Naamah's Kiss - Jacqueline Carey [175]
I felt lightheaded. "Is that why he asked me to come? Does he expect me to banish it into the spirit world like I did Focalor? Does he expect me to survive this time?"
"No!" He flushed. "Master Lo ask you to come because you his student. He meant to teach you. All the signs say so."
"What signs?" I asked.
Bao leaned over in the saddle and tapped my breast-bone. "You feel it here?"
"Aye," I admitted.
"That the only sign you need."
"Is that how it was for you?" I was curious. "How did you come to be Master Lo's… magpie?"
He regarded me through half-lidded eyes. "You ask a lot of question. One day, I tell you. Not today."
"All right. I'll wait." I didn't know why I was so curious, except that Bao was the nearest thing I had to a comrade in this venture and he was an enigma to me. If he disliked me half as much as he pretended at times, I was in for a miserable journey—but I didn't think that he did.
I knew that Master Lo Feng had chosen in his latter years to wander the world in search of further wisdom and worthy pupils to impart it to. I knew that he'd chosen Terre d'Ange as a destination because he was curious about tales of an entire folk descended from a wandering god and his divine Companions, and the land in which Blessed Elua had chosen to settle.
Why Bao had chosen to accompany him, I hadn't the faintest idea.
When we returned to the quay, the harbor-master's second in command gave us grudging approval to board the immense Ch'in ship. I whispered reassuring things in my filly Blossom's ears, soothing her with my thoughts until her hide stopped shuddering and she suffered herself to be led aboard, disappearing into the belly of the hold.
Stone and sea, the ship was huge!
And I felt lost boarding it. Everything that was familiar fell away behind me. I was surrounded by Ch'in soldiers and sailors chattering in their own tongue, eyeing me with a mixture of curiosity and disapproval.
We were given rooms on the next-to-upper deck. Master Lo Feng's was large and sumptuous; mine and Bao's smaller quarters adjoined it on either side. The wood was rich and glossy and smelled very nice, mixed with the tang of sea air. Left alone in my chamber, I breathed in deeply and tried to fight a rising sense of panic.
"Here." Bao appeared, lugging a heavy pot in his arms. Snowdrops, the bulbs dormant but alive beneath burlap wrappings. He set it on the floor. "Master Lo say they better with you; you feel better."
I listened to their faint song.
Better.
Keeping them alive gave me a purpose. As for the rest, I would have to learn and adjust. I nodded at the bed. I recognized the raised pallet's purpose, but not the odd, low, scooped wooden structure at the far end. "My thanks. Bao… what is that?"
He stared at me. "A bed?"
I pointed. "That?"
"For rest your head." He clasped his hands behind his neck. Like so.
"Oh."
"You want I show you?"
"Nooo…" I wasn't ready for the sight of Bao in my bed. "You reckon that a pillow?"
"Uh-huh." He nodded. "We sail now. You want to see?"
"Aye, I suppose."
Sailors were swarming all over the main deck. Somewhere below, incredibly long oars protruded from oar-holes and began to churn the water, turning the ponderous vessel. Bao led me to the stern of the ship on the uppermost deck. We watched the harbor of Marsilikos appear before us as the massive ship turned.
"They use oar only in the harbor," Bao told me. "Only wind and water moving at sea." He lowered his voice. "They not open the bag of wind here where foreigners can see."
"Bag of…" I gave him a startled look. "I thought that was just a turn of phrase. You mean there actually is a bag of wind?"
He nodded. "Long time ago the Emperor marry the wind god's daughter. Thousand years ago. Almost empty now, maybe. Better to save."
"Oh." I didn't know what else to say. I gripped the railing and watched the harbor slowly fall away behind us as the ship's mighty sails filled and it got under way, moving at a stately pace past smaller vessels. Bao stood beside me, silent for once, leaning on his staff. Terre d'Ange,