Dragon's King Palace (13 page)

Furious, Hoshina pulled free of Dr. Kitano. “Use the musk on her again. Quick!”

“No more,” Dr. Kitano said, with the stony defiance of a man driven to stand by his principles no matter the cost. “Your interrogation will be the death of her. And whatever she knows, she’ll take to her grave.”

Hoshina stood, panting in frustrated ire. He gazed helplessly at Suiren, who lay unmoving and incommunicative. His hands clenched tight with his need to wrest facts from her, but he accepted temporary defeat. Recovering his composure, he addressed Dr. Kitano: “You’d better keep her alive.”

His tone implied the threat he didn’t speak. He turned to his men. “Stay here and guard Suiren. Don’t let anyone else talk to her.” He must prevent Sano from questioning the maid and eliciting who and where the kidnappers were. “I’ll be at the palace. If she wakes up, notify me at once.”

He stalked out of the sickroom. Outside, he paused under the pine trees. The hot, brassy light of late afternoon streamed through the boughs. Temple bells echoed across the city, heralding another hour gone. That half a day had passed while his inquiries had gotten nowhere shook Hoshina’s confidence. And he began to doubt his theory that Suiren knew the kidnappers and had helped them arrange the crime. Would they have wounded an accomplice so badly? Lesser injuries would have sufficed to make everyone think she was an innocent victim who’d escaped death by a fluke of luck. Perhaps Suiren was indeed innocent; perhaps she didn’t know who had abducted her mistress. But the circumstances didn’t completely discount Hoshina’s theory. The kidnappers might have accidentally hurt the maid worse than they’d intended—or meant to kill her so that she could never betray them.

Hoshina decided that his theory merited further exploration. Although Suiren couldn’t speak, there were other ways to find out whether she was his best lead or a dead end. He hastened out the gate and up the walled passage toward the palace women’s quarters. There resided the ladies Suiren had lived with, as well as the female palace officials who’d supervised her. If she was party to the kidnapping, they might provide the clues Hoshina needed, whether or not she survived.

And one good clue would put him ahead of everyone else who was looking for Lady Keisho-in.

10

Lady Yanagisawa, if you can hear, please listen to me,” Reiko said.

She knelt beside Lady Yanagisawa, as she’d done most of the day. The glaring sun had dimmed and shifted westward, but still Lady Yanagisawa lay in her same, deathlike state. Her vacant eyes fixed on the ceiling, where the holes showed a sky tinged with the gold of approaching twilight. Outside, the windless weather quieted the forest. The waves lapped so quietly that Reiko could barely hear them above the chirping of songbirds and screeching from the gulls. Reiko clasped Lady Yanagisawa’s limp hand. It was cold despite the ovenlike heat in the prison. Sweat trickled down Reiko’s face, and she wiped her forehead with her sleeve. Anxiety mounted in her after countless failed attempts to communicate with Lady Yanagisawa.

“We’re still trapped,” Reiko said. “We still don’t know why those men kidnapped us or who they are, because they won’t say. Two of them came back this afternoon, but they just looked us over, then left.”

Though Reiko had often heard the men outside during the day, they hadn’t returned again. Flies buzzed around the empty food pail and full waste buckets. The heat worsened the stench. Mosquitoes whined and stung, and the women had red, itchy welts on their skin; yet hunger and discomfort were the least of Reiko’s concerns.

“The kidnappers can’t be intending to just let us go,” she told Lady Yanagisawa. “They mean some kind of harm, I know it. I’m so afraid Lady Keisho-in will provoke them again, no matter how hard I try to stop her.”

Reiko looked across the room at Keisho-in. The shogun’s mother now lay asleep, snoring quietly, but she’d fumed and pounded on the door for much of the day. When the two men had come back, she’d ranted at them as though she’d forgotten how they’d hurt her that morning. Fortunately the men had ignored Keisho-in’s diatribe… this time. Reiko didn’t know how long their patience would last.

“We have to escape.” Reiko leaned close to whisper in Lady Yan-agisawa’s ear: “I’ve thought of a way, but I can’t do it alone. I don’t trust Lady Keisho-in to help me. And Midori can’t—she’s about to have her baby any time now.”

A grunt issued from Midori, also asleep. Her body stiffened and she clutched her belly, then relaxed and sighed. Her occasional cramps had come more frequently as the day passed, and Reiko dreaded the onset of labor.

“I need you,” Reiko said to Lady Yanagisawa. Urgency raised her voice. “So please come out of this trance or whatever it is. Please help me save us!”

