Chapter 17 - 20 Summary

In Chapter Seventeen Takeo and Kaede plan a visit across the bay of Hagi to their old friend and accomplice Terada, a former pirate chief who is now the chief of the navies and the merchant vessels of the Otori. Terada, who is advancing in years, had once been a threat, as a pirate, to the security of Otori trade. However, since the civil war that Takeo led, Terada has been enlisted as chief of the navies.

Terada, being a lover of fine dining and exquisite entertainments, has devised this evening party to take place on the many pavilions that jut out over the small ornamental streams and diverted waterways that fill his garden. He intends that those attending can float trays of delicacies or wine or play games of riddles and clues by setting them on wooden floats that they...