Shinju (44 page)

As Eii-
chan
yanked on the ropes and pulled him toward the door, Sano cast one last desperate glance at the cabinet. He saw something he hadn't noticed before, which gave him hope.

“Look, Lady Niu,” he cried. “There—in the cabinet. A place you missed. Do you see it?”

Lady Niu frowned, but her eyes went to the cabinet. She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. Eii-
chan
paused and turned toward his mistress for her orders.

Knowing this was his last chance, Sano hurried on: “Above the shelf of undergarments. That blank rectangular panel. There's a hidden compartment behind it!” Many cabinets had such compartments, for hiding money from thieves. Would that Lord Niu's did, too, and that he'd found it!

Hesitantly Lady Niu tapped the panel with her knuckle. A hollow sound resulted, and she quickly withdrew her hand.

“It is nothing,” she said. “Just … just a design flaw. The cabinet is poorly made, my son won't have expensive furnishings
in his chambers.…” Her voice trailed off, and she lifted troubled eyes to Sano.

Sano could see her need to deny her son's crime, and her need to know whether the compartment contained the scroll. With a shock he realized that he and Lady Niu had more in common than he'd ever thought possible. Out of a need to control the forces generated by her son's turbulent nature, she might scheme and kill and destroy. Hers was a dangerous, misplaced loyalty. But like himself, she would never rest until she knew the truth. The knowledge both disgusted and heartened Sano. He thought he knew what her decision would be now. He let her struggle with herself until she reached it.

“Eii-
chan
, remove this panel,” Lady Niu ordered.

Dragging Sano with him, Eii-
chan
walked to the cabinet. Sano watched in an agony of anticipation as the manservant drew his short sword with his free hand and applied it to the panel. Lady Niu held the lamp close so that Eii-
chan
could see. The only sounds in the room were her rapid breaths, the scratch of metal against wood, and the distant bursts of firecrackers from the street.

Eii-
chan
inserted the blade beneath the panel. With a single quick movement, he bore down on the sword's handle. The panel came loose with a sharp crack that made them all start. As it fell to the floor, Sano felt a surge of triumph. He heard Lady Niu gasp.

There before them was a narrow, dark compartment just large enough to admit a man's two hands. Lady Niu reached inside it. The stricken look on her face told him what she'd found even before she pulled out the scroll.

Moving slowly like a woman in a trance, Lady Niu handed her lamp to Eii-
chan
, who let go of Sano to take it. Here, Sano thought, was his opportunity to escape. He let it pass, realizing as he did so that he'd already lost another when Eii-
chan
had relaxed his grip to work on the panel. The same yearning for knowledge and truth that had made him pursue his investigation kept him rooted to the
spot. He had to see this moment through. Unless he could use what came out of it, his life was worth nothing anyway.

Lady Niu untied the silk cord that bound the scroll. Her face was devoid of all emotion now, but it had grown even paler. She let the scroll fall open. Her eyes moved up and down the columns of characters on the paper. Her colorless lips formed the words silently as she read. Then she sank to her knees, the scroll spread across her lap with her head bowed over it.

Sano took a step closer to Lady Niu. Eii-
chan
, perhaps uncertain what to do without orders from his mistress, didn't stop him. Looking down at the scroll he'd glimpsed only from a distance before, Sano read:

Sano looked up from the scroll to see that Lady Niu had lifted her head. Her sorrowful eyes stared off into space, and he knew she had finally accepted the fact of her son's treason. She was picturing and weighing the dangers that he faced. Betrayal by one of his servants, retainers, or fellow conspirators: possible. Death
at the hands of Tokugawa Tsunayoshi's bodyguards or the public executioner: likely. Or, if he somehow managed to kill the shogun and escape, a relentless manhunt that would leave no corner of the country safe for him. Young Lord Niu would die without glory, sooner rather than later, successful or not, by his enemies' hands—or by his own, as a last-resort attempt to avoid capture and dishonor. His mother understood this. Sano could see it in the way her face seemed to crumple, as if the bone structure were disintegrating. Then she spoke, in a small, hollow voice completely different from her usual one:

“He cannot succeed. He will only destroy himself.”

