The Apothecary Diaries Book 5

Bandits

"If'n there be any bandits about, I reckon they'll be showin' up 'round about here," their guide said in an accent so thick it almost sounded like he was doing it on purpose. He pointed to a spot on the sheepskin map, a pass between two mountain ranges. The sort of place that practically begged for an encirclement. "They all aren't stupid neither; they won't go out of their way to get themselves hurt. If y' leave about half your goods, they should let you pass. Anyway, we only meet them but about once every three times."

Interesting—at that rate, the merchants would consider using the route. They knew they wouldn't be attacked every time, and taking the long way around required greater time and expense.

"Just think of it as a bit of an expensive toll, good sirs. Anyhow, it's said those bandits are whatcha might call the righteous kind of thieves."

"Righteous thieves?" Basen asked, unable to keep a note of indignation from his voice. Maomao worried whether he would be able to hold himself back if they did encounter the outlaws.

Jinshi seemed to have taken a shine to the dry-country horses, and preferred to ride rather than take the carriage. That left Basen with no choice but to go on horseback as well, which in turn left Maomao with the spacious carriage all to herself; she moved some of the luggage aside and made herself a spot to sleep on the floor. Sitting all the time made her backside sore; she thought a bit of lying down might help.

Being of the firm belief that worrying about whether something would happen or not was a waste of valuable time, Maomao determined to go to sleep. If she was really lucky, by the time she woke up they would have passed the bandits' checkpoint.

Sadly, she wasn't lucky.

Before they had made it halfway across the mountains, Maomao found herself tumbling around the carriage. The horses whinnied and the vehicle came to a sudden halt. Forcing her sleepy eyes to stay open and rubbing her back where she'd bumped it, Maomao looked outside. There were no raiders, but the guide appeared to be explaining something to Basen.

"What's going on?" Maomao asked the driver.

"Ah, it looks like another carriage ahead of ours was attacked by bandits. Probably best to wait here for a while." In other words, they were hoping that by holding station for a few minutes, they could get away without anything happening to them. Someone who had escaped from the attack on the other carriage was there, asking Basen for help. Maomao couldn't tell what the man was saying, but Basen seemed to be managing to hold his anger in check.

That was, until the newcomer showed something to him and Jinshi that made them go pale. Jinshi grabbed it and looked at it closely.

Curious, Maomao got out of the carriage, never mind that she still had bed head. (Or was that floor head?) Before she could make her way over to Jinshi, however, Basen set his horse galloping. Jinshi instructed several of his bodyguards to follow the young man, though by the time he had given the order, Basen was already out of sight.

"You've been asleep," Jinshi remarked.

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean," Maomao said innocently.

"There's a weird pattern on your cheek."

"Anyway, what's going on?" she asked, rubbing her cheek with her hand. Jinshi silently showed her what the other man had brought: a wooden tag branded with an insignia in the shape of a flower. Maomao recognized it: each of the consorts at the rear palace was given such a crest. But who did this one belong to?

"The carriage that was attacked was Lady Ah-Duo's," Jinshi said.

What's she doing here? Maomao thought, but this was hardly the time for such questions. How had she ended up getting attacked, anyway? Ah-Duo seemed like someone who would know perfectly well how to bribe some bandits. She would know better than to needlessly antagonize them.