"Is it true?" an elderly woman called to them. "Have you captured the daughter of the Son of Heaven?"
"It's true, Old Mother!" Bao called back to her. "The demon-princess herself, and the foreign witch, too! We're escorting them to Lord Jiang!"
There were murmurs in our wake, but they didn't sound doubtful. I relaxed.
I shouldn't have.
We made camp that night some distance beyond the village. Instead of sparring against their staves, Snow Tiger instructed the stick-fighters in the proper handling of their newly acquired swords, a different skill altogether.
"It has no reach," Bao complained. "A good stick-fighter can beat a swordsman any day."
"You need to at least look capable," the princess said in a calm tone.
He acquiesced, grumbling.
We retired when dusk began to fall, the men drawing straws to determine the order of standing guard, since that would be expected in a company of soldiers escorting prisoners. Tortoise drew first watch. The others were grateful to have a tent and blankets to share—even, I daresay, Master Lo.
Although she hadn't evinced signs of pain during the day, once Snow Tiger and I had retired to our own tent, her movements stiffened. Once again, she didn't protest when I helped her disrobe, only winced.
"It is still very painful?" I asked, keeping my voice low so that Tortoise, posted outside, would not hear. I suspected she'd been concealing the extent of the pain from them. "You should have told me, my lady."
She shrugged. "It will pass."
I spread my hand gently over the bare skin of her right shoulder blade, letting it rest there a moment. I wished I had Raphael's healing touch, the ability to spread that glorious warmth like balm. Or that I had studied with the famed masseurs of Balm House, who were said to be able to soothe away any ache. I had no gift or skills to offer her.
That's not true, the dragon said. There is pleasure in your touch, even the simplest.
The princess tilted her head slightly. "I will not miss having the privacy of my thoughts invaded," she remarked.
It made me feel better. I smiled and slid her sleeping-robe over her shoulders, and did not say what I was thinking, which was that I would miss being privy to them.
She touched my arm. "Thank you. I owe you a great deal, not least for your kindness. Do not think I am not mindful of it."
I inclined my head. "Thank you, my lady. I am grateful to know that I am not entirely an inconvenience to you, albeit a necessary one."
There was a rare note of affection in her voice. "I think you know full well that you are not, Moirin of the Maghuin Dhonn. I suspect it is my honor to consider you a friend."
I fell asleep happy because of it.
I awoke to shouting and torchlight, shadows cast by struggling figures darkening the oiled silk walls of our tent.
"What is it?" Snow Tiger was on her feet in the opened tent-flap before I'd fully awakened, sword in hand. Her blindfolded face turned to and fro, frustrated by her inability to see. "Are we under attack? Who? How many?"
I stumbled past her into the night, rubbing my sleep-filled eyes, and beheld the sight of Tortoise fighting for his life to hold off half a dozen men and youths armed with torches, cudgels, and farm implements. The other tent had collapsed under the attack of at least a dozen more. Bao had planted himself to guard Master Lo, cursing like a demon, his staff a blur. Ten Tigers Dai was fighting like a madman. Their assailants were shouting fiercely in a dialect I didn't understand, but here and there, I heard Snow Tiger's name. "Ah, gods!"
The princess thrust me behind her with one protective sweep of her arm. The dragon keened in rising alarm and anger. "What? "
"Farmers!" I caught her arm, holding her back. "Country folk! My lady, don't harm them! I think they've come to rescue you!"
She froze. "No." Aye!
"Stop!" Her voice rose. "Stop, now!"
They were too immersed in fighting to hear. Helpless to stop it, I watched a boy with a sickle clutched in his hand go down under the butt end of Bao's staff.
Lend her your gift, the dragon said softly. Lend vat your gift. Make a gateway. It showed me a picture in its thoughts.
I didn't dare pause to think, to wonder. I called the twilight, but instead of breathing it out, I poured it into Snow Tiger, my hands still clutching her arm, feeling my energies ebb.
She shone.
