“Yes, it’s a real problem. And there’s not many colors that will work well with your skin and hair—but I think blue, green, or black will do rather well. Green especially.”
The store’s interior was slightly dimmer, certainly cooler, and well-organized. Mei Li had to adjust her assumption of it being a clothing store for men almost immediately. The store was neatly divided into three groups: women’s to the left, men’s to the right, and children’s in the back. They didn’t have a wide selection of clothing but a little bit of everything, excluding shoes. No doubt because of their shoe cobbler neighbor.
Mei Li went straight for the hunter green coat, a lighter version than the one Shunlei currently had, and something that would be more appropriate for the summer weather they were sliding into. Turning, she held it up against his chest, eyeing him judiciously. “Yes, this looks excellent on you. What do you think of the color?”
“It’s very keen,” he approved. “I’m not sure if it will fit?”
“Try it on,” she encouraged.
He slipped off the white wrap robe he wore, handing it over to her, and accepted the green to try on. It was a near-perfect fit, only a little long in the sleeves. “I think it fits well enough?”
“I can roll the sleeves up a little, hem them to the right length.” Shunlei gave a pleased nod. “It fits fine everywhere else. This, then. What goes with it?”
“I think those black pants would.”
It took a few minutes, but they assembled two more outfits for him. The shop owner, an aged and stooped grandmother, came and took everything from them to the counter so she could start wrapping things. Mei Li went to the women’s section and did her own browsing, although nothing quite fit. As usual. Why did she have to be that much taller than the average woman?
Shunlei eyed the skirt she held up against herself with a frown. “That’s a good two inches too short.”
“I’m a little on the tall side,” Mei Li explained on a resigned sigh. “This is usually the frustration I have when I shop. And also why I haven’t filled out my wardrobe yet.”
The grandmother overheard her and lifted her head to call out in a creaking voice, “If you’ll go directly across the street, dearie, that’s my daughter’s shop. She’ll custom-make what you’ll like. She’s a fair price.”
“Oh? I’ll see her next, then.” Really, getting something tailored to her was the only sane option Mei Li had.
“I’ll pay for mine, and then we’ll go speak with her.”
“Alright.” Mei Li lingered near the display case for women’s combs, hair sticks, and tooled belts. One comb in particular caught her eye, and she stared at it wistfully. It was a fine one, but she didn’t have the means right now to indulge in such an impulse buy. A comb she could live without. Clothes she could not.
Well, she could. But it would invite a whole new set of problems she’d rather avoid.
Shunlei caught her wistful stare and cleared his throat. “If there’s something you like, buy it.”
With a shake of the head, she explained, “Clothes and boots take precedence. Thank you, Mistress. Shunlei, I’ll meet you over there.”
“As you will.”
She left him behind and darted across the busy street, finding the store in question. A younger version of the grandmother sat in front of a table, her hand steadily putting stitches into dark cloth. It was the high brow that gave the relationship away. She looked up with a polite smile. “Welcome.”
“Your mother sent me to you,” Mei Li informed her. “I need tailored clothes.”
“Yes, of course, do you know your measurements?”
“I do, but feel free to measure me again.”
“I’d rather do that,” the woman admitted, putting her sewing down and fetching a white tape before bustling around the table. She had to slip sideways to avoid knocking over a stack of cloth bolts. Half of her shop was a selection of cloth, the other a workspace for three women all sitting at their own tables and steadily sewing on various projects. “What would you like to order?”
“Two full outfits, but I’m not sure if you have time to finish them before I leave. It will be four days.”
“Four days is plenty of time,” she assured, hands busy as she manipulated Mei Li’s limbs to measure them. “I hope you’re not going south, though.”
Mei Li’s attention sharpened on her. She saw Shunlei duck through the door and paused a moment so he could hear her inquiry as well. “Why do you say that? Is trouble brewing down south?”
