Heaven's Net Is Wide by Lian Hearn (good books to read for 12 year olds .TXT) 📕

said to be the best swordsman in the Three Countries! But he is probably not as good as my elder brother,” Takeshi added loyally.

“I suspect you will be a better swordsman than I,” Shigeru said. “Particularly if you go to Matsuda Shingen at Terayama.”

“I would like to be taught by Matsuda-but I don’t know that I could stand all those months in the temple.”

“You would learn a lot. Maybe you should spend the winter there. We will call on Matsuda on the way.”

“On the way back,” Takeshi pleaded.

“You should stay at least a year,” Shigeru said, thinking, He will be far from the battlefield there.

Takeshi groaned. “Too much studying.”

“Training the body is of no use unless you also train the mind. And besides, the study is fascinating in itself, as well as being a means to an end.”

“These things interest you-you are like our father! That’s why I’m warning you not to get drawn in, as he has. Let’s not take any notice of signs or omens or what the gods say or don’t say. Let’s just put our trust in ourselves and our swords!”

A few moments beforehand, Shigeru had said his brother was still a child, and Takeshi’s voice was full of a boy’s enthusiasm and optimism; nevertheless, Shigeru felt that this was their first conversation as adults. Takeshi was growing up, and a new element had entered their relationship. Twice now Takeshi had offered advice and Shigeru had taken it.

22

Shigeru decided that night to entrust the patrolling of the eastern borders for the rest of the year to Lord Kitano, and to his wife’s family, the Yanagi of Kushimoto. Since the previous year, both families had supplied men and horses. He summoned the captains and told them he was returning to Hagi, leaving careful instructions on the frequency and size of the patrols and ordering them to send weekly messengers to the city to keep him informed on every detail.

The apparent lack of activity among the Tohan across the border made him uneasy. He wished he had a network of spies, as the Tohan had, to bring accurate news back from Inuyama. He was careful to tell no one else of his half-formed plan to travel to the West and see what alliances could be made with the Seishuu, fearing such a development would be seen as unnecessarily aggressive and would provoke Iida into open warfare.

Two days later they rode north to the sea, then turned west and followed the coast road to Hagi. The typhoon season had been a mild one and seemed to be over early. Clear autumn weather made the journey enjoyable, and the men were cheerful at the prospect of returning home.

In the open country, Shigeru rode ahead with Irie to discuss his idea with the older man. Ever since they had journeyed together to Terayama, Irie had become his most trusted adviser. Ascetic and taciturn by nature, Irie was tireless and clearsighted. His hair was grizzled with age, but he was still as strong as a twenty-year-old. He was a realist, but he was different from the fickle pragmatists Kitano and Noguchi, for example. His loyalty to Shigeru and the Otori clan was absolute, undivided by self-serving acts or opportunism. And his grasp of the complex situation now facing the Three Countries was acute. He put no faith in signs and talismans, but he was cautious by nature and would not lightly take the sort of action that would plunge the Three Countries into war, which Shigeru knew was what the young men-Kiyoshige, Miyoshi Kahei, his own brother-desired, and the outcome he himself favored. He felt he needed Irie to check his own impulsiveness, to help him be decisive but not rash.

The horses slowed to a walk. Away to their left, the Yaegahara plain was turning tawny under the autumn sun. The tasseled heads of the grasses shimmered palely, and brown and orange butterflies flitted round the horses’ hooves. Bush clover and yarrow flowered purple and white. To the east lay range after range of mountains. Already the breeze smelled of the sea.

“It will be good to be home,” Irie said. “My first grandson was born a month ago. My son wrote to say he looks like his grandfather. I am looking forward to seeing him.”

“I am sorry, I am hoping you will come away with me again, and quite soon. I am thinking about traveling to the West, possibly entering into negotiations with the Seishuu.”

“Have you told anyone else about this plan?” Irie asked.

“No, only my brother, Takeshi. He was relating some gossip to me-of how people fear we will be squeezed by Iida using Maruyama Naomi’s marriage as an alliance. I am sure that could be prevented if we act now.”

“Of course I will come with you, whenever you decide to go. In my opinion there’s a great deal of merit in such an undertaking. I believe Iida has also been making approaches to the Arai, though they have a history of antagonism toward the Tohan and have never entered into marriage alliances with them. It’s a shame you have no sisters, for the Arai have four or five sons and none of them are married yet. No doubt Iida is lining up wives for them now!”

He glanced at Shigeru and said, “Your wife has not yet conceived?”

Shigeru shook his head.

“I hope there are no problems. Your uncles have too many sons, your father and yourself not enough. Of course, you have not been married long; there is plenty of time. But you should stay at home with your wife more; that’s my only reservation about traveling away so soon. See if you can’t stay long enough to give her a child before you leave.” Irie chuckled.

Shigeru did not reply to this, beyond pretending to laugh too; for him the situation had nothing in it to laugh at. He missed Akane and looked forward with excited anticipation to being with her, but he dreaded seeing Moe and having to