Land of the Dead (68 page)
“Combat?” Mitsuharu shook his head. “No, they’ve stood down. There are fighter wings on patrol … but I’ve seen
nothing
which indicates they are hostile to us.”
Then she did seem to relax, a brittle tension flowing away from her, and she raised the cup again. “Greetings,
Chu-sa
. I did not think I’d see you again, when we parted at Toroson.”
“I either!” Hadeishi laughed softly, feeling his heart lighten. “Who could have guessed we’d come together again in such a remote fastness, or by such a circuitous path?”
“Who indeed?” Kosh
ō
offered a faint smile, though her eyes were shadowed again. “It must have been fate.”
* * *
The temple bells were ringing the length and breadth of Kyoto, filling the warm night air with a glad clamoring sound. Uncounted voices were raised, singing a song of welcome and unbridled joy. Musashi nodded to himself, scratching at his stubbled, gray beard, and turned away from the huge mass of people thronging the courtyard. He passed under an orange tree whose branches were filled with chattering, laughing children—all peering wide-eyed at the steps leading up into the hall of Shishinden, hoping for a glimpse of the new Emperor—and then forced his way against the press of citizens flowing into the royal complex from the streets. Once beyond the Imperial precincts, the traffic eased and he sighed with relief. He shrugged his shoulders, loosening his muscles, tucked both arms inside his kimono, and found his feet on the great Nara road, heading west. The night sky was clear, showing the moon in quarter-crescent, and the stars were twinkling like jewels strewn on black velvet.
Breathing deeply, feeling free for the first time in a decade, the old man started home.
TOR BOOKS BY THOMAS HARLAN
OATH OF EMPIRE
The Shadow of Ararat
The Gate of Fire
The Storm of Heaven
The Dark Lord
IN THE TIME OF THE SIXTH SUN
Wasteland of Flint
House of Reeds
Land of the Dead
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
LAND OF THE DEAD
Copyright © 2009 by Thomas Harlan
All rights reserved.
A Tor
®
eBook
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
Tor
®
is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
ISBN 978-0-7653-5053-4
First Edition: August 2009
First Mass Market Edition: April 2011
eISBN 978-1-4299-9432-3
First Tor eBook Edition: March 2011
