第7节
The guard-captain led Toshiro along the path towards the open-sided
summerhouse where Yoritomo sat crosslegged, lost in contemplation of
the stone landscape. The five samurai seated behind him in a
semicircle sprang silently to their feet, then relaxed their grip on
the handles of their long-swords when they saw who it was. These men,
like the guard around the garden, had been raised from birth in the
Toh-Yota family household and were totally dedicated to the protection
of the Shogun. The guard-captain bowed low and backed away as Toshiro
mounted the wide lower step of the veranda and knelt down in line with
the Shogun's left shoulder. Yoritomo continued to stare straight ahead
at the garden. Toshiro placed his forehead on the straw matting
covering the top step and waited.
'What kept you?" said the Shogun, in perfect American-English. It was
a language he and his Heralds were able to speak fluently - although
they were not encouraged to use the same colloquial mode of address.
The five guards, now ranged on the far side of Yoritomo, spoke only
Japanese.
Toshiro assumed a cross-legged position. 'There were certain aspects
of the situation that needed further investigation, sire. It wasn't
easy. They're playing the cards close to their chest."
'Are they holding many aces?"
'I'm not sure, but. there's a joker in the pack."
Yoritomo dragged his eyes reluctantly from the pebble garden and let
them rest briefly on Toshiro. The Shogun also wore a wig made from
Mute hair but it was a more imposing arrangement made of coiled plaits
combined with a small, flat pill-box hat and lacquered wooden combs - a
design exclusive to his rank as the overlord of
Ne-Issan. 'Is this going to be as bad as I think it is?"
Toshiro bowed low. 'It's not good."
Yoritomo sighed and returned to his contemplation of the stone
landscape. 'Okay, let's have it..."
CHAPTER TWO
During the past six months, Toshiro's principal task had been to
monitor the work being carried out at the Heron Pool - a new craft
centre that had been set up to the west of Ba-satana. At the beginning
of the previous year Lord Yama-Shita, who held the licence to trade
with the Northern Mutes, had persuaded Yoritomo of the need to
rediscover the secrets of powered flight. His plan had been to seek
the aid of the Mutes in obtaining a flying-horse and its rider. Much
could be learned from a close examination of both, saving months,
perhaps even years, of fruitless experimentation.
In pressing his case, Yama-Shita had emphasised that there was little
time to lose. The desert warriors of the south - called lone-dogs
because of their height and their angular, bony features - were poised
to move north into the lands of the Plainfolk. In a few short years,
their powerful weaponry might be turned against Ne-Issan.
Through his contacts with the Mutes, Yama-Shita knew that the
flying-horses were an important element in the long-dogs' military
strategy. Ne-Issan must equip itself with its own airborne cavalry in
order to meet the threat when it eventually came.
Yoritomo promised to think the matter over. It all made sense, of
course. Lord Hiro Yama-Shita - who, with the merger between the
Yama-Ha'and the Matsu-Shita families, had become the single most
powerful domain-lord in Ne-Issan - was a hardheaded realist. Any
proposal put forward by him merited serious consideration.
It had been the Yama-h and the MatsuShita, builders of the first
wheelboats, who had opened up the lucrative western trading routes and
had tapped into the seemingly exhaustible supply of Mutes - the
strangely marked half-humans that made up the bulk of Ne-Issan's labour
force. The licences, which gave them a virtual monopoly on trade with
the west, had been granted by Yoritomo's grandfather. The Yama-Ha and
MatsuoShita had long been allies of the Toh-Yota and had supported them
in their bid for the Shogunate. But the unprecedented marriage between
the two houses had resulted in an unwelcome concentration of power and,
if one looked at the map with the eye of a military commander, their
combined d