed the tension. People aren’t just afraid Yoriyoshi is going to be defeated for good and all and the Emperor be forced to appoint some other ambitious warrior to take his place. They’re afraid Sadato will take his clan’s treason to the capital itself!”
“This is not possible,” I said. “He’s on the far eastern part of the country with dozens of loyal provinces between himself and the Emperor. He can neither defeat nor suborn all of them, even if he does take the Minamoto Clan’s measure.”
“Normally I would agree,” Kenji said. “But you don’t think Prince Kanemore recalled us to the capital because he misses our company, do you?”
“No, I do not.”
Kenji nodded. “Lord Yamada, I tell you something is in the air, and it’s a great deal more ominous than the petty succession squabbles of the Otomo Clan.”
As much as I didn’t want to believe it, I suspected Kenji might be right. That didn’t mean our business with Lord Mikoto could be neglected. Since we would pass where Lord Mikoto was currently residing on our way to the Sixth Ward, there was no reason not to settle it as soon as possible. On the way I told Kenji about what had happened in the Widow Tamahara’s compound while we were gone.
“Kaoru? I know that one.”
“You know all of them, unless I’m misremembering your reputation.”
Kenji scowled at me. “I am not quite the scoundrel you think me, Lord Yamada. I merely meant that she is a very sweet and gentle young woman, as I recall. I’m glad she wasn’t seriously harmed.”
“It was serious enough to her,” I said dryly. “But I agree it could have been much worse, and I still don’t understand why one of Lord Tenshin’s creatures should have been there in the first place. Apparently it had nothing to do with me or his plans for his older brother. At least, not in any way I can as yet divine.”
“ ‘The brightest light casts the darkest shadows,’ ” Kenji said.
“Which means?”
“I have no idea,” Kenji said. “But it’s something my old master once said to me, and it sounds profound, doesn’t it?”
We crossed the Tama River at the Third Street Bridge and proceeded toward the Sixth Ward. Lord Mikoto had gone to ground in a well-defended mansion in the Fifth, and there he nervously received us in audience.
Lord Mikoto kneeled on a cushion on a dais in his reception hall while Kenji and I kneeled in front of him. He was about forty, I knew, though the black hair showing under his formal boushi was already showing gray, and he looked older. The man was tired, frightened, and—unless I missed my guess—tired of being frightened.
I told him what we had discovered, and produced the remains of the final shikigami. I didn’t name the creator. I didn’t have to. Lord Mikoto stared at the writing as one in a daze.
“I gather you recognize the hand, Mikoto-sama?”
He closed his eyes and nodded. “I’m guessing you do, as well,” he said. “Where is my brother now?”
“He fled north, but if north was the direction he originally meant to go, I could not say. I was charged with discovering the culprit and this I have done. You can understand why I wished to take no further action.”
I didn’t think Lord Mikoto had heard me at first, but he finally tore his gaze from the writing. “Hmmm? Oh, yes. Certainly. This is a family matter now, and I will . . . deal with it. As for your reward, everything will be as we have agreed.” He sighed then and rubbed his eyes wearily. “I should thank you, for you have done me a great service. Yet it was information I really did not expect . . . or want.”
There was nothing more to say. Kenji and I took our leave then and continued toward the Sixth Ward. The city was not so bustling toward the southwest where the mansion in question was located. There were other people about, and bandits and footpads were common in this part of the city, but if any of the folk we passed were of such inclination, my sword and Kenji’s staff were enough to dissuade them. The mansion would have guards posted at all hours, but even so it was easy to see why it served as the sickroom for the royal family and others of the greater nobility. And, it was rumored, as a place of assignation. For both purposes, isolation and discretion were prime considerations. Yet it seemed to me the area was even a little more deserted than usual.
Kenji broke the silence first, as was his habit. “What do you think Lord Mikoto will do?”
“Petition the Emperor to declare Lord Tenshin an outlaw, I would imagine. Which would prevent his brother from having any claim to the leadership of Clan Otomo, even if Lord Mikoto were to die, thus removing his brother’s reasons to harm him. That is what I would do in his place.”
“What if Lord Tenshin’s grievances against his brother are not merely dynastic?”
“Then the sensible thing for Lord Mikoto to do would be to put a very generous bounty on his brother’s head. I suspect he may do this anyway, considering what Lord Tenshin tried to do to him.”
“Is this what you would do?”
I took a deep breath. “Kenji, as you are well aware, my ‘clan,’ following the disgrace and death of my father, consists primarily of myself. My only brother died when he was twelve, so none of this, for good or ill, is a choice I’ll need to make. What happens now is Lord Mikoto’s responsibility, and I do not envy him.”
“Yes, you do,” Kenji said. “At least a little.”
I scowled but did not answer, and Kenji, sensing my mood, let the matter drop. We walked the rest of the way in silence. Kenji could be annoying even at the best of times, but no more so than when he was right. As we got closer to the Sixth Ward mansion, I discovered he’d been right a second time. Also, it became much clearer why we’d seen fewer people in the streets—the area around the Sixth Ward mansion had been converted into an armed camp. We saw the first enclosures even before we could see the walls of the mansion compound itself. The clan insignia belonged mostly to the Minamoto, but I did see a few Taira and other military families among them. The outer enclosure was purely Minamoto, however, and served as a barrier to further progress. We were greeted by two unsmiling bushi who demanded our names and business.
