“Yes, I do.” I said, and then I told her why. It took a few moments, but Lady Kuzunoha resumed her human form. Even so, the scowl on her face could have curdled milk.
“I don’t care about Lord Yoshiie or the Minamoto or even that fool Abe no Sadato,” she said. “I believe I have made this clear enough. I care only about Lord Yasuna.”
“And how did you plan on protecting him, since the true danger now will be from arrows and spears? It is one thing to slip silently through the woods tracking down shikigami and human assassins but quite another to enter a battlefield. More, you cannot allow him to see you or suspect for even a moment you are nearby. You need to let me handle this. In return, I will protect Lord Yasuna, just as I have before, but I need you to remain here and protect the human girl named Mai.”
“If you’re taking the evil with you, what is her danger?”
“The same one which has existed since we arrived—that Lord Tenshin would find a way to strike yet again. Out of spite, if for no other reason.”
“If you fail me, I will kill her myself,” Lady Kuzunoha said.
“No, you won’t. You will kill me.”
The scowl deepened. “We have shared much over the years, Lord Yamada, but do not think for a moment I would hesitate.”
“I know you wouldn’t. Which is why, if needed, you will take your revenge on me, for it will be my fault if Lord Yasuna dies. It is I who own Lord Yasuna’s life now. Not Mai and not the Minamoto.”
“Don’t let him die,” she said. “I have your word?”
“You have my word.”
“Then you have mine. May we both prove trustworthy.”
“Thank you. There is, however, one more thing.”
I didn’t think it was possible for her scowl to deepen. I was wrong. I also caught a flash of foxfire dancing across Lady Kuzunoha’s shoulders. “I would be careful about making demands, Lord Yamada.”
“Not a demand. Say rather a favor from one old associate to another. In which case I will be in your debt again.”
“What is it you wish of me?”
“Before my sister—or rather the creature bearing her soul—returned to the nunnery, she was last seen alive in Yahiko village. Which leads me to believe she was ambushed and murdered between there and here. Would . . . would you help me find her body?”
For a moment Lady Kuzunoha simply stared at me, but her expression slowly softened and the foxfire winked out. “Lord Yamada, it would be my honor.”
We went to search the gullies and ravines between the temple and the village, aided by my best guesses and Lady Kuzunoha’s sensitive nose. We searched until the first stray arrows of dawn crossed the horizon, but in the end we found nothing.
“I must say, if Lord Tenshin’s henchmen sought to hide Lady Rie’s body, they did a very good job of it,” Lady Kuzunoha said. “I can detect nothing larger than a dead rat.”
“Then, when the time comes, I will politely request Lord Tenshin himself inform me as to where my sister’s mortal remains may be recovered.”
“If he refuses?” she asked. Her tone was even, but I saw the traces of a grim smile on her face.
“The result will be the same whether he tells me or not. I’m going to kill him. His part will merely be to decide how quickly.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Kenji found me the following morning in the Minamoto encampment, watching the sword polisher put the finishing touches on my tachi. When all was done, I could not even tell the blade had ever been damaged. I accepted the weapon and rewarded the man, if not handsomely, at least as generously as I was able.
“A fine job,” Kenji admitted. “But considering the service you have already rendered to Lord Yoshiie, it would not be out of place to request a reward. Possibly a new blade?”
I sheathed the sword in its saya and fastened the rings on my sash. “This one suits me,” I said. “Besides, I have already made a request of Lord Yoshiie, which he kindly granted.”
Kenji frowned. “That was remarkably quick, considering your usual unconcern in such matters. What did you ask for?”
“It should be ready by now. Come see.”
The armor was mounted on a wooden form built for the purpose. It was rather simple compared to what was worn by Lord Yoshiie and his generals, but I was pleased. The plates of the chest piece were made of layers of leather laminated together and heavily lacquered, with a thick cloth covering of black laced with red. There were similar pieces made to cover my arms and lower legs. A long, divided skirt also of lacquered plates belted at the waist covered the outside of the upper thighs, the inside of which were left bare to aid in riding. The helmet was of iron plates skillfully joined, with articulated metal scales hung from the back to protect the nape and sides of the neck. The maedate on the helmet was covered in gold leaf and molded into the shape of a hornet.
