The Harsh Cry of the Heron (41 page)

‘We should move the
rest of the fleet from Hagi to Hofu,’ Fumio said. ‘Thus we control the Western
part of the sea, and can strike at Kumamoto if necessary.’

‘Yes, our greatest
danger is that Zenko will take advantage of my absence and move into open
revolt. But his wife is to come to Hagi; his sons are already there. It’s my
opinion that he will not be so foolhardy as to risk their lives. Kaede agrees
with me, and she will exert all her influence on Hana. You and your father must
go with the fleet to Hofu; be prepared for attack from the sea. Taku is there,
and will keep you informed of whatever happens. And you can take the foreigners
with you.’

‘They are to return
to Hofu?’

‘They are to set up a
trading house there. You can help them with that, and keep an eye on them. The
Muto girl, Mai, will also go with them.’

Takeo went on to tell
his old friend his concerns about such foreigners as there might already be in
Kumamoto, the mirror and what else might be entering the country through that
city.

Til find out what I
can,’ Fumio promised. ‘I’ve got to know Don Joao quite well this winter, and am
coming to understand their speech. Luckily he is not a discreet man,
particularly after a few flasks of wine.

‘Speaking of wine,’
he added. ‘Let’s drink a few cups ourselves. My father wants to see you, of
course.’

For a few hours Takeo
put aside all his anxieties and enjoyed the wine, the food Eriko prepared,
fresh fish and spring vegetables, the company of his friend and of the old
pirate Fumifusa, and the beautiful garden.

He returned to the
house by the river, still in this calm and cheerful frame of mind, and his
spirits were further lifted when he heard Shizuka’s voice as soon as he walked
into the garden.

‘You did not bring
Miki with you?’ he asked when he had joined her in the upper room; Haruka
served them tea and then left them alone.

‘I was in two minds
about it,’ Shizuka replied. ‘She wanted very much to see you again. She misses
you, and her sister. But she is at the age where she is learning rapidly. It
seemed unwise not to take advantage of that. And since you will be away all
summer, and Kaede will be busy with the new baby . . . Anyway, it’s good for
her to learn obedience.’

‘I had hoped to see
her before I left,’ Takeo replied. ‘Is she well?’

Shizuka smiled. ‘Flourishing.
She reminds me of Yuki at that age. Full of confidence. She has blossomed in
Maya’s absence, as a matter of fact: it’s been good for her to emerge from her
sister’s shadow.’

The mention of Yuki’s
name sent Takeo into something of a reverie. Noticing it, Shizuka said, ‘I
heard from Taku at the end of the winter. He told me Akio has been in Kumamoto
with your son.’

‘It’s true. I don’t
want to speak of it openly here, but his presence in Zenko’s castle town has
many implications that you and I must discuss. Do the Muto elders support you?’

‘I have been told of
some dissent,’ Shizuka replied.

‘Not in the Middle
Country, but from both East and West. I am surprised Taku has not returned to
Inuyama, where he could exert some control over the Tribe in the East. I should
go there myself, but I am reluctant to leave Kaede at this time, especially if
you are to depart so soon.’

‘Taku has become
obsessed with the girl we sent to look after Maya,’ Takeo said, feeling the
same flash of anger.

‘I had heard rumours
of that. I’m afraid my sons must both be a great disappointment to you, after
everything you have done for them.’

Her voice was
measured, but he saw that she was genuinely distressed.

‘I trust Taku
completely,’ he said. ‘But such a distraction can only make him careless. Zenko
is another question, but for the moment he is in check. However, it seems he is
determined to claim the headship of the Muto family, and that is going to bring
him into direct conflict with you, and Taku, and of course myself.’

He paused, and then
said, ‘I have tried to placate him; I have threatened him and commanded him,
but he is determined to provoke me.’

Shizuka said, ‘He
grows more like his father every year. I cannot forget that Arai ordered my
death, and would have watched you kill his sons, in his quest for power. My
advice, both as head of the Muto and as an old friend of the Otori, is to get
rid of Zenko quickly, before he gathers any more support. I will arrange it
myself. You only have to order it.’

