Ranger's Apprentice 10: The Emperor of Nihon-Ja (3 page)

Alyss frowned slightly at the mention of Evanlyn’s name. She was not one of the princess’s greatest admirers. However, she recovered quickly and smiled again.

‘Women are good negotiators,’ she said. ‘We prefer to leave all the sweaty, unpleasant details of battle to people like your –’

She was interrupted by a discreet knock at the door. Since this was a diplomatic mission, she was in fact the leader of the Araluan party. ‘Come in,’ she called in reply, then added in a lower voice to the others, ‘I wonder what’s happened? After all, it’s a little late for callers.’

The door opened to admit one of her servants. The man glanced nervously around. He realised he was interrupting a conversation between the head of the mission, two Rangers and the most high-ranking representative of the Arridi party.

‘My apologies for interrupting, Lady Alyss,’ he began uncertainly.

She reassured him with a wave of her hand. ‘It’s perfectly all right, Edmund. I assume it’s important?’

The servant swallowed nervously. ‘You could say so, my lady. The Crown Princess Cassandra has arrived and she wants to see you all.’

Nihon-Ja

The wind had picked up since they had left the Emperor’s summer lodge the previous day. Now it was keening through the valley as they rode carefully down the narrow track that angled down one side, and gusting strongly as it was funnelled between the constricting hills that formed the valley. The trees around them seemed to have adopted a permanent lean to one side, so constant was the force of the wind. Horace pulled his sheepskin collar a little higher around his ears and nestled gratefully into its warm depths.

He glanced up. The sky was a brilliant ice blue, but already heavy grey clouds were scudding across it, sending bands of shadow flitting silently across the landscape below. To the south, he could see a dark line of solid cloud. He estimated that it would be upon them by early afternoon and it would probably bring rain with it. He considered suggesting that they might make camp for the day before the rain added its force to the wind. There was no need to rush their journey – the port of Iwanai was within easy riding distance – and he didn’t relish the idea of pitching tents in a driving rainstorm. Better to get them up while the party was still dry and shelter inside them through the deteriorating weather.

The trail they were following levelled and widened for a hundred metres or so, so Horace urged his horse alongside that of the Emperor, who was riding immediately before him. Shigeru, huddled deep in his own fur robes, sensed the presence beside him and looked around. He grimaced at the racing clouds overhead and gave a small shrug.

Horace pulled his collar down to speak, feeling the icy bite of the wind on his face as he did so.

‘Do you think it will snow?’ he called, pitching his voice above the constant battering of the wind.

Shigeru looked at the sky again and shook his head. ‘It’s a little early in the year. Perhaps in a week or two we’ll get a few light falls. Then, in a month, the real snow will begin. But we’ll be far away from here by then. Once we’re out of the mountains, the weather won’t be so severe.’ He glanced again at the ominous cloud front.

‘Plenty of rain there, however,’ he continued cheerfully.

Horace grinned. Very little seemed to faze Shigeru. Many rulers would have spent the morning complaining loudly about the cold and the discomfort, as if their complaints would actually serve to alleviate the situation and as if their attendants should be able to do something about it. Not the Emperor. He accepted the situation, knowing that he could do nothing to change the weather. Best to endure it without making life more difficult for those around him.

‘Perhaps we should make camp early,’ Horace suggested.

Shigeru was about to reply when a cry from one of their point riders caught their attention.

In addition to a few household servants – and of course Horace and George – Shigeru was travelling with a relatively small screen of bodyguards. Only a dozen Senshi warriors, under the command of Shukin, the Emperor’s cousin, had accompanied him to the summer lodge. Again, Horace thought, it was a measure of the man himself. Shigeru had little cause to fear attack. He was popular with the common people. They knew he was working to improve their lot and they loved him for it. Previous emperors had not enjoyed such esteem and it had always been necessary for them to surround themselves with large parties of armed men when they travelled through the countryside.

One of the Senshi had been posted well ahead of the group as a point rider. Another three were grouped some ten metres ahead of Horace and the Emperor. The remainder were stationed behind. On this narrow trail, there was no room for outriders on their flank, although they would be deployed once the party reached the valley floor.

The rider who had cried out now held up his hand, bringing the main party to a halt. Horace heard a clatter of hooves and a warning call from behind him. Glancing back, he edged his horse to one side to allow Shukin and four of the guards to edge past him. The Emperor did the same.

