Lady Earthquake

Lady Earthquake Chapter 47

She landed cleanly in the graveled flowerbed one floor below. Her only fear had been a twisted ankle or broken leg which would make her escape impossible. An-Xia glanced up at the startled faces staring down at her, prince and guardsmen alike. She spared a single instant to meet the Third Prince's startled gaze. Giving a delighted grin at his confusion, she hiked up her skirts and ran.

There came shouting behind her, the prince's voice piercing the dark. "Get after her, you idiots! Bring her back unharmed." Then grunts and the sound of crunching stones as they too landed without harm, though she spared a moment's pity for the newly-budding flowers. By then, however, she had already run around a corner out of sight.

An-Xia felt a great exhilaration surge in her blood at being able to run again, to use her body to its full potential instead of the demure shuffle expected of girls. But she tried to tamp it down. It would not help her to think clearly. She needed to find shelter as soon as she could. Merely hiding was not enough now that the Third Prince had declared his intention to keep her. She needed a protector with a power greater than his. That meant either the king or the Grand Consort. Chen-Di would not be powerful enough.

She slowed down, finding a collection of shrubs by a wall to hide in for a moment while she caught her breath and listened intently for the sound of running feet. Trying to think for a moment as if she possessed the Third Prince's tortuous brain, An-Xia realized that he would likely have cut her off from any access to the Grand Consort's chambers. She had no confidence that the king would listen to a common girl who could not even give her genuine name.

Cursing with military conciseness, An-Xia added in a whisper, "I am so tired of having to think in ten directions at once. I want to leave this place and never come back."

Sun-Sin had asked her to stay, to bear this captive life until he returned, but the situation had grown worse. She could not believe he would insist she stay now, not when his brother had figured out at least one of her identities. If she could find a way out of this labyrinth, she would take it. Perhaps running had not been her wisest course. She should have smiled at the Third Prince, taken his hand, and let him get her out.

Even as she cursed herself for not matching his subtlety, An-Xia knew she could never have done it cleverly enough to fool him for a moment. Not with her heart and mind belonging entirely to Sun-Sin. T'ien Luo-Bi might be cruel and selfish but she sensed that he longed for human warmth as much as anyone of his nature could. Teaching him how to achieve that was not a responsibility she could ever take on willingly. He must be aware of that; he was no fool.

"Does it look as though someone came this way?"

An-Xia crouched lower among the bushes as a pair of boots appeared in front of her, fortunately with the heels turned in her direction. She shut her eyes tightly, remembering Miss Lung's words about the weight of sight.

"No sign of her. I would have doubled-back and head toward the women's quarters again." The deep voice seemed very familiar.

"They always go to ground in a spot they are used to, especially women. We will head over that way."

"All right, in a minute. I have to water these bushes."

An-Xia shrank away. Was she about to be urinated on by one of the guardsmen looking for her? This seemed an unnecessary insult.

"I will wait."

"Go on ahead. You know I can never do it if someone is watching."

"What a child you are, big man. All right. Catch up quickly, eh?"

Instead of the expected pattering of warm liquid, An-Xia felt a strong hand wrap around her upper arm and haul her from her hiding place. She struggled uselessly against a strength ten times her own. "Hey, are you really that boy who fought us all? You look more like a ladies' maid."