The Initiate Brother Duology (120 page)

F
OG PERSISTED IN the morning so it was not until the sun was high that Lord Shonto was able to move his army south again. Even after the fog had cleared, the sky was covered with a high, thin mist that filtered a weakened sunlight down to the earth.

Several of Shonto’s advisors had voiced the concern that the Emperor might move his army north under cover of darkness and surprise Shonto’s force in the morning when the fog lifted, but this turned out to be a groundless fear. Patrols reported that the Emperor kept his army behind earthworks that had been dug into the side of hills on either side of the canal.

Shonto sat under an awning on the stern of his ship, giving no sign that he was only hours away from meeting his enemy. He pored over a scroll with great focus of attention; a secretary knelt in attendance and Kamu also waited at hand. Sitting only a few paces off, a servant played a quiet melody on the harp. Occasionally the lord would look up and give his attention to a passage of the tune and then, with a nod to the musician, return to his reading.

Finally Shonto rolled the scroll and set it aside. Reaching for a cup of cha, he sipped and found it cold and returned the cup to the table.

“It is an interesting position, don’t you think?” Shonto said to his steward. With some care he unrolled a map and placed four jade paperweights, carved in the shape of the shinta blossom, on the corners. He waved a hand at the map and Kamu moved closer to look on.

“The Emperor has split his position to either side of the canal.” The lord tapped the spot with his finger. “What is your opinion of that?”

Despite his age and apparent frailty Kamu had once been both a swordsman of great reputation and a senior officer in the Shonto armies. Stewards of Great Houses seldom had such a depth of knowledge in military matters and Lord Shonto did not let this expertise go to waste.

“The Emperor must believe it is his function to stop an army from descending on the capital, therefore he blocks the canal. In truth, I believe he could position his army anywhere and the Khan would not pass it by. This division of his forces…” Kamu shook his head. “The Emperor makes a foolish mistake. The bridge that connects them across the canal…it is too vulnerable to fire rafts.”

Shonto nodded. “I suspect our Emperor has not blocked the canal to stop the barbarian advance but to stop our army from passing. No doubt the Son of Heaven would like to keep the Shonto between his own army and that of the Khan.”

Shonto ran his finger up the line of the canal. “And I certainly do not wish to spoil the Emperor’s view of the barbarian army.” Moving his finger to a hill east and slightly north of the Emperor’s position, the lord said. “We will concentrate our troops on this slope. The Khan will array his forces here—there is no other choice.” Shonto traced an arc east from the canal north of the Emperor’s position.

“That will form a triangle.” Shonto said, tracing the three sides with each army being a point. “If the Khan is an intelligent man, he will not wait but will attack both positions at once—the barbarian army is large enough to do this. If the Khan waits, there is a possibility that Akantsu and I can reach an understanding. Once the Emperor sees the army of the desert with his own eyes it is my hope that he will be more willing to listen to our arguments. We shall see.”

Shonto stared at the map for a moment more without speaking. “If the Emperor will join forces with us, Kamu-sum, we will have two choices. Fight the barbarian army with a force perhaps two-thirds its size, or retreat to the southeast. If we choose to retreat, we will see if you are correct. Will the lure of an undefended Capital be more than the Khan can resist? If so, there is a chance that we can raise an army large enough to be sure of defeating the barbarians. A battle now is a difficult decision. Such a fight is likely to be inconclusive and, at worst, could result in the annihilation of the armies of Wa. It is a great risk, Kamu-sum, a great risk indeed.”

A guard approached, bowing and waiting to be acknowledged. Kamu
gestured and the man came forward to speak quietly to the steward. The old man nodded.

“Sire,” he said turning back to his liege-lord, “our forward scouts can see the Emperor’s position.”

Shonto nodded. “I will take a fast boat. Have a horse ready at our forward position. And I will speak with General Hojo and our senior commanders.” The lord rose suddenly. “Well, steward Kamu, the endgame is always the most interesting, is it not?”

*   *   *

Late in the day Shonto’s army came upon the plain that lay before the Emperor’s army. Patrols reported the barbarians only half a day behind now and the rear of the Shonto columns were under constant observation from barbarian patrols. Due to sheer numbers, the barbarians had taken control of the shifting lands between the two armies and they tracked the Shonto army as silently and relentlessly as a predatory animal.

Shonto was still not in armor as he rode before his army though he wore a sword in his sash—the sword the Emperor had given to him. A group of concerned Shonto guards stayed close by, eyes turned to the earthworks that sheltered the Imperial Army.

“The Emperor will wait,” Shonto said to his senior advisors. “He will not undertake to accomplish with swords what he hopes can be done by words. It is good to remember that he hates the Shonto because he fears us.”

Shonto stood up in his stirrups, looked around the horizon, and then shook his head. “Excuse me for saying so, Prince Wakaro, but the Emperor is not the general your grandfather was. His position is untenable.”

Wakaro gave an almost imperceptible shrug. He was the only man in Shonto’s party who wore full battle armor and he was no doubt suffering some embarrassment at not demonstrating the acceptable bravado in the face of the enemy. Having tied his helmet to his saddle, the Prince’s streak of white hair was at the mercy of the breeze and waved like an ominous flag. The Prince was struggling to maintain his Imperial dignity and this was made more difficult by his lack of skill with horses—appearing far worse than it was by proximity to the men of Seh; riders of the first order.

