Once inside..." She smiled.

Now clouds covered the sky. The afternoon was gloomy. Even so, the wide streets outside the walls of the Shogunate barracks were crowded with townspeople, buying and selling in the market opposite the main entrance, along with orange-clad Buddhist priests, their inevitable begging bowls outstretched, samurai strutting along, singly or in groups. Ogama patrols were prominent, each with the insignia of their fief embroidered on their clothes. Katsumata, Sumomo and half a dozen shishi strolled amongst the crowds, disguised and wearing large conical hats. Housewives, maids, servants and street sweepers and night soil collectors, porters and hawkers, moneylenders, letter writers and fortunetellers, palanquins and ponies for samurai and highborn and never a wheeled vehicle.

All who passed the Shogunate gates, open now but heavily guarded, bowed politely according to rank and hurried on. News that the Guardian of the Heir had arrived unbelievably without pomp had flashed through the city--and this, coupled with the never-in-historical-memory, imminent arrival of the awesome Shogun himself, arbiter of the Land, his personage shrouded with almost as much mystery as the Son of Heaven, and who, rumor had it, was even married to one of the Deity's sisters, was almost too much to bear.

At once samurai worriedly began checking the readiness of their weapons and armor, daimyos and their most trusted counselors trembled at the news, assessing their own positions and what to do and how to avoid taking any decisive action when the inevitable happened: Lord Yoshi clashed with Lord Ogama.

Activity on the street outside the Shogunate barracks ceased as a heavily armed cortege began to come out of the gates, Yoshi's banners to the fore, soldiers surrounding a closed palanquin, with more soldiers bringing up the rear.

At once everyone within seeing distance put their heads to the earth, all samurai stood still, then bowed deeply until the cortege had passed.

Only when Yoshi and his men had vanished did a semblance of normality return. Except that Katsumata and the others were cautiously following.

Half a mile away a similar armored cortege began snaking out of the main Choshu barracks, Ogama's banners to the fore, to even greater obeisances. Inside the palanquin was Ogama. For days he had been forewarned of his enemy's arrival, just as he had been monitoring the progress of Shogun Nobusada. His advisors had recommended waylaying Yoshi and destroying him outside Kyoto but he had refused. "Better he becomes my pawn.

Once he's here, where can he hide, where can he run?"' Details for the urgent meeting he had requested had been settled between their advisors.

It was to take place in the courtyard of an empty, neutral barracks, equidistant between their headquarters. Each side to have a hundred guards. Only twenty would be mounted.

Ogama and Yoshi would ride in protected, armored palanquins. One counselor each. They would arrive simultaneously.

Within moments spies were hurrying the news to the palace, to shishi groups, and to daimyos that the two most dangerous men in Nippon were, astonishingly, on the streets in armed columns at the same instant. Quickly a spy found Katsumata and whispered the where of the meeting, and by the time Ogama and Yoshi's samurai marched through the neutral gates, Katsumata and thirty men were stationed nearby--in case an opening for a suicide attack presented itself.

The courtyard was a hundred metres square with light wooden walls, easy to breach, the one-story barracks and extensive stables also of wood, dark with age. Opposing guards took up their positions, while others brought four folding chairs and placed them carefully in the center of the space.

The two men got out of their palanquins together and strode to the chairs and sat down. Then General Akeda and Basuhiro, Ogama's chief counselor, sat beside them. Basuhiro was in his forties, a narrow-eyed, scholarly samurai, his family hereditary heads of the Choshu bureaucracy for generations. Formally they bowed. Then the eyes of the two leaders locked.

Yoshi was two years younger than Ogama-- twenty-six--and tall where Ogama was short and thickset, his face clean-shaven in contrast to Ogama's heavy blue-black beard. His blood line was more regal though Ogama's was equally ancient, equally renowned, both of them balanced in ruthlessness, ambition, and secretiveness.

Leisurely they went through the obligatory compliments and polite questions, fencing, waiting to begin --hands easily on their sword hilts. "Your arrival is a pleasant surprise, Lord Yoshi."

"I had to come myself to make sure the wild rumors I heard were not true."

"Rumors?"

"Amongst them that Choshu forces inhibit Shogunate representatives, legal representatives from their positions around the Gates."

"A necessary measure to protect the Deity."

"Not necessary and against the law."

Ogama laughed. "The Deity prefers my protection to the traitorous Council of Elders who signed gai-jin Treaties against his wishes and continue to treat with them against his wishes instead of expelling them as he has asked." He motioned to Basuhiro. "Please show Lord Yoshi."

The scroll, signed by the Emperor, "requested the Lord of Choshu to assume command of the Gates until the distressing matter of the gai-jin was settled."

"It is not within the Deity's sphere to dictate matters temporal. That is the law--I must ask you to retire."

"Law? You refer to Toranaga law, Shogunate law, all of which the first of your line implanted by force which disavowed the ancient, Heaven-granted rights of the Emperor to rule."

Yoshi's lips set into a thin hard line.

"Heaven granted the Emperor rights to intercede between us mortals and the gods, everything in all matters spiritual. Matters temporal were always in the sphere of mortals, of Shoguns. The Emperor granted Shogun Toranaga and his line perpetual rights to deal with all matters temporal."

"I repeat that Emperor was forced to agree an--"

"And I repeat this is the law of the land that has kept the land at peace for two and a half centuries."

"It is no longer valid." Ogama waved the paper. "What a previous Emperor was forced to concede, this Emperor has freely cancelled."

Yoshi's voice became softer, more deadly.

"A temporary mistake. Clearly the Son of Heaven has been given misguided advice by self-seeking malcontents as he will soon realize."

"You accuse me?" The grip of all four men tightened on their hilts.

"I merely point out, Lord Ogama, your piece of paper was obtained by false information, and is not according to the law. The Presence is and always has been surrounded by ambitious men--and women.

That is why He granted perpetual rights to Shogun Toranaga and the following Shogunate to guide him in all matters an--"

A bellow of laughter cut him off and set everyone within the walls even more on edge.

"Guide? Guide did you say? The Deity's to be guided by Anjo Nori, Toyama, Adachi and now that slobbering half-wit Zukumura? By incompetent fools who overrule you at their leisure, make stupid agreements with vile gai-jin against all daimyo advice that lay the Land of the Gods and all of us open to destruction?" His face twisted with anger, "Or is he to await guidance from the child Nobusada to pull our nuts from the fire?"

"You and I, we need not wait, Ogama-dono," Yoshi said smoothly, knowing that his major strength was in his calm. "Let us discuss this in private--the two of us."

Ogama stared at him. A slight breeze picked up and rustled the banners. "When?"

"Now."

Thrown off balance a moment, Ogama hesitated. He glanced at Basuhiro. The small man smiled with the front of his face. "I would have thought that important matters should be discussed openly, Sire, not that my poor advice would be of value. Private agreements can sometimes be misinterpreted, by either side--that was your honored father's rule."