Silver Phoenix (19 page)

“Won’t you introduce me to your beautiful travel companion?” Li Rong lifted the lantern and studied her with an open flirtation that made her ears burn. He was nothing like Chen Yong.

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“This is Ai Ling. Ai Ling, my younger brother, Li Rong,”

Chen Yong said.

“Ai Ling.” Li Rong swept his free arm with a flourish and bowed. His horse pranced. “If we were in distant kingdoms, I would kiss the back of your hand.” He drew a step closer.

It was obvious he enjoyed making her blush. “Father tells me that is the custom in the foreign courts, old brother.

You should try it. I bet it’d work, what with your exotic good looks and all.” He winked at Ai Ling as he nudged his brother in the ribs with one elbow.

Was he truly flirting with her after just passing a slain demon on the road?

“You fool.” Chen Yong thumped Li Rong in the shoulder with an open palm. “What’re you doing here? It’s a long way from home.” Chen Yong’s hand remained clasped on his brother’s shoulder.

“I’ve been trying to catch up to you ever since you left.”

He led his horse to a sparse patch of grass on the side of the road and released the reins. “It’s fortunate you told me of Master Tan in Jiu Gong or else I’d never have found you.

You travel too fast.”

“Mother let you out to chase after me?”

Li Rong dusted off his sleeve with one hand, obviously avoiding eye contact with Chen Yong. “Not exactly. I told her I was going into the capital for my imperial exams.”

“You lied to her?” Chen Yong thumped his brother on the 96

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shoulder again in reprimand. “She’ll have your hide when she fi nds out.”

“Don’t make me feel guilty now that I’ve finally found you! I was worried. I thought someone should be with you.

And after your recent encounter, you definitely need my protection.”

Chen Yong opened his mouth as if to retort, but laughed instead. “You’ve always been too impulsive. Journey with us; you’ve come this far already. Then Mother can have my hide as well when we get home.”

“I take full responsibility, old brother.” He rocked back on his heels, his smile wide.

Li Rong offered Ai Ling his horse. He helped her to mount, then led the dark brown steed down the road. Chen Yong walked beside him. Ai Ling had never ridden a horse, but she was relieved to be off her feet and fell into the horse’s rhythm with ease.

“Have you discovered anything about your birth parents?”

Li Rong asked.

“My father is a foreigner from Jiang Dao—”

“Jiang Dao! Where ice pellets fall from the sky and the people are as pale as mare’s milk?” Li Rong interjected.

“Don’t they hunt spiked rats as big as piglets to eat?”

Ai Ling laughed despite herself.

“Don’t encourage him,” Chen Yong said, turning back to grin at her.

“And your mother?” Li Rong asked.

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His brother allowed the question to hang in the warm summer air, long enough that Ai Ling wondered if Chen Yong had heard it.

“She was a concubine to the Emperor,” Chen Yong fi nally replied in a quiet voice.

“Wah! Who would have thought my older brother was born in the Palace?” He shook his head in wonder, his topknot swaying. Then the revelation hit him. “Your mother betrayed the Emperor? The heavens help her. Did she live?”

“I don’t know,” Chen Yong said. “The Palace is where Ai Ling is headed to find her father. And it’s where I’m headed now. It would seem our goals have merged after a chance meeting.”

Ai Ling’s fingers seized Feng’s thick mane. “I didn’t think you wanted anything to do with me after what happened.”

She felt courageous for speaking this difficult thought aloud to him, garnering boldness from her tall vantage point astride the horse.

Chen Yong looked up at her, his features shrouded in shadow. He turned his head back toward the road before speaking. “I apologize for my actions, Ai Ling. What happened that night was terrible, and I shouldn’t have deserted you. I acted out of anger and disappointment.”

Li Rong tilted his head and studied her as a cat would.

“Thank you.” She was grateful for the darkness that hid her hot cheeks. Why was she perpetually blushing?

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The moon hung low over the horizon. The sound of the horse’s steady hooves, an occasional bird call, and the rustling of leaves were all that accompanied their silence. Her shoulders tensed with each new stirring in the darkness.

Chen Yong still clasped the hilt of his sword, while Li Rong strolled beside him in a jaunty, carefree manner.

Ai Ling finally broke the silence, speaking in a hushed tone, as if unwanted ears lingered close. “Master Tan mentioned a seer in the Ping Peaks. He said this Lao Pan may be able to help me . . . against the evil entities.”

“You mean to say you’ve seen more than that dead thing lying in the road?” Li Rong asked.

“More than anyone should,” Chen Yong said.

She simply nodded, not caring if they saw her. She did not want to speak of the events from the past few days.

“A seer’s insight couldn’t hurt,” Chen Yong said, stopping.

Ai Ling retrieved Master Tan’s map from her knapsack and passed it to him.

He held it under the small travel lantern. “It’s marked on the map. Very prominently as well.” Chen Yong glanced up, the small fl ame highlighting his cheekbones and slicing shadows across his strong jaw line. “It appears only a few hours’ travel from here.” He leaned toward the parchment, put a finger on it. “Lao Pan’s cave is nestled near the bottom of the peaks.”

“Cave?” Li Rong said. “That’s worth the trip alone.”

They walked on until the moon rose directly overhead.

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Ai Ling drifted toward sleep, listening to the two brothers catch up on family gossip in quiet tones. Chen Yong held the travel lantern in one hand, a tiny beacon in what felt like a vast world of dark shapes and fleeting shadows.

Gradually the smooth lines of the terraced fields gave way to rugged hilltops, thrusting like gnarled fingers into the sky. They veered onto a path at the bottom of one such peak and started to climb slowly. The path soon narrowed, so they walked in single file, Chen Yong leading them while Li Rong guided Ai Ling on his horse.

Fully awake now as the ground below dropped sharply to her right, Ai Ling sat with her legs hugging the horse’s warm sides. After a long time of walking in silence, the path opened to a large landing. She dismounted to stretch her sore thighs, offering the horse an apple that Li Rong gave her. The horse chomped on it with enthusiasm and whinnied as she smoothed a palm over its strong neck.

“According to the map, the entrance of the cave is just around the bend,” Chen Yong said.

Ai Ling followed him while Li Rong led Feng behind her.

She saw the two torches first, carved of a deep blue stone, reaching far above her head. They were on either side of the cave entrance, which was hewn in the shape of a tiger’s head, its mouth gaping wide in a snarl. Dark green stones glittered above them, representing the cat’s eyes. Fangs jutted from the ground and from above the entrance, formed from an unfamiliar milk white stone.

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“This is the last thing I would’ve expected,” Li Rong said, his head tilted up.

“Strangers approach!” A reedy voice spoke from near the cave entrance. Both brothers reached for their weapons. Ai Ling rested her own hand on her dagger.

A spray of water shot forth from one of the lotus-leaf fountains that stood on either side of the cave. The torch-light revealed water swirling in a rainbow of color. Ai Ling walked with caution toward the fountain and peered in.

Multicolored stones rested at the bottom of the shallow bowl.

“A girl with raven hair,” a voice said again. The sound came directly from the fountain.

“Stand back, Ai Ling,” Chen Yong said. Even as she did so, another plume of water erupted, landing at her feet.

“They all have raven hair, you slippery twit,” a voice war-bled from the opposite fountain.

“Not so, not so,” the first fountain replied. Ai Ling leaned over again. Another spray splashed her cheek. She yelped from the cold shock of water, then wiped away the drops as her face began to burn. Her hand tingled painfully where she had wiped her cheek.