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sense that the sight of her entirely naked body had aroused his desire to a new pitch of intensity and she was not surprised when a moment later the sword reappeared in her range of vision. Its point descended very deliberately to rest on one of her bare knees, then probed down between her thighs until it touched the matting on which she knelt. The cutting edge of the blade was turned inward and she parted her legs with a sharp intake of breath as Tanaka began to move it with slow deliberation towards the most vulnerable point of her body.
“Why am I in danger because of our association, my lord?’ asked Tokiwa desperately, her eyes still fixed on the moving steel. ‘And how does the coming of the barbarians put you at risk?’
‘Because their arrival has caused great strife among our ruling factions. We are badly divided on how to respond!’
‘I don’t understand, my lord. .
‘Perhaps you understand more than you admit, O Tokiwa-san! And perhaps already you know my enemies! Perhaps they even paid you, and armed you with that dagger, to assassinate me - is that what happened?’
He continued to shift the sword steadily, forcing her to spread her thighs ever wider to avoid the blade’s lethal caress. Risking a quick glance at his face, she saw that his eyes were hot with a terrible mixture of suspicion and desire. She wondered desperately if she should try to rise to defend herself, but some deep instinct rooted her to the floor. The ancient Bushido code, she knew, i m pelled a samurai to act without hesitation on his first instinct to kill - and the law of the land gave him impunity to do so. Every geisha who entertained samurai was acutely aware of these facts, and therefore behaved with the greatest discretion in the company of warriors. Remembering this, Tokiwa lowered her head in the coy, submissive manner which her training and experience had taught her was erotically pleasing to all men of Nippon. Half turning from him, she slowly brushed her long hair aside with one hand, to reveal completely the vulnerable curve of her naked neck.
‘My lord, please believe me,’ she said softly, speaking over her shoulder. ‘I wished you no harm. I have been much honoured by your past visits. They have always brought me the greatest pleasure. Today I was merely preparing to defend my life against an unknown intruder. I know nothing of the danger to you or the disputes among the ruling factions.’
The sword had arrived within an inch of the fine whorls of dark hair that shadowed the naked arch of her thighs, and it was still moving. But although she wanted desperately to shrink away from it, she held to her decision not to show fear openly, and remained motionless on the tatami. Hardly daring to breathe, she watched the approaching blade with a calm, expressionless face.
In the absence of any spoken words, the noise from the street seemed to grow louder. Above the frenzied tolling of temple bells, the angry voices of several running men increased in volume as they drew nearer. The sword, now al m ost touching her, stopped moving, and she guessed that he had paused to listen to the disturbance outside. But she found that she dared not raise her head in case it provoked him further in some way she could not anticipate.
‘Those of us close to the Emperor in the south believe it is wiser to try and learn the secrets of these barbarians!’ said Tanaka suddenly in a fierce whisper. ‘Leaders of the great Satsuma and Chohshu clans are in agreement with my father and others like him who lead the smaller southern clans. We believe we must try to find out by guile what makes the foreign barbarians so strong. Only then can we strengthen and save our nation.’
‘And who is it that opposes you?’ cut in Tokiwa quickly, sensing her chance might have come.
‘Several clan leaders here in the north wish to strike against them at once! They believe it’s the only way to expel the barbarians from our sacred soil once and for all. Men