“That’s what my brother said.” The woman cast her a glance from under her dark lashes, pushing a stray tendril of hair out of her oval face. “He went to fetch us cloth and supplies, as he normally does, out of Bader this past month. Half the suppliers he normally sees at the market weren’t there. Probably avoiding the roads. He said everyone’s hunting for someone who stole a sword.” She shrugged, as if that shouldn’t have been a big deal.
And it wouldn’t be. Unless… “Did he say where the sword was stolen from?”
“Mmm, I think he said it was some kind of war trophy, that it came out of a mausoleum or something.”
Ghost General’s Sword, then. It must be. A little earlier than she’d been expecting it, but the area and timing was right for it. She was torn, though. That meant they were half-way in between two problems. Which way was better for them to go? North, since they were already relatively nearby? Or south, putting them on the opposite side of the continent from the water deity?
The logistics cramped her brain. She shot Shunlei an uncertain look, biting at her bottom lip. He’d clearly picked up on the implications and shared the same uncertainty. But he gave her a nod, as if promising they’d bring it up with everyone later.
It wasn’t a problem she could solve right now, at any rate. Or even this week. So, she put it aside for now and focused on the more immediate problem. “Thank you for the warning.”
“I tell everyone as I can.” Straightening, the shop owner looked her over with pursed lips. “Well. What style and color are we aiming for?”
“This will take a minute,” Shunlei predicted rhetorically.
Mei Li threw her head back in a laugh. “Oh, it’ll take more than a minute.”
Mei Li and Shunlei reported what they’d heard at the market, and Melchior did some investigation while everyone else prepped more talismans and shopped for necessities. He came back with the report that the sword seemed to have been cursed, confirming Mei Li’s suspicions.
It was Ghost General’s Sword, alright, but maybe it hadn’t had time to corrupt the thief yet. They hadn’t heard anything about someone on a killing rampage, at least. And since Mei Li knew for a fact that a water deity was on the rampage up north, they chose to follow the more concrete lead.
Their mini-vacation did them all good. Mei Li was very sad when it ended. Part of her—the part that was a child—wanted to whine and throw a fit and beg for just one more day.
Being a responsible adult was sometimes no fun at all.
Mei Li had everything organized on the bed to re-pack but was currently struggling with it a bit. She’d packed most of it last night, leaving essentials out for this morning, but her sleep clothes and new pillow absolutely refused to fit. Which wouldn’t do at all. So, she’d resorted to taking everything out again and writing a talisman into the bottom of the bag to widen its dimensions. Pocket space, that’s what Abe called it, and it only worked to a small degree. She couldn’t jam anything in there. But it gave her just enough wiggle room to fit the rest.
With her wrestling of the bag, Mei Li had a bad feeling she was now running late. A feeling confirmed not a minute later when Shunlei knocked on her door and stuck his head in. “Mei? Having trouble?”
“I had to repack everything,” she explained, jamming the last bit in and latching the top down. “Ten minutes.”
He regarded her with his head cocked. “Hold that thought.” Then he was gone again.
Mei Li had no idea
what she was supposed to be holding. With the bag now packed, she pulled on socks, then shoes. Her hair was still in loose locks around her, and she growled in aggravation when she realized she’d packed her comb in the rush.
Maybe she could just chop all of her hair off. Oooh, tempting thought. A shaved head would be much easier to take care of.
Shunlei was back before she could hunt down scissors. In his hand was a lovely pair of combs, both of them a beautiful white jade with the carving of dragons along the edge. She stared at them with no comprehension for the longest moment because those could not possibly be here.
Those were the exact combs Future Shunlei had given her to wear the first night she’d met him. The ones she’d felt hesitant to use because they were so exquisite and expensive. She’d known he’d not bought them for her that night, that they’d been something he already had on hand. But…to have bought them now and somehow kept them for five thousand years—it boggled her mind. It truly did.
And it was such a Shunlei thing to do. She suddenly missed Future Shunlei very much. Unable to check the impulse, she closed in for a hug. She simply had to embrace this lovely man who had cherished her so much that he’d not only remembered her in the future, but kept her possessions close until he’d met her again.
