by M. Lynn
He glanced over his shoulder at the sleeping Hua. He could still protect her. They didn’t have to know she was alive. If anyone suspected Hua Minglan of being of the dragon blood, of harboring an ancient beast inside her, they wouldn’t know she was still a danger if they thought her dead.
Gen’s voice pulled his thoughts away. “She carried you down that ladder. I don’t know how she managed that, but my daughter saved your life.”
“A habit of hers.” He had his suspicions for how she’d carried him. The dragon must have given her strength.
“She wasn’t burned by the flames.”
“Luck.” Jian hid the lie in his eyes. Knowledge of the dragon was too dangerous. Hua’s nainai seemed to know, but she hadn’t told anyone for a reason Jian didn’t understand. Yet, he respected it. He knew the risks involved in knowing Hua’s power.
It was the same reason he hadn’t contacted Bo since the battle. He’d have to lie to him.
Qara was right, it seemed. The seer he’d once loved had foretold this. Well, maybe not this exactly, only that Hua would need him, that she had a role to play, and Jian had to stand by her.
“I never thought I’d see her again.” Gen’s voice was barely above a whisper. “When she left, I thought I’d lost my last daughter.”
“Why didn’t you come after her? You could have forced her home.”
He sighed. “Because, Jian, I respect my daughter and her decisions.”
“She did it to protect you.”
He shook his head. “No, she cut her hair and donned a man’s armor, she lied and left her family for more personal reasons than that. I have trained Hua her entire life, always hoping she’d never have to use the lessons I bestowed upon her. It seems I prepared her only for vengeance.” His shoulders dropped. “Tell me, Jian, did she find what she was searching for?”
No, but she found so much more. He wanted to tell Gen that Hua would have found her way into the fight one way or another with that dragon inside her, but he didn’t. Instead, he put a hand on the older man’s shoulder. “She once told me she didn’t need me to promise she’d return home, because she’d already promised herself. Your daughter was one of the best warriors I had. She challenged my authority at every turn, but my men were in awe of her.”
“That sounds like my Hua.” He bowed his head. “Thank you for taking care of her.”
He’d done nothing of the sort. Hua had been one of his more capable men. Even after he knew her true identity, she proved herself to be more than anyone thought. A stubborn girl. A grieving sister.
A warrior.
He turned away from Gen and passed a sleeping Fa and Ru, curled together on a pad of horse blankets. Nainai sat in the same place he’d left her watching Hua sleep.
“I can’t take my eyes off her.” She smiled.
Jian hadn’t been able to take his eyes off her since the first day they met, but now it was different.
Nainai went on. “We just lost our home, the house my husband built, and yet all I feel is gratitude. I would set fire to that house a thousand times if it meant bringing Hua back to us.”
“Do you think it was the fire?” He crouched down next to Hua and looked back at her nainai. “The flames, did they wake her?”
She dropped her voice so they weren’t overheard. “She harbors a Nagi, Jian. The flames will always call to them. I know a little about the beast inside her. Our entire family has the dragon blood.”
“What does that mean?” Everyone in Piao knew the basics of the blooded from the stories of emperors hunting them down. Bo’s father once rounded up many suspected blooded families and executed them at the dragon festival.
Nainai sighed. “It is a long and winding tale.”
He stood and walked over to sit beside her once more. “I don’t know about you, but I won’t be sleeping tonight.”
She closed her eyes for a moment, her entire body stilling as if preparing to release its secrets. When she opened her eyes, there was a hint of resignation in their depths. “Our family is descended from the last Nagi who roamed the earth more than one hundred years ago. The humans they lived within passed on that ability. The blood only refers to our ancestry. It has little to do with the actual Nagi. It is not our blood that allows them to enter us, it is our minds.
