"Hearn,.Lian.-.Otori.02.-.Grass.For.His.Pillow.v1.1" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hearn Lian)

be at Shirakawa.”

They were descending a steep path, so densely carpeted with
pine needles the horses’ feet made no noise. Shizuka was walking
alongside Raku while Kaede rode. Beneath the pines and cedars it
was dark, but a little ahead of them the sun slanted through a
bamboo grove, casting a dappled, greenish light.

“Have you been on this road before?” Kaede asked. “Many times.
The first time was years ago. I was sent to Ku-mamoto to work for
the Arai family when I was younger than you are now. The old lord
was still alive then. He kept his sons under an iron rule, but the
oldest—Daьchi is his given name—still found ways to take the
maids to bed. I resisted him for a long time; it’s not easy, as you
know, for girls living in castles. I was determined he would not
forget me as quickly as he forgot most of them. And naturally I was
also under instructions from my family, the Muto.”

“So you were spying on him all that time,” Kaede murmured.
“Certain people were interested in the Arai allegiances, particularly
in Daьchi, before he went to the Noguchi.” “Certain people
meaning Iida?”

“Of course. It was part of the settlement with the Seishuu clan after
Yaegahara. Arai was reluctant to serve Noguchi. He disliked Iida
and thought Noguchi a traitor, but he was compelled to obey.”

“You worked for Iida?”

“You know who I work for,” Shizuka said quietly. “Always in the first
instance for the Muto family, for the Tribe. Iida employed many of
the Muto at that time.”

“I’ll never understand it,” Kaede said. The alliances of her class
were complex enough, with new ones being formed through
marriage, old ones maintained by hostages, allegiances being
broken by sudden insults or feuds or sheer opportunism. Yet,
these seemed straightforward compared to the intrigues of the
Tribe. The unpleasant thought that Shizuka only stayed with her on
orders from the Muto family came to her again.

“Are you spying on me?”

Shizuka made a sign with her hand to silence her. The men rode
ahead and behind, out of earshot, Kaede thought. “Are you?”

Shizuka put her hand on the horse’s shoulder. Kaede looked down
on the back of her head, the white nape of her neck beneath the
dark hair. Her head was turned away so Kaede could not see her
face. Shizuka kept pace with the horse as it stepped down the