She smiled slightly, lips together, noting his caution. "But he still made you believe him."

Tai nodded again. "Yes, my lady."

He didn't know if she wanted him to say more. It crossed his mind to consider that this questioning was being done here and in this way by a woman, the emperor's dancer-love, his late-in-life dream of eternity.

It came to Tai that this was a part of why the Ninth Dynasty might be as precarious as it was dazzling. Why Sima Zian had said what he'd said yesterday: I feel chaos coming. I feel chaos coming.

This matchless creature across from him, lovely as a legend, was the cousin of the first minister and and the supporter (the adopting mother!) of the man who was his rival, and she had the trust and passion of an emperor who wanted to live forever because of her. the supporter (the adopting mother!) of the man who was his rival, and she had the trust and passion of an emperor who wanted to live forever because of her.

The balance of Kitai-of the known world-might be reclining across from him. It was, Tai thought, a great burden to lay upon slender shoulders.

He sat there, the sedan chair moving steadily along the road, breathing perfume in an enclosed, intimate place removed from the ten thousand noises of the world, and he waited for the next question. The one that could plunge him-all of them-into the chaos Zian feared.

It wasn't Roshan? Who was it, then? she was going to ask him. she was going to ask him.

She never did. Either she knew already, or she was afraid to know, or to have it said aloud. Be brought into the world, compelling a response. Her hand lifted from his calf where it had been resting again. She selected a lychee from a bowl beside her, peeled it expertly.

She extended it towards him.

"Please," said Wen Jian.

Tai took the ripe, slippery fruit from her fingers. It tasted like the south, and summer, like memories of sweetness lost.

That last, he realized, was what he was feeling. Something slipping away, almost gone. Yesterday's encounter by the road and now this one. Both of them coming to meet him on the way. Entirely different encounters but also the same at their core. Power approaching, to know what he was going to do. Needing to know, because power always needed that-knowledge was how power preserved itself, or tried.

He had set out from a mountain bowl, the battleground his father had never left behind, determined to reach Xinan to do ... to do what, precisely?

He had never decided, he'd been moving too fast.

Kill a man, he'd told the poet yesterday, as an answer for Yan's death. But Xin Lun was dead already. No fault of Tai's, no achievement of his, no credit to his name with Yan's ghost by the lake. And Lun had only been an instrument.

What else? What else had he been racing here to do, straight down the imperial road past the cut-off south that could have taken him home? Deal with the horses, somehow, that life-claiming gift.

Life-claiming. The thought reverberated strangely in his mind. Tai hadn't lived a life where enemies, on a murderous scale, had played any kind of role. But the first minister wanted him dead. On a whim, most likely. Because he could could. Wen Zhou, who was this woman's kin, holding office because of her.

He looked at Jian, across from him. She had peeled her own lychee and, as he gazed, placed it delicately between her front teeth and bit down. Tai shook his head, then smiled. He had to smile, she was so obviously playing with her own desirability.

"Oh, good!" she said. She licked her lips, glistening with the fruit. "This will be a tedious journey if you are serious all the time."

The back and forth of it, he thought. Hard questions, ripe fruit bitten, a slow tongue tracing wet lips, a foot or fingers touching him, conjuring desire. Then the questions would come again.

In that moment, Tai arrived at a decision. It seemed obvious enough, and it had the virtue of simplicity. He'd only needed to finally grasp something: that he could never be subtle enough to match those waiting for him. He didn't have time to know enough, or gain an awareness of relationships, at a level that would let him move with these men and women to their music. He wouldn't even hear hear the notes they heard. the notes they heard.

He wasn't able to probe for what they knew or wanted, play the game of words spoken and unspoken with the court and the higher civil servants and even some of the governors, in and around the Ta-Ming Palace and the emperor.

He would be among them today. And he couldn't learn that rhythm, not in the time he had. So he wouldn't even try. He'd go another way, like a holy wanderer of the Sacred Path choosing at a fork in the road, following his own truth, a hermit laughing in the mountains.

Tai drew a breath. He said, "I offered the horses to Governor An yesterday."

She stared, sat up straighter. Carefully put down an unpeeled lychee she'd just picked from the bowl.

"All of them?"

He nodded. "But I had a condition, and he declined."

"An Li rejected two hundred and fifty Sardian horses?"

"I said they were his if he brought my sister back from the Bogu. He said he could not do it. The horses are yours, illustrious lady, if you can do this."

"All of them?" of them?"

He nodded again. She was clearly shaken. Roshan had been, as well.

"I don't ... Is she your lover, your sister?"

He could not allow himself to be offended. This was the court. Such thoughts would occur to people. He shook his head. "Nothing like that. This is to honour my father as much as anything. He would never have let my brother do this. In our mourning period, it was an act of disrespect."

She was staring as if dazed. And the woman in this sedan chair was no simple concubine or dancer, however exquisite. This was someone who defined defined the life of the Ta-Ming now, who shaped and balanced it, in a dangerous time. the life of the Ta-Ming now, who shaped and balanced it, in a dangerous time.

