Chapter 15
Summary
- Blackthorne stands up following a near forced confession, rejecting absolution from a monk and exits into the open air, feeling invigorated by his freedom.
- He observes prisoners being led away to their executions while he, guarded by samurai, is to be spared and dressed in a loin cloth and kimono instead of being paraded naked.
- Upon passing the gate, Blackthorne considers escaping but is closely guarded, preventing any attempt at running away.
- As he walks towards what he assumes is execution, Blackthorne resolves to fight to the death but is unexpectedly turned away from the execution arena towards the city instead.
- Amidst speaking English out loud, Blackthorne muses over his crew, past experiences with a woman named Haku, and the traumatizing death of his mentor, Alban Caradoc, whom he mercy-killed during a naval engagement against the Spanish Armada.
- His samurai guards turn out to be Ishido’s men, and Blackthorne wonders about Ishido’s intentions as he is led through the impeccably clean streets of Osaka.
- After an exhausting march, Blackthorne experiences severe leg cramps and is temporarily carried in a kaga, a type of palanquin.
- A bandit attack occurs, suddenly killing Blackthorne's samurai escorts; the bandits then don their clothing to disguise their identities and prepare to move Blackthorne elsewhere.
- Kasigi Yabu and his samurai interrupt the bandits, rescuing Blackthorne from a likely grim fate.
- A misunderstanding leads to a brief confrontation between Yabu and the samurai captain over custody of Blackthorne, which Blackthorne defuses by expressing his desire to go directly to Toranaga.
- Blackthorne, asserting his non-prisoner status, gets into Yabu’s palanquin, indirectly demanding to be taken to Toranaga; Yabu humorously acknowledges Blackthorne’s boldness with sarcasm.