It was the way I saw her in the twilight with the dragon's silver-bright celestial energy coiling all around her and through her, only it was here on mortal soil in the ordinary darkness of night. Stone and sea! Barefoot and blindfolded, in a sleeping-robe of plain cotton, a naked blade of steel in her hand, she shone.
The fighting straggled to a halt.
The fighters gaped.
"My people." She didn't have to raise her voice. "On behalf of the Son of Heaven, I thank you so much for your valor and loyalty. But these men are friends." She gestured. "Do you imagine his Celestial Majesty's daughter so easily captured? We travel in guise. We travel not to surrender to Lord Jiang Quan, but to oppose him." She spread her arms, effortlessly freeing herself from my grip. Silvery brightness coiled around her. "We travel to thwart an army and free a dragon! Will you fight us or aid us?"
To the sound of cheers, I sank to my knees and let the twilight go.
It was enough.
"Stupid girl," Bao muttered, stooping beside me and flinging my arm over his shoulders. He helped me to my feet. "Your doing?"
I leaned against him, grateful for his presence. "Only a little. Master Lo?"
"He's fine."
We watched the farmers kneel and offer fealty to the princess. Tortoise limped over to join us, groaning at the effort. Ten Tigers Dai escorted Master Lo to do the same, unexpectedly solicitous. We stood together in the torchlight, watching the princess accept the farmers' oaths of loyalty with grace and dignity. Even without my gift opening a gateway, something about her shone.
"Well," Master Lo said presently. "It seems we are leading an insurrection against the insurrection."
"Uh-huh." Bao's arm tightened around me. "It does."
CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX
We couldn't get rid of the farmers. They wanted to accompany us, wanted to fight on Snow Tiger's behalf. I couldn't fault them for the sentiment, but it was a mixed blessing. With their presence, our progress was slowed and our guise in tatters.
"It is in tatters anyway," Master Lo Feng said to the princess. "Already, word spreads. You set this in motion when you revealed yourself in the marketplace, your highness. If you would have my counsel, I would say, heed the wisdom of the ancients. Yield, and overcome."
"Let us determine which ones have any fighting potential, my lady," Bao said on a more pragmatic note. "We have weapons and mounts to spare. We can outfit a few. The rest will have to fend for themselves and keep up as best they may."
So it was decided.
I didn't expect any of the folk not chosen to ride with us to keep up, but to my amazement, some of them did, at least for a time. They were a lean, impoverished lot, but they had hearts like lions. They trotted alongside us with mattocks and scythes in hand. And when the pace grew too grueling, they faded into the countryside, carrying word of our presence to folk they trusted, country folk like themselves.
More came to replace them.
More men, young men armed with cudgels and farming tools, fire in their eyes. Old grandmothers toting sacks of rice hidden in their stores, giving them freely to feed our unlikely army. Folk of all ages carrying news of the armies' movements.
By day, the princess received them all with grace.
At night, alone in the tent we shared, she allowed herself to express her fears and doubts, pacing restlessly.
"So many!" There was a note of despair in her voice. "So young, so poor, so untrained. Merciful gods, Moirin! How am I to protect them all?"
"They don't expect you to, my lady," I said softly. "They expect to protect you. Because you are the daughter of the Son of Heaven, and that is the way the world is meant to be." I thought of telling her the story of the great D'Angeline Queen Ysandre, whose folk had helped her quell an insurrection; but I held my tongue. In that tale, the insurgent army had believed their queen dead. Once they got sight of her, they surrendered with scarce a blow struck.
I did not think that would happen here, not unless we succeeded in freeing the dragon. The commonfolk were one thing, but Lord Jiang's men were another. They had the very real, very gruesome death of young lord Jiang Jian to avenge. If they had not been willing to listen to Abbot Hong in all his wisdom, they would not be swayed by a foreign witch's gifts.
And Lord Jiang's army stood between us and White Jade Mountain.