‘What’s the problem?’ Shigeru asked Shukin, as the escort leader trotted past. Out of deference to Horace, and to avoid the need for translation, he spoke the common language, not Nihon-Jan.

‘I don’t know, cousin,’ Shukin replied. ‘Kaeko-san has seen something. I’ll report once I’ve spoken to him. Please wait here.’

He glanced over his shoulder, reassuring himself that the four men remaining in the rearguard had moved up to form a closer screen, then rode on.

Without conscious thought, Horace’s left hand dropped to his scabbard, angling it slightly forward so that, if the need arose for him to draw his sword, he could do so quickly. His trademark round shield was still slung on his back. No need to change that at the moment. He could shrug it round into position in a second or two if required.

Shigeru’s horse shifted its feet nervously as the guards rode past. The Emperor patted its neck and spoke soothingly to it and the horse settled. Then the Emperor slumped more comfortably in the saddle, looked at Horace and shrugged.

‘I imagine we’ll hear what’s going on in a moment or two,’ he said. His manner indicated that he was sure this was a false alarm, that his guards were being over-cautious. He gazed after Shukin as his cousin reined in beside the Senshi warrior who had been riding point. There was a brief discussion, then both Shigeru and Horace saw Kaeko pointing to something further down the valley, where the trail zigzagged back to accommodate the steep slope of the hillside.

Shukin trotted back to report.

‘There’s a rider coming. It’s one of your household staff, cousin. And he seems in a hurry.’

Shigeru frowned. It would take a lot of bring one of his official staff out in this sort of weather.

George edged his horse up to Horace now. George was a trained scribe and attorney and he had made a comprehensive study of the ways of the Nihon-Jan. This was not his first trip to the country. Because of his knowledge of local matters, he had been sent on this trip with Horace to observe and advise the young warrior on matters of protocol, and to update a dictionary of the Nihon-Jan language that he had written two years ago.

George could be a little stuffy and full of himself at times but he was essentially good-hearted and he had provided excellent advice to Horace on the journey. Horace had been glad to have him along.

‘Why are we stopping?’ he asked.

Horace jerked a thumb further along the trail. ‘There’s a rider. A messenger, probably. Best if we wait for him to come to us.’

‘A messenger? Who is it? Is Lord Shigeru expecting a message? Do we know what it’s about?’ George’s questions came tumbling out before Horace had a chance to begin answering.

Horace shook his head and smiled at his old childhood companion. ‘I don’t know. I don’t know. And…I don’t know,’ he said. He saw George’s shoulders relax as he realised his questions had been unreasonable. ‘I imagine we’ll find out when he comes up to us.’

‘Of course. Silly of me,’ George said. He sounded genuinely aggrieved that he had let his mask of professional calm slip the way it had.

‘Don’t let it bother you,’ Horace said, then he couldn’t help parroting one of George’s oft-repeated catch cries. ‘After all, if you don’t ask, you’ll never learn.’

George had the grace to allow a thin smile. He never liked being the object of jokes. He felt it undermined his dignity.

‘Yes, yes. Quite so,
Sir
Horace.’ His slight emphasis on Horace’s title was evidence that he felt Horace’s sally had been unnecessary.

Horace shrugged to himself. Live with it, George, he thought.

The rattle of galloping hooves was closer now. The rider had reached the sharp elbow turn in the trail and was heading up the last hundred metres or so towards them. A call from Shukin saw the four warriors ahead of the party make room on the trail to let the new arrival through.

He drew level with the Emperor and Shukin and did his best to bow from the saddle. That was odd, thought Horace. He’d been around Shigeru long enough to know that the proper etiquette called for the rider to dismount and then kneel. The message, whatever it is, must be urgent.

George had noticed the breach of normal behaviour as well. ‘Something’s gone wrong,’ he said quietly.

The messenger was speaking rapidly to Shigeru now. He kept his voice low so that those around the Emperor couldn’t hear him. Horace saw the Emperor and his cousin both stiffen in their saddles and sit a little straighter. Whatever the message, it had taken them by surprise. And the surprise seemed to be an unpleasant one. Shigeru halted the messenger’s flow with a quick word and turned in the saddle to beckon them forward.

Quickly, Horace and George trotted their horses up to join the small group.

‘Tell us again,’ Shigeru said. ‘But speak the common tongue so that Or’ss-san can understand.’