The armorer greeted us. “As Lord Yoshiie directed,” he said, and bowed.
“A very fine job, thank you,” I said.
Kenji waited until the armorer was out of earshot. “Lord Yamada, would you mind telling me what you think you’re doing?”
“Isn’t it obvious, Kenji-san? I’m going to war.”
“We are all going to war. Our mission has been to make sure Lord Yoshiie lives to fight that war. Joining the bushi was not our mission.”
“I swore I would see Lord Yoshiie safely to Dewa. I will fulfill my vow. If possible, I will even keep him alive until this matter is settled. Yet this is no longer my only purpose. It is Lord Yoshiie’s remit to punish the Abe for disobedience to the Emperor. Punishing Lord Tenshin for the murder of my sister is mine. Besides, do you really think it is possible to keep Lord Yoshiie safe without going into battle? That is where he will be, and in such a circumstance, I would rather be in armor than out of it.”
Kenji took a slow breath. “I do concede your point, but you’ve known all this from the beginning. Tell me you had this part planned as well.”
“No.”
“I thought not. I have lost people dear to me as well, Lord Yamada, and you know this to be true. I do understand how you feel. You have cause to assume Lord Tenshin chose your sister as revenge, which leads you to reply in kind. Yet what we learned of Lord Tenshin while chasing him was that the man is a ruthless plotter of the first order. I wouldn’t hesitate to say he probably never so much as went to the latrine without at least one ulterior motive in his lifetime. But didn’t the fact Rie was your sister make her the logical choice for his hidden assassin? The closer the association to Lord Yoshiie, the closer his assassin would be as well.”
I studied the lacings on the sode. “Did you honestly think this had not occurred to me? Let us, for the moment, suppose it is true. Am I supposed to feel better if the murder of my sister was not personal, merely tactical? No, Kenji. I need my anger. I plan to put it to good use.”
“I merely suggest you do not use it to get yourself killed.”
“Ah, you think I’m seeking my own death for failure to protect what is left of my family? For what little this may be worth—that is not my plan.”
“Fair enough, but now what?”
“Well . . . you could help me carry this equipment back to our quarters. There’s a lot of it.”
Kenji sighed. “Do you even know how to wear this?”
“No, but I’m hoping Taro can help. He’s seen it done more than I have.”
In the end I considered it prudent to enlist Akimasa’s aid. He had likely forgotten more about the proper use and wearing of armor than I would ever learn, but for the most part he approved of my choices.
“Not so heavy as some,” he said, “and a good helmet such as this is worth more than all the rest together if you ever find yourself on your feet against a swordsman on horseback. Your armor will be hot, and you will always be aware of its weight whether you’re used to it or not, but properly laced and fitted, it will not interfere with your movements. Just keep in mind the best armor is the sort that’s never needed.”
“Meaning it is better to avoid the spear or arrow in the first place. I quite agree.”
“For someone who has never been at war, you’re a quick study,” Akimasa said. “However, there will be a great many spears and arrows. If you do find yourself in the thick of things, avoiding them all is unlikely.”
Akimasa repeated his demonstrations and instructions until he was satisfied I knew how to wear the armor properly, then he took his leave. Kenji took a long, slow walk around me. “Lord Yamada, if I didn’t know you . . . well, I wouldn’t know you.”
“I’ll never be a proper bushi, and if Prince Kanemore could see me now, he’d laugh himself sick. But I think I very well may have to depend on the armorer’s craft before all this is over and done. Now . . . help me out of this thing. I need to go speak to my sister.”
Kenji began to unravel the knots. “May I go with you? I still think there should be some way to detect the presence of one of these creatures. I wish to test my senses at close range.”
“Very well, but please leave the talking to me. And if I ask you to forget whatever you may hear, you will never speak of it again. Is this understood?”
