Naamah's Kiss - Jacqueline Carey [234]
"Good to know." He caressed the back of my neck. "I'm looking forward to our changing guises, so I no longer have to pretend to be a celibate monk. It is difficult thinking of you as—" He froze.
"What?"
"There." Bao pointed. Ahead of us, a swaying bridge spanned the gorge. On the far side, the descending path continued around a curve. "Men's shadows, moving." His voice sharpened. "Stop! Everyone stop!"
We halted.
It didn't take long for them to reveal themselves. Ten warriors and one anxious-looking young monk came around the curve. One of the warriors carried Lord Jiang's standard, the white dragon coiling on a background of blue.
The rest carried bows, arrows nocked and aimed.
"No!" Abbot Hong cried out in anguish, spreading his hands as though to ward off an attack. "Oh, my son, what have you done? No, no, no! This is all a misunderstanding. You must not do this thing."
"Tell that to young lord Jiang Jian, torn apart on his wedding night," one of Jiang's men said grimly. He gestured with the tip of his arrow. "Move aside, Revered Brother. We do not want to spill blood in this place, especially yours."
"I will not," the abbot said with calm dignity. As one, his acolytes spread out before us, forming a wall of robed, shaven figures.
"What is it?" the princess asked in a low voice. "Who, and how many? What arms?"
"Jiang's men." I felt sick. "One of the monks betrayed us. He must… he must have left before we showed the dragon to the abbot."
"Ten men," Bao added grimly, hands flexing on his staff. "Swords and bows. They were lying in ambush. They have arrows trained on us, my lady."
"Are we trapped?"
I glanced up the path behind us. Our only avenue of retreat would leave us utterly exposed. "Aye."
The dragon keened in alarm, panic and fury beginning to rise.
"Move!" the leader of Jiang's men shouted, gesturing violently. "I mean business, Brother! I do not want to shed your blood, but I will. Stand aside and give us the demon-princess!"
The abbot didn't budge. "Please, listen. Through no fault of your own, you have been deceived. You have—"
Without a word, the leader loosed his bow with a sharp twang. The monk standing to the right of Abbot Hong clutched his side and crumpled, a bloodstained arrowhead protruding from his robes. None of the others so much as flinched. On the far side of the gorge, the young monk who had betrayed us covered his face with his hands, his fingers trembling. The leader nocked another arrow.
"Enough!" Snow Tiger's voice echoed off the mountainside, high and fierce. She pushed effortlessly past the line of monks. "I killed Jiang Jian. It is me that you want, is it not?" She gestured behind her. "All of them, they are innocent. This is a sacred place. If I come willingly, will you promise to spill no further blood here?"
The leader hesitated. "I will."
"He lies," Bao muttered.
I thought so, too. "My lady, please!" I whispered urgently. "Do not listen, do not trust him—"
"Hush." She turned back to me, put her hand over my lips. "The time for caution is past. This may be hardest of all on you, my necessary inconvenience. I have no choice but to unleash the dragon. You will have to reach him, call him back from the abyss of madness. Can you do that for us?"
My eyes stung. "I will try."
"Good." She turned to Abbot Hong and bowed, hand over fist. "Revered Brother, I beg your forgiveness for what I am about to do here."
He bowed in reply. "You did not bring this on yourself in this lifetime, Noble Princess. I forgive you."
With obvious reluctance, the abbot and the monks stood aside to make way for her. Master Lo Feng, his face unwontedly pale, bent to attend to the injured monk.
Beside me, Bao quivered with fury. I could sense the other stick-fighters doing the same.
At the near end of the bridge, Snow Tiger untied the sash that bound her robes and freed her sheathed sword. She held it up for display, then stooped and laid it gently on the ground. Lord Jiang's leader grunted and beckoned with his arrow tip.
Hatted and veiled, she stepped onto the bridge.
It swayed under