Naamah's Kiss (86 page)

And if Master Lo was right and all ways led to the Way, the path of desire was as valid as any other.

One day, I said so.

It made the stick-fighters snicker self-consciously, although Bao didn't. The princess turned her head away slightly, as though to suggest the topic was of no interest to her. Master Lo was intrigued.

"How so?" he inquired.

I fidgeted, uncertain how to articulate my half-formed thoughts. "There is an element of surrender in it, Master. Of giving oneself over to a greater force. If it is done with the kind of mindfulness you describe in the practice of the Path of Dharma, if it is done with love and compassion well, then. On the greatship, you said perhaps the gods of Terre d'Ange were capable of using desire to lead their children to wisdom and harmony. Might it not also lead to a greater form of enlightenment?"

To my surprise, he understood. "You speak of one such as your father."

"Yes, exactly!"

"Indeed." Master Lo nodded. "Having met one who treads it, I think we may infer that such a path exists." He studied me. "Do you think it is yours to follow?"

I flushed. "I don't know. I am only thinking about it because of your teaching, and because of other things I am thinking about."

"I am pleased to find any pupil of mine thinking." He glanced at the princess, her expression unreadable behind the veil. "Though perhaps it would be best if we confined our discussion to the topic of more traditional paths. Although one might argue it is the least of my worries, I do not think his Celestial Majesty would be pleased to find this conversation taking place in his daughter's presence amid such mixed company."

As the days wore onward, we began to see more traffic on the river. Ships flying the Imperial bannernot greatships, but very large shipscarrying hundreds and hundreds of soldiers passed us, making the princess and the dragon restless.

"Our progress is too slow," she fretted.

"You knew we could not outpace them," Master Lo reminded her. "Do you wish to take the risk of revealing yourself and seeking their escort?"

She hesitated, then shook her head. "No. No, I dare not."

"Then we continue."

We passed into territory nominally under the control of Lord Jiang's forces, now abandoned as they withdrew to make their stand at White Jade Mountain. Many of the towns had been plundered for supplies and left lawless. The Emperor's well-stocked ships sailed serenely past. Carrying as few stores as we did, we didn't have that luxury. When we put ashore, it grew harder and harder to buy food, let alone beg for it.

The farther we went, the worse it got.

We tried to shelter the princess from the knowledge, but it was impossible. Although she and I stayed prudently close to the boat whenever we moored at a village, guarded by at least two of the stick-fighters, Snow Tiger was keenly observant. Even without sight, she could hear the rising tenor of anger the farther south we travelled, voices in the marketplaces taking on a hard, desperate edge.

It troubled her.

In one town, a riot broke out. We beat a hasty retreat, begging bowls and food-sacks empty. Back on the river, the princess was silent and withdrawn.

"What you are witnessing is the face of war a great ruler seldom sees, my lady," Master Lo Feng said to her. Her veiled face turned his way, listening. "No matter how righteous the cause, no matter who wins, the commonfolk suffer. Without plenty, the wealthy lack compassion for the poor, hoarding without sharing. Without law, the strong bully the weak, stealing by force. People will go hungry. Some will starve. Men and women will be forced to choose between feeding their parents and their children."

"You did not counsel against this war," she said in a low voice.

Master Lo inclined his head. "Only because I believed it too late to be averted. If there had been a better way, I would have counseled it. Since you are here, I would have you understand what war truly entails. It is a lesson few rulers are given to grasp."

"I think it is also a reason that followers of the Path of Dharma believe that to live is to suffer," Ten Tigers Dai murmured unexpectedly. "For many of us, it isor at least it has been."

The others, including Bao, nodded.

The princess' back straightened as she squared her shoulders firmly. "Then it is a lesson I will take to heart."

Gods know, it was true. Two days later, we moored overnight at a village reputed to have a functioning market. Tortoise and Kang rose before dawn to stake out a place in the square, awaiting the arrival of the farmers with goods to sell. The rest of us lingered near the boat.

I was eying fish swimming in the shallow edges of the river, thinking that I could easily summon the twilight and catch a few given a discreet opportunity, when Tortoise and Kang came hurrying back with half-filled sacks over their shoulders.

"Another riot!" Tortoise called out, huffing as he ran. Complicated emotions flitted over his homely face. "They're taking everything. Stick-fighters, wouldn't you know?"

Bao swore in a distinctly un-monkish fashion and began untying the mooring line. "Time to go!"

