Angry, rebellious, and lustful, Haru disrupted the orphanage, where she couldn’t get along with the other children, and the monastery, where she got along too well with the monks. Junketsu-in fought to discipline her, but Anraku fancied Haru; he adopted her as a sort of daughter and lover. Suddenly Junketsu-in had another enemy to blight her existence. Still, she persevered and schemed, and she gradually reaped success.
The murders of Chie and Radiant Spirit had removed them forever. Commander Oyama had gotten what he deserved. Haru had been arrested for the crimes, as Junketsu-in had hoped. Anraku had resumed his sexual alliance with Junketsu-in the day after the murders. She was again his mate, but she would not feel safe as long as Haru was still alive.
Anraku grazed Junketsu-in’s cheek with his finger. The heat of his touch stirred her as she recognized the onset of the sexual rite.
“Haru was arrested today,” she said, cautiously broaching a topic that she knew Anraku considered none of her concern.
“I am aware of that. “ Anraku’s finger dragged down her lips, parting them.
Junketsu-in caught her breath. As his finger moved down her chin and throat, she said, “Haru knows much about the temple’s business. Perhaps too much.”
“What is happening to Haru is part of the master scheme,” Anraku said, untying her sash. “She will play her role perfectly.”
Did he intend to do nothing about Haru? Panic tinged Junketsu-in’s thoughts. Then her gray kimono and white under-robe fell away, and she stood naked before Anraku. Arching her neck, she savored the rush of arousal. Anraku shed his garments, revealing sculpted musculature. Smiling beatifically, he glowed with inner energy and immense sexual power.
“Haru has been talking to the sōsakan-sama and his wife,” Junketsu-in said. Surely his desire for her would induce Anraku to listen to her. “She’s already spoken against me because she wants me executed instead of her. To save herself, she may say enough to destroy the Black Lotus. Please stop her before it’s too late.”
“She will say what she is meant to say and do what she is meant to do,” Anraku said. “She is crucial to the destiny of the Black Lotus. My vision has seen the path she must walk.”
Now he began the ritual of Divine Marking. His sharp fingernails gouged Junketsu-in’s neck, breasts, stomach, and buttocks with deep red crescents, lines, and swirls, like a mantra written in flesh. Junketsu-in exclaimed in pain and pleasure. Sensation drowned worry; she gave herself up to Anraku. She bit the tender skin of his armpits, around his navel, and behind his knees. Her teeth left dents where blood welled like tiny red beads.
“You are the fire. I am smoke,” Anraku murmured as they sank onto the bed.
Lying on her back, Junketsu-in raised her legs high, spread them wide. Anraku lowered himself between them and entered her. She swooned at the pleasure. Their bodies moved with flexible ease, her legs first clasping his shoulders then flung outward, his thrusts slow then fast, arms entwining and hands stroking in the most potent ritual of alclass="underline" Igniting the Flower. Junketsu-in climbed on top, rotating her body around his organ inside her. Then she was crouching and he behind her, penetrating deeply. Now they were upright, she with her knees around his waist, he standing and supporting her. Still thrusting, Anraku began to spin.
The room swirled around Junketsu-in. Glinting jewels of light from the canopy and mural circled in the hazy incense smoke. Anraku spun faster. Junketsu-in laughed in giddy exhilaration. As her passion mounted, she saw in her mind a giant black lotus, the petals on fire. The image of the burning flower shone in Anraku’s eye. His face was fierce with desire. Then the climax took them. As Anraku pumped his seed into Junketsu-in and her body pulsed around him, they seemed to leave the earth and whirl through the stars. She screamed her joy. His moan echoed like thunder across mountains. The flaming lotus exploded in her head, and Junketsu-in tasted the ecstasy to come when destiny arrived and the Black Lotus sect achieved enlightenment.
Then Anraku-and she-would have power over the whole world.
21
If one should harbor doubt and fail to believe,
He will fall at once into the path of evil.
– FROM THE BLACK LOTUS SUTRA
Haru-san?” Reiko called, walking down the corridor through the private quarters of Magistrate Ueda’s mansion.
Night had fallen by the time she’d traveled from Shinagawa to Edo, and lanterns shone behind paper walls, but the chamber she’d given Haru was dark. Reiko, come to tell Haru what she’d learned today, slid open the door. She found clothes and sundries on the floor, but no Haru.
“She’s gone,” said Magistrate Ueda.
Reiko turned to see him standing near her. “Gone?” she asked, first puzzled, then alarmed. “Where?”
Shaking his head, Magistrate Ueda regarded Reiko with somber pity. “Let’s sit in the parlor. We can have tea while I explain, hmm?”
“I don’t need any tea.” His stalling increased Reiko’s alarm. “I just want to know what happened to Haru.”
“She is in Edo Jail,” Magistrate Ueda said reluctantly. “This morning your husband arrested her for the crimes at the Black Lotus Temple.”
“What?” Reiko stared in horrified disbelief.
“Sano-san interrogated Haru,” he said, then described how Haru had railed against her husband and Commander Oyama, admitting she’d wanted them dead because they’d hurt her.
“That’s not proof of her guilt,” Reiko cried, though she knew how bad it made Haru look even if it wasn’t exactly a confession.
“There was sufficient other reason to arrest Haru,” Magistrate Ueda said. “She flew into a rage and attacked your husband and Hirata-san. Your husband received minor scratches on his cheek, but Haru managed to claw Hirata-san’s eye.”
The girl who seemed so pathetic and harmless to Reiko presented such a different face to other people, and had now behaved in such a way as to reinforce Sano’s antagonism toward her.
“Attacking my husband and Hirata-san was wrong of Haru, but it isn’t proof that she’s killed anyone,” Reiko said.
Magistrate Ueda frowned. “If you were not so partial to Haru and hostile toward the Black Lotus you would see that her behavior indicates guilt rather than innocence, hmm?”
Reiko did see, but the injustice of persecution based on prejudice and inconclusive findings alarmed her. “My husband’s haste will be our undoing. Why did you just let him arrest Haru?”
“I concurred with his decision. As I told you before, I believe there’s a strong chance that Haru is guilty. What happened here today confirmed my opinion that she’s dangerous and belongs in jail.”
“I can’t believe you took my husband’s side against me.”
Now the magistrate’s expression turned sad. “I would do almost anything for you, Daughter, but I cannot shield a criminal. You must leave Haru to the law. Go home and make peace with your husband.”
Upset and frantic, Reiko ran from the house. Her father had turned against her, but she couldn’t give up and let killers go free.
When Sano rode though the gate of his estate with Hirata, they found Detectives Kanryu, Hachiya, Takeo, and Tadao standing in the torch-lit courtyard. Kanryu and Hachiya still sported the tattered kimonos in which they’d disguised themselves as pilgrims. Sano dismounted, and all four prostrated themselves at his feet. “Please pardon us, Sōsakan-sama,” they chorused. “What’s going on?” Sano said. “You’re supposed to be at the temple.” Just then, the gate opened, and bearers entered the courtyard, carrying a palanquin. Consternation jolted Sano. Where had Reiko gone, and what had she been doing out so late?