The Little God’s Message
“Stop!” he shouted, and when this brought no results, “Stop that man!” Of course, people ignored this, scattering instead in panic. Where were the constables when you needed them? Akitada was hindered by his clothing which, while not the paralyzing court dress, was still not made for running after fugitives. He also had no weapon.
The man was getting away from him in spite of his limp.
Stubbornly, Akitada persisted. His prey vanished from sight once or twice, and eventually Akitada found himself lost, confused and out of breath behind the vendors’ tents. He retraced his way to his family, hoping he had not lost them, too.
Then he found the man again in the crowd and simultaneously saw Yukiko and the children, still waiting near the spot where he had left them. He debated his priorities for only an instant, then ran to them. He must make sure they were safe before he could hunt for the killer.
Arriving somewhat out of breath, he told Yukiko, “Come! We must leave. It isn’t safe for you or the children.” He saw a flash of understanding in her eyes, and took her arm. Turning to gather the children, he found himself once again making eye contact with the killer.
Akitada was certain now that this was the killer. It was also clear that the man knew he had been unmasked. His face was filled with a hate so intense that Akitada was shaken by it. “Come, children,” he said. “Hold hands. We must hurry.”
They obeyed for once, though Arimitsu protested, “But we haven’t seen everything, yet.”
Yukiko took her brother’s hand. “You have seen enough.”
They were headed back to their waiting carriage, but Akitada had reckoned without the killer. Instead of fleeing, Hatta rushed after them, flinging himself between Akitada and Yukiko to seize her by her hair, pulling her head back. He placed the point of a knife against her throat.
“If anyone lays hands on me, she dies,” he snarled at Akitada.
Akitada froze. All around him the scene exploded into chaos. The children shrieked, people cried out in fear and scattered, but for Akitada time stood still. He saw only the knife at his wife’s throat.
Finally and too late, two red-coated constables appeared, and Akitada knew the danger had just escalated. The madman’s mind would snap completely if he was attacked.
With every fiber of his body Akitada wanted to snatch Yukiko from him, but that knifepoint at her throat stopped him. The tip was placed where even a slight cut would prove deadly. He had seen a soldier die in a few moments when a sword had nicked him in that precise spot. His blood had gushed forth and it had been all over.
His voice trembling, he asked, “Are you Hatta Takashi?”
“So you know my name. No matter. She dies unless I leave a free man.”
Akitada caught sight of the constables closing in and shouted at them, “Stay back! Don’t touch him.”
Dear God, he thought, not Yukiko. Not Yukiko also, his just-found love, his poor, dear young wife. She was as pale as snow and her eyes were tightly closed, but tears escaped from under her lashes. A bead of blood formed where the blade pressed into her neck. If she dies, he thought, I shall also die.
“Don’t do this,” he begged in a shaking voice. “I promise to try to help you. What Taira Sukenori did to you and your family was abhorrent. I understand your wish for revenge, but my wife has done nothing to you.”
“You think I care about you courtiers and your spoiled wives? You’re all alike. You cheat everyone, and when you’re found out, you kill and make some other poor man pay for it. If you know who I am and what Taira Sukenori did to us, you know I could not forget or ever trust one of you again.”
Akitada’s eyes were on the drop of blood as it slowly coursed down Yukiko’s white throat. Her eyes were still closed, and he was still as helpless as before. All he could do was to keep talking. “I don’t know all the facts, but your father, I believe, witnessed a murder. The victim was the rice merchant Fumi Takahiro, and he was killed by Taira because he owed Fumi a great deal of money. I don’t know how Taira convinced your father to take responsibility for the murder.” Akitada prayed that he could distract Hatta by talking about the old crime, and that a single moment of inattention might give him a chance to disarm him. But even as he thought this, he despaired. Hatta would not hesitate to kill Yukiko if he saw himself attacked.
There was a slight movement in the crowd behind Hatta. His heart pounding, Akitada said quickly, “You had a sister. What happened to her?”
Hatta’s face darkened. The hand holding the knife trembled and Yukiko gave a small moan. Hatta said, “He killed her, too. He killed that merchant, he killed my father, he tried to kill me, and then he killed my sister. He’s the monster, not I.”
Tora had silently moved into position behind Hatta and drawn his knife.
Akitada swallowed down his nausea. In the space of a single breath, both Hatta and Yukiko might be dead. Seeing Yukiko in Hatta’s clutches with tears on her face, reminded him of the weeping maid being manhandled out of the Taira compound. This was yet another mystery, and somehow it, too, must link to Taira Sukenori. He said as gently as he could, “There’s a young girl in Okuni. She was born on the estate. She may be your sister’s child.”
For the first time, Hatta’s grip on the knife faltered. “My sister died. She died in childbirth. That monster made her a slave and gave her to his son. The son raped her and made her his mistress.” He bared his teeth. “That’s why I killed him.”
“The girl—she is your sister’s child, hers and Sukemichi’s.”
Hatta’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know this?”
“Sukemichi raised her like his own children, but because he loved her mother, his wife hated her and drove her out of the house after his death.”
“You saw—?”
He did not finish his question. Arimitsu suddenly shot forward, screaming, “You let my sister go!” and delivered a mighty kick to Hatta’s shin. Akitada and Tora moved simultaneously, Akitada to snatch Yukiko from Hatta’s grip and Tora to bring him down from behind.
Akitada did not care what happened next to Hatta. He held Yukiko, who clutched him, weeping softly.
“My dearest,” he murmured, “Forgive me, I would gladly give my right arm to have spared you that. Are you all right? Let me see your neck.”
He heard a small giggle. “In public, Akitada?”
He sighed his relief and held her a little closer. “I love you, my wife,” he said, “and I don’t care who knows it. I was terribly afraid.”
She sniffed, stepped away, and smiled at him. “Well,” she said, “I can see that my life with you will be a great deal more lively than it has been.”
Kosehira rushed up at this point. “Yukiko,” he cried, “Are you hurt?” The wound was inspected and found trivial. Having satisfied himself of her safety, he turned angrily on Akitada. “How could you let this happen? Are you mad? That animal might have killed her.”
That animal lay on the ground, his face in the dirt, and Tora’s knife at his neck.
Yukiko stepped closer to Akitada. “No, Father. This wasn’t Akitada’s fault. I’ll not have you speak this way to my husband.”
Kosehira was taken aback for a moment, then he laughed weakly. “I told you, brother. She has a mind of her own. Let’s go home.”
∞
It was in the tribunal jail that Akitada and Takechi interrogated Hatta later that evening.
After his violence at the fair, Hatta appeared to be at peace now. His face bore some scrapes and bruises, and he was chained, but he sat upright and answered their questions calmly and with considerable dignity.
He had already admitted being Hatta Takashi, son of Hatta Hiroshi, but Takechi painstakingly elicited more detail about the old case. As Akitada had guessed, tempted by Sukenori’s wealth, the betto had agreed to plead guilty to the murder of the rice merchant. The crime happened during a pheasant hunt, and Lord Sukenori had first claimed it was an accident, but when this was proved to be impossible, the betto had come forward and confessed.