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told her to stay home. There were always good reasons, but Akiko was too young to understand. She obviously believed Reiko didn’t want her or love her, although it wasn’t true. Their relationship had grown more difficult as the years passed and the number of perceived slights mounted up. Reiko thought their troubles stemmed from a terrible experience she’d had while pregnant with Akiko. It probably hadn’t helped when Masahiro had been kidnapped and Reiko had gone off with Sano to rescue him while leaving Akiko, then an infant, behind. On some level Akiko hadn’t forgotten or forgiven her mother. Reiko needed to fix her relationship with Akiko, but this wasn’t the time. She and Midori turned their attention to Taeko and Masahiro.
    Taeko whispered, “We’re in love.”
    “Yes,” Masahiro spoke up, moving close to her. “We want to get married.” They smiled fondly at each other.
    In hindsight Reiko understood why they’d gotten so serious. The house was small, Masahiro and Taeko were constantly together, and they didn’t have other friends. Shunned by their peers because their fathers were in disgrace, they’d turned to each other for companionship. And Masahiro was unhappy because he’d been a patrol guard for two years since he’d attained manhood at age fifteen, and it looked as if he would be forever. It was a bitter blow for an intelligent, ambitious young man whose peers were marrying, having families, and getting ahead. Stuck in a prolonged, unnatural childhood, he was bored and frustrated as well as virile.
    Midori brandished her lantern at Masahiro, as if to strike him. “You know you’re not going to marry her! You seduced her by tricking her into thinking you are!”
    Anxious to prevent a scuffle and a fire, Reiko grabbed the lantern from Midori and hung it on the wall. Taeko looked at Masahiro with fearful uncertainty. Masahiro said angrily, “Yes, I am!”
    Reiko hated to disappoint them, but she said, “Masahiro, you can’t. We’ve talked about this.”
    “Oh, yes, I’m supposed to marry into some rich, high-ranking clan that can help us financially and politically. But I’ve been betrothed four times. Every time, the other clan has backed out because Father keeps getting demoted.”
    “I’m sorry.” Reiko hated that Sano’s problems with Lord Ienobu, Chamberlain Yanagisawa, and the shogun had affected Masahiro’s future.
    “I’m not,” Masahiro declared. “Father and I will keep fighting Lord Ienobu. We’re not giving up.”
    He was fiercely loyal to Sano, but Reiko took issue with their quest to prove Ienobu was a murderer. The cost to their family was so high. She, too, hated Lord Ienobu and the fact that he’d gotten away with two murders, but she’d begged Sano to take the deal he’d offered. She was a mother, and honor mattered less to her than her children’s welfare. But Sano had refused. Lord Ienobu had gotten fed up with Sano, rescinded the offer, and banned Sano from court. Reiko was angry at Sano for being such a stickler for Bushido. Sano was angry at her for asking him to sacrifice honor for peace. They fought about every little thing—when they spoke at all.
    “No important clan will have me as a son-in-law,” Masahiro said, “but I don’t care. I’m glad.” He put his arm around Taeko. “I can marry anybody I want.”
    “Anybody except her,” Midori retorted. “Because her father is a traitor.”
    Taeko’s father, Hirata, had been Sano’s chief retainer for almost twenty years. He was a mystic martial artist, one of the best fighters in Japan. Six years ago he’d joined a secret society of fellow mystic martial artists and later confessed to Sano that they’d lured him into a plot against the Tokugawa regime. The exact nature of the plot was known only to them, but Sano had reported Hirata to the shogun. It was his duty, no matter that Sano was in disfavor himself or that his family and Hirata’s were close friends. That was Bushido. Now