Mindless with the full force of the dragon's fury, the princess turned on them.
"Oh gods," I whispered, and began to run.
"Moirin, no!" Bao shouted, doing his best to hold her at bay. But she was right, I had to try. No one else could reach the dragon. And I couldn't summon the twilight, not with so many eyes on me.
I reached them just as she seized the end of Bao's staff and shoved, sending him hurtling backward. His head struck the carved rock with a sickening thud, and she began to turn toward Ten Tigers Dai.
I flung myself between them.
Her eyes met mine in the blood-streaked mask of her face. They were stretched wide and glittering, filled with an inhuman fury, and I no longer had the slightest question in my mind about why everyone had believed a demon possessed her.
In an act of sheer faith, I squeezed my eyes shut and reached out to the maelstrom of rage within her. "You promised!" I cried, willing him to hear. Blindly, I reached out with one hand, covering her eyes. "You promised you would never harm me!"
I could feel her quivering beneath my touch, quivering like an over-tight bowstring ready to snap.
But it didn't.
"I am here," I said softly—to her, to the dragon. "Peace. Be gentle."
Bit by bit, the storm of the dragon's fury lessened. I sensed it recognize me, sensed it know itself once more. I felt that terrible, terrible tension drain from Snow Tiger's body in a profound shudder as the dragon released her.
"Thank you." Her voice was faint.
Yes. Thank you.
I nodded, daring to open my eyes.. All around us, there was carnage. Beneath my hand, her blood-streaked face was only a girl's, grave and lovely. Filled with fear, I swallowed against another surge of nausea. "You're welcome. Now let us find you a blindfold, my lady. Let us see how badly Kang is injured and if Bao's head is as hard as I pray it is."
She shuddered again, a different shudder. "I pray so, too."
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR
As it transpired, Bao's head was very hard. "I'm fine!" he said in an aggrieved tone when Master Lo ordered him confined to a day's bed-rest. "I can travel."
I poked his chest, hard. There were no words sufficient to express my profound relief at finding him alive. "You're not fine. And no one is travelling today."
He eyed me. "Stupid girl. Always flinging yourself into danger. You could have gotten yourself killed, you know. Moirin, are you crying?"
"Aye, a little. So?" I rubbed my stinging eyes, then leaned down to give Bao a long, lingering kiss, not caring if it defied custom or roused the dragon's ire. "You were in more danger than I was, stupid boy," I murmured against his lips. "And we may count ourselves very, very lucky that none of us were killed."
Lying on his back, Bao lifted one hand to tug gently at my hair, winding it around his fingers. "I hate seeing you in danger," he whispered in reply. "But you have a point. I am glad to be alive to argue with you."
It was true. On the whole, we had been fortunate in unfortunate circumstances. No vital organs had been pierced in the monk shot by Lord Jiang's archer, and Master Lo gauged that he would make a full recovery in time. Kang had sustained a deep sword-cut on his right thigh. It was severe enough that he would not be continuing onward, but Master Lo judged that so long as it did not take septic, Kang too, would recover. Bao had a nasty lump on the back of his skull, and an irascible attitude.
I was relieved and glad.
Glad for him, glad for me.
And glad, perhaps most of all, for the princess and the dragon. She had taken this risk deliberately. If she had hurt him badly, she would have a hard time forgiving herself.
In the aftermath of battle, she was quiet and withdrawn. Once I left Bao's side, I managed to get her into the bathing hut. Moving stiffly and painfully, she didn't protest when I helped her out of her blood-soaked robes.
"Are you injured?" There was so much blood on her, I couldn't tell if any of it was hers. "You should have said something! My lady, please don't punish yourself."
"I'm not injured." She sank into the tub. Sponge in hand, I eyed her doubtfully. "I hurt. Everywhere." She leaned her head against the rim of the tub. Even her hair was clotted with blood. "Mortal flesh was never meant to channel that much force."
I felt like an idiot. I'd not considered the physical toll such inhuman exertion would exact on her. "Of course." I dipped the sponge and squeezed it over her skin, beginning the long process of washing away the blood. "I'll ask Master Lo for a tonic for the pain."
