Plans Within Plans

 

by Nancy Sauer

 

 

Doji Domotai walked through the halls of Kyuden Otomo, trailed by a fashionable dressed Asahina woman. Her face was set in an open pleasant, expression and her walk was the smooth glide of a court lady. No one looking at her would guess that Domotai had fixed that expression with the same care and determination she would use in putting on her armor before going out to battle.

The two Crane reached the private apartments of the Lady of the castle and were admitted without fuss by a servant. Otomo Hoketuhime welcomed them into her study with a gracious smile. “Thank you for agreeing to this meeting on such short notice, Domotai-san,” she said. “I thought it best that we lose no time in this matter.”

“It was no problem at all, Hoketuhime-san,” Domotai replied. She gave an equally gracious smile as the Otomo woman digested her choice of honorifics and the implications of that choice. Then she gestured at the third woman present. “Please allow me to introduce Asahina Beniha. She is one of Nagori’s most gifted assistants, and I felt that she could be of more use to us in the future if she were to be present now. If you disagree, I can send her away.”

“Not at all,” Hoketuhime replied. “Your judgment on this is sufficient for me. Would you like some tea?”

“Tea would be wonderful. Jorihime and Nagori both speak highly of your favorite blends.” Domotai accepted a cup from a light-footed servant and sipped it appreciatively. After a few minutes of small talk regarding the flavor of the tea and the origin of the pot being used to serve it, she finished her tea and put the cup down. “Forgive my impertinence, but I believe we should address the matter of the prophecy first.”

“Indeed, all of Rokugan is buzzing with talk of the events at the Jade Championship.” Hoketuhime regarded the liquid remaining in her own cup thoughtfully. “I think that this will play very much to our advantage. ‘The Empire of Rokugan has strayed too far from the Path of Heaven... the Light of Heaven will rule over Rokugan...’ It should take very little work to argue that this refers to the return of the Hantei Dynasty.”

“How to present it, though?” Domotai fiddled slightly with her cup. “To simply announce it as Heaven’s approval of your candidacy is unsubtle, and will lead to resistance in some who would otherwise support you.”

Beniha was silent, but she held her half-full cup tightly in her hands and regarded Hoketuhime and Domotai with a slightly worried expression.

“We need some reliable shugenja, maybe a few monks.” Hoketuhime paused in thought. “I have the Seppun, of course, and you the Asahina, but we will need to recruit some who are not our vassals. I will see whom I can find among the Lion. Can you see to the Phoenix?”

“Yes. I will also speak with the Masters of the Kakita Artisans — there must be some old plays and stories with themes that can be used in our support.”

“An excellent idea,” Hoketuhime said. She paused and looked closely at Beniha. “Asahina-san, you appear troubled. Do you not approve of our plans?”

Beniha bowed her head slightly. “Otomo-sama, it is my honor to serve my Champion, not judge her.”

“Beniha-san,” Domotai said, “I have brought you here because Nagori thinks highly of your skill and intelligence. If you see something wrong with our plans, it is your place to point it out.” There was a slight edge to her voice.

“Forgive me, Lady Doji,” Beniha said. “I see no flaws in your current plans. It is only...” She paused, and then continued. “My lady, I serve the Crane as a courtier now but I am one gifted in the speech of the kami and have been trained as a shugenja from childhood. And so it disturbs me to see a prophecy from heaven being treated as a political tool.” The Asahina woman bowed her head, ready for the repercussions of her words.

Domotai opened her mouth to reply but Hoketuhime waved a hand briefly and exchanged a look with her. Domotai frowned slightly and then nodded. “Beniha-san,” the Otomo princess said, “you believe that this truly was a prophecy from the Celestial Heavens.”

“Yes, Otomo-sama,” Beniha said. “I was at the Jade Championship as a competitor, and spoke to the Phoenix who were there. They are certain of it, and the Phoenix cannot be doubted in such matters.”

“I have spoken to the Seppun shugenja who were present and they agree with you. And since I would be a fool to argue a spiritual matter against the Phoenix and the Seppun, I agree also. But consider this: You are reacting to this event as a priestess would. This is right and proper, considering your family and training. Domotai and I, on the other hand, are the daughters of courtly families. When we treat this as a political event, we are not working against Heaven — on the contrary, we are fulfilling the roles that Heaven has assigned to us. Is that not so?”

Beniha looked up with a thoughtful look on her face. “It is exactly as you say, Otomo-sama… I am embarrassed to have not seen it myself.”

