Masters of Fate, Slaves to Duty

Chapter 5


“And you are certain of these findings?”

“Yes, sir,” said Tatsumaki to the two men in the room. “Their numbers are spread out now between the encampment and two neighboring villages that they managed to conquer. I found a mass gravesite at the northern juncture of the two villages.”

The Council of State was positioned behind his desk, shuffling paperwork around. Miki stood in the doorway leading to the outer garden. The doors were open, letting the warm spring air filter into the room. It had been one week since Tatsu had started his investigation, spending every waking and sleeping moment in the northern forest. And the news he returned with seemed to deeply disturb the room’s occupants.

The Council slammed a book closed on his desk and pulled his pipe from his mouth. “This situation is becoming more ominous by the day,” he said to himself before turning the conversation back to Tatsu. “And you’re also saying that Foxx is both a collaborator and a prisoner? Do you know what they have as leverage?”

Tatsu shook his head. “No, but whatever it is, it must matter to him. He is not a willing conspirator. I witnessed several arguments that ended in beatings, on both sides. Unfortunately my knowledge of their languages is minimal at best, not enough to clearly understand any of the conversations.”

Though the room was quiet, Tatsu could see the tacit thoughts racing between the two men. They seemed to speak with their eyes, the way Tatsu used to with Miki. But whatever was transpiring, they were not sharing any information with him.

“Do you think they know?” said the Council in a low voice, wary of the man in the room who did not have full disclosure.

Miki’s face was blank and expressionless, yet he gave the Council a cautious look that said ‘Not now’.

Once again, Tatsu was on the outside looking in. He had no idea why the question had bothered Miki so badly. He’d seen that look before, had it reflected at him in the past, so he knew the question was important. But he had no idea to what extent.

“What would you like me to do?” he asked, trying to break the tension between the two men without adding to it. “Should we warn his wife now?”

Miki opened his mouth oppose the idea, but the Council interceded. “I’m not certain that her knowing would change the situation. At best, it would make her cautious and force her to move into the palace. At worst, she could go into hysterics and try to get her husband back by herself.

“At this point, I believe she needs an extra pair of eyes to watch out for her; someone who knows the enemy, someone who has witnessed how they work.”

Both sets of eyes turned to Tatsumaki, one set was inquisitive while the other was infuriated.

“Absolutely not! I’ll not have that vagabond taking care of my sister!”

Tatsu slammed his hands on the desk, shaking it hard enough to send a stack of papers to the floor. “That’s it!” he yelled, pointing a finger at Miki. “This secretive shit has to stop! We did this two years ago, and we’re doing it again now! If you don’t trust me, just say so!”

Miki met Tatsu’s angry eyes, but he didn’t back down to Tatsu’s demand. “Need I remind you of the last time you had a woman in your charge?” he asked harshly.

The Council stood up and came between the two men, sensing this argument was about to come to blows. “Gentlemen, regardless of your mistrust for one another, I have the final say in this matter. And the decision has been made.”

~*~*~

Daven jumped at the sound of the bell. The estate had been quiet all morning, and the sound broke his concentration, causing him to spill ink across his parchment. He cursed quietly before setting his quill down next to his ruined letter.

Daven ran across the yard, but before he could get to the gate, he saw it open and Miki step through. Daven stopped in surprise at the guest, one that had only been to the estate a couple of times. He didn’t’ dislike the man. He just didn’t like the way he treated his sister.

Miki gave a short bow to the Englishman approaching him. “Good morning. Is Kurenai in?”

Daven shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t think she’s left the house in a week.”

The two men started walking toward the smaller house. The estate wasn’t large, but there were two houses within its walls. The larger house was two stories, and had enough rooms for the many guests that the Admiral entertained. There was a large dining room that faced the main courtyard, and there were two separate rooms on the second floor set up as offices for himself and Daven as well as private bedrooms for the home’s occupants.

The property was separated by a creek flowing through the courtyard that measured about 1½ meters across. There were two small stone bridges crossing the creek, one on each end of the property. There were several maple trees strewn about the lawn, providing adequate shade. The smaller house contained four rooms, and was sectioned off in the shape of an “L”. A large cherry tree resided on the inner corner of this house, the leaves keeping the inner rooms shaded from the sun.

