The Sword Dancer

by Jeanne Lin

  ‘Zheng Hao Han, are you following me?’ she demanded, directing her question to the surrounding walls.

  It was just like the thief-catcher to sneak after her, but there was no answer. If it wasn’t Han, then someone else was stalking her. A stranger had been secretly watching her in the market the day before. Two occurrences were too much of a coincidence.

  When she turned the corner, the hairs on her neck rose. A set of fresh footprints was visible in the mud. They led to a wall where the prints suddenly ended. Whoever had been spying on her had disappeared by going up and over, as easy as if he were walking.

  * * *

  The clerks in the magistrate’s office certainly kept meticulous records. Han spent hours scanning through book rolls, searching through a list of thefts and disputes for any case that resembled the circumstances Li Feng had described. Something involving a dancer or a group of vagrants coming through the city. He was also paying special attention for any case that might mention Prefect Guan or his steward. After a good ten book rolls, nothing had caught his notice.

  As evening approached, Han requested a lamp which the clerk provided. Han pressed his knuckles to his eyes. The endless columns of characters were beginning to swim before him. It had been nearly ten years since he’d ended his studies, to his father’s disapproval. It was much, much easier chasing down bandits than reading casebooks.

  He blinked away the cobwebs in his head and resumed his search. By the end of the next double hour, he was thinking his efforts were for nothing. All the cases started sounding like one another. Li Feng hadn’t even been able to give him a family name to search for. Han switched to a list of arrest warrants.

  Halfway through the scroll, one of the descriptions sent a tremor down his spine. It was for the arrest of a woman who had fled the county after her husband was imprisoned. Han jumped as the clerk’s voice rang out.

  ‘The records hall will be closing soon.’

  Urgently, Han checked the warrant numbering and date and returned to the case records, using a finger to keep track of the columns. He could hear the clerk’s footsteps approaching and his heart was beating as fast as it had in any hunt.

  Then suddenly it was all there before him with startling clarity. A crime that had occurred at the prefect’s residence fifteen years earlier.

  ‘Honourable sir.’

  The clerk stood over his shoulder as Han read through the case report as fast as he could.

  ‘Sir,’ the man repeated, sharper and more insistent. ‘The yamen gates are closing for the day. All of the functionaries are to leave the premises.’

  Han nodded and quickly wrote down the case information with his ink brush. The clerk, who was at least ten years his senior, was busy rolling up the scrolls and packing them back on to the shelves.

  ‘Don’t you know there’s a very strict curfew in effect? In another hour, the city patrols will be hassling anyone on the main streets.’ The man snorted impatiently. ‘My home is at the far corner of the East Gate neighbourhood. Who has the money to hire a carriage?’

  The clerk snatched up the final scroll just as Han finished inking the last character.

  ‘You best get going yourself,’ he huffed. ‘The patrols will be even less understanding with an outsider. You might find yourself back here after all, spending the night in a holding cell.’

  It was good advice, despite the clerk’s brusque attitude. Han retrieved his weapon from the constable’s station and left through the main gate, which the guards promptly barred shut behind him.

  The main market area to the south of the yamen had closed as well. He had enough time to get to the shrine where he and Li Feng had spent the evening, though he hoped to convince her to return to his lodging instead, as scandalous as it might seem. The room he’d found was considerably warmer and they’d moved beyond the lines of propriety long ago.

  There was a man selling charcoal on the street and Han stopped to purchase some, just in case they were forced to spend another night at the shrine. As he continued towards the plain wooden gate at the corner, his stomach knotted. He didn’t know how to tell Li Feng what he’d discovered. Even though he had read through the case briefly, his gut told him he had found the right one.

  He pushed open the gate and entered the courtyard. The windows of the altar room were black like the hollowed eyes of a skull. When Han peered inside, only the lifeless statues at the altar stared back at him.

