Sano Ichiro 6 Black Lotus (2001)

by Laura Joh Rowland

  "And you killed Chie and Radiant Spirit." Now Haru spoke in a tone of angry realization. "You were jealous of them because Anraku liked Chie, and Radiant Spirit was his son."

  "I had nothing to do with their deaths," Junketsu-in retorted. "They weren't even in the cottage when I was there."

  Reiko, elated by personal triumph, seized the chance to reintroduce the issue of Anraku's culpability. "The abbess's story explains why you were unconscious in the garden and couldn't remember anything about the fire," she said, "but not how Chie and the boy died. That was Anraku's doing."

  Haru swiveled her head toward Anraku, refocusing her fury on him. New hope kindled in Reiko, but he gave her a disdainful smile and said, "Dr. Miwa shall tell the rest of the story."

  Behind Haru, the doctor started in fear; air whistled through his teeth. "Oh, but --- " Anraku's gaze impaled him, and he surrendered. "Chie became unhappy here after she bore her son. She wanted to care for Radiant Spirit herself, but the nuns took him away to raise with the other children and rarely allowed her to see him. She disliked the way the children were trained. She couldn't understand that prayer and fasting builds their spirits, and she complained whenever Radiant Spirit was beaten for disobeying."

  Reiko thought of the boy's bruises and emaciated body, the result of the cruel indoctrination.

  "Soon Chie began questioning our other practices," Dr. Miwa said. "She objected to my experiments --- she said it was wrong to give helpless people medicines that made them sick instead of healing them. She demanded to know the purpose of the potions we mixed. When she learned that they were poisons for contaminating the wells in Edo, she tried to persuade me that what we were doing was wrong. She begged me to stop. We argued, and she ran from me."

  The maltreatment of the child had broken down Chie's loyalty to the sect, Reiko noted. The argument that Haru had described to Sano really had occurred, although he'd misinterpreted it.

  "But I didn't kill Chie," said Dr. Miwa, quailing as Haru wheeled around and pointed the sword at him. "All I did was tell Kumashiro that she was becoming a problem."

  A chill coursed through Reiko. The doctor had passed along the "problem" to the man holding her --- the man responsible for the deaths of Chie and son. Now, as Anraku fixed his compelling gaze on Kumashiro, Reiko felt the priest stiffen, then yield.

  "I had Chie watched," Kumashiro said. "Just before dawn on the day of the fire, she stole her son from the nursery. My men and I caught them as they were running toward the gate. I dealt with tbam,according to the usual procedure for handling escapees."

  By strangling them, Reiko thought, appalled by Kumashiro's callousness and abhorring the close physical contact with him.

  "As my men and I carried the bodies to the tunnel entrance, a watchman ran up and said the cottage was on fire. He'd found Haru unconscious outside. That gave me an idea. We took the bodies to the burning cottage and put them inside. We saw Commander Oyama lying dead in the other room. It seemed that Haru had killed him and set the fire to cover up what she'd done. Why not implicate her in the other deaths? Then the police would be sure to arrest her. I organized the attack on her in jail, to make sure she confessed."

  At last Reiko fully understood why Haru had known nothing about the other murders. She also understood why Kumashiro, Junketsu-in, and Miwa had been so eager to incriminate Haru, yet so evasive when she'd questioned them. They'd all played roles in the crimes, while Kumashiro and Junketsu-in had separately taken advantage of Haru's actions.

  The girl regarded her enemies with hatred. She said to Anraku, "They all hurt me. You'll punish them, won't you?"

  "Of course," Anraku promised gravely, "after you pass your test." He canted his chin toward Reiko.

  "If Anraku is all-powerful, then he caused the wrongs they did you," she said. "He let you down then; if you stay with him, he will again. Don't do his dirty work."

  Haru moaned, and the sword shuddered in her hands. A malicious smile thinned Anraku's mouth. "Lady Reiko only helped you as a means of attacking me. What does she offer you in exchange for sparing her life?" he said to Haru. "Freedom?" He laughed. "She came here to capture you. Unless you earn my protection, she'll turn you over to the law."

  He'd spoken the damning argument that Reiko had hoped he wouldn't get a chance to use. Despair washed over her while she watched Haru absorb his words. The girl looked momentarily nonplussed, then beheld Reiko with hurt and dawning anger.

