Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn Read Free Book Online Page A

family residence. As she wrapped her few belongings
into her carrying cloth, she stroked the faded pattern, with its crests of the
white river for her family and the setting sun of the Seishuu. She was bitterly
ashamed of how little she owned. The events of the day kept going through her
mind: the feel of the knife in the forbidden left hand, the grip of the man,
his lust, the way he had died. And Arai's words: A man of honor would not do
that! He should not have spoken of his lord like that. He would never have
dared to, not even to her, if he did not already have rebellion in his mind.
Why had he treated her so well, not only at that vital moment, but previously?
Was he, too, seeking allies? He was already a powerful and popular man; now she
saw that he might have greater ambitions. He was capable of acting in an
instant, seizing opportunities.
    She weighed all these things
carefully, knowing that even the smallest of them added to her holding in the
currency of power.
    All day the other girls avoided
her, talking together in huddled groups, falling silent when she passed them.
Two had red eyes; perhaps the dead man had been a favorite or a lover. No one
showed her any sympathy. Their resentment made her hate them more. Most of them
had homes in the town or nearby villages: They had parents and families they
could turn to. They were not hostages. And he, the dead guard, had grabbed her,
had tried to force her. Anyone who loved such a man was an idiot.
    A servant girl she had never seen
before came to fetch her, addressing her as Lady Shirakawa and bowing
respectfully to her. Kaede followed her down the steep cobbled steps that led
from the castle to the residence, through the bailey, under the huge gate,
where the guards turned their faces away from her in anger, and into the
gardens that surrounded Lord Noguchi's house.
    She had often seen the gardens from
the castle, but this was the first time she had walked in them since she was
seven years old. They went to the back of the large house, and Kaede was shown
into a small room.
    “Please wait here for a few
minutes, lady.”
    After the girl had gone, Kaede
knelt on the floor. The room was of good proportions, even though it was not
large, and the doors stood open onto a tiny garden. The rain had stopped and
the sun was shining fitfully, turning the dripping garden into a mass of
shimmering light. She gazed at the stone lantern, the little twisted pine, the
cistern of clear water. Crickets were singing in the branches; a frog croaked
briefly. The peace and the silence melted something in her heart, and she
suddenly felt near tears.
    She fought them back, fixing her
mind on how much she hated the Noguchi. She slipped her arms inside her sleeves
and felt the bruises. She hated them all the more for living in this beautiful
place, while she, of the Shirakawa family, had been housed with servants.
    The internal door behind her slid
open, and a woman's voice said, “Lord Noguchi wishes to speak with you, lady.”
    “Then you must help me get ready,”
she said. She could not bear to go into his presence looking as she did, her
hair undressed, her clothes old and dirty.
    The woman stepped into the room,
and Kaede turned to look at her. She was old, and although her face was smooth
and her hair still black, her hands were wrinkled and gnarled like a monkey's
paws. She studied Kaede with a look of surprise on her face. Then, without
speaking, she unpacked the bundle, taking out a slightly cleaner robe, a comb,
and hairpins.
    “Where are my lady's other
clothes?”
    “I came here when I was seven,”
Kaede said angrily. “Don't you think I might have grown since then? My mother
sent better things for me, but I was not allowed to keep them!”
    The woman clicked her tongue. “It's
lucky that my lady's beauty is such that she has no need of adornment.”
    “What are you talking about?” Kaede
said, for she had no idea what she looked like.
    “I'll dress your hair now. And