Hoketuhime gave the Asahina courtier a warm smile. “There is nothing to be embarrassed over,” she said. “It is not as if this kind of thing happens frequently.”

“Again, it is as you say.” Beniha turned to Domotai. “My lady, I became friendly with Isawa Kimi at the Championship. I could write to her and begin the process of seeking out allies in the Phoenix.”

“An excellent plan,” Domotai said with a nod. “Hoketuhime-san, was there anything else you wished to discuss today?”

“Only one more thing,” the Otomo said. Her look was friendly, but there was a certain coolness in her eyes. “There is the matter of your cousin, Doji Yasuyo.”

“Yasuyo? What of her?” Domotai’s expression was one of bland interest.

“Several of my correspondents have mentioned her in connection with the Throne. It seems that she is trading on her position as a Toturi widow — for all that Kaneka never took the name — and is trying to raise support for herself to be named Empress.”

“Ah, that.” Domotai gave a dismissive wave of her hand. “I am very sorry if these reports disturbed you, Hoketuhime-san. I considered this development to be an advantage for you, otherwise I would have spoken of it before.”

“I am unaware of how a rival candidate can be considered to be an advantage,” Hoketuhime said. Her glance flicked from Domotai to Beniha and back again. “Perhaps this is some political trick you learned from the Matsu?”

“I would say it is closer to what my father would have done,” Domotai said calmly. “Though I know that my sensei usually approved of sound strategies. Yasuyo appeals to those who want the Toturi dynasty to continue, so her efforts will not directly undermine yours. And when she declares her support for you, you will reap the benefits.”

“When she declares her support for me?” Hoketuhime said.

“Is it so surprising?” Beniha said. “Lady Domotai is Yasuyo’s champion; would she not be able to arrange this?”

“I was aware that Yasuyo persisted in using the Doji name. I admit I have never quite understood how she could still be a Crane.”

“I think the Phoenix liked Kaneka’s quasi-Imperial status,” Domotai said, “and encouraged it by allowing a certain nebulousness about him. He was not pressed to swear fealty to any particular family within the Phoenix. And Yasuyo never swore fealty to his clan either. The section of their marriage contract where such issues are normally written out simply does not exist. Then too, some of my advisors have suggested that Kaneka liked to remind people that he had a Doji bride.”

“Who could imagine it,” Hoketuhime said dryly. “Very well, she is your vassal at the moment. Will she remain that way?”

“You doubt her honor?” Domotai asked.

“Not in the least,” Hoketuhime said. “But an Empress must be above loyalties to a single clan and Yasuyo might decide to begin the process early.”

Domotai bowed her head slightly in acknowledgment of the point. “I believe that my cousin is, and will remain, loyal to the Crane — at least, unless she is actually crowned Empress. But you may question Nagori on this point when he returns. He has gone to visit her on a family matter.”

 

           

The mansion had a high wall surrounding an elegant, well-kept garden. The mansion itself was of a size appropriate to the widow of a high-ranking samurai but was somewhat small, Nagori thought, for the widow of the Shogun. But then, his sister’s taste had always run to the simple. He followed the servant through the house, noting that the house guards all had the Crane mon on their shoulders and the mon of the Shogun over their hearts. Few Crane samurai had joined Kaneka’s forces, even after he opened them to non-Phoenix, but Yasuyo seemed to have acquired them all.

The servant stopped at a door and knelt down to open it. Nagori bowed to the woman who stood inside, who bowed in return.

“I thank you for your gracious welcome,” Nagori said.

“You are always welcome in my house, brother,” Yasuyo said. She gestured at a table that had been set for tea. “Please, come in.”

Nagori entered, followed by the servant, and knelt at the table. Yasuyo joined him and waited until the servant had poured the tea and departed before speaking.

“The tea is called Golden Needle, I hope you like it. It is quite popular in the Phoenix lands, though I never heard of it before living there.”

Nagori tasted it thoughtfully. “It is excellent,” he said. “I will have to obtain a supply of my own, for when you visit me next spring.”

Yasuyo gave him an enquiring look. “And why will I be visiting you this spring?”

Her brother gave her a wide smile. “Why, you will be celebrating the birth of my first child,” he said.

“Oh!” Yasuyo said. “Congratulations. You and Jorihime must be very pleased.”

“We are,” Nagori said. “Jorihime has thrown herself into making preparations — it reminds me a bit of watching Hachi plan a military campaign.”

Yasuyo laughed a little, and then silence descended on the pair while they drank their tea and thought of absent friends. Finally she spoke again. “You are always welcome, for whatever reason, but I do not think Domotai sent you here to bring me news of your child.”

