"There's nothing serious, I hope," Naga asked, very concerned. "No, Naga-san, nothing serious," Jozen said, then again to Yabu, "You've informed Lord Toranaga of my arrival?"
"Of course."
"Good. "
"The news you brought us would interest him greatly."
"Yes. I saw a carrier pigeon circle and fly north."
"I have that service now." Yabu did not add that Jozen's pigeon had also been observed, or that falcons had intercepted it near the mountains, or that the message had been decoded: "At Anjiro. All true as reported. Yabu, Naga, Omi, and barbarian here."
"I will leave tomorrow, with your permission, after the 'attack.' You'll give me fresh horses? I must not keep Lord Toranaga waiting. I look forward to seeing him. So does my Master. At Osaka. I hope you'll accompany him, Naga-san."
"If I'm ordered there, I will be there." Naga kept his eyes lowered but he was burning with suppressed fury.
Jozen left and walked with his guards up the hill to his camp. He rearranged the sentries and ordered his men to sleep and got into his small brush lean-to that they had constructed against the coming rain. By candlelight, under a mosquito net, he rewrote the previous message on a thin piece of rice paper and added: "The five hundred guns are lethal. Massed surprise gun attacks planned - full report already sent with Masumoto." Then he dated it and doused the candle. In the darkness he slipped out of his net, removed one of the pigeons from the panniers and placed the message in the tiny container on its foot. Then he stealthily made his way to one of his men and handed him the bird.
"Take it out into the brush," he whispered. "Hide it somewhere where it can roost safely until dawn. As far away as you can. But be careful, there are eyes all around. If you're intercepted say I told you to patrol, but hide the pigeon first."
The man slid away as silently as a cockroach.
Pleased with himself; Jozen looked toward the village below. There were lights on in the fortress and on the opposite slope, in the house that he knew to be Omi's. There were a few also in the house just below, the one presently occupied by the barbarian.
That whelp Naga's right, Jozen thought, waving his hand at a mosquito. The barbarian's a filthy plague.
"Good night, Fujiko-san."
"Good night, Anjin-san."
The shoji closed behind her. Blackthorne took off his kimono and loincloth and put on the lighter sleeping kimono, got under the mosquito net, and lay down.
He blew out the candle. Deep darkness enveloped him. The house was quiet now. The small shutters were closed and he could hear the surf. Clouds obscured the moon.
The wine and laughter had made him drowsy and euphoric and he listened to the surf and felt himself drifting with it, his mind fogged. Occasionally, a dog barked in the village below. I should get a dog, he thought, remembering his own bull terrier at home. Wonder if he's still alive? Grog was his name but Tudor, his son, always called him "Og-Og." Ah, Tudor, laddie. It's been such a long time.
Wish I could see you all - even write a letter and send it home. Let's see, he thought. How would I begin?
"My darlings: This is the first letter I've been able to send home since we made landfall in Japan. Things are well now that I know how to live according to their ways. The food is terrible but tonight I had pheasant and soon I'll get my ship back again. Where to start my story? Today I'm like a feudal lord in this strange country. I have a house, a horse, eight servants, a housekeeper, my own barber, and my own interpreter. I'm clean-shaven now and shave every day - the steel razors they have here must certainly be the best in the world. My salary's huge - enough to feed two hundred and fifty Japan families for one year. In England that'd be the equivalent of almost a thousand golden guineas a year! Ten times my salary from the Dutch company....
The shoji began to open. His hand sought his pistol under the pillow and he readied, dragging himself back. Then he caught the almost imperceptible rustle of silk and a waft of perfume.
"Anjin-san?" A thread of whisper, filled with promise.
"Hai?" he asked as softly, peering into the darkness, unable to see clearly.
Footsteps came closer. There was the sound of her kneeling and the net was pulled aside and she joined him inside the enclosing net. She took his hand and lifted it to her breast, then to her lips.
"Mariko-san?"
At once forgers reached up in the darkness and touched his lips, cautioning silence. He nodded, understanding the awful risk they were taking. He held her tiny wrist and brushed it with his lips. In the pitch black his other hand sought and caressed her face. She kissed his fingers one by one. Her hair was loose and waist length now. His hands traveled her. The lovely feel of silk, nothing beneath.
Her taste was sweet. His tongue touched her teeth, then rimmed her ears, discovering her. She loosened his robe and let hers fall aside, her breathing more languorous now. She pushed closer, nestling, and pulled the covering over their heads. Then she began to love him, with hands and with lips. With more tenderness and seeking and knowledge than he had ever known.
Blackthorne awoke at dawn. Alone. At first he was sure he had been dreaming, but her perfume still lingered and he knew that it had not been a dream.
A discreet knock.
"Hai?"
"Ohayo, Anjin-san, gomen nasai." A maid opened the shoji for Fujiko, then carried in the tray with cha and a bowl of rice gruel and sweet rice cakes.
"Ohayo, Fujiko-san, domo," he said, thanking her. She always came with his first meal personally, opened the net and waited while he ate, and the maid laid out a fresh kimono and tabi and loincloth.
He sipped the cha, wondering if Fujiko knew about last night. Her face gave nothing away.
"Ikaga desu ka?" How are you, Blackthorne asked.
"Okagasama de genki desu, Anjin-san. Anata wa?" Very well, thank you. And you?
The maid took out his fresh clothes from the concealed cupboard that melted neatly into the rest of the paper-latticed room, then left them alone.
"Anata wa yoku nemutta ka?" Did you sleep well?
"Hai, Anjin-san, arigato goziemashita!" She smiled, put her hand to her head pretending pain, mimed being drunk and sleeping like a stone. "Anata wa?"
"Watashi wa yoku nemuru." I slept very well.
She corrected him, "Watashi wa yoku nemutta."
"Domo. Watashi wa yoku nemutta."
"Yoi! Taihenyoi!" Good. Very good.
Then from the corridor he heard Mariko call out, "Fujiko-san?"
"Hai, Mariko-san?" Fujiko went to the shoji and opened it a crack. He could not see Mariko. And he did not understand what they were saying.
I hope no one knows, he thought. I pray it is secret, just between us. Perhaps it would be better if it had been a dream.
He began to dress. Fujiko came back and knelt to do up the catches on the tabi.
"Mariko-san? Nan ja?"
"Nane mo, Anjin-san," she replied. It was nothing important.
She went to the takonama, the alcove with its hanging scroll and flower arrangement, where his swords were always put. She gave them to him. He stuck them in his belt. The swords no longer felt ridiculous to him, though he wished that he could wear them less self-consciously.