Yamada Monogatori: The Emperor in Shadow Read Online Free PDF

clear. Now I could see the distinct silhouette of the formal robes worn by noblewomen, but nothing yet of colors other than the faint red glow cast by the ghost light.
    “That is court dress,” Kenji said.
    There was no mistaking it now. The apparition wore the karaginu mo , the twelve-layer kimono and Chinese overjacket that marked the court style. Whoever the ghost had been in life, she had been a lady of the imperial court and a high-ranking one.
    Manifesting near Kamakura and following us from the provinces all the way to Ise Bay?
    I almost stopped myself from taking the last several steps to where the path nearly touched the water, but it was far too late for that now. The moon cast its light, and in that moment the ghost was fully revealed.
    “Princess Teiko!”
    No sooner had Kenji spoken the words than we both dropped to our knees and bowed low, almost by reflex. I had to force myself to look up, perhaps hoping that Kenji had been wrong—that we both had been wrong. Teiko smiled at me then. The voice that reached out to us was faint, but unmistakable.
    “You are not done. There is more.”
    A cloud scudded across the face of the waning moon, dropping the garden into a deeper shadow. When it had passed, Teiko was gone.
    Kenji poured the first round. “Well, now we know who was following us, and you were right, Lord Yamada—she wanted us to know.”
    I didn’t bother to reply. I was on my third cup of rice wine before Kenji spoke again.
    “Old habits, Lord Yamada?”
    I stared at the wine. I had known men and women for who rice wine had been everything. I had never been one of those, despite my reputation. My drinking—although extensive and heavy—had always had a purpose aside from the drinking itself, and when that purpose was gone, so was the need. Perhaps I had been wrong about that purpose being no more but now, I believed, was not the time to reconsider.
    “I see you’re not lagging behind me,” I said, and it was true enough. Kenji had matched me cup for cup since we had returned to our room.
    “That’s not what I meant.”
    “I know.”
    Kenji grunted. He didn’t say anything else for a little while, but we both finished our cups and neither reached for more. “That was . . . unexpected.”
    Even after all these years, I still wasn’t certain how much Kenji knew about my relationship with Princess Teiko, though I was certain he knew more than most. What he wasn’t saying now spoke louder than his words.
    “I don’t understand,” I said.
    Kenji looked at me. “I thought it was clear enough—Takahito is still not on the throne.”
    I stared at the empty cup. “That Crown Prince Takahito still has not ascended is rather obvious, and Princess Teiko, as I recall, had a visceral disdain for the obvious. She’s almost certainly referring to something else.”
    “Do you know what?”
    “No.”
    Kenji considered my answer. “That’s not what you meant when you said ‘I don’t understand,’ was it?”
    “I told you about Shinoda Forest,” I said.
    “Yes, that time Princess Teiko’s ghost was rumored to be haunting the woods. Only it turned out to be Lady Kuzunoha trying to get your attention—which worked. I was there, as I recall.”
    “You weren’t there when I spoke to Princess Teiko’s ghost,” I said.
    “That was Lady Kuzunoha still impersonating Princess Teiko.”
    “She denied it,” I pointed out.
    “You and I both know she was lying out of kindness,” Kenji said. “While I will admit that such consideration is a rare trait in a fox demon, I’m willing to concede that Lady Kuzunoha has a touch of charity in her soul, as I have seen it in action more than once. When her life is done, it may even shorten her time in hell.”
    “Perhaps I am simply deluding myself. But whether it was to her ghost or not, I said my farewells to Princess Teiko there in Shinoda Forest.”
    “Perhaps you did,” Kenji said. “I know you said the words, and I do think that helped you