The fact that she didn't argue against it gave me an idea of just how badly it hurt.
/ am sorry.
"Do not be." The princess pressed her hands over her blindfolded face. There was blood under her nails, too. "You cannot control it. And if it were not for you, we would all be dead. I am grateful."
It took a while, but I got her washed and dressed in clean robes, then went to find Master Lo. He and Abbot Hong were interviewing Brother Liu, the young monk who had betrayed us. I waited until they had finished, torn between anger at the monk's impetuous deed and sympathy for his genuine remorse.
Master Lo looked as weary as I'd ever seen him when he emerged. "Moirin. How is her highness?"
"In pain." I told him of her suffering.
He nodded. "I'll prepare willow-bark tea for her." He sighed, running a hand over his white-stubbled scalp. "It may be that there is a windfall in these unfortunate events. The young brother reports that Lord Jiang's men tethered their mounts and made camp at the base of the mountain. Abbot Hong is sending acolytes to secure it. So." He glanced down the path of the gorge, where robed monks were quietly gathering the dead and scrubbing blood from the beautiful carved walls. "We will have horses. And we will have new guises if we can stomach them."
I swallowed. "You mean for us to dress in the dead men's garb?"
His expression turned gentle. "Not you, nor her highness. But yes. Bao and I and the others will appear to be Lord Jiang's men, escorting you as our prisoners. It will allow us to travel far more swiftly and freely."
"I see." I was glad I wouldn't have to wear the clothing of a man I'd seen violently slain.
Master Lo put one hand on my shoulder. "Despite Bao's chiding, what you did today was very brave, Moirin. It is clear that the dragon's regard for you is not based on your gifts alone. You have a valiant heart."
"Oh….." I flushed at his praise. "Thank you, Master."
He gave me a weary smile. "I wanted you to know that it did not go unnoticed. I am fortunate to have such a pupil, and the princess to have such a….." He paused, at a loss for the proper term.
"She calls me her necessary inconvenience," I offered.
"Does she?" His smile deepened briefly, less weary, more genuine. "Well, her Noble Highness is fortunate to have you."
In the middle of the night, when Snow Tiger's restlessness woke me, I thought of his words. I lay on my narrow mat listening to her toss and turn, then rise to sit with her head bowed against her knees, shivering violently.
I pitched my voice softly into the darkness. "Would you like more willow-bark tea, my lady?"
"No. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." Her head lifted, turning in my direction. "Go to sleep."
Instead, I rose and did what I had wanted to do many times when fear troubled her in the night. I went to her, knelt behind her, and put my arms around her. The princess stiffened, but only for an instant, and she didn't pull away. Slowly, slowly, her tense figure relaxed into my embrace. Remembering the night Jehanne had come to me for comfort after her last assignation with Raphael, I held her and breathed the Breath of Ocean's Rolling Waves, deep and rhythmic and soothing, until her breathing slowed to match mine unwittingly.
"It's the blood," she murmured at length. "All that blood."
I had seen the memory of her wedding night. "I know."
After a time, I shifted to a more comfortable position. Snow Tiger lay curled against me, my arm over her slender waist, the fingers of one hand interlaced with mine. With one arm flung over her, I felt her exhausted, aching body loosen gradually into sleep.
Comforted by the contact, I slept, too.
In the morning, I woke before her. I extricated myself gently, knowing that daylight hours were different from night hours. Despite the blindfold, the princess looked sweet and peaceful in sleep, her features almost as delicate as a child's. I thought about cleaning the blood from beneath her fingernails in the bath yesterday and shook my head, wondering at how very, very far from home I'd come, and how very strange the journey.
To be sure, no D'Angeline had ever served as a royal companion in such a violent, bloody manner.
She needs you, the dragon said sleepily. I need you.
"I know." Knowing I wouldn't have the chance to do it when she was awake, I stooped to kiss her cheek. "And I am here."
This time, our descent into the gorge was uneventful. Abbot Hong and his acolytes had ensured that the path was clear.
I felt bad at leaving Kang behind; I daresay we all did. But he had lost enough blood to render him weak and pale, and his wounded thigh rendered, him unfit for travel. He gazed at the blindfolded princess from his sickbed, his narrow, pock-marked features transfigured by awe into something beautiful.
