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from a strong stone but polished to perfection. His hair was straight, glossy
black, and worn cropped like a helmet at his ears. He was dressed in a simply
cut but elegant yellow sarong and a sailor s loose shirt, umber with bluish
turtles batiked upon it. A scabbarded sword hung casually from a broad leather
belt.
You are Yen, the diplomat of whom the emperor informed me?
Diplomat
? Yes, he answered cautiously. I am Yen.
And who do we wait for now? This scholar, Ghem?
Ah, Ghan
, my lord, he corrected. And he will join us sometime hence.
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Well, let s hope he arrives soon. I wish to be under way before nightfall.
Nightfall? I thought we were to leave by morning.
As did I, Bone Eel replied, his mouth flattening into a grim line. But the
emperor said that we were to take no priests on this journey, you see? By his
look he clearly took for granted that Ghe did see.
No, Lord, I m sorry, I don t. Ghe was beginning to feel a certain irritation
with the man. He let his gaze wander inside the captain s chest, thought idly
about just stroking the strands there, the way one might stroke a harp. But
the time for that would probably come soon enough, not now. He must have
patience, for there was much he did not know. If he had learned anything at
all in the past days, it was that impulsive actions were not always wise ones.
No? Well, ships are supposed to carry at least one priest, and they are
raising a mighty hue and cry about this barge leaving without one. We must be
under way before things become too noisy.
Oh. Ghe wondered if the Ahw en were behind this if they suspected or if it
was just the usual petty political war waged daily in the palace courts.
In any event, I am ready to go! Bone Eel exclaimed, his deep voice tinged
with enthusiasm. Too long have I been a prisoner of land. I m ready to feel
the River beneath my feet again.
And how long has it been since your last voyage? Ghe inquired.
Oh, it s been well, let me see& He ticked off one finger, then the next,
frowning.
It s been five years, Qwen Shen put in sweetly. She beamed at Ghe, but he
thought perhaps there was a hidden glare in the expression.
That long? Bone Eel muttered. Yes, too long indeed.
Bone Eel continued to agree with himself as he went back above.
XIX
Drum Battle
A wind slanted out of the east with the dawn, and Hezhi leaned into it, let it
relieve her weary muscles of some small part of the task of supporting her.
She was listing in the saddle anyway, worn out in more ways than she knew, and
she could almost imagine that the wind, fragrant with sage and juniper, was a
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pillow, nestling against her, welcoming her to sleep.
Her body may have lain as asleep while she traveled the skies, but it had
apparently received no rest.
if
After the fight and the discussion after her decision they had wasted little
time, slipping from the camp while the sky was still an inky beast with a
thousand eyes. Now they were more than a league from the Mang camp, the most
immediate danger behind them, and events, unbroken by oblivion, crowded
together in Hezhi s brain until they were a senseless litany of colors and
shapes. Her eyes read the sky and the landscape only from habit, without much
comprehension.
Of the night s watchful eyes, only one remained, the rest having fled or
fluttered shut beneath sky-
colored lids at the graying of the horizon, and that only made her sleepier,
made her wish that she were a cold, distant, sleeping star. The holdout still
flamed, defiant, defending his domain in the vault of heaven even though his
was the easternmost portion, where the sun s birth was heralded by servants of
copper and gold.
What star is that? Hezhi asked wearily, in an attempt to keep awake.
Brother Horse cracked the barest grin in the gray light. Hezhi noticed not so
much the show of humor as how old he looked, with the stubble of beard on his
chin.
We call him
Yuchagaage
, the Hunter.
What does he hunt?
Brother Horse waved the back of his hand at the star, winking dimmer each
moment to their right. He has hunted many things. Right now he hunts the
sun.
Will he catch the sun?
Well, watch for yourself. The Bright King will kill him, sim enough, before
even he has risen.
The Hunter is not the most intelligent of gods, Raincasta added from up
ahead of them, next to Tsem.
Hezhi had been staring east in the first place to avoid watching the tail of
Rain-caster s horse, which threatened to mesmerize her as it switched back and
forth.
True, Brother Horse said. He lies in wait for the sun, each morning getting
closer. Always he is slain;
he never succeeds nor learns, apparently.
But he is still here, when the other stars have fled, Hezhi noted. He lives
longer in defiance than in retreat.
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The other stars are smarter, Raincaster answered, but Hezhi thought she
heard a faint contempt in the young man s tone or md her ears added that?
But not braver, Hezhi retorted sourly. And he isn t always running
.
I won t play this word game, Tsem said, turning to speak nit not so much
that she could see his face.
These were the first words he had spoken since crying the night before. It
was you who decided we should leave.
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I never decide
, Tsem, Hezhi replied. It always happens
, nit I never decide.
Well, you are not a star
, Princess, and if you are blown out tike a candle one morning, you will not
return to light the world again. I don t know much about these ghosts that
people out here call gods
you know much more than I, as always. But they seem to me, from what I have
heard, to be poor creatures to model your actions after.
Well put, Brother Horse agreed, though I must admit that as a young warrior
I carried the likeness of the Hunter on my shield. Many young Mang do so
still. He is a rash god, but then, young men value rashness.
What do old men value? Raincaster asked.
Young women, Brother Horse answered. If I carried a shield now, I would
paint one on it.
Ngangata riding slightly ahead of Raincaster turned, his face a weird rose
color in the light of the rising sun. Perkar is like the Hunter, he put in
glumly. Always. And you see where it gets him.
The wind picked up, clean and cool, and for an instant it swept the rooms of
Hezhi s mind of the broken bits of thought that cluttered them. She had to
raise her voice a bit for Brother Horse to understand her.
Yes, Perkar. she said. You told us we would speak of him.
Later, when you have had some rest.
I should rest soon, then. When I returned well, just before I awoke, in your
yekt I saw the monster again, the one feeding upon him. I think it may be
winning. If I do have the power It help him now as you say I may not in a few
days.
That s probably true, the old Mang conceded. But fifl tell me everything.
How you went through the drum, whd happened
everything
. We have time enough for that
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