  "His protection is just an illusion," Reiko said quickly. "He can't escape justice. He can't save you."

  "Shut up!" Haru yelled, furious. "Stop keeping me from doing what I have do!"

  With the sword wavering between her and her executioner, Reiko rushed on: "Anraku is an evil madman. He would kill you and everyone else in the world to please himself. He's ultimately responsible for all the ills that you've suffered since you came to the Black Lotus Temple." Encouraged by Haru's hesitancy, Reiko said, "You called me your friend. You said you loved me and want to make up for the trouble you caused me. Now is your chance."

  The girl began shaking violently, wracked by opposing impulses, but she kept the sword aimed at Reiko. Her eyes blazed with blind compulsion; a growling sound issued through her bared teeth. Reiko saw Anraku's smug smile; the other sect members waited, their gazes averted from her and Haru, expecting violence. Haru, wheezing furiously, moved the weapon sideways and stood poised to strike. And Reiko realized with helpless futility that she'd lost the contest. She was going to die. She'd failed to capture Haru and save herself and Midori; she would never see Sano or Masahiro again.

  Reiko wanted to scream out her terror, to shut her eyes in anticipation of the blade slicing her throat. But a samurai woman must face death with courage and dignity. Trembling in Kumashiro's grip, Reiko silently prayed that fortune would bless her husband and son and she would be reunited with them someday. She looked straight at Haru and steeled herself for the pain, the spill of her blood, the plunge into oblivion.

  Suddenly Haru's growl erupted into a loud roar. She whirled, swinging the sword around. The blade cut Dr. Miwa deeply across the stomach. Uttering a cry of dismay, he clutched the bleeding wound. Junketsu-in screamed. Reiko gaped in stunned disbelief. Shock and anger erased Anraku's smile. He barked out, "Haru!"

  Shrieking as if insane, the girl spun and lunged, slashing at random. The priests shouted, "Look out!" They scattered, bumping one another, trying to avoid Haru.

  "Stop her," Anraku ordered.

  Kumashiro let go of Reiko, drew his short sword, and charged after Haru. Reiko hurriedly crouched beside Midori and shook her. "Midori-san, wake up. We've got to get out."

  "Reiko-san?" Midori mumbled sleepily. Opening bleary eyes, she frowned. "Where am I? What's going on?"

  "Never mind." Reiko hauled Midori upright. "Come on."

  Supporting her friend's limp, heavy body, she staggered toward the door. She heard Anraku call, "Catch them!" Kumashiro turned, saw them, and swiftly blocked their way.

  "Put her down," he said, pointing his sword at Ruiko. "Stay where you are."

  Reiko floundered backward, dragging Midori with her. Around them, Haru continued her rampage. Dr. Miwa Jay dead on the floor next to Junketsu-in, who struck out her foot so that Haru tripped and went sprawling. The sword, knocked out of her hand, slid across the floor toward Reiko. Quickly, Reiko bent and snatched up the weapon.

  "Get out of our way," she commanded Kumashiro.

  Then she heard shouts, metallic clashes, and a stampede of footsteps outside the room. Through the door burst six samurai battling as many sword-wielding priests. Reiko recognized Sano and his men. Her heart leapt with joy.

  "Hirata-xan!" Midori cried.

  Hirata's face lit up at the sight of Midori. He shouted her name, then continued striking at his opponents. As the room became a maelstrom of flashing blades and colliding combatants, Anraku stayed on his platform, watching with a peculiar euphoria. His eight priests fled out the door, while the abbess cowered in a
corner. Kumashiro joined in the battle.

  "Reiko-san," Sano shouted, dodging Kumashiro's strikes. "Protect Midori."

  Clutching her friend's hand, Reiko wielded her sword against the priests, while Midori huddled behind her.

  "Haru." Anraku's voice, eerily calm, rose above the noise.

  The girl was scrambling for cover, but she paused and turned toward the high priest.

  "Come here," Anraku said.

  She rose and walked to his platform. Her step was hesitant, but she seemed irresistibly drawn to Anraku.

  Sano cut down one priest and Hirata another. Four remained; the battle raged on. Reiko, guarding Midori, risked a glance at Anraku. What was he doing?

  "You have failed the test," Anraku said to Haru, his silky tone replete with disapproval.

  "Please, give me another chance," Haru begged.

