Laura Rowland: The Ronin’s Mistress

All the evil in Yoritomo had been laid to rest, but so had all the good.

Yoritomo and Yanagisawa formed a tableau as poignant as it was terrible. Yoritomo’s blood colored the ice around them a bright red, strangely beautiful. Grief reduced Yanagisawa from a ruthless politician to a tragic figure, a father mourning his dead son. Ashamed to witness his enemy’s naked emotion, Sano turned his attention to Kajikawa.

Kajikawa lowered his bloody sword. He looked as if he couldn’t believe what he’d done. He didn’t seem to notice that he’d let go of the shogun, who lay at his feet. Sano himself, and Reiko and Masahiro, were too stunned to move.

The shogun crawled away from Kajikawa, toward the crowd. Now Kajikawa realized his hostage was escaping. “Come back here!” he shouted.

Racing after the shogun, he bent and caught the hem of the shogun’s robe. The shogun strained like a dog on a leash. The silk fabric slipped from Kajikawa’s hand. The shogun scuttled frantically. Sano rushed to help him. Kajikawa hacked at the shogun with his sword. Yells blasted from the crowd. Kajikawa lost his balance, slipped on the melting ice, and missed.

“That’s enough!” Sano said as troops hurried to his aid. “Drop that sword!”

“Stay away! Leave me alone!” Kajikawa whipped the sword at Sano.

Sano dodged. He reached for his sword, but his hand closed on empty air. He and Kajikawa wheeled around the shogun, who screamed while Kajikawa slashed at Sano. Sano ducked and feinted. He tried to lead Kajikawa away from the shogun, but troops surrounded them. As Sano made a grab for Kajikawa’s wrist, the shogun caught hold of Sano’s trousers. Sano stumbled and went down.

Kajikawa shrieked and chopped wildly at Sano. His blade whistled close to the shogun. Sano rolled to avoid the slashes, lunged in an attempt to shield the shogun from them with his own body. Some of the troops attacked Kajikawa while others grabbed for the shogun. Kajikawa whirled and struck at them. Scrambling to his feet, Sano saw Yanagisawa raise his head. Yanagisawa gazed over his dead son, straight at Sano. His eyes streamed. The rage and hatred in them was so intense that Sano felt as if he’d been charred by flames. Yanagisawa eased Yoritomo’s body onto the ground and rose. He ran to one of the soldiers who were holding back the mob. He shouted a command. The soldier gave his sword to Yanagisawa.

The troops lashed their swords at Kajikawa. He parried, evading injury by sheer dumb luck, treading on the shogun. Sano was about to rejoin the fight, when he heard Reiko cry, “Look out!”

Sano saw Yanagisawa charging toward him, yelling words garbled by sobs. Yanagisawa’s face was ugly with rage. He gripped the borrowed sword in both hands over his head. Sano was facing the showdown with Yanagisawa that had been fourteen years in the making, and he was unarmed.

Even as Sano looked around for a weapon he could use, Yanagisawa barreled past him, shouting, “My son is dead. I’m going to kill yours!” He ran at Masahiro.

Through his horror, Sano saw alarm on his wife’s and son’s faces. A moment flashed by, during which the plight of the forty-seven ronin became drastically personal for Sano. Duty required that he go to the shogun, defend his master. Fatherhood demanded that he protect his son. Could he choose the person who mattered most to him over the lord to whom he owed his highest loyalty?

Sano recognized his dilemma, but he didn’t have time to think about what to do. Hirata broke free of the crowd, ran at Kajikawa, and roared. Mystical power radiated from him like a halo of shimmering heat. Kajikawa saw him, froze, then backed away from the shogun. The shogun crawled toward the soldiers and threw himself into their arms.

The moment passed. The shogun was safe. Sano raced to rescue his son.

* * *

Shrieking curses, Yanagisawa sliced at Masahiro. Masahiro parried with his dagger, but although he was a good fighter for his age, he was no match for a crazed, murderous adult. The force of Yanagisawa’s blows drove him backward. His short blade put him at a further disadvantage.

Reiko screamed and threw herself between Masahiro and Yanagisawa. She didn’t care about her own safety. Her son’s was all that mattered. Masahiro pushed her away, to protect her. Reiko fell. Her left elbow hit the ice so hard that pain shot up the bone to her neck and skull. Her vision shuddered.

Yanagisawa delivered a blow that sent Masahiro’s dagger flying and knocked Masahiro to the ground. His teeth were clenched, his lips pulled back in an unholy grin. He was covered with Yoritomo’s blood. Masahiro rolled from side to side as Yanagisawa hacked at him repeatedly.

“Stop him!” Reiko called to Sano.

Sano came running with all his might. He assaulted Yanagisawa from behind. He seized the wrist of Yanagisawa’s sword hand while he grabbed Yanagisawa’s left arm and bent it backward. Yanagisawa cursed as he struggled. Sano twisted his wrist. Yanagisawa shrieked in pain, but he held on to the weapon. Sano fought to subdue Yanagisawa. Kajikawa fended off troops. More troops held back the crowd that surged chaotically.

Reiko hurried to Masahiro. “Are you all right?”

Masahiro was already on his feet. “Yes, Mother. What about you?”

Reiko’s arm ached as if something was broken, but she had to help Sano. He was struggling with Yanagisawa, who jerked, contorted, and tried to kick Sano’s legs.

“I’m all right.” Reiko saw her dagger, the one that Yanagisawa had knocked out of Masahiro’s hand, lying near the palace. She rushed to it, snatched it up, and pointed it at Yanagisawa’s middle. “Drop the sword, or I’ll stab you!”

Yanagisawa froze, his eyes widening. His stomach contracted as the tip of the dagger touched it. His fingers uncurled. The sword clattered onto the ground.

Reiko stared at him, fascinated. This was the closest she’d ever been to Yanagisawa. Although she knew him from everything that Sano had told her about him, they’d never met, never exchanged a word. She was shocked because he was just a man. He breathed. His eyes were red from weeping over his son. The skin on his face had blemishes and lines. She could smell his sweat. This demon, her husband’s worst enemy, who had menaced her family for years and had just tried to kill her son, was as mortal as herself.

“I’m going to kill you,” she said in a voice so jagged with fury that she barely recognized it as her own. “I’m going to make you pay for everything you’ve done to us.”

Sano’s face, behind Yanagisawa’s, filled with dismay. “Don’t,” he said. “You’ve disarmed him. That’s enough.”

“No, it’s not!” Every muscle in Reiko tensed, ready to drive the dagger home.

“Kill him!” Masahiro jumped up and down with excitement.

Yanagisawa smiled, oddly satisfied. “Go ahead, Lady Reiko. You’ll never have another chance like this.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Sano pleaded.

“He’s a danger to us as long as he lives,” Reiko said, confused because Sano wanted to prevent her from doing what needed to be done. “I have to get rid of him once and for all.”

“Good for you, Lady Reiko.” Yanagisawa breathed hard, his smile fixed. “Your husband hasn’t the courage. You have.”

“He wants you to do it,” Sano warned. “Because you’ll be put to death as punishment. So will I. So will Masahiro.”

“That’s right, Lady Reiko,” Yanagisawa said, laughing although terror clutched his voice.

“You won’t be around to enjoy seeing us punished.” Reiko was furious at his mockery. “You’ll be dead.”

Fresh tears streamed down Yanagisawa’s face. His smile brimmed with pain. “I don’t care. Now that Yoritomo is dead, nothing matters. I’ll gladly die so we can be together.”