The Last Concubine by Lesley Downer Read Free Book Online Page A

tucking her skirts tidily under her knees, a bevy of women in richly embroidered robes advanced slowly, grandly, into the passageway. At the front was a tall, imperious woman. She was dressed, like the Old Crow, in a nun’s habit but her robes were of the finest silk, grey verging on purple, and her mantle was cunningly draped to reveal a glimpse of the soft skin of her snowy-white throat. Her bearing made it clear that, no matter what her costume, she was a princess.
    Glancing up from her place at the end of the line, Sachi quailed.It was the Retired One, the fearsome Dowager Lady Tensho-in. Everyone was in awe of her. She was said to have a fierce temper and to be as strong as a man. Everyone knew how she had once picked up the late shogun, her husband, in her arms and carried him out of the palace during an earthquake. She was also, the women whispered, a superb horsewoman who could wield the halberd as skilfully as any soldier, and an expert at performing the chanting and dancing of the Noh theatre. Not yet thirty, she was in the full bloom of her beauty. A knowing smile lurked on her jewel-bright lips and her eyes burned with a fiery energy.
    But all heads had swivelled to stare at the young woman who flitted behind her. She was no older than Sachi, with the snub nose and olive complexion of an Edo girl, quite different from the aristocratic pallor of the Kyoto women. Her childishly plump face was expertly painted in the Edo way, her full lips shiny with the greenish gloss known as ‘fresh bamboo red’. She teetered along with tiny in-turned steps, one foot carefully placed in front of the other, her eyes demurely cast down. But the set of her shoulders showed that she knew every eye was on her.
    Sachi gasped when she saw her. Beneath the make-up was Fuyu, the acknowledged star among the junior ladies. Sachi yearned to be as poised and self-confident as she. In Fuyu’s presence she felt terribly conscious of her humble background and lack of breeding. As for Fuyu, she did not bother to speak to Sachi, except on the rare occasions during halberd practice when Sachi managed to get in a strike with her stick. Then Fuyu would raise her chin, look down her dainty nose and say with a sniff, ‘Not bad, I suppose . . . for a peasant!’ She was the daughter of one of the captains of the guard and, like Sachi, a junior handmaiden. For all her airs, she was no more entitled to enter the presence of the shogun than Sachi was.
    But what sent a murmur of admiration through the crowd was her spectacular over-garment. On it was embroidered a breathtaking depiction of the city of Edo. Curving around the padded hem was the River Sumida lined with storehouses, with Nihonbashi Bridge arching across it. Edo Bay was a sinuous curve of blue at the hip. Spread across the back and sleeves were houses, temples, a pagoda, streets dotted with tiny embroidered figures,clouds of foliage, even a glimpse of the turrets of Edo Castle picked out in gold thread. It was a work of art, unimaginably costly, designed to draw every eye.
    While her ladies took up their places along one side of the corridor, the Retired One swept up to the Old Crow and the princess and bowed deeply.
    ‘Greetings, Your Imperial Highness,’ she said, addressing the princess. She spoke quietly but her voice – unusually deep and sonorous – carried right to the end of the corridor. ‘You are most welcome. What an honour it is to have you amongst us. I do hope you are taking good care of your health in this hot weather.’
    The corridor was silent but for the flutter of fans. The heat was more intense than ever. Sachi wriggled uncomfortably, feeling her heavy garments clinging to her damp skin. She bowed her head, listening fearfully for the princess’s reply.
    As one who ‘lived above the clouds’ – she was, after all, the daughter of the late Son of Heaven and sister of the reigning one – Princess Kazu expected the deference due to her superior status. She never