Machinations

Ikoma Fudai moved through the halls of the Imperial Palace with a determined stride. Lesser functionaries were quick to move out of his way. Even the dour Seppun stepped aside when they saw the seal he bore. Fudai almost hoped that someone would stop him. It would allow him to postpone the unsavory task that lay before him. Only a fool looked forward to telling the Anvil that one of his plans had failed.

Fudai had briefly considered trying to find a way around it. He could have sent some unfortunate Miya shisha to bear the message. He could have commissioned a shugenja to deliver the message via magic, ostensibly to get the news to him "as swiftly as possible." He could have simply not reported at all, knowing that the rumor would reach the Anvil's ear soon enough.

None of these was acceptable. Fudai was a Lion, and a Lion did not shirk his duty simply because it made him uncomfortable. He had sworn to serve Naseru, the most worthy of Toturi's heirs. As he was among the first to hear the news, so now must he be the first to feel the Anvil's wrath.

"Ikoma Fudai-sama, esteemed omoidasu of the Lion," said the dry voice of Bakin. Bakin was a stooped, spindly old man whose hand shook as he clutched a guttering lantern. Despite his feeble appearance, despite even his peasant status, something in the old servant's demeanor put Fudai on his guard. This was one of the many reasons Fudai respected Hantei Naseru. Even his servants were intimidating.

"You are here to see the Hantei, I presume?" Bakin pressed, his beady eyes carefully downcast.

Fudai only nodded.

"He awaits your arrival," Bakin said, bowing with surprising grace for one so aged. "Please follow me." he opened the shoji screen behind him and passed into the darkened hall beyond.

"Tell me, Bakin," Fudai said as he followed. "How could Naseru-sama know that I have arrived? I sent no word of my departure. I left on the fastest horse I could find, brooked no interference with my approach, and used the emergency seal Naseru-sama himself gave me so that even the Seppun miharu would not bar my path. How could he know that I had arrived already?"

Bakin looked back at Fudai, daring to look into the samurai's eyes. "I have known the young lord since I served the Steel Chrysanthemum, eight winters now," he said "I have watched him grow from boy to man, and one thing always remains the same. If a thing is important, Naseru-sama knows of it first - always." The old servant smiled a crooked smile.

"So he already knows the news I bear?"

Bakin shrugged slightly. "If you think it would be wise to depart without reporting, and trust to his ability to collect this information on his own, I am certain he will understand." Bakin waited patiently.

"I think that I would like to pay my respects to the Hantei now," Fudai said.

"Very good, Ikoma-sama," Bakin said, bowing again and continuing down the hallway. The nightingale floors creaked beneath their every step. the Anvil claimed that a hundred assassins had failed to kill him. Fudai knew the tales well; he and his omoidasu brethren had made certain they were whispered in every court. Whether the tales were true was irrelevant. The word of the Hantei and the truth were one in the same: another trait that Fudai respected.

At the end of the long hallway, a single lantern illuminated a small room. As Fudai crossed the threshold, he noted the looming form of Isei, Naseru's yojimbo, to the right of the door. The Anvil himself sat in the center of the chamber, on a raised seat behind a small writing desk. Behind him, Fudai thought he could see a slim figure in a red silken kimono hovering at the edge of the darkness. He could smell a woman's perfume.

"Ikoma Fudai-san," Naseru said, looking up from his writing with a bland expression. "What brings you to Otosan Uchi, my friend?"

"I come with news of the Imperial Bastard," Fudai replied, kneeling on the mat before Naseru. He removed his daisho from his obi and placed the swords on the floor to his right, where they could not be drawn easily.

"Why do you bow your head, Fudai-san?" Naseru asked with a small chuckle. "What games does my alleged brother play that you should be shamed so?"

"Your agent," Fudai replied. "the Kitsuki magistrate you dispatched to determine the truth of Kaneka's heritage..."

"Remata," Naseru said with a curt nod. "I trust he performed adequately."

"I fear that you may be displeased at the fruits of his labor. Kaneka's supposed link to the Imperial House was not disproved by the Kitsuki's study. It was in fact learned that he is also the rightful heir to the Yasuki family line."

