Butterfly Swords (11 page)

R
yam stood by as the servants loaded a trunk onto the litter in the grey of the morning. He winced at the imperial insignia carved on the front. Lady Ling was a symbol of the old regime. It was impossible nowadays to tell if the affiliation would help or hurt on the road to Changan.

Ailey held herself a distance away and watched the preparations impassively. He had worried she would attempt to flee again. Despite her talk of honour and duty, she harboured a defiant streak. But this morning, she had emerged from her rooms without complaint. She actually wasn’t speaking to him at all.

The stableman hitched a single horse into the harness as Lady Ling emerged from the house wrapped in an opulent robe, every hair in place and her face painted to perfection. He went to speak to her and immediately caught his mistake when Ailey angled herself away from them, the stiff point of her shoulder speaking louder than any words.

The lady bestowed an almost sympathetic look on him. ‘There is one trail that leads to the main road.’

‘I’ll stay with you until then.’

‘It has been a long time since I’ve been in the city, but I still remember how things are done,’ Lady Ling assured him.

The lady had survived the most treacherous period of the imperial court. She would have hidden contacts throughout the empire. She’d know who to bribe and coerce. Ailey would be fine. Yet he couldn’t bring himself to go. Once he left, there was no way to find out what happened to her. He’d never know.

Lady Ling glanced towards the litter. In profile, her features were striking, a balance of perfect curves. As a man, he couldn’t deny her beauty tapped into something primal. His response to her was immediate, devoid of any conscious thought. But it was only a ghost of what he felt whenever he thought of Ailey.

‘Go and say farewell to her.’ The courtesan read his thoughts perfectly. ‘I remember what it was to be young.’

Ryam nodded, letting out a slow breath as he went to Ailey. She stood alone and silent, her back turned towards him. He knew she could hear the pad of his boots on the dirt trail. Her shoulders raised a fraction and her fingers curled almost imperceptibly by her side as he approached.

‘Take care on your long journey,’ she said in a brittle voice.

‘Ailey, look at me.’

She turned to him. Her face and the clouded jade of her eyes filled his vision, and he decided then and there that Ailey in a faded tunic could outshine all the imperial consorts of the world.

‘You know this is the right thing to do,’ he said.

‘No.’ Her gaze would not waver. ‘I don’t know.’

One of the servants came running from the woods. He found Lady Ling and began firing off a rapid stream of Han Chinese. Ailey strained to listen, tensing.

The lady swung around. ‘Governor Li Tao has sent an armed regiment through the forest. They will be here soon.’

‘Son of a dog,’ Ryam muttered.

‘You are familiar with the name, then?’ The lady looked coolly from him to Ailey. She held up a hand when he started to explain.

‘There is no time. Take the horse.’

‘Take Ailey and go ahead,’ he said. ‘I can hold him back.’

‘Nonsense.’

Her tone allowed no further argument. She commanded the servants to unhitch the steed. ‘This humble woman is going to be away, devoting prayers at the local temple this morning. Hopefully, Governor Li’s soldiers will not tear down the house when they search it.’

The courtesan turned in a flutter of silk, setting her servants in motion with a series of short commands. Beside him, Ailey had reached for her swords. Her jaw was set with grim determination.

‘You should know,’ Ling addressed him from the threshold. ‘Next to Emperor Shen, Li Tao commands the most powerful army in the empire.’ She cast a pointed look towards Ailey. ‘And he is not known to be merciful.’

They rode together in the saddle with Ailey in front. Ryam held the reins. He veered them away from the river and into the thick of the forest, urging the horse into as much of a gallop as possible in the cluttered terrain. The impact of hooves sent her jostling against Ryam’s chest, and she could feel the force of his heartbeat against her shoulder blades.

They said nothing. Conversation was a distraction and they needed every sense on alert.

She hugged her knees against the horse’s sides and sank her weight down to stay seated. The dense brush whipped past. She searched through it for dark shapes that would indicate their pursuers had caught up with them.

‘We need to stop,’ she said finally.

The animal had borne their weight on his back for over half an hour and she noticed the slight droop of his head. Flecks of foam gathered at the bit in his mouth.