Kenji barely hesitated. “It is.”
After I was out of the armor, we stowed it carefully in our quarters. When the time came to move out, it would be entrusted to the supply carts until needed. I merely hoped those instances would be under Lord Yoshiie’s control and not the Abe Clan’s. We walked from main temple to the storage building where the creature that was and yet was not my sister had been confined. The guards lifted the bar, and Kenji and I proceeded cautiously into the gloom.
“Strange. I don’t feel dead.”
Rie—for I was still having trouble thinking of her as anything else—kneeled on a floor cushion in a room that was otherwise empty, head bowed as one in prayer or awaiting execution.
“Lady Rie, I must ask you some questions. Answer me if you are able.”
She looked up at me then. “Brother, what will it change now, even if I can tell you what you want to know?”
“It may prevent anyone else from suffering your fate,” I said. “And bring justice to those responsible.”
She smiled then, and I thought for a moment I would go mad. Fortunately I went numb instead. I think this was all that saved me.
“Justice? Brother, there is no justice, only the workings of karma. I am told Rie is dead. I am Rie, so if I have been told the truth, then I am dead. Am I dead, brother?”
“Your body is dead,” I said. “Your soul lives in this shell created for you by our enemies, and it remembers what it was to be Rie. That is all. You are trapped here.”
“The living are trapped for their lifetimes, and then they are sent back to the wheel of death and rebirth. How am I different?”
“You have no mortal weaknesses,” I said. “You do not and cannot eat or drink. You have no desires, only the impulse to do as the one who created you dictates. It was he who instructed you to kill Lord Yoshiie.”
“It sounds splendid,” Rie said. “Except for the part about being at the whim of this silly magician. That will not do. I wish Lord Yoshiie no harm. I wish no one harm.”
“Do you remember attacking Lord Yoshiie?”
“Yes. I had hoped you would come to see me. I was going to tell you I don’t understand why I did such a thing, but apparently you already know.”
“What about the shikigami you sent after poor Mai? Do you remember that?”
“It’s strange about those things. When you remind me of them, suddenly I do remember. Without the reminder, they slip away, like images from a dream. Before you came, I remembered going to the feast, but no more of it.”
I held onto my numbness as I hoped later I would be able to hold on to my anger. “Sister, do you remember when you died?”
“Yes,” she said, so softly I almost didn’t hear.
“Forgive me, but I must ask you to tell me what happened.”
“I suppose you must . . . I was returning to the nunnery from town, alone. I had no reason . . . the roads are safe, they’ve always been safe. There’s nothing between Yahiko and the temple save the Shrine of the Gods. I was just past that place . . . it happened there. I heard a hum, like a wasp, then an excruciating pain in my chest, but only for an instant. The next thing I remember, I was walking back to the nunnery, just as before. I felt no pain . . . I felt wonderful.”
“Was there anyone around you, did you see anyone?”
“No, brother. I thought I heard voices from the woods, but I didn’t turn to see. Yahiko-ji was already in sight, and I was expected back. I hurried home.”
“When you let the attackers into the nunnery, when you attacked Lord Yoshiie and created the mamushi to send after Mai, what did you feel then? Did you hear anything? What prompted you?”
“I heard no voices. I was simply overcome with an impulse, as if someone was directing my movements. Like now.”
She sprang forward. Fortunately, my instructions had been carried out, and Rie was only able to move half her length toward us when the chain binding her to the floor snapped to full extension. Such was her momentum that she fell at our feet.
“Kill me,” she said. “Destroy this thing that ties me to the world, brother.”
“I cannot,” I said. “Not yet. I am sorry.”
“If I am told to kill you or someone else and I find a way, I will do it. I would kill you now if I could reach you. My own dear brother . . . but I would have done it.”
“I know,” I said. “I promise I will not prolong this false existence a moment longer than necessary, but you cannot ask this of me. Not yet.”
