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[continuing chapter 18]
He had eaten a bowl of millet porridge with pickled vegetables, and then a bowl of noodles in broth, and drunk several cups of tea, and now Hiroki sat, reclining slightly, in the mansion’s great bath. His knee heartily approved of the heat and moisture, and it was possible now for him to believe he would be comfortable on horseback for however long it took to return to Kozuke.
“I always feel a bit strange conversing with someone in the bath,” Lord Hosokawa said from the doorway. “My ancestor Masamoto was murdered in his bath, you know.”
“I know,” Hiroki said. “I remember being told about it.” He nodded for Lord Hosokawa to sit anywhere he could be comfortable. “I will trust you, having no real choice in the matter.”
“A wise decision,” the young man said. “I am here on a mission of congratulations. You have proved yourself extremely clever, my Lord Yoshino.”
“Please, it’s just ‘Yoshino’. If you can grant me nothing else, I request this of you.”
After a nod, however reluctant, from Lord Hosokawa, Hiroki said, “I want to be able to say that this was no different from my normal assignments, learning things for Lord Tanuma. But that wouldn’t be entirely true. I don’t mind admitting that I have found many aspects of this experience more than a little disturbing. I thank you for the compliment, though.”
“It really isn’t like gathering intelligence for war-planning, is it? In your normal line of work you don’t have to ask yourself why men are as they are, do you?”
“I have to understand men well enough to know when or if they will attack, and in which direction,” Hiroki told him. “Other than that, you are correct: it is mostly about numbers of warriors, and their locations. I am comfortable with those things. Crooked or broken men, like Kanegawa Akihito, are not things I enjoy contemplating.”
“Do you consider me crooked or broken?”
“I am trying not to consider you at all, Lord Hosokawa. Nor your cousins, nor Miyoshi Motonaga. You yourself told me last night that the world in which you compete is something I only vaguely understand.”
“This morning I am of the opinion that I may be proved to have spoken in haste last night,” Lord Hosokawa said. “A man who can see through the fogs and mists of lies and deception could be a very important asset in the competition you mentioned. I would not wish you to leave the capital angry with me, my lord.”
Hiroki sighed deeply and settled back so the hot water reached his chin. “I am not angry today, Lord Hosokawa. I may even respect the way you have so far managed to keep yourself above the worst parts of this competition. I can only be saddened, though, by the way the fighting is destroying harmony in the world. And perhaps I wonder why none of you sees what you are doing.”
“We are not all blind,” Lord Hosokawa said. “Some of us are able to see but not yet able to act. It is for this reason that I wish you to remember, when you leave the capital, that I wish you well. I might even be led to admit that I regret the mischief that set Miyoshi Motonaga after you.”
“If you do wish me well,” Hiroki told him, staring ahead and not at Lord Hosokawa, “I would like to ask you to do something.”
“A favour?”
“Not for me, no.” He smiled. “I have no wish to become beholden to you, as I’m sure you understand.”
Lord Hosokawa laughed, softly. “The gratitude of great men can be a dangerous thing, yes. So what is this favour, and for whom am I to do it?”
“There is a woman in the capital,” Hiroki said, “by name of Katsumi. She is a singing-girl in a teashop, and I have become … acquainted with her in the course of this experience. In fact she was injured in an attack by a man who worked for both of Miyoshi Motonaga and Yanagimoto Kataharu. She has lost her home and livelihood, and is recovering in this very mansion.” Lord Hosokawa raised his brows and grinned; Hiroki ignored the provocation.
“She has ambitions,” he said, “and unlike the broken secretary Kanegawa she seems to me well-equipped to achieve her goals. She is learning to read. She wants to understand, and to be able to talk about, poetry and painting and the arts.”
“In other words, to become a courtesan rather than a whore.”
“You put it bluntly, but yes, that is the essence of it. She has proved herself quick to learn things, and I would like her to continue to learn.”
“What would you have me do, my lord? I have already explained to you what I am.”
“She does not need another client to sleep with for money,” Hiroki said. “She wants someone to talk with, someone to learn from. You befriended Lady Tomiko though you had no desire to sleep with her. I am asking you to give Katsumi perhaps one tenth of the consideration you showed to Lady Tomiko. Help her to become more than she now is, and I will be grateful even if I will not become your man.”
“I will happily help this woman,” Lord Hosokawa said, laughing again. “If only for the opportunity to prove you wrong about someday serving me.”
Next Characters Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6
Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14
Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18
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