Heaven's Net Is Wide Lian Hearn The new beginning-and the grand finale-to the beloved Tales of the Otori series. Heaven's Net Is Wide is the new first volume of the now complete Tales of the Otori- prequel to Across the Nightingale Floor, the book that first introduced Hearn's mythical, medieval Japanese world. This is the story of Lord Otori Shigeru-who has presided over the entire series as a sort of spiritual warrior-godfather-the man who saved Takeo and raised him as his own and heir to the Otori clan. This sweeping novel expands on what has been only hinted at before: Shigeru's training in the ways of the warrior and feudal lord, his relationship with the Tribe of mysteriously powerful assassins, the battles that tested his skills and talents, and his fateful meeting with Lady Maruyama. Heaven's Net Is Wide is an epic tale of warfare, loyalty, love, and heartbreak. This book leaves off where Across the Nightingale Floor begins, finally bringing the Otori series full circle. And while it both completes and introduces the Tales of the Otori, it also stands on its own as a satisfying, dramatic novel of feudal Japan. Lian Hearn Heaven's Net Is Wide The fifth book in the Tales of the Otori series, 2007 *** For R Heaven’s net is wide but its mesh is fine. CHARACTERS The Clans THE OTORI Otori Shigeru: heir to the Otori clan Otori Takeshi: his younger brother Otori Shigemori: his father, lord of the clan Otori Masako: his mother Otori Shoichi: his uncle Otori Masahiro: his uncle Otori Ichiro: Shigeru’s teacher Chiyo: head maid of Lady Otori’s household Otori Eijiro: head of a branch family Otori Eriko: his wife Otori Danjo: his son Harada: one of Shigeru’s retainers Komori: a Chigawa man, “the Underground Emperor” Haruna: owner of the House of the Camellias Akane: a famous courtesan, daughter of the stonemason Hayato: her lover Yanagi Moe: Shigeru’s wife Mori Yusuke: the Otori horsebreaker Mori Yuta: his oldest son Mori Kiyoshige: his second son, Shigeru’s best friend Mori Hiroki: his third son, who becomes a priest Miyoshi Satoru: an elder of the clan Miyoshi Kahei: his older son, Takeshi’s friend Miyoshi Gemba: his younger son Irie Masahide: the sword instructor to the Otori boys Kitano Tadakazu: lord of Tsuwano, an Otori vassal Kitano Tadao: his oldest son Kitano Masaji: his second son Noguchi Masayoshi: an Otori vassal Nagai Tadayoshi: the senior retainer at Yamagata Endo Chikara: the senior retainer at Hagi Terada Fumimasa: head of the Hagi fishing fleet Terada Fumio: his son Matsuda Shingen: a former warrior, now a priest, later the Abbot of Terayama THE SEISHUU Maruyama Naomi: head of the Maruyama clan Maruyama Mariko: her daughter Sugita Sachie: her companion, Otori Eriko’s sister Sugita Haruki: senior retainer to the Maruyama, Sachie’s brother Arai Daiichi: heir to the Arai clan at Kumamoto THE TOHAN Iida Sadayoshi: lord of the Tohan clan Iida Sadamu: his son, heir to the clan Miura Naomichi: a Tohan sword instructor Inaba Atsushi: his retainer The Tribe Muto Shizuka: Arai’s mistress Muto Zenko: Muto Taku: their sons Muto Kenji: Shizuka’s uncle, head of the Muto family, friend to Shigeru Muto Seiko: his wife Muto Yuki: his daughter Kikuta Kotaro: Shizuka’s uncle, head of the Kikuta family Kikuta Isamu: his cousin, one of the Tribe Bunta: a groom The Hidden Sara: Isamu’s wife Tomasu: their son Shimon: Sara’s second husband Maruta: their older daughter Madaren: their younger daughter Nesutoro: an itinerant priest Mari: his niece Horses Karasu: Shigeru’s black Kamome: Kiyoshige’s black-maned gray Raku: Takeshi’s black-maned gray Kyu: Shigeru’s second black Kuri: a very clever bay 1 The footfall was light, barely discernible among all the myriad noises of the autumn forest-the rustle of leaves scattering in the northwesterly wind, the distant beating of wings as geese flew southward, the echoing sounds of the village far below-yet Isamu heard it and recognized it. He put the digging tool down on the damp grass, along with the roots he had been collecting, and moved away from it. Its sharp blade spoke to him and he did not want to be tempted by any tool or weapon. He turned in the direction of his cousin’s approach and waited. Kotaro came into the clearing invisible, in the way of the Tribe, but Isamu did not bother concealing himself in the same fashion. He knew all his cousin’s skills: they were almost the same age, Kotaro less than a year younger; they had trained together, striving always to outdo each other; they had been friends, of a sort, and rivals their entire life. Isamu had thought he had escaped here in this remote village on the eastern borders of the Three Countries, far from the great cities where the Tribe preferred to live and work, selling their supernatural skills to whoever paid them highest and finding plenty of employment in these times of intrigue and strife among the warriors. But no one escapes the Tribe forever. How many times had he heard this warning as a child? How many times had he repeated it to himself, with the dark pleasure that the old skills induce, as he delivered the silent knife thrust, the twist of the garrote or, his own preferred method, the poison that fell drop by drop into a sleeping mouth or an unprotected eye? He did not doubt that it echoed through Kotaro’s mind now as his cousin’s shape came shimmering into sight. For a moment they stared at each other without speaking. The forest itself seemed to fall quiet, and in that silence Isamu thought he could hear his wife’s voice far below. If he could hear her, then Kotaro could, too, for both cousins had the Kikuta gift of far-hearing, just as they both bore the straight line of the Kikuta that divided the palm of the hand. “It took me a long time to find you,” Kotaro said finally. “That was my intention,” Isamu replied. Compassion was still unfamiliar to him, and he shrank from the pain it awakened in his new born heart. He thought with regret of the girl’s kindness, her high spirits, her goodness; he wished he could save her from grief; he wondered if their brief marriage had already planted new life in her and what