  Li Feng’s absence struck him like a physical blow. After holding her close through the night, he’d assumed she would be there waiting for him. He should have known it was against her nature to stay still for so long, especially when she thought the answers she was searching for were somewhere within the city.

  Han lit a small fire in the brazier and waited, but as the end of the hour neared, he knew she wasn’t coming. He hoped that Li Feng would be careful, wherever it was that she had gone. The incident he’d read about hadn’t involved theft. It had detailed a crime of assault and murder.

  * * *

  An unbroken string of drumbeats sounded at the start of the Hour of the Dog. It was followed by three strikes of the gong and then another string of drumbeats. The pattern was repeated at several stations throughout the city. Curfew.

  An edict had been declared after the violent killing just a few days ago. No weapons were allowed in the open. Administrative buildings were heavily guarded and all public officials were to have an armed escort out in public. Shortly after sundown, the city patrols swept the streets, pushing stragglers into their respective neighbourhoods. The sentries had the authority to imprison anyone suspicious who was found outside.

  Li Feng avoided the first stream of armed guards she encountered by squeezing into the narrow space between two shops. Once the patrol had moved on, she slipped onto side streets and back alleys to navigate her way back to the prefect’s residence. The path of the river provided an easy landmark for maintaining her direction. If there was a wall in the way, she leapt over it.

  At the Guan mansion, there was an additional set of guards stationed around the perimeter. The lanterns were still on inside the walls so she pressed back into the shadows to wait as the lights were extinguished, one after another, until only a few faint glimmers remained.

  By that time, it was deep into the night and the stars were out. The three-quarter moon cast a translucent glow over the residence and Li Feng waited for clouds to drift over the face of it to begin her climb. It appeared as if the guards circled every quarter of an hour. She would have to move quickly as soon as they cleared the corner.

  A flicker of movement down the street stopped her just as she was about to make her run. Someone else was also staking out the residence. Or worse, someone was watching her.

  Blood rushed to her limbs as her body prepared for flight. Li Feng breathed steadily to calm herself as she stepped back into the shadows, into the maze of lanes and alleys. The curfew had left these corridors quiet, dark and empty. She could see the haze of a lantern just beyond the end of the street, hidden behind the black outline of the buildings. The night watch.

  She stopped and remained still, head tilted to catch faint sounds. There were footsteps padding towards her, gaining speed, their distance closing. There was more than one person.

  As the pursuers closed in, Li Feng spun around. She drew her sword and struck at eye level. A cry of pain answered her along with a pressure that travelled through the blade as steel cut through flesh. Not deep, but deep enough. The first figure fell back against a second one. It was time to run.

  She ran towards the lantern light. Her stomach plummeted as the men shouted out to others. The shadows came alive ahead of her and two others emerged, blocking her way.

  They had four to her one. What she needed to do was go up, up and over, but the space was too narrow to manoeuvre. She was forced to fight force with force, which was a losing proposition. Li Feng positioned her back to the wall and glanced at the men on either side of her. Raising the
short sword with her right hand, she slipped a throwing knife into her left.

  ‘Lower your sword, girl. The Black Eagle wants to meet you,’ a voice grated in the darkness.

  She absolutely would not lower her sword. ‘I don’t know anyone who goes by that name.’

  ‘You won’t be harmed,’ he promised.

  She looked over the men again. Their clothes were mismatched and ragged. Their beards overgrown. One had a new gash cutting across his nose, just missing his eyes which now glared at her murderously, but no one made a move as they waited for her answer.

  She didn’t trust them, but they could have overpowered her had they chosen to and there was nowhere to run. She could have called for the city guards, but they might very well cut her throat at that point and leave her in the alley.

  ‘I keep my sword,’ she said. ‘And you keep your distance.’

  ‘By all means.’

  There was disdain in his tone. These men weren’t afraid of her. Li Feng considered running once again, but she had a feeling that, if she was caught, these men would not be so accommodating after the added trouble.

