Daughter of Xanadu - Dori Jones Yang [61]
“Stay near the fire!” Abaji shouted. “It is safer here.” Through the muffle of earplugs and cloth, as well as the explosions, I could barely make out his words.
I noticed Suren pointing at the horses and shouting. “Marco, your horse!”
Suren pointed upstream. The other horses were stomping and trying to run, but were unable to, since their four legs were tied tightly. But Marco hadn’t tied Principessa’s legs tightly enough. Now he began running toward the woods.
“Marco! Stop!” I shouted. I ran after him.
“Emmajin! No!” Suren tried to stop me, but I tore loose from his grip and ran after Marco. Suren chased me.
My ears, still wrapped in cloth, were relieved when I moved away from the explosions of the fire, but I knew Marco was heading into danger. The woods loomed, dark, damp, and menacing.
For a fleeting moment, I could see his horse’s shape ahead of us in the dark, but then it disappeared into the forest. What a fool Marco was! Did he consider his horse’s life more important than his own?
The cold night air bit into my cheeks, but Marco kept running, and I ran after him, Suren at my heels. My side ached and I remembered how fast Marco could run.
Suddenly, I heard a roar and then a squeal from the horse. In the darkness, I could barely make out a tangle of struggling animals. I halted, uncertain, as growls and yelps filled the air, drowning out the noise of the bamboo fire. Principessa had been brought down by a beast.
My body trembled. I wanted to flee, but my legs were like stumps of wood. Any minute, I was certain, the creature would thrash too close to me and sink its fangs into my flesh. I breathed in thin gasps. It was too dark to see the creature or how close it was.
I reached back for an arrow and fitted it to my bow, trying to take aim at the thrashing animals. Marco reached for his knife and lunged forward.
Something large jumped onto Marco and knocked him over. He screamed and flailed. My heart nearly stopped beating. I hesitated about letting the arrow fly. What if I aimed for the creature and hit Marco instead? For a long, fearsome second, I tried to focus on the flailing. I loosened the bowstring, and my feet started to turn. This terrifying creature could kill all three of us.
I heard an arrow whiz past me. Would Suren save Marco’s life as I hesitated? I took a deep breath and steadied my arm. I drew back my bowstring and let my arrow fly.
The wild creature let out a yowl, flinched, and then turned toward me. Closer now, I could see a huge cat’s eyes, big gold circles surrounding a thin line of black. Rage filled me. I let another arrow fly, straight at one of its glittering eyes. It landed true, in the lion’s left eye. The beast fell back, struggling with its paws as if to extract the arrow.
“Marco! Run!”
Marco scrambled to his feet and stumbled toward me. I grabbed his hand, but he yelped in pain. He held his left arm with his right hand. But he could run. Suren urged us on. Abandoning the horse, we ran like lightning away from the wounded creatures, stumbling on roots, toward the camp area near the stream.
When we got back, Abaji was furious. “Why did you run into the woods? I commanded you not to!” Abaji pulled me toward the fire, examining me. “You’re not hurt? And Suren? You’re all right?” Losing either of the Great Khan’s grandchildren would have been the end for him. The life of a foreigner mattered nothing by comparison. “You were to look after her!” he raged at Suren.
I pulled away and hastened to Marco’s side. His arm was covered in blood, hanging limply at his side. His manservant quickly set to dressing the wound, forcing him to sit close to the exploding fire.
“I’m sorry,” Marco kept saying, his accent suddenly thick and his words slurred.
The other soldiers stood looking at us with fear and curiosity. “Stand guard!” Abaji shouted at us. He meant me, too. With the other soldiers, heads wrapped in cloth, we turned away from the fire