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

bringing tea.

The Kikuta master gave me a nod as I bowed to him. “Akio has
been out in the town, listening to the news.”

Akio dropped to his knees before Kenji and inclined his head
slightly to me. I responded in the same way. When he and the
other Tribe members had kidnapped me in Inuyama, they had
been doing their best to restrain me without hurting me. I had been
fighting in earnest. I had wanted to kill him. I had cut him. I could
see now that his left hand still bore a half-healed scar, red and
inflamed. We had hardly spoken before; he had reprimanded me
for my lack of manners and had accused me of breaking every rule
of the Tribe. There had been little goodwill between us. Now when
our eyes met I felt his deep hostility.

Akio said, “It seems Lord Arai is furious that this person left without
permission and refused a marriage that the lord desired. Lord Arai
has issued orders for this person’s arrest, and he intends to
investigate the organization known as the Tribe, which he
considers illegal and undesirable.” He bowed again to Kotaro and
said stiffly, “I’m sorry, but I do not know what this persons name is
to be.”

The master nodded and stroked his chin, saying nothing. We had
talked about names before and he had told me to continue using
Takeo—though, as he said, it had never been a Tribe name. Was I
to take the family name of Kikuta now? And what would my given
name be? I did not want to give up Takeo, the name Shigeru had
given me, but if I was no longer to be one of the Otori, what right
did I have to it?

“Arai is offering rewards for information,” Yuki said, placing a bowl
of tea on the matting in front of each of us.

“No one in Yamagata will dare to volunteer information,” Akio said.
“They’ll be dealt with if they do!”

“It’s what I was afraid of,” Kotaro said to Kenji. “Arai has had no
real dealings with us, and now he fears our power.”

“Should we eliminate him?” Akio said eagerly. “We—”

Kotaro made a movement with his hand, and the young man
bowed again and fell silent.

“With Iida gone, there is already a lack of stability. If Arai should
perish, too, who knows what anarchy would break out?”

Kenji said, “I don’t see Arai as any great danger. Threats and