The Seabird of Sanematsu (34 page)

“I will tell you what else I have discovered.” He came to stand before his grandfather. “But first, I will tell you why. At Bakafu, I proposed a change in the attitude of the government of Nihon in regards to isolation. This confrontation resulted in the shogun pushing back my appointment of shugo. Which is no great loss, in my opinion. It does not negate any hope of the appointment, but it will not be soon.

“As we all know, Ashikaga-sama has his own problems. He is dealing with the rebuilding of Kyoto and his Bakafu after the eighteen years of the Onin War.” He strode the chamber, the crack and pop of the stiff silk of his garments echoing in the vaulted ceiling. He gave the council a history lesson. “As is well known, Ashikaga Yoshimasa tired of the role of shogun and abdicated, withdrawing from life to enjoy his pursuit of the arts. The court became awash with intrigue when Ashikaga’s wife differed with his choice of successor. He wanted his brother to take the seat of power, and Lady Tomiko favored their infant son.

“She bound the Yamana clan to her side. Ashikaga-sama surrounded himself with the Hosokawa clan. Twenty new years ago, both clans were well positioned, with a large portion of their armies in Kyoto.”

“Yes, yes.” Shigehide waved a hand. “We all know fighting broke out and the samurai brawled in the streets like dishonorable men. The grand capital of Kyoto was left in ruins. What are you trying to tell us?”

“Nothing.” Sanematsu stared at the council. “You will listen because I have told you to.” He began pacing again. “Kyoto is just now beginning to resemble the former elegant capital after five years of rebuilding. Daimyo from all over Nihon converged to form alliances and plan strategies for the new shogun, Ashikaga Yoshihisa, the eighteen-year-old heir of Yoshimasa-uji. Unfortunately, as is common with politics, factions developed for and against the young shogun.

“With these groups of dissidents came a chasm that could not be breached. It was a strange feeling to see the new shogun facing the same problems and restraints I have had since I became daimyo. I empathized with his apprehension and fear of power.

“As did the other daimyo, I left Kyoto to await the next turn of political events, which was threatening to be more civil war, and to make changes in my own ryo-chi. I am sure many of you are wondering where the Sanematsu would stand.” He stopped. “As the conflict in Kyoto attests, change has come to Nihon. Change has also come to Kyushu, change evidenced by myself. A strange woman is the only woman I wish as wife. The only one I wish to carry my heir. You, in your wisdom, would have denied me this. Therefore, I have decided I do not need you.

“I have already disturbed those at Bakafu with my unconventional appearance. I am about to disturb the five of you even more.” He paused for emphasis. “Great Lords of the Council of the Satsuma Province of Kyushu…” He spoke with a little dip of a bow to the men. “…it is time to break from my honorable, but dead, father’s will.”

The elders stared at him. No one dared speak.

“My katana has been bloodied many times over. I am now ready to stand alone. Grandfather, I honor and respect all you have taught me.” He struggled visibly to hold his temper, clasping his hands at the small of his back and marching from side to side. “But the time has come for me to take command of my birthright. You will be gone by sunset tomorrow. You may wish to retire to a northern village. Or you will not hesitate to enter a monastery. The one at Hirosaki would be perfect.”

“What? You cannot order me to leave my castle!” Shigehide shouted his face red with fury.

“Grandfather, I am heir to the Satsuma Province, am I not?”

“Of course, you are,” the old man said. “If Shigeni had any living sons, they surely would have challenged you by now.”

“So. You have just stated before everyone in this room that I am my father’s heir. This was his castle. The title ‘Lord of Satsuma Province’ was his. Twelve years ago you gave that title to me. I can--and will--do anything I wish. I want you gone--all of you!” He spoke now to the council. “You have two choices. Retirement to separate villages--or seppuku by sunset tomorrow. Goodbye, Grandfather, Lords.”

He left the men of the council sputtering--this sudden display of backbone by their daimyo had surprised them. Yet Sanematsu’s actions played into Matsumoto’s plans quite well. Now he need not be concerned with thwarting the Council when he made his move.

Things were falling into place.

**
*

“Uesugi-uji.” They crossed the courtyard. “Where are my daughters?”

“They are in the old wing, your mother’s quarters. Lady Haru ordered them opened.”

“We might as well finish it,” he announced.

“Certainly, sire.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

In the quiet rooms of the women’s quarters, Sanematsu’s elder daughters stitched designs on pieces of canvas in the manner Tori had taught them. Miyo played in a corner, and Chiyo lay asleep in the nursery.

The rooms remained as he remembered. Broad oaken beams and pillars, the wood polished to a glossy sheen, held the ceilings aloft. Open spaces were divided with paneled screens to make rooms. Some of the byoubu were painted with scenes from the mythological stories of Nihon. He had thought to show Tori these works of art before the battle of Kamaga. Now he might never have the chance.

He put such thoughts aside.

Aya spoke first.