“I can ask, and I will,” she said. “That, too, is an impulse. Meaning someone else wants you to kill me, maybe even more than I do. For this reason, if no other, perhaps it is best I live . . . well, remain, perhaps, a little longer. But I will beg to die, and you will have to refuse me. I believe . . . I believe someone finds this amusing. I do not.”
“Nor I, sister. Nor I.” I turned to go.
“Brother, there is something else. You may not want to believe me, since apparently I can be forced to lie, but I can feel a difference now, in this . . . thread of karma or magic which binds me to this other person—it is getting weaker. Before now, I didn’t even know it was there. It was hidden from me. I am aware of it now, even beyond simply knowing of its existence. I know it for what it is, and it is getting weaker.”
“Let us all hope,” I said, “that this is so.”
When we were back outside, Kenji spoke again. “Do you think she is telling us the truth?”
“About some things . . . I do hope she’s telling the truth about the link itself, because her information agrees with what we expected. Rie is sustained by Lord Tenshin’s life force, and to feed her strength and speed she requires a lot of it. Which is why he cannot create another such creature so long as Rie—his first creation—survives.”
“What if he can break the link himself? We don’t know for certain he cannot, after all,” Kenji asked.
“Then why hasn’t he done so already? No, Kenji-san—succeed or fail, he expected Rie to be destroyed, and if I hadn’t explicitly prevented it, this would have happened. He combined Master Chang’s soul-ridden shikigami technique with the Blood Thread method to create a sustained creature, controllable, but still with its own volition when required. A master stroke to be sure, but as we saw with the first attack on Lord Yoshiie at the Widow Tamahara’s, he overlooked something, something which, in hindsight, now appears obvious. He is very clever, but one thing he is not is thorough. To be blunt, he started this fire but he does not know how to put it out. Which is why we have to prevent Rie from harming herself. So long as we do this, Lord Tenshin is a mamushi with its life bleeding away and its fangs pulled.”
“Not entirely,” Kenji said. “Whatever else this wretched creature is, she’s still Rie, and every moment she survives as she is, that is his twist of the dagger in your heart.
You do know this, don’t you?”
I had come to welcome the numbness which came over my spirit at certain times. It allowed me to respond without screaming. “You do pick the most inconvenient times to remember you are a priest, Kenji-san. I know precisely what I am doing,” I said. “I am keeping my sister’s soul imprisoned in that abomination. I know what pain it is creating for her and for me. I can’t let either stop me.”
“I knew you were already suffering, Lord Yamada. I wanted only to make certain you understood why. Confusion leads to bad decisions, and that armor worries me.”
“Probably not nearly as much as it worries me,” I said. “But I will keep it all the same.”
The next morning I checked on the vehicle being modified for my sister’s transport. It was the sort of two-wheeled covered cart often used for the travel of highborn women. In this case it was being adapted for use as a mobile cage. Shackles were attached, two on the roof and two on the floor, to restrict Rie’s movements. There would be enough slack for her to kneel or sit, but not enough to loop around her neck and choke herself. I knew it was not possible to account for every contingency, but the modifications appeared serviceable. The workmen assured me the cart would be ready before Lord Yoshiie’s army was ready to move. Then I sought out Taro.
“It will not be possible for me to keep watch every moment,” I said. “So there will be times when I must depend on you to keep an eye on the prisoner. Do you understand her nature?”
“I have heard something of it,” the boy admitted. “I do not pretend to understand it. This is apparently some magical creature who appears to be your elder sister.”
“You are correct. I will only tell you this once, Taro-san, and it is very important—no matter what happens, you are not to let her out, bring her food or water, or otherwise allow anyone else to do so. No matter how she pleads or how harmless she appears. It is an act. She does not require food or water, and in truth such things will kill her. If you release her or let her harm herself by your actions, pray she does kill you first, because I will if she doesn’t. I will regret this, as I have become rather fond of you. But I will do it and make whatever restitution Prince Kanemore requires of me. Am I clear?”
Yamada Monogatari: The War God's Son Page 22
