Mariko knew that of all of them she should be able to read the Anjin-san the most clearly. But she could not. One moment she understood him, the next, he was incomprehensible again. One moment she liked him, the next she hated him. Why?
Blackthorne"s haunted eyes looked into the distance. But now there were beads of sweat on his forehead. Is that from fear? thought Yabu. Fear that the bluff will be called? Is he bluffing?
"Mariko-san?"
"Yes, Lord?"
"Tell him ..." Yabu"s mouth was suddenly dry, his chest aching. "Tell the Anjin-san the sentence stays."
"Sire, please excuse me, but I urge you to accept Omi-san"s advice."
Yabu did not look at her, only at Blackthorne. The vein in his forehead pulsed. "The Anjin-san says he"s decided. So be it. Let"s see if he"s barbarian-or hatamoto."
Mariko"s voice was almost imperceptible. "Anjin-san, Yabu-san says the sentence stays. I"m sorry."
Blackthorne heard the words but they did not disturb him. He felt stronger and more at peace than he had ever been, with a greater awareness of life than he had ever had.
While he was waiting he had not been listening to them or watching them. The commitment had been made. The rest he had left to G.o.d. He had been locked in his own head, hearing the same words over and over, the same that had given him the clue to life here, the words that surely had been sent from G.o.d, through Mariko as medium: "There is an easy solution-die. To survive here you must live according to our customs...."
"... the sentence stays."
So now I must die.
I should be afraid. But I"m not.
Why?
I don"t know. I know only that once I truly decided that the sole way to live here as a man is to do so according to their customs, to risk death, to die-perhaps to die-that suddenly the fear of death was gone. "Life and death are the same ... Leave karma to karma." karma to karma."
I am not afraid to die.
Beyond the shoji, a gentle rain had begun to fall. He looked down at the knife.
I"ve had a good life, he thought.
His eyes came back to Yabu. "Wakarimasu," he said clearly and though he knew his lips had formed the word it was as though someone else had spoken. he said clearly and though he knew his lips had formed the word it was as though someone else had spoken.
No one moved.
He watched his right hand pick up the knife. Then his left also grasped the hilt, the blade steady and pointing at his heart. Now there was only the sound of his life, building and building, soaring louder and louder until he could listen no more. His soul cried out for eternal silence.
The cry triggered his reflexes. His hands drove the knife unerringly toward its target.
Omi had been ready to stop him but he was unprepared for the suddenness and ferocity of Blackthorne"s thrust, and as Omi"s left hand caught the blade and his right the haft, pain bit into him and blood spilled from his left hand. He fought the power of the thrust with all his strength. He was losing. Then Igurashi helped. Together they halted the blow. The knife was taken away. A thin trickle of blood ran from the skin over Blackthorne"s heart where the point of the knife had entered.
Mariko and Yabu had not moved.
Yabu said, "Say to him, say to him whatever he learns is enough, Mariko-san. Order him-no, ask him, ask the Anjin-san to swear as Omi-san said. Everything as Omi-san said."
Blackthorne came back from death slowly. He stared at them and the knife from an immense distance, without understanding. Then the torrent of his life rushed back but he could not grasp its significance, believing himself dead and not alive.
"Anjin-san? Anjin-san?"
He saw her lips move and heard her words but all his senses were concentrated on the rain and the breeze.
"Yes?" His own voice was still far off but he smelled the rain and heard the droplets and tasted the sea salt upon the air.
I"m alive, he told himself in wonder. I"m alive and that"s real rain outside and the wind"s real and from the north. There"s a real brazier with real coals and if I pick up the cup it will have real liquid in it and it will have taste. I"m not dead. I"m alive!
The others sat in silence, waiting patiently, gentle with him to honor his bravery. No man in j.a.pan had ever seen what they had seen. Each was asking silently, what"s the Anjin-san going to do now? Will he be able to stand by himself and walk away or will his spirit leave him? How would I act if I were he?
Silently a servant brought a bandage and bound Omi"s hand where the blade had cut deeply, staunching the flow of blood. Everything was very still. From time to time Mariko would say his name quietly as they sipped cha or sake, but very sparingly, savoring the waiting, the watching, and the remembering.
For Blackthorne this no life seemed to last forever. Then his eyes saw. His ears heard.
"Anjin-san?"
"Hai?" he answered through the greatest weariness he had ever known. he answered through the greatest weariness he had ever known.
Mariko repeated what Omi had said as though it came from Yabu. She had to say it several times before she was sure that he understood clearly.