Her eyes were bright,
but she shed no tears.

‘The first day we
met, Kenji said I should learn ruth-lessness from you,’ Takeo replied, amazed
that she should advise him so coolly to kill her eldest son.

‘But neither Kenji
nor I were truly able to instill it in you, Takeo. Zenko knows this, which is
why he is not cowed by you, nor does he respect you.’

Her words stung
surprisingly, but he answered mildly, ‘I have committed myself and this country
to a path of justice and peaceful negotiation. I will not let Zenko’s challenge
divert that.’

‘Then arrest him and
try him for plotting against you. Make it legal, but act swiftly.’ She watched
him for a few moments, and when he did not reply went on, ‘But you will not
follow my advice, Takeo; you do not need to say anything. Of course, I am
grateful to you for sparing my son’s life, but I fear the cost to us all will
be beyond bearing.’

Her words made the
cold touch of premonition brush against his spine. The sun had set and the garden
was transformed by the blue light of evening. Fireflies flickered above the
stream, and he saw Sunaomi and Chikara come splashing through the water under
the wall - they must have been playing on the riverbank. Hunger had driven them
home. How could he take the life of their father? He would only set the boys
against him and his family, and prolong the feud.

‘I have offered to
betroth Miki to Sunaomi,’ he remarked.

‘It is a very good
move.’ Shizuka made a visible effort to speak more lightly. ‘Though I don’t
think either of the children will be grateful to you! Don’t mention it to
anyone; Sunaomi will hate the idea. He was deeply upset by the episode last
summer. When he is older he will realize what an honour it is.’

‘It is too early to
announce it formally - maybe when I return at the end of the summer.’

He thought from her
expression that Shizuka was going to remind him again that he might have no
country to return to, but they were interrupted by a cry from the far end of
the house, where the women’s rooms were. Takeo heard Haruka’s footsteps running
the length of the veranda, making the nightingale floor sing.

In the garden the
boys stood and stared after her.

‘Shizuka, Dr Ishida,’
Haruka was shouting. ‘Come quickly! Lady Otori’s pains have begun.’

The child, as Kaede
had known all along, was a boy. The news was celebrated instantly in the city
of Hagi, though with a certain restraint, for infancy was a dangerous time, and
a child’s hold on life tenuous and fragile. Yet the birth had been swift, and
the baby was strong and healthy. There seemed every reason to be confident that
Lord Otori would have a son to inherit. The curse that people whispered had
been caused by the birth of twins had been lifted.

The news was received
with equal rejoicing over the next few weeks throughout the Three Countries, at
least in Maruyama, Inuyama and Hofu. Possibly the joy was less than heartfelt
in Kumamoto, but Zenko and Hana professed all the appropriate sentiments and
sent splendid gifts, silk robes for the baby, a small sword belonging to the
Arai family and a pony. Hana made preparations for her journey to Hagi later in
the summer, eager to see her own sons and to keep her sister company while
Takeo was away.

When the period of
Kaede’s confinement was over, and the house had been purified according to
custom, she brought the child to his father and placed him in his arms.

‘This is what I have
wanted all my life,’ she said. ‘To give you a son.’

‘You have already
given me more than I could have ever hoped for,’ he replied with emotion. He
was unprepared for the wave of tenderness that filled him for the tiny,
red-faced, black-haired creature - and for the sense of pride. He loved his
daughters, and had not thought he wanted for anything, but to hold his son
filled some hitherto unrecognized need. The corners of his eyes grew hot, yet
he could not stop smiling.

‘You are happy!’
Kaede exclaimed. ‘I was afraid . . . you have so often told me you did not want
sons, that you were content with our daughters, I had almost come to believe
you.’

‘I am happy,’ he
replied. ‘I could die at this moment.’

‘I feel the same,’
she murmured. ‘But let us not talk of dying. We are going to live and watch our
son grow.’