Horace nodded his thanks to Shigeru. Then the messenger spoke again. In spite of his haste in arriving here, he spoke calmly and clearly.

‘Lord Shigeru, Or’ss-san and George-san, there has been a revolt in Ito. A revolt against the Emperor.’

Nihon-Ja

Horace frowned, puzzled. George evidently felt the same. He leaned forward to question the messenger.

‘But why would the people turn on their Emperor?’ he asked. ‘They love Lord Shigeru.’

It wasn’t idle flattery or the sort of sycophancy that you might expect to hear around a ruler. Both Horace and George had seen ample evidence of Shigeru’s popularity as they had travelled north with him from the palace. But Shigeru was shaking his head at them, a look of immense sadness on his normally cheerful features.

‘Not the people,’ he said bitterly. ‘The Senshi. Lord Arisaka has led his clan in a revolt against my rule. They’ve seized the palace at Ito and killed many of my supporters. The Umaki clan has joined them.’

These were two of the most powerful and influential Senshi clans in the country. Horace and George exchanged horrified glances. Then George addressed the Emperor.

‘But, your excellency, these clans have sworn their obedience to you, surely? How can they break that oath?’ George knew that among the Senshi class, an oath was inviolable.

Shigeru’s lips were drawn together in a tight line and he shook his head, unable to speak for the moment, overcome with emotion. It was Shukin who answered for him.

‘They claim the Emperor has violated his own oath by trying to raise up the common people against their betters. They claim he has betrayed his class – the Senshi class – and is no longer worthy to be Emperor.’

‘And as a result,’ Shigeru added bitterly, ‘their oath of loyalty to me is worthless. I am the oath-breaker, not they.’

‘But…’ Horace hesitated, searching for the right words. ‘You’re not “raising up the common people”. You’re simply trying to make their lives better, by recognising their value. How can Arisaka get away with such a distortion of the true facts?’

Shigeru met the young man’s gaze. He had regained a little control now and spoke evenly.

‘Or’ss-san, people will believe half-truths and distortions if they coincide with what they want to believe. If they reflect their fears. The Senshi have an irrational fear that I want to take away their power over the people and Arisaka has traded upon that fear.’

‘But Arisaka doesn’t believe it himself?’ George said.

‘Arisaka believes something else,’ Shigeru replied. ‘When the previous emperor died without an heir, Arisaka believes he should have been chosen as Emperor in my place.’

‘He’s been busy for months,’ Shukin told them, his contempt for the traitor Arisaka all too obvious in his voice, ‘sowing fear and dissent among the Senshi, spreading the lie that my cousin is betraying his class and planning to give the common people power over them. His campaign has been successful, it seems.’

‘Like all successful lies, it is based on the tiniest grain of truth,’ Shigeru said. ‘I do want the people to have a greater stake in the way the country is governed. Arisaka has blown that out of all proportion.’

Horace turned to the messenger. He recognised him now as one of the senior advisers he had seen at the Ito palace. ‘You said two clans had joined this revolt,’ he said. ‘What about the others? What about the Emperor’s clan?’

‘Many of the Emperor’s clan are dead already. They tried to resist Arisaka, and his men killed them. They outnumbered them five or six to one. Those who aren’t dead are scattered and in hiding.’

‘And the others?’ George asked. ‘The Meishi, the Tokoradi and the Kitotashi? They owe no allegiance to Arisaka.’

‘None of them can stand against the Shimonseki on their own. And each is waiting to see what the others will do. So far, all they will say is that
if
what Lord Arisaka says is true, then perhaps his actions are justified.’

George snorted in disgust. ‘If and perhaps,’ he said. ‘The language of procrastination and uncertainty. That’s just people looking to justify their own lack of action.’

‘Arisaka has the momentum,’ Horace said. As a soldier, he understood the value of swift and determined action that presented possible dissidents with a
fait accompli
. ‘If they’d resisted at the very beginning, Arisaka might not have got away with it. Now he has control of the palace and the ball is rolling. It’s too late to stop him easily.’ He looked at Shigeru. ‘The question is, your excellency, what are you planning to do about it?’

Shigeru paused thoughtfully and glanced at the messenger. ‘Where is Arisaka now?’

‘He’s heading north from the capital, your excellency. He plans to take you prisoner.’

Shukin and the emperor exchanged a quick glance.

‘How far behind you is he, Reito-san?’ Shukin asked and the messenger shrugged.