Rumor held that both armies had massed in an uneasy standoff. Lord Jiang's forces surrounded the base of the mountain, with a handful of companies posted in the pastures in the foothills to hold the high ground. There were fewer of them, but many peasants reported seeing them transporting weapons such as we had seen, bronze tubes mounted on ox-drawn carts. The Imperial army had made camp in the fields some distance away, and the Son of Heaven himself was in command.
Neither army, it seemed, was eager to make the first move.
"My father is waiting for me," Snow Tiger murmured. "Even now, doubt plagues him. If we do not arrive soon, his resolve may weaken."
"Why does Lord Jiang hold his hand?" I wondered aloud.
"Because he does not know where I am," she said grimly. "If we succeed in freeing the dragon, it will overturn their plans at a single stroke. Until he is sure of my whereabouts, it is more important to guard the mountain and its passes than to rush into battle. Once he is sure, he and Black Sleeve will not hesitate." Her shoulders tightened. "And that prospect grows more likely with each day that passes."
I tried to console her. "But your father's army stands between Jiang's forces and everything else. In choosing to guard the mountain, they have isolated themselves."
"True." She pressed the heels of her hands against her blindfolded eyes. "But Lord Jiang had other hunting parties searching for us," she reminded me. "And we have not had word of them for days. Even now, I fear that they be carrying news of my whereabouts to him."
"Your father's army would not let them pass, my lady," I assured her with a conviction I didn't feel. "Surely, they will have sentries posted."
The princess sighed. "I pray you are right."
As it transpired, I was.
And that was not a good thing.
If it hadn't been for our impromptu network of spies, we would have ridden straight into the ambush. Of course, if it hadn't been for our ragtag army of peasants and the gossip they spread, there would not have been an ambush in the first place. And as Master Lo had observed, if the princess had not revealed herself in the marketplace of the fishing village, none of this would have been set into motion. But it was also true that if he had not piqued her sense of honor and duty, she would not have done so.
It didn't matter, not really. What mattered was that we learned that there was an ambush awaiting us.
"Three li!" The boy who had brought the news was doubled over and gasping for air, hands braced on the threadbare knees of his coarse pants. "Lord Jiang's hunting parties! In the pass!"
Snow Tiger nodded at Bao, bidding him to speak for her. He knew what questions she would ask.
"You are very bold to run so far, so fast, Little Brother," he said with uncommon gentleness. "How many men are there? What weapons do they carry? Can you tell us the lay of the land?"
With an effort, the boy straightened. His dark gaze slid from the blindfolded princess to Bao and back. "Are you her general?" he asked in awe.
Ten Tigers Dai snorted.
"I am what passes for it, yes." Bao scowled at Dai. "So, Little Brother. Speak, and leave out no detail. Tell us what you may."
By the boy's best count, there were at least forty soldiers awaiting us in the low mountain pass ahead, all mounted, all armed with bows and swords. At this point, we had at least fifty men in our motley army, but only ten bows, not including mine, and the princess was the only trained archer among the fighters.
"Is there a way around the pass?" Bao inquired.
The boy shook his head helplessly. "Not one that will not bring you within sight of them, General. They picked their spot well."
The princess steepled her fingers, bowed her head, and touched them to her brow. "We must find a way to distract them. I need to think."
A memory came to me unbidden—the highwayman on the journey to the City of Elua. I had summoned the twilight and shot him in the thigh. "My lady…." I swallowed, recalling another memory. My mother's voice, a hare frozen in the twilight, seeing its death. It is a grave gift and one never to be used lightly. Surely this was a grave matter. "My lady, I could bring you to fall upon them unseen."
Her blindfolded head lifted. "What you suggest is dishonorable."
"Mayhap, but—"
"No." Her voice was gentle but firm. "Even if it were not, it is too dangerous. Halfway into the spirit world is not far enough to protect you from the arrows of forty desperate men, Moirin, and you are the one person I dare not risk." Her head turned in the direction of distant Snow Jade Mountain. "I fear your gifts will be needed before the end."
A handful of farmers were whispering with the boy. One of them came forward, his expression tentative. "Noble Princess?"
She turned to him. "Yes?"