She didn’t know if Ryam had heard her. He continued on without a word, but soon he slowed them down to a walk and directed them towards a grove of trees. Ailey dismounted first.

Ryam drew his sword the moment he planted his feet against the ground. ‘Can’t see a thing here. Maybe that means they can’t see us,’ he said beneath his breath. Sword in hand, he made a brief scan of the perimeter.

‘Do you know where we are?’

He whipped around brusquely. ‘In the middle of nowhere, Ailey.’

She was taken aback by the fierceness of his response. ‘You’re angry that we’re still together.’

‘I’m angry because I can’t defeat them all if we’re found.’

They only dared to speak in whispers. He stood before her, shoulders squared and feet wide. His chest rose and fell steadily and she could nearly smell the fever of battle churning within his blood.

‘The soldiers will fan out to search this area,’ she said. ‘They wouldn’t attack at once.’

His eyes widened with surprise at her declaration. He shouldn’t have been so shocked. She was the daughter, the granddaughter and the sister of generals. The vastness of the forest was to their advantage, but it was their only advantage.

‘We’ll keep going north,’ Ryam said. ‘Towards Changan until we find the main road. We can’t rest here long.’

She looked to their mount doubtfully. The horse bent his long neck to drink from a pool of water. This was no war horse. He would need to rest. She went to sit while Ryam remained standing, his muscles coiled and ready as he watched the trees. Neither one of them spoke.

Then it happened. The snap of a branch cut through the natural hum of the forest and they froze. The leaves rustled as something large shoved through the brush. Suddenly they were face to face with two of Li Tao’s soldiers.

Ryam sprang into action. He cut the lead man down before the soldier could draw his sword. The second one shouted out and crashed back through the forest in retreat.

‘Stay back.’ Ryam started off in pursuit.

‘No.’

She slid the butterfly swords from her boots, one in each hand. The steel nestled into her palms as her heart hammered out a frantic rhythm. She followed Ryam’s massive form as he chased after the scout. There could be more of them. He could be outnumbered.

There were more. Five men scattered among the trees. They glanced from her to Ryam, then separated, two coming after her.

She forced her breathing steady to prepare herself for battle. Breath, mind, body. This was not the practice yard.

She faced the first attack with her swords centred. It wasn’t a man she faced, but a series of targets: weak points, striking points. She found an opening and aimed for it, slashing up into the arm, cutting at the elbow to render it useless. She followed with a slash across the chest with the other blade. That target fell back and she sought out the next man coming at her from the side.

Among these branches, in the close space, her blades gave her an advantage over the long swords the men wielded. She sidestepped behind the cover of a tree trunk and let the attacker get close before slipping through his guard to bring her knee up into his groin, channelling her entire weight into the point of impact. He folded under the force. Upward stroke with the right blade, downward stroke with the left. Both swords always alive.

To her left Ryam disarmed his man, then sent him to the ground with his fist. He turned to the next one and swung his sword. The soldier blocked in time, but the force of the attack flung him against a tree with a thud.

‘Stop them from alerting the others,’ she cried.

She started after the remaining soldier. He was young, barely more than a boy. His hand shook as he groped for something in his belt. Before she could reach him he lifted the small object to his mouth and blew.

A shrill whistle pierced the air.

‘We need to get out of here.’ Ryam grabbed on to her arm and tugged her back.

The boy stared at Ryam, eyes wide in shock, before staggering off.

They ran back to the pool where the horse waited for them, ears perked straight. At any moment, Ailey expected a stampede of footsteps behind them. Li Tao could easily spare a hundred men to send after her if he wanted.

She gripped the hard leather of the saddle horn and hoisted herself up. Ryam climbed onto the mount behind her. His arm circled to grab hold of the reins and he dug his heels into the horse’s side.

They tore away from the thicket in a full gallop. A low branch snapped across her arm. She ignored the sting and fisted her hands into the coarse mane as Ryam urged the horse faster, swerving through the trees. Ryam’s hard body ground into her. The laboured pull of his breath dragged against her ear as she hung on for her life.

Their horse stumbled. With a grunt, the animal dug his hooves into the ground and struggled to right himself. The lurching motion nearly threw her from the saddle. Ryam grabbed on to her to keep her upright.

