I Parker - The Fires of the Gods

At this point, the witch walked into his study.

Customarily, women did not pay visits to strange men unless they were nuns or courtesans and entertainers belonging to the outcast class. The only other exceptions were miko, who were nominally shrine maidens, but more usually promiscuous females versed in exorcisms and fortune-telling. He assumed his visitor belonged to this group. Tora, who had let her in, gaped at her with an awed expression.

Akitada had last seen her at Lady Kiyowara’s, and then she had been sitting in a dim corner. Standing, she was astonishingly tall for a woman. The chains of beads and shells around her neck clicked softly as she lowered the red shawl from her head and draped it around her shoulders. Her hair was as wild and tangled as before, and the large brooding eyes in her handsome face fixed him as boldly. She neither knelt nor bowed, but stood before him as if she expected him to bow to her.

‘Umm,’ said Tora a little shakily. ‘This is the Lady Aoi, sir. She has something to ask you.’

‘Thank you, Tora. You may leave.’

The strange female looked after Tora with a slight frown and shook her head.

Lady Aoi? It was probably a professional name. Many courtesans chose fanciful names for themselves, and Lady Aoi was a famous character in Lady Murasaki’s novel Genji.

As the door closed behind Tora, she turned her eyes back to him and measured him coolly. Akitada said, ‘Please be seated – er, Lady Aoi. Did Lady Kiyowara send you?’

She knelt gracefully, then sat back on her heels. With a nod towards the door, she said in a rather deep but pleasant voice, ‘Your servant is as ignorant as you are.’

While he would admit to his own ignorance in the Kiyowara case, the criticism of Tora irritated Akitada. He said curtly, ‘I’m very busy. Could you get to the point?’

She eyed him for a moment. ‘Have you made arrangements for a miko ?’

Somehow she must have discovered that Tamako was about to give birth. His irritation grew. ‘I don’t believe in fortune-tellers.’

She responded with a mocking smile. ‘You see? That is why I am here. You don’t believe in anything. How can you find the truth when you don’t believe?’

Akitada snapped, ‘Do you have a message for me or not? Is this visit in any way related to Lord Kiyowara’s murder?’

The mocking smile was back. ‘Of course. You know nothing, and you suspect the innocent. I told Hiroko as much, but she is another unbeliever.’

The familiar use of Lady Kiyowara’s personal name made Akitada cautious. ‘Perhaps you should explain your relationship first. Who are you?’

‘Oh, I am a cousin. She has many. I help her look into the future.’ She fixed him with those extraordinary eyes and said with great seriousness, ‘There is only the future, and it is already ordained.’

‘If that were true, it would be pointless to try to change it. Why are you here?’

She frowned, then returned to the former subject. ‘Your wife suffers from a fever. Most likely she is possessed and will need an exorcism.’

Akitada compressed his lips. The fact that she also knew about Tamako’s fever did not surprise him. It was easy enough to get gossip from neighbors. ‘Thank you. No exorcism is required. She is quite well again,’ he said flatly. ‘Why do you say I suspect the innocent? Do you know who killed Kiyowara?’

She shook her head impatiently. The beads around her neck clinked softly. ‘Your house is filled with angry ghosts. They intend harm to mother and child.’ She paused to listen and shuddered. ‘The atmosphere here is almost more violent than at my cousin’s.’

Akitada suppressed his rage. If she was indeed Lady Kiyowara’s cousin, he could hardly throw her out. There had been some disturbing tales of high-born ladies who had gone mad and imagined they were shape-shifting foxes or hungry ghosts. Such sick fancies were part and parcel of the worst superstitions, and females were prone to them. One could understand the common people believing in such things, but he was not about to encourage them. If she was indeed mad, he must meet her crazed comments with calm.

‘My wife is a sensible woman,’ he explained, speaking slowly, as if to a child. ‘She has never offended anyone. She will be quite safe from ghosts.’

Lady Aoi nodded. ‘That may be so, but the same is not true of you, I think. You have offended many. There is a female spirit in this house who hates you with special venom. Hers is the most powerful presence here, but there are also many others, both male and female, whom you have harmed.’

He was taken aback. His stepmother had hated him. She had died in this very house, cursing him. It was also true that he had caused many evil men and women to be judged and condemned. But Lady Aoi’s words were vague enough to fit anyone’s situation. For that matter, the difficulties he had had with his stepmother might be known to her. He said firmly, ‘Unless you have information about the Kiyowara murder, I regret that we have nothing to discuss.’

Lady Aoi looked at Akitada with her large, glittering eyes. Then she pulled her shawl back over her hair and got to her feet. Akitada noticed that she had come barefoot, and that ropes of beads also decorated her ankles.

‘Foolish man,’ she murmured.

Akitada clapped his hands. Tora appeared so quickly that he had probably been listening at the door. ‘Sir?’

‘Lady Aoi is ready to leave. Please see her to the gate.’

Lady Aoi walked out, beads clicking and robes rustling, without a bow.

Tora gave Akitada a look and shuddered, then followed her, leaving his master to wonder when Tora would finally lose his fear of magic.

When Tora returned, he looked pale. ‘Sir, she speaks to the gods and knows what will happen. She told me to be prepared, that there is very great danger. And then she said it was probably too late already. Let’s call her back and ask her to perform a service.’

Akitada was irritated. ‘Nonsense, people cannot see the future. She is either mad or hopes to fool us into paying her in golden coin for her tricks of the trade. More likely she’s merely mad. I’m sorry she frightened you.’

Tora looked stubborn. ‘I just thought… if she’s a proper miko, she could do an exorcism for when your lady gives birth.’

‘Did you tell her that my wife is about to give birth?’

‘She asked.’

‘If she can see the future, she should have known,’ Akitada pointed out.

Tora held his ground. ‘It’s hard to know everything. I know nothing. You know a lot more. Isn’t it possible that some people know things you and I don’t?’

‘Certainly. In her case, I was hoping that she could tell me about the Kiyowara murder. She’s the wife’s cousin. But she had absolutely no idea.’ He saw that Tora wanted to argue the point and said, ‘Never mind. I’ve decided to postpone your trip into the country. I have a job for you.’

‘A job? What about getting Genba and Trouble?’

‘That can wait. I want you to find a young monk who’s gone missing. His name is Kansei. The abbot says he was seen with some hoodlums in the western quarter. Frankly, it seems farfetched for an acolyte. I would have thought he’d spend his time in the brothel quarter.’ He mentioned Abbot Shokan’s worries that his protege was getting in trouble with the law.

Tora smirked. ‘Lost his pretty boy, has he?’

‘Perhaps, and perhaps not. The abbot is an imperial prince. He may simply have taken a fatherly interest.’

Tora guffawed.

‘Look, it won’t be helpful if you approach this task with preconceived ideas. Boys get into trouble all the time. Whatever the situation, we need to find him.’

‘It won’t be easy. Those hooligans are everywhere. No more begging or sweeping the street for a bite of food. As for mischief, we know some of them are setting fires, even if the police don’t believe it.’ He thought a moment. ‘I wish I’d known sooner. That fellow Tojiro might know him.’