  ‘Where is this Black Eagle?’ Her lips curled around the lofty moniker.

  ‘Outside the city.’

  ‘The gates are closed.’

  ‘We know of other ways.’

  They led her into what appeared to be a garden in an abandoned property. There was a well at the corner of it, which she was told led to a tunnel. Li Feng took the rope after the first two had disappeared into the blackness. She forced herself to breathe as she sank past the stone ring. The old fear rose up her throat like bile as she was surrounded by stone and rock. She tried to quiet her mind as Wen shifu tried to teach her, but instead of calm, she found a chilling numbness that deadened her fear along with the rest of her. It would have to do.

  At the bottom, the water rose up past her ankles. The space was just big enough to walk through at a crouch. Li Feng held her hand against the dirt walls as a guide and an anchor. The rest of the gang followed in behind her and together they shuffled blind through the tunnel.

  Whoever these men were, they were organised. She was reminded of her time among rebels. Perhaps that was how she was able to hold back her fear as they took her into the unknown.

  As soon as the passage widened, her lungs opened and her muscles relaxed. They emerged in a shallow cistern outside the city borders. The suffocating enclosure of dirt and rock was replaced by clean night air.

  The leader retrieved a lantern hidden behind a pile of stones. They had planned this, she realised as he lit the lantern and beckoned her towards the nearby woods. The gang kept their distance as promised, but they formed a ring around her as they ventured into the wilderness.

  She wondered who this Black Eagle could be and why he would be intent on speaking with her. Though the men dressed and acted like outlaws, there were signs of discipline among them.

  The air grew cool and damp as they continued on foot. The whisper of open water cut through the hum of insects and other night creatures. She tested the ground, checking for her footing against the springiness of loam and moss in case she needed to run. Out here, they no longer had her trapped. She could escape and hide among the brush and the trees if there was any threat.

  A lone figure waited inside the tree line with his back to them. He was long-limbed and lean of build. When he turned, his eyes immediately sought her out. The dim lantern light revealed features that were hawkish and well-

  defined, a mouth that was a bit on the harsh side and eyes that were set deep and pierced into her. His jaw was covered by a rough growth of stubble. His long hair was tied back, but that didn’t make him look any less feral. He looked more like a stray wolf than an eagle.

  He swallowed nervously, the knot at his throat lifting and lowering. ‘You don’t remember me.’

  ‘You were following me that morning in the market.’

  It wasn’t the answer he was looking for. His posture was tense as he regarded her. ‘Li Feng,’ he began, his voice rough with emotion.

  She was startled to hear her name on his lips.

  ‘Little Sister.’ He tried again. ‘I’m your brother.’

  Li Feng sifted through memories. As always, there was the running, her mother shutting her inside the rock. Before that moment, her mind was a blur of disconnected images. There was another presence beside her. Someone bigger than her. She remembered reaching for a hand. She remembered someone pulling on her braids. She remembered laughing together.

  She had a brother. It was a truth she had known without knowing. After searching for so long, after hoping against hope, she’d found what she was looking for.

  ‘How did you know it was me?’ she asked finally, in a whisper.

  He smiled, looking happy, looking sad. ‘You look like Mother.’

  * * *

  Li Feng followed her older brother to a shallow part of the river, crossing it in several well-placed leaps from one rock to another. It was like a game, so much like the ones they must have once played.

  ‘Black Eagle is a silly name,’ she called ahead to him.

  He was without shame. ‘Who knows how these nicknames come about?’

  His feet made a splash at the edge of the bank. She cleared the jump without any problem, landing on soft grass and springing after him. They regarded each other once again, not yet knowing how to be with one another. This man had suddenly become the closest person in the world to her. Such was the pull of blood, of family. But they were still strangers.

  ‘I don’t even know your real name, Brother.’

  ‘It’s Liu Yuan. Our family name is Hua.’

  Hua Li Feng. Hua Liu Yuan. The names felt right on her lips. She took them into her heart.

