The Seabird of Sanematsu (10 page)

CHAPTER TEN

As the autumn rains drenched the countryside and the days passed, Aderyn was Sanematsu’s constant companion. They discussed the principalities of Portugal, Britain, France and Spain, and the legends of Nihon.

“Explain your Ten-nou’s divinity again,” Aderyn requested. “I do not understand.”

“I do not know what there is to understand,” he replied. “Jimmu Ten-nou was the first Son of Heaven. The Goddess Amaterasu Omikami is his great-great-great grandmother. He descended from the god named Hikonagi Takeugaya Fukiaezu and Tamayori Hime to establish the Chrysanthemum Throne to rule all of Nihon. All who are of the ancestry of Jimmu Ten-nou are divine beings to our sacred isle.”

“That is hard to imagine.” Her brown waves swayed as she moved her head in disbelief. She worked a small piece of charcoal over the rough parchment on her lap.

“How is your royalty given power over their lands? Does not your god anoint them?” He watched as she drew.

“Yes, they have the divine right to rule, but they are not gods.” Her gaze locked with his.

Three moons had passed since they first spoke, when she had taken such care not to look at him. Now, with the barriers of decorum falling to their friendship, she failed to mind her behavior as often as before. He did not mention her infractions, at times was even amused by them.

“How can they be? They do not rule the Land of the Gods.”

“I will concede that.” Her sparkling green eyes left his to focus on her art. “But what of the shogun? Why does he make the laws instead of the Ten-nou?”

“Shogun Ashikaga is general over all the emperor’s armies. This gives him the right to relieve Ten-nou of the burden of tedious lawgiving. It allows him to be concerned with the responsibilities of a deity.”

Sanematsu watched the tiny muscle in her jaw twitch as she mulled his response. Her round cheeks were pink with sun over her light tan complexion. As she concentrated on the difficult sketch, the tip of her tongue pushed between her full lips. A warm wave moved through his body.

“And it is this Shogun’s idea that barbarians are dangerous to Nihon?” Again she turned her exquisite eyes to him, and the flood surged.

“It is not the barbarians themselves our government fears. It is their ideas and dogma they are wary of. We are a land of conformity and order. To upset that tranquility is unthinkable.”

Processing his thoughts and answering her questions in diplomatic form was difficult. The images running through his brain were not governmental in the least.

In some ways, the emotion for the foreign woman awakening within him disturbed him; in others, he welcomed the feeling. Some might think it improper to entertain lustful desires for her. Matsumoto would not have argued the impropriety, but his desires would be merely physical. Sanematsu’s passion was for more than Aderyn’s body. This was the sentiment that concerned him.

“All this political talk makes my head hurt,” she said as she finished her detailing.

She raised her head and flexed her shoulders. The movement pressed her full breasts against the tight silk of her uchiki. The heat of his reaction increased.

“I have an idea. Sachi-sama taught me a game. Would you like to learn it?”

“Of course. I am sure it is interesting if Sachi-sama took the time to teach you.”

The diversion would distract him from what was happening in his body.

“I will bring the board.”

Aderyn unfolded her lean legs and rose to her full height. The ensemble of robes fell in a whisper of silk as she moved away. He watched her hurry to the yashiki, her hips swaying beneath the uchiki and her long hair moving across her narrow shoulders.

When she returned, she carried a rectangular wooden box and a small table. She unfolded the legs of the table and set the box on top. Unclasping the hasp, she lifted the lid and removed the cups with small black and white stones.

“Do you know how to play goh?” she asked when she had the board set.

“Yes.” Sanematsu chuckled. He did not tell her the game was one of the earliest forms of military tactics used to instruct young boys.

“Oh.”

Her enthusiasm evaporated, and she sat back on her heels. The pout on her lips reminded him of his daughters.

“And I thought it was something I could teach you.”

“We can still play,” he suggested, eager to return the excitement to her eyes.

“I know!” The animation brightened her face once more, and her eyes sparkled as she rose from the table. “We will play another game. One Sachi-sama said women play.”

“Then I probably do not know it,” he stated, determined not to reveal his knowledge if he did.

“We take the stones.” She picked ten of each of the white and black stones from the bowls. She handed the white to Sanematsu. As he took them, their hands touched and a strong and intense shock passed between them.

“Now.” She took a deep breath as if ridding herself of the feeling. It did not remove the flush rising from her throat to color her cheeks. “We each take turns balancing one upon another on a finger until they topple. Whoever manages to hold the most wins.”

“Sounds simple enough.” Sanematsu studied the white pieces in his palm. “You go first.” To balance anything smaller than his sword, he needed to control the trembling her touch caused.

Aderyn, holding her breath and sticking her tongue out between her lips as she did when concentrating on anything, placed one smooth black stone atop another on her extended finger. The tower collapsed with her sixth addition.

Now it was the samurai’s turn. He held three perfectly aligned and still, starting to apply a fourth. He hesitated. There was no doubt he could hold more stones than Aderyn dared think of, the balancing game an old trick of martial arts instructors; but did he wish to best her? It pleased him to think of losing to her. The white stones clattered across the table.

“I win!” she squealed and bobbed with excitement as his youngest daughters did when they were happy.

“I guess you did,” he conceded.

