CHAPTER XXII.

THE MIKADO.

Thus it was that Kioto escaped the danger which it had incurred; the battle was over, the fires quenched. The Queen, carried off by guilty hands while the city was given over to terror and dismay, was brought back by the Prince of Nagato to a people drunk with joy. The houses, so tightly closed a few hours before, were thrown wide open; everybody flocked into the streets; the inhabitants chatted with the soldiers; barrels of saki were rolled out and tapped. Men danced and sang; they thought themselves dead, and were alive. There was good cause for rejoicing; shouts went up from every street and square; they spread from mouth to mouth, and soon the whole city repeated: "Glory to the Mikado!" "Death to Hieyas!" "Curses on his race!" "Blessings on General Yama-Kava!" "Praises to the Knights of Heaven!"

"And glory to the Prince of Nagato, to whom we owe the victory!" cried one fellow.

"And who restores our divine Kisaki to us," said another.

The Prince at this moment appeared, leading the horse that bore the Kisaki. The crowd parted, and fell prostrate before her in sudden silence, which ceased abruptly as soon as she had passed.

The Queen had drawn her veil over her face; with one hand she held its light folds upon her breast. The horse, flecked with foam, puffed and panted as he moved. Nagato held the animal by the bridle, and occasionally turned to the Queen, who smiled at him behind her gauzy veil, while every forehead touched the ground.

Thus they reached the fortress of Nisio-Nosiro, and crossed its ramparts. The Knights of Heaven came out to receive the Kisaki. Her women remained at the summer-palace; she was asked whether they should be summoned.

"Why should they?" said she; "shall we not return to the palace?"

No one dared to tell her that the Mikado, his fears still unallayed, refused to quit the fortress, and intended to leave it no more.

The Son of the Gods was indignant; victory had not appeased either his terror or his wrath. He, attacked in his own palace,--not by Mongols, nor by Chinese! His own people--that is, his slaves, those who were not worthy to utter his name--had had the unheard-of audacity to take up arms against him! His sacred person was constrained not only to walk, but to run! The Mikado, whose mere glance should reduce a man to ashes, had fled, pale with fear; the stiff folds of his satin robes were disturbed; he stumbled over the abundance of his drapery as he ran through the streets! What had become of the sacred majesty, the divine prestige, of the descendant of the Gods amidst this fatal adventure?

Go-Mitzou-No, furious, trembling, and astounded, was not assuaged by victory. He ordered a general massacre of all the soldiers who had surrendered.

"They will rise against me again!" he said. "Kill them, to the last man!"

"We will kill them by and by," ventured to reply the Minister of the Right Hand, one of the highest dignitaries of the Dairi; "just now those ten thousand additional troops are most necessary to us."

Then the Mikado cried out: "Let Hieyas be brought before me! Let his eyes be put out, his entrails torn from him; let him be cut into small pieces!"

"By and by," said the Minister of the Left Hand "just now Hieyas is out of our reach."

"Assemble all your warriors, all the princes and ministers," then screamed the Mikado; "I desire to inform them of my will."

No one had any objection to make; but the general surprise was great. The Mikado having a will of his own; manifesting the desire to make a speech! Such a thing had never occurred since Yorimoto, in the reign of Tsoutsi-Mikado, repulsed the Mongol invasion, and received the title of Shogun for that brave deed. Since that time the Shoguns had reigned in the name of the Mikados, who had never dreamed of taking back the sceptre intrusted by them to other hands. Had the true master waked at last from his long torpor? did he intend to grasp the power once more, and govern his kingdom for himself? The ministers looked at each other in vague alarm. Some of them secretly favored Hieyas; others were faithful to the dynasty of the Mikados; but they lacked energy, and dreaded any revolt against those who were masters of the army.

But since the fancy took the Son of the Gods to issue his commands, his ministers could not refuse to obey. The nobles and warriors were speedily assembled in the most spacious hall in the fortress. The Mikado sat cross-legged upon a dais surrounded by a low balustrade; the folds of his robes were arranged about him. Then the lords took their seats on the floor, each holding a long, narrow screen before his face, to oppose some obstacle between his gaze and his sovereign's face.

The Prince of Nagato, with Farou-So-Chan, leader of the Knights of Heaven, Simabara, General Yama-Kava, all the ministers, and all the nobles, were present.

Go-Mitzou-No's angry eye wandered over their heads; he swelled up his cheeks, which were even more pasty than usual; then breathed noisily, as if he wanted to scatter a few grains of dust. At last he found speech,--abrupt, and somewhat plaintive.

"So," he said, "I am no longer master; I am no longer the representative of the Gods! I am besieged, I am outraged; an attempt is made to seize upon my person! I am amazed that you still live. What does all this mean? Is this the way you treat a god? I am the Mikado; that is, the supreme lord. Do you forget that fact? I am here on earth for the good of mankind, when I might be with my family in heaven. If things go on in this way, I will desert you. What! you do not tremble? What are you thinking of? Have you not noticed the signs of anger given by my celestial progenitors? Reflect and remember! But a short time since, a mountain suddenly rose out of the sea opposite the Island of Fatsisio. Is not that terrible? Is not that a mark of the displeasure with which mankind has inspired the Gods? The earth shall shake yet again, and all shall be overthrown. Did there not fall a rain of hairy locks in the suburbs of Osaka only a few days after that mountain rose up out of the water? Was not that a sign of misfortune? Are you blind and deaf? Have you ceased to understand the threats of Heaven? Are you hardened in crime? Do you fear nothing, that you do not shake before the breath of my wrath?"

