The Black Son

Chapter 16

"I'm afraid dread lords that is all the entertainment you will get out of me tonight."

Noriyuki laughed.

Yasuhira smiled, "Fair enough, Lady Tomoe," He held up his cup, "You are well and truly the 'flower of the nation'."

Hearing that phrase suddenly darkened Tomoe's mood and she turned a rather menacing eye toward the Hikiji. The look had so taken Yasuhira that he refrained from drinking his own toast. Noriyuki was frozen by the exchange. He wasn't sure what he could say to return the situation to a more equitable standing. Without saying a word Yasuhira put down his cup, shifted his position so he was kneeling before Tomoe and bowed solemnly.

"Forgive me, my lady. I meant no disrespect."

Tomoe's emotions had got the better of her. No doubt they had been inflamed by her performance. Now she had gone too far. She bowed to her guest.

"I must be the one to beg forgiveness, my lord, my behaviour was unseemly."

"Let us put it all out of our minds and merely reflect on your wonderful performance."

Tomoe only nodded.

Noriyuki was relieved. Though he knew that it would take more than one angry look to get a rise out of a man like Yasuhira. He never realised just how much Tomoe loathed the name some of the other lords had given her. Was it such an insult to be spoken of in such a familiar way? Noriyuki didn't want to press this issue. It was far too late for quarrelling. They had played as much as their spirits could handle. Now they simply conversed with one another. The young lord was never so open in the company of strangers. Ever since he came of age to rule the Geishu he was instructed never to show any emotion or display any sign of weakness. But the longer he remained in the Hikiji's presence the more he spoke of his heart. Yasuhira was enamoured by the Geishu lord. He was sure they would become fast friends. As for Tomoe, he was realising all too clearly that she would not be an easy blossom to pick.

"Do you think the Shogun's peace will hold, Yuki?"

He shrugged, "Everything depends on the will of the other Daimyo. If they start warring again, I'm sure the Shogun will intercede, but if it happens enough times..." He shrugged again.

"I've heard you are close to the Shogun."

"Close enough to understand that his peace, no matter how fragile or tarnished it may be is better than war. So I will support him for my own sake."

"Very wise policy," He shifted his position, "The Shogun is a strange man."

"How so, Yasu?"

Taking a breath, "He struggled so mightily to become Shogun only to keep in place the many edicts that his predecessor had set in place," He shook his head, "I wished that he loosened the more restrictive aspects of Toyotomi's decrees."

"Such as...?"

"Hideyoshi made it a social taboo for a samurai to become anything other than a samurai. Only now with Ieyasu's peace, the nation is rotten with Ronin. But they can't be anything else. They can't buy land or own a shop. These men are doomed to wander."

Tomoe was taken aback by his words, "But they are bound also by Bushido."

"But can't a man be honourable while working the land? Can he not be true to the code as he labours in a business of his own making?"

Tomoe struggled to answer without being curt.

He shifted position again, "There was a time in this country that a samurai could do just that without dishonour. That's all changed and I fear what that will mean for our country's future," He turned to Yuki, "And that is the one mitigating factor that keeps Japan stagnant and backward."