Shike by Robert Shea

Author:Robert Shea [Shea, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-09-05T04:28:41.979000+00:00

Chapter Four

On the outskirts of Hiraizumi stood the proudest achievement of the Northern Eujiwara, the Chusonji Temple. A complex of forty buildings, the Chusonji was as richly decorated as any of the great temples of Heian Kyo. It boasted two famous statues of the Buddha as well as innumerable other works of art. Its most splendid building, the Konjikido, was coated with black lacquer and plated with gold.

Taniko and Jebu sat on a bed of pine needles on a wooded hill overlooking the Chusonji. Jebu was full of apprehension, far more frightened than he had ever felt going into battle. He had decided that today he must tell Taniko the one secret that lay between them.

"Yukio wants me to go to Kamakura to see his brother Hideyori," Jebu said. "If necessary, I'm to rescue Hideyori from your father. I'm to bring Hideyori the message that Yukio only claimed the clan chieftainship because he mistakenly thought Hideyori was dead."

Taniko bowed her head. "It was I who misled Yukio. If there is bad blood between the brothers because of this, it is my responsibility."

Jebu shook his head. "You gave us the only information you had. I warned him not to be so impulsive about sending out that proclamation."

Taniko smiled at him. This morning her beauty was as radiant as the golden temple below. Since their return to the Sunrise Land, Taniko's beauty had acquired a new vividness. She was like a plant that had been kept in a room too long and was fading, but had now been put outdoors and was growing vigorously again.

"I'd hoped all along you would be coming with me," she said.

"We'll have to travel quickly. A day's delay could mean Hideyori's death. You'll have to be ready this afternoon." He wondered if she could hear the tension in his voice as clearly as he could. He had to tell her now. With each day that passed there was more chance that circumstances would intervene to prevent him from telling her that he was Kiyosi's killer.

Now that he had made up his mind to speak, he was almost paralysed with dread. He reminded himself that, as a Zinja, he should simply speak out and let the consequences be what they would. Whatever her reaction, it would be the reaction the Self wanted, and therefore the right reaction.

"I will be ready when you want me," Taniko said with a small smile. "The Mongols taught me how to travel quickly. They consider a breakneck speed a dignified pace for a lady. We don't have to cover the whole distance overland, either. We can go by horseback to Sendai and from there hire a boat to take us down the coast to Kamakura. That would save us half the time."

"What do you think your father will do to Hideyori?"

She frowned. "Whatever he does will be decided by the situation. I know that after Kiyosi was killed Sogamori ordered my father to send him Hideyori's head. Eor some reason my father did not obey.

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