  Anraku shook his head; his smile mocked her anxiety. "Your betrayals number too many for forgiveness. You must be punished." Pointing at Haru and gazing deep into her eyes, he intoned, "I plant inside you the seed of the Black Lotus."

  Haru pressed a hand to her abdomen, looking disturbed, as if she really felt something enter her body.

  Now Sano, Hirata, and the other samurai had slain all their opponents except Kumashiro, who fought ferociously. Junketsu-in dashed toward the door, but a soldier caught her.

  "The seed sprouts roots that invade you." Spreading his fingers in illustration, Anraku elicited pained yelps from Haru. "The seedling sends forth shoots, filling your veins, entwining your bones, and piercing your muscles."

  Haru began to tremble and moan; terror glazed her eyes as she clutched at herself, feeling for the alien growth.

  With amazement, Reiko saw that Haru believed so strongly in Anraku's powers that the spell could physically hurt her. Reiko hurried the dazed Midori to a corner and sat her down. "Stay here," she said, then rushed toward the platform.

  Anraku's hypnotic voice continued, "The leaves unfurl, their knifelike edges tearing and penetrating, spilling blood. The stalk pierces your heart. A huge bud forms."

  Haru grabbed her chest, wheezing loudly. "It hurts. I can't breathe!" she cried in panic.

  "The bud grows larger and larger," Anraku said. His eye glowed brighter; his smile reflected enjoyment of her suffering.

  "It's killing me." Spasms jarred Haru, and her complexion turned livid. She dropped to her knees. "Please, take it out!"

  "Stop," Reiko shouted at Anraku. Raising her sword, she ordered, "Leave Haru alone."

  The high priest ignored Reiko. "Feel the lotus bud begin to flower," he told Haru. "The petals are pure black and razor-sharp. As they spring open, they lacerate your heart."

  Out of the corner of her eye, Reiko saw Sano's blade cut deeply into Kumashiro's thigh. The priest stumbled and sank to his knees. With his face set in a scowl of desperation and the cut spurting blood, he lashed his blade at the samurai surrounding him, until Hirata wounded his arm. His sword went flying. Sano and Hirata wrestled him down.

  Frantically gasping for air, Haru sobbed. "I'll die!"

  "That is the fate of enemies of the Black Lotus," Anraku said, gloating. He extended his fists, knuckles facing Haru. "When the flower reaches full bloom, your life shall cease."

  Reiko grabbed Haru's shoulder, urging, "Look away. Don't listen. He's a fraud. He can't hurt you unless you let him."

  But Haru's gaze seemed magnetically locked onto Anraku's. Keening in agony, the girl clawed open her robe, trying to tear the flower out of her chest. Her fingernails left bloody scratches on her skin. Reiko leapt up on the platform.

  "Stop, or I'll kill you!" she told Anraku.

  "Your time has come," he said with a triumphant smile at Haru.

  His fingers shot open. Haru screamed, as if pierced by invisible blades. Her back arched and her limbs splayed. Incensed, Reiko slashed Anraku down his chest. He lurched, then crumpled onto his side. His face was luminous with rapture, his eye focused on some faraway vista.

  "Enlightenment at last," he whispered.

  A spasm contorted his features and body. His radiance dimmed, and death veiled his eye. Anraku had met the destiny he'd prophesied.

  Reiko dropped the sword and leapt off the platform. "Haru-san." Kneeling, she touched the girl's cheek. "What's happened to you?"

  No answer came. Hani's open eyes were sightless; blood trickled from her mouth. Gravity relaxed her features, and her terrified expression faded as Reiko watched. She was dead.

  A terrible grief seized Reiko as she cradled Haru's head in her lap. The girl had remained in the thrall of the Black Lotus and ultimately succumbed to Anraku. They had indeed shared a destiny; they would be together always, as she'd wished. But Haru had chosen friendship for Reiko over her devotion to the high priest. By saving Reiko'"s life at the expense of her own, she'd atoned for her evils. And Reiko hadn't even had a chance to thank Haru. Now it was too late.

  It was too late for all the disturbed souls who'd fallen under the influence of the Black Lotus and died tonight.

  Suddenly overwhelmed by the horrors of the day, Reiko sobbed. Nearby, she saw Hirata embracing Midori, but there was no consolation for herself.

