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

I don’t know anything—as if I have to learn everything anew.”

Shizuka knelt before her, puzzled, her eyes searching Kaede’s
face. “What will you do now? Where will you go? Will you return to
Inuyama with Arai?”

j “I think I should go home to my parents. I must see my mother.

I’m so afraid she died while we were delayed in Inuyama for all that
time. I will leave in the morning. I suppose you should inform Lord
Arai.“

“I understand your anxiety,” Shizuka replied, “but Arai may be
reluctant to let you go.”

“Then I shall have to persuade him,” Kaede said calmly. “First I
must eat something. Will you ask them to prepare some food?
And bring me some tea, please.”

“Lady.” Shizuka bowed to her and stepped off the veranda. As she
walked away Kaede heard the plaintive notes of a flute played by
some unseen person in the garden behind the temple. She thought
she knew the player, one of the young monks from the time when
they had first visited the temple to view the famous Sesshu
paintings, but she could not recall his name. The music spoke to
her of the inevitability of suffering and loss. The trees stirred as the
wind rose, and owls began to hoot from the mountain.

Shizuka came back with the tea and poured a cup for Kaede. She
drank as if she were tasting it for the first time, every drop having
its own distinct, smoky flavor against her tongue. And when the old
woman who looked after guests brought rice and vegetables
cooked with bean curd, it was as if she had never tasted food
before. She marveled silently at the new powers that had been
awakened within her.

“Lord Arai wishes to speak with you before the end of the day,”
Shizuka said. “I told him you were not well, but he insisted. If you
do not feel like facing him now, I will go and tell him again.”

“I am not sure we can treat Lord Arai in that fashion,” Kaede said.
“If he commands me, I must go to him.”

“He is very angry,” Shizuka said in a low voice. “He is offended and
outraged by Takeo’s disappearance. He sees in it the loss of two
important alliances. He will almost certainly have to fight the Otori
now, without Takeo on his side. He’d hoped for a quick marriage
between you—”

“Don’t speak of it,” Kaede interrupted. She finished the last of the