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Then a series of crashing noises came from the forest. Ru
“Lieutenant Kushida.” Wonder hushed Sano’s exclamation. He saw Hirata stiffen with surprise, and heard the daimyo utter a startled grunt. Lady Miyagi turned slightly, eyes darting, trying to watch everyone at once.
“It must have been him following us in the woods,” Hirata said. “What’s he doing here?”
The lieutenant ignored Sano, Hirata, Reiko, and Lord Miyagi. Pointing his spear at Lady Miyagi, he shouted, “Murderer!” His monkey face was streaked with dirt; his matted hair hung loose around his shoulders. “Day and night I’ve hunted the killer of my beloved Harume. At last I’ve found you. Now I shall avenge her death, appease her spirit, and reclaim my honor!”
Now Sano understood why Kushida had gone to Daikon Quay. He’d tracked down Choyei and forced the dying peddler to reveal the identity of the customer who had bought the arrow toxin. He was the man whom the landlord had heard in Choyei’s room. Then he’d stalked Lady Miyagi. Before Sano could react, the lieutenant lunged at Lady Miyagi. She shrieked and lurched sideways across the path toward the pavilion. The spear blade ripped through the sleeve of her robe. Cursing, Kushida attacked again. As Lady Miyagi lashed out with her dagger in an attempt to defend herself, Reiko broke free. She stumbled along the path, trying to avoid Kushida’s vicious thrusts. When Sano rushed to help her, the shaft of the spear banged him on the shoulder.
Hirata flung Lord Miyagi aside. Drawing his sword, he charged at Lieutenant Kushida. “I’ll take care of him, sōsakan-sama. You save Reiko.”
Thrusting and dodging, he drove Kushida down the hill. Sano reached for Reiko, but Lady Miyagi slashed his arm with the dagger, shrieking, “Get away!”
Sano drew his sword and chopped at Lady Miyagi’s blade. Reiko drew a dagger from her sleeve and joined the battle. Then Sano felt someone come up behind him. He whirled and saw Lord Miyagi waving a sword.
“I won’t let you hurt my wife.” His droopy features tightened by fear, the daimyo took an awkward swipe at Sano.
Sano dodged the strike. He battered at the daimyo’s sword, intending to subdue rather than kill. “You can’t win, Lord Miyagi. Surrender.”
Reiko slashed at Lady Miyagi, who parried. Their slender blades clashed with a sweet, steely ring. Whirling and feinting at the edge of the drop, amid billowing robes and hair, they engaged in a dance of violent grace. Reiko fought with practiced skill, Lady Miyagi with reckless ferocity. From down the hill, Sano heard Lieutenant Kushida shouting at Hirata, “Leave me alone. I must avenge Lady Harume’s death. It’s the only way I’ll ever know peace.”
Lord Miyagi struggled against Sano’s superior skill. Sweat glistened on his woeful face. A lifetime of self-indulgence had left him ill suited for combat. Quickly Sano knocked the sword out of his hand. Helpless, he cowered on the ground. He looked at his wife, whose robes hung in bloodstained tatters where Reiko had cut her. A groan of misery issued from him. Sano could see his vision of life without a devoted slave; jail, exile, or confiscation of the family estate as punishment for his wife’s crimes. Then Lord Miyagi raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.
“I accept defeat,” he said with quiet dignity. “Please allow me the privilege of committing seppuku.”
The daimyo drew his short sword, gripping it in trembling hands, the blade pointed at his abdomen. Closing his eyes, he murmured a prayer. Either he was taking the coward’s way out of a difficult situation, or some vestige of samurai honor lived within him. Then he gulped a deep breath. With a piercing scream, he drove the sword into himself.
“Cousin!” Lady Miyagi rushed over and knelt beside her husband, who writhed and moaned in the agonies of death. Dropping the dagger, she caressed the daimyo’s face with her bloody hands.
A great convulsion spasmed his body. He looked up at his wife, and his lips mouthed unintelligible words. Then he went limp in her arms.
“Oh, no. My darling. No!” Ugly, choking sobs wracked Lady Miyagi.
Panting from exertion, Reiko joined Sano. Gingerly he crouched, reaching for Lady Miyagi’s dagger, though he didn’t think she would resist arrest now. Then her hand shot out and grabbed the weapon, pointing it at him. Grief twisted her mouth; her face was livid with anger, smeared with blood and tears. “You destroyed my husband,” she whispered.”You’ll pay for this.”
Sano raised his sword. But instead of attacking him, Lady Miyagi assaulted Reiko, crying, “You took away my beloved. Now I’m going to take yours!”
Caught off guard, Reiko dodged too late; the blade missed her heart, but cut her shoulder. Then they were fighting again, with Reiko’s back to the precipice and Lady Miyagi between her and Sano. Sano sheathed his sword and seized Lady Miyagi from behind, locking his hands around hers on the hilt of the dagger. As they grappled for control of the weapon, she fell forward on top of Reiko. Sano fell with her. They landed at the very edge, heads extended into empty space.
Reiko screamed, slashing Lady Miyagi’s face with her dagger. Lady Miyagi howled. Sano wrenched the weapon away from her. At the same moment, she bucked, throwing him free. Then Reiko gave an enormous heave. Like an acrobat in a street show, Lady Miyagi flipped heels over head. Hands clawing wildly at Reiko, she soared into the air over the precipice and seemed to hang there for an instant. Sano threw himself on top of Reiko, anchoring her. Then Lady Miyagi plummeted out of sight. A high, thin scream followed her. There was a series of diminishing thuds as her body struck the rocks. Then silence.
Sano helped Reiko to her feet. Arms tight around each other, they peered down into the darkness. The moonlight gleamed faintly on Lady Miyagi’s robes. She didn’t move.
Hirata ran up to them, carrying Lieutenant Kushida’s spear and his own sword. He bled from cuts on his hands, arms, and face. “Kushida is wounded, but he’ll live. What happened here? Are you all right?”
Sano explained. Then he, Reiko, and Hirata were suddenly locked in a fierce embrace, faces pressed together. A catharsis of weeping shook them. As their blood and tears mingled, Sano experienced a deeper satisfaction than ever before at the end of a case. His wife was safe, his dearest comrade restored to honor. Each of them had played a crucial role in the investigation. Their shared victory was infinitely sweeter than the lone heroics of Sano’s past.
“Let’s wake up our troops and go home,” he said, wiping tears from his cheeks.
Still embracing, with Sano in the middle, they started down the hill.
40
Three days after the death of Lord and Lady Miyagi, a guard captain escorted Chamberlain Yanagisawa to the shogun’s private audience chamber. A ba
“Please go right in, Honorable Chamberlain,” said his escort. “His Excellency awaits you.”
Somewhere in the city below Edo Castle, a funeral drum beat. As the guards opened the door, Yanagisawa swallowed the metallic taste of fear. His destiny would be determined here and now.
Inside the chamber, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi knelt upon the dais. On the floor to his left, Lady Keisho-in and Priest Ryuko sat side by side. The shogun’s mother glared at Yanagisawa, then turned away in a huff. Ryuko flashed the chamberlain a glance of smug triumph before respectfully lowering his eyes. Opposite them, in the place of honor at the shogun’s right, knelt Sōsakan Sano, his expression carefully neutral.