Naamah's Kiss - Jacqueline Carey [220]
Beside me, the princess shivered.
"Are you cold, my lady?" I tucked a woolen blanket more firmly around her.
"No." Her voice was low. "It is only that I mislike leaving thusly." She bowed her head, fidgeting with the sword she held across her lap. "It is dishonorable."
I thought about my reply. "Those men have staked their honor on this venture, my lady." I nodded out the window at Tortoise and Dai. "Honor most of them never knew they possessed. Bao gave them a chance to be heroes and they seized it. You cannot see it, but their eyes shine when they look at you. For the first time in their lives, they attempt something noble and good. They are on a mission to rescue a princess and a dragon. Would you strip that honor from them?"
Her fingers drummed on the lacquered scabbard. She angled her veiled head in my direction. "You do know that were circumstances otherwise, I could have you beaten for speaking to me thusly?" she inquired in a mild tone.
I smiled, sensing no genuine malice in her threat. "Were circumstances otherwise, I would not be here," I said calmly. "Which I think you know full well. And that does not make my words any less true."
One corner of her mouth lifted. "Fairly spoken, my necessary inconvenience. I will seek to be worthy of the honor yonder thugs accord me, as well as the venerable Lo Feng and his apprentice."
"Good." I hesitated, lowering my voice. "My lady… is it true that Master Lo is a hundred and seventy years old?"
Snow Tiger shook her head. "I cannot say. But my father has known him since he was a boy, and he says Lo Feng was ancient even then."
"I wonder how old Black Sleeve is," I mused. "He had to have been born a very long time ago if his mother died of old age."
"True." She shuddered. "For all that I have pondered the matter, I cannot grasp why a man would do such a thing. Why would he set such terrible events in motion?"
"I don't know," I said slowly, thinking of Raphael de Mereliot. "Some losses cut deep and the wound never heals. He must have loved his mother very much to blame his father for her death. And ambition can be a dreadful force, warping all it touches."
"Like Lord Jiang." Yes.
The princess was silent and I held my tongue, knowing she was thinking once more of her wedding night. I had no words to assuage the memory of that blood-soaked horror. "I must believe as you do that there is a greater purpose in this," she said presently. "You are right, to believe elsewise is to invite madness." Her slender fingers caressed the scabbard in her lap. "But there is vengeance, too. I must confess, it would please me very greatly to send Lord Jiang Quan to his death for sacrificing his son to such a fate. Black Sleeve, too."
I didn't doubt her; nor could I blame her. Still, something in her implacable tone made my blood run cold, reminding me that she had torn a man apart with her bare hands.
The dragon stirred. I would never harm you.
"I frightened you." Snow Tiger turned her veiled face toward me. "Forgive me, I didn't mean to. Tell me… tell me something pleasant. Tell me…" She paused, rethinking her choice. "Perhaps it would be best not to speak of your fondness for Master Lo Feng's apprentice."
I eyed her. "I think that's wise, my lady."
Beneath the edge of her veil, she smiled. "Tell me more about your licentious D'Angelines. Tell me about this Queen you served. You said she was very beautiful?"
"Oh, aye." I smiled, too. "You might not think so. It is a different kind of beauty than one finds in Ch'in."
"Like you?"
"No." I shook my head. "Jehanne was fair, very fair. Not only her skin, which was as white as milk, but her hair, too. It was the palest hue of gold I'd ever seen. Strong-willed as she was, she looked so very fragile and lovely. And her eyes were blue-grey, like… There is a flower, but I don't know its name in your tongue. Only… only it wasn't the color, it was the way they shone when she was glad. Like