had spent his whole life with the Yasudas almost on his doorstep, he’d never met Jinichi in the flesh before. Jinichi was old enough to be Daigoro’s grandfather, and he’d served as lord of Fuji-no-tenka for forty years. He reminded Daigoro of nothing so much as a well-used walking stick. He was scrawny, almost knobbly, with skin like knotted, polished wood. Careworn but strong.
Though they’d never met, he recognized Daigoro on sight—not an especially difficult feat, once Daigoro cast off the farmer’s guise. Glorious Victory Unsought was unmistakable, and as close allies to House Okuma, the high-ranking Yasudas knew all about Daigoro’s weakling leg.
“So it’s true,” Jinichi said. His voice was thin and reedy, just like his father’s. “You no longer wear the Okuma bear paw.”
Daigoro bowed and tried not to blush. “I suppose you’ve heard why.”
“Oh, what haven’t we heard of you? If I believed all of it, I wouldn’t know whether you’re alive or dead. That’s what some folk are saying of you now: you’re a vengeful ghost. Have you heard that one?”
Daigoro felt his cheeks flush despite his best efforts. When Jinichi saw it, he reached out with a gnarled brown finger and gave Daigoro a poke, as if to be sure he was there. “There, you see? Not a ghost. Not a traitor either, I think. Or a pirate. Or a ninja lord. Or a bear kami that can take human form. Now that’s something I’d like to see before I die. Tell me, can you turn into a bear?”
“I’m afraid not.”
“Too bad.” He gave Daigoro a yellow-toothed smile. “Tell me, son, why are you here? And why on earth did you walk all this way? Judging by the state of your hakama, you must have been wading through mud.”
That, or I’ve been wearing the same hakama for four days, Daigoro thought. The same everything else too. By the gods, what I wouldn’t give for a bath.
But he said none of that. “I come to discuss House Okuma’s debts to House Yasuda.”
“Then send a pigeon next time. By the Buddha! You must have worn your feet down to nubs.”
Daigoro explained why he couldn’t do that, and why his family’s debts to the Yasudas had become a concern in the first place. With each new detail, Jinichi’s mood grew darker. At last he could take no more. “Stop. I hear you trying to speak gracefully of my brother, trying to avoid offense, but let me nip that in the bud. Kenbei was always the runt of the litter. That was his karma, and he should have learned to make peace with it a long time ago. How to cope with a grown man who acts like a child, I don’t know. If I were back home, I would bend him over my knee and spank him.”
Daigoro’s whole body sagged, and he realized that prior to that moment his every muscle had been tight with anticipation. He’d never been sure whether Jinichi would take his side or Kenbei’s. Now relief washed over him like cool rain on a hot summer’s day. “I’m relieved to hear you say that. I have the feeling your father might beat you to that spanking when he wakes up.”
“If he wakes up. And that’s the trouble, isn’t it? Father named Kenbei steward. It is not my place to countermand him. If it were up to me, we would handle House Okuma’s debts the way we always have: as neighbors. As friends. As men of honor. But it is not up to me, Daigoro-san. My hands are tied.”
Daigoro deflated like a sail in a dead wind. He’d come to the conversation braced for disappointment, but Jinichi’s scorn for his brother had broken the braces down. Now that cool rain of relief became cloying and clammy. It chilled him to the bone.
“It’s not what you wanted to hear,” Jinichi said.
“No.” Daigoro could not think of a softer way to say it.
“Let me grant you a loan, at least. From my personal coffers, not from House Yasuda’s. Will that keep Kenbei’s claws away from your family’s purse strings?”
“For a while.” Daigoro should have softened that too, but he lacked the energy to come up with something more appropriate to say. They negotiated terms, but it was clear from the outset that Jinichi could not meet even a third of what Kenbei demanded. Daigoro could hardly turn down the coin, but even as he accepted it, he wondered how he would give Streaming Dawn to Lord Sora