Yabu bowed. And Mariko, Omi, and Igurashi.
Blackthorne walked like a drunk for the first few paces. He clutched a pillar and held on for a moment. Then he began again. He faltered, but he was walking away, alone. As a man. He kept one hand on the long sword in his belt and his head was high.
Yabu exhaled and drank deeply of the sake. When he could speak he said to Mariko, "Please follow him. See that he gets home safely."
"Yes, Sire."
When she had gone, Yabu turned on Igurashi. "You-manure-pile fool! " Instantly Igurashi bowed his head to the mat in penitence.
"Bluff you said, neh? Your stupidity almost cost me a priceless treasure. " "Yes, Sire, you're right, Sire. I beg leave to end my life at once."
"That would be too good for you! Go and live in the stables until I send for you! Sleep with the stupid horses. You're a horse-headed fool!"
"Yes, Sire. I apologize, Sire."
"Get out! Omi-san will command the guns now. Get out!"
The candles flickered and spluttered. One of the maids spilled the tiniest drop of sake on the small lacquered table in front of Yabu and he cursed her eloquently. The others apologized at once. He allowed them to placate him, and accepted more wine. "Bluff? Bluff, he said. Fool! Why do I have fools around me?"
Omi said nothing, screaming with laughter inside.
"But you're no fool, Omi-san. Your counsel's valuable. Your fief's doubled from today. Six thousand koku. For next year. Take thirty ri around Anjiro as your fief."
Omi bowed to the futon. Yabu deserves to die, he thought scornfully, he's so easy to manipulate. "I deserve nothing, Sire. I was just doing my duty."
"Yes. But a liege lord should reward faithfulness and duty." Yabu was wearing the Yoshitomo sword tonight. It gave him great pleasure to touch it. "Suzu," he called to one of the maids. "Send Zukimoto here!"
"How soon will war begin?" Omi asked.
"This year. Maybe you have six months, perhaps not. Why?"
"Perhaps the Lady Mariko should stay more than three days. To protect you."
"Eh? Why?"
"She's the mouth of the Anjin-san. In half a month - with her - he can train twenty men who can train a hundred who can train the rest. Then whether he lives or dies doesn't matter."
"Why should he die?"
"You're going to call the Anjin-san again, his next challenge or the one after, Sire. The result may be different next time, who knows? You may want him to die." Both men knew, as Mariko and Igurashi had known, that for Yabu to swear by any god was meaningless and, of course, he had no intention of keeping any promise. "You may want to put pressure on him. Once you have the information, what good is the carcass?"
"None."
"You need to learn barbarian war strategy but you must do it very quickly. Lord Toranaga may send for him, so you must have the woman as long as you can. Half a month should be enough to squeeze his head dry of what he knows, now that you have his complete attention. You'll have to experiment, to adapt their methods to our ways. Yes, it would take at least half a month. Neh?"
"And Toranaga-san?"
"He will agree, if it's put correctly to him, Sire. He must. The guns are his as well as yours. And her continuing presence here is valuable in other ways."
"Yes," Yabu said with satisfaction, for the thought of holding her as hostage had also entered his mind on the ship when he had planned to offer Toranaga as a sacrifice to Ishido. "Toda Mariko should be protected, certainly. It would be bad if she fell into evil hands."
"Yes. And perhaps she could be the means of controlling Hiro-matsu, Buntaro, and all their clan, even Toranaga."
"You draft the message about her."
Omi said, offhand, "My mother heard from Yedo today, Sire. She asked me to tell you that the Lady Genjiko has presented Toranaga with his first grandson."
Yabu was at once attentive. Toranaga's grandson! Could Toranaga be controlled through this infant? The grandson assures Toranaga's dynasty, neh? How can I get the infant as hostage? "And Ochiba, the Lady Ochiba?" he asked.
"She's left Yedo with all her entourage. Three days ago. By now she's safe in Lord Ishido's territory."
Yabu thought about Ochiba and her sister, Genjiko. So different! Ochiba, vital, beautiful, cunning, relentless, the most desirable woman in the Empire and mother of the Heir. Genjiko, her younger sister, quiet, brooding, flat-faced and plain, with a pitilessness that was legend, even now, that had come down to her from their mother, who was one of Goroda's sisters. The two sisters loved each other, but Ochiba hated Toranaga and his brood, as Genjiko detested the Taiko and Yaemon, his son. Did the Taiko really father Ochiba's son, Yabu asked himself again, as all daimyos had done secretly for years. What wouldn't I give to know the answer to that. What wouldn't I give to possess that woman.
"Now that Lady Ochiba's no longer hostage in Yedo . . . that could be good and bad," Yabu said tentatively. "Neh?"
"Good, only good. Now Ishido and Toranaga must begin very soon." Omi deliberately omitted the "sama" from those two names. "The Lady Mariko should stay, for your protection."
"See to it. Draft the message to send to Toranaga."
Suzu, the maid, knocked discreetly and opened the door. Zukimoto came into the room. "Sire?"
"Where are all the gifts I ordered brought from Mishima for Omi-san?"
"They're all in the storehouse, Lord. Here's the list. The two horses can be selected from the stables. Do you want me to do that now?"
"No. Omi-san will choose them tomorrow." Yabu glanced at the carefully written list: "Twenty kimonos (second quality); two swords; one suit of armor (repaired but in good condition); two horses; arms for one hundred samurai - one sword, helmet, breastplate, bow, twenty arrows and spear for each man (best quality). Total value: four hundred and twenty-six koku. Also the rock called 'The Waiting Stone' - value: priceless."
"Ah yes," he said in better humor, remembering that night. "The rock I found in Kyushu. You were going to rename it 'The Waiting Barbarian,' weren't you?"
"Yes, Sire, if it still pleases you," Omi said. "But would you honor me tomorrow by deciding where it should go in the garden? I don't think there's a place good enough."
"Tomorrow I'll decide. Yes." Yabu let his mind rest on the rock, and on those far-off days with his revered master, the Taiko, and last on the Night of the Screams. Melancholy seeped into him. Life is so short and sad and cruel, he thought. He eyed Suzu. The maid smiled back hesitantly, oval-faced, slender, and very delicate like the other two. The three had been brought by palanquin from his household in Mishima. Tonight they were all barefoot, their kimonos the very best silk, their skins very white. Curious that boys can be so graceful, he pondered, in many ways more feminine, more sensuous than girls are. Then he noticed Zukimoto. "What're you waiting for? Eh? Get out!"
"Yes, Sire. You asked me to remind you about taxes, Sire." Zukimoto heaved up his sweating bulk and gratefully hurried away.
"Omi-san, you will double all taxes at once," Yabu said.
"Yes, Sire."
"Filthy peasants! They don't work hard enough. They're lazy - all of them! I keep the roads safe from bandits, the seas safe, give them good government, and what do they do? They spend the days drinking cha and sake and eating rice. It's time my peasants lived up to their responsibility!"
"Yes, Sire," Omi said.
Next, Yabu turned to the subject that possessed his mind. "The Anjin-san astonished me tonight. But not you?"
"Oh yes he did, Sire. More than you. But you were wise to make him commit himself."