Sano realized how much hinged on his handling of this moment. He might never make Lady Niu pay for the murders, but he could save the shogun and prevent much needless bloodshed. He chose his words carefully.

“You can save your son by preventing him from assassinating the shogun.”

Tears shimmered in Lady Niu's eyes as she shook her head. “You do not understand. Ever since he was a child, my Masahito has had his own will. No one, nothing, could ever break his contrary spirit. And I, who have loved him and given him everything, have the least influence over him. I cannot stop him.” Her voice broke in the ugly, tortured sob of one who rarely wept.

“You must try,” Sano said softly. “Otherwise …” He paused, knowing he didn't have to finish the sentence. She knew as well as he that the standard punishment for treason was death not only for the traitor, but for his entire family as well. The Nius, with their power and influence, might be able to get their sentence reduced—to confiscation of their fief, and lifelong exile. But they would prefer death's lesser disgrace.

Lady Niu sat as still as a stone. Only her trembling lips betrayed her struggle for self-control. Then she said in a barely audible whisper, “It will do no good.”

“At least talk to him,” Sano coaxed. He wished he could put
his hand on hers; touch might persuade where words couldn't. Instead he leaned toward her until Eii-
chan
pulled him back. “Go to him. Now, while there's still time.”

“No. He will not listen to me. And besides, I do not know where he is. He said he was meeting someone who is costuming himself as a princess from
The Tale of Genji
… they plan to celebrate
Setsubun
together. Masahito seemed very excited …” Obviously dazed, Lady Niu was rambling as though unaware of the irrelevance of what she said.

“Then what about his father?” Sano asked. “If you tell the daimyo, surely he could—”

“No!”

Lady Niu's composure shattered. Her eyes widened, darkening as if she beheld some horror visible only to her. Then she bowed her head. Tears dropped onto the scroll as she wept silently.

Sano felt an unexpected sympathy for her. How would his own mother feel upon learning that her son was doomed? As she soon might. He fought his sympathy by remembering Tsunehiko and that terrible night in Totsuka.

“Then you must report the conspiracy to the authorities,” he continued mercilessly. “For your own sake, and the sake of your husband and your family. You know you cannot cover up an attack on the shogun as you did the murders of Noriyoshi and Miss Yukiko. The truth will come out for everyone to see. And when it does, you won't be able to shield your son from the consequences of his actions.”

A sudden stiffening of Lady Niu's body told him that she'd been trying to think of a way to do exactly that. Her tremulous sigh marked her failure.

“We will go to the Council of Elders now, and show them the scroll. They will—” Sano started to say “have your son arrested,” then rephrased it “—see that young Lord Niu hurts no one. Come. You know you have no other choice.”

She continued to weep. Sano waited. And waited. Would she
agree? His own fate depended on her decision. He needed her company and that of her armed escorts to protect him from the police until he got to Edo Castle. Once there, he was almost sure he could make the devastated and distraught Lady Niu confess to the murders and exonerate him. Eii-
chan
's hand tightened on the ropes, increasing both his physical distress and his impatience.

Then Lady Niu raised her head and blinked away her tears. She squared her shoulders and achieved a poor semblance of the proud daimyo's lady she'd once been.

“You are right,” she said, her voice at once bleak and resolute. “I have no other choice. Eii-
chan
, untie our guest and give him back his weapons. Then come immediately to my chambers. Sano-
san
, please excuse me while I make myself ready.”

“Of course.” Sano heaved a huge breath of relief as Eii-
chan
cut the ropes from his wrists, and not just from the end to discomfort. Very soon he would deliver a murderer into the hands of the authorities, reaping his revenge and serving justice. He would be a free man. And soon Lord Niu and his coconspirators would be arrested; the shogun would be safe. Picturing himself vindicated, restored to his status as a
yoriki
, his father well again, Sano fought down a surge of premature joy.