‘I wish I did not
have to leave you.’ He was gripped suddenly by the idea that he might abandon
the journey to Miyako. Let the Dog Catcher attack if he wanted to; the armies
of the Three Countries would repel him easily, and deal with Zenko too. He was
astonished at the strength of the feeling; he would fight to the death to protect
the Middle Country so that this Otori child would inherit it. He examined the
thought carefully, and then put it from him. He would try the ways of peace
first, as he had resolved; if the trip were postponed now he would seem both
arrogant and cowardly.

‘I wish it too,’
Kaede said. ‘But you must go.’ She took the child from him and gazed into its
face, her own face suffused with love. ‘I will not be lonely with this little
man by my side!’

Takeo had to leave
almost immediately in order to complete most of the journey before the onset of
the plum rains. Shigeko and Hiroshi arrived from Maruyama, and Miyoshi Gemba
from Terayama. Miyoshi Kahei had already left for the East as soon as the snow
had melted, with the main Otori army, fifteen thousand men from Hagi and
Yamagata; a further ten thousand would be mustered by Sonoda Mitsuru in
Inuyama. Since the previous summer, stores of rice and barley, dried fish and
soy paste had been put aside and dispatched to the Eastern borders to provide
for these huge numbers of men. Luckily the harvest had been bountiful: neither
the army nor those they left behind would starve.

In all the
arrangements for the journey, the most taxing was how to transport the kirin.
She had grown even taller, and her coat had darkened to the colour of honey,
but her calmness and tranquillity were unchanged. Dr Ishida was of the opinion
that she should not walk the whole way, that the mountains of the High Cloud
Range would be too arduous for her. In the end it was decided that Shigeko and
Hiroshi would take her by ship as far as Akashi.

‘We could all go by
ship, Father,’ Shigeko suggested.

‘I have never been
beyond the borders of the Three Countries,’ Takeo replied. ‘I want to see the
terrain and the paths through the range for myself; if typhoons come in the
eighth and ninth months, that is the way we will have to return. Fumio is going
to Hofu: he will take you and the kirin, as well as the foreigners.’

The cherry blossoms
had all fallen and the petals had been replaced by the new green leaves when
Takeo and his retinue rode out from Hagi, through the mountain passes and along
the coast road to Matsue. He had made this journey many times since the day he,
a mute boy on the back of a retainer’s horse, had travelled in the other direction
with Lord Shigeru, but it never failed to bring back memories of the man who
had saved his life and adopted him.

I say I believe in
nothing, he thought, but I pray often to Shigeru’s spirit; never more so than
now, when I need all his wisdom and courage. The new rice was just beginning to
appear above the surface of the flooded fields, which glittered dazzlingly in
the sunshine. On the bank, where two paths crossed, stood a small shrine; he
saw that it was to Jo-An, who in some districts had become merged with the
local deities and was now worshipped by travellers. How strange were people’s
beliefs, he thought with wonder, remembering his conversation with Madaren of a
few weeks ago: the conviction that had compelled her to speak to him; the same
conviction that had sustained Jo-An in all his efforts for Takeo’s sake - and
now Jo-An had become a saint to those who would have despised him in real life,
and whom he considered unbelievers.

He glanced at Miyoshi
Gemba, who rode alongside him, as calm and cheerful a companion as might ever
be wished for. Gemba’s life had been dedicated to the Way of the Houou; it had
been one of hardship and self-mastery, yet it had left no physical signs of
suffering. Gemba was smooth-skinned, his body well covered; as he rode he often
seemed to fall into a meditative trance, and occasionally emitted a low humming
noise, like distant thunder or the growl of a bear. Takeo found himself talking
about Sunaomi, whom Gemba had met at Terayama, telling him of his plan to betroth
the boy to his daughter.

‘He will become my
son-in-law. Surely that will gratify his father!’

‘Unless Sunaomi
himself has the feelings of a devoted son towards you, a betrothal will do
nothing,’ Gemba replied.