He was beginning to understand how dangerous, since yesterday and the thought he'd had: of the knife he carried, and committing murder in that carriage by the road.

"You are not suggesting it was wrong to give your sister to this marriage and send her north?"

He needed to be careful. "The Son of Heaven cannot be wrong."

"No, he cannot." Her voice was emphatic.

"This is a personal request, my lady, only that."

"You do understand," she said, her voice controlled now, "how much you can expect at court as the last hero of Kuala Nor and brother to a new princess? Have you considered that the emperor cannot be less generous than the Lion of Tagur or he is shamed? He must give you gifts that exceed those horses from Sangrama."

He hadn't thought about that. At all. Including, before this morning, the connection to Li-Mei, how much her elevation meant for him. He said as much.

Jian shook her head impatiently. Her earrings made a jingling sound. "Son of Shen Gao, you are angry with your brother for what he did. You are a rival to my cousin for a woman. Very well. Do you think their their ranks and honours are set in jade, reserved to them forever? Do you think they might be just a little fearful of your coming?" ranks and honours are set in jade, reserved to them forever? Do you think they might be just a little fearful of your coming?"

Tai's turn to be unsettled. "I don't know enough to judge such matters. I have little experience, or guidance. Sima Zian's, perhaps."

The woman made a face. "Not the surest counsellor, Master Shen. He has never held office, and he owes me a sweeter poem than the last he offered."

"Perhaps later today?" Tai said. "If he is permitted to-"

"I have other intentions today. Some people have been summoned to Ma-wai. This is too important to go any longer unaddressed."

"What is?"

"You are, son of Shen Gao! You You are too important. Why do you think I am here?" are too important. Why do you think I am here?"

"Because ... because of the horses?"

A slow smile, honey poured to sweeten a drink. A hand, shining with rings, touched his unshod foot where he had kept it carefully against the side of the sedan chair. "You are permitted to think it is only them. But consider what I have said. I will be disappointed if you prove unintelligent. Or lack decisiveness."

Fingernails moved. He said, a little desperately, "Illustrious lady, you do not want the horses?"

"Ten of them," she said promptly. "If you wish to give me a gift in exchange for company on this road and lychees peeled for you. I want to train them to dance, I have been told it can be done. But what would I do with more than that? Lead them to war?"

"Then ... then surely the emperor? I will give the Sardians directly to the Son of Heaven."

"You are are anxious to be rid of them, aren't you? No. Think, Shen Tai. Our exalted emperor is not permitted to be indebted to any of his subjects. His is the duty of supreme generosity. He'd have to return more than you gave him or be shamed in the eyes of the world. You control more of these horses than Kitai has received at any one time, ever. The Son of Heaven must honour you as soon as you arrive. And if you also give him the horses ...?" anxious to be rid of them, aren't you? No. Think, Shen Tai. Our exalted emperor is not permitted to be indebted to any of his subjects. His is the duty of supreme generosity. He'd have to return more than you gave him or be shamed in the eyes of the world. You control more of these horses than Kitai has received at any one time, ever. The Son of Heaven must honour you as soon as you arrive. And if you also give him the horses ...?"

Tai suddenly wished he'd taken that turnoff south, that he were riding home along a road he knew. Not all men, surely, needed to be part of the ten thousand noises, the swirling dust, the palace struggles, the guiding of the world?

He closed his eyes. Not the wisest thing to do. Her foot moved immediately, as if she'd been waiting for that. The toes flexed against his thigh. If she chose to move just a little more ... Tai opened his eyes, quickly.

"Have you ever made love in a sedan chair?" Wen Jian asked, guilelessly. Those enormous eyes met his from under perfect, painted eyebrows. "It can be done." She moved her foot.

Tai made a small, involuntary sound.

Directness. He had decided upon that. He had decided upon that.

He said, "My lady, you are making my heart pound. My mouth is dry with desire. I know you are toying with me, like a cat, and I wish only to honour you and the emperor."

That smile again. "You know I am doing this ... this toying, do you?"

He nodded his head, too rapidly.

"And that is my only purpose, you have decided?"

He stared at her. Couldn't speak.

"Poor man. Would a lychee help at all? That dryness ...?"

Tai laughed. He couldn't help it. Her expression was mischief incarnate. A moment ago she'd been crisply explaining affairs of the empire and the world, now she was enjoying her beauty and the power it gave her. She took and peeled another fruit without waiting for his answer. She extended it. Her fingers touched his.

She said, quietly, "I told you, the emperor, may he live eternally and in joy, knows I am here, knows you are with me. He will ask me at Ma-wai if you were respectful and I will tell him you were, because indeed, you are. Does this make you feel easier?"

He was doing a lot of nodding or shaking of his head. He nodded again.

She said, "I have arranged that compensation will be paid to the family of your soldier. My under-steward has been instructed to do this before he attends to his own affairs and ends his life."