This was the house where Kurenai lived. Miki remembered when the two of them first acquired this property in the British section of Tokyo. It had originally belonged to another diplomat, but he was sent on an assignment in Australia. She had explained to her husband that the size was not necessary, but he disagreed. So she refused to live in the main house, choosing to reside in the smaller servants’ quarters instead. Miki wondered if her point had ever got across to Foxx.

Daven led him to the corner room of the home, as if he knew exactly where to find her. He knocked on the door once before sliding it open. Both men had to stifle their shock when they saw the mess.

Kurenai was stretched out on her stomach in the floor, a floor that was covered in books. They were piled in stacks along the wall, and there were several opened around her. She was face first in one that was written in a language that Miki didn’t recognize. Daven approached her slowly, and nudged her leg with her foot.

“Kurenai,” he said in a stern voice. “Get up; you can’t stay in this stuffy room all day.”

She took a deep breath before she opened her eyes. She stretched her arms above her head, then rolled over and sleepily looked up at the two men. She yawned as she stood up.

Miki sized her up, not recognizing the woman before him. She was wearing what appeared to be men’s’ breeches and a large button-down shirt. Her hair was sticking out in odd places, and she had a certain odor about her.

Miki and Daven stepped aside quickly as she walked between them and stretched again. It was then she realized there were, in fact, two men in the room.

“What do you want?” she asked without acknowledging to which man she spoke.

Daven gave Miki a resigned look before he left. “I’ll leave the two of you alone,” he said as he passed between them.

Kurenai moved down the way to the next room, her bedroom. From what Miki could see, this room was in the same amount of disarray as the previous one. Her blankets were strewn across her bedding, which was still in the middle of the floor. Kimonos lay crumpled in various corners. He had never known her to live like this. He immediately went to the window and opened it to freshen up the room, then he bent down to a pile of robes and started to fold them while looking around for boxes to put them in.

“Leave them be,” she said.

“You’re ruining them,” he scolded as he shook out a lovely red silk robe.

She snorted behind him. He turned to say something else, but found her naked in the middle of a pile of clothes. He quickly turned away and cleared his throat.

“You’ve seen it all before,” she stated, not the least bit embarrassed by her act.

Miki could hear her digging through drawers and shuffling her body into something.

“All right, it’s safe now.”

She had managed to find a thin robe much too big for her thinning frame. She had lost so much weight that he wondered if she didn’t care enough to take care of herself any more. Even with her arms raised to tie back her hair, the robe draped along the floor and she had to tie the obi around her body several times just to keep the robe closed.

“Really, are you trying to make yourself unattractive?” he mused, receiving an evil eye from her in return.

Kurenai grabbed the front of the robe and pulled it up so she could walk. “I need some air,” she said, leaving the room in a flurry of cloth.

She hastily strode down the walkway and across the bridge to the main gate. Miki caught up to her and opened the gate for her.

“Good, I was going to suggest we go for a walk anyway,” he said, following her through the door.

This part of town was filled with unfamiliar faces. It was the section where foreign parties could take up residence. There was a flood of conversation from both sides of the road in languages that Miki could not disseminate. Kurenai didn’t seem to be heading for any place in particular, so Miki hurried to catch up with her.

“Why are you here?” she asked again once he was back to her side.

Miki noticed the two of them were drawing glances from the crowd. When he looked at her again, he realized how thin the fabric was. Miki shrugged off his jacket and draped around her shoulders. And when he looked down, he saw she was walking without shoes.

When a man across the street whistled in their direction, Miki grabbed her arm and dragged her into an alley between two restaurants.

“Let go of me!” she yelled, yanking her arm away. “What gives you the right?!”

Miki just looked at her, exasperated. “What is wrong with you?” he said before taking a deep breath to control his anger. “Why are you acting like a child?”

She kicked dirt in his direction. “When are you going to tell me the truth?”

Miki lowered his voice as their argument was drawing more stares from the crowded street. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Kurenai stood still, but her voice still carried. “Who is the man following us?”