Lady Yanagisawa didn’t reply. Not the slightest glimmer of comprehension showed in her dull, lifeless eyes. Reiko’s patience toward the woman was fading fast.

“Maybe it’s hard for you to bear what’s happening,” she said. “Maybe you’d rather hide inside yourself than face up to things. But think of your daughter. Kikuko-
chan
is at home, waiting for you. What will become of her if you don’t return? She’ll be so sad. She won’t understand why her mother is gone. And who will take care of her?”

Lady Yanagisawa’s hand drooped flaccid in Reiko’s. Only her slow breathing indicated that she wasn’t dead.

“I know your child means the world to you. You can’t abandon her,” Reiko said, trembling with anger now. “For Kikuko-
chan
’s sake, you must recover your wits and do something besides just lie there!”

No response came. Desperate, Reiko said, “Remember your husband. You’ve told me how much you love him and how much you wish he would love you. Unless we get home, you’ll never see him again. He must know you’ve been kidnapped. He’s probably wondering where you are and what’s happened to you. Often, people don’t discover how valuable something is until they’ve lost it. Absence increases affection… and do you know what I think?

“I think your husband is realizing that he loves you. Your kidnapping has taught him the error of his ways. He’s sorry he mistreated you and wants a chance to repent.” Reiko told herself that the circumstances justified the lie. “Isn’t that just what you’ve always dreamed of? But you can’t have it if we die here. You’ll never get to enjoy your husband’s love unless you make an effort to go home to him.”

Reiko scrutinized Lady Yanagisawa, hoping that the promise of her heart’s desire would stir the woman to action. But Lady Yanagisawa didn’t even flinch. Exhausted and frustrated, Reiko dropped Lady Yanagisawa’s hand. Talking to someone who couldn’t or wouldn’t hear was no use. She must try the only other way she knew to revive Lady Yanagisawa.

As a young girl Reiko had learned the martial arts from a
sensei
hired by her father. The sensei had also taught her the ancient Chinese healing technique of applying pressure to the surface of the skin to stimulate the human body’s natural curative abilities. She’d learned how pressing, striking, or piercing specific places on the body relieved pain in other areas, influenced the functioning of internal organs, and cured maladies both physical and mental. That ancient method could work to dramatic effect, Reiko knew from personal experience. When she’d given birth to Masahiro, the midwife had used it to relieve the labor pains and calm her. She remembered techniques for promoting the circulation of the blood and life force because she often practiced them on herself. But she’d never practiced on anyone else. The method released powerful energies that could be dangerous when mishandled by an amateur. She only hoped she could revive and not harm Lady Yanagisawa.

With the middle finger of her right hand, Reiko palpated Lady Yanagisawa’s upper lip just below the nose, at a potent point—a juncture between internal pathways that carried
ki
, the life force. Applying pressure here could revive someone who’d fainted and ease extreme emotional agitation. Reiko pressed, leaning her weight on her fingertip. Beneath the cool, moist surface of Lady Yanagisawa’s upper lip she felt the inner tension that blocked the flow of
ki
. She counted to five, lifted her finger, then reapplied the pressure. She detected a faint, throbbing pulse—a good sign of renewed circulation. Again and again she pressed the potent point, and each time the pulse strengthened a little. But Lady Yanagisawa remained as inert as a corpse.

Reiko moved to the junctures known as the Bubbling Springs, located between the fleshy pads on the soles of the feet. These were spots designated for the treatment of shock. Reiko clasped one of Lady Yanagisawa’s feet in each hand and pushed her thumbs into the potent points. After twenty cycles of pressure and release, Reiko felt distinct, rhythmic pulses in the feet. The
ki
should be speeding through Lady Yanagisawa, reanimating her muscles, balancing her emotions, wakening her mind. When nothing happened, Reiko supposed that the trauma of the kidnapping had blocked other energy pathways.

She rolled Lady Yanagisawa onto her stomach, then measured four finger-widths from her spine at waist level, locating the potent points named the Sea of Vitality. Reiko pressed, waited, and released, again and again, so many times she lost count. Her hands ached; she gasped with exertion. Now she sensed Lady Yanagisawa’s
ki
surging through veins and tissues. Suddenly a deep, ululating groan burst from Lady Yanagisawa. Her limbs began to thrash; her body jerked.

