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carousers yet never lost his head. Their shared past had created a bond
between them, and she felt she could trust him.
Throughout the winter he had brought her snippets of information, and as soon
as the snows melted had gone at her request to Yamagata to find out, as he put
it, which way the wind blew. The news he brought back was disturbing: Taku had
not returned to Inuyama but was still in Hofu; Zenko was deeply involved with
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the Kikuta and considered himself the Master of the Muto family; the family
itself was divided. These were the matters she had discussed with Takeo before
his departure, but they had come to no decisions. The birth of his son, his
preparations for the journey to Miyako had taken up all Takeo's attention. Now
she felt obliged to act herself: to do all she could to keep the Muto family
loyal and to ensure the safety of the twins, Maya and Miki.
She loved them as if they were the daughters she had never had. She had cared
for them when Kaede had taken so long to recover after their birth; she had
overseen all their training in the ways of the Tribe; she had protected and
defended them against all those who wished them ill.
She had one other aim that she was not sure she had
the strength to fulfill, the one that she had put to Takeo and he had
rejected. She could not help recalling another warlord, Iida Sadamu, from so
long ago, and the plot to assassinate him. If only the world were as
straightforward now. She had told Takeo that as the Muto Master and old friend
to the Otori she had to advise him to get rid of Zenko. This was still her
opinion when she thought clearly. But when she thought as a mother . . .
Takeo has told me he will not take Zenko's life, she thought. There is no need
for me to act against his wishes. No one can expect it of me.
But in some secret part of her she expected it of herself.
She would discuss it with no one, but from time to time she took it out and
looked at it steadily, accustoming herself to its darkness, its threat and its
appeal.
Bunta's son, a boy of fifteen or sixteen, came with them, looked after the
horses, bought the food, and rode on ahead to make arrangements at the next
stopping place. The weather was fine, the spring planting finished, the rice
fields pale green from the seedlings and blue from the reflected sky. The
roads were safe and well maintained, the towns cheerful and prosperous, food
plentiful and delicious - for on the high roads the horse stations vied with
each other to produce local delicacies and specialties.
Shizuka marvelled anew at Takeo and Kaede's achievements, at the richness and
contentment of their country, and grieved at the lust for power and craving
for revenge that threatened it.
For not everyone rejoiced at the land's stability and peacefulness. In Tsuwano
the Muto family with whom she stayed grumbled at their lack of status among
the
merchants now that so many people were involved in trade, and in Yamagata, in
Kenji's old house, now owned by one of her cousins, Yoshio, the conversation
turned in the evening to the good old days, when Kikuta and Muto were friends
and everyone feared and respected them.
Shizuka had known Yoshio almost all his life. He was one of the boys she had
outfought and outwitted during their childhood training in the hidden village.
He treated her with familiarity and spoke openly to her. She did not know if
she could count on his support, but at least he was honest with her.
'It was different while Kenji was alive,' Yoshio said. 'Everyone respected
him, and could see his reasons for making peace with the Otori. Takeo had
information that could have destroyed the Tribe, as he nearly did in Maruyama.
Then, it was the expedient thing to do: it bought us time, and preserved our
strength. But increasingly people are saying the Kikuta's demands for justice
need to be heard: Takeo's guilty of the worst of offences, absconding from the
Tribe and killing the Master of his family. He's got away with it for all
these years, but now between them Akio and Arai Zenko are in a position to
execute judgement on him.'
'Kenji swore allegiance to Takeo on behalf of the entire Muto family,' Shizuka
reminded him. 'As has my son - many times. And I'm not only head of the Muto
family because Takeo appointed me: it was Kenji's wish too.'
'Kenji can't speak from the grave, can he? As far as most of us are concerned
- I'm being honest with you, Shizuka, I've always admired you and liked you
too, even though you were an insufferable kid, but you grew out of
that: you were even quite pretty for a while!' He grinned at her and poured
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her more wine.
'You can spare me the compliments,' she returned, drinking the wine at one
gulp. 'I'm too old for all that now!'
'You drink like a man as well as fighting like one!' he-said with some
admiration.
'I can lead like a man, too,' she assured him.
'I don't doubt it. But, as I was saying, people in the Tribe resent the fact
that Takeo appointed you. The Mur family affairs have never been decided by
warlords '
'Takeo is rather more than a warlord!' Shizuka pro-tested.
'How did he get power? Like any other warlord, by grasping opportunities,
dealing ruthlessly with his en-emies, and betraying those he had sworn
allegiance to.
'That is only one way of describing him!'
'It is the Tribe's way,' Yoshio said, smiling broadly.
Shizuka said, 'The evidence of his government is all around: fertile land,
healthy children, rich merchants.'
'Frustrated warriors and unemployed spies,' Yoshio argued, gulping down his
wine and filling their bowls again. 'Bunta, you're very quiet. You tell
Shizuka I'm right.'
Bunta raised his bowl to his lips and gazed at Shizuka over its rim as he
drank. 'It's not only that Takeo appointed you, and that you're a woman. There
are other suspicions about you, far graver ones.'
Yoshio was no longer smiling, but sat with com. pressed lips, staring
downwards.
'People wondered how Takeo knew where to find the Tribe in Maruyama when he
had never been there in his life. There were rumours that Lord Shigeru had
recorded
information on the Tribe for years; everyone knew that he and Kenji were
friends, but Shigeru knew far more about the Tribe than he would have learned
from Kenji. Someone was feeding him information.'
Both men glanced at her when Bunta paused, but she made no response.
'People are saying it was you, and that's why Takeo made you head of the Muto
family, to reward you for your years of treachery.'
The word hung in the air like a blow.
'Forgive me,' Bunta added hurriedly. 'I'm not saying I am one of them; I just
want to warn you. Of course Akio will take advantage of these rumours, which
could be very dangerous for you.'
'It's all a long time ago,' Shizuka said with assumed lightness. 'During
Iida's rule, and in the civil war, many acted in a way that might be called
treachery. Zenko's father turned on Takeo after vowing alliance with him, yet
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