  Then Reiko felt a gentle touch on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw Sano standing beside her. His: eyes yvere filled with a compassion for her that she'd thought gone forever. He drew her to her feet and held her close. As she wept against the hard plates of his armor, he led her out of the room.

  i

  * * *

  37

  In the age that will follow the passing of the Bodhisattra of Infinite Power,

  His disciples will turn the wheel of his truth,

  Beat the drum of his truth,

  And sound the conch trumpet of his truth,

  Until he manifests himself to the world again.

  ----FROM THE BLACK LOTUS SUTRA

  "Priest Kumashiro, I pronounce you guilty of multiple assaults and murders," said Magistrate Ueda.

  It was the end of the fourth day of the Black Lotus trials. The magistrate sat with Sano, Hirata, and the secretaries on the dais in the Court of Justice. On the shirasu knelt Kumashiro and Junketsu-in, their wrists and ankles shackled. The priest glowered; the abbess hung her head and sniveled. A large audience of officials filled the room behind them.

  "Abbess Junketsu-in," the magistrate said, "I pronounce you guilty of arson." His stern gaze rebuked the defendants. Both had confessed after Sano had interrogated them and witnesses from among the captured sect members had testified against them. Kumashiro had admitted murdering Chie, Radiant Spirit, and Pious Truth and his sister Yasue, among many others. "I pronounce you both guilty of harmful religious practices and conspiracy to destroy Edo and massacre the citizens. You are hereby sentenced to death by decapitation."

  Guards dragged the pair out of the building. Junketsu-in wept; Kumashiro scowled. The crowd that had occupied the street outside Magistrate Ueda's estate since the trials had begun greeted them with angry jeers, curses, and waving fists. The weather had turned cold and stormy, but the victims of Black Lotus attacks and the families of abducted, enslaved, and murdered followers had stayed to see justice done.

  In the court, the audience and secretaries had departed. Sano, Hirata, and Magistrate Ueda lingered inside the doorway.

  "This is a sorry business," the magistrate said. "I hope that a disaster of such magnitude never happens again."

  The death toll from the battle at the temple numbered six hundred forty Black Lotus members and fifty-eight of Sano's troops. A later search of the tunnels had turned up the ashes and bones of countless cremated bodies. And two hundred ninety captured sect members had been executed.

  "Still, it could have been worse," Sano said. "My men captured most of the fugitives near Zōjō Temple, and the police have caught more on the outskirts of Edo. Hopefully, that's all there are."

  He heard the hollow note in his own voice. The experience had left him drained and shaken. Memories of the carnage rob
bed him of appetite and sleep. He didn't know the identities of the people he'd slain, and it bothered him that he could take lives and not know whose, or how many. Yesterday he'd attended a mass funeral for his retainers killed in the battle; he mourned their deaths. He'd solved the murder case and eliminated a threat to the nation, but he had no sense of accomplishment, despite the shogun's praise of his valor. And his difficulties with Reiko were still unresolved.

  Busy from dawn until late at night every day, interrogating captured sect members, testifying at their trials, and supervising the dismantling of the Black Lotus Temple, he'd hardly seen his wife since he'd brought her home from the temple. Reiko had told him some of what had happened in Anraku's hideout before his arrival there, but otherwise, they'd barely spoken.

  "There have been a few minor fires, but no explosions or instances of poisoning," Hirata said. He wore the same haunted look as did all Sano's men who'd survived the raid. "And many innocent people have been saved."

  After the battle, Sano's troops had escorted home to the city the two hundred thirty-four prisoners they'd liberated. A hundred fifty children found underground had been returned to their families or placed in orphanages. The childrens of Minister Fugatami now resided with relatives.

  "The shogun has issued an edict outlawing the sect," Sano said. "Lady Keisho-in has, on the advice of Priest Ryuko, denounced the Black Lotus. And with Anraku dead, there seems little chance of its revival." Whether or not the high priest had really possessed supernatural powers, Reiko had rid the world of a great evil. "Tokugawa troops have occupied the temple, confiscated Anraku's gold, and begun demolishing the buildings and filling in the tunnels. And the bakufu will conduct more rigorous monitoring of other religious orders in the future."

  Yet Sano bitterly rued that the shogun had waited so long to quell the Black Lotus. He also wondered how much of the blame he himself deserved for the disaster. If he had believed Reiko when she'd told him Pious Truth's story, could the sect have been disbanded sooner and peacefully?