And so the afternoon passed, with the balancing game and conversation, pleasing Sanematsu as much as it appeared to delight Aderyn. The daimyo won an occasional game, but took care not to exceed his seabird’s stones by more than one.

**
*

“Sanematsu-sama, Sachi-sama says I must get permission from you to leave Nishikata-jyo.” Aderyn walked with the daimyo through the garden behind the yashiki. Lush deep-green foliage crept to the edge of the stone walk meandering through the area. Fronds of ferns brushed her legs. At curves in the path, large stones were set on patches of pebbles. An occasional carved statue broke through the greenery.

The climate of fall had not changed enough to affect the plants and tenacious gardeners kept the garden fragrant and full.

“Why do you wish to venture farther than the walls of my yashiki?” Sanematsu clasped his hands behind his back as he walked.

“I have explored every corner except the shrine and stables.”

“There is nothing for a woman in those places.”

They strolled around a corner, encountering one of the gardeners, who stopped his work and made a respectful bow toward Sanematsu. The master of the yashiki acknowledged his obeisance with a wave of his hand.

“But there is!” Aderyn argued. The gardener returned to his work after they passed. “At least in the stable. You have exquisite horses.”

“The horse master works very hard to maintain my horses.”

“Sachi-sama says I must ask your permission to see them closer. It seems I cannot do anything without your consent. She will not grant me anything.”

“You pout as my daughters do.” Sanematsu gave her a knowing glance and brief smile. “It is for your protection and safety that she guards your freedom so. If something untoward should befall you, she would be held accountable.”

“Is she a guard like Hamasaki-sama?” Aderyn bristled. Sachi was her teacher, her friend. Was she actually a spy or guard? Was Sanematsu no more than warden instead of friend?

“No, she is not. Her role is to protect you from others. There are those who would destroy you to punish me. To show me their power and influence.” He paused in both speech and motion. His arms swung forward, and he thrust his hands into the flowing sleeves of his hitatare. His eyes appeared to focus on the mountaintop. “You are a stranger to us. Sachi-sama, Hamasaki-sama and I are more familiar with your manners and ways. We…overlook much that others would find offensive. We accept your foreign ways because we know you mean no harm or insult. We also see you trying to learn our ways.

“Our society is such that we hide much of our feelings, even from those closest to us, all in the name of harmony. I have come to…enjoy your openness. It is refreshing. I like being able to quit a discussion without having to be right or wrong.”

“Your debates prove you are right, my lord. Especially in the matter of the land of the gods. And you have a way of changing the direction of a conversation.” She passed the daimyo, who moved to catch up with her. “We were talking about allowing me to leave the yashiki.”

“You have my permission to wander farther down into the village. I will instruct Sachi-sama of my agreement.”

They walked side-by-side, a position Sanematsu did not seem to question.

“May I be allowed to go farther?”

“You are taking advantage of my good nature,” he warned.

“I only want to go to the shore. I grew up on a ship and the wharf. I miss the water and breezes.”

“Very well. You may go to the shore, but no farther.” His tone was a dichotomy of softness and firmness.

“Thank you, my lord.”

They continued through the garden until the winding path ended at the spot it began.

“Now, as usual, I must turn you back over to Sachi-sama,” he said.

As though on cue, her teacher appeared, approaching them. After she bowed and greeted Sanematsu, Sachi asked, “Are you ready for your morning meal?”

“You know I am!” Aderyn laughed, and her Nihonese friends smiled.

**
*

With Sanematsu’s blessing, Aderyn established the habit of long walks on the beach. Away from the safety of the fortress, Hamasaki was in charge of a company of seven soldiers. Sachi, her invariable partner, did not mind the outings; but on the first, she insisted they proceed to the shore in a vehicle instead of walking through the crowded city like commoners.

Aderyn agreed, and they emerged from the house into the courtyard to find two
kaga
. This means of transportation was unknown to her, and for a few minutes she could only stare. It was a square box about six feet on a side with two movable panels. Four stout, muscular men stood at the ends of two long, thick poles. Their only attire, tightly wrapped fundoshi, exposed their hard and sinewy legs and wide, callused feet. Their arms and shoulders were overdeveloped from the work. Their dark, nut-brown faces were dry and wrinkled.

“You must step inside after removing your geta.” Hamasaki distracted her from her stare.

A maid knelt, her hands outstretched toward Aderyn’s feet, hidden beneath the robes of her uchiki. She held one foot then the other out for the girl to slip off the geta then entered the box. The maid set the shoes inside, and Hamasaki closed the panel. Sachi had already entered the second kaga.

The walls of the box moved in on her, the atmosphere stuffy and hot. Without warning, the kaga rose upward, swayed and proceeded forward. Aderyn’s stomach became unsettled with the motion. The longer the trip lasted, the more bile rose to her throat. How anyone could survive sea travel without a day’s seasickness and become sick on land was beyond her.

When they stepped onto the sand at last, she asked, “Sachi-sama, might we walk from the yashiki?”

“It would seem a better idea, since you have gone pale and shaky. Your face is waxen, and your hands are trembling.”

“Thank you.” Aderyn held her hands close to her midriff to still them and her rolling stomach.

“I did not know it would cause you such distress, Tori.” Sachi snapped open an umbrella, resting it on her shoulder to shade her face.

“It will pass.”

They walked away, and Hamasaki sent back the kaga to the castle.