Blackthorne collected the last of his strength, victory sweet to him. "My word is enough, as his is enough. Even so, I"ll swear by G.o.d as he wants. Yes. As Yabu-san will swear by his G.o.d in equal honor to keep his side of the bargain."
"Lord Yabu says yes, he swears by the Lord Buddha."
So Blackthorne swore as Yabu wished him to swear. He accepted some cha. Never had it tasted so good. The cup seemed very heavy and he could not hold it for long.
"The rain is fine, isn"t it?" he said, watching the raindrops breaking and vanishing, astonished by the untoward clarity of his vision.
"Yes," she told him gently, knowing that his senses were on a plane never to be reached by one who had not gone freely out to meet death, and, through an unknowing karma karma, miraculously come back again.
"Why not rest now, Anjin-san? Lord Yabu thanks you and says he will talk more with you tomorrow. You should rest now."
"Yes. Thank you. That would be fine."
"Do you think you can stand?"
"Yes. I think so."
"Yabu-san asks if you would like a palanquin?"
Blackthorne thought about that. At length he decided that a samurai would walk-would try to walk.
"No, thank you," he said, as much as he would have liked to lie down, to be carried back, to close his eyes and to sleep instantly. At the same time he knew he would be afraid to sleep yet, in case this was the dream of after-death and the knife not there on the futon but still buried in the real him, and this h.e.l.l, or the beginning of h.e.l.l.
Slowly he took up the knife and studied it, glorying in the real real feel. Then he put it in its scabbard, everything taking so much time. feel. Then he put it in its scabbard, everything taking so much time.
"Sorry I"m so slow," he murmured.
"You mustn"t be sorry, Anjin-san. Tonight you"re reborn. This is another life, a new life," Mariko said proudly, filled with honor for him. "It"s given to few to return. Do not be sorry. We know it takes great fort.i.tude. Most men do not have enough strength left afterwards even to stand. May I help you?"
"No. No, thank you."
"It is no dishonor to be helped. I would be honored to be allowed to help you."
"Thank you. But I-I wish to try. First."
But he could not stand at once. He had to use his hands to get to his knees and then he had to pause to get more strength. Later he lurched up and almost fell. He swayed but did not fall.
Yabu bowed. And Mariko, Omi, and Igurashi.
Blackthorne walked like a drunk for the first few paces. He clutched a pillar and held on for a moment. Then he began again. He faltered, but he was walking away, alone. As a man. He kept one hand on the long sword in his belt and his head was high.
Yabu exhaled and drank deeply of the sake. When he could speak he said to Mariko, "Please follow him. See that he gets home safely."
"Yes, Sire."
When she had gone, Yabu turned on Igurashi. "You-manure-pile-fool!"
Instantly Igurashi bowed his bead to the mat in penitence. "Bluff you said, neh? neh? Your stupidity almost cost me a priceless treasure." Your stupidity almost cost me a priceless treasure."
"Yes, Sire, you"re right, Sire. I beg leave to end my life at once."
"That would be too good for you! Go and live in the stables until I send for you! Sleep with the stupid horses. You"re a horse-headed fool!"
"Yes, Sire. I apologize, Sire."
"Get out! Omi-san will command the guns now. Get out!"
The candles flickered and spluttered. One of the maids spilled the tiniest drop of sake on the small lacquered table in front of Yabu and he cursed her eloquently. The others apologized at once. He allowed them to placate him, and accepted more wine. "Bluff? Bluff, he said. Fool! Why do I have fools around me?"
Omi said nothing, screaming with laughter inside.
"But you"re no fool, Omi-san. Your counsel"s valuable. Your fief"s doubled from today. Six thousand koku. For next year. Take thirty ri ri around Anjiro as your fief." around Anjiro as your fief."
Omi bowed to the futon. Yabu deserves to die, he thought scornfully, he"s so easy to manipulate. "I deserve nothing, Sire. I was just doing my duty."
"Yes. But a liege lord should reward faithfulness and duty." Yabu was wearing the Yos.h.i.tomo sword tonight. It gave him great pleasure to touch it. "Suzu," he called to one of the maids. "Send Zukimoto here!"
"How soon will war begin?" Omi asked.
"This year. Maybe you have six months, perhaps not. Why?"
"Perhaps the Lady Mariko should stay more than three days. To protect you."
"Eh? Why?"
"She"s the mouth of the Anjin-san. In half a month-with her-he can train twenty men who can train a hundred who can train the rest. Then whether he lives or dies doesn"t matter."
"Why should he die?"
"You"re going to call the Anjin-san again, his next challenge or the one after, Sire. The result may be different next time, who knows? You may want him to die." Both men knew, as Mariko and Igurashi had known, that for Yabu to swear by any G.o.d was meaningless and, of course, he had no intention of keeping any promise. "You may want to put pressure on him. Once you have the information, what good is the carca.s.s?"