When Hua was a young girl, I recognized in her a spirit unlike that of most girls in Piao. She had no interest in fancy robes or crushed pearl face paint. I knew there’d be no musical skills in her future or love of embroidery. That was her sister, but never Hua. Instead, she followed the farm hands on their daily chores and played in the woods. She’d come home streaked with dirt and give her mama a fright.”
Jian’s lips curved up. “Sounds like quite the child.” He remembered his boyhood days running through Dasha with Bo and Luca. There were moments he could forget he was the unwanted child at court, and moments it was the only thing he saw.
Nainai smoothed her robe over her legs. “She was something. My husband was executed at a dragon festival when Gen was young. The family went into hiding after that. We changed our name and moved to an out of the way farm. Those events made Gen into a wary man who only ever wanted his family to be safe. That was why we started training Hua. Once we saw her desire to be something other than a typical Piao woman, everything changed. Our family never wanted to lose another person to the dragon festivals. Hua became more skilled than we ever imagined.” She met Jian’s eyes. “The morning my son woke to find his daughter gone, he was both proud and terrified.”
“The first time I met you, you told me you’re the reason the Nagi chose her.”
She sighed. “That is a story for another time.” Her eyes slid shut. “Rest, for tomorrow we will have to deal with the events of tonight.”
Jian didn’t fall asleep until the sun rose on the horizon, sending streams of light to chase away the shadows in the barn.
He didn’t know how long he’d been asleep when Gen’s voice woke him. “Riders!”
That word sent a jolt through Jian, and he shot to his feet. Nainai stood next to Gen and Fa at the door, peering out at the horses coming down the muddy road.
“Soldiers.” Jian cursed, thinking back to the day before when he’d been standing in that very barn as General Yu and his men descended on them.
That hadn’t turned out so well.
Gen turned to him. “Go into the stall with Hua. They cannot see you.”
Jian didn’t want to leave Gen in case these were more soldiers—or ex-soldiers—with bad intentions. But if they weren’t, if they truly represented the Piao army, he couldn’t be seen.
Nainai put a hand on his arm. “We will yell if we need your help. Take Ru with you.” Jian nodded and walked to the far wall where two rusty daos hung. He handed one to Gen and took the other with him into the stall. Ru shut the door, shielding them from view.
Hua rolled over, her eyes fluttering open. Confusion flashed across her face, and Jian held a finger to his lips as he crouched down below the half wall.
The sound of hooves drumming against the road drew nearer. The rain from the night before turned everything outside into a muddy mess, muffling the sound.
Jian calmed his breathing as his heart pounded against his ribs. Hua knelt beside him. “What’s happening?” she whispered.
“Soldiers.”
Her eyes widened. “Then we must get out there, fight them.” There was something off in her voice, some tone he’d come to associate with Hua missing. He shook his head, reminding him she was probably just exhausted and scared like the rest of them.
“We have no way of knowing if they’re deserters like the men yesterday or true warriors of Piao just traveling the country.”
“Does it matter?”
Jian shrank away from the darkness in her words. Of course, it mattered. Yes, he wanted to protect Hua if any of his brother’s men came for her, but that didn’t mean he was now an enemy of the Piao army, the same men he’d commanded less than two months ago.
They were Piao’s shield against Batukhan Altan and the hordes of Kou at the border.
“You don’t mean that.” He looked away from her, not recognizing the venom in her gaze.
“Weak.” She said the word under her breath as if she hadn’t meant for him to hear it.
She’d only woken from her unconscious state less than a day ago. Jian should have known something wouldn’t be right within her. Did she remember the battle? They hadn’t had a chance to talk about it. Part of him hoped she didn’t. How was she supposed to live with what she’d done?
The horses drew near, and armor jangled as someone jumped down from his warhorse.
Silence stretched for too long as Jian held his breath.
Gen’s voice snapped the tension in the air. “General! I didn’t expect to see you around these parts.”
“I’m following the trail of a group of deserters who’ve been terrorizing the land between Yewo and Zhouchang for the last two weeks.” There was something familiar about the man’s voice, but it was too quiet for Jian to be certain. “We rode past your home, Gen. What happened?”
