Jade Palace Vendetta by Dale Furutani

Author:Dale Furutani [Furutani, Dale]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Mystery & Detective, General
ISBN: 9780688158187
Google: N4b-GwAACAAJ
Amazon: 0688158188
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 1999-07-06T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14

Evil buzz and a

habit of tormenting me.

Die, pernicious fly!

As the two men walked to the swordsmith’s house, which was located a respectful distance from the holy ground of the forge, Kannemori listened to Kaze’s story of his search for the daughter of his former Lord and Lady. The fact that Kaze had been searching for almost three years didn’t surprise him. Kannemori took it for granted that a pupil of the Sensei’s would exert any effort to fulfill a pledge.

As he approached his house, Kannemori was greeted by his wife, who immediately took charge of his guest. She led Kaze to a sitting room to give him food and tea while the swordsmith took a bath. In the bathhouse, his assistants had already stoked the fire and prepared the ofuro. It was strange, but even on the hottest day of summer, when he had been laboring diligently in front of a blazing fire, he craved a hot bath instead of a cold one. The hot bath seemed to cool him off much more than a cool one would.

His assistants dutifully scrubbed his back, as they did every working day. Kannemori had not been blessed by sons, but in the three daughters that had survived childhood, he had found all the joy that a man could expect. His daughters had been married long ago, all to swordsmiths in Kamakura, and taken into other households, but the visits from his grandchildren were now the supreme moments of his life, second only to forging an exceptionally fine blade. He knew, of course, which katana would go to the Sensei’s pupil.

His assistants rinsed him off before he entered the bath. After the master was done, the assistants would get to bathe and then, finally, the women of the house, starting with his wife. The scalding hot water of the bath eased his aching muscles. He knew that he would soon have to appoint one of his assistants his successor, adopting him as a son and grooming the chosen assistant to replace him at his craft. The adopted son would take the name Kannemori, to continue a line that had been unbroken for five generations. Kannemori sighed. He was getting old. Such was the wheel of life—the old replaced by the young. He stretched as the hot water washed away his aches. Perhaps that replacement would not be quite yet. Still, the demand for weapons had slackened considerably since Sekigahara and the coming of peace. Maybe it would be a good time to retire.

Kannemori got out of the bath and dried himself with a small damp towel. The hot water did not have to be absorbed by the towel. It dried off when the excess was taken up. An assistant helped him into a more formal kimono than he would normally wear because of his guest.

Asking his assistant to fetch the key, Kannemori went to the plaster treasure storage located behind the main house. Opening the door, he entered by himself and immediately went toward a hinoki wood chest at the back of the cramped treasure room.

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