“Hello, Father.” With poise, she rose to come to his side. She reached up to stroke the heavy black hair. “Tori-sama will like your hair untonsured.”

“She must have shared much with you.” He took her small hand away from his face. The samurai in him was not accustomed to anyone touching him in this way.

“We talked often,” Aya responded, as if she betrayed Tori by telling him about their conversations. “She will be found, Father.”

She returned to her place to allow her half-sisters to greet him.

“Of course.”

The words were meant to comfort them all.

Hatsu came to him, and Sanematsu encircled her with one arm to hug her to his side. His eyes noted the extra pounds as well as the maturity she had gained.

“Where is your lady aunt?” he inquired as his second daughter resumed her seat.

“In her rooms,” Aya answered.

He noticed his stepdaughter’s attention was drawn to Uesugi, who stood behind him. Aya flushed under her father’s gaze and tried to hold her eyes off the young samurai.

“Aunt Haru is afraid of you,” Hatsu added.

“And so she should be. Uesugi-uji, you may remain here with my daughters.”

He left the children. A nurse sat nearby to chaperon the young lovers.

**
*

As Hatsu reported, Haru wished to avoid her half-brother. Her spies had already brought news of his banishment of their grandfather and the council, and alerted her to his storming advance into the women’s quarters. Now she was fearful of what he had in store for her. Would he disapprove of her using Michi’s quarters?

By Sanematsu’s edict, no one but the patient servant who had been with his mother from the first day she came to Nishikata had entered the stately rooms of Lady Michi, wife of Sanematsu Shigeni, since her departure. But what was she to do? Move the women into the men’s quarters? Offense was the best defense, and she rushed to confront him when he approached her.

“Have you found Tori-sama?” she asked with feigned anxiety. She hoped the barbarian was dead. “I am afraid you have lost her!”

“Do not fret, my sister. You have too much for which to be happy. You are returning to your son’s household, where you shall have the power you so desire. There, you can rule your daughter-in-law in the manner of mothers-in-law.”

“You cannot mean this. Are you sure I should desert your daughters?”

Haru nearly fainted--the last thing she wanted was to be the second female in a household. Mothers-in-law did wield sharp tongues, but their power was nothing compared to the influence she held as head of Nishikata-jyo.

“Sachi-sama can manage my daughters until Tori-sama is found and becomes my wife.”

“Yoshihide-sama, you are sure about this? Has the council agreed?” She could not let him know all she knew.

“I do as I wish. As I am sure you already know, I have dissolved the council. You will be gone by the week’s end. Your son has been notified of your arrival. Resign yourself to it, sister.”

He smiled as he left.

**
*

Sachi awaited Sanematsu in his chambers. Hikita Takayasu sat near his wife, relieved of overseer duty by Matsumoto. They had been summoned.

Hikita had spent the night in her arms; and his ardent activity had reassured her of his good health. She felt the soft glow of a woman for whom physical and spiritual love is renewed.

Too languorous to be bothered with arranging it, she had left her hair down. Last night, the rich darkness now flowing over her neck and shoulders had draped down to envelope her husband in soft caresses, sending fire through his loins.

“Sachi-sama,” Sanematsu greeted as he walked into the room and took his position on the zabuton by the open shoji. He took several moments to adjust his kami-shimo. “My nephew has requested his mother return to his house, and I have agreed. It leaves me without a woman to oversee my house. With your husband’s permission, I would request you fill that position.”

“I would be most honored for my wife to assist you, sire,” Hikita answered, and then moved back to his usual position at guard.

“And you, Sachi-sama?”

“I will do as you wish, my lord.” She bowed low. “May I have a few days to prepare my husband’s house?” She sat upright.

When attending Tori, she had not spent every night at home; but to keep Sanematsu’s house properly she would have to reside within the walls. Fortunately, except for seeing to her husband, there was little she need be present to attend to at her own house, as foster mothers looked after her three sons.

As if he read her mind, Sanematsu said, “I will have quarters for you and Takayasu-uji prepared here.”

“Very well. My sister is widowed. She can attend to my husband’s affairs.” She would need someone to oversee Hikita’s money matters while she tended her daimyo’s.

“Then it is settled. Haru-sama leaves in a week. She will advise you until then.” A gentle rap at the panel depicting a scene from the Tokaido road signaled tea had arrived. Sanematsu gave permission to enter, and the shoji moved.

A kneeling maid opened the screen and set a tray inside the room then moved on her knees across the threshold and pulled the screen closed. She picked up the tray, stood and walked with timid steps to the low table before Sachi. There, she knelt and deposited the tray on the table. Sachi whispered to her, and the girl disappeared, leaving her to serve.

“I understand you and Tori-sama worked more on her wordbook while I was away,” Sanematsu commented after he finished his first bowl of tea.

“Yes. Regrettably, the fire destroyed much of her work. It was lucky she brought some of her things to my house several days ago. She wanted to stay there and draw pictures of my sons.”

