by Jeannie Lin
In the next heartbeat, Li Tao rushed forwards. They engaged, swords crashing in a grip of lightning and thunder.
Li Tao took no quarter. His sword sang with deadly purpose. Ryam managed to slap it away with the flat of his blade only to have it flash back, stinging across his forearm. First blood, and not two seconds in.
No time to think about it. Li Tao was on him again. Ryam’s blade rang from the blows. He was using his weapon wrong and he could feel the dissonance in his arms.
Li Tao met his gaze without any satisfaction. ‘I am glad you returned so I can kill you.’
Ryam swung at him and Li Tao dodged easily. They locked blades crosswise.
Ryam tried to push free and drive back, but Li Tao answered with a slice across his shoulder. He felt the burn of it without ever seeing the blade. Before he could back away, Li Tao’s sword cut again. He jumped back, but not before taking a glance against his ribs.
He did his best to fend off Li Tao’s attacks, but the warlord drove him back relentlessly. Ryam found himself edged against the gorge, its wide mouth ready to devour him.
Li Tao raised his sword, the steel stained red with blood. Ryam’s blood. He was being carved up piece by piece. The man was better than him, at least with this sword. With a shout, Ryam charged. When Li Tao parried, Ryam twisted his blade free and continued forwards. Too close for blade work, he struck the hilt of his sword against Li Tao’s breastbone, forcing the breath from his lungs. Then he came in hard, striking at soft targets. He sent the heel of his hand into Li Tao’s throat and brought his knee up to strike his gut. Li Tao’s sword clattered to the floor. Instead of bending to retrieve it, he tackled Ryam and they toppled to the ground.
The back of Ryam’s head struck against stone, blotting his vision with spots of light. Li Tao was still gasping for breath from the blow to his chest, but he wasted no time. He balled his hand into a fist and drove it down against Ryam’s jaw. Ryam surged past his pain to reply with his own fist, striking out wildly until he connected against flesh and bone. Li Tao fell back and Ryam stumbled to his feet, grabbing on to his sword. He swiped his tongue over the salty, metallic tang of blood.
Li Tao had been a street fighter at some point in his life. Ryam would swear by it.
‘Pick up your sword,’ Ryam taunted. ‘Let us settle this like gentlemen.’
He waited while Li Tao stooped to retrieve his weapon. The last exchange had taken a lot of the venom out of Li Tao’s bite. The area over his eye swelled and he bled from the corner of his mouth. Wiping the blood away with the back of his hand, Li Tao glanced once at Ailey and then faced him with a look of determination so fierce Ryam knew at once it was more than male rivalry. Li Tao believed in his heart that he was defending Ailey’s honour and that she belonged to him.
Breathing hard, Ryam switched tactics. He held a precision weapon in his hands, not a strength one. Small efficient movements, he reminded himself. Keep to the centre, energy forwards.
Li Tao broke into a series of attacks, each advance chained effortlessly to the previous one. This time Ryam parried with a pure harmony of steel strike. He was finding the rhythm, sensing the intention through the blade to anticipate the angle of the next strike.
With a flick of his wrist, Ryam cut through Li Tao’s defences. The sword grazed the warlord’s midsection, the sharp edge tearing through fabric to draw blood.
Ryam had been in many fights in his life. Most opponents backed down after a wound, but Li Tao knew how to take a blow. He barely winced before resetting his guard to form a new attack. Ryam was going to have to kill this man or beat him into submission.
This time he let Li Tao come in close. Ryam watched the leading edge of the attack. The sword bit into his free arm as the gleaming steel sheared past him. Ignoring the burning pain, he followed the motion, waiting until the moment when the strike was most committed. Then he grabbed Li Tao’s arm and wrenched it opposite the joint, locking it. Ryam lashed out with his sword arm.
His blade stopped an inch from the warlord’s throat.
‘Surrender.’
Ryam knew from his dark glare that Li Tao would never do it.
Ryam’s grip tightened on the hilt of his sword. He didn’t want to Ailey to see this, but it would be an insult to demand Li Tao’s surrender a second time. It would be an insult if Ryam let him go. But Li Tao hadn’t wronged him enough to murder the man. If he killed him, Li Tao would be the hero and he the scoundrel.
Emperor Shen stepped onto the fighting grounds. ‘A worthy battle. The foreigner has won.’
Li Tao showed no signs of relenting when Ryam let go of him.
‘Do not plead on my behalf, Shen,’ Li Tao spat.
‘The Emperor has no wish to lose a loyal ally.’
Ailey came up behind her father and said nothing as she looked between the two of them. Li Tao fixed his gaze on to her and his hands clenched. ‘I release you from your promise,’ he said finally. He switched his gaze to the Emperor. ‘And to you I promise nothing.’
He turned to stride back into the mansion without a proper dismissal. The household followed and his soldiers retreated to their posts, leaving the Emperor and his entourage in the courtyard. It was over.
Ailey rushed to him. ‘You are hurt.’
She pressed her silk handkerchief against his arm with trembling hands. It seemed like for ever since she was by his side, with nothing between them. If his chest swelled any more, it would burst.
‘You look good in red.’ He smiled.
He must look like a nightmare, bruised and bleeding while Ailey stood next to him smelling like springtime, her cool touch on his skin. She held his hand in both of hers, turning his palm over to inspect the cut on his knuckles.
‘Look at you! Getting yourself cut up like this,’ she scolded gently, eyes lowered.
‘I was bleeding for you and you were going to marry him anyway.’ He couldn’t help but be a bit disgruntled about how she’d hesitated, even after his victory. His glorious victory.
