“The courtiers do nothing but spit on us,” she said. “On my clan, I mean. Always sneering, muttering under their breath. ‘Look at that one,’ they say, ‘another bumpkin who’s only good for playing with bows. Fighting with her hands.’”
“Violence goes against their way of life,” Goshira replied. “The courtiers. They believe rule should come from knowledge and wisdom, as in the old kingdoms of the west; often they forget that those are two very different things. And because the emperor cannot make money off of land as they do, they sit back and become the bureaucrats they’ve always wanted to be, buying up shares of vast estates around the country, accumulating wealth in parts and little slips of paper that grant their rights.”
“Why can’t the emperor own land?”
“Oh, he does. All land belongs to him, of course. So how could anybody sell it to him?” He walked on. “Yes. A clever system. Grant the governors and far-stewards managership roles in the estates you own, through joint shares, and you can reap the benefits. Collecting the crops they grow and the money they bring in. And you never have to set foot outside your happy palace gates. It’s all so very dirty, isn’t it, out there in the wild. Or so they think, anyway. Yes, I understand much better than you know.”
“They look down on me.”
“And you wish they didn’t? They are vipers, these nobles. They play at music and poetry and learn the great classics of the West, but beneath their veneer of civility, they would betray one another in an instant if it meant better gains for themselves. They watch us, constantly. And you as well. Do they trust us? Never. Do they need us? Always. But the great riddle of it is, we need them too. So we’re forced to trust each other.”
“The system always runs on trust,” she said. “Reputation.”
“That it does. And you are wiser than most, to have seen it. But hear this, Lady Kai: the moment that trust breaks, there will be chaos.” The retired-emperor paused. “He will keep you around as a trophy, you know. That’s what he did last time.”
“Who?”
“Seikiyo.”
They had almost completed their circuit of the courtyard. “He will stop at nothing,” Goshira said, his voice half a whisper. “But eventually, you will be married to one of his sons, or a relation in his family, and because you have no family of your own, you will be moved into his. He is anoctopus, drawing in and drawing in, pulling all other parts of government until they are in his grasp, and the path is clear for him to eat.
“Kai,” he said. “I do think often of that lovely poem you gave me. ‘In the evening light, cicadas fall silent…’ Allow me to gift it again. I wish to send it to certain of my friends who understand you… In truth, they may be friends for you as well.”
“Of course,” she said.
I can’t turn back now.This may be our only chance.
The start of a plan had begun to form in the back of her mind. She would write to Lord Zusho, her stewardfather in Satsuki, at the far edge of the barrier plains. He would support her.
But Yora was right:we must be patient. We must take our time, make sure nothing can grow wrong. I have to make sure I know what I’m doing.
And then I will strike.
“By the way.” Goshira turned back, as if remembering something of small importance. “I received some information the other day. It may be of value to you. Concerning your brother.”
She forced herself to look into his pale, wide eyes. “My brother died. In the rebellion.”
Goshira nodded. “That is what they told you. And until just recently, yes, I believed it, too. No.Your brother is alive, Kai Gekko’in. He lives in secret, with a different name, under the protection of the Kitano lord, in Aizumi to the east.”
Kai squinted. “That can’t be right.”
“Ah, but it is, my dear. And it is something they do not want known. For there are many in the Kanden that would rally to your cause, if the Gensei were to be united once again.”
“If this is true, how could they have kept it secret all these years?”
“Few know, even in the east,” Goshira said. “They think he’s an adopted son, child of a relative who died. But I promise you, it is true. My people go far and wide, and just recently, they have brought me confirmation. His name is Sen.”
Kai felt a rush of something now, bright and tingling, mixed with confusion. Her heart raced. “Someone would have told me…”
“They should have.”
“How do you know this?”
“I have made it, shall we say, a bit of an interest of mine to know what’s going on in all corners of our civilization. The truth will always come out, and now, after so many years,thistruth has. Your cousin, Tokuon of Yamakaji, is gathering his arms. He intends to find Sen. And bring himback into the world, from the land of Iyo Ogami’in where he was raised in secret these many years.”
“But the Keishi,” she said. “They would—”
The Chiten’s eyes narrowed. “They are watching. Yes. Tokuon is merely waiting for his chance, from that rook’s nest in the mountains. You should be careful, Lady Kai. If this were to come out, if Seikiyo were to discover what your cousin has begun… there’s no telling what he’ll do. It must bequiet.”