"None."
"You need to learn barbarian war strategy but you must do it very quickly. Lord Toranaga may send for him, so you must have the woman as long as you can. Half a month should be enough to squeeze his head dry of what he knows, now that you have his complete attention. You"ll have to experiment, to adapt their methods to our ways. Yes, it would take at least half a month. Neh?" Neh?"
"And Toranaga-san?"
"He will agree, if it"s put correctly to him, Sire. He must. The guns are his as well as yours. And her continuing presence here is valuable in other ways."
"Yes," Yabu said with satisfaction, for the thought of holding her as hostage had also entered his mind on the ship when he had planned to offer Toranaga as a sacrifice to Ishido. "Toda Mariko should be protected, certainly. It would be bad if she fell into evil hands."
"Yes. And perhaps she could be the means of controlling Hiro-matsu, Buntaro, and all their clan, even Toranaga."
"You draft the message about her."
Omi said, offhand, "My mother heard from Yedo today, Sire. She asked me to tell you that the Lady Genjiko has presented Toranaga with his first grandson."
Yabu was at once attentive. Toranaga"s grandson! Could Toranaga be controlled through this infant? The grandson a.s.sures Toranaga"s dynasty, neh? neh? How can I get the infant as hostage? "And Ochiba, the Lady Ochiba?" he asked. How can I get the infant as hostage? "And Ochiba, the Lady Ochiba?" he asked.
"She"s left Yedo with all her entourage. Three days ago. By now she"s safe in Lord Ishido"s territory."
Yabu thought about Ochiba and her sister, Genjiko. So different! Ochiba, vital, beautiful, cunning, relentless, the most desirable woman in the Empire and mother of the Heir. Genjiko, her younger sister, quiet, brooding, flat-faced and plain, with a pitilessness that was legend, even now, that had come down to her from their mother, who was one of Goroda"s sisters. The two sisters loved each other, but Ochiba hated Toranaga and his brood, as Genjiko detested the Taik and Yaemon, his son. Did the Taik really father Ochiba"s son, Yabu asked himself again, as all daimyos daimyos had done secretly for years. What wouldn"t I give to know the answer to that. What wouldn"t I give to possess that woman. had done secretly for years. What wouldn"t I give to know the answer to that. What wouldn"t I give to possess that woman.
"Now that Lady Ochiba"s no longer hostage in Yedo ... that could be good and bad," Yabu said tentatively. "Neh?"
"Good, only good. Now Ishido and Toranaga must begin very soon." Omi deliberately omitted the "sama" from those two names. "The Lady Mariko should stay, for your protection."
"See to it. Draft the message to send to Toranaga."
Suzu, the maid, knocked discreetly and opened the door. Zukimoto came into the room. "Sire?"
"Where are all the gifts I ordered brought from Mishima for Omi-san?"
"They"re all in the storehouse, Lord. Here"s the list. The two horses can be selected from the stables. Do you want me to do that now?"
"No. Omi-san will choose them tomorrow." Yabu glanced at the carefully written list: "Twenty kimonos (second quality); two swords; one suit of armor (repaired but in good condition); two horses; arms for one hundred samurai-one sword, helmet, breastplate, bow, twenty arrows and spear for each man (best quality). Total value: four hundred and twenty-six koku. Also the rock called "The Waiting Stone"-value: priceless."
"Ah yes," he said in better humor, remembering that night. "The rock I found in Kyushu. You were going to rename it "The Waiting Barbarian," weren"t you?"
"Yes, Sire, if it still pleases you," Omi said. "But would you honor me tomorrow by deciding where it should go in the garden? I don"t think there"s a place good enough."
"Tomorrow I"ll decide. Yes." Yabu let his mind rest on the rock, and on those far-off days with his revered master, the Taik, and last on the Night of the Screams. Melancholy seeped into him. Life is so short and sad and cruel, he thought. He eyed Suzu. The maid smiled back hesitantly, oval-faced, slender, and very delicate like the other two. The three had been brought by palanquin from his household in Mishima. Tonight they were all barefoot, their kimonos the very best silk, their skins very white. Curious that boys can be so graceful, he pondered, in many ways more feminine, more sensuous than girls are. Then he noticed Zukimoto. "What"re you waiting for? Eh? Get out!"
"Yes, Sire. You asked me to remind you about taxes, Sire." Zukimoto heaved up his sweating bulk and gratefully hurried away. "Omi-san, you will double all taxes at once," Yabu said.
"Yes, Sire."