Abe Sadayoshi was currently suffering from a splitting headache, and nothing - no mater how light or hard the girl's touch as she massaged his temples - could assuage it. He was living through a vassal's nightmare. A minor one, albeit; his lord was still alive and certainly safer than he was. His lord's holdings, however, were not so safe.
Okubo Moritoki had rushed to him as soon as he was able to, riding nonstop though he lamed several horses in doing so, and arrived as soon as he could after the birds that had brought news of the battle at Kameyana.
Moritoki now knelt before him, and Sadayoshi could see the pride evident in the man despite his exhaustion. The pride, and the sorrow. Moritoki raised his dirt-stained face toward his lord; he had not even changed from his blood-soaked clothing yet, having abandoned his armor not long after the battle so as to hasten his ride to Sadayoshi's siege camp in Gamagori.
"It was as we predicted, my lord - the Saika dogs did attack us in Suzuka," Okubo Moritoki rasped, his face haggard. Five thousand of them, my lord, under aggressive leadership." Sadayoshi nodded. "We decided it was best not to keep all of our forces inside the castle - it would be too cramped, so Matsudaira Moriakiri and I led our men out to attack the Saika before they made it to the walls.
"They attacked from all sides, which was not unexpected. We fought on the northern and eastern sides." Here Moritoki paused, his eyes distant. "It was a clear spring day. A good day to die. A good day.
"Naturally, our bowmen initiated the fight, their shafts biting into the enemy, our spears advancing under cover of their attack. Moriakiri hit them hard on the far bank of the moat while I led men who stayed on the near side. In the meantime, the Saika were swarmming the banks and the walls, thought the Seki archers exacted a heavy toll from them."
Moritoki gazed at the ceiling, unwilling or unable to meet Sadayoshi's eyes. "Then, things just fell apart. Our men on the far bank were pushed back in disarray; some broke. The Saika overwhelmed the Seki at the gates and butchered their way over the walls. We held for a time, as did Moriakiri, as did the Seki, but it could not last. I had to call the retreat - the sounds of fighting from the castle were dying down. We broke away. I turned back at the bridge over the river to see some of the Seki, at least, fleeing, and to see a hundred of our samurai, one hundred Mikawa bushi holding the bridge to let myself and their brothers escape."
Moritoki shook his head, and with a wan smile, he continued: "I rode back to them, screaming at them to disengage and pull back! But they fought like demons. One man - that Ii Nagaochi - looked back to me, we were all covered in blood but his
sahimono was in tatters, crying for me to leave as he brandished the splinters of his yari at the enemy.
"Amazingly the enemy now held themselves back, so terrible were these demons of Mikawa! I kicked by horse forward and my
hatamoto followed. We created enough distance between our men and the enemy for them to escape, though Shirabashi Gorozaemon fell. I was only able to coerce the men to withdraw by declaring that I would be the last one over the bridge - so it was that I at least saved a hundred tigers for the future."
Now there were tears leaving perversely clear streaks on Moritoki's cheeks. "It was only after the battle that I learned that Matsudaira Moriakiri had fallen on the river bank, leading his men from the forefront. Three thousand men gone, and the Seki scattered to the winds. I only ask that I be able to join them, for my failure to achieve victory and my failure to fall in battle," and he bowed low.
Sadayoshi leapt up and rushed to his friend. "No!" he cried. "Especially not at a time like this. I am not free to return west, no can the men I command. The Rokkaku are led by a child and a woman; the Seki scattered, perhaps perminently. You saved hundreds of our men to fight again! The Okubo name will be what holds the west together, at least for the time being. If you can hold the west, I can keep Saika Inu- sama penned up in Kamino-jo."
Okubo Moritoki bowed once more. "I understand. I shall return to the west as soon as I am able," he promised. "For the moment, I think that the Rokkaku shall be fine being led by that 'woman and child!'"