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he had been in the room when I had last seen Arai. Niwa, his name was,
I recalled. Was it his sons who had been killed by Jin-emon? His face
had aged and held fresh lines of grief.
I reined in the chestnut horse and spoke in a loud voice. "I am Otori
Takeo, son of Shigeru, grandson of Shigemori. I intend no harm to you
or your people. My wife Shirakawa Kaede and I are moving our army to
her domain at Maruyama, and I ask for your help in providing food and
lodging overnight."
"I remember you well," he said. "It's been a while since we last met. I
am Niwa Junkei. I hold this land by order of Lord Arai. Are you now
seeking an alliance with him?"
"That would give me the greatest pleasure," I said. "As soon as I have
secured my wife's domain, I will go to Inuyama to wait on his
lordship."
"Well, a lot seems to have changed in your life," he replied. "I
believe I am in your debt; news on the wind is that you killed Jin-emon
and his bandits."
"It is true that Jin-emon and all his men are dead," I said. "We have
brought back the warriors' heads for proper burial. I wish I had come
earlier to spare you your grief."
He nodded, his lips compressed into a line so thm that it looked black,
but he did not speak of his sons. "You must be my guests," he said,
trying to infuse some energy into his tired voice. "You are very
welcome. The clan hall is open to your men: It's been damaged, but the
roof still stands. The rest may camp outside the town. We will provide
such food as we can. Please bring your wife to my house; my women will
look after her. You and your guard will of course also stay with me."
He paused and then said bitterly, abandoning the formal words of
courtesy, "I am aware that I am only offering you what you would
otherwise take. Lord Arai's orders have always been to detain you. But
I could not protect this district against a gang of bandits. What hope
would I have against an army the size of yours?"
"I am grateful to you." I decided to ignore his tone, attributing it to
grief. But I wondered at the scarcity of troops and supplies, the
obvious weakness of the town, the impudence of the bandits. Arai must
barely hold this country; the task of subduing the remnants of the
Tohan must be taking up all his resources.
Niwa provided us with sacks of millet and rice, dried fish, and soybean
paste, and these were distributed to the men along with the farmers'
offerings. In their gratitude the townspeople welcomed the army and
gave what food and shelter they could. Tents were erected, fires lit,
horses fed and watered. I rode around the lines with Makoto, Amano, and
Jiro, half-appalled at my own lack of knowledge and experience,
half-amazed that in spite of it my men were settled down
for the first night of our march. I spoke to the guards Kahei had set
and then to Jo-An and the outcasts who had camped near them. An uneasy
alliance seemed to have grown up between them.
I was inclined to watch all night too--I would hear an approaching army
long before anyone else--but Makoto persuaded me to go back and rest
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for at least part of the night. Jiro led Shun and the chestnut away to
Niwa's stables, and we went to the living quarters.
Kaede had already been escorted there and had been given a room with
Niwa's wife and the other women of the household. I was longing to be
alone with her, but I realized there would be little chance of it. She
would be expected to sleep in the women's room, and I would be with
Makoto and Kahei, several guards, and probably next door to
Niwa and his guards too.
An old woman, who told us she had been Niwa's wife's wet nurse, led us
to the guest room. It was spacious and well proportioned, but the mats
were old and stained and the walls spotted with mildew. The screens
were still open: On the evening breeze came the scent of blossom and
freshly wet earth, but the garden was wild and untended.
"A bath is ready, lord," she said to me, and led me to the wooden
bathhouse at the farther end of the veranda. I asked Makoto to keep
guard and told the old woman to leave me alone. No one could have
looked more harmless, but I was not taking any risks. I had absconded
from the Tribe; I was under their sentence of death; I knew only too
well how their assassins could appear under any guise.
She apologized that the water would not be very hot, and grumbled about
the lack of firewood and food. It was in fact barely lukewarm, but the
night was not cold, and just to scrub the mud and blood off my body was
pleasure enough. I eased myself into the tub, checking out the day's
damage. I was not wounded, but I had bruises I had not noticed getting.
My upper arms were marked by Jin-emons
steel hands--I remembered that all right--but there was a huge bruise
on my thigh already turning black; I had no idea what had caused it.
The wrist that Akio had bent backward so long ago at Inuyama and that
I'd thought had healed was aching again, probably from the contact with
Jin-emon's stone bones. I thought I would strap a leather band around
it the following day. I let myself drift for a few moments and was on
the point of falling asleep when I heard a woman's tread outside; the
door slid open and Kaede stepped in.
I knew it was Kaede, by her walk, by her scent. She said, "I've brought
lamps. The old woman said you must have sent her away because she was
too ugly. She persuaded me to come instead."
The light in the bathhouse changed as she set the lamps on the floor.
Then her hands were at the back of my neck, massaging away the
stiffness.
"I apologized for your rudeness, but she said that where she grew up,
the wife always looked after the husband in the bath, and that I should
do the same for you."
"An excellent old custom," I said, trying not to groan aloud. Her hands
moved to my shoulders. The overwhelming desire I'd felt for her came
flooding back through me. Her hands left me for a moment and I heard
the sigh of silk as she untied her sash and let it fall to the ground.
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