SKY OF PAPER: AN ASIAN STEAMPUNK FANTASY

CHAPTER 35

Waiting for us in that very room was a person I’d thought I’d never see again. She was in the center where the shyo mu typically positioned themselves. Her listless brown eyes turned in my direction.

"I know the sound of that breath, and the shape of that shadow," Ai said in her familiar gentle tone.

Her entire body was in motion, like an elegant serpent, curving and swaying gracefully about. I thought that she was dancing at first, but then the motions became obvious to me. It was Kaikua; but not the sort that I’d been taught. There were no sudden movements, no abrupt stops or jerks of the limbs. She seemed more like a branch swaying rhythmically to some phantom breeze.

When she stopped, the world outside began to ripple. The star-filled sky, the swaying grass fields below, all billowed and swelled, as if some thin, transparent curtain that was once drawn taut in the air was left to flutter ever so slowly to the ground.

Another pair of children were waiting patiently beside her. They bowed as she left the center circle and reverently approached us. The children took their places, and the shyo mu committed himself to the same, graceful motions that Ai had done, while his shyo mah studiously watched on, manipulating the ether in accordance with his actions. It was then, that the silk curtain outside was lifted and tightened again, and after a short time, the ripples subsided.

"I recognize the sounds of my father's tea servant," Ai said, her lips giving away the smallest hint of a smile.

"These two are the last ones," said the Boar. "I entrust them to you."

How strange it was to walk the corridors with a blind girl leading us on. The Boar had left to attend to other things, but noble Ren Tzu was still with us, tending faithfully to his duty as our guardian.

"Ai, may I ask you a questions?" I said.

"You may ask as many as you wish," she answered.

"What were you doing in the ritual room?"

"I was changing the ether. Sometimes, you can use it to hide things; in certain cases, things as large as an airship."

My curiosity slowly gave way to doubt. Seeing her do the things she did tested even my belief in what our venerable craft was capable of.

"Will I learn to do that?"

"Well, most chienkuu ko learn to harness their skills around one specific purpose. Some learn to read the ether in order to predict the weather, some learn the art of stone dancing so that they may entertain the crowd by artfully floating small objects through the air, while you are currently refining your ability to fly airships."

"You're Ai, Master Lu's daughter?" Kassashimei asked.

"I am." Ai kept her back to us, slowing her pace in such a way that must have hinted at her discomfort with the question.

"You're the daughter of the traitor," Kassashimei blurted.

I darted an angry look at her, but there was no apology for her brazen words to be found in the defiant smirk on her face.

"I know you want to defend her Terr," she said. "You've been giving her that certain look, so say something."

My face grew hot as my anger subsided to embarrassment. I opened my mouth to scold her, but Ai was quick to take advantage of my brief silence.

"My father had always been an ambitious man. Our family’s reputation had grown from a long line of accomplished chienkuu ko, but my father was not content with our honored lineage. He wanted much more than that. All his life, he tried ever so hard to curry the favor of the emperor so that he might serve in his court. He’d been declined so many times. But when General Fung came to him and announced his plan to overthrow the Imperial Family, he became completely consumed by his passion for rule.