‘Probably several days. He didn’t set out immediately. But there are some survivors from the royal army not far behind me. They could be here in a few hours.’

‘How many of them?’ Horace asked quickly. Without any conscious decision on his part, he was beginning to think about the possibility of a quick counterattack, but Reito’s next words dispelled the idea.

‘Only forty or fifty,’ he replied. ‘And Arisaka has at least three hundred men with him.’

Horace nodded, chewing his lip thoughtfully. Shigeru’s army had been a small one. He ruled by consensus, not force. Which was why, he thought, Arisaka’s coup had been so successful.

‘All the more reason for us to pause here for a few hours,’ Shigeru said, taking charge of the situation. ‘Arisaka won’t be here for several days. But my soldiers will arrive soon. We should join up with them. And while we’re waiting, we can decide on our next move.’

They moved off the track onto a small, level meadow beside it. The men from the escort pitched two pavilions – one for the command group and one for the rest of the party. They wouldn’t be camping overnight so all that was needed was temporary shelter from the weather while they waited for the survivors of Shigeru’s army to arrive.

And while the leaders had time to consider the situation and make their plans.

A woven bamboo mat was placed over the damp ground inside one pavilion and a low table and five stools placed on it. Shigeru, Shukin, Reito, Horace and George sat around the table. An orderly placed several pots of green tea and handle-less porcelain cups before them. Horace sipped gratefully at the tea. It wasn’t as good as coffee, he thought, but any hot drink in this weather was welcome.

The canvas walls of the pavilion shook in a gust of wind and the first rain rattled against them.

‘North,’ Shukin was saying. ‘We have to head back north.’

‘Logical, since Arisaka and his army are in the south,’ Horace said. ‘But is there any other advantage in the north? Do you have allies there – clans you could raise so that you could face Arisaka?’

Shigeru shook his head. ‘There are no Senshi clans in the north,’ he said. ‘There are the Kikori, that’s all. They’re not warriors.’

His two countrymen nodded agreement. But Horace wanted more information. ‘Who are the Kikori?’

‘Timber workers,’ George told him. ‘They work in among the tall timber in the mountains. Their villages are scattered everywhere.’

‘If they’re timber workers, they’ll be fit and strong and they’ll have axes,’ Horace said. ‘And they’ll know how to use them. Could we recruit them as soldiers? Would they fight for you, your excellency?’

Shigeru and Shukin exchanged glances and the Emperor shook his head.

‘They would. They are intensely loyal. But I won’t ask them to. They’re not trained warriors, Or’ss-san. Arisaka’s men would massacre them. I can’t ask them to fight when they have no hope.’

George leaned forward and touched Horace’s sleeve, drawing his attention. He added, in a lowered tone, ‘There’s another problem, Horace. The Kikori would fight. But they wouldn’t believe they had any chance against the Senshi – because they’d believe they have no right to fight them.’

‘No right? What do you mean? Of course they –’

‘It’s a matter of their mindset. They’ve spent centuries believing they are inferior to the Senshi. Shigeru-san is trying to turn that around but it will take a long time to do it. Just as the Senshi are conditioned to believe they are superior to the other classes, the Kikori believe the Senshi are their superiors. They might go into battle against them. But they’d do it expecting to lose.’

‘That’s crazy,’ Horace said. But he could see the reason in George’s statement.

‘You’re a soldier, Horace. Would you lead an army into battle if the men expected to be beaten? Even worse, if the men thought they had no
right
to win?’

‘I suppose not.’ Horace’s shoulders slumped. For a moment, he thought he had seen a possible course of action, but George was right. An army that believed it was destined to lose would be marching to its death.

‘There are the Hasanu,’ Shukin was saying thoughtfully. ‘And Lord Nimatsu is an honourable man. He wouldn’t turn his back on his oath of allegiance.’

‘The Hasanu are certainly fighters,’ Shigeru said. ‘But to the far north, with an enormous mountain range separating us from them. It would take weeks, months even, to reach them. And I have no idea how they would respond. They are strange people.’

‘If they are people, in fact,’ Reito put in.

Shigeru gave him a look of rebuke. ‘Don’t believe the old superstitions, Reito,’ he said. ‘The Hasanu are…unusual, shall we say? But I’m convinced they’re human.’

‘Who are the Hasanu?’ Horace whispered to George. ‘Are they another clan of warriors?’ But George was shaking his head, a puzzled look on his face.