‘God’s teeth.’

He pulled them to a full stop and ushered her to dismount. Her boot jarred against the ground as she landed and pain spiked through her ankle. She ignored it.

‘He’s done,’ Ryam said.

He swung from the saddle. She protested when he slapped the horse’s flank and sent it off by itself.

‘We need to keep moving,’ he said. ‘They’re still too close.’

His fingers clamped over her arm like steel as he took them in the opposite direction. She’d never seen Ryam like this. His jaw tensed into a rigid line, rendering his face hard and expressionless. He stared ahead with single-minded focus.

She struggled to keep up with his long-legged stride, scrambling over moss-covered rock and uneven ground. Her ankle was beginning to throb, but Ryam forged on relentlessly. Gritting her teeth, she swallowed the pain and pushed herself until her body refused to go any further.

With a gasp, she fell back.

‘I’m sorry.’

‘What is it?’ Ryam demanded.

She shook her head and clutched at her ankle with one hand. She hated this weakness.

‘You’re hurt.’

His expression remained hard as he moved to throw her arm over his shoulders to lift her. Without knowing why, she shoved him away, angry and exhausted.

‘Go.’

With a low growl, Ryam pushed her hands aside and scooped her up anyway. He searched out a nearby ravine and started down the incline with her lifted in his arms. All the while, she wanted to rail at him that he was being stupid, that he was going to fall and break his neck. A swordsman couldn’t let sentiment cloud his judgement.

‘I can walk,’ she choked out.

He wouldn’t answer. His knee bumped against her as he walked down the loose bank of the ravine. His tunic was damp, soaked through with sweat as he tightened his hold. Her head pounded and she couldn’t hear above the beat of her own heart. Nothing could be worse than this feeling of helplessness.

At the foot of the incline, he carried her towards an outcropping of rock and set her down in the enclosure. Straightening, he scanned the surroundings.

‘This will have to do,’ he said gruffly as he knelt down before her.

Her vision blurred as she blinked back hot tears. When she could see again, Ryam towered over her, staring at her with a mix of concern and anger.

‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ he demanded.

She bit her lip, shaking her head. She reached for her boot, but his hands got there first. He pulled her foot free and she inhaled sharply, biting hard into her bottom lip.

‘God’s feet,’ he muttered under his breath.

Her ankle was swollen to twice its size, the flesh tender and red. His blond hair fell over his eyes, hiding his face from her as he massaged his thumbs over her ankle. The gentle pressure of his hands stroked a warm, tingling sensation from her toes all the way up her spine.

They were in danger and all she could do was stare at his hands, marvelling at the rough texture, the careful gentleness. ‘
Don’t.
’ She pulled away, wincing as pain snaked through the joint.

Startled by her withdrawal, Ryam let his hands drop to his sides.

Her words came out in a rush before she could stop them.

‘I wasn’t thinking.’ A stinging, pinching sensation hovered at the bridge of her nose. ‘I never think.’

‘You think too much sometimes.’

She didn’t even know what she was saying. All of her doubts poured from her at once. ‘I didn’t want you think I was weak and worthless. You never wanted to go to Changan.’

They were lost and outnumbered. All because he was too noble to leave her when he first found her. All because she had begged a stranger for help when she had no one else to turn to.

‘Ailey, I’m not angry at you.’

‘I’m a child,’ she lamented. ‘And spoiled. My brothers always say so. I made you come here.’

He let out a harsh breath. ‘You are not a child. You fought off armed soldiers. You were—’ the words caught in his throat ‘—you were magnificent.’

Everything that happened that day crashed over her in a wave: the fear that morning that she would never see him again, the fight with the soldiers, even her stupid jealousy over Lady Ling. Before she knew what was happening, she was leaning towards him.

Ryam stiffened as she pressed her lips to his. His mouth was warm and inviting. She only tasted him for a second before his hands jerked to her shoulders to hold her away. Undaunted, she grasped at the neck of his tunic while she kissed him, brushing over his lips again, searching, pleading. Slowly, his grip loosened. He yielded with a groan, sliding his tongue past her lips to feed on her desire.