Naamah's Kiss (92 page)

Master Lo Feng came to tend to her cut cheek, smearing it with unguent. She did not ask him if it would leave a scar.

When darkness fell, I didn't wait for the night terrors to come. In our shared tent, I laid my blankets close beside hers. I felt her sigh with reluctant pleasure when I put my arm around her in the darkness, the tight-strung bow of her body loosening against me. Without a word spoken, her hand sought mine.

"Sleep," I whispered. "Sleep without dreams, my lady. You have earned it. You protected them all."

She slept.

I did, too.

Somewhere, the bright lady smiled quietly.

Three days later, we came upon an Imperial watch-post.

Our network of country spies alerted us to their presence. Wanting to avoid any misunderstanding, we sent a handful of farmers ahead to notify the Imperial forces of our approach.

I daresay they doubted it anyway, for they waited to receive us in full armor, bows drawn and arrows nocked. Bao reported this to the princess in a low murmur. She listened, then held up one hand.

"I bid all of you to wait here," she said in a clear, carrying voice. "Let me ride forward alone to greet my Noble Father's men."

I held my breath and watched, my fingers itching for my own bow. Beside me, Bao clutched his staff so hard his knuckles were white. Despite my best efforts, Snow Tiger bore little resemblance to the resplendent figure I had first encountered clad in embroidered robes, adorned with jewels, a crimson sash binding her eyes. Her modest robes were worn and frayed, blotched with faded brown stains I hadn't been able to remove. Her blindfold was a grimy strip of undyed cotton, and her hair was bound in a simple braid. Still, her regal carriage was unmistakable.

At least, I hoped so.

Waiting out of bowshot, none of us could hear what words were exchanged. When I saw the Emperor's men go to their knees, I released the breath I was holding. I heard dozens of others do the same, a sound like a soft wind sighing through a wheat field. Snow Tiger turned in the saddle and beckoned to us. As we approached, the Imperial soldiers stared at our motley party with disbelief and dismay, appalled to find the daughter of the Son of Heaven in such disreputable company.

"Give these people every respect," the princess said, sensing their silent disapproval. "They have served the Celestial Throne with great loyalty and honor."

Rising to the occasion, the captain offered a deep bow. "On behalf of the Imperial army, I offer my gratitude."

All around me, weather-beaten faces glowed.

She will be a great ruler one day , the dragon offered. If we live .

I shivered. "I think so, too."

While the princess, Master Lo, and our stick-fighters took counsel with the captain of the watch-guard, I occupied myself with grooming my mount, a long-legged bay gelding who was grateful for the attention. A few of the farmers drifted nearby as though they might offer to perform the chore for me, but no one did. I didn't mindI was glad to have something to dobut it served to remind me that I too was very much alone in the midst of many.

You have me . The dragon's tone darkened. And that insolent warrior is very fond of you .

It made me smile. "Thank you, treasured friend. It is good to remember."

You will always find love on your path. Hers will be a lonelier one.

"I know," I said softly. "I am doing my best to make it less so."

Yes.

After the counsel session ended, we learned that the Imperial army's camp was a mere half day's ride away. It had been decided that we would set out in the late afternoon that we might arrive under cover of darkness. The captain and half his men would escort us, leaving a handful behind to safeguard our passage.

With gentle adamancy, Snow Tiger dismissed the farmers.

They didn't want to go. They knelt and stretched out their arms to her, protesting and pleading, but this time, she would not be swayed.

"No," she said firmly. "You have done me a great service for which I will ever be grateful. Here, it ends. We must travel swiftly and unencumbered. Go. Go home, and pray to the gods for our success."

There was more wailing and pleading, but at last they went, urged none too subtly by Captain Li Shen and his men. I watched the princess' shoulders ease in relief as the country folk departed. They had aided us, aye, but it was one less burden for her to carry.

And soon

Home ! the dragon caroled.

I tried not to think about the army that waited between us and White Jade Mountain, and the terrible weapons they wielded. The booming roar of the Divine Thunder echoed in my memory. "Aye," I agreed. "Home."

An hour into our journey toward the Imperial army, White Jade Mountain came into view.

It was beautiful, so beautiful.

I would have thought so anyway, but my awareness of the dragon's yearning made it all the more poignant. The mountain loomed in the distance, impossibly tall, its snow-capped peak rising high above a mantle of dark green spruce forest.

"Oh," I whispered, drawing rein involuntarily. "Oh! It's lovely."

Yes.

"Where is the lake, treasured friend?" I asked him. "The reflecting lake where you hid your pearl?"