“No,” Nagori said quietly. “She has sent me to ask what your intentions are regarding the Throne.”

“If she is asking, then she already knows the answer,” Yasuyo replied. “I intend to take it.”

“An ambitious project,” Nagori said. “Some would wonder if you are worthy. Others, if you are capable of carrying through.”

“I am the last remaining member of the Toturi Dynasty,” Yasuyo said. Her mouth crooked into a small smile. “And I have almost as much Hantei blood as Otomo Hoketuhime.”

“Being a Toturi was of little help to Kurako,” Nagori said.

“Kurako ruled as a placeholder; Naseru left behind two brothers, either of which was arguably his heir. No one alive now has a better claim to represent the Toturi than I. And unlike Kurako, my husband did not keep me ignorant of his plans and policies.”

“The Lion have put forth Toturi Shigekawa as a candidate for Emperor.”

“An honorable and intelligent man,” Yasuyo said, “who was nevertheless only a vassal of the Toturi house, and not a member of it. Who outside of the Lion would support him over me? And in time I think I could bring him and the Lion Clan over to me as well. Did I not fight to defend Otosan Uchi when Daigotsu attacked it? Did I not help Kurohito break the curse on Chukandomo and complete our ancestor’s designs for that blade? I have done many things to make the Lion admire me, and nothing that would cause them to dislike me.”

Nagori noted sadly to himself that listening to his sister talk had become a tiny bit like listening to Otomo Hoketuhime. “And if your Champion were to command you to abandon your efforts to gain the Throne and put your support behind someone else, what would you do?”

Yasuyo favored him with a quizzical look. “Why would Domotai wish to do that?”

“I do not need to know why,” Nagori said. “She wishes to know the answer, and that is enough for me.”

“I—” Yasuyo broke off her words. She stared down at her tea for a long time before speaking again. “I swore my loyalty to the Crane at my gempukku, and my marriage did not change that. If that is Domotai’s command then I will obey.” She paused a moment. “Even if it were very foolish. Kurohito would never have done such a thing.”

“Then you should be relieved to know that this is not her command at this time,” Nagori said. “She does, however, wish you to avoid directly challenging Otomo Hoketuhime as much as possible.”

“I would think that she is my greatest challenge,” Yasuyo said.

“Perhaps,” Nagori said. “But consider this: so long as you avoid direct confrontations, you avoid making her think of you as an enemy. And at a certain point, we might be able to persuade her to add her support to you.”

“I find that hard to imagine.”

Nagori shrugged lightly. “If you become Empress, then the Otomo are once again connected to the Imperial Family by ties of blood. It is not quite as good as being Empress, but it is far more than any other candidate can offer her.”

“True,” Yasuyo said thoughtfully. “Please inform my Champion that I will of course obey her instructions.”

 

           

“My meeting with Hoketuhime went well,” Domotai said. “Your advice to bring along Beniha was brilliant.”

Nagori nodded. Domotai was one of the most self-possessed young women he had ever met, but when dealing with the Otomo daimyo one needed every advantage. For all her worldliness the Asahina had a pious streak that would put her immediately at odds with Hoketuhime, and having someone already primed to jump in and distract her was quite useful. It had the potential of ruining Beniha’s career as a courtier, but some sacrifices had to be made for the sake of the clan.

On that thought he winced slightly. Yasuyo was turning into Hoketuhime, and he was starting to sound like Kaukatsu. “Honor is my guide,” he whispered to himself.

“She seemed concerned about Yasuyo, but I believe that I have convinced her not to take any direct action against her for now,” Domotai went on.

“A demanding and delicate task,” Nagori said. “Your father would be proud. The Crane have two strong candidates for the Throne, and no in-fighting between them.”

“It will be difficult to choose between them, but I presume who is more likely to succeed will become clearer in time.”

“What of the prophecy?” Nagori said, curious. “Should we not be investigating it for possible guidance?”

“Prophecy,” Domotai said dismissively. “It is of no use to me.”

“You do not believe it is true?”

“I am certain it will come true, in some way not one of us could possibly imagine. And that being the case, of what good is it? You remember the night of my gempukku, when Doji Reju received that warning from the Celestial Wanderer. It was clearly about the Gozoku,” she said bitterly, “and knowing it did me no good at all. So I will work to create the future I want, and the prophecy can come true in that future.” She looked up at Nagori. “Do you have anything else to tell me?”

“No,” Nagori said.

Domotai smiled at him. “You should go and rest, then. Travel is wearisome, and we have much to do.”