Brilliance of the Moon by Lian Hearn Read Free Book Online Page A

Her hair
was glistening with rain, and drops clung to her eyelashes. I dismounted and
gave the reins to Amano. “What happened to Aoi?” he asked, recognizing this
horse as Makoto’s.
    “He’s hurt, I don’t know how badly. He’s on the other side of the
river. We swam across.” I wanted to tell Amano how brave the horse had been,
but there was no time now.
    “We are going to cross the river,” I told the women. “The
outcasts built a bridge.“
    Kaede said nothing, watching me, but Manami immediately opened her
mouth to complain.
    I put up my hand to silence her. “There is no alternative. You
are to do what I say.” I repeated what I had told the men: that any pollution
would fall on me alone.
    “Lord Otori,” she muttered, giving the minimum bob of her head and
glancing out of the corner of her eye. I resisted the urge to strike her,
though I felt she deserved it. “Am I to ride?” Kaede said.
    “No, it’s very unstable. Better to walk. I’ll swim your horse
across.” Amano would not hear of it. “There are plenty of grooms to do that,”
he said, looking at my soaked, muddy armor.
    “Let one of them come with me now,” I said. “He can take Raku and
bring an extra horse for me. I must get back to the other side.” I had not
forgotten the man I’d seen scuttling away. If he had gone to alert others of
our arrival, I wanted to be there to confront them.
    “Bring Shun for Lord Otori,” Amano shouted to one of the grooms.
The man came up to us on a small bay horse and took Raku’s reins. I said a
brief farewell to Kaede, asking her to make sure the packhorse carrying the
chest of records made the crossing safely, and mounted Makoto’s horse again. We
cantered back along the line of soldiers, which was now moving quite quickly
onto the bridge. About two hundred were already across, and Kahei was
organizing them into small groups, each with its own leader.
    Makoto was waiting for me by the water’s edge. I gave him his
horse back and held Raku while he and the groom rode into the river. I watched
the bay horse, Shun. He went fearlessly into the water, swimming strongly and
calmly as if it were the sort of thing he did every day. The groom returned
over the bridge and took Raku from me.
    While they swam across, I joined the men on the floating bridge.
    They scrambled across like the rats in Hagi Harbor, spending as
little time on the soggy mass as possible. I imagined few of them knew how to
swim. Some of them greeted me, and one or two touched me on the shoulder as if
I would ward off evil and bring good luck. I encouraged them as much as I could,
joking about the hot baths and excellent food we’d get in Maruyama. They seemed
in good spirits, though we all knew that Maruyama lay a long way ahead.
    On the other side I told the groom to wait with Raku for Kaede. I
mounted Shun. He was on the small side, and not a handsome horse, but there was
something about him I liked. Telling the warriors to follow, I rode ahead with
Makoto. I particularly wanted bowmen with us, and two groups of thirty were
ready. I told them to conceal themselves behind the dike and wait for my
signal.
    Jin-emon’s body still lay by the barrier, and the whole place was
silent, apparently deserted.
    “Was this something to do with you?” Makoto said, looking with
disgust at the huge body and the display of heads.
    “I’ll tell you later. He had a companion who got away. I suspect
he’ll be back with more men. Kahei said this area was full of bandits. The dead
man must have been making people pay to use the bridge; if they refused, he
took their heads.”
    Makoto dismounted to take a closer look. “Some of these are
warriors,” he said, “and young men too. We should take his head in payment.” He
drew his sword.
    “Don’t,” I warned. “He has bones of granite. You’ll damage the blade.“
    He gave me an incredulous look and did not say anything, but in one
swift movement slashed across the neck. His sword