Free The Incense Game by Laura Joh Rowland Page A

lord!
    “I’ll have more to show soon,” Sano said. It would be a civil war if he didn’t catch whoever had killed Lord Hosokawa’s daughters. That would give the shogun something to complain about.
    “In the meantime, you have me,” Ienobu told the shogun.
    The shogun turned his pique on Ienobu. “You can’t do the things that need to be done! You just, ahh, hang around and live off me! That’s why I need Sano- san .”
    Ienobu sat up straighter than Sano had thought his hunched back would allow. Offense and humiliation showed on his ugly features. He turned to Sano, who felt a sudden change in the atmosphere between Ienobu and himself. They weren’t just cautiously watching each other anymore. Ienobu now resented how much the shogun depended on Sano, and his caution toward Sano had changed to active dislike.
    “Your nephew performs a valuable service by providing counsel to you, Your Excellency,” Sano said in an attempt to help Ienobu regain face. The last thing he needed was another enemy.
    Ienobu tightened his lips until they almost covered his teeth.
    “Well, ahh, you had better think about improving your service to me,” the shogun told Sano. “I want some real progress in the city, and I want it tomorrow!”
    Sano’s fortitude strained toward the breaking point. Mutinous ideas came unbidden to his mind. Maybe the shogun deserved to be overthrown. It would be a fitting punishment for his selfishness and stupidity. What if Sano deliberately failed to satisfy Lord Hosokawa’s demands and let matters run their course? He could then join the rebels. They would surely welcome him, his troops, and the allies he could bring to their side. The shogun would never threaten him, abuse him, or make impossible demands on him ever again. These ideas tempted and horrified Sano. He was infected with the same madness as Lord Hosokawa; the earthquake had eroded his own sanity. The honor he’d served all his life was a dam cracking under the strain.
    The dam held, shored up by forty-six years of following the Way of the Warrior. “Yes, Your Excellency.” Sano promised, “I’ll do better.” Leaving the room, he glanced at Ienobu.
    Ienobu gazed back as if he’d sensed Sano’s thoughts and wondered how best to use them to his own advantage.
    *   *   *
    NOISES IN THE corridor awakened Reiko from a sound sleep. She stretched under the quilts, drowsy and relaxed. Akiko was gone. The room was dim, the lamps in the corridor lit. It was evening; she’d slept the whole afternoon. She heard Sano’s voice.
    Then she remembered.
    Fully awake now, Reiko clambered out of bed and quickly dressed. She must tell Sano about the baby. But when he came into the room, Hirata and Masahiro were with him. She decided to wait until she and Sano were alone. She wasn’t yet ready to spread the news outside their family, and she and Sano would want to tell Masahiro privately together, as they’d done when she became pregnant with Akiko.
    “You’re home early,” she said to Sano. This was the first time since the earthquake that he’d come home before midnight. He looked even more careworn than usual. “Did something bad happen today?”
    Sano exchanged glances with Hirata. “That would be an understatement.”
    “What is it?” Masahiro said, full of eager curiosity.
    “We’d better sit down,” Sano said. The family took places around the kosatsu —a table built over a sunken charcoal brazier. Their feet and legs were warm in the space around the fire. A quilt covered the table and their laps. The clutter of their belongings surrounded them. A maid served them tea and departed. “Before I tell you, you must swear to keep it secret.”
    Apprehension crept through Reiko. “I swear,” she and Masahiro said in unison.
    “Hirata- san , will you make sure nobody eavesdrops?” Sano asked.
    There were spies everywhere, Reiko knew; even in their own household. Hirata went to stand outside the door. Sano told Reiko and