“The men you’re chasing, they came here. We did not extend our hospitality, so they extended theirs.”
The soldier cursed, the sound so familiar to Jian he couldn’t help but smile. He’d heard the same exasperation in his best friend more times than he could count. He stood, revealing himself. Gen and his companion didn’t see him, but Nainai tried to wave him away, to tell him to stay hidden.
If anyone knew Jian still lived, they could connect the dragon to Hua since they’d both gone missing from the battle together. He didn’t know what they’d seen or what stories now wound through the army. But in that moment, he didn’t care. His best friend was alive, and that was all that mattered.
Pushing open the stall door, he stepped through and couldn’t keep the smile from spreading across his face.
“About time you did something in this war.”
At Jian’s words, Luca froze. His eyes searched the barn until they locked on Jian. He recovered from his shock. “It wasn’t easy when my commander had me training new recruits instead of on the front lines.”
“Sounds like a terrible commander.”
One corner of Luca’s mouth tipped up. “No. He was the best man I’ve ever fought beside.” His smile dropped. “But he died in Kanyuan. I mourned him for weeks.”
Jian shook his head. “I’m here. I’ve been right here since the battle.”
Luca rushed toward him, no longer caring about their audience. He threw his arms around Jian. Jian stumbled back with the force and gripped his friend. “I worried you were dead.” He’d tried to keep himself from worrying about the soldiers he’d left behind. Most of the men who’d entered Kanyuan either died by a Kou dao or by fire.
“You’ve been missing, Jian. We said words of goodbye to you.” He pulled back. “I can’t…” Tears shone in his eyes. “I can’t believe you’re here.” As if realizing they were not the hugging type of friends, he stepped back. A tear slid down his cheek, and he didn’t bother to wipe it away.
Jian took in everything about his friend. The dirt-stained uniform that said he’d been on the road for a while. The exhaustion in his eyes and the strain of his smile.
Luca’s eyes widened further as he glanced behind Jian. Jian turned to find Hua standing in the middle of the barn, her eyes narrowed.
“Hua.” Luca said the word on a breath. “You’re…” Jian waited for him to say the word ‘dragon,’ for him to reveal everything to Hua’s parents. But he didn’t. “Back at camp they’re saying the dragon killed you before taking off with Jian.”
Jian released a breath. They didn’t know. Anyone who saw her transformation must have died in the village.
Hua didn’t move, she didn’t run to her betrothed or make any sign of acknowledgement. Luca crossed the distance between them and pulled her into his arms. Jian looked away, focusing on the men on horseback waiting for Luca’s command.
A moment passed before Luca and Hua both joined him. “We have so much to catch up on. Our horses could use the rest. We’ll stay here for the day and leave tomorrow.” He clapped Jian on the back. “This is… everything, friend. Have you sent a messenger to your brother?”
Jian shook his head. “No. He can’t find out I’m alive. Not yet.”
Luca stared at him for a long moment as if he didn’t know him at all, as if his words betrayed a man they both loved. He shook himself out of it when a horse snorted behind him.
“Heima?” Gen approached the horse, one hand held out in caution.
Jian could see it then. The white streaking down the horse’s nose. The massive flanks and mischievous eyes.
Hua’s horse.
He expected Hua to run to her old friend, the horse Jian overheard her speaking to in the dark. Instead, Hua only watched, no sign of recognition in her eyes.
Luca smiled when he looked back to watch Gen rub the horse’s nose. “I found her after the battle. She was unharmed, yet she still ran from me. I thought if I caught her, if I took care of her, it would be like having Hua or Jian back with me.” He met Jian’s eyes once more. “I was wrong. Nothing quelled the pain of losing you.”
Jian gripped Luca’s shoulder. “I’m glad you’re here.”
His eyes flicked from Hua to Jian and back again. “Me too, brother. Me too.”