"No." Snow Tiger fingered her sword. "We will confront them."

He gaped at her. "Are you crazy?"

She tilted her veiled head. "Are you afraid?"

"Heh." His battle-grin appeared. He dropped the rope and seized his staff. "No."

Ten Tigers Dai whooped.

"Noble Princess" Master Lo began.

It was too late; not even his calm wisdom could dissuade her. And the dragon within her was exuberant, happy with any course of action. In a daze, I watched her set out for the square, swift and unerring despite her inability to see, flanked by Bao and Dai; then I shook myself and swore, scrambling aboard the boat to retrieve my bow and quiver.

The boat, loosed from its mooring, began to drift.

"Oh, gods bedamned!" I caught the line in one hand and splashed through the shallows, towing it back to shore, holding my bow high with the other hand so as not to wet the string. "Tortoise! Tie it up! Kang, come on!"

We ran.

It was mayhem in the market square; mayhem with a small, slender figure in green robes and a veiled hat at the center of it. On either side of the princess, Bao and Dai leapt and whirled and fought, staves a blur. A dozen stick-fighters were arrayed against themand losing.

Everywhere else, folk cowered. Farmers come to sell rice and chickens and cabbages huddled over their wares. Folk come to buy or barter retreated to cringe along the outskirts of the square.

Kang plunged into the fray, battling a path to our allies, assaulting their assailants from behind. I followed in his wake, bow in hand and arrow nocked, identifying targets should it be needful. But by the time we reached the princess, it was over.

The beaten stick-fighters groaned.

Snow Tiger stood very still before the farmers, listening to the murmurs arise. We arrayed ourselves around her; but it was her at whom the commonfolk stared.

And me.

I realized my hat had blown off along the way, revealing my half-D'Angeline features and green eyes. They knew. They knew who we were.

I kept an arrow nocked.

"My people." Snow Tiger's voice was crisp. "We are in a time of war. This is a hardship you suffer. Lord Jiang claims to command here, but he has left you bereft. In the name of my father, his Imperial Majesty, the Son of Heaven, I bid you to endure this hardship with kindness and compassion. I bid you to aid one another. Let the wealthy have charity for the poor. Let the strong have mercy on the weak. And I promise, if we are victorious, such a time shall never come again." Holding her sword at eye level, she unsheathed the weapon that had remained in its scabbard during the entire fight. Naked steel flashed in the sunlight. "This, I swear to you on my blade. Will you heed me?"

In awed silence, they knelt to herevery man, woman, and child in the square, kneeling and pressing their brows to the ground.

"Well," I said to no one in particular. " This complicates matters."

"We cannot stay on the river much longer," Master Lo said ruefully. "There is one thing that flies swifter than any hawk, and that is rumor."

"I did but act on the lesson you taught me," the princess murmured. "Perhaps I misunderstood?"

He sighed. "No, my lady. You understood it all too well. But in dangerous times, noble impulse must be tempered with caution."

She accepted the rebuke with a graceful nod. "What is your counsel?"

Master Lo stroked his chin. "We must strike out over land. The monastery temple that houses Guanyin of a Thousand Eyes and many other famous carvings is not far from here. If he is still alive, the abbot is a man I knew well, once. It is one reason I chose to invoke the place as our destination. He will conceal our trail from any seekers."

Snow Tiger tilted her head. "Then let us go there."

It sounded simple.

It wasn't.

The Ch'in folk do build temples in their cities, many of them. But the ones they love best, the ones that are most sacred to them, they build in the highest, most remote places one can find.

This was such a one.

The following morning, in a towering gorge where the cliffs rose sheer around us, Master Lo pointed to a tiny landing. Bao steered the boat expertly toward it. There, we climbed out of the unsteady vessel and unloaded our meager possessions.

Tortoise eyed the narrow track that stitched its way up the steep cliff face and sighed with profound misgivings. " There ?"

"Uh-huh." Bao tossed him a half-empty sack of rice, then cut the boat loose to drift. "Master Lo and the lady say climb, we climb."

We climbed.

How far, I could not say. I had no head for reckoning distances, save in terms of the time it took to traverse them. It took us a day to climb the face of the cliff. But the distance was the least of it. It was the growing height and the precariousness of the path that made the journey a terrifying one.

At the halfway point, my legs began to tremble. Below us, the green ribbon of the river dwindled and shrank. I dared not look down lest the drop make me dizzy.

Be strong , the dragon whispered in my thoughts. I will not let anything harm you .