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.”
Was he playing on her sympathy, trying to get her to spare his life? Or did he truly want her to put him out of his misery? In spite of herself, Reiko pitied Yanagisawa. He had lost his child. His grief was genuine. It transformed him from a villain into a man who deserved compassion. Reiko hesitated.
Yanagisawa’s eyes entreated her. The noise from the crowd rose louder. A horde of troops faced down Kajikawa. The shogun, safe with his guards, pointed at Kajikawa and yelled orders. Kajikawa wailed as he realized that he had nothing left with which to bargain for his escape. As the troops charged at him, he turned and ran for the palace, toward Reiko.
Here came the man responsible for the attack on her father.
With an effort that wrenched her whole spirit, Reiko tore herself away from Yanagisawa. She stood in front of the stairs that led to the door. She watched Kajikawa running toward her, out of breath, his heavy head bobbing, legs pumping, sleeves flapping, his eyes wild with panic. He’d looked bigger when she’d seen him holding the shogun hostage inside a room full of people tied up on the floor. Now, as he desperately fled his pursuers, Reiko noted his smallness, his insignificance. He was nothing but a puny coward!
As he neared Reiko, he waved his sword at her. “Get out of my way!”
But smallness didn’t negate the crime he’d committed. That his evils paled in comparison to Yanagisawa’s didn’t excuse Kajikawa. Reiko felt centuries of samurai heritage rise up like a flaming tidal wave in her blood.
Kajikawa was almost upon her. The troops stampeding after him blurred into the background. The roars from the crowd faded. The world contained only herself and Kajikawa. She didn’t need to think before she acted. A lifetime of martial arts training had prepared her for this moment. Instinct took command of her body.
Reiko flicked out her dagger.
39
Sano took charge after the debacle. Everyone else was too shocked. Although he himself was still reeling from the day’s events, he ordered the army to disperse the crowd and court physicians to attend to the shogun. He sent servants to clean up the shogun’s chamber and arranged for the dead to be removed. Everyone obeyed Sano for want of any other authority. Officials returned to their duties, troops to their posts. A sad parade moved out the gate-porters carrying three litters bearing the corpses of Kajikawa, Ihara, and Yoritomo. Yanagisawa accompanied his son. Tears streaming down his face, he stumbled like a blind man. Sano walked home with Reiko, Masahiro, Hirata, and Detectives Marume and Fukida, through the strangely deserted, quiet castle.
A pale sun and patches of blue showed through the clouds in the sky. Sheets of ice slid from roofs. Water dripped from trees and eaves and cascaded down the walled passages along which Sano and his companions trudged. The crystalline world was thawing into puddles, slush, and mud.
“That was some show,” Marume said.
“People will be talking about it for a hundred years,” Fukida said.
Sano heard a hollow note beneath their humor. They were as shaken as he was. Reiko asked the question that was on everyone’s mind: “What’s going to happen to me?”
Her face was drawn, frightened. Masahiro held her hand. All present understood the gravity of the situation: She’d drawn a weapon inside Edo Castle, killed a man, and threatened the chamberlain. That would surely have repercussions.
As would Yoritomo’s death.
Marume and Fukida looked at the wet pavement instead of answering Reiko’s question. Hirata brooded in some private, dark study of his own. Sano said, “I doubt you’ll be punished. Nobody will take against you on Kajikawa’s behalf. And I’ll protect you.”
Reiko forced a smile, pretending she was reassured. “At least the mystery of the vendetta is solved. The supreme court can decide the fate of the forty-seven
40
1703 March
More than two months after the forty-seven
The bruises on his face had faded, although the wound on his head had left an ugly scar. His voice was strong
