Butterfly Swords

by Jeannie Lin

  ‘We should have some cover in here,’ he said.

  Some of the trees grew so thick that ten men could encircle the trunks. It was another sign of the empire’s wealth, the lush woodlands at their disposal, fed by several great rivers. Enough wood to build the most magnificent of cities and palaces.

  They reached a stream and followed it. A canopy of cypress and ginkgo grew along the bank. The roots crawled like snakes along the earth, dipping tapered fingers into the water.

  ‘These trees are sacred.’ Ailey ran her fingers along the trunk of one as she walked by. The fan-shaped leaves flickered yellow-green with the breeze. ‘They live for thousands of years. Longer than the empire. We see them in temples all the time.’

  Changan wouldn’t be hard to find. They only had to head north in search of the grand canal that flowed into the capital. All the major roads would lead them there as well, but they needed to stay hidden.

  Ailey walked along the reeds that lined the water, arms held out for balance. God’s feet, she moved with such graceful confidence. ‘Grandmother always spoke of the forests of the south. She learned her technique from a southern master.’

  Her hips swayed their seductive rhythm before him. He nodded absently and considered dunking his head into the cold water. All he needed to do was get her home and get out of there.

  ‘Is there anyone in your family who doesn’t wield sharp weapons?’ he asked.

  ‘Mother disapproves of my swords. She says no man would want a woman with such rough hands.’

  She hopped over a tangle of roots, light-footed and sure over the uneven ground. He saw absolutely no problem with her hands or any other part of her.

  ‘Mother was so happy when Father arranged this marriage,’ she continued sombrely.

  ‘So why did you run away?’

  ‘Li Tao is—ruthless.’ She seemed unwilling to say more.

  ‘He’s also rich and powerful,’ he pressed her. ‘And in command of an army of thousands. Not the sort of man who takes refusal lightly.’

  The tail of her braid whipped over her shoulder as she faced him. ‘It is not as if I’m refusing Li Tao because he is old or ugly or fat.’

  ‘Well, is he?’

  She stopped, caught off guard. ‘I—I don’t know. I mean, it doesn’t matter.’

  ‘You don’t know if he’s ugly?’

  ‘I’ve never seen him. When he came to fetch me for the wedding procession I was wearing a red scarf over my face.’

  ‘So he hasn’t seen you either?’

  ‘Of course not.’

  ‘Now I understand.’

  She cast him a wary glance. ‘Understand what?’

  ‘You were marrying a man you’d never met. Of course you had doubts.’

  ‘You don’t understand at all.’ She turned on her heel and continued down the bank. Her stride had lost its carefree gait. ‘In our custom, it would be the greatest insult for a bride to refuse a match simply because she did not like the look of her husband. It would be disrespectful to his family and a great dishonour to mine.’

  ‘It’s not important that you at least see each other before being wed?’

  ‘Not at all. I would trust my parents would make me a good match.’

  It was hard to believe someone with such unquestioning faith would run away from an arranged marriage. Even if she had been wilful or stubborn, it was unlikely a woman of her standing would risk so much to defy convention. Perhaps there was a lover. The thought alone sent a hot streak of possessiveness through him, unwarranted as it was. But why would she want to return to her family when they would certainly denounce her? Besides, her every touch spoke of innocence. He knew the signs well enough to steer clear under most circumstances.

  ‘You wouldn’t prefer someone that was strong and handsome?’ he goaded.

  ‘That doesn’t matter to me.’

  ‘What if this Li Tao is ancient? Wrinkled, toothless…’

  ‘He is not!’ Her eyes grew wide despite her denial. She lowered her voice as if in confidence. ‘Mother told me he was twice my age.’

  ‘And what is that?’

  ‘I was born the year of the dragon.’

  ‘Dragons, rabbits, tigers,’ he said with a laugh. ‘I could never figure out your calendar.’

  She regarded him through her lashes, blushing. ‘I have nineteen years. I know that is very old for marriage, but the last years have been…very unusual.’