"We are your faithful servants!" said the Minister of the Right Hand.

"I, Go-Mitzou-No, the one hundred and nineteenth of my race," said the Mikado, "have been insulted; and if the earth is not cleft in twain, it is solely because my feet yet rest upon its surface; it is spared for my sake. Yes, my subjects--mere men--came to the Dairi; they forced the doors; they strove to seize upon me,--to imprison the Son of the Gods! And to escape them I was forced to fly! A Mikado fly from men! I am choked with rage. I will plunge you all into darkness; I will put out the sun; I will turn the sea topsy-turvy; I will dash the earth into a thousand pieces."

"We are your submissive slaves!" said the Minister of the Left Hand.

"If you are my slaves, obey!" screamed the Son of the Gods. "I command that all shall come to an end; the war shall cease, and everything return to its accustomed order."

"Divine Lord! master of our destinies!" said the Prince of Nagato, "will you allow me to speak in your presence?"

"Speak!" said the Mikado.

"The monster whose name is Hieyas," said the Prince, "fears nothing, and insults the gods. But if the command which you have just issued were made known to him in the face of all Japan, he would be obliged to obey, and consent to peace."

"Explain yourself," said Go-Mitzou-No.

"It is with pain that I confess," continued the Prince, "that, in spite of the many defeats he has undergone, Hieyas is still the stronger; his allies increase daily. But they would rapidly diminish, and all would soon abandon him, if he should openly resist an order universally known to emanate from the Mikado."

"No doubt of that," exclaimed the ministers and nobles.

"What shall I do?" asked the Mikado, turning to the Prince of Nagato.

"Sublime master," said the Prince, "my opinion is that you should despatch a herald to proclaim your will in every city and village; at the same time addressing to Fide-Yori and Hieyas a large deputation, charged to inform them that the war is to cease, since such is your pleasure."

"Your advice shall be followed," said the Mikado; "it is good. To reward you for it, I give you the title of Nai-dai-Tsin."

"Sire," cried the Prince, "I am not worthy of such an honor."

"Let the envoys he sent off promptly," said the Mikado. "No more war; let us have peace and repose as of old. I feel exhausted by all these emotions," he added in a lower tone, turning to the prime minister; "it might easily kill me."

They soon separated. On leaving the castle, the Prince of Nagato met a messenger in search of him.

"Whence come you?" asked Iwakura.

"From Nagato."

Then the messenger related all the events that had occurred in that province,--the various battles, the taking of Hagui, and the capture of Fatkoura by the lord of Tosa.

"What!" cried Nagato, "Fatkoura is in the hands of that scoundrel, who beheads princes! I must not delay my vengeance another moment. I will set off at once to deliver her, and make that infamous wretch pay dearly for his crimes and his impertinence."

He then inquired for his little troop, anxious to learn how many the skirmish of the morning had left him. Of the two hundred sailors, eighty had been killed, and fifty wounded; about sixty being in fit condition to resume their march.

Raiden's arm had been pierced by an arrow; but the bone was uninjured. The sailor had had his wound dressed, and declared that it did not pain him at all. He begged the Prince to let him go with him.

"The journey will do me good," said he; "besides, there are not more than sixty of us. That's very few to capture a kingdom; and in so small a number, one man more or less counts for something."

"I need twenty thousand men to march against Tosa," said the Prince; "I shall ask the Shogun to let me have them. So you see that you may well afford yourself a little rest."

"Is it because I have not behaved well, that you want to drive me from you?" asked Raiden.

"No, brave servant," said the Prince, smiling; "come if you will. You can stay at Osaka if your wound troubles you."

"Shall we start at once?" asked the sailor.

"Are you crazy?" cried the Prince. "We have spent a hard night, and a still harder day; you are wounded: and it never occurs to you to take a little rest! I confess that, if you are indefatigable, I, who am by nature very inert, feel quite exhausted."

"If sleep is permitted, I shall sleep with a good will," said Raiden, laughing; "but if you thought best to start off again, I could have held out a little longer."

"Where is Loo?" asked the Prince; "I lost sight of him in the thick of the fight."

"He's asleep in a house on the shore, and so sound asleep that I could pick him up and carry him off without his ever knowing it. That young Samurai earned his sleep well; he snatched a gun from one of our dead comrades, and I hear that he fought like a little devil."

"Is he wounded?"

"Fortunately, he escaped without a scratch."

"Well, go join him, and take a little repose; to-morrow, at noon, we will start."

Next day Nagato went to take leave of the Kisaki. She had returned to the summer-palace, where he found her surrounded by her women.

"You leave the city which owes its triumph to you so soon, and without taking time for rest?" she exclaimed.