"You won't forget me, will you?" he begged. "Promise you won't forget me!"
She knelt beside his mat, clasping his hands in hers. "Noble companion, I swear I will never forget you."
He sighed, happy.
I caught Bao's eye. He looked rapt, hopeless romantic that he was. Seeing my gaze on him, he coughed and flushed, trying to hide it.
"Stupid boy," I said fondly, sliding my arms around his neck. "You've a lump the size of a goose-egg on the back of your skull, and you look a little sickly. Are you sure you're fit for travel?"
"Uh-huh." His hands descended to my buttocks. "Want me to prove it?"
I did, actually.
Snow Tiger stiffened and the dragon rumbled. I loosed Bao. "Later, yes."
He eyed the princess. "Yes. Later."
CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE
We found the camp as promised. After travelling so simply, it was a luxury to have mounts to spare, pack-horses, and ample supplies. It was strange, though, to see the men in fish-scaled armor, their shaved heads hidden under pointed helmets. I'd grown accustomed to seeing them as monks.
Snow Tiger bade farewell to Abbot Hong and his acolytes, thanking them for their aid and apologizing for the trouble we had brought upon them.
"The fault is not yours," he said kindly. "And it was one of my own who brought the trouble to our doorstep. I have seen a dragon reflected in the hands of Guanyin herself. It is a thing to remember. For the sake of the Celestial Empire, I will pray for your success, Noble Princess."
She bowed. "And I for your health, Revered Brother."
His bright gaze shifted to me, so youthful in that wizened face. "Master Lo's most unusual pupil. You seemed taken with this place. If ever you have the chance to return, I would be pleased to speak with you, and to learn more of your people, too." His reedy voice took on a puzzled tone. "Is it true you worship a bear?"
I smiled. "Yes. But She is not any mortal bear. If I have the chance, I would be honored to speak with you, Revered Brother."
As soon as our farewells were said, we set out.
One unforeseen difficulty arose immediately; neither Tortoise nor Ten Tigers Dai had ever been astride a horse. Neither of them looked anything remotely like warriors, sliding and jouncing, clutching desperately at their saddles. Despite his aching head, Bao laughed until tears came to his eyes.
"It is not funny, Shangun!" Dai's face was red with anger and humiliation. "You were nothing but a peasant-boy once, too! If you had not been wandering the world with Master Lo, when would you have learned to ride a horse?"
"My cursed rapist of a father was a Tatar," Bao said with far better humor than the statement deserved. "If nothing else, I come from horse-riding stock. I am quite certain I did not bounce in the saddle like a sack of cabbages my first time."
Dai gritted his teeth. "You need not mock me. I swallowed a great deal of pride to serve under you on this quest."
Tortoise merely grunted, concentrating too hard to quarrel.
"I suggest that you ignore Master Lo's rude apprentice," the princess said mildly. Everyone fell silent, chastened. A faint smile curved her lips. "Perhaps the blow to the head has addled his wits. And I suggest that we have a brief lesson in horsemanship, since it is inconceivable that I would have been taken prisoner by men who ride like sacks of cabbage. The first thing you must learn is to grip the horse's barrel with your thighs."
They listened and learned.
I watched them practice riding at a walk, then a trot, then a canter, stroking my mount's withers as it seized the chance to graze. Snow Tiger was a good teacher, patient and firm, borrowing Bao's eyes to gauge their progress. I could imagine her as a child, her delicate face set and grave, absorbing hours of instruction, drilling on foot and on horseback, learning to handle all manner of edged weapons, while I had been wandering the Alban wilderness with my mother, learning to summon the twilight, harvest greens, and catch fish with my bare hands.
Strange, indeed.
By the time we passed through the first village, Tortoise and Dai had grown comfortable enough in the saddle that their inexpert seats didn't give us away. Although the village was little more than a humble collection of farmsteads, it was the first test of our new guises and I tensed as we passed through and folk in the fields lifted their heads to stare at the small party of Lord Jiang's soldiers with the blindfolded princess and me in their midst.