  Ailey was beyond adorable when flustered. He leapt across the stream ahead of her and stretched out his hand. She landed before him in the moss, bracing against his arms to steady herself. This time he held on. Her pulse fluttered beneath his fingers.

  ‘You don’t want someone who makes your heart beat faster?’ he challenged.

  She ran the tip of her tongue over her lips, too pretty and too curious for her own good. It took all of his will to hold himself back.

  ‘I…I don’t.’

  Little liar. He could pull her into his arms right then and she would melt against him. Her mouth would taste just as sweet as he remembered.

  He let go of her. He had to.

  He swallowed forcibly, words failing him. ‘So you were ready to marry him no matter how old and ugly he was. What made you change your mind?’

  He held himself apart from her, unmoving while his heart threatened to punch a hole through his ribcage. The force of his reaction stunned him and for some reason, he needed to know exactly what her ties were to the man she had been promised to.

  Ailey swayed in the damp earth of the riverbank, caught off balance at his abrupt departure. ‘The wedding ceremony was to be completed before his family altar. On the journey, I was carried inside a palanquin, while he rode with the escort.’

  ‘A man would be mad with lust being forced to wait so long to see his bride.’

  She frowned at him. ‘This is not something I do lightly. My family could disown me.’

  He stopped his teasing when he saw the sudden tension in her shoulders. He was beginning to see that Ailey never did anything lightly. Every word carried weight with her.

  ‘Go on,’ he said. ‘What happened?’

  ‘You must know that there have been uprisings within the empire over the last year. My fourth brother, Ming Han, had a military command, same as all my brothers. He was sent to put down a rebellion near the border of the Jiannan province. Li Tao’s domain.’

  ‘Which is where we are now.’

  ‘The empire is too large for the imperial army to control,’ she explained. ‘Control of the empire is a delicate balance between the imperial forces and the regional armies. Han joined with Li Tao’s troops in the effort. We later received reports that Han had been ambushed by rebels and killed.’

  She looked away, pressing her lips tightly together. For a moment, he thought she’d lose the fight. Always so strong.

  ‘You don’t have to explain,’ he said.

  ‘No, I want you to understand. A soldier who had once served under my father swore Ming Han was killed by Li Tao’s soldiers. The warlord has been secretly building his army. Our marriage is merely a ploy.’

  Something didn’t seem right. ‘One of the warlord’s soldiers betrayed him to you?’

  ‘Wu was once a member of the Dragon Guard. He’s a man of honour and he risked his life for me. I trust him.’

  The same way she had trusted her bodyguards. As she now trusted him.

  ‘When Father learns what happened to Fourth Brother, he’ll denounce Li Tao as the murderer he is,’ she said. ‘And the empire will be better off for it.’

  Ailey’s family was involved in the sort of politics he knew to stay far away from. The Chinese emperors ruled as descendants of heaven, but they were just as readily assassinated and replaced as any mortal.

  Their lost legion had been caught at the centre of the rebellion following Emperor Li Ming’s death. The Tang rulers were masters of intrigue. They had perfected the art of it over centuries of rule. What chance did a band of
barbarians have against such deceit?

  After order was restored, Emperor Shen had allowed them to settle in the frontier to the west, in a region that had been abandoned by the empire. They guarded one of the northern branches of the many trade routes that originated from Changan.

  It had been over a month since Ryam had left the marsh-lands where they were stationed. He had brought twenty men with him into the southern province alongside a shipment of precious cargo. A routine encounter with imperial soldiers had gone badly and he was knocked unconscious in the fight. Once he recovered, there was no trace of his men.

  They were soldiers, organised to fight as a unit and follow orders. They had needed someone to lead them, someone diplomatic enough to negotiate without starting a blood bath. But he didn’t know anything about that. He was nothing more than one man with a sword.

  The imperial army had tolerated their existence in the frontier until now. Ryam prayed the conflict hadn’t changed the Emperor’s mind. Without Shen’s protection, they would be hunted down like dogs. He could return to find that they had all been marked for death for his mistakes.