Reiko sprang back, frightened that she’d overstimulated Lady Yanagisawa into convulsions. Then Lady Yanagisawa heaved onto her back. Shuddering all over, she sat upright, hands clawing the floor, and stared wild-eyed at Reiko.

“Where am I?” The question burst from Lady Yanagisawa in a loud, hoarse voice. “What happened?”

Reiko smiled with relief that Lady Yanagisawa had come back to life. Keisho-in and Midori, startled awake by the commotion, blinked in puzzlement. Lady Yanagisawa gazed around the room. As she recognized her surroundings, a look of horror came into her eyes.

“Oh, no,” she wailed, her face crumpling. “I dreamed that I was home with Kikuko-
chan
. It was so peaceful. Why did I have to wake up?” She lay down, curled her knees to her chest, and covered her head with her arms. Sobs wracked her. “I want to go back to sleep!”

“Please do,” Keisho-in said crossly. “Your noise is getting on my nerves.”

Reiko pounced on Lady Yanagisawa and forced apart her arms, exposing her anguish-stricken face. “You can’t hide anymore. I won’t let you.”

“Please, no, leave me alone.” Lady Yanagisawa squeezed her eyes shut, blinding herself to Reiko and the horrible fact of their captivity. “I want to dream again. I want Kikuko-
chan
.”

Reiko was furious that Lady Yanagisawa preferred unconsciousness to taking action, even as she pitied the woman’s suffering. She shouted, “If you want Kikuko-
chan
, then stop this nonsense right now!”

She slapped Lady Yanagisawa’s cheek. Lady Yanagisawa uttered a cry of pained surprise. Her eyes opened; her sobs halted as she gaped at Reiko.

“It’s your duty to fight your way home to your daughter,” Reiko said, glad that she’d finally gotten Lady Yanagisawa’s attention, yet ashamed of hitting the woman. “It’s your duty to help me save Lady Keisho-in and Midori. Do you understand? Are you going to behave yourself? Or do I have to slap you again?”

All the resistance went out of Lady Yanagisawa. She uncurled her body and sat up, though with slow movements and a desolate expression that bespoke her reluctance.

“Will you help me?” Reiko said, hopeful yet cautious. Lady Yanagisawa bowed her head and nodded. Triumph at her small victory heartened Reiko, despite Lady Yanagisawa’s lack of enthusiasm. Reiko beckoned Keisho-in and Midori. The pair seated themselves close to her and Lady Yanagisawa.

“Here’s what we’re going to do,” Reiko said, then began whispering her plan.

11

His Excellency has given orders that no one should disturb him,” said the guard stationed outside the door of the shogun’s private quarters.

Sano, Chamberlain Yanagisawa, and Police Commissioner Hoshina had come to report the progress of their investigation to the shogun. Sano exchanged glances of surprise with the other men: They’d all thought the shogun would be anxious for news, and hadn’t expected to be denied entry.

“What’s going on in there?” Chamberlain Yanagisawa’s face darkened with offense that their lord, to whom he usually enjoyed free access, had shut him out.

“His Excellency is having a private consultation,” the guard said.

“With whom?” Yanagisawa demanded.

Just then, the shogun’s reedy voice called, “Come in.”

The guard opened the door, and Yanagisawa strode through ahead of Hoshina and Sano. Inside the chamber, an ornate metal lantern that hung from the coffered ceiling shone down upon a low platform. On this sat Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, wearing his cylindrical black cap and a jade-green satin dressing gown, supported by heaped silk cushions. Near him, below the platform, knelt a Buddhist priest clad in a saffron robe.

Yanagisawa halted in his tracks. Sano and Hoshina paused on either side of Yanagisawa. They all regarded the priest with consternation, while his gaze challenged them. This was Priest Ryuko, spiritual advisor and lover to Lady Keisho-in. In his forties, he had a high, shaved scalp and the long nose, hooded eyes, and sensuous lips of a Buddha statue. A gold brocade stole cloaked his broad shoulders and glittered in the lantern light. To find him in intimate company with the shogun gave Sano a presentiment of trouble.

“Ahh, greetings,” Tokugawa Tsunayoshi said, his face bright with eager anticipation. He beckoned Yanagisawa, Sano, and Hoshina.

Recovering his composure, Yanagisawa moved to kneel in his usual place, the position of honor at the shogun’s right. Sano and Hoshina knelt a short distance from the platform, opposite their lord. They all bowed to him.

“Have you found the honorable Lady Keisho-in?” Tokugawa Tsunayoshi asked, looking around as if he expected to see her.