"I leave with an aching heart," said the Prince; "but an imperative duty calls me. Before the peace is signed, I must avenge the insult to my name; I must save Fatkoura, my betrothed."

"Is Fatkoura in danger?"

"She is the prisoner of the Prince of Tosa; a messenger brought me the news yesterday."

"Such reasons admit of no reply," said the Queen. "Make haste to punish that villain; and may the God of Battles be with you."

Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke: he was about to run new dangers; to expose his life,--perhaps to die.

"I believe that I am invincible," said Nagato; "an all-powerful goddess protects me."

The Kisaki forced herself to smile. "May you triumph, and return speedily," said she.

The Prince retired. As he left the hall he fixed a last lingering look upon her; a singular feeling of disquiet chilled his blood.

"Every time that I part from her I feel as if I should never see her again," he muttered.

She too gazed at him, a prey to the same anguish; she pressed to her lips the tip of the fan which the Prince had given her.

He tore himself from her presence. That very night he reached Osaka, and went at once to the Shogun.

"Is it you!" joyfully exclaimed Fide-Yori. "I did not hope to see you so soon; your presence is a consolation to me amid the cares that overwhelm me."

"What!" said Iwakura, "when we are victorious! Why are you sad?"

"How can you ask me, friend? True, Yoke-Moura drove the enemy from the village that they held near Osaka; but Harounaga has just been completely routed in his retreat on Yamashiro. Two thirds of the kingdom are in the power of our foe."

"No matter! We won the day at Soumiossi; we cast confusion into the camp of Hieyas; we triumphed at Kioto. And the Son of the Gods, starting for a moment from his torpor, is about to order the two parties to be reconciled."

"Hieyas will refuse."

"He cannot refuse; he cannot revolt openly against the Mikado."

"He who attacked him with such sacrilegious daring!"

"He attacked him to gain possession of his person, and dictate his own terms to him. The Mikado a captive would be a mere nobody; the Mikado free, and grasping the reins of power once more, is omnipotent."

"Hieyas will impose conditions which I cannot accept. It is his interest to continue the war."

"Nevertheless, he will be obliged to obey for the moment; and our most pressing need is a few months of respite."

"To be sure; we could then assemble all our forces. Communication is cut off; the armies of the various princes have not arrived."

"Are Signenari and his twenty thousand men still on the Island of Awadsi?" asked the Prince.

"Still," said the Shogun; "and the young General is desperate at being reduced to inaction."

"I was just going to ask you to issue orders for him to open the campaign."

"What do you mean?"

"I have a personal injury to avenge. I entreat you to lend me that army."

"On whom do you wish to be revenged, friend?" said the Shogun.

"On one of those who betrayed you,--on the Prince of Tosa. He has attacked my kingdom, plundered my fortress, carried off my bride; and deceived by a resemblance into thinking he had captured me, he refused the man the death of a nobleman, and cut off the head of one of my servants."

"Such things can indeed only be washed out in blood," said Fide-Yori. "I will give you an order for Signenari, and I put a war-junk at your disposal. Do not spare that infamous Tosa,--that envious, cowardly traitor, unworthy of the rank he holds."

"I will raze his towers, burn his harvests, and kill him as one would butcher a hog," said the Prince; "only regretting that he has but one life to pay for all his crimes."

"May you succeed!" said the Shogun. "Alas!" he added, "I was so glad to see you; and you come only to go again! What solitude! what an empty void about me! What sorrow! My heart is gnawed by a secret grief which I must not reveal. Some day I will confide it to you; that will solace me."

The Prince raised his eyes to the Shogun's face; he remembered that several times before, a confession had risen to the King's lips, and had been arrested there by a sort of timid modesty. Now, as then, Fide-Yori was embarrassed, and turned away his head.

"What can it be?" thought Nagato.

Then he added aloud: "My vengeance once appeased, I promise to leave you no more."

As he left the Shogun's apartments, the Prince of Nagato met Yodogimi.

"Ah! you are here, illustrious victor!" she said, bitterly; "you come to receive the praises due your noble deeds."

"It is only when falling from your lovely lips that praise is pleasant to my ear," said the Prince, bowing with somewhat exaggerated politeness; "but you favor me with none but rude and scornful words."

"If we are enemies, it is your own fault," said Yodogimi.

"I never wished to offend you; it was my slight merit which wrought my ruin. You declared war against me; but I never accepted the challenge, and I remained your slave."

"A very humble slave! who attracts all the light to himself, allowing no one else to shine in his presence!"

"Am I really so resplendent?" said the Prince. "Against your will, you see, you let fall the praises which you refused me."

"Cease your raillery!" cried Yodogimi. "I seize this opportunity to tell you that while all the world admire and love you, I detest you."

"She cannot forgive me for Harounaga's defeat," muttered the Prince.

Yodogimi withdrew, hurling an angry glance at Nagato. The beautiful Princess once loved Iwakura in secret. The Prince would not see her love; hence the hatred with which she pursued him.

Nagato left the palace; and, a few hours after, set sail for the Island of Awadsi.