Gloria Oliver Read Online Free Page B

Gloria Oliver
Book: Gloria Oliver Read Online Free
Author: In Service Of Samurai
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her light-green kimono and her lavishly coiffured black-haired wig with its silver bells told him she was geisha, an entertainer. Yet, unlike any geisha he had ever heard tell of, this one wore a Noh mask over her face.
    The delicate traditional theater mask of white-painted wood was of a handsome young maiden with large almond-shaped eyes, rounded nose and thin, smiling red lips, but its illusion was dispelled as he noticed the woman’s hands and neck were as fleshless as a hundred-year-old corpse.
    “Who … who are you? What … what do you want from me?” He inched away from the geisha, his voice cracking as he spoke.
    The woman looked up at him, soft blue light showing through the narrow, round eye-slits of the mask.
    With surprising grace and beauty in spite of her lack of flesh, the geisha bowed to him and introduced herself.
    “I am Akiuji Miko. Entertainer for his lordship Asaka Ietsugu.”
    Feeling awkward at the unexpected show of formality, he made himself return the bow.
    “My … my name is Chizuson Toshiro,” he said, his mind thinking about how in the rules of the foreigners his surname would have come last, not first. “Though most people just call me Toshi. I was an apprentice mapmaker to Hirojima Shun.” He licked his lips, apprehension filling him to the core.
    The geisha said, “I’m very pleased to meet you, Chizuson-san.”
    He glanced away and said nothing, in no way feeling the same. He was also surprised she’d added the honorific to his name. Why would a demon give him such a courtesy?
    “Won’t you have tea? If you’re hungry, I’ve some rice cakes as well.” Her voice was kind.
    He stared at the floor and said nothing.
    “Won’t you do me this small courtesy? It’s been a long time since I’ve had a chance to serve tea.”
    Delicately, Miko lifted a steaming cup and held it out toward him. “Please, Toshi-san?”
    His stomach rumbled as the green tea’s aroma drifted toward him. His cold hands and feet insisted a little hot tea would do no harm. He wondered why she’d decided to use his given name instead of his surname. That was normally a habit of people who knew each other well.
    “Hai.”
    Keeping his blanket snug about his shoulders, he rose hesitantly to his feet and advanced to the small table set in front of the geisha. Making sure the table stayed between them, he sat down.
    Without comment, Miko placed the cup on the table before him.
    Waiting until her fleshless hands were well away from it, he took the steaming cup. Thrilled by the warmth flowing from it into his hands, he just held it, his eagerness for the drink itself gone for the moment.
    When he finally drank, he closed his eyes, grateful for the warmth spreading inside him. He quickly placed the emptied cup on the table, inwardly hoping for more but not daring to ask.
    Miko lifted a plate full of seaweed wrapped rice cakes from a tray beside her and put it before him.
    “Won’t you have some?” She then proceeded to refill his cup.
    Studying the rice cakes and figuring they looked safe enough, he reached out for one of them and took a small, hesitant bite. Finding that it tasted as it should, he gobbled it down and reached for another. Before he realized what he’d done, he’d eaten them all.
    “Toshi-san, how old are you?”
    He almost smiled, content now that he was full, until he glanced up at his unusual hostess and remembered where he was. “I’m almost sixteen.” He wondered why a demon would want to know, but he wasn’t about to ask.
    Miko held his attention as her head tilted slightly to the side, making the small bells in her hair ring. By the way her shoulders were gently shaking, he got the impression the geisha was laughing behind her white mask.
    “All young boys are always in such a hurry to grow up, to go out into the world and meet their destinies.” Miko’s broad green sleeve rose up to cover the smiling mask’s mouth.
    He felt his cheeks grow hot. Yes, it was true he was only

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