Shonto nodded to the hill upon which he proposed to establish his own army. “What is our assessment of that position?”

Lord Komawara spurred his horse forward three paces and bowed from
the saddle. “Lord Toshaki and I have ridden and walked every section of the hill, Lord Shonto. It is not defendable from all directions due to the small size of our force, but it is a reasonable position in which to weather an attack from the west and north. It is certainly more defensible than the Emperor’s earthworks,” Komawara said with disdain. “The slope is steep at the base and rolls off to a series of benches halfway up the flank. The crest is thickly wooded. Considering this is not a battleground of our choosing, we could do much worse.”

Shonto looked over at Hojo, who nodded agreement.

“We will secure that position and move our forces there in the dark,” Shonto said. “Light fires to guide the way. Tomorrow we will witness the arrival of the barbarian army, and our Emperor shall have the same pleasure.”

Shonto turned his horse to face his advisors. Lord Taiki and Butto Joda had become friends over the past days and sat on horses side by side. Jaku Katta, General Hojo, Lord Komawara, young Toshaki, and Shuyun formed a loose group. Only the Prince and his captain rode apart—outsiders, Yamaku; of questionable loyalty.

“We will move our forces to the hill and then set a pavilion on the plain between the Emperor’s position and our own. I will attempt to establish contact with the Emperor at the earliest possible moment.” Shonto looked into the faces of the men before him. “In the history of Wa no foreign enemy has ever penetrated the inner provinces. It is impossible to separate the clouds that cover the future, but it is beyond doubt that a loss to the army of the desert would mean the loss of the capital, if not the Empire. If the Khan is an intelligent general, he would pursue our army to the southern borders, for our army is the basis of all our hopes for the future. We do not know which action in the days to come will be a deciding action. We must never forget that anything we do could be the single act that changes the course of history. Do not lose courage, not for an instant. History will turn on the events of these next days and it will be shaped by each of us. Do not lose courage.”

*   *   *

Nishima lay awake long into the night. She had crossed the small plain that men were referring to as the “battlefield” in the dark and found the experience disturbing in the extreme. The fires illuminated rows of armed men who marked the way in the dark and fog—an eerie spectacle of yellow-red
light reflecting off armor and weapons and faces distorted by the light and darkness.

As Lady Okara had insisted that she did not want a sedan chair, Nishima and Kitsura had gone on foot when Nishima would rather have ridden. Her experience with horses was limited, for ladies of breeding were not supposed to ride, but in the unsettled years after the Interim Wars Lord Shonto had thought it prudent that she master the basics of riding.

A large pavilion had been pitched on a ledge dug into the hillside, just inside the sheltering edge of the wood, and this had been divided with hangings into three rooms for the ladies from the capital. Mats and rugs made it comfortable and lamps and a few other furnishings created an impression of order and security—all seeming a great sham to Nishima.

In an attempt to gain some sense of tranquillity, Nishima had turned to the poetry of Lady Nikko.

Not precisely the reassurance Nishima was looking for. She set the scroll down.

Earlier it had been decided that Lady Okara would be taken south toward the capital by Shonto guards who would shed their blue livery. Skirting the Emperor’s army would be difficult, for he sent patrols out into the countryside, but there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that Lady Okara’s reputation would protect her from all but the barbarians. She was anxious to see her island home again and Lord Shonto was equally anxious to have the great painter out of harm’s way.

Nishima knew the parting in the morning would be difficult. Oka-sum had risked so much for her, for so little return, Nishima felt. Poor Oka-sum, the young aristocrat thought, I tore her from her solitude and cast her into the center of a war that may see the fall of our Empire. May Botahara protect her.

The thin fabric of the tent seemed impossibly fragile to a woman who had spent most of her life surrounded by substantial walls, and the reality that pressed against this material was not the wild beauty of the world but the coarse brutality of men. She longed to have Shuyun come and lie beside her. It was not entirely a desire to be protected by someone stronger, for Nishima knew that wars could bring down even the mightiest, but a desire to comfort and be comforted in the face of the utter uncertainty of the world.

It was close to dawn before she managed to fall into a fitful sleep.

S
HONTO WALKED ALONG the path that had been dug into the side of the hill, followed by his guards. The gray light of early morning had become the gray light of a foggy day. Reports from outriders indicated that this propensity for morning fog diminished only a few rih south, indicating that one did not have to stray far from the mountains to rid oneself of this weather.

Leave it to the Emperor to pick a battlefield commonly enshrouded in fog, Shonto thought. He had risen before first light and met with his advisors. After much discussion it had been decided that Prince Wakaro would bear an offer to his father, and though the Prince had gone off showing a brave face, Shonto did not expect him to return. Even if the Emperor answered Shonto’s letter, the lord did not expect the bearer of the response to be Prince Wakaro. It is a sad family that cannibalizes its own, Shonto told himself, but Imperial families seemed to suffer this ill too commonly.

Though the fog muffled sound and played tricks on the ears, there was no doubt that an army moved upon the plain. The sounds of voices, the stamp and whinny of horses, the clanking of weapons and armor filtered up through the layers of mist to the men of Wa perched on their hillsides. This will open the Emperor’s eyes, Shonto thought. I would give much to be standing beside him as the fog clears.