Naseru said nothing. He simply sat still and watched the omoidasu carefully.

ÔKaneka has summoned the armies of the Akodo and ridden forth to secure his supposed birthright," Fudai said. "He has made arrangements to share the land's resources with the Crab in their time of need, but he drives the Crane away at the point of a sword."

Naseru tilted his head slightly. "what did Yasuki Hachi have to say in the face of this new competitor?"

"he faced Kaneka in a duel." Fudai replied.

"Indeed?" Naseru asked, raising one eyebrow.

"The results were... inconclusive. Hachi conceded the duel without bloodshed. A great loss of face for the Emerald Champion."

At that, Naseru finally reacted. A frown deepened the lines of his weathered face, a face that seemed much older than his twenty years. "And now Hachi will return to Otosan Uchi, to research the legitimacy of his own claim, no doubt," Naseru concluded.

Fudai nodded. "Yes, my lord. His legion departed only three days ago. I arrived as swiftly as I could."

"You did well, Fudai-sama," Naseru replied. He looked down at his table once more, his expression unconcerned as he took up his brush. His demeanor suggested that Fudai had been dismissed.

"My lord?" Fudai prompted after several moments.

Naseru gave the bard an irritated glance. "Yes?" he snapped.

"What do you wish me to do?" he asked. "Regarding the Kaneka situation? Clearly you could not have intended for him to gain such an invaluable base of power. The Unicorn and mantis now ally with him openly. It is said even a number of the Scorpion now support the Bast-"

"Fudai-san," Naseru said, his face suddenly shifting to a disarming smile as he interrupted the omoidasu, "let us speak of more pleasant things. i know that your family has a reputation as reclusive scholars, but I hear rumors that you possess some skill with the blade. Is this so?"

"You know it is, Naseru-sama," Fudai stammered, upset by this sudden change in subject. "I trained at Matsu Shiro for three years. I am quite proficient with the katana, wakizashi and no-dachi."

"I see. And in your training with the sword, did you ever have occasion to face a warrior larger and stronger than yourself?"

"Among the Matsu? Frequently."

"Ah," Naseru said. he toyed wit the brush before him, deftly crafting a roaring tiger on the parchment. ÔMy father insured that I had ample training with the blade during my formative years. When facing an opponent assured of his own strength, I learned to use that strength against him. Draw him out. Place him in a position where he believed he had the advantage, so he expended his strength early. hen, when the time came for my opponent to strike, he would realize that my initial attack was a feint, and that he had already lost." Naseru looked up, his eyes meeting Fudai's. "Does any of this make sense to you, omoidasu?"

Fudai smiled slowly. "Yes, Naseru-sama," he replied. "Yes, it does."

"Good," Naseru replied. "To return to our earlier discussion, the result of the Dragon's investigation was not unforeseen. however, the validity of the Miya heraldic records is open to some debate."

"Truly?" Fudai replied, the response startled out of him. He knew better than to question the Anvil, but was well aware that the Miya prided themselves on the accuracy of their records.

"Indeed," Naseru said. "Though that fact is known only to a few at present. There is a certain Miya by the name of Ippei, one of the many scholars who tends the Miya archives. i have evidence that this Ippei is guilty of certain... indiscretions. These indiscretions have recently come to the attention of the Scorpion Clan. In particular, he is being blackmailed by a Scorpion by the name of... what was his name again, my dear?"

"Higatsuku," answered a husky feminine voice from the shadows. Fudai could still not see the source.

"ah. Yes. Higatsuku." Naseru smiled.

"I believe Akodo Kaneka had a Scorpion advisor named Shosuro Higatsuku," Fudai said, the pieces falling into place.

"Did he?" Naseru asked, a note of surprise in his voice. "I had, at first, thought that this Higatsuku had blackmailed poor Ippei-san merely for his own reward, or perhaps to sully the name of my alleged brother. however, if Higatsuku is allied with Kaneka, then his intent becomes much clearer."