6
Hua
Hua needed to see Luca, to speak with him, but she couldn’t navigate her way to the forefront of her mind. When he’d wrapped his arms around her body, she hadn’t felt it. When he’d looked into her eyes, there’d been no sign of suspicion, nothing to tell her someone knew of her plight.
Tears of joy gathered in the corners of his eyes every time he looked at her. His men set up camp outside the barn, and Luca hadn’t wanted to leave either her or Jian. He shared his food with the family, his smile pulling Hua almost to the surface of the Nagi’s mind as she fought for every moment.
What if she never broke free? What if this was her life? As a passenger while the Nagi controlled her every move. She hadn’t been able to hug Luca back, but he hadn’t seemed to notice how her arms hung loose at her sides. She’d felt the Nagi recoil at the soldier’s touch.
“Let me talk to him,” she’d begged, knowing only the beast in her mind could hear her. “Please.”
The Nagi wiped at her eyes—Hua’s eyes—agitation making her jaw clench. “Forget the soldier, Hua. He does not matter. None of them do.” She turned back to the empty horse stall. “For soon they’ll all be dead.”
7
Jian
The fire crackled, sending sparks into the night. Jian stared into the flames, remembering the heat from the night before. Fighting Yu’s men in the Minglans’ home seemed like another life. In one moment, everything could change.
They made camp with Luca and his men that night after spending all day sorting through the wreckage of their lives. After a simple soldier’s supper, they sat around the fire, needed more for light than warmth on the summer night.
Jian and Luca hadn’t yet finished their earlier conversation, but maybe it didn’t matter. Maybe none of this did. Watching Hua’s every movement, Jian couldn’t help but wonder what would happen the next time the dragon let itself be known.
She’d barely spoken a word to anyone all day, opting to stay apart from her family, a family she should have been overjoyed to see.
Something was off, but he didn’t want to imagine what it could be. Was the dragon fighting to transform again?
He didn’t look up as Luca sat beside him. “You were right.”
Jian only grunted his agreement.
“Hua deserves more than I can give her.”
Scanning the faces around the fire, he made sure no one listened to a conversation that shouldn’t be had. Even if Hua did deserve more, that wasn’t how it worked in Piao. Only the lucky few fell in love and married. Most had their lives chosen for them by e
lders who thought they knew better.
Tradition was a powerful thing.
Jian removed a knife from a sheathe at his waist. He’d found the blade in the barn, abandoned and ill-cared for, just as he’d once been. The rusted steel felt good in his hand, like holding it gave Jian back some of the power he’d lost as his life spiraled out of control with the flap of a dragon’s wings.
Luca eyed the blade and dropped his voice. “I have a secret, Jian. One I never told you or Bo. If I reveal it, I’m not only putting myself in danger.”
He didn’t know what Luca’s secrets could have to do with Hua. Sliding the tip of the dull blade along his palm—not pressing hard enough to cut skin—he ran through everything he knew of his friend in his mind. Luca’s father and Gen were old friends from their days in the military. “You never told me of the betrothal. That means one of two things. You didn’t want Bo to know, or there’s a deeper reason you’ve tied yourself to Hua.”
“To be honest, it was a bit of both. Bo knows where we stand. The moment his father chose him as heir, our future was written. But that’s not the reason I agreed to a marriage.”
It wasn’t the first time Jian thought of how hard life must have been for Luca. He was in love with a man who could never allow himself to give in to the feelings he had for Luca. Not only that, but Bo’s harem was constantly at his side. And he loved them, he did. Maybe not in the usual way, but he cared for each of them, a fact Jian knew Luca had come to terms with.
The anger Jian felt toward Luca earlier in the day faded away, leaving only a deep sadness behind. “Then why did you accept Hua as your betrothed?”
Luca looked to his men. They lay on their bedrolls fast asleep along with the Minglan family. Only Jian and Luca remained awake at such an hour. “I… Jian, my family is blooded.”
