Previous First
[Continuing chapter 5]
“She was my friend.” Kanegawa Akihiro sat, perfectly rigid, on the cold floor of the chamber in which he was being held. The room felt as cold as the floor; the rain, which had not stopped overnight, pounded on the tiled roof. A lamp provided little light, so that the secretary seemed to have only half a face. The visible part of Kanegawa’s face, drawn and pale, suggested he was still feeling a kind of shock — even though he had not seen Lady Tomiko’s body himself. Hiroki, watching the young man, reminded himself that Kanegawa was a clerk, not a warrior, and had probably never come this close to death before. Now he was facing his own death, and likely by shameful execution rather than honourable seppuku.
31 March, 2020
30 March, 2020
Sowing Ghosts 5.1
Previous First
The eighth day of the second month
“What you are telling me, I think, is that I wasted my time yesterday.” Tetsuo stabbed at a pickled plum. “And now we have three jobs to do and any single one of them would be enough to occupy all of us. Even if you are right about that woman, Hiroki, we can’t do two things at once. Not and do them well.”
“Nonsense,” said Shiro, his face alight. “We can do it all. Any one of us is a better man than any ten of the men we’ve met this week, Tetsuo. Even you.”
CHAPTER FIVE
INVESTIGATION
The eighth day of the second month
“What you are telling me, I think, is that I wasted my time yesterday.” Tetsuo stabbed at a pickled plum. “And now we have three jobs to do and any single one of them would be enough to occupy all of us. Even if you are right about that woman, Hiroki, we can’t do two things at once. Not and do them well.”
“Nonsense,” said Shiro, his face alight. “We can do it all. Any one of us is a better man than any ten of the men we’ve met this week, Tetsuo. Even you.”
29 March, 2020
Sowing Ghosts 4.6
Previous First
[Concluding chapter 4]
The rain had stopped by the time Hiroki returned to their mansion. Before it had stopped, though, it had flirted seriously with turning to snow, and had made the end of his long day nearly as trying as had been the examination of Lady Tomiko’s body.
It was well into the new day — at least the lesser Hour of the Ox — and he could not remember feeling this tired at any time that hadn’t involved a campaign. The harae purification ceremony had not taken long; in fact it had taken more time for Hiroki to have the priest awakened than it took the priest to perform the pouring of the water and waving of the hiraigushi. But it had taken a horrible hour of walking in the icy rain and sleet to find an occupied shrine, and Hiroki had been shivering so hard by the time he had the priest’s attention that he had a hard time following the ritual.
[Concluding chapter 4]
The rain had stopped by the time Hiroki returned to their mansion. Before it had stopped, though, it had flirted seriously with turning to snow, and had made the end of his long day nearly as trying as had been the examination of Lady Tomiko’s body.
It was well into the new day — at least the lesser Hour of the Ox — and he could not remember feeling this tired at any time that hadn’t involved a campaign. The harae purification ceremony had not taken long; in fact it had taken more time for Hiroki to have the priest awakened than it took the priest to perform the pouring of the water and waving of the hiraigushi. But it had taken a horrible hour of walking in the icy rain and sleet to find an occupied shrine, and Hiroki had been shivering so hard by the time he had the priest’s attention that he had a hard time following the ritual.
28 March, 2020
Sowing Ghosts 4.5
Previous First
[Continuing chapter 4]
For some time after she had gone Hiroki stared, thinking, at the doorway through which she had vanished. Have I changed so much? She has hardly changed at all, he thought. Could it be that she had simply willed herself to forgetting she had ever had a son? Despite his best efforts this was not something he had ever accomplished where his own son was concerned.
He shook his head, as if the violence of the motion would drive all thought of the boy from his mind, and allowed himself a tiny smile. There was some relief, at least, in the thought she truly had not recognized him. The alternative would have been extremely uncomfortable — and it would have made his tasks in the capital next to impossible to accomplish.
[Continuing chapter 4]
For some time after she had gone Hiroki stared, thinking, at the doorway through which she had vanished. Have I changed so much? She has hardly changed at all, he thought. Could it be that she had simply willed herself to forgetting she had ever had a son? Despite his best efforts this was not something he had ever accomplished where his own son was concerned.
He shook his head, as if the violence of the motion would drive all thought of the boy from his mind, and allowed himself a tiny smile. There was some relief, at least, in the thought she truly had not recognized him. The alternative would have been extremely uncomfortable — and it would have made his tasks in the capital next to impossible to accomplish.
27 March, 2020
Sowing Ghosts 4.4
Previous First
[Continuing chapter 4]
Mother stared at him for a moment that seemed to promise no end, and Hiroki was unable to speak, so astonished was he at her presence. The fingers of his right hand clenched and opened, clenched and opened again, and when he realized that what they wanted was to be wrapped around the hilt of his dagger he was horrified.
