Year of the Boar, Eighth Month, Day 21.

I sent the bird back to Kouji before I set off yesterday. I did not have very much to tell him other than my location just in case he manages to inform any of the others in my network. I also thought it worth asking him for information on when the House might return to Dying Crane. I have half a mind to slip over the border into the Seventh Kingdom and journey back down to Purple Lightning rather than sit here in Dying Crane waiting.
 I have been walking west for a while and I am certain that it will not be long before I find a village since I have seen a number of people walking towards the House from the direction in which I am walking. Since the weather has remained clement, I have stopped for a short rest. I will not remain here long as I am anxious to find somewhere to stay; I have no desire to spend another night under the sky. I am reluctant to admit it but I am starting to feel afraid again. Once I have found an inn, I will re-evaluate my situation and hope that Kouji manages to send the bird back with information sooner rather than later.

Year of the Boar, Eighth Month, Day 20. Postscript.

While I was writing earlier, a bird arrived with a message from Laughing Spider. Kouji, my agent there, has written to inform me of Kenta’s death. That was no surprise to me of course but he also added that Tsuyoshi and Ichiko have announced that their daughter has been betrothed to a distant cousin of mine, Genji. I am surprised by that. Rise once confided in me that she did not imagine that she would ever wed; that she would end up betrothed to a man who is not in line to Rule his House is highly intriguing. I suppose though that given the absence of a suitable match among the Ruling class, there is little choice for her. It does seem a little tactless of Laughing Spider to make such an announcement while White Lake’s remaining son lies cold but I suppose I have no way of knowing how old that piece of news is since Kouji did not say. 

Year of the Boar, Eighth Month, Day 20.

I feel that I must keep recording my thoughts for those who come after me. I have the strangest feeling that I shall not survive much longer. It is quite silly of me I am sure, given all that I have endured in this past year so far. I have never set much store in superstition or in the gods but I wonder if they would come to my aid were I to ask. The night was much colder up there than those I spent in the open back in Pale Twilight and sleep did not want to come. I did manage to light a fire but the vast expanse of night seemed to swallow the tiny flame I had created and I could not get warm. The night seemed much clearer from where I lay than those I had observed even from the ship and the stars were gimlets in the blackness. I could not help but feel that they were taunting me from their cosy places in the firmament; dozing calmly while I waited in vain for sleep that evaded me.

I wondered whether the Chief had given me any thought at all since we had parted. I have thought of him but briefly; my feelings about him are still confused and I have been too pre-occupied to miss his touch. My mind wandered further back to Pale Twilight and my father. I chastised myself for not having gone to Purple Lighting before I came to Dying Crane. Lord Tsuyoshi and Lady Ichiko had never had much time for my mother; perhaps they would have helped me find the truths I sought and then sent me on to Dying Crane under their protection… I must not think like this. There is an equal chance that they would have wanted to return me safely to my home and I would never have escaped mother’s clutches after that. I just wish I had some idea of when the House would return. I have no way of knowing whether Kenta’s funeral rites began on time or even whether Kaede would observe the traditional five day ceremony.  Dying Crane could return within the next sevenday or it might take them another month and I cannot sleep in the open for many more nights. I have had a long think about what to do for the best and I think I must find another inn. I will take the opportunity to have something done about my hair and I will have my Silks cleaned and pressed after which, I will return to the House of Dying Crane and present myself whether the House has returned or not. I doubt the servants will recognise me but if they do, I shall simply apologise and tell them the truth; that I did not wish my parents to be alerted to my whereabouts. I have no detailed maps of Dying Crane, only the overview of the Lands that Shikiko gave me so I have no way of knowing where I can find another inn and I am reluctant to go back to the one I stayed at on my way to the House.

Year of the Boar, Eighth Month, Day 19.

It is difficult to know how to proceed. I could not find a way to stay in the House; the cook refused to let me stay and shortly after I had finished writing yesterday, she sent some servants to escort me out of the grounds. There was no way to avoid it without telling them who I was and I thought that if I did that, there was no guarantee that I would be believed. I thought it best not to be caught near the House walls since I had been told I must leave so I have walked west and I have sought shelter in a copse of trees. I will sleep here tonight and consider my options more fully when I wake; perhaps I shall be able to find Nanami's grandmother...