Lady Earthquake

Lady Earthquake Chapter 23

T'ien Sun-Sin's name and title roused the magistrate and lethargic court to frenzied action. Magistrate Goyuan was a plump, thirty-ish man, gone prematurely grey from his never-ending duties. Considering how many children were gawking at these two dangerous-looking men, court duties had not occupied all his time. As soon as he heard a few details, he clapped his hands together. "Servants! See to our noble guests!"

Though Sun-Sin wanted more than anything to hurry back to the capital, he knew there was no rushing the official mind. Every sudden death had protocols that must be followed with great exactness. Therefore, he graciously accepted the hospitality of the magistrate's house until Goyuan would return. As the chief constable of the district knew the lakeside well, neither he nor Ban-Li had to guide the officials.

Even if all that had not been true, Sun-Sin would not have let the boy travel any further immediately. The energy that had propelled him recklessly toward a fight to the death had ebbed, leaving him pale and withdrawn. His gleeful smile had not flashed out once since the fight. From time to time, he would gingerly touch the sticky blood on his shoulder as though testing it, only to look at his fingertips with disgust.

"What you want," the prince said as they followed the butler into the household's private quarters, "is a hot bath."

"It did not get on my hair, did it? Nanny Jan worked so hard."

"Not much. Sink under the water and it will come out without disturbing her handiwork."

There was the smile, tremulous and small, but at least not gone forever. Sun-Sin felt the tight band around his heard ease. Ban-Li seemed so young to carry the burden of taking men's lives, for all he had killed two already. The prince had doubted that tale, even after Uncle Mo confirmed it.

After watching him ride without thought of consequences or self toward unfavorable odds, he believed every word. At the same time, his affection for his junior brother had not abated at all. Deadly with the blade he might be, but he still needed protection, all the more so now that he had taken the lives of some of the Third Prince's men.

A whispered word to the butler brought a pot of wine and two cups. "They are preparing the bath for your lordships," he said as he put it down. "The magistrate bids you to treat this miserable hovel as your own for as long as it may please you."

"He is a gentleman of the old school, I see," Sun-Sin said as he poured the wine. "Here. Drink it up."

Ban-Li looked into the shallow cup of highly-glazed pottery. "I do not really like wine very much, Captain."

"But you go to the Willow Houses with Yan and Luyo. You must drink there."

Looking absurdly young despite the drops of someone else's blood on his cheek, Ban-Li said, "No, I only pretend to drink. You can usually find a crack in the floorboards to pour it away if you look. As long as I pay for every third round, nobody cares."

"Do they wonder why you never get drunk?"

"Oh, they believe I have a hard head for liquor. Which neither of them do. Twice now I have stopped someone from robbing them while they drink everyone's health."

"And when they stagger off to visit some beauty or other? What do you do then, Shu Ban-Li?"

One corner of the boy's mouth lifted. "I hiccup a few times and excuse myself to go out back. The girl beside me at the table gets tired of waiting and goes off with another man. Then I return to my seat, sip from an empty cup for a bit, and fall asleep with my head on the table. Nobody pays any attention. There are usually several other men doing the same thing."