Horace shook his head and smiled at his old childhood companion. 'I don't know. I don't know. And…I don't know,' he said. He saw George's shoulders relax as he realised his questions had been unreasonable. 'I imagine we'll find out when he comes up to us.'
'Of course. Silly of me,' George said. He sounded genuinely aggrieved that he had let his mask of professional calm slip the way it had.
'Don't let it bother you,' Horace said, then he couldn't help parroting one of George's oft-repeated catch cries. 'After all, if you don't ask, you'll never learn.'
George had the grace to allow a thin smile. He never liked being the object of jokes. He felt it undermined his dignity.
'Yes, yes. Quite so, Sir Horace.' His slight emphasis on Horace's title was evidence that he felt Horace's sally had been unnecessary.
Horace shrugged to himself. Live with it, George, he thought.
The rattle of galloping hooves was closer now. The rider had reached the sharp elbow turn in the trail and was heading up the last hundred metres or so towards them. A call from Shukin saw the four warriors ahead of the party make room on the trail to let the new arrival through.
He drew level with the Emperor and Shukin and did his best to bow from the saddle. That was odd, thought Horace. He'd been around Shigeru long enough to know that the proper etiquette called for the rider to dismount and then kneel. The message, whatever it is, must be urgent.
George had noticed the breach of normal behaviour as well. 'Something's gone wrong,' he said quietly.
The messenger was speaking rapidly to Shigeru now. He kept his voice low so that those around the Emperor couldn't hear him. Horace saw the Emperor and his cousin both stiffen in their saddles and sit a little straighter. Whatever the message, it had taken them by surprise. And the surprise seemed to be an unpleasant one. Shigeru halted the messenger's flow with a quick word and turned in the saddle to beckon them forward.
Quickly, Horace and George trotted their horses up to join the small group.
'Tell us again,' Shigeru said. 'But speak the common tongue so that Or'ss-san can understand.'
Horace nodded his thanks to Shigeru. Then the messenger spoke again. In spite of his haste in arriving here, he spoke calmly and clearly.
'Lord Shigeru, Or'ss-san and George-san, there has been a revolt in Ito. A revolt against the Emperor.'
Nihon-Ja Horace frowned, puzzled. George evidently felt the same. He leaned forward to question the messenger.
'But why would the people turn on their Emperor?' he asked. 'They love Lord Shigeru.'
It wasn't idle flattery or the sort of sycophancy that you might expect to hear around a ruler. Both Horace and George had seen ample evidence of Shigeru's popularity as they had travelled north with him from the palace. But Shigeru was shaking his head at them, a look of immense sadness on his normally cheerful features.
'Not the people,' he said bitterly. 'The Senshi. Lord Arisaka has led his clan in a revolt against my rule. They've seized the palace at Ito and killed many of my supporters. The Umaki clan has joined them.'
These were two of the most powerful and influential Senshi clans in the country. Horace and George exchanged horrified glances. Then George addressed the Emperor.
'But, your excellency, these clans have sworn their obedience to you, surely? How can they break that oath?' George knew that among the Senshi class, an oath was inviolable.
Shigeru's lips were drawn together in a tight line and he shook his head, unable to speak for the moment, overcome with emotion. It was Shukin who answered for him.
'They claim the Emperor has violated his own oath by trying to raise up the common people against their betters. They claim he has betrayed his class – the Senshi class – and is no longer worthy to be Emperor.'
'And as a result,' Shigeru added bitterly, 'their oath of loyalty to me is worthless. I am the oath-breaker, not they.'
'But…' Horace hesitated, searching for the right words. 'You're not "raising up the common people". You're simply trying to make their lives better, by recognising their value. How can Arisaka get away with such a distortion of the true facts?'
Shigeru met the young man's gaze. He had regained a little control now and spoke evenly.
'Or'ss-san, people will believe half-truths and distortions if they coincide with what they want to believe. If they reflect their fears. The Senshi have an irrational fear that I want to take away their power over the people and Arisaka has traded upon that fear.'
'But Arisaka doesn't believe it himself?' George said.
'Arisaka believes something else,' Shigeru replied. 'When the previous emperor died without an heir, Arisaka believes he should have been chosen as Emperor in my place.'
'He's been busy for months,' Shukin told them, his contempt for the traitor Arisaka all too obvious in his voice, 'sowing fear and dissent among the Senshi, spreading the lie that my cousin is betraying his class and planning to give the common people power over them. His campaign has been successful, it seems.'
'Like all successful lies, it is based on the tiniest grain of truth,' Shigeru said. 'I do want the people to have a greater stake in the way the country is governed. Arisaka has blown that out of all proportion.'
Horace turned to the messenger. He recognised him now as one of the senior advisers he had seen at the Ito palace. 'You said two clans had joined this revolt,' he said. 'What about the others? What about the Emperor's clan?'
'Many of the Emperor's clan are dead already. They tried to resist Arisaka, and his men killed them. They outnumbered them five or six to one. Those who aren't dead are scattered and in hiding.'
'And the others?' George asked. 'The Meishi, the Tokoradi and the Kitotashi? They owe no allegiance to Arisaka.'
'None of them can stand against the Shimonseki on their own. And each is waiting to see what the others will do. So far, all they will say is that if what Lord Arisaka says is true, then perhaps his actions are justified.'
George snorted in disgust. 'If and perhaps,' he said. 'The language of procrastination and uncertainty. That's just people looking to justify their own lack of action.'
'Arisaka has the momentum,' Horace said. As a soldier, he understood the value of swift and determined action that presented possible dissidents with a fait accompli. 'If they'd resisted at the very beginning, Arisaka might not have got away with it. Now he has control of the palace and the ball is rolling. It's too late to stop him easily.' He looked at Shigeru. 'The question is, your excellency, what are you planning to do about it?'
Shigeru paused thoughtfully and glanced at the messenger. 'Where is Arisaka now?'
'He's heading north from the capital, your excellency. He plans to take you prisoner.'
Shukin and the emperor exchanged a quick glance.
'How far behind you is he, Reito-san?' Shukin asked and the messenger shrugged.
'Probably several days. He didn't set out immediately. But there are some survivors from the royal army not far behind me. They could be here in a few hours.'
'How many of them?' Horace asked quickly. Without any conscious decision on his part, he was beginning to think about the possibility of a quick counterattack, but Reito's next words dispelled the idea.
'Only forty or fifty,' he replied. 'And Arisaka has at least three hundred men with him.'
Horace nodded, chewing his lip thoughtfully. Shigeru's army had been a small one. He ruled by consensus, not force. Which was why, he thought, Arisaka's coup had been so successful.
'All the more reason for us to pause here for a few hours,' Shigeru said, taking charge of the situation. 'Arisaka won't be here for several days. But my soldiers will arrive soon. We should join up with them. And while we're waiting, we can decide on our next move.'
They moved off the track onto a small, level meadow beside it. The men from the escort pitched two pavilions – one for the command group and one for the rest of the party. They wouldn't be camping overnight so all that was needed was temporary shelter from the weather while they waited for the survivors of Shigeru's army to arrive.
And while the leaders had time to consider the situation and make their plans.
A woven bamboo mat was placed over the damp ground inside one pavilion and a low table and five stools placed on it. Shigeru, Shukin, Reito, Horace and George sat around the table. An orderly placed several pots of green tea and handle-less porcelain cups before them. Horace sipped gratefully at the tea. It wasn't as good as coffee, he thought, but any hot drink in this weather was welcome.
The canvas walls of the pavilion shook in a gust of wind and the first rain rattled against them.