He'd forgotten about that. Tai cleared his throat. "May I ask, gracious lady, that the steward be permitted to live? Wujen Ning, my soldier, and my Kanlin will both have been aggressive in defence of me, and of the horse."

The eyebrows arched again. "You may ask. I am disinclined, however. This morning was incorrectly undertaken. It reflects badly upon me, and the throne." She selected another lychee. "In a short while we will reach a waiting carriage and your horse and companions. You will ride to Ma-wai, escorting me. I like this chair, but not for longer journeys. Do you like it?"

Again, he nodded. Then said, "Illustrious lady, I think I would like being anywhere you are."

That unhurried smile: genuine pleasure it seemed (though he truly couldn't be sure). "A smooth-enough tongue, Shen Tai. As I said, you might survive in the palace."

"Will you help me?" he asked.

He hadn't known he was going to say that.

Her expression changed. She looked at him. "I don't know," said Wen Jian.

A SHORT TIME LATER they halted at a place where-when the yellow silk curtain was pulled back-he saw that a carriage was indeed waiting. This one, too, had kingfisher feathers.

Beside it on the road (not the imperial road now, they had turned off, northeast) Tai saw Zian and Song and his soldiers on their horses, and the restless, magnificent figure of Dynlal.

He gave his horse a lychee by way of apology, and mounted up.

No great speed now, they were escorting a carriage. A west wind blew. There was birdsong as the sun climbed. They saw green hills ahead of them. They rode that way. These were the forested slopes where the most extravagant country estates of Xinan's aristocracy were to be found. The Five Tombs District it was called, near the burial place of the last emperor and his ancestors, and the vastly larger tomb the Emperor Taizu (might he live another thousand years) was building for himself.

Just before they reached the first foothills they passed a large postal station inn on this northeast-southwest road, then they came to a small lake surrounded by trees, a place celebrated for hot springs and healing waters. On the western side of the lake were a silk farm and a Kanlin retreat, on the other shore lay Ma-wai.

CHAPTER XVI.

Li-Mei has lost track of how long they've been riding. Five nights? The landscape is unvarying, remorseless. The approach of summer has made the grass very tall and there are few paths or tracks. Time blurs. She doesn't like it. She has lived her life anticipating possibilities, knowing what is happening, where she is going. Shaping Shaping where she is going, to whatever degree she can. where she is going, to whatever degree she can.

She is much like her oldest brother in this, but would not happily acknowledge that.

She knows how to ride, was taught as a child because her father thought it important, even for a girl, but this much time on a horse, day after day, is hard for her, and Meshag is not inclined to rest very often.

She is in pain at the end of each day and then weary through the next morning's riding because nights sleeping under stars are cold and not restful. She'd hoped this discomfort would pass.

She says nothing about it, but is aware that he knows. She has a sense they are travelling more slowly than he wants to, because of her. She's tried to shorten their rest times herself, being the first to stand up, but Meshag has simply ignored her when she does this. He will only move when he is ready to move, or decides that she is, more likely.

But he'd said, back in the cave (another world, where she killed a man), that his brother would follow them, with shamans, and it is clear to her that whatever Meshag, son of Hurok, has become, whatever dark link he might have to wolves and the wild and spirits, he doesn't want the shamans catching them. Surely for her sake, possibly for his own.

He's avoided his people, hasn't he? Stayed clear of his brother all these years since her her brother saved his life (maybe saved his life). But now, for her-for Shen Li-Mei, a woman from Kitai-he's approached the Bogu again, stolen her away, and they are being pursued. So he has told her. Li-Mei has no way of knowing the truth. It leaves her uneasy, even angry. She asked him, some time ago, why they hadn't already been caught, since they weren't travelling at great speed. brother saved his life (maybe saved his life). But now, for her-for Shen Li-Mei, a woman from Kitai-he's approached the Bogu again, stolen her away, and they are being pursued. So he has told her. Li-Mei has no way of knowing the truth. It leaves her uneasy, even angry. She asked him, some time ago, why they hadn't already been caught, since they weren't travelling at great speed.

"They have to find us," he said. "Have other princess to carry north. They do not know which way we travel. He had to wait for a shaman."

A long answer, for him.

She has only the barest idea of where they are. They have been riding east. These are Shuoki lands, but if she remembers rightly they move north as the weather warms. The Shuoki are enemies of the Bogu. There are Kitan garrison forts somewhere in this direction, northern outposts. The Long Wall is south of them, of course. She doesn't know how far, but it will be rising and falling with the land like some serpent heading to meet the sea. Ahead of them will be nothing but grassland if the Shuoki are indeed north. The Bogu do not graze their herds this far east, and they are nowhere near the Koreini Peninsula.

He is taking her into emptiness.

It has been two days since any sign of human life-morning smoke by a distant lake. Meshag had decided not to go that way for water, though they'd been rationing theirs by that point. He'd found a small pool towards evening. They camped there, the wolves on guard.