Lady Earthquake

Lady Earthquake Chapter 26

"It's too late to wake the maids," Sun-Sin said, as they entered his manor. "Come pull my boots off for me."

Ban-Li followed him, though he longed for his own bed. It seemed like a thousand years since he had awakened in Nanny Jan's loft. Thinking of that, he was glad Sun-Sin's back was toward him for his face had gone all hot. How could he go on living if it turned out Senior Brother had been awake for so much as a single moment of the time when he...when they....

Sun-Sin turned over a few confidential documents on his desk. "Nothing yet from Zang. Bashan is the wrong way from the road to Huidan. All the same, I want to stop in at my foster-father's residence; see if there's anything new to report. It will only add a day or two to the journey."

"Yes, Captain." Could he get away with this disguise in front of Young Lord Zang who had known Li An-Xia well? Best to avoid that meeting if possible. He coughed. After a moment, he coughed again, louder, setting up a sickness excuse for that eventuality.

"Are you all right?" Sun-Sin turned, sitting on his desk. His eyes blinked sleepily. Was the medication against drunkenness wearing off? "Come over here."

"Oh, your boots."

"Never mind my boots. Sit here, next to me." He patted the desk invitingly as though it were the most comfortable bench in the world.

Ban-Li sat down. An instant later, the prince's strong left arm was around his neck, locked into place with clasped hands. "Your...your highness...?"

Sun-Sin brought his head down close to Ban-Li's, leaning his temple with a sigh on the gathered hair. "Shall I tell you a secret, Junior Brother? A secret only perhaps ten people know in the whole world?"

His breath was warm and tickled Ban-Li's ear. He could not snake an arm free of the prince's clasp to rub it. Besides, his highness was still speaking. "I've vouched for your probity and discretion but I wonder if you really can keep a secret. So few people can. Can you? Eh?"

"Please," Ban-Li said hoarsely. "Please, Captain, I cannot breathe."

"Oh. Sorry." He lessened the tight angle of his elbow but did not take it away. "Better?"

"Thank you. Yes. I can keep a secret."

"Eh?"

"You asked if I can keep a secret. I can."

"Yes, you can. I vouched for you."

"As you said. To whom?"

"To my second Eldest Brother. T'ien. Chen. Di." He brought his mouth closer yet to Ban-Li's ear. "The Royal Spy-Master."

Jerking away, Ban-Li looked at Sun-Sin's too-close face. The prince nodded solemnly. "But he is so young!"

"Young but astute. Did you know he can play four games of chess at the same time, while blindfolded?" The arm tightened again, bring Ban-Li's head to his prince's shoulder. "Nobody knows the truth but Chen-Di, the king and me. Not even the crown prince had been told."

"Why do you know?"

"Because...I am also a spy. Sssh!" The hissing seemed to sink right down through his ear into his middle. Ban-Li shivered all over. "Are you cold, Junior Brother?"

"No. Never mind. Are you really...what you said?"

"You know what I told you about going to the sea? That was for Chen-Di's purposes. And the time I investigated a haunted mountain temple that was being used as a front for a rebellion that would have made Skull Devils look like a day's outing from a nunnery."

"When you were in the North, were you really working for the Second Prince?"

"Oh, I rode the border with my men too. But these long trips South are not just to see the Grand Consort. Or her...her goddaughter."