Free The Ninja's Daughter by Susan Spann Page B

anyway.” The merchant started toward his room. “Big day tomorrow. I have a shipment coming from Yokoseura.”
    â€œYokoseura?” Hiro remembered Ozuru’s warning. “You say it arrives tomorrow?”
    Luis turned back. “Why do you care?”
    â€œI don’t,” Hiro lied. “I was being polite.”
    â€œOh.” Luis scratched his stomach. “Well, since we’re being polite, I’ll answer. The shipment won’t arrive for a couple of days, but I need to make room in the warehouse, which means a very long day tomorrow, supervising lazy peasants who’d rather nap in the corner than do the job I’ve paid them for.
    â€œAnd now, I need my rest. Good night, Mateo.”
    Luis went into his room and closed the door.

CHAPTER 16
    â€œWhat’s going on?” Father Mateo looked suspicious. “You’re never ‘just polite’ to Luis.”
    â€œPerhaps my character is improving.” Hiro refilled the Jesuit’s tea and poured himself another cup as well. As before, he raised the cup to inhale the fragrant steam.
    Father Mateo didn’t care for extravagant food or special teas, but Luis kept the Jesuit’s pantry stocked with ichibancha —the most-expensive, first-picked leaves. Hiro’s sensitive nose and tea-loving palate considered this a rare redeeming point in the merchant’s favor.
    â€œRight,” the Jesuit said, “and I’m a Buddhist. What’s the truth?”
    Hiro closed his eyes and drew another lingering breath. He sipped the tea and felt the liquid roll across his tongue.
    â€œHiro,” Father Mateo said expectantly.
    Hiro sighed. A cultured man should not disrupt a special cup of tea with sour talk. He opened his eyes and lowered his cup.
    â€œAfter I spoke with Jiro, I ran into a man from Koga.” He spoke softly to ensure his voice wouldn’t carry through the walls or across the rafters.
    â€œA man . . . like you?” Father Mateo avoided the word “shinobi,” even at home, because Luis and Ana didn’t know the truth.
    â€œHe warned us to leave the city at once.” Hiro considered how much of Ozuru’s message to reveal. “Kyoto is no longer safe for you—or for Luis.”
    â€œI hope that God will prevent a war,” Father Mateo said. “I pray for it every night and every morning.”
    â€œYour god may have the power to prevent a war in Portugal,” Hiro said, “but the kami like a good war now and then.”
    â€œThere is only one God, and he can prevent a war in Japan, if he chooses.”
    â€œAnd if he doesn’t?” Hiro asked.
    â€œThen I will trust him anyway.”
    Hiro shifted the conversation back to its original topic. “The man from Koga warned me that Hisahide has sent for a Portuguese merchant, a replacement for Luis.”
    â€œReplacement?” Father Mateo echoed. “Luis hasn’t mentioned wanting to leave Kyoto. No more than usual, anyway, and he never truly means it.”
    â€œHisahide does not forgive disloyalty,” Hiro said.
    â€œDo you mean Luis’s sale of Portuguese firearms to the warlord—the Miyoshi daimyo?” Father Mateo asked. “That happened months ago—and he didn’t follow through.”
    â€œFish will spoil with age; revenge does not,” Hiro said. “Hisahide will kill Luis, and perhaps you also, as soon as the other merchant reaches Kyoto.”
    â€œHe has no authority to kill us,” Father Mateo said. “Luis and I have an imperial pass. We are immune to punishment, unless we break the law.”
    â€œYou speak of authority,” Hiro said. “I speak of regrettable accidents. Mistaken identities. Bad translations. A samurai making a most unfortunate error. Apologies would be made, of course, and reparations paid to your king. But you and Luis Álvares will be dead.”
    â€œYou’re