Akitada exchanged a glance with Tora. "How long have they been here?" he asked the boy.

"Since yesterday."

The thought that Sakanoue had sent thugs to watch the boy, or worse, crossed Akitada's mind instantly. Sesshin must have warned Sakanoue about Akitada's visit. Once again Akitada was reminded that only this child stood between Sakanoue and total control of the Minamoto fortune. It had been a terrible mistake to tell that old fake of a priest about his suspicions!

"Take a look outside, Tora," he said.

Tora disappeared and returned shortly. "A big rascal with an ugly face is out front. There's nobody out back."

"Sadamu," said Akitada to the boy, lowering his voice, "I don't like the idea of leaving you here until we have checked out the new help. I think we will take you home with us tonight."

The boy was on his feet in an instant, his face bright with excitement. Tossing a few books and clothes into a large square of silk, he knotted it and handed the bundle to Tora. Then he took up his sword and said, "I am ready, sir."

"Perhaps," said Akitada softly, "it would be better if you left quietly the back way. Tora and I are going out by the front. Tora will then double back and meet you at the back door."

The young lord's eyes flashed with the thrill of danger. He slung the strap of his sword over his shoulder, tested its readiness, and then took the bundle back from Tora, whispering, "I shall be waiting."

The maneuver was carried out with great success. Akitada and the boy walked quickly out of the dormitory enclosure and down the deserted street to the gate, while Tora lingered behind, making sure they were not being followed.

At home, Akitada installed his guest in his own room and went to inform his mother about their visitor. He was nervous about her reaction to the unannounced guest. It would be very awkward if she retaliated by refusing to receive Lord Minamoto.

But he should have known his mother better. As soon as he mentioned the boy's name, her eyes sparkled with interest.

"Prince Yoakira's little grandson? How charming! Finally you are cultivating the proper connections. You never mentioned that the poor fatherless child is your student. Nothing could be better! I shall ask him to consider this his home from now on. It is absolutely incomprehensible to me how his family could allow a boy of his background to mingle with unsuitable companions in a common dormitory." She made it sound as if young Sadamu had been condemned to live in an outcast village.

"It is a temporary arrangement only," said Akitada, "as is his visit here. I am merely giving the boy an outing, since tomorrow is a holiday."

"Don't be foolish!" snapped his mother. "This is your chance to become his private tutor. Then, as he rises in the world, so will you." She clapped her hands.

An elderly maid appeared and fell to her knees, waiting for her mistress's instructions with her head bowed to the floor. Akitada cringed inwardly. The woman, Kumoi, had been his nurse and his mother's before him. She was getting old and frail. His mother's insistence on proper respect struck him as unnecessarily cruel.

"Ah, Kumoi," Lady Sugawara said briskly. "Make haste to ready the large chamber next to my son's room for our noble guest. Have the maid scrub the floor and then move in several of the best grass mats from other rooms. Then you may go to the storehouse and select suitable furnishings. The best of everything— screens, scroll paintings, braziers, clothes boxes, lamp stands— you know what is necessary. And look for some games suitable for a boy of eleven as well. The bedding is to be of quilted silk only. Arrange everything tastefully and then return. Now hurry! I will inspect his room personally."

Kumoi wordlessly knocked her head against the floorboards and scuttled from the room.

"There was no need to burden the poor woman this way," said Akitada. "She is getting too old— and besides, young Minamoto is merely a child."

His mother fixed him with a cold eye. "Clearly you do not know what is owed to someone of that child's standing," she snapped. "Treat him well, and he may reward you some day. Treat him shabbily, and you have made an enemy for life. To people of his background, nothing is more disagreeable than low surroundings."

Akitada remembered the student dormitories and suppressed a smile. "Oh, I don't know," he said insidiously. "His lordship has become very fond of Tora since they flew kites together. He looks forward to spending most of his time with our servant."

His mother was taken aback. Then she snorted, "You should never have permitted that association! The boy's family will be shocked to the core. You will think up something to distract the child from Tora. Teach him football or something!"

Akitada smiled. "I hope to spend a little time with the boy," he said, adding as an afterthought, "In fact, the situation is a little like my own first stay with the Hiratas. I was not much older than he."

His year in the Hirata family was a sore subject between them, and his mother stiffened. With a frown she said, "That reminds me. Someone brought a letter for you from Tamako. She very properly enclosed it in a cover note to me. Here." She fished a slim, folded sheet from her sash and passed it to Akitada.

His heart skipped. The old pain, the many unanswered questions, were back in an instant. Struggling to maintain his composure, he said, "Thank you, Mother." The note he tucked, unread, in his sleeve, adding, "I had better go now and see to our guest." Bowing, he withdrew quickly.

Out in the corridor, he unfolded Tamako's letter with trembling hands. Whatever he had expected— and should not have expected in a letter meant to be read by his mother— he was disappointed. The note was extremely short and the form of address clearly put him in his place:

"Dear Honorable Elder Brother. Forgive this importunity, but could you look in on Father? His health is poor and we fear the worst. Your obedient younger sister."

Akitada refolded the paper in a state of confused unhappiness. He recalled guiltily the drawn face of Hirata and his repeated attempts to speak to Akitada. Could he be truly ill? Akitada blamed himself for the cold distance he had put between them the last few days. What if the older man's collapse had been more than indigestion? He really should have taken him home and explained matters to Tamako.

But seeing Tamako was more than he could face. It was impossible! It would open up too many old wounds. Akitada recalled bitterly that it had been her wish to discuss her father's condition that had started the whole miserable affair.

Twisting the letter in his hands, he wondered what to do. He walked out into the garden and started pacing. After some thought, he decided that Tamako intended him to look in on her father at the university. He would make it a point to see Hirata on the very next day of classes. Afterwards he could communicate the results to his "younger sister" by letter.

This problem settled, he tucked the letter in his sash and returned to his room and offered the boy some hot tea and sweet plums.

"Where is Tora?" asked Sadamu through a full mouth.

Tora! Akitada had forgotten all about him. What could have delayed him this long? He excused himself and headed for the courtyard to look for Tora. To his relief, the gate opened the moment he stepped out, and the truant slipped in.

Now that he was no longer worried, Akitada became irritated. "Where have you been all this time?" he snapped.