Laura Rowland: The Incense Game

Lady Ogyu spoke in her regular, adult voice, but her face still belonged to the terrified girl she’d been. “When the wedding was over, and my husband and I were alone, I was so afraid that I hid my face and cried. My husband asked what was wrong. I didn’t have the words to tell him, so I–I opened my robe.”

Sano imagined the scene, the darkened bedchamber, the tearful bride revealing her swollen belly. He could see the shock on Minister Ogyu’s face.

“I thought he would be angry at me for tricking him. But he wasn’t,” Lady Ogyu said. “He looked as if he were glad. He sat down beside me, and said, ‘I’m sorry. Who did this to you?’ He was so kind that I told him everything. And he said, ‘It’s all right.’” Gratitude filled Lady Ogyu’s voice. “He promised to take care of me. He said no one would ever know that I was pregnant before we married.

“Then he frowned, but not because he was angry; he seemed to be thinking hard. He said, ‘You never have to be afraid of me.’ And he started to undress.” Lady Ogyu sucked her breath in. “I thought he was going to, to-” She cringed. “I shut my eyes. I waited for him to climb on top of me and push himself between my legs. But he just said, ‘Look at me.’ He sounded as afraid as I was. I opened my eyes. And…”

Lady Ogyu blinked with remembered shock. “On top, he had…” Her hands cupped the air in front of her bosom. “And between his legs… nothing.”

As her meaning sunk in, Sano’s jaw dropped. Minister Ogyu had breasts where he shouldn’t. He had no penis where he should have. That was why a woman who feared men need not fear him. That was his secret.

“Your husband is female?” If Sano hadn’t already been kneeling, his astonishment would have knocked him to his knees. He was all the more shocked to remember that when he’d seen Minister Ogyu wheeling a barrow at the academy, he’d thought Ogyu was a woman. His senses had noticed what his mind hadn’t.

Lady Ogyu nodded as if she thought her marriage with another woman were the most natural thing in the world. “He told me that when he was born, his parents were disappointed because he was a girl, so they decided to turn him into a boy.”

Sano thought Madam Usugumo must have been thrilled when her incense ritual uncovered such rich ground for blackmail. Had she spread the story that Minister Ogyu was a woman, it would have aroused so much curiosity that the government would have eventually forced Minister Ogyu to reveal his sex. Then would come his humiliation and the loss of all his rights and privileges that depended on his being male.

“He said we were lucky that fate had brought us together,” Lady Ogyu said. “I thought so, too.” Sano saw how relieved she’d been that she need never again endure sexual relations with a man. “Because he’s kept his promise. He’s taken care of me. And the children. When they were born, he called them blessings.” Sano could imagine how thankful Minister Ogyu had been, conveniently provided with an heir, assured that no one would ever question his virility. “He’s been so good to us.”

At the Confucian academy Sano had witnessed Minister Ogyu’s love for his wife. Now he saw Lady Ogyu’s eyes brim with love for her husband. Had their love, based at first on mutual need, later become physical? Maybe it had. Sex between women was as natural as sex between men.

“For a long time I thought we were safe. After his parents died, I was the only person who knew about him. Except for…” Terror reclaimed Lady Ogyu’s expression. For the first time she looked directly at Sano. “Please, you must stop my husband!”

“Why?” Sano said, confused by her sudden change of mood. “Where is he?”

“He’s gone to Mitake.”

Sano recognized the name of the village where Reiko had gone to visit Minister Ogyu’s old nursemaid. “For what?”

Lady Ogyu began to cry. “At first he thought that since she hasn’t told yet, she never will. But this morning he changed his mind. He said that as long as there’s someone who knows about him, we’ll always be in danger. So he went to find Kasane. I begged him not to go, but he said it was for the best.” Lady Ogyu whispered, “Kasane was his mother’s midwife.”

A chill crept through Sano as realization penetrated his throbbing head. The midwife knew Minister Ogyu’s true sex. Minister Ogyu meant to eliminate her. Kasane was like a pebble in his shoe, whose existence he could no longer tolerate. Sano’s investigation had driven him to murder.

“He hasn’t hurt anyone yet! But if he’s not stopped…” Lady Ogyu’s speech disintegrated into babble.

If Minister Ogyu wasn’t stopped, Kasane’s blood would be on his hands even if Madam Usugumo’s and Lord Hosokawa’s daughters’ blood wasn’t.

“Marume- san!” Sano called. “Get one of my troops up here to guard Lady Ogyu. Hurry! We have to go to Mitake at once.”

As he ran out from under the roof, Sano prayed that Reiko wouldn’t be there when Minister Ogyu arrived.

Specks of light pierced the darkness of the wicker trunk in which Reiko lay. Her muscles ached from being bent in the same position for so long. The ropes bit into her wrists and ankles. Her mouth hurt around the gag, which was soaked with saliva. She smelled the musty odor of the trunk, the salty-sweet metallic rawness of Kasane’s blood, and the sour pungency of her own urine. Her robes were wet and cold; she shivered. Afraid that her body, in the throes of its panic, would expel the child from her womb, Reiko tried to calm herself with meditation techniques learned during her martial arts lessons. But her heart refused to slow its frantic pounding. Her harsh, rapid breaths were loud in the enclosed space. She forced herself not to strain against her bonds or try to scream. She must save her voice and strength for the time when-if-a chance to escape arose.

She listened to the rapid gait of the horses ridden by Minister Ogyu and his men. The trunk rocked atop the horse on which they’d tied it. The motion thumped her cheek against the trunk’s coarsely woven bottom. Dogs barked. Rubble clattered under the horses’ hooves. A gong clanged. Oxcart wheels rattled in the distance. She was entering the city, but she heard no voices or footsteps. The population in the area must be so reduced that three men with a woman in a trunk could travel openly, unnoticed. The earthquake had granted free rein to evil.

The procession stopped. Reiko heard thuds as the men dismounted and their feet hit the ground. This was the end of the journey. She tried to call for help, but she couldn’t force her voice past the gag. Faint squeals were all she produced. The trunk jerked as the men untied the ropes that secured it on the horse. Reiko felt herself lifted down. She writhed while the men carried the trunk. It rocked, then slanted as they tramped up stairs. Reiko could tell from the quality of the sound that they had brought her inside a building. No one would see her and come to her aid. Hopelessness brought tears to her eyes.

A thud jarred her as the men set her down. Their footsteps were quiet on a padded surface. The light that pierced the wicker brightened. Hands fumbled with the trunk’s latch. The lid came up. Wedged inside the trunk, Reiko couldn’t move. She blinked in the sudden yellow glare of lanterns. Minister Ogyu loomed over her. He tore the gag out of her mouth.

Reiko screamed. She screamed until her voice rasped, her throat was sore, and she was gasping for breath.

“Scream all you want,” Minister Ogyu said. “There’s nobody to hear you except us.” He moved out of her view and said, “Take her out of there.”

Men lifted her and dumped her on a tatami floor. Curled within the tight coils of ropes, lying on her side, Reiko counted five pairs of armor-clad legs standing around her. Minister Ogyu must have had the other men waiting here. Reiko’s heart sank lower. Even if she could untie herself, even if she had her dagger, she could never fight her way past all these men.