“I am glad her efforts were not in vain. Someday, there will be a real need for such a volume.” He stood. “She will be found.”

It was a statement of fact.

Sachi kept silent and watched him.

“She must be found!” His voice revealed his anger and disappointment. “Sachi-sama.” Emotion clogged his voice. He turned to her. “You know she will be found, do you not?”

The pain of her heart was equal to his. “I am sure an answer to her whereabouts will be found.”

“You are her closest friend. Tell me. Would she flee? Have I hurt her so much as to make her run away from me?” He had succeeded in conquering his emotions.

“No, my lord. It is not Tori-sama’s nature to run from her hurt and fear. She is more likely to run toward it, to confront that which gives her pain. She cares so much for you, she is jealous of any woman in your life. When you called her to the war camp, she fell further under your spell. She began to weave a future with you that, so sorry, you and I know can never be.”

Sanematsu muttered, “Do not be so sure.”

“She was hurt because you failed to send a message to her, telling her of your plans to take a wife. As I advised with Tsuta-sama, she might have accepted the news, my lord, if you had told her.”

“
She
is to be my wife! Is it not obvious to her or anyone here?” Sanematsu shouted. “I never thought there was a doubt about my feelings for her.” His voice was soft again, as a father would speak to a baby. “She is very special to me.”

“Yes, I know.” Sachi bent her head. Sanematsu’s admission of love for Tori, as close to a declaration as a samurai could come, made her uncomfortable. Men did not speak to women of such intimate matters, even if they had known one another since they were toddlers.

She did what was natural. She said, “I love her, also.”

Moments of silence later, the maid returned with a sake flask and bowl. Sanematsu settled on the mat, and Sachi poured him the warmed sake. He drank in silence.

**
*

“My lord.” Matsumoto entered the room, disturbing the solitude of Tori’s loved ones. “A worker has found two items of the yabanjin’s.”

“What are they?” Sanematsu asked coldly. The breech between him and Matsumoto begun at the battleground widened as the man called Tori “barbarian.” He would find a way to be rid of his karou no matter the consequences. Matsumoto’s retainers could neither outnumber nor best his men.

“I do not know. The man who found them refuses to allow anyone to see them but you.”

“Very well.” He drained the wine bowl he held. “Send him in.”

Sachi removed the table and sat behind him at his left. A timid man shuffled into the room and bowed.

“Shimoda.” He recognized him as the villager whose missing son Tori had sketched. “What have you brought me?”

“These, sire.” Shimoda handed him two metal objects, both blackened by the heat of the fire.

He inspected the metal. “Do you know what these are?”

“No, my lord.” The man shuffled backward.

“Sachi-sama.” He handed the items to her. He then stood and strode to the shoji, which he slid open.

She lifted the hinged instrument. “These are her scissors. I do not recognize the other. Perhaps a sewing needle? I have never seen her use one so long. I did not obtain one of such length for her, but she could have gotten one. She has begun dealing with the craftsmen herself.”

“And you, Matsumoto-uji? Do
you
recognize this?” Sanematsu took the mystery item from her and held it out.

Matsumoto showed neither comprehension nor fear. He did not take the object nor did he look at it for more than seconds.

“No, Lord Sanematsu.”

“Shimoda, you may go.” He turned his back to Matsumoto and Sachi. He inspected the metal object closer. This was not a tool used by the seamstresses--it had no eye for threading and was ultra-thin. It was as he suspected.

Ninja. She had been the target for murder. But who would use such dishonorable assassins? And was she dead? Why not leave her body to be found amid the ashes to show him his loss?

No, she had not died. How long he had to find her before she
was
dead, however, he did not know.

“Tell the men to stop their search and begin preparations for rebuilding at once. Assemble the high-ranking officers in the audience hall in one stick’s time.”

He would have to seek elsewhere for his seabird.

**
*

In the ornate audience hall, thirty warriors knelt before the raised dais where Sanematsu sat on his heels upon a zabuton. Anticipation filled the room.

“You will form squads and search every village and town for Tori-sama.” Rigid, his face was a mask to hide his emotions as he issued orders. His hands were planted on his thighs. “I want every possible hiding place searched and every person questioned. You will continue to look until a message is sent to you to return.”

The men responded as one by bowing low to their liege lord. They were bound by their oaths to do anything he ordered.

“You will only receive that message if she is found, dead or alive. Otherwise, you may never see your families again.” He dismissed them. “Go.”

**
*

Aderyn awoke hot, hungry, dirty and in severe pain. She batted her eyelids until her eyes adjusted to the glare of one very bright ray of sunlight beaming through a thatched roof in poor repair. She estimated it was near noon.

Of what day? Flashes of memory surfaced. A fire. Being carried out of the castle. It faded, and then she recalled the thud as she was dropped onto the floor of the hut. The pain in her shoulder and hip as she land on the hard-packed earth registered in her brain before she lapsed into oblivion.