I. Parker - The Crane Pavillion

Now Toshikage greeted him with a cry of joy and a long embrace. “My dear Akitada,” he kept repeating while squeezing him quite hard. “My very dear Akitada. It gives me such pleasure to see you.” He released Akitada long enough to study his face anxiously. “How are you, brother? Holding up all right? Must be strong for the children, you know. She would have wished it.”

Akitada smiled a little bleakly as he freed himself. “I know,” he said. “I try. But enough sad talk. I’m parched from a ride into the mountains. Any chance of some of your good wine?”

Toshikage bustled off to fetch two cups and a flask of wine, carried these to his veranda and placed two pillows. Akitada sat down gratefully. He had become stiff in all the weeks he had kept to his room without any exercise. Now he was tired, and his back and weak leg pained him.

“So you had a pleasant ride?” Toshikage asked, smiling at him. “Good, good. Can’t sit still all day. Bad for the constitution. You’ll soon be your old self again, you’ll see.”

Akitada smiled back and nodded. He would never be his old self again, he knew, but Toshikage was such a naturally cheerful fellow that talk of death and loss made him quite miserable.

“I went to speak to an old acquaintance of mine, Abbot Genshin.”

“Oh, him! He’s got quite a reputation I hear. I didn’t know he was a friend of yours.”

“Not a friend.” Akitada grimaced at the memory of that very unpleasant meeting. “Or at least not any longer. I knew him as a student when he was Takashina Tasuku.”

“I see. He no longer pleases you? He’s supposed to be a very learned and holy man.”

“Learned perhaps. Tasuku was always a very good student. Holy, I doubt. He still flatters the powerful and seeks their company.”

Toshikage chuckled. “Akiko would remind you that you should learn from him.”

Akitada managed another smile. “Yes. I actually came to speak to her also. She knows a little about a case I’m interested in.”

Toshikage clapped his hands. “Oh, good! You’re working again. That’s great news. I don’t mind telling you, we were very worried about you. Yes, very worried. Akiko couldn’t sleep at night for thinking about you and the children.”

This surprised Akitada, but his sister had surprised him once or twice before. He promised himself to be more patient with her irritating habits in the future. He said, “I’m sorry to hear it. It’s been very difficult, and still is. She may have told you that I lost my position in the ministry and, unless the grand minister relents, I am without income for the foreseeable future. It seems I shouldn’t have left my post in Kyushu to come home.”

Toshikage’s face fell. “She did say something, but surely, brother, such a thing will not be allowed to happen. No, I think you both take a much too negative view of things.” His face brightened. “Come, take another cup of wine and cheer up.”

Toshikage was notorious for not worrying about imminent disasters. But he might be right in this case. There was no point in assuming the worst would come to pass. Akitada drank another cup of wine and felt grateful for Toshikage’s cheerful outlook.

They were interrupted at this point by Akiko, who sailed in, her face flushed and her silk robes fluttering behind her. When she saw her brother, she stopped. “Akitada!” she cried. “Why didn’t someone tell me? Is anything wrong? Did you get news from court?”

Her worries about his career and livelihood were foremost in her mind, and for Akitada this cancelled out the more positive mood her husband’s optimism had produced.

He shook his head. “No, Akiko. At least … I haven’t been home yet. I just returned from a visit to the Daiun-ji temple.”

“Oh?”

Toshikage smiled at his wife. “On your way to see the empress? My dear, your costume is exquisite! And so are you!” He turned to Akitada, “Isn’t she breathtaking? No woman can carry off those colors with such grace and elegance.”

Akiko brightened and paraded her finery. “It did turn out well,” she said smugly.

Akitada knew little about courtly color schemes. But he saw she wore traditional fall colors ranging from darkest green to glowing reds. Toshikage was right. The colors suited her much better than the gentler tones Tamako had favored. Akiko was forceful and spirited to a degree that was surely unsuitable in a woman of her rank, but possibly this very flaw made her a favorite among ladies of the highest rank. Akitada got a sudden inkling that women might wish to be more like her. In any case, she was blessed in having found a husband who so doted on her that she could do no wrong in his eyes.

He looked at both with affectionate tolerance. They were his family, he thought, and felt grateful.

Having shown off her costume, Akiko sat down and returned to her other current interest. “So you went to talk to the much-revered abbot, Akitada? And what did he have to say?”

Akitada made a face. “Very little, as it turned out. It wasn’t a pleasant visit. I don’t like the man.”

Akiko frowned. “Honestly, Akitada, I sometimes despair of you. I expect you let him know that.”

“Perhaps.”

“No wonder he would not give you any information. Why should he? And have you forgotten how much influence he has with the emperor and the Fujiwaras? He could have helped you.”

Akitada was disgusted at the thought of being obligated to Genshin for any favors and said so.

Akiko heaved an impatient sigh. “Well, did you find out anything at all, or was it a wasted trip? And possibly a big mistake.”

Akitada snapped, “I will not, at my age, beg for favors from men like him. I ought not to have to beg in any case. It’s undignified.”

To his surprise, Akiko smiled. “Then you should act like it. Demand the recognition you deserve.”

“Yes, brother,” cried Toshikage. “Akiko has it right. Why should you kneel and bow and beg. They owe you. Listen to your sister. She’s brilliant, as always.”

Akiko gave her husband an impatient glance. “Akitada doesn’t listen to my advice. Never mind. Now tell me already what Genshin said.”

“He claims Lady Ogata was stranger to him, that someone told him of her homeless plight-she was living in a shack beside the Kamo River, he says-and that he offered her a home and a small amount of money from the temple.”

Akiko gasped. “She lived in a shack?”

“It may be a lie.”

“Oh, I don’t know. If she’s Masakane’s widow, it’s likely enough. I’m on my way to find out.”

“Wait. Masakane is dead?”

“Yes. They say he died in exile. Apparently it was an accident.”

This could explain why Genshin had believed Lady Ogata’s suicide. Akitada said, “But we cannot be certain it is the same woman, can we?”

Akiko got up as gracefully as she had sat down. “That is precisely why I’m on my way to pay a courtesy visit to Her Majesty.” She gave Akitada a triumphant smile.

“How did you wrangle that?”

Akiko gathered her train and headed for the door. “Oh, I have my ways,” she threw back over her shoulder and left.

Toshikage’s eyes were on the door as it closed behind his wife. “Isn’t she magnificent?” he breathed.

Akitada chuckled, then sobered quickly. Toshikage’s doting on his wife reminded him of his own loss. “Well,” he said. “I’d better be on my way also. I’ll look in on Kobe tomorrow to tell him what we’ve learned so far.”

*

Kobe greeted him eagerly and dismissed his staff. When they were alone, he asked with a searching look, “My dear Akitada, how are you? I’ve been expecting you.”

Akitada seated himself and brushed a hand over his face. “Since you ask, I don’t know how I am. I’ve put grieving aside to take care of urgent business and look some more into the death of Lady Ogata.” He was suddenly struck by something. “You’ve been expecting me? Why?”