Read Yamada Monogatori: The Emperor in Shadow for Free Online Page B

private.” I dismissed Hiroshi then showed the paper to Kenji, who frowned.
    “It seems you will be allowed an audience with the priestess,” he said.
    “Allowed? It sounded rather more like a command.”
    “It also sounded as if we—well, you—were expected. That poem . . . ”
    I nodded. “Yes. It’s a reference to the death of Princess Teiko. ‘Peony’ was her nickname at court. She held it from the age of seven. Not just anyone would know that, especially now, but Princess Tagako is one who would. Without mentioning either of our names, it was clear the message was for me.”
    My time at court had been so long ago I sometimes forgot how the mind of someone raised at the emperor’s court tended to work. The message would have seemed innocuous enough to anyone else who discovered it, yet to the intended recipient—myself, in this case—there was far more to be read. Princess Tagako’s note reminded me of Teiko in more ways than simply the poem.
    “Why would she bring up Teiko? That seems rather indelicate.”
    It was more than indelicate. It was deliberate, implied far more than it said, and was aimed precisely at me.
    “Indelicacy with a purpose, I think, though what that purpose is, I cannot fathom. I must go speak to the saiō. ”
    “You must also finish the tanka. ”
    I winced, but Kenji was right. The form of the poem required an answer, or rather, a shimo-no-ku , a lower phrase, which must also be in the proper form to match the upper phrase. Princess Teiko had always been somewhat amused by my attempts at poetry, but the occasion called for me to try. I sent for a portable writing table and quickly prepared the ink. First I copied Princess Tagako’s poem as best I could and, after many hesitations and false starts, wrote down this:
Autumn yields to winter’s cloak,
In spring, flowers bloom again.
    Kenji looked at what I had written. “Lord Yamada, for you that almost sounded hopeful.”
    I sighed. “Yes. If I had more time . . . well, it still wouldn’t be any better.”
    After the couplet, I replied that I was at her service and then folded the paper. I knew better than to attempt the elaborate lover’s knot fold Princess Tagako had used, so I called for a candle and used the dripping resin to seal the message, then sent for Hiroshi to carry it back.
    “I wouldn’t expect an answer before tomorrow,” I said, but there I was wrong again. Hirsoshi soon returned, this time with a simple note:
The moon will be lovely tonight. Please join me for a viewing on the eastern veranda.”
    I grunted in surprise. “Princess Takago knows as well as I do the moon is yet waning and any such viewing will be mediocre at best.”
    “Then perhaps your conversation will have to do with subjects other than the moon, as you’ve surely guessed by now. Speaking of which, you are the head of the Yamada clan now meeting with an imperial princess. Please do make yourself more presentable,” was all Kenji said. He then excused himself to go check on his mount, which, in addition to Ujiyasu, had also been injured in the bandit attack the previous day.
    There was no arguing with his point. I took the time before sunset to have a meal and then dress myself in the finest clothing I had brought with me. It wasn’t exactly the formal court style, but my robes and hakama were of good quality. I was also able to use a nearby spring to wash the worst of the day’s travel grime off me so I wouldn’t embarrass myself by my appearance or odor.
    When Morofusa learned of my intention, he presented himself and three other members of his detachment. “You must have an escort, Lord Yamada, if only as far as the mansion courtyard. It will be expected. We will remain on guard there.”
    “Very well. Shall we go?”
    It wasn’t very far to the compound, but we went on horseback, as that also was expected. We dismounted at the gate and surrendered our mounts to the grooms waiting there. While Morofusa and his bushi were