“Thank you for coming so promptly,” Yanagisawa said.
His manner was formal and composed, yet his eyes had the intense but unfocused gaze of a man experiencing severe shock. Sano comprehended that something dire had happened.
“Has Priest Ryuko persuaded the shogun to condemn us?” This seemed to Sano the only possible reason for Yanagisawa’s summons.
Yanagisawa impatiently waved a hand, dispelling Sano’s notion that the chamberlain had invited him here so they could ally against Priest Ryuko and save themselves from demotion, exile, or death. “After you so abruptly left the meeting last night,” Yanagisawa said, “I managed to convince His Excellency that Priest Ryuko had been too hasty in judging us and we deserve another chance to rescue Lady Keisho-in.” He spoke as if this hardly mattered and the clash with Ryuko had lost all significance. He resumed pacing.
“Then why did you want to see me?” Sano asked.
With a visible effort Yanagisawa halted his restless movements, faced Sano, and said in low monotone, “The ransom letter from the kidnappers has arrived.”
“What?” Surprise jolted Sano’s heart, which began thundering a rhythm of anticipation and alarm as he stared at Yanagisawa. “When? How?”
The chamberlain reached inside his surcoat and brought out a large folded white paper. “A patrol guard found it an hour ago, plastered on the castle wall. He brought it to me because he’s one of my spies.”
“Have you shown the letter to His Excellency?” Sano said.
Yanagisawa expelled his breath in a long, quavering gust. “Not yet. No one else knows about the letter.”
That he’d withheld important information from the shogun baffled Sano less than did the fact that Yanagisawa wanted to share the news with him first. “But why-”
“Read it.” Yanagisawa thrust the letter into Sano’s hands.
Nonplussed, Sano unfolded the paper. It bore columns of large characters written with black ink, in bold, elegant calligraphy. The message read:
The woman thrashes wildly in dark water,
Her long hair and robes spread,
Like the petals of a flower cut and tossed upon the lake.
Her cries for help pierce the night,
But alas, to no avail,
Cold waves engulf her beauty,
Water bubbles into her lungs,
Seaweed entwines her limbs,
She surrenders fear and suffering,
As she sinks into death.
The pale wraith of her spirit departs its lifeless body,
She drifts in enchanted slumber, Down unfathomable depths,
Through watery channels,
Into a cave far beneath the Eastern Sea.
There she awakens in a glittering garden,
Of sea urchins, anemones, shells, and coral.
She floats past brilliant, swimming fish,
Toward a palace built from luminous mother-of-pearl,
Where the Dragon King rules his underwater realm.
The Dragon King uncoils within his palace,
His green scales and golden claws gleam,
His eyes flash like crimson jewels,
And flames breathe from his mouth.
His undulating serpent’s body encircles her,
While she recoils in terror.
But the Dragon King whispers, "Fear not, my lady.”
He heaps pearls, gems, and gold coins at her feet.
“You shall be my queen and dwell here in my palace,
For all eternity.”
Your Excellency the Shogun-
Here is what you must do if you want your honorable mother returned to you. Denounce Police Commissioner Hoshina as a murderer, then execute him and display his corpse at the foot of the Nihonbashi Bridge. Obey my orders, and I will release Lady Keisho-in and her friends. Disobey, and they will be killed.
Sano gave minimal attention to the poem, which made no sense to him. Amazed, he reread the kidnappers’ demands and shook his head. He looked up at Chamberlain Yanagisawa, who watched him with controlled stoicism.
“The target of the kidnapping isn’t the shogun, or you, or me,” Sano said. “It’s Hoshina-san!” They couldn’t have guessed; nothing had forewarned them. And the theories they’d devised in ignorance had misguided their investigation. “We’ve been hunting suspects in the wrong places!”
“Indeed.” Yanagisawa turned away from Sano and gazed out of the pavilion.
As morning encroached upon the garden, shadows lifted; the landscape and colors gained definition. Sano experienced dawning relief because he now understood the kidnappers’ motive and how to save Reiko. Then came the immediate, awful realization that the terms of the ransom put her in worse jeopardy than he’d imagined.
“What are you going to do?” As Sano spoke, apprehension struck a new chord.
The chamberlain moved his shoulders in a gesture that bespoke the quandary weighing upon them. However much he wanted to rescue Lady Keisho-in and win the battle for the shogun’s favor, should he allow the execution of his lover? Sano realized that Yanagisawa must care a great deal for Hoshina, or he would have already taken the letter to the shogun, and Hoshina would be on his way to his death. Still wondering why Yanagisawa had chosen to break the news about the ransom letter to him this way, Sano faced his own dilemma. He couldn’t condone a blood sacrifice in exchange for the women, but Hoshina was his enemy, and Reiko’s life was at stake.
Sano said, “When are you going to tell Hoshina-san?”
“Right now.” Yanagisawa called to his guards: “Fetch the police commissioner.”
Soon Hoshina ambled up the path, clad in a beige silk dressing gown that exposed his bare chest, calves, and feet. He yawned, his eyes heavy with sleep. When he saw Sano, he stopped outside the pavilion and blinked in drowsy surprise.
“What’s going on?” Hoshina asked, looking to Yanagisawa.
“We’ve received the kidnappers’ ransom demand.” Yanagisawa took the letter from Sano and proffered it to Hoshina.
“At last!” Hoshina appeared not to notice Yanagisawa’s cold manner; the news had captured all his attention. He vaulted up the steps into the pavilion and eagerly snatched the letter. Scanning the text, he frowned in bafflement at the poem. He read the ransom demand, and Sano watched his eyes widen in shock, his mouth slacken in disbelief.
“The kidnapper wants me dead!” Hoshina burst out. “That’s the reason for the crime!” He threw down the letter and turned to Yanagisawa in alarm. “But the shogun wouldn’t kill me to get Lady Keisho-in back, would he?”
Yanagisawa avoided his lover’s gaze. Sano knew that the shogun not only loved his mother much more than he cared about Hoshina, but would gladly slay any of his retainers for her sake. Now Sano saw the horrified realization sink into Hoshina.
“You won’t show His Excellency the letter, will you?” Hoshina said, clutching Yanagisawa’s arms. “You won’t let him kill me to save his mother, will you?”
The chamberlain’s hands came up to clasp Hoshina’s forearms in a gesture of restraint and affection. “I cannot intervene on your behalf.” Yanagisawa spoke with quiet regret as he looked directly at Hoshina. “Matters must take their course.”
“What?”
Hoshina recoiled from Yanagisawa as though the chamberlain had struck him a physical blow. Sano also experienced shock because he’d expected Yanagisawa to protect his lover.
“You’re going to sacrifice me to save Lady Keisho-in.” Hoshina shook his head, resisting belief. He uttered a laugh tinged with hysteria. “But-but there’s no need. You can talk the shogun into sparing me. We can find some other way to rescue Lady Keisho-in.”
His eyes beseeched Yanagisawa, but the chamberlain said in the same quiet tone, “What you ask is impossible.”
Sano watched angry comprehension darken Hoshina’s face. “You mean you won’t defend me because you don’t want to risk displeasing the shogun,” Hoshina said.