fast to the beam. What use were bonds that did not bind?
“I usually use a table for this,” Shichio said. “A very special table. Your friend General Mio could have told you all about it, if only I hadn’t cut out his tongue.”
A terrible vision flashed in Daigoro’s mind: Mio Yasumasa quivering on his deathbed. His whole body was coiled with thin purple bruises. Huge ovular cuts festered, as if an animal had taken bites out of him. Before, Daigoro had never understood what could inflict such bizarre ropelike bruises. Now he understood all too well. Yet the bleeding, festering wounds were still a mystery. What could cause bitelike wounds, not ragged but smooth-sided, like the cuts of a razor? He could only imagine, and his imagination terrified him.
“Usually I strip my victims naked too,” Shichio continued. “It makes them wonder how long I’ll allow them to keep their manhood. But you . . . by the gods, that leg! How can you stomach it? I’d sooner cut it off than wake every morning to the sight of it. How can you let it share your bed?”
He shuddered and unsheathed his wakizashi. “Of course I could cut it off for you, but what would be the fun in that? You’d bleed to death right away, wouldn’t you? Yes, you would.”
In the center of the room, a brazier glowed as red as a demon’s eyes. Now a new source of light drew near, orange, fluttering, crackling. Oda Tomonosuke slipped out of his sandals and stepped into the tearoom, a torch held high in his left hand. He looked at Daigoro with disgust.
“The torch you requested, Lord Kumanai.”
“Yes, yes, bring it closer.” Shichio beckoned with his sword. Then, stepping onto the veranda overlooking the pool, he shouted, “Are you there, ronin? Can you see your friend? Or have you abandoned him like everyone else?”
A quick slice, and a gobbet of flesh hit the floor. Hot blood ran down Daigoro’s back. Shichio’s blade was sharp; there wasn’t much pain—at least not physically. But Daigoro had never been so scared in his life.
“Sharp, isn’t it?” Shichio said, eerily echoing Daigoro’s own thoughts. “It’s Hashiba’s, you know. General Toyotomi’s. He gave it to me when he made me his hatamoto.”
Daigoro smirked. Arrogance in the face of impossible odds. He would not let Shichio see him afraid. “Yes, I heard. ‘Lord Kumanai,’ is it? The same kuma of Okuma, I think.”
“Yes. Kuma-Nai, ‘No Bears.’ And also ‘No Okumas.’ Do you like it?”
Daigoro threw out a laugh, loud enough to echo off the cliff. “I love it. You want to be rid of me? You named yourself after me!”
Shichio’s grin curled into a snarl. He set his blade against Daigoro’s belly and sliced. This one hurt. Shichio made sure of that. He drew the blade slowly, and left the bleeding slab dangling by a flap so it tugged at the wound.
“Laugh at me again and I will cut out your tongue,” he said. “Just as I did with your friend Mio. Just as I’ll do with your ronin up on the cliff, as soon as I catch him. Now why hasn’t he come for you yet? At sunset he was still up there. I expected him to ride in to your rescue. Yes, I did. Why hasn’t he come?”
Because he’s a full day’s hike from here, Daigoro thought. Or a quick jump, if only the pool weren’t so shallow. Katsushima had brought a length of knotted rope with him, and also a great bow and quiver; the fact that he’d used neither meant he must have injured his hands. If he could have joined the fight, he would have. And since he couldn’t, one thing was certain: he’d stay as close to Daigoro as possible. Daigoro could not turn his head far enough to see atop the cliff, but he knew Katsushima was up there, watching helplessly. The man who had loved him like a father now had to watch on as Daigoro was tortured to death.
That thought wounded Daigoro more sharply than his own pain. He could not do that to Katsushima. “Face me, you coward. Cut me loose and face me.”
“With what? With this?” Shichio picked up Glorious Victory Unsought. The mighty blade had been resting in the corner, along with Daigoro’s wakizashi and the rest of his effects. Now Shichio unsheathed it, and took a nick out of the rafter because he was not used to the odachi’s reach.