Smoke in the Sun (Flame in the Mist #2)(22)

“Is this true?” the empress asked in an amiable tone, as though she were asking after the girl’s family.

“I—I was only smiling in his direction, and we—”

“Before you refute the charges, know that three of the ladies now present saw you with the boy and are willing to say as much to the emperor.”

Suke glanced around for a moment—her features in a panic—willing someone to come to her defense. Several of the other girls near her age averted their gazes or sipped their tea as though Suke’s future were not on trial before their very eyes. When she realized she was utterly alone, Suke sobbed once more.

“You are to be joined in union with the son of Lord Toranaga, no?” the empress continued.

Suke did not reply.

The empress’s lips gathered. “Answer me at once, or we will leave you for the men to punish as they see fit.”

“Yes, my lady.” Suke bowed. “I am to wed Lord Toranaga’s eldest son at the end of the summer.”

Her expression stern, the empress unfurled to her feet in a rustle of silk. “So you are to be wed to one man, yet you shamelessly cavort with another, mere weeks before your union?”

Suke’s eyes flitted around the room once more, but this time she did not seek an ally. Her lower lip trembled in betrayal as she struggled to find the sources of her misfortune. “Yes, my lady.”

One girl—whose heart-shaped face had paled—coughed to clear her throat, then looked away again.

“You shameful piece of filth,” the empress said to Suke. “I should tell the emperor what you have done and ruin the entire Hirata line in the process. You stain the reputation of the imperial court with your wantonness.” The lines deepened across the empress’s forehead as she spoke. As she stared down at Suke, the moment stretched thin. Thinner than a strand of hair about to snap. Then the empress’s face smoothed all at once in an unnerving fashion. “But I am forgiving, am I not?” Her voice became gentle and lyrical once more. Almost pleasant.

“Yes, you are, my lady.” Suke bent her forehead to the floor in yet another humbling obeisance.

The empress’s tone turned quiet. “I could tell my son, the emperor, what you have done, and your future—the future of your entire family—would be ruined.”

Even from this distance, Mariko saw Suke’s eyes shimmer with unshed tears. “Yes, my lady.”

“Is it not better this way?” the empress asked. “For you to admit your guilt and take your punishment safely among your own?”

Suke squeezed her eyes shut. Let the tears fall as she took in a shuddering breath. “Yes, my lady.”

Satisfaction passed across the empress’s features. She glanced about the room. “Once the justice of the Lotus Pavilion has prevailed, we will speak of this matter no longer. Absolute mercy is our just reward.” Her admonition echoed throughout the space—a warning to all the other ladies present.

Anticipation writhed throughout the space. Its menace pulsed to all four corners.

The empress waited, a single brow arched.

Suke lifted her chin and rolled her shoulders back. “I admit to behaving licentiously with a soldier on the outskirts of the imperial gardens. I am undeserving of my lady’s mercy, but I beg for her pardon, and I swear on my family’s name that I will never be so untoward again.”

“Our mercy is granted.” The empress all but beamed at the trembling young woman. “You may begin,” she added almost absentmindedly.

Confusion once again took shape in Mariko’s chest. Suke’s shoulders sagged forward, and it was impossible for Mariko to tell whether it was from relief or defeat.

Another moment of utter stillness passed before a single egg soared across the room and shattered against Suke’s head. Though she clearly knew to expect it, the girl cried out in surprise and raised both her hands to defend herself, then immediately put them back in her lap. Another egg pelted toward her from the opposite side, the bright orange center sliding down the front of Suke’s white kimono. The women began to laugh amongst themselves.

All at once, eggs flew across the room at Suke, shattering over her lovely skin and silken garments. A well-aimed one struck her cheek hard, and a small trickle of blood flowed down one side of her face like a twisted tear.

Soon all the eggs had been launched.

Save one.

The empress looked at Mariko purposely, her attention drifting to the egg Mariko thought she’d concealed in her palm.

A rush of indignation passed through her body.

Why am I being asked to participate in this kind of cruel sport? It is not my place.

She did not know this girl. And Mariko could not stomach doing something humiliating to someone else. Especially a girl she suspected to be innocent of the charges. Another tense moment passed before Mariko realized exactly why she had been asked to see the empress today. This display was to be her introduction into the empress’s fold. Into the inner workings of the imperial court.

This sad display of power over an innocent young woman.

But Mariko did not have the time to contemplate the reasons why she’d been brought here. It came down to a simple decision for her.

She could act from her heart. Or from her head.

Her heart—a compass directed by emotion—pointed her toward the wrongness of the action. How it would eat away at her later if she did such a thing and caused another young woman pain.