Heaven's Net Is Wide Lian Hearn (leveled readers .TXT) 📖

“Stay, as planned, through the winter. When you return, you will be sixteen. You will have your coming-of-age ceremony and become an adult. You will have more influence then on the elders and your father.”

“Can the elders be trusted?”

“Irie, Mori, Nagai-I would stake my life on their loyalty. Endo and Miyoshi are pragmatists. Their loyalty is first to the clan, and so they will support whoever leads it. When you do return, you must be on your guard. If you advise war with the Tohan, the opposite faction will be tempted to eliminate you, and they will have the backing of the Tohan. Be careful whom you trust. And try not to let anyone from the Tribe into your life.”

“It must be almost impossible to recognize them,” Shigeru said, smiling ruefully.

“They are human. Despite their almost supernatural skills they die like any other man. I believe they can be identified and overcome.”

“My enemy is double-an aggressive, ambitious clan and a tribe of assassins.”

“But you meet them with double weapons-your own character and the love and loyalty of your people.”

“Will these be enough to prevail?”

Matsuda laughed again. “I cannot see into the future. I only know these are enough to start with. You may sleep if you wish now. I will sit for a while in the company of the dead.”

Shigeru was not tired and wanted to keep his teacher talking. “I know nothing of your life, your family,” he said. “Do you have sons, did you ever marry?”

“Of course I married, when I was a young man. My wife died many years ago. We had several children, but none survived childhood. And as far as I know, I have no living offspring. My children are my pupils, the monks who are in my care. I hope I will die and be buried at Terayama.”

“And what made you give up your life as a warrior when you were the greatest fighter the Three Countries has ever known?”

“No one is the greatest,” Matsuda said. “There will always be another greater than you or with greater potential. All my energy and years of my life had gone into one thing-to become an expert in the art of death. It is a terrible thing to imagine oneself the greatest: it gives rise to pride in oneself, envy in others. Young men sought me out to challenge me. I became tired of their foolishness and their courage.” He fell silent. The night insects droned loudly; frogs croaked.

“I killed once too often. I did not want to feel that regret again. I came to Terayama ten years ago, at this same time of year. I never left. I did not want to live in the world any longer. But the world does not leave us alone. It is always calling at the door. Only the Enlightened One led a life free of error. The rest of us make mistakes and then have to live with them. Now, go to bed.”

“I will sit with you and keep you and the dead company,” Shigeru said. “If you will permit it.”

Matsuda smiled and nodded, then dowsed the lamp. They sat silently without moving as the vast starry heaven wheeled above them.

12

After these conversations, in the days following, master and pupil resumed their silent routine. It was the time of the greatest heat, but Shigeru learned to ignore the sticky discomfort of the body just as Matsuda did. The spring ran cool throughout the hottest days, and he often stripped off his clothes at the end of the day and bathed in the pool. He had grown during the summer and had reached his full height, well above average, and the constant exercise and discipline had built up his muscles and burned away the last vestiges of childhood. He knew he had become a man, and he was often impatient to return to the world, especially when his thoughts turned to the tensions between the clans and the untrustworthiness of his uncles, but he accepted that he still had the lessons of patience and self-control to learn.

A vixen sometimes trotted through the clearing at dusk, and once Shigeru surprised the cubs playing in a hollow. Deer and rabbits occasionally came to graze on the summer grass. Apart from the villagers, who returned, when the Festival of the Dead was over, with offerings of cucumbers, apricots, and summer vegetables, they saw no human being.

However, one day at sunset, when they had taken advantage of the cool of the evening to fight a bout with the wooden poles, they heard the unusual sound of horses coming up the track. Matsuda made a sign to Shigeru to halt; they both turned to see two men on horseback cantering up to the hut.

Shigeru had not seen a horse since he had left his own to walk to the temple. There was something astonishing about the two snorting creatures with warriors on their backs. They were both dark bay with black legs, manes, and tails. The riders wore chest armor laced with black and gold, and on their backs was the triple oak leaf of the Tohan.

The leader reined his horse in and called out a greeting. Matsuda returned it calmly. Shigeru, knowing his teacher’s moods so well, saw him tense slightly. His feet balanced themselves on the ground, and his grasp on the pole tightened.

“I am Miura Naomichi,” the man continued, “from the Tohan at Inuyama. My companion is Inaba Atsushi. I am looking for Matsuda Shingen.”

“You have found him,” Matsuda said evenly. “Dismount and tell me your business.”

Miura did so, leaping agilely down; his companion also dismounted and took the reins of both horses while Miura stepped forward and bowed slightly.

“Lord Matsuda. I am glad to have found you engaged in instruction. We were led to believe in Inuyama that you had given up teaching. There seemed no other explanation when Lord Iida, head of the Tohan, expressly commanded you to come