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

detail and his scrupulous regard for truth. Moreover, Shigeru knew that he could trust him completely.

“You must refuse to negotiate through a traitor,” his mother said angrily. “You must confront your uncles and take over the leadership of the clan immediately.”

“Forgive me for disagreeing, Lady Otori,” Ichiro said, “but Lord Shigeru should be prepared to be flexible: it’s not the willow’s branches that break under the snow. The Otori have been defeated in battle; no matter whose the fault, the outcome is the same. Iida is going to make heavy demands, heavier than the worst blizzards of winter. If we are not to be broken completely, we must be prepared to bend.”

Lady Otori, affronted, opened her mouth to argue, but Shigeru held up a hand to silence her.

“What are these demands likely to be?”

“We must find out from Kitano. I am afraid he will ask for Chigawa, the silver mines, all of the eastern districts, and maybe even Yamagata.”

“We will never give up Yamagata,” Lady Otori exclaimed.

“And though I dislike having to voice such things, your abdication, even your life, may be required.” Ichiro spoke in a dry, impersonal manner, as though discussing a point of legality, but a sudden fit of coughing seemed to overcome him, and he wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his robe, hiding his face briefly.

Lady Otori did not argue with this interpretation but sat in silence, her eyes cast down, her face stern.

Shigeru said, “My father’s command to me was that I should take my own life only if Jato were lost. Jato came to me, as if by a miracle. Therefore, I must obey my father’s wishes and live in order to seek revenge.”

“The sword came to you?” His mother was shocked into speech. “Where is it?”

He indicated where it lay beside him-the hilt disguised, the scabbard borrowed.

“That is not Jato,” she said.

“I will not draw it to prove it to you. But it is Jato.”

His mother smiled. “Then we have nothing to fear. They cannot make you abdicate if you hold the Otori sword.”

Ichiro said, “Iida Sadamu, it is reported, hates you personally. Your uncles may be tempted to deliver you to him for their own gain. The Otori army has been almost annihilated. We are in no position to defend ourselves. You will be in great danger. You must go very carefully.”

“Do I hold any advantages?” Shigeru asked.

“You are the legal heir to the clan; the people love you and will not give up their support of you quickly.”

“And the Tohan also suffered huge losses,” Shigeru said. “Sadamu himself may not be able to attack the heart of the Middle Country or lay siege to Hagi. And maybe the Seishuu will stand by their pledges of alliance and come to our support.” And maybe the Tribe will be another check on Sadamu’s ambition, he reflected but did not speak of this.

“Well, that’s better than I thought,” Ichiro said.

SHIGERU GAVE ORDERS for the most stately procession possible under the circumstances to escort him to the castle. Old men and boys were rapidly assembled from the remnants of the household guards. Somewhat to his surprise, Miyoshi Kahei and his younger brother, Gemba, appeared among them; Gemba was only six years old.

“I am happy to see you alive,” Shigeru said to Kahei.

“Not as happy as we are to see Lord Shigeru,” the lad replied, his former boyishness and cheerfulness extinguished by what he had seen of war. “Kiyoshige’s death was terrible,” he added quietly, his eyes bright with unshed tears. “It must be avenged.”

“It will be,” Shigeru replied as quietly. “What news of your father?”

“He also lived. He is at the castle now. He sent my brother and me to be part of your escort, a pledge of his support in the coming months: many of our men died, but they have sons, the same age as me or Gemba; we will be your future army.”

“I am grateful to him and to you.”

“It is how the whole city, the whole country feels,” Kahei exclaimed. “As long as Lord Shigeru is alive, the whole clan lives!”

Shigeru had a new scabbard brought for Jato, removed the black sharkskin from the hilt, and carefully cleaned and polished the sword. He dressed in formal robes, subdued in color, embroidered with the Otori crest, and placed a small black hat on his head. Chiyo plucked the regrowth in his beard and redressed his hair. A little before noon, he set out for the castle. He rode one of the Mori horses, a gray with a black mane and tail, who reminded him of Kiyoshige’s dead stallion. His mother accompanied him in a palanquin.

His mother’s house lay some way from the center of the town, surrounded by other small estates, with tiled white walls and tree-filled gardens. Canals ran alongside the roads, swimming with lazy fish, and the air was full of the trickle and splash of water. In the gardens, azalea bushes bloomed like red flames, and the canal banks were lined with irises.

In the distance, other sounds could be heard, unrecognizable at first, then gradually distinguishing themselves into the beating of drums and gongs, people shouting, singing, and clapping their hands: the streets became crowded. The townsfolk were dressed in bright colors and wore strange-shaped hats and yellow or red scarves. They danced as if afflicted by madness or possessed by spirits. At the sight of Shigeru’s procession, their singing and their movements became more frenzied. The throngs of people parted as he rode between them, but their emotion rolled over him, consuming him until he felt no longer a human being, a man, but the embodiment of something ancient and indestructible.

This must never be allowed to pass away, he thought. I must live. I must have a son. If my wife will not give me one, I will have children with Akane. I will acknowledge her children and adopt them. No one can prevent me from making my own decisions now. He had hardly thought of