‘But I swore to him.’ She looked at him through her lashes. ‘There is a way that things must be done.’
One of the Emperor’s soldiers came to bind his wounds. Ryam had to wait for him to finish before he could speak to Ailey again.
He leaned close, lowering his voice. ‘If I swear myself to you, will you help me around those ways should I get confused?’
The answer came from the Emperor. ‘You had better swear to her, swordsman.’
Ailey jumped back at the sound of her father’s voice. Ryam grinned. The fierce little swordswoman was afraid of her parents. She started to explain, but her father silenced her.
Taking a deep breath, Ryam faced Emperor Shen. The fight with Li Tao might have been the easier part of the day.
‘Thank you for lending me your weapon.’
Ryam held out the sword and the Emperor tucked the dragon sword alongside his arm.
‘Finish what you were saying to my daughter,’ he said. Ryam didn’t fail to notice that Shen hadn’t put the sword away.
‘I was going to swear—’ He cursed himself for never learning proper Han. He looked like an unwashed barbarian and definitely sounded like one. ‘I was going to tell her I love her.’
Ailey’s face grew bright and she straightened, ready to rush into his arms. The Emperor thwarted her.
‘Walk with me,’ he commanded.
She made a sound of protest as they turned and took the path away from the compound. A spark of amusement lit the Emperor’s eyes at his daughter’s impatience.
‘You fought well.’
Ryam pictured Li Tao and him on the ground, rolling and exchanging punches. Not exactly brilliant technique, and probably not quite honourable either.
‘The Emperor is generous with his praise,’ he said, rubbing at the back of his neck.
‘You displayed great sword skill. Tell me, how did you learn?’
‘From my father.’
The Emperor nodded. ‘That is the best w
ay.’
Shen reminded him of Ailey. He could see the roots of her quiet strength and her ability to accept. Walking beside the Emperor filled him with a solid sense of purpose. The stone pathway gave way to dirt as they made their way back into the forest. The Emperor’s train of attendants and soldiers fell into position around them.
Ailey walked a respectable distance behind them, her hands clasped together nervously as she strained to hear the conversation.
‘This is why we arrange marriages.’ The Emperor shook his head. ‘Look at the two of you. Completely blind. How would one ever make a good choice?’
‘I…uh…’ Ryam stammered for words. ‘I know I don’t deserve her—’
Shen raised his hand impatiently. ‘My daughter does not like self-doubt. When she makes a decision, she holds on to it.’
He held the sword out between them, showing the dragon insignia. ‘You recognise this?’
Ryam nodded. ‘It belonged to the great General Shen, your father.’
‘My father,’ he echoed. ‘And now it belongs to you.’
The Emperor held it out to him, balancing the blade against his arm.
‘It’s an insult to refuse,’ Ailey whispered over his shoulder. She was staring at her father with surprise and adoration. Ryam recognised that look from her. He hoped he’d get to see it often in his lifetime. Humbly, he wrapped his hand around the hilt. The weapon was lighter than the one he’d carried all his life. It moved with more freedom.
‘The glory of our family was built on honour and loyalty. You will serve that tradition well.’
The Emperor beckoned Ailey over with a nod. Ryam curved his arm around her as she fitted herself against his side, soft and radiant and perfect.
‘My fifth son will be joining me in Changan. His talents will be better served there. I need a capable warrior in the north-west frontier to administer the lands, train our soldiers and protect the border.’
Ryam frowned. The court dialect was extravagant, verbose. He couldn’t quite follow the Emperor’s meaning. Was Shen actually suggesting that he install himself at Longyou?
‘This humble…I mean, I don’t…’
Shen clasped his shoulder in a paternal gesture. ‘None of us deserves the things we have been given. We can only spend the rest of our days earning them.’
With that, the Emperor walked away, taking the lead of the assembly of attendants and soldiers. They followed him en masse.
‘He says yes,’ Ailey explained breathlessly. Finally alone with each other, she snuggled close and wound her arms around his neck.
‘How do I tell him I accept?’
‘You already have.’
She searched his face for a spot that wasn’t battered. Carefully, tenderly, she kissed the corner of his mouth. He laughed and tightened his arms around her to hold her against him. The aches and pains of the day faded away.
Chapter Twenty-Four
They travelled together with the Emperor’s escort through the forest and back to Longyou. Ailey watched with pride as Ryam rode alongside her father, learning about the empire from the Emperor himself.
During the journey, she asked Father if he regretted breaking his alliance with Li Tao over her. His only reply was that it was already broken long before.
Ryam fell back beside her as they came upon the family home sheltered in the embrace of the mountains.
‘This is more responsibility than I’ve ever had,’ he said with a deep breath.
‘You are not afraid?’
He grinned. ‘Never.’
‘Mother hasn’t seen you. Or Grandmother. They’ll want to come by. And my brothers.’
He stopped her. ‘Now I am getting scared.’
‘You may have to fight my brothers,’ she said with complete seriousness. ‘And maybe Grandmother.’
He blinked. ‘I had better practise.’
Her father rode forwards, tall and proud in the saddle as he looked on their home. It was how she felt returning there. Father would return to Changan to reign as Emperor, but she never had belonged in the imperial city. This was her home in the silent mountains, as the youngest daughter in the honourable line of the Shen family.
Ryam didn’t look at all like her father or her brothers, but he was the same. She had known it before he had known it. She had known it from the moment they had crossed swords.
‘This is a long way from your home,’ she said.
‘No.’ He shook his head. ‘This is the closest I have ever been.’
ISBN: 978-1-4268-7007-1
BUTTERFLY SWORDS
Copyright © 2010 by Jeannie Lin
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