Miki shook his head, trying to end this conversation that was not appropriate for the street. “There is no one following us. It’s just people staring at us because of your tantrum.”

“Bullshit,” she said before making her way back to the street. “Come out, come out here now!”

Miki grabbed her again. He shoved her against the wall and managed to get a hand over her mouth before she could fight back.

“If all you want is death, I am more than willing at this point to give it to you,” he hissed through gritted teeth.

“I think that’s enough of that,” said another voice from the entry.

Both of them had been too engrossed to realize Daven had found them. “Someone just reported a disturbance, and what do I find but the two of you in another argument. Can we move this back to the house before the authorities become involved?”

Miki nodded, but before he could take his hand away, Kurenai bit him. Miki wanted to slap her, but he knew Daven would stop him before he could get to her. He just didn’t understand what had happened to her, and why she was acting like a spoiled child.

Kurenai was quiet on the walk back, but she was constantly aware of the people on the street. She was carefully watching both sides, looking for anyone who paid them more attention than they should. She even surveyed the courtyard once they were back within the estate’s surrounding walls.

Miki reached into his sleeve and pulled out a pouch of money, which he tossed to Daven. “Here, go fetch us some fruit. My sister and I still have some family business to discuss.”

Daven looked hesitantly to Kurenai, but she gave him a stern nod. She managed to keep her anger in check after he left.

Kurenai turned on Miki again. “Who is following me? I know it’s not Akihiro.”

Miki simply sighed. “I knew you would figure it out eventually. And no, it’s not Akihiro. We just needed to add some more security for you.”

“Really?” she said with a hint of cynicism in her voice. “And does this have anything to do with the Empress leaving town?”

That caught Miki by surprise, and she noticed. “Ahh, you didn’t know, did you? See, I was turned away by the Council outside of her quarters a few days ago. He said my services were not necessary for the next month, and that I should take some time off.”

Miki had some choice words ready, but he kept them to himself. “No, that fact was not disclosed to me. But regardless, he was right. You need to stay as close to home right now as you can.”

Her anger was simmering under the surface, but she tried not to show it. “Miki, what is going on?”

Miki knew she would find out eventually. Akihiro knew what was going on, and he managed to keep himself hidden out of plain sight at all times with little to no contact with her. Tatsumaki also knew the situation, but he was under strict orders from the Council to have no contact with her. (This was the only stipulation to the job that Miki would accept.)

So he explained the state of affairs to her. He couldn’t corroborate the details about the Empress, but he could guess that the Emperor was taking every precaution to protect his family. He told her not to worry about her other guardian, that he was only there in case she got into trouble. Like Akihiro, she was supposed to ignore the fact that he was there. Daven would still escort her when she needed to leave the estate, but beyond that, she was trapped here until further notice.

What bothered him about the conversation was that she didn’t seem to care that her husband had been captured, or that he had allowed his vessel to be taken. She simply shrugged it off, and asked if Daven knew about it.

“No one but those close to the Emperor knows. We need to keep it between us for now because we have not determined their intentions. But we believe you are a target, so we have added to your security. And you need to continue with your normal routines because if the Council found out that I told you…”

She smiled at him for the first time today. “He won’t hear it from me,” she said with a sigh. “I guess I’ll just stay close to home, so your other guard is not necessary.”

Miki laughed at her. “Sorry, it’s not that easy,” he said before he changed his tone. “But I have to ask, did something happen between you and Foxx?”

The sun overhead was starting to get warm, and Kurenai removed his jacket and passed it back. “No, he’s perfect as always. Just the charming husband who does all he can to grant his wife’s wishes,” she said, sad that she was so resentful of her husband. The man had bowed to her every whim, and he offered her unconditional love. Still, that was not enough for her.

Miki picked up on her tone. He knew she was unhappy. She cried often when she thought no one was around. Miki was there when she came back to the palace. He had seen firsthand the evidence of Tamaki’s torture on her body. She had only told him once what she had endured, then forbade him to ever speak about it again. Her pain was worsened when she returned and her beloved was not there to greet her. Follow that with the marriage proposal from the Admiral, and her soul sank into a dark abyss, so far that even Miki could not reach her.

