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

I placed my knife close to the mattress and slid beneath the quilt
without bothering to undress. I thought of what Yuki had said about
gifts. I did not think I would ever be as happy again as I had been
in the village where I was born, Mino—but in Mino I was a child, and
now the village was destroyed, my family all dead. I knew I must
not dwell on the past. I had agreed to come to the Tribe. It was
because of my gifts that they wanted me so badly, and it was only
with the Tribe that I would learn to develop and control the skills I
had been given.

I thought of Kaede, whom I had left sleeping atTerayama.
Hopelessness came over me, followed by resignation. I would
never see her again. I would have to forget her. Slowly the town
started to wake around me. Finally, as the light brightened beyond
the doors, I slept. I woke suddenly to the sound of men and horses
in the street beyond the walls of the house. The light in the room
had changed, as though the sun had crossed above the roof, but I
had no idea how long I’d slept. A man was shouting and in reply a
woman was complaining, growing angry. I caught the gist of the
words. The men were Arai’s, going from house to house, looking
for me.

I pushed back the quilt and felt for the knife. As I picked it up the
door slid open and Kenji came silently into the room. The false wall
was locked into place behind him. He looked at me briefly, shook
his head, and sat down cross-legged on the floor in the tiny space
between the mattress and the wall.

I recognized the voices; the men had been at Terayama with Arai. I
heard Yuki calming the angry woman down, offering the men a
drink.

“We’re all on the same side now,” she said, and laughed. “Do you
think if Otori Takeo were here we’d be able to hide him?”

The men drank quickly and left. As their footsteps died away Kenji
snorted through his nose and gave me one of his disparaging
looks. “No one can pretend not to have heard of you in Yamagata,”
he said. “Shigeru’s death made him a god; Iida’s has turned you
into a hero. It’s a story the people are wild about.” He sniffed and
added, “Don’t let it go to your head. It’s extremely annoying. Now
Arai’s mounted a full-scale search for you. He’s taking your
disappearance as a personal insult. Luckily your face is not too well
known here, but we’ll have to disguise you.” He studied my
features, frowning. “That Otori look… you’ll have to conceal it.”

He was interrupted by a sound outside as the wall was lifted away.
Kikuta Kotaro came in, followed by Akio, the young man who had
been one of my captors in Inuyama. Yuki stepped after them,