  They had left the others behind as they went deep into the woods, winding around the tall and straight tree trunks which gleamed pale in the night. The surrounding hills engulfed them, blocking out the moon and the stars. Their final destination was a cavern beneath an outcropping of rock. Inside, Liu Yuan lighted an oil lamp and placed it on a flat stone which he used as a table. He produced a gourd and poured the contents into two ceramic cups.

  She was at a loss. Here was a brother she barely remembered. A man who clearly lived as an outlaw. She sat down obediently at the table and struggled to find something to say. Liu Yuan seemed similarly lost. He raised his cup wordlessly to her, before downing it. She did the same.

  The brew seared her throat and brought tears to her eyes. It was raw, harsh, with a taste that was earthy and medicinal. She felt vindicated as Liu Yuan choked back a cough as well, before grinning at her. She smiled back, feeling foolish. Feeling happy.

  ‘Little Sister,’ he began.

  ‘Elder Brother.’ She tested the feel of the address on her tongue.

  ‘Do you remember when I tried to lift you on my shoulders, the way they do in those acrobatic routines?’

  She shook her head as he refilled her cup. This time, she took a much smaller sip, barely wetting her lips.

  ‘You were all the way up there. Standing.’ He gestured with both hands over his head. ‘And then suddenly you started wobbling. I started yelling, “Don’t move! Don’t move!”, as I tried to regain my balance, but we both ended up falling.’

  Li Feng stifled a laugh behind her hand. ‘So we were troublemakers!’

  He nodded. ‘You hit your head on a rock and started wailing. By the time Father came, you were bleeding so badly. I was so scared.’ He looked up at her and the lamplight danced in his eyes. ‘I don’t know why I think of that time so often. I should apologise now, hmm?’

  ‘No matter. I’m sure it didn’t hurt that much.’ She tilted her head towards him, teasing.

  ‘You were afraid of nothing, Little Sister. Ever since you could walk, you wanted to fly.’

  He finished his cup and she felt obliged to do the same. The liquor burned a little less this time and her cheeks were beginning to tingle with warmth. She wished she could
remember the incident more clearly.

  On a whim, she reached up to feel the spot just above her left ear. There was a small scar there, hidden beneath her hair. She’d always had it, but had never known how she got it. Her brother’s story found its place inside of her and she had that feeling she had longed for all these years, of the pieces of her life falling into place.

  A knot formed in her throat and she didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. She became hungry for more memories. What other games had they played? What were the cities they’d visited? What was Father like?

  ‘Father played the flute,’ Liu Yuan said.

  The flute. The beautiful sound that floated through to her on the mountainside. A lightness filled her. There was pattern, a will, a rightness to the world that had led her to this moment.

  Her brother went on, ‘He had an instrument made of bamboo and would play it at night when we couldn’t sleep. I tried to learn, but…’

  His voice trailed off and he looked away.

  The moment of joy began to fade when she noticed Liu Yuan was no longer speaking. He was staring into his cup. This time when he drank, it was as if he was forcing the bitter brew down.

  He brushed the back of his hand over his mouth, pausing to search for words. ‘When we were separated, I never thought—’

  ‘Everything will be all right now,’ she said. ‘We’ve found each other.’

  When he met her eyes, his look was bleak. It was the same look that had frightened her the first time she’d seen him, when she hadn’t known he was her brother.

  ‘Li Feng, so much has happened. I brought you here so we could at least meet. So you could know who I was.’

  ‘Don’t talk like that.’

  ‘You can’t remember what it was like.’ He scrubbed a hand over his mouth again. It was an agitated, frustrated gesture. ‘I was with Father when they came to arrest him.’

  Where had she been? She was with Mother. Li Feng remembered hiding in a boat and her mother telling her to be still, be quiet. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know the rest of it now, but she had to find out the truth. She couldn’t be afraid of it any more.