  Maybe that was why he needed to get Ailey home safely. Pay off his debt, as she liked to say. He had spent too much time within the empire and their ideas were seeping into him. For once, he needed to get something right.

  They cut through the woods, following the stream over the rocks for the rest of the afternoon. Ailey could sense her spirit easing as they ventured further into the forest. The dense growth closed behind her like a barricade. If fortune favoured her, the soldiers would still be hunting for the gang of bandits who had supposedly abducted her. She could return home before Li Tao realised she knew of his cowardice and treachery.

  ‘You’ve risked so much to help me.’ It was so hard to start conversations with him when he didn’t use any of the accepted forms of address. She didn’t know whether to be formal or intimate.

  ‘Anyone would have done the same.’

  ‘I don’t believe that,’ she said.

  ‘Maybe I just wanted the company.’

  He was smiling. She definitely needed to remain formal, for her own protection.

  ‘Those bandits could have smuggled me to a brothel in some remote corner of the empire. Or worse, they could have ransomed me back to Li Tao.’ As jiedushi, Li Tao had sworn to protect the empire, yet he plotted against it. They called Ryam’s kind barbarians, but there was nothing barbaric about him. His manner was direct and honest. It was her own countrymen she needed to be worried about.

  The water at the bend formed a pool between the rocks. He stepped over a broad stone and then his hands circled her waist to lift her. His arms flexed as he set her down.

  ‘Be careful here, it’s slippery.’ He flashed another one of his easy smiles that sent her floating. His touch sent a lazy ripple up her spine and the look he gave her went on for a heartbeat too long.

  She looked down at the water. ‘There are fish in there,’ she said absently.

  ‘Really? Where?’

  Her shoulder brushed against his as they knelt to peer into the water. The turn of a tail sent a splash to the surface. The closeness that would have been improper with anyone else seemed so natural with him. Her heart was beating so hard and she could barely breathe. A school of grey fish darted beneath the surface, but all she could stare at was his reflection. The golden hair and light eyes.

  Then she caught sight of her own reflection beside his. She looked like a madwoman! Her braid had fallen apart, leaving her hair in a wild nest. Horrified, she scrubbed at the smudge of dirt across her cheek.

  He turned to her, his face inches from hers. She froze with her hand against her cheek.

  ‘Are you hungry?’ There was a hint of mischief in his eyes.

  She was. They had been running all morning. She needed the rest as well, but had been reluctant to slow down their journey.

  ‘How are you going to catch them?’

  He held up his hands and wiggled his fingers.

  ‘You cannot,’ she said.

  ‘Watch me.’

  He loosened the ties of his vest and tossed it aside. Tiny knots formed in her stomach as one boot and then the other landed by her side. She ducked her head to stare at the moss beneath her knees. He had no shame at all. She peeked back over to see that he was still wearing his shirt as he slipped waist deep into the pool. The fish scattered in all directions, their dark bodies gliding in frantic circles as they tried to escape.

  He shot her a warning look when she giggled. With the back of her hand pressed to her mouth, she watched as he cupped his hands and dipped them carefully under the surface, going as still as a mantis. The fish gradually settled and resumed their gentle sway. She held her breath.

  In a flash he scooped his arms upwards, flinging a cascade of water up onto the grass. She shrieked and scrambled away.

  ‘You did that on purpose!’

  Water dripped from his chin. He swiped at his face. ‘You’re scaring the fish,’ he accused.

  She moved into the shade to seat herself as he crouched again. He pounced with an even greater splash, again coming up empty-handed. She fell back, grabbing at her sides. How long had it been since she laughed so hard it hurt? Not since her brothers had all been together. Not since they had left their mountain home for the capital.

  She wiped at the tears at the corners of her eyes. ‘Have you ever been able to do this?’

  His mouth twisted. ‘When I was hungry enough.’

  ‘No wonder you were starving when we met.’

  ‘Quiet.’