‘I’ve never heard of them. They’re not a clan. I’m sure I know all of them.’

Before they could pursue the matter any further, Shukin spoke in an authoritative tone.

‘Whether or not we can muster forces for a counterattack against Arisaka, our first course is to make sure the Emperor is safe. We have to head north back into the mountains. We won’t ask the Kikori to fight, but they’ll be willing to hide us from Arisaka.’

Shigeru was nodding agreement. ‘Perhaps not the most gallant course of action,’ he said. ‘But certainly the wisest. If we can evade Arisaka’s men for a month or two, winter will be here and the weather will protect us.’

‘There’s always the fortress at Ran-Koshi,’ Reito suggested and the Emperor and his cousin looked at him quickly.

‘Ran-Koshi?’ said Shukin. ‘I always thought that was a myth.’

Reito shook his head. ‘Many people do. But I’m sure it’s real. The problem is, how to find it.’

‘What is this fortress?’ Horace asked.

‘Ran-Koshi is a fortress that’s spoken of in an old folk tale,’ Shigeru told them. ‘That’s why Shukin doubted its existence. It’s said to be high in the mountains, in a hidden valley. Many hundreds of years ago, there was a civil war over the rightful succession to the throne.’

‘Not unlike now, in fact,’ Shukin said grimly and the Emperor glanced at him.

‘Precisely,’ he said, then turned back to the two Araluans. ‘The eventual winner used Ran-Koshi as his power base. It was said to be an impregnable fortress, with massive walls and a deep moat.’

‘Sounds like the sort of place you could use,’ Horace said.

Shigeru nodded thoughtfully. ‘It would be derelict by now,’ he said. ‘If it exists at all.’

‘If it’s there, there is one group of people who will know where it is,’ Reito said. ‘The Kikori. They’ve spent generations combing the mountains for groves of trees, then building trails to bring the fallen logs down to the low country. They know every inch of the northern mountains.’

‘Then why have they never revealed its location?’ Shukin said.

Shigeru inclined his head towards his cousin. ‘Why should they?’ he replied. ‘Over the years, the Kikori have had little reason to love the ruling class of this country. If they knew this secret, I doubt they would have told the Senshi about it. They won’t fight the warrior class, but there’s no reason why they should do anything to help them.’

‘Good point,’ Horace said. ‘So all we have to do is head north, contact the Kikori, and take shelter in this mythical fortress?’

Shigeru gave him a good-humoured nod. After his first shock at the news of Arisaka’s treachery, he had recovered some of his normal spirits.

‘Perhaps we should take it one step at a time, Or’ss-san,’ he said. ‘Our first priority is simply to evade Arisaka, and for that, I agree that we have to head north. But I’m afraid you won’t be coming with us.’

Horace opened his mouth to reply, felt George’s hand on his arm and stopped.

‘We’re on a diplomatic mission, Horace,’ George said quietly. ‘We have no right to interfere in internal matters among the Nihon-Jan.’

That statement brought Horace up short. His first instinct on hearing about Arisaka’s rebellion had been to help the Emperor find a way to defeat the treacherous warlord. Now, he realised, he had no right to do any such thing. He sat back, confused. Shigeru saw the conflict on his face and offered Horace a sad little smile.

‘George-san is right. This is not your battle. You are observers in our country and, just as I can’t ask the Kikori to fight, I can’t expect you to risk your lives on my behalf. You should return to your own land.’

‘It might be better if Or’ss-san and George-san also avoided Arisaka’s men,’ Shukin said. ‘The Shimonseki may not understand the niceties of diplomatic immunity.’

Shigeru looked at his cousin. Shukin made a good point, he thought. Arisaka’s men would have their blood up. They would be arrogant and argumentative, and Horace might well be provoked by them if he encountered them. They would know the young Araluan was a friend of the Emperor and they would know he was a warrior. Better if he avoided contact altogether.

‘There is a secondary road to Iwanai a little north of here,’ he said. ‘It’s not as well travelled as the main road. In fact, it’s more of a mountain track. But you’d be better to take it, I think. Perhaps you should accompany us that far, then leave us.’

Horace shook his head helplessly. He knew they were right but he hated to desert a friend in danger.

‘I don’t like it, your excellency,’ he said eventually.

‘Neither do I, Or’ss-san. But, trust me, it’s for the best.’