Sano heard breaths drawn by everyone in the room: The conversation had taken a dangerous turn. Lord Matsudaira said quickly, “He didn’t, Cousin. This is all a misunderstanding. He’s innocent. I’ll vouch for him.” His hard gaze told Sano that he’d better help gloss over the bad moment, or else.
But the suicides right before his very eyes had jolted the shogun out of his tendency to back down when Lord Matsudaira handled him. “I’m tired of your always, ahh, making excuses, always putting me off,” he snapped. “I demand a better explanation.”
And Sano was too furious at this latest attack on him by his enemies to collaborate with Lord Matsudaira in hoodwinking the shogun. Forsaking caution, he said, “Lord Arima acted on Lord Matsudaira’s behalf.”
“But why would Lord Matsudaira want the tutor killed and you incriminated?” the shogun said, confused and impatient.
Lord Matsudaira looked astonished by Sano’s nerve. “Watch your mouth, Chamberlain Sano,” he said in an ominous tone.
The troops stared at him and Sano. The atmosphere was noxious with their hunger for open, all-out conflict at last. Sano knew that things could go disastrously for him if he proceeded in this direction, but his anger goaded him on.
“Lord Matsudaira stands to benefit from everything bad that happens to me,” he said.
“That’s nonsense,” Lord Arima said evenly. “Your Excellency, I don’t know what the honorable chamberlain is talking about. If I were you, I wouldn’t listen.”
“Well, you’re not me.” The shogun stood up in a huff.
“Cousin, the honorable chamberlain is just upset and not thinking clearly,” Lord Matsudaira said with a venomous glare at Sano. “In fact, we’re all upset because of what his men just did. Let’s postpone this discussion until we’ve had a chance to calm down.”
“I’m calm enough!” the shogun said, shrill with hysteria. “Furthermore, I’m sick of everybody talking around me, arguing with one another, and acting as if they’re hiding things behind my back. I want to know what’s happening!”
“Nothing is,” Lord Matsudaira said. “This meeting is adjourned.” He beckoned his troops and began a hasty retreat. Lord Arima glided after them. “You’re coming, too, Chamberlain Sano.”
General Isogai and the army troops herded Sano toward the door, but the shogun cried, “Wait! I haven’t given you permission to go. I order you to stay!” He told his guards, “Block the exit!”
They obeyed. Sano saw panic in Lord Matsudaira’s eyes. He felt the same reckless excitement as when he’d embarked on what he’d thought to be a suicide mission in Ezogashima last winter.
“Nobody leaves until I get to the bottom of this.” Standing on the dais, hands on his hips, the shogun swelled with righteousness. He’d even lost his stammer, Sano was amazed to note. “Now someone tell me: What is going on?”
Lord Matsudaira’s and General Isogai’s eyes shot warnings at Sano: If he replied, he was dead. Nobody spoke.
“Have you all lost your tongues?” the shogun said. “Well, then, I’ll pick a volunteer.” He pointed at Lord Arima. “You seem to be in the middle of everything. You answer me.”
Unruffled as ever, Lord Arima looked to Lord Matsudaira for guidance. Lord Matsudaira mouthed, Not a word.
“Surround him,” the shogun ordered his guards. “Draw your swords.” Blades hissed out of sheaths. He said to Lord Arima, “Speak up or die!”
As Lord Arima stood in a circle of blades pointed at him, his calm manner didn’t change, but Sano felt his thoughts spin as smoothly as greased wheels and then click to a stop.
“Lord Matsudaira wants to seize power over the regime,” Lord Arima said. “He wants to destroy Chamberlain Sano and everyone else who stands in his way.” In case the shogun didn’t understand the implications for himself, Lord Arima added, “He wants to be dictator, Your Excellency. He’s been preparing for years to overthrow you.”
The secret was out.
The shogun beheld Lord Arima with openmouthed shock. Sano was suspended between disbelief, astonishment, and dread, the emotions he saw on the faces around him. Everyone was so still, and the room so quiet, that he could hear the wind gusting outside. Lord Matsudaira broke the silence.
“Lord Arima didn’t mean it,” he said. “He was just frightened into saying stupid things.” Sano had never seen anyone look less frightened than Lord Arima. “It’s not true. I’m not-”
“It is true.” Ghastly enlightenment hushed the shogun’s voice. He pressed a hand to his chest and swayed. “These past few years I thought I was imagining that you don’t like me, that you think you’re better than I, that you were envious. I told myself those were just my stupid fancies. But I was right. Now I understand. You’re trying to steal my place!”
Sano was as surprised that the shogun had suspected it all along as he was shocked that any man could have ignored his truest instincts. He felt as though he were witnessing a miracle. The shogun had awakened at last.
“Traitor!” the shogun howled. “My own kin, plotting against me! Scoundrel!”
“My apologies,” Lord Arima said to Lord Matsudaira with a rueful smile. “It was either you or me.”
“I’ll kill you!” Lord Matsudaira reached for his sword. His guards grabbed him, preventing him from committing the crime of drawing a weapon inside the castle. The shogun shouted at General Isogai, “Don’t just stand there-arrest my cousin for treason!”
General Isogai and the army troops moved in on Lord Matsudaira, who yelled, “You wouldn’t!” as he struggled with his own men. “You pledged your support to me!”
“Sorry,” General Isogai said with scant regret. “The game’s changed.”
The army troops seized Lord Matsudaira. They wrestled him and his men toward the door. Lord Arima slithered out ahead of them. Sano ordered three of his troops, “Go after him. Watch him and don’t let him leave town.” After what he’d done, Arima had a lot to answer for, and he surely had flight on his mind.
“Honorable Cousin, I’m sorry if you were offended by anything I’ve done,” Lord Matsudaira cried desperately. “But this is a mistake. I’m your own flesh and blood. Can we please discuss your concerns and work out a solution together?”
The shogun put up one hand to repel Lord Matsudaira’s words, the other to screen his eyes. “I can’t bear to look at you. General Isogai, put my cousin under house arrest until I decide what to do with him.”
While he fought and the army hustled him out of the room, Lord Matsudaira called, “It’s not me you should punish-it’s Chamberlain Sano. He’s the one who wants to seize control of the regime! He’s been raising an army and fighting me because I’m trying to stop him and protect you. He’s the traitor!”
The door shut. The sound of Lord Matsudaira’s ranting faded down the corridor outside.
Standing in the depopulated, silent room, Sano found himself the center of attention, splattered with mud from Lord Matsudaira’s parting shot. Hirata and his other men gazed at him in alarm. Yoritomo regarded Sano with a mixture of fright and sorrow. The shogun stared blankly, flabbergasted.
Sano opened his mouth to deny the accusation and defend himself, but too many shocks coming too fast suddenly paralyzed his mind. The diplomatic skills he’d gained during his more than ten years at court deserted him. He couldn’t find words.
A moment that felt like an eon passed while the shogun’s face expressed doubt, bewilderment, suspicion, and fear in alternating, rapid succession. At last he said, “I shall ignore what Lord Matsudaira said. He’s already proved himself to be deceitful and untrustworthy. You, on the other hand, have never shown any hint of ambition or designs against me. I don’t believe you would try to steal my place, Chamberlain Sano.”