"You believe Kaneka ordered Higatsuku to have the Miya records falsified?"

Naseru paused for a long moment. "That is a serious charge, Fudai-san. If it were so, then Kaneka has used a false claim to drive the true daimyo - our own Emerald Champion - from his rightful lands. He has forced the Crab - our noble defenders - to compromise for the food and weapons they need to survive. he has used the Yasuki lands as nothing more than a power base to fund his own campaign for the Steel Throne. Such an accusation could cast a black shadow upon my half-brother."

"A man who perpetrated such a vile act could be no son of Toturi," Fudai replied.

Naseru smiled slightly. "That thought had not occurred to me," he said. "My father's companion, Ginawa, embraced Kaneka as a brother Akodo. Who am I to contradict the honored sensei of the Akodo? However, now that you mention it... Kaneka does seem to bear little resemblance to my father in appearance, demeanor or intelligence." Naseru sighed, as if greatly disappointed.

"Is there a problem, Naseru-sama?" Fudai asked.

"Politics," Naseru said, his voice troubled. "the problem is always politics. Were I to expose this crime, others would suspect that I had ulterior motivations, or that perhaps I had even played some part in these machinations. How will Rokugan see justice done?"

Fudai frowned. "I will see that this information finds its way into the hands of the Emerald Champion, Yasuki Hachi," he said, rising suddenly, his face grim. He tucked his swords behind his obi. "Hachi has gone to great lengths to distance himself from you since the Emerald Championship. The Legions, at least, will believe him. Kaneka's false claim will be annulled. His alliance will fall apart. His claim on the throne will be ruined. Your own connection to the matter will remain concealed, Naseru-sama." Fudai paused for a moment. "In the name of justice, of course."

"Of course," Naseru nodded. "Rokugan could not ask for a more honorable and devoted servant, Ikoma Fudai. When the time comes for me to take my father's throne, you will find a place at my right hand."

Fudai bowed deeply, his face flushing with pride. "I live to serve."

"Indeed," Naseru chuckled, nodding in return. "You are dismissed, Fudai-san. you have much work to do."

Fudai quickly bowed a final time and departed.

"Do you think he really believes what he says?" Bayushi Sunetra's painted white face appeared from the shadows, her blue eyes glinting in the lantern light. "Or do you think he simply twists his words to protect his own honor?"

"Does it matter?" Naseru asked. ÔThe result is the same."

Sunetra smiled. "A masterful plan, my lord," she cooed. "How did you manage to make Ippei plant the documents?"

"It is extraordinary what a man will do, given the proper motivation."

"And how did you create evidence of Higatsuku's blackmail?'

"I did no such thing," Naseru replied. "Ippei was a man of many appetites, and Higatsuku was, in fact, able to uncover one of his lesser secrets. The fact that I was able to ensnare Kaneka's advisor in this web was simply a fortunate coincidence." He peered up at the beautiful Scorpion samurai-ko. "A true master must recognize opportunity, and act upon it swiftly."

Her perfectly painted lips turned in a slight smile. "In the end those coincidences are treated as if they were part of the plan all along."

"Of course, my poison flower," he smiled. "The wise man takes credit for the mistakes of his foes, and shifts the blame for his failure to his enemies."

"Shinsei?" she asked.

"Hardly," Naseru snickered. "Akodo, in one of his more cynical moments. I doubt you will find that quote in the copy of Leadership sitting in the Akodo dojo."

"And what will you do when Kaneka is erased from the picture?" she asked eagerly. ÔWhich of your siblings will you eliminate fro the race next?"

"My dear,' Naseru chuckled, "this contest has hardly begun. This plan is not intended to remove Kaneka from the quest for the throne. Kaneka is hardly the sort of man to quit a duel at first blood."

"Then what is the point of all this?"

"To show the Empire what sort of man my false brother truly is," the Anvil said coldly. "When the Bastard has shown his new allies his dark heart, then we shall see his true strengths as well."

"But more importantly, we shall see his true weaknesses," Sunetra replied.

"Yes," Naseru said regarding her with an impressed grin. "Yes indeed..."

BACK