Then the gate of memory gave way and he saw the face of his dying wife, and then the face of the son his mother had taken away from him, thoughts he had forbidden himself to have throughout the years of his wandering. The impulse to strike her down, to obliterate this woman the way she had obliterated his former life — his former self — was so strong that he found himself offering a prayer of thanks to the gods for the rule that forbade warriors to wear their swords inside a lord’s house.
[Continuing chapter 4]
Mother stared at him for a moment that seemed to promise no end, and Hiroki was unable to speak, so astonished was he at her presence. The fingers of his right hand clenched and opened, clenched and opened again, and when he realized that what they wanted was to be wrapped around the hilt of his dagger he was horrified.
Then the gate of memory gave way and he saw the face of his dying wife, and then the face of the son his mother had taken away from him, thoughts he had forbidden himself to have throughout the years of his wandering. The impulse to strike her down, to obliterate this woman the way she had obliterated his former life — his former self — was so strong that he found himself offering a prayer of thanks to the gods for the rule that forbade warriors to wear their swords inside a lord’s house.
26 March, 2020
Sowing Ghosts 4.3
Previous First
[Continuing chapter 4]
“A commendable beginning, I think,” Lord Naitō said as the three men walked away from the arms master’s audience chamber. “I believe, though, that there is a step you must take before you examine the grounds or interview the secretary.”
“What is that, lord?”
Lord Naitō gestured to a passing servant; when the latter approached he muttered something in the woman’s ear and she hurried away. Hiroki was about to repeat his question when an older woman shuffled up to them, head bowed down but with every aspect of her person radiating the sickness of fear. “This person,” Lord Naitō said, “will take you to the room in which the crime was committed. You will begin your investigation by examining the body.”
Hiroki could not suppress his surprise. “The body? It is still there?”
[Continuing chapter 4]
“A commendable beginning, I think,” Lord Naitō said as the three men walked away from the arms master’s audience chamber. “I believe, though, that there is a step you must take before you examine the grounds or interview the secretary.”
“What is that, lord?”
Lord Naitō gestured to a passing servant; when the latter approached he muttered something in the woman’s ear and she hurried away. Hiroki was about to repeat his question when an older woman shuffled up to them, head bowed down but with every aspect of her person radiating the sickness of fear. “This person,” Lord Naitō said, “will take you to the room in which the crime was committed. You will begin your investigation by examining the body.”
Hiroki could not suppress his surprise. “The body? It is still there?”
25 March, 2020
Sowing Ghosts 4.2
Previous First
[Continuing chapter 4]
Arms Master Lord Miyoshi looked ill: his jaw slack so as to draw down his face and shrink his cheeks, his eyes dull and their lids purple-grey. Hiroki saw no redness; the lord had not been crying, he guessed. Was it anger as much as shock, then, that made him appear this way?
“My lord,” said Lord Naitō as he, Lord Matsukata and Hiroki knelt before him, “we have summoned Hiroki as you requested. He is prepared to do as you wish.”
“You have my thanks,” the arms master said, in a voice barely audible. “Please tell me what else you need from me.”
[Continuing chapter 4]
Arms Master Lord Miyoshi looked ill: his jaw slack so as to draw down his face and shrink his cheeks, his eyes dull and their lids purple-grey. Hiroki saw no redness; the lord had not been crying, he guessed. Was it anger as much as shock, then, that made him appear this way?
“My lord,” said Lord Naitō as he, Lord Matsukata and Hiroki knelt before him, “we have summoned Hiroki as you requested. He is prepared to do as you wish.”
“You have my thanks,” the arms master said, in a voice barely audible. “Please tell me what else you need from me.”
24 March, 2020
Sowing Ghosts 4.1
Previous First
Hiroki sat down abruptly. “Murdered?” The base of his spine hurt and he shifted, trying to ease this new pain. “When?”
“That is not known for certain,” Lord Naitō said. “The body was discovered nearly two hours ago, during the greater hour of the monkey.”
“It is most disturbing,” Lord Matsukata said.
“But how?” Hiroki asked. “How could an enemy get into this mansion? Through all the guards we’ve seen?”
“Lord Miyoshi has accused his secretary of the crime,” Lord Naitō said. “Kanegawa is under guard in a storage building.”
CHAPTER FOUR
CONTAMINATION
Hiroki sat down abruptly. “Murdered?” The base of his spine hurt and he shifted, trying to ease this new pain. “When?”
“That is not known for certain,” Lord Naitō said. “The body was discovered nearly two hours ago, during the greater hour of the monkey.”
“It is most disturbing,” Lord Matsukata said.
“But how?” Hiroki asked. “How could an enemy get into this mansion? Through all the guards we’ve seen?”
“Lord Miyoshi has accused his secretary of the crime,” Lord Naitō said. “Kanegawa is under guard in a storage building.”
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