There was a smile in his voice and a rasp to his tone as Shunlei spoke against the top of her head. “You like them. I’m glad I went back for them.”
Mei Li would rather be hung, drawn, and quartered before she admitted that she hadn’t seen these at all. She’d been staring at a different set of combs entirely. Regardless, she much preferred the ones in his hands. “You are the dearest man, and I do not deserve you.”
Shunlei hugged her back, thrumming his own pleasure. The thrum spoke of affection, one used for closer-than-friends. A hint of smugness might have lurked in the thrum, it was hard to tell, but it vibrated her in a pleasant way.
Future Shunlei did this too—bought things for her without any rhyme or reason. It was always a sweet gesture, of course, but Mei Li had never been able to put a finger on the reason behind it. Was this a dragon thing? Rone had never done this. Maybe it was just a Shunlei thing?
Whatever the reason, he was once again pleased he’d acquired something she obviously liked. His smile went up a notch. “Here, turn, I’ll do your hair for you.”
Since her face was probably doing interesting things, it was wise to put her back to him for a while. So she did, sitting on the edge of the bed so he could easily reach her hair. He combed first, starting at the bottom and rhythmically working his way through the soft tangles, sorting out the strands. Then he portioned out the top part, creating a bun, deftly using the combs to keep it up and together.
Even as his hands moved, Mei Li puzzled over all of this. Was it the conversation they had that night near the river that prompted this? When she asked why he trusted her? He’d started doing things like this for her after that. Well, no, he’d done her hair when she was injured, too. So maybe not.
Men were confusing. Especially dragons.
A knock on the door and then Hawes’ voice. “You two ready to go?”
“Almost,” Shunlei answered. “My bags are ready and in my room.”
“Lady Mei?” Hawes checked next.
“Once he’s done with my hair, I’m ready. Is everyone else already out?”
“Yes, although we’re not mounted yet.”
So, everyone was running a bit behind, eh? Mei Li somehow wasn’t surprised.
With no real time to spare, Shunlei finished up. Then they scurried after Hawes into the stable yard. He said proper thank yous and goodbyes to the priestesses as everyone else mounted up. Mei Li said her own goodbyes with regret, as this really had been a lovely place to stay and rest.
The open road north greeted them like a friend. Not a good friend. More like the bad friend you could never seem to get rid of completely. For reasons.
Or maybe Mei Li was projecting. That was entirely possible.
They rode at a fast walk, something the horses could maintain for a while. Even as they rode north toward Gong, the water deity, Mei Li wondered how to get them back south again. The rumor she’d heard in the market about Ghost General’s Sword bugged her. She knew the sword was powerful, able to tempt its wielder into doing unspeakable things, but this was also the first time it had been stolen. She wasn’t sure how quickly after that its effects began to be felt. The records told her very little about its origins. She knew where they had finally trapped and sealed it—in a particular temple in the southern edge of the Summer Wind Mountains. But when? It was something of a question mark. This year, yes. She knew that for fact.
But the first Tomes hadn’t joined until two years from now and had only recorded it as a secondhand account. No one had given him a precise day. In truth, it was hard to keep the days and calendar straight when riding like this. The time and scenery all blurred together after a while. Even Mei Li struggled a bit, through the haze of exhaustion, to mark the days properly in her mind.
It was just as well the spell that sent her here would re-engage on its own when necessary. If it was up to her to return by a certain day and time, there would be trouble.
They diverged mid-afternoon onto a different highway. It hugged the coastline tighter than the other one did and eventually descended right on the edge of land. With their goal of Thibault, this was the most direct road northward. With the winding nature of the road still hugging the coastline, it wasn’t easy to converse with each other. Especially with the wind kicking up, snatching at words. So, they chose not to, just rode, steadily eating up ground. Mei Li was especially glad now that Shunlei had pulled the hair back from her face in such a secure bun. She would have been eating hair otherwise.
