Shike by Robert J. Shea (the reading list txt) 📕

Shogun Sametono, his family and his generals, had barely arrived at Hakata Bay when lookouts reported the sails of a great fleet off Kyushu. Munetoki called a meeting of officers at sunrise, six days after the full moon of the Eifth Month. Before the camp at Hakozaki, northernmost of the three towns around the bay, a pavilion had been built on the beach. Over three hundred samurai of the highest rank, all in full battle dress, sat facing it. These men would lead the defence forces. In the pavilion Munetoki, Sametono, and Miura Zumiyoshi met with the commanding generals. Jebu, who held no official rank, sat in the front row of warriors facing the pavilion.

Scouts had reported a portion of the enemy fleet sailing towards the coast of Honshu, but the leaders agreed this was only a diversion, and that the main body of Mongols would land here at Hakata Bay. Sametono, dressed in general’s armour with white lacings, gave a short speech, and the officers bowed low to their Shogun and then gave a cheer for him. Munetoki gave an even shorter talk in down-to-earth eastern province style, promising rewards for all, especially those who distinguished themselves in battle. Jebu kept glancing beyond the leaders at the distant grey line where sky met sea, knowing that some time today or tomorrow the first enemy sails would appear there.

A horse-drawn carriage surrounded by riders in full armour carrying both the Muratomo and the Shima banners rolled up the hard-packed sand of the beach and into the space in front of the pavilion. Guards stepped to the rear door of the carriage and placed a little stepladder under it.

Taniko emerged from the carriage. The first sight of her was dazzling. The sun had just risen above the hills behind the bay, and its early-morning light flashed on her headdress of lacy gold set with jewels, pearls and coral. She wore gold necklaces and an embroidered lavender outer robe. She carried a large folding fan made of thin strips of carved ivory. Jebu, who had spent part of the night with her, was as surprised as anyone at this apparition. She had sent him away at the hour of the ox without explanation. She must have spent the remainder of the night dressing for this occasion. She had not given Jebu a hint of what she was planning and neither, judging from the dumbfounded expressions on the faces of Munetoki, Sametono and the others, had she told anyone else. Jebu wished Moko could be here to see Taniko as she was today, but he was out on the sea with a scout ship, watching for the Great Khan’s fleet.

With a bearing that was a marvel of stateliness for a woman so small, Taniko mounted the dais under the pavilion. The lords hastily made room for her, and she took a seat between Sametono and Munetoki.

Jebu heard the whispers scurry through the ranks of kneeling men around him: “The AmaShogun.” One by one the awed samurai bent forward and touched their hands and foreheads to the sand. Now Jebu understood why Taniko had come here. Until now this had been a gathering of military men, nervous on the day before a battle, discussing an unknown enemy. Her presence raised the occasion to the level of a rite, and the pavilion had become a shrine.

But not everyone was pleased. “My lady, it is not seemly for you to present yourself, without any shield or screen, in a gathering of men,” Munetoki growled. “Consider your reputation.” He tried to speak softly, but his drill-ground voice inevitably carried out to the first few rows of samurai.

“Much more than my reputation is at stake today, Lord Regent,” said Taniko in a clear voice that, ‘though much lighter than Munetoki’s, was perfectly audible. “We are beginning a struggle for the very life of this nation. I feel I may have something of value to say to our warriors, and if I am not perfectly safe among my samurai, I would rather be dead. If I am not interrupting anything, may I speak?”

“It is most irregular,” Munetoki grumbled. “Unheard of.”

At fifteen, Sametono spoke in a deepening but still youthful voice. “It is unprecedented that the Sacred Islands should be invaded by foreign barbarians. At such a time all must contribute in whatever way they can. Of course my mother may speak.”

Taniko bowed, the diamonds on her headdress flashing. “Thank you, my son.”

The beach was silent as a temple, the only sound the shoreward rush of the waves in the harbour, the whisper of a light breeze and the fluttering of banners. Taniko’s voice had, as always, a high, metallic ring, but there was in it a strength Jebu had never heard before. Her words easily reached even the samurai in the rear ranks. It occurred to Jebu that she had never done anything of this kind before. How and when could she possibly have prepared herself? What an amazing woman. His heart filled to bursting with love for her.

“Noble lords and warriors of the Sunrise Land, forgive my temerity in speaking to you, though I am a mere woman. As his lordship the Shogun has said so well, these are unusual times, and they call forth unusual actions from all of us. Though I am a woman, I am also, like you, samurai. So, think that I come before you today as samurai, and excuse my boldness.

“Let me remind you that I was the wife of the great Lord Muratomo no Hideyori, whose wisdom and strength gave us the new system of government best suited to meet this national peril. As you know, I am also the mother of Muratomo no Sametono, the present Shogun, whom all of us worship for his beauty and brilliance. Because of my late husband and my son I claim your loyalty and ask your indulgence.

“Warriors leave their women behind when they go to war, and when they return they expect to be greeted with a simple modest ‘Welcome home.’ It is not considered becoming in samurai families for husband and wife to display much public affection; this we all know. But we also know that our warriors deeply love their wives, their mothers, their daughters, their sisters. So I come before you representing all those women. Our spirit will be fighting beside you. You fight to defend the Emperor and the nation, you fight for glory, but you also fight for the women who are so dear to you. What will become of us should you fall in battle and we be taken prisoner by the barbarians? Be sure that we will make every effort to kill ourselves rather than fall into their power. And we shall take with us into the Void as many of the enemy as we can. If the invaders come to our cities and our castles and our homes, we women will take their heads. We will be ready for them.” She paused and smiled grimly. “Eor, is not Amaterasu Omi Kami, the supreme goddess of our Sacred Islands, a woman too?”

In those words Jebu heard the rage of a woman who knew in her own person what it was to be a captive of the Mongols. Kublai Khan himself had taken her as his property and made use of her. Had she ever had any choice about whether she would lie with the Great Khan?

“Were I not a woman, I would compete with everyone here to take the first head of a Mongol invader.” Taniko went on. “I envy all of you this opportunity to gain glory. All who take part in winning this war and saving the nation will be heroes never to be forgotten.

“In all this world there is no people like us. Nowhere else is there a nation whose people attack every task, be it fighting a battle, planting a field or writing a poem, with such spirit. We are unique in our love of beauty, which we apply to even the smallest objects we possess. Our language, our poetry, our temples and houses, our paintings, our very thinking and feeling, the life within our families, all of these are special to us.

“Our people have lived in these beautiful islands, protected by the sea, for centuries and centuries, and we have been free to be ourselves alone. Those of us who have travelled to distant places never knew a day’s peace or happiness until we could return to this land of the gods.” Taniko paused.

“A priest could tell you of the gods better than I can, and happily there are many priests among you who have come to pray with you for our success in this war. This I know; every rock, every stream, every tree in these islands is the home of a kami, a god. Our Emperor himself is a god in the flesh and a descendant of the sun goddess. This land was created by the