“May I have the scroll?” he added. It had lost much importance now that he had Lady Niu's cooperation. He'd known all along how little chance he'd have of convincing the authorities to revoke the charges against him—rather than arresting or killing him at once—and act against Lord Niu instead, scroll or no scroll. But he'd risked his life for it and still didn't want to let it out of his sight.

Lady Niu rolled up the scroll and retied the cord. Rising, she proffered it to Sano with a bow, her tear-stained face tense with the effort of simulating its former serenity.

Sano found her behavior oddly formal at a moment when no amount of formality could minimize the seriousness of her situation. Maybe she found comfort in polite ritual. He gravely returned
her bow and tucked the scroll inside his cloak with the rope and sandal he still carried.

Alone in Lord Niu's room after Eii-
chan
left, Sano fastened his swords at his waist. The now-useless mask, which the manservant had also returned, he absently toyed with as he paced the floor. Time passed; still Lady Niu didn't reappear. What was taking her so long? Had she changed her mind about going with him? What would he do if she had? He wondered how the knowledge that she'd killed to protect a son bent on self-destruction had really affected her. She deplored Lord Niu's wrongdoing, but he was her flesh and blood, and she loved him. Would she really betray him, even if the alternative meant her own and her family's downfall? But she'd seemed so resigned, Sano argued to himself. As if she'd fully accepted the rightness of her decision.…

Sano stopped pacing in mid-step. A sudden premonition stunned him.

“No,” he whispered as he realized what Lady Niu's real choice had been.

Bolting through the door, he raced down the corridor. He sped across the dark garden and burst into the building that housed Lady Niu's chambers. As he neared her sitting room, he heard a loud, anguished moan. He was too late. A shout burst from him as he halted in the doorway and saw exactly what he'd dreaded seeing.

“No!”

Lady Niu knelt on the mat, gripping the handle of the dagger that protruded from her throat. Blood gushed from the vertical gash in her pale flesh and onto her kimono. Her mouth was open. A thick gurgle issued from it, then a gout of blood. Her eyes rolled back to show their whites. Eii-
chan
stood beside her. Holding his long sword in both outstretched hands, he swung it upward, behind and high above the nape of her neck.

“No!” Sano shouted again. Rushing into the room, he fell to his knees before them.

Eii-
chan
's sword flashed down in a swift arc, cleanly severing
Lady Niu's head, which hit the floor with a sickening thump, then rolled to land face up right in front of Sano. A great fountain of blood spouted from the neck of her slumped body, drenching walls, floor, and ceiling in red. Warm droplets pelted Sano's face as he stared helplessly at the manservant who had helped Lady Niu commit
jigai
, the women's version of ritual suicide.

Eii-
chan
had acted as her second, ending her misery by cutting off her head after she stabbed herself. To the end, he'd carried out his mistress's orders with a complete and terrifying obedience. Sano couldn't hate this man who stood contemplating his bloodstained sword with an expression of sorrow, pain, and disbelief that made him seem for once fully human. Eii-
chan
was in many ways a better samurai than he. What tremendous inner strength must it require to kill the person one had sworn to serve!

Sano looked down at the mutilated thing that had been Lady Niu. Her body had fallen onto its side; her hands still clutched the dagger. With something akin to pity, he saw that she'd tied her ankles together so that her body would be found modestly composed, whatever her death agonies. He felt no satisfaction at witnessing the destruction of the murderer of four people. Instead he experienced an overwhelming rush of sorrow for this woman whose loyalty and love had destroyed her. His appetite for vengeance dissipated, leaving him empty and shaken. He'd never imagined regretting the death of the killer he'd sought, but now he wished with all his heart that he could bring Lady Niu back to life. For a week, a day, or even an hour longer.