Shogun_ A Novel of Japan - James Clavell [450]
“What statement?”
“Sire, I believe there is no … no more treason here, and that there will be no more trea—”
“I don’t share your opinion.”
“Please excuse me, Sire, you know I will obey you. We will all obey you. We seek only the best for your—”
“The best is my decision. What I decide is best.”
Helplessly Sudara bowed his acquiescence and became silent. Toranaga did not look away from him. His gaze was remorseless. “You are no longer my heir.”
Sudara paled. Then Toranaga shattered the tension in the room: “I am liege lord here.”
He waited a moment, then, in utter silence, he got up and arrogantly marched out. The door closed behind him. A great sigh went through the room. Hands sought sword hilts impotently. But no one left his place.
“This … this morning I … I heard from our commander-in-chief,” Sudara began at last. “Lord Hiro-matsu will be here in a few days. I will … talk to him. Be silent, be patient, be loyal to our liege Lord. Let us go and pay our respects to General Serata Kiyoshio….”
Toranaga was climbing the stairs, a great loneliness upon him, his footsteps reverberating in the emptiness of the tower. Near the top he stopped and leaned momentarily against the wall, his breathing heavy. The ache was gripping his chest again and he tried to rub it away. “It’s just lack of exercise,” he muttered. “That’s all, just lack of exercise.”
He went on. He knew he was in great jeopardy. Treason and fear were contagious and both had to be cauterized without pity the moment they appeared. Even then you could never be sure they were eradicated. The struggle he was locked into was not a child’s game. The weak had to be food for the strong, the strong pawns for the very strong. If Sudara publicly claimed his mantle he was powerless to prevent it. Until Zataki answered, he had to wait.
Toranaga shut and bolted his door and walked to a window. Below, he could see his generals and counselors silently streaming away to their homes outside the donjon walls. Beyond the castle walls, the city lay in almost total darkness. Above, the moon was pallid and misted. It was a brooding, darkling night. And, it seemed to him, doom walked the heavens.
CHAPTER 50
Blackthorne was sitting alone in the morning sun in a corner of the garden outside his guest house daydreaming, his dictionary in his hand. It was a fine cloudless day—the first for many weeks—and the fifth day since he had last seen Toranaga. All that time he had been confined to the castle, unable to see Mariko or visit his ship or crew, or explore the city, or go hunting or riding. Once a day he went swimming in one of the moats with other samurai, and to pass the time he taught some to swim and some to dive. But this did not make the waiting easier.
“So sorry, Anjin-san, but it’s the same for everyone,” Mariko had said yesterday when he met her by chance in his section of the castle. “Even Lord Hiro-matsu’s been kept waiting. It’s two days since he arrived and he still hasn’t seen Lord Toranaga. No one has.”
“But this is important, Mariko-chan. I thought he understood every day’s vital. Isn’t there some way I can get a message to him?”
“Oh yes, Anjin-san. That’s simple. You just write. If you tell me what you want to say I’ll write it for you. Everyone has to write for an interview, those are his present orders. Please be patient, that’s all we can do.”
“Then please ask for an interview. I’d appreciate it ….”
“That’s no trouble, it’s my pleasure.”
“Where have you been? It’s four days since I saw you.”
“Please excuse me but I’ve had to do so many things. It’s—it’s a little difficult for me, so many preparations ….”
“What’s going on? This whole castle’s been like a hive about to swarm for almost a week now.”
“Oh, so sorry. Everything’s fine, Anjin-san.”
“Is it? So sorry, a general and a senior administrator commit seppuku in the donjon forecourt. That’s usual? Lord Toranaga locks himself away in the ivory tower, keeping people waiting without apparent reason—that’s also usual? What about Lord Hiro-matsu?”
“Lord Toranaga is our lord. Whatever he does is