Lady Earthquake

Lady Earthquake Chapter 40

Sun-Sin gave his orders, as he sealed the letter he had written. "Lieutenant! You are to escort this lady to the palace, carrying this letter as a passport to the Grand Consort's presence. Take Ganxie and the boy Ri-chan along to give her stature among the other court ladies. Her name, for the time being, is Lady Dizhen and you know nothing further about her antecedents."

"Yes, sir!"

"No, sir," An-Xia said.

"When you have delivered them all safely, find me at the Ministry. I will vouch for the fact that you were ordered here before the incident and therefore bear no responsibility of any kind for what happened. This will, I hope, leave you free to greet Sergeants Yan and Mo when they return here."

"I said no," An-Xia said again. She was not the kind to stamp her feet, even if she had been wearing her boots instead of flimsy slippers. Raising her voice, however, had a place in her repertoire. "Being locked up in the palace is no good. I am not an assassin to fly over rooftops. If they arrest you, I would be trapped there. How could I help you?"

"There is nothing you could do even if you were free," Sun-Sin said as Luyo made a strategic retreat, taking a protesting Ganxie away.

"I may be able to. I have not suddenly become helpless because I am wearing women's clothes. I can still fight as well as any man."

"Better than most. Agreed without a second thought. But this is a situation that sword-swinging will not solve."

"I would like to try," she muttered. She wished he put his arm around her as he had before. It had given her such a comfortable feeling inside. It reminded her of the way she had felt when she would will him to look up from his papers to smile at her, only this feeling was stronger and deeper.

"Listen, please. I must submit myself to military justice. I must. While I am caught in that set of cog-wheels, I cannot protect you. This manor is not safe. The palace is."

"How 'safe' can it be when T'ien Luo-Bi walks around as if he were king already?"

"As long as he does not know who you are or what you mean to me, he will have no reason to touch you. I have warned the Grand Consort to keep you close. I will be with you again soon."

"Not soon enough...."

"What was that?"

If he would not put his arms around her of his own free will, she would have to make him do it. The pavilion held golden light and deep shadows as the afternoon was now advanced. Dongru had lit incense to drive off any heaviness of air and the censer sent forth a beguiling veil of smoke. The gilded hawk on the prince's best armor gleamed at her with a friendlier look than usual, as if entreating her to come closer. But that was probably her imagination merging with her new awareness of how attractive her prince really was, something she had overlooked when she had been no more to him than his friend. When had her eyes changed?

Remembering that courage was not the province of soldiers alone, she took the four steps that separated them. The hawk warmed under her hands as she spread them across his upper chest and looked up into his eyes. "We should spend one more night together."

His expression softened, losing the grim hardness he had worn when giving his orders. "An-Xia!" he said with exaggerated shock. "I thought you were such an innocent girl."

"What do you mean?" Then she heard the echo of her own words and hung her head. "I meant...I meant as we did at the convent."

She sighed in relief when his arms closed around her. He rocked her a little for comfort. "We cannot ever sleep together like that again. I want to marry you and I am not made of stone."