  She combed out her hair with her fingers and started to braid it again. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ryam crouched for another attempt. His blond hair clung to the sides of his face as he stared into the pool with a mercenary expression.

  The next moments were filled with the sounds of splashing punctuated by a string of foreign curses. For the moment, she forgot about the trouble she had got herself into. She could hide amidst the cool moss and long shadows of the forest. Li Tao would never find her.

  But her ancestors would. They would call out to her in spirit and demand obedience.

  When they reached Changan it would be the end of this reprieve. The hardest part of her journey would begin; the part where she’d have to explain her disloyalty to her mother and father. It would be her word against one of the most powerful men in the empire.

  ‘Victory!’

  A fish the size of her hand wriggled in the grass, silver belly shimmering.

  She stood and bit her lip to keep from smiling. ‘He will be a tasty bite for you.’

  Ryam hoisted himself out of the pool. A river of water streamed from him, dripping onto the bank. ‘Don’t you dare throw him back,’ he warned. ‘That’s all we’re getting today. I’m out of practice.’

  ‘You’re not going to catch me one?’

  Her words caught in her throat as he tugged the soaked tunic off. Sunlight gleamed off the broad expanse of masculine skin and muscle. The thatch of golden hair on his chest tapered over the hard planes of his stomach. A plume of heat rushed up her neck until her face burned with it.

  He wrung the water from the cloth. ‘Seemed like a good idea at the time,’ he muttered. ‘I haven’t tried that in years.’

  She barely heard him as she stared. Her pulse pounded hard in her ears. ‘You—you are going to catch cold,’ she stammered.

  He looked up then and grew quiet. ‘It’s a warm day.’

  An endless expanse of burnished skin hovered before her. When she tried to look at his face, it was even worse. Sky-blue eyes held her gaze as he tugged the damp tunic back down over his shoulders.

  Deliberately, he turned away. The gesture did nothing to banish this dawning awareness that had invaded her and seized control. The sleek muscles of his back moved beneath the damp cloth as he pulled a knife from his belt and started cleaning the catch, his gaze fixed upon his task. She retreated against the trunk of a cedar tree and trie
d to look anywhere but at him, wishing she had something useful to do at the moment.

  The gaping silence begged to be filled with anything, some sound to string one moment with the next. She hooked her arms over her knees as he sparked a pile of kindling and nursed the ember into flames.

  ‘You should teach me how to do that.’ She was babbling. ‘How to start a fire, find food.’

  He speared a sharpened stick through the fish and held it over the flames. ‘You won’t need it. You’ll be home soon enough.’

  She fell silent. This would all go away. This swordsman with blue eyes and the storm of emotions that came with him. She had to remember that these moments, no matter how wondrous, would die away like the fire. She needed to think, think and not feel. But how could she when he brought out so much that was hidden within her?

  Ryam turned the fish over and over, the skin growing crisp and black over the flames.

  ‘What is it like where you are from?’ she asked.

  ‘Our men are encamped in the Gansu corridor just beyond your western border.’

  His wary tone took her by surprise. Were his men in hiding? Was he fearful that she would reveal their location? She pushed away that disturbing thought.

  ‘I mean your homeland. Where you came from.’

  ‘Very different from here,’ he said, holding the skewered fish out to her.

  She plucked a morsel from the bone with two fingers and lifted it to her lips. She hadn’t realised how hungry she was until that moment.

  ‘You must have more to say than that.’

  ‘If you keep travelling west, around the abandoned desert, you’ll reach a sea. Cross that and keep on going. If you haven’t been killed by hostile armies or bandits, you’ll arrive in a valley bordered by two great rivers.’

  She tried to imagine the world beyond the great desert. It must be a tapestry of wild and exotic tribes, where pale-skinned warriors roamed the forests.

  ‘Grandfather would tell us stories of how his armies marched to faraway kingdoms,’ she said.

  He pulled off a chunk of the fish and popped it into his mouth. ‘I doubt your grandfather made it anywhere near our land. The journey is not an easy one.’