Snow Tiger tilted her head in my direction, listening.

High in the mountains . The dragon sounded apologetic. Very high. You will have to climb very far .

I glanced at the princess. "Then we will."

By the time sunset gilded the snowy peak, we could make out a vast sprawl of tiny figures arrayed on the slopes of the mountain and around its base. From a distance, they seemed no more consequential than a colony of ants.

The nearer we drew, the more it changed.

Men, so many men. There were tens of thousands of them. When dusk fell, we saw the fires they kindled. Cook fires, watch fires. Thousands spilling down the mountainside, circling around its enormous base. Thousands more on the flat fields where the Emperor's army awaited us.

Opposite them, bronze tubes mounted on wheels glinted in the fading light, death lurking in their metal gullets. The weapons looked small in the distance, but my skin prickled at the sight and I found myself shivering in the saddle, remembering the devastating power they had unleashed.

"Moirin." Bao pulled alongside me, his expression worried. "Are you all right?"

"Aye," I murmured, unsure if it were true.

Dusk turned to darkness. We lit lanterns and kept riding. The light from all the fires ahead of us illuminated the night sky.

"So many," Snow Tiger said in dismay. "So many !"

A few hundred yards from the outskirts of the Imperial camp, we paused to wait while Captain Li and several of his men rode onward to bring the news of the princess' arrival to the Emperor. Our plan was to bring her into the camp without causing a stir that the enemy would notice.

We succeeded, barely.

Captain Li returned to fetch us, accompanied by our old companion General Tsieh and a detachment of Imperial guards. On the great-ship, I'd reckoned the general a stoic fellow, but tears shone in his eyes as he gazed on the princess in her stained, threadbare robes. He bowed low in the saddle, hand over fist.

"Noble Highness," he said in a hoarse voice. "It is so very, very good to see you."

"Honored General." She inclined her head. "The pleasure is mine. Had you not undertaken so long and dire a voyage on my behalf, I would not be here before you today. I am grateful for it."

"It was an honor to do so." The general straightened, clearing his throat. "If you would do me a further honor, it would be my privilege to escort you into your father's presence. I assure you, the men have been ordered not to respond to your arrival. His Celestial Majesty is most anxious to see you."

Beneath her blindfold, the princess' face softened. "And I him."

The soldiers of the Imperial army were trained and disciplined. True to their orders, they kept quiet as we entered the camp. No one cheered, no one bowed or knelt. But they stared at her in the firelight as we rode past, and even in the silence, one could feel their reaction. A ripple ran through their ranks, as though the pelt of some unimaginably vast animal had shuddered. The soldiers stared at the princess, they stared at all of us. At Master Lo, at Bao and Tortoise and Ten Tigers Dai, their staves strapped across their backs, faces stern. At me, the foreign witch.

And I understood that whatever else happened, we had just ridden into legend.

A shiver ran down my spine.

The Emperor's tent was in the center of the camp, a vast pavilion of yellow silk. Flanked by guards, he stood before it, cutting a splendid and imposing figure in gilded armor. There was a terrible hunger in his gaze as he watched his daughter approach, her hands sure on the reins despite the blindfold.

At ten paces away, Snow Tiger gestured for us to wait. My throat grew tight as she dismounted and approached on foot, then knelt gracefully before her father and pressed her brow to the earth. "Noble Father and Most Celestial Majesty," she whispered. "I humbly beg you to forgive your most disobedient daughter."

"Is it" Emperor Zhu's voice trembled. "Is it true?"

"Yes, Father." She lifted her head. "I am here."

With shaking hands, he helped her to her feet, gazing at her face. "Oh, my child." He touched the sword cut on her cheek with infinite tenderness. "You are forgiven. A thousand, thousand times over, you are forgiven."

I swallowed and blinked away tears.

The Emperor glanced over at us. "And you, my old friend," he said to Master Lo Feng, his voice rough with emotion. "You are forgiven, too. You and your stick-wielding ruffians and your jade-eyed witch. For bringing my daughter safely here, you are forgiven."

Master Lo bowed deeply. "For that, I am profoundly grateful, Celestial Majesty, as are we all. We did not undertake such disobedience lightly. But I fear this is no ending, only a new beginning."

"Yes." Emperor Zhu's hand tightened on his daughter's slender shoulder. He frowned at it, only just now realizing that it was the first time since her wedding night that he had dared to touch heror that she had allowed herself to be touched by him. "White Jade Mountain will not be easily gained. Jiang's men are guarding the passes."