The Yellow Silk - Don Bassingthwaite [112]
"Hey!" he screamed. "Over here! Help us! Help us!"
The only response he got was a frightened glance. Most of the men took one look at the wizards and the singing bard, and waded quickly through the waters toward the door into the Eel. The first one heaved it open-and was met by a wave of water. The festhall was flooded, too! The water in the sty rose sharply. The thugs yelled and struggled on, making their escape.
Veseene kept singing.
"Li!" Tycho's shout drew Li's attention. He spun away from Yu Mao and looked.
A shining light flashed up out of the alley like a comet, bright fabric a flickering tail. Li hissed. The Yellow Silk! He lunged toward it.
But Yu Mao had heard the shout and seen the light as well. He leaped forward, landing in a crouch and bringing his leg up in a sweeping kick that caught Li in the belly. The blow sent him flying backward across the pitch of the roof. Slates cracked and skittered under him, the broken edges shredding his clothes and slicing into his back. He gasped, and gasped again.
The Yellow Silk, given weight by whatever Tycho had wrapped it around, hit the roof and bounced. The fabric fell loose and a stone fell out to roll over the edge. The Silk slid to a limp stop, alone and ignored. He twisted toward it-and Yu Mao sprang at him.
Li pushed back hard against the roof and flipped up to his feet, dao meeting butterfly blades with a discordant ring. He twisted away from the block and stepped higher onto the slope of the roof, trying to get around Yu Mao. His brother flung out an arm and a sword. Li parried, knocking the blow aside, but another hard blow followed. "Ayeh!" shouted Yu Mao. "Ayeh! Ayeh! "Each blow forced Li a little farther away from the Yellow Silk and a little higher on the roof until he was straddling its very peak.
The sun was under the horizon now. Purple twilight lay across Spandeliyon-Li could see across the waterfront and most of dockside. Down in the shadows, there was music. Tycho's strilling. And a song, a beautiful song. Veseene! The power of her music spread out into the night like the wind of a storm.
Some small part of that power touched him, too, surging through his heart and blood. Li drew a deep breath and clenched his fist tight around his dao as Yu Mao stepped up to the ridge of the roof. His eyes were narrow and hard. His butterfly swords were raised for a killing blow.
Li looked at his brother. "Why?" he asked again. "Why throw everything away to join pirates? Why murder the expedition from Keelung when you could have been first among them?"
Yu Mao's reply hissed between his teeth. "Because I was tired of being the first among them!" Li froze,. Yu Mao's face writhed with hate and anger. "I said you wouldn't understand! Younger children never do! What was the name of Kuang for you? Something to be proud of, a key to open doors. For me it was the lock on a prison." Butterfly swords slashed the air. "Always perfect, always the heir. When you're older, Yu Mao, you must do this. When you lead the family, you must do that. This will be your house. Mei will be your wife. And what was there to do but nod and obey? I was the responsible elder son of Kuang, molded by the family, the traditions of eighteen generations of elder sons pressing down on me from dawn to dusk and in all but my deepest dreams."
He pointed a steady sword at Li. "No more. All my dreams are free. Now I'm the first generation!"
"Yu Mao-"
"What do you know of the weight of family, Li Chien?"
Li's jaw tightened. "Family," he said, "sent me to kill my brother." Yu Mao sneered-and thrust out, thrust high, the butterfly swords cutting deadly, spreading arcs through the air.
"Ayeh!"
Li swayed away from one flashing blade and swept his dao up against the other. His empty hand punched forward, forcing Yu Mao to dodge back. He whirled around, swinging the dao with all of his strength. "Hrah!"Yu