• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 2362 0

hushed tones, I told her tales my mother had told me when I was a child, tales of how the Maghuin Dhonn crossed the world when it was covered with ice, claiming fair Alba for our own. I told her how we had welcomed and taught the folk that had arrived after us, and how they had repaid our kindness with tribute, until the Tiberians came with hard steel, stone roads, and foreign diseases. I told her the tale of the mighty magician Donnchadh, who had taken on the shape of the Great Bear Herself and suffered himself to be tormented for sport at the hands of invaders, until he burst loose his chains in the arena and climbed the stands to slay the Tiberian governor.

She liked that story.

I told her the most glorious and scandalous tale of Terre d'Ange that I knew, the tale of Phedre no Delaunay de Montreve, the courtesan-spy who rose from obscurity to save her nation from invasion and insurrection, and the warrior-priest Joscelin Verreuil who was her companion.

Morning wore into day while I spoke, and day into early evening. Three more times, Imperial couriers passed us by, dashing to and fro on the road. None of them paid us any heed. By the time we halted for the night, I'd talked myself hoarse once more, and I'd ceased to flinch at the sight of the Emperor's insignia.

Bao poked his head in the window. "We're going to make camp. Is that all right, my lady?"

The princess inclined her head. "It is."

"Moirin?" His voice softened. "Is all well?"

I raised my veil and smiled at him, resisting the urge to rub his stubbled scalp. "Aye. And with you?"

He grinned. "Ten Tigers Dai is complaining of blisters, being unaccustomed to walking for any length of time, especially in sandals. Tortoise's belly is growling with hunger because he is unaccustomed to going without food for more than two hours. Both of them are angry that Kang is skilled at driving the carriage. Master Lo and I are fine." He raised his begging bowl, jingling it. His dark eyes gleamed beneath strongly etched brows. "Got some alms, too. Pretty good plan, huh?"

"Pretty good," I agreed. We smiled foolishly at one another until the dragon rumbled in my thoughts and the princess stirred uneasily. I raised my eyebrows at him and jerked my chin in a significant manner, and Bao withdrew in haste.

"He's a bit like a warrior-priest, I suppose," Snow Tiger said dubiously. "At least in guise."

Tired, I stifled a yawn. "Only in guise, my lady. In other ways, Bao is quite impossible. I have no idea why I like him so."

"And yet you do," she observed. "True."

With permission from a nearby farmstead, we made camp under a stand of pine trees. The farmer's wife, shy and blushing, brought a tray of steamed dumplings out to us. I watched Master Lo charm her effortlessly while Bao instructed the others in the manner of setting up the cunningly crafted tent of oiled silk and bamboo we'd brought to shelter the princess. The men would sleep in the open like the humble monks they pretended to be.

I heard the farmer's wife inquire tentatively after the purpose of our journey and tensed as Master Lo began to explain that the Lady Chan Song was on a pilgrimage to offer prayers to a very famous effigy of Guanyin in the south—Guanyin of a Thousand Eyes, who had appeared to Lady Chan in a dream and promised to cure the blindness that afflicted her. We had concocted the tale to justify our general destination and explain the impenetrable veil the princess wore, but hearing it told to a stranger for the first time, it sounded a feeble lie to my ears.

But once again, my fear was mislaid. The farmer's wife merely nodded in understanding. Casting a sympathetic glance in Snow Tiger's direction, she whispered a promise to pray for her. With that, she left us.

Despite the initial success of our venture, it was a relief to be away from prying eyes. I removed my hat and veil, breathing deeply of the pine-scented air and listening to their vibrant, healthy thoughts. The princess removed her hat, too, tying the blindfold she preferred in place. Master Lo sat in quiet contemplation while the younger