Akihiro had been her guardian since the day she married the Admiral. He was the one who reported to Miki that she refused to stay in the main house, and that as far as he knew, the marriage had never been consummated. When Miki had questioned her about it, she said it was none of his business what happened, or didn’t, in her marriage. He just couldn’t understand how such a young man could be married to her, and not want to love her body as much as her soul.

“I have a confession to make,” she said, looking at the ground to avoid his stare.

He knew it; her nature would not let her stay out of a man’s bed for long, in spite of the tribulations she had surpassed in recent years.

“I had a feeling,” he said.

“I saw him.”

“Who?”

“Tatsumaki.”

The name hung in the air for a moment, stretching out the silence between them. Miki refused to look at her, so she turned her gaze to the cloudless sky.

“It was the night Jonathan left,” she said softly, closing her eyes as the sun warmed her face. “He was in the water garden next to your home, and he was playing with Seimei.

“I couldn’t say anything. I couldn’t move a muscle as all of those feelings came back. All I could remember was the Council telling me Tatsu was gone, neither confirming nor denying that he was even alive. And there he was, with our daughter in his arms.

“One thought came to mind; that if he was here, why didn’t he come find me? I mean, he loved me, right? Then that sense of loneliness that I had when I got married came back in waves. It flooded my mind, and my chest began to throb. I didn’t realize I was crying until I collapsed against Akihiro and he carried me away.

“I saw him again a few nights later at the garden party, but I didn’t acknowledge him then either. He looked right at me, but he didn’t seem to recognize me. It left me wondering if he even knew I was here, back within the city and not on that horrid island.”

Miki signed, and debated on telling her the truth. Would the truth really help her? Would it put her mind at ease that he was just as tortured as she? Or would she act out and try to see him? She had known for a couple of weeks that he was near, yet she had made no action to get in touch with him. Yet it didn’t matter that these two were fated to cross paths until death ultimately separated them; the reality was that they both had a duty to their country.

“No, he doesn’t know you’re here,” he said, hesitating on his half-truth. “And he has not inquired about you. He’s been dealing with his own demons lately.”

“Oh,” Kurenai said, disheartened. “Well, I guess a couple of years apart are enough to make someone forget.”

She gave Miki a solemn look. “At least he can be with his children when I can’t.”

Miki smiled, remembering Tatsu’s joy at spending unlimited amounts of time with Arashi and Seimei. He wanted to tell her all about their training sessions, and his fishing trips with Arashi. She would love to know that Seimei was constantly attached to her father. But that was no longer her life. She could not acknowledge her children for fear that Foxx would find out the truth.

It was in that moment that Daven returned carrying a straw basket full of fruit. He peeked a wary eye around the gate before stepping in, checking to see if he was walking into a blood bath. He seemed pleased to see both of them unscathed.

“Well, looks like its back to familial bliss,” he laughed. “Miki, will you be joining us for lunch?”

Miki glanced to Kurenai. Her face was blank again, all traces of emotion erased. “No, I need to get back to the palace. But thank you for the offer.”

Miki wrapped his arm around Kurenai’s shoulder, making her walk him to the front gate. He turned to her before he opened the gate, giving her a hug and a kiss on the forehead.

“Promise me you’ll stay here and out of trouble,” he said, resting his forehead against hers.

She smiled and winked at him, which always disconcerted Miki. He knew better than to trust her. He sniffed her hair before he turned away.

“And please,” he added before leaving. “You must bathe soon. I fear what matter of man you might attract with this odor of yours.”

She slapped him on the arm before you could get away. Kurenai was glad he had come to see her. She enjoyed Daven’s entertaining company, but he was only here because it was his orders.

“Hey, snake in the grass, you joining us for lunch?” Daven yelled out in no general direction.

She started to approach him when a rock appeared from a nearby tree, and struck him in the back of the head. Kurenai laughed as Daven grabbed a pomegranate and threw it into the tree as a response. It never hit the ground.

TBC....