As the sun set, they found a sizeable enough town that offered an inn and stayed there for the night. They had a hearty breakfast in the morning, stocked up on their fresh water, and left for the open road once more. Road all day, stopped for the night at a different inn, soap, rinse, repeat.
Mei Li’s bum and thighs were slowly conforming to the shape of the saddle. She would swear to this. But as heartily sick as they were of riding, they grimly stuck with it as they made their way north, crossing the Tri-Rivers again and veering east, away from Iyhando. She would have been excited about finally being in the right country, but, well. It was never sunshine and daisies when reaching trouble. That was never truer than now.
It wouldn’t stop raining.
She wore an oiled water-proof cloak that still dripped water over her nose, she felt like her boots were sloshing despite not walking in the mud, and the road—aish. The road was nothing but mud. They’d taken to riding along the grassy banks as at least the horses had some purchase there. It was insane, and it only worsened as they trekked through Thibault toward the northern coast. Mei Li couldn’t imagine how much worse it would be once they were really in the center of the storm. They were still on the outskirts now.
“Hawes!” Kiyo had to practically shout to be heard over the steady pound of the rain. “I think we need to stop and get dry!”
Hawes turned in the saddle to look back at her. “We’ve got another three hours of daylight, at least!”
Shaking her head, Kiyo corrected, “We need that time to plan and think! None of us know how to handle the water deity!”
Hawes did a double take, then looked around her toward Mei Li. Mei Li did the most elaborate shrug of “I’ve got nothing” she had ever managed in her life. This was one of those instances where the records of the past were absolutely useless. She knew the group had tackled Gong—and won the battle—but had no clue how they’d managed it. It was a one-paragraph summary in the records and nothing more. Likely because they didn’t see the need to go into detail. When would they ever have to deal with it again?
They hadn’t sealed it. That’s as much as Mei Li could confidently say.
Their illustrious leader didn’t like this answer. Disgruntled, he nodded
, resigned and accepting, and turned back around.
Of course it wasn’t that easy. They still had to travel for another hour or so until they found an inn. It was packed, too, with traders and merchants all looking for a chance to be dry. Mei Li kept her ears open as she slogged her way through the large, open main room and she heard more than a few conversations where people complained it had been like this ever since they crossed Thibault’s borders. One man had said this had been ongoing for weeks now, without the sun shining at all in that time. Mei Li believed it, as they’d been riding in it for at least a week as well.
“You’ll need to share two rooms. They’re all I have left.”
Mei Li was pulled back to the inn keeper, an elderly gentleman that manned the counter with a tired air.
“That’s fine,” Hawes assured him. “Baths, meals, and stable come with that?”
“They do indeed. Laundry as well. We’re a bit full up—been using the back rooms to hang clothes in—but we’ll do what we can to get you dry. Before you go out in that.” He jerked a thumb toward the outdoors.
Hawes’ expression was the epitome of sardonic. “We appreciate that, sir, thank you. Ladies, if you’ll take this room? We’re across the hall from you.”
Mei Li followed Kiyo upstairs with her bags slung over one shoulder. It was a nice enough room—two beds, a rug in the middle to soften the wood floors, the curtains pulled aside on the window to show the grey, stormy day outside. Mei Li took the far-right bed, setting bags down and immediately pulling out something dry to wear. She couldn’t wait to get out of these wet clothes. She felt chilled down to her soul in them.
“Let’s get a fire going,” Kiyo suggested, already bending over the small hearth in the corner to do just that. “Our boots will never dry out otherwise.”
“Good thought. Although I’m not sure what the point is, as we’ll be riding out in the mess again tomorrow.”
Kiyo made a noise of disgust. “I know. But at least we’ll be dry tonight. I, for one, am going downstairs barefoot.”
“I plan to wear socks, but I agree.” At least her hair was mostly dry, due to the protection of the cloak. She wouldn’t have wet hair dripping down her back the rest of the evening.
First of Tomes (The Tomes of Kaleria Book 2) Page 15