“Lord Yamada no Goji and the Priest Kenji. Prince Kanemore is expecting us.”
There was a whispered consultation between them, and one of the men hurried away to return with a young man I recognized as one of Kanemore’s personal attendants. The newcomer looked at me and then spoke to the guards who, apparently satisfied we were who I said we were, allowed us to pass.
The attendant bowed. “Gentlemen, if you will follow me?”
We let the attendant lead the way, but I turned as much attention as I could to our surroundings. My first impressions were reinforced by everything I saw—the warriors present were not simply to guard the compound at a time of fear within the capital—there were far too many of them and from far too many clan families and with far too much equipment. There were wagons being loaded, makeshift stables, racks of armor, and bundles of fodder and arrows. What we were seeing was the staging area for a military expedition, and I said as much to Kenji.
“Which explains Prince Kanemore’s presence here rather than the Imperial compound,” Kenji said, “It would be one thing for a Fujiwara minister to order reinforcements acting on behalf of the Emperor, but this is the sort of thing the Emperor would need to approve directly, otherwise every family involved runs the risk of being declared outlaw.”
Kenji did have his moments of astuteness, I had to admit, and now he had cut to the heart of it. While the Fujiwara—whether their titles accurately reflected their actual power and importance or not—were the real government in Kyoto, the Emperor’s prerogative could not be ignored.
“And Prince Kanemore’s mere presence in and knowledge of these preparations tacitly assures everyone involved this approval indeed exists. I see your point,” I said. “Are these reinforcements for the Minamoto in the north, I wonder? If they were intended as defense of the city there would not be so much obvious preparation for travel.”
“That would be my guess as well. One thing I do not understand,” Kenji said, “is what any of this has to do with us. The more I see, the more I worry.”
Time and experience had taught me, whenever I agreed with Kenji about anything, it was usually a bad sign, and I did agree with him whole-heartedly in this particular matter. There was nothing for it but to see what Prince Kanemore required of us. I had the certain feeling we were not going to like it.
As we approached the mansion, the servant led us around toward the northern entrance, past the boundaries of the military preparation, and into one of the formal, if somewhat unkempt, gardens of the mansion. For a moment I hesitated, so much so that Kenji and our guide were several paces ahead of me before they noticed. They both stopped and looked at me curiously.
“Lord Yamada, what is it?” Kenji asked.
I finally sighed, and hurried to join them. “Nothing. I just thought I saw something in the bushes near the north wall.”
The servant bowed. “Lord Yamada, if there is an interloper within the grounds the prince will need to know of it. Please tell me what you saw.”
“Obviously, I was mistaken. Unless the staff of the Sixth Ward mansion have taken to keeping foxes within the grounds as pets?”
“Certainly not, my lord,” the young man said.
“No, I didn’t believe this to be the case,” I said.
Especially white foxes with more than one tail.
“Let’s be on our way,” I said, “I don’t wish to keep His Highness waiting.”
We followed again, but Kenji and I held back a step or two and Kenji whispered, “Did you see what I think you saw?”
“If I did, it’s only because she knew I was coming and wanted me to know she is here. If that is true, we’ll find out the ‘why’ of it soon enough.”
I knew I was not mistaken in what I had seen, which meant Lady Kuzunoha was a long way from her territory in Shinoda Forest, and that is not something she would have done on a whim. Her presence added to the mystery of our summons and increased my apprehension. I was becoming even more convinced Kenji was right, and that great matters were afoot. I was not fond of “great matters,” for all that I often found myself in the middle of them. When forces both unseen and powerful were set in motion, it was inevitable someone was going to get trampled, and this someone was just as likely as not to be myself or someone I cared about. I did not consider myself fortunate considering, since the death of Princess Teiko, the number of beings I did care about had shrunk considerably. I would count myself even less fortunate should the number shrink even more.
I had expected to see Prince Kanemore in the main audience hall, but as we approached the north veranda, the door slid aside and he came to meet us personally. We all immediately kneeled and then bowed low as protocol demanded. Kanemore bid us rise and dismissed the servant.
“The mansion is a bit crowded and noisy at the moment, gentlemen. As there is a matter we need to discuss, please walk with me in the garden.”
Meaning he does not wish to be overheard.
Prince Kanemore was my friend and had been ever since we first met in the service of his late sister, Princess Teiko. He was one member of the Imperial family who could both issue a command with such force you wouldn’t think of disobeying and again issue the same command with such gentleness it really did sound like a request, such as the one I’d just heard, but there would be no disobeying in either case. Not everyone had Kanemore’s skill in this, even those who had the right of command.
We walked in silence for a short while, and I took the time to examine my friend. I had not seen him in over a year, but it was certain a great deal had happened in that year. He looked tired, and older, which was enough to concern me as I was a few years older than his forty-odd years.
“It’s good to see you again, Your Highness,” I said, after the silence had persisted for some time.
“And you. I ask your pardon for my reluctance to get to the matter at hand. Our first meeting gave cause for regret, for both of us, and I fear this one may do the same. Yet I must ask a favor of you, Lord Yamada. And Kenji-san as well.”
“We are at your service,” I said, shooting a hard glance at Kenji, in case he was tempted to say otherwise, but he merely waited, serene and innocent as a Buddha.
“It seems,” Prince Kanemore said, “I must ask you both to go to war.”