“But, My Lord—” he gasped.

Lord Ankan sprang to his feet.

“You will do as I say!” he snapped. “A samurai must obey his lord in all things.”

Jimmu bowed his head again.

“As you wish, My Lord,” he said.

19 - MITSUKAGE CASTLE ISE PROVINCE

19

MITSUKAGE CASTLE ISE PROVINCE

WINTER 1572

After Lord Ankan left, Jimmu spent a long time reading through the scroll. The account of the trial was just as Lord Ankan had said. Nichiren had taken the facts and turned them inside out to poison Jimmu’s mind.

The old Jimmu, the one driven by a burning for revenge, was dead; the new Jimmu faced an uncertain future. Only one thing was certain: he would accept Lord Ankan’s punishment without complaint, no matter what it might be.

Just as Jimmu reached this conclusion, the door of his room suddenly flew back, and Takeko appeared in the doorway. She was dressed all in white, her hair hung loose, and the expression in her eyes was terrifying.

“My father told me about you,” she said in an alarmingly quiet voice. “He took you in and fed you, and all the while you were plotting his death. I hate you. I wouldn’t have treated you as my father has. I would have had you tortured with hot irons, and watched you die slowly. You tricked me into thinking you cared for me, but it was just a way of getting closer to my father, wasn’t it? All you cared about was revenge. Don’t dare to deny it! I won’t believe anything you say!”

She spun on her heel, and stormed off along the corridor.

Jimmu made no attempt to stop her. He sensed that nothing he could say would make things right, and besides, he felt that he deserved Takeko’s hatred.

Jimmu regained his strength and began training again. His instructor was a samurai named Ina Kyo, who had taken part in the raid on the Takeda camp. It took only a few sessions to demonstrate to Kyo that he had nothing to teach his pupil about the use of weapons, so he concentrated on unarmed combat, and on building up Jimmu’s stamina.

Kyo could do nothing for Jimmu’s state of mind, however. The daylight hours were filled with training, leaving Jimmu little opportunity to think about himself. Nighttime was a different matter. Jimmu suffered from horrifically vivid dreams in which he was forced to fight Captain Muraki and Nichiren simultaneously, or found himself alone on a battlefield, facing the entire Takeda cavalry. The nightmares disturbed his sleep, so that he woke feeling just as tired as when he had lain down. Fatigue affected his concentration during training. Kyo noticed, and questioned Jimmu about it.

Jimmu responded angrily.

“I don’t know why I can’t concentrate!” he snapped. “Why can’t you leave me alone?”