was determined to arouse her. He was always a careful lover, as if her pleasure mattered more to him than his own.
She captured his bandaged hands against her flesh. 'Are you making up for last night?' She tried to make her voice light. 'I received little enough pleasure from it, except perhaps to think it relieved you of some terrible anger or grief.'
He had his eyes shut, savoring touch. 'My apologies,' he murmured, kissing her. 'I was overwrought. I lost my head.'
'That's not like you, Anji.'
'No.' He cracked an eye, measuring her. 'Must we have this conversation right now? I was just beginning my attack. I have my strategy completely planned.'
He hooked a knee between her legs, using his body's weight and strength to provoke her. At the feel of his body pressed against her, the familiar flash of desire flooded her. She could sense he knew in the way he shifted, in his smile, in the way he shut his eyes to savor her pretended resistance.
She remained stubbornly immobile. 'What will happen now that your mother is in Astafero?'
He sighed heavily and opened his eyes, body relaxing. 'That's done it. How can you possibly speak of such things in our bed, Mai?'
'Because we have privacy here, and therefore none of your officers are standing within a sword's length of you.'
He looked away from her, toward the closed doors, and she released his hands, not that he couldn't have freed them at any time. At once, taking advantage, he rolled on top of her.
'Now, plum blossom. Listen carefully, We will travel together to Astafero, by ship.'
'Not by eagle? You seem to be in haste.'
'No, not by eagle, although events move quickly elsewhere and I do have need of haste. I need a full honor guard to attend me, to show proper consequence. I will present you to my mother. We will see what events have transpired — beyond the obvious startling news of my brother's death and my cousin's ascension to the imperial throne. I must know what has driven my mother north to the Hundred to find me.'
'What if your cousin wishes to kill you, Anji? Isn't your claim to the imperial throne more legitimate than his?' Even to contemplate such a fate — Anji becoming emperor in that dreadful place! — made her want to weep.
He kissed her, as if to seal the thought away, unspoken and thereby rejected. 'I do not wish to be emperor in Sirniaka. I am too much a son of the Qin to wish for that now. Nor would they want me, because I am no longer one of them.' He had much of his weight resting on his arms as he addressed her. 'But it cannot be ignored that my cousin may wish to have me killed. My mother would not for an instant be party to such a desire. But they may have sent agents with her to accomplish the task. Yet she will know that also, and be on the alert for it. She is no fool. Also, it seems she is accompanied by over five hundred Qin soldiers out of Commander Beje's command.'
'Commander Bejel The one we met in Mariha.' His first wife's father, who had thanked Anji for saving the clan's honor. 'He's the one who saved your life by warning you that your own Qin uncle had agreed to have you killed, to seal a treaty with your Sirniakan half brother.' Spoken aloud, the words fell like knives.
'So, you see, plum blossom, I have allies. We are not alone.'
'But what of the war here, Anji? You were gone for days,
scouting in the north, and I have heard not one word of what you saw and what you decided.'
His gaze narrowed, as it did when dark thoughts troubled him. 'War is coming. That's all I can say.'
'Sengel did not come back with you. You've left him to prepare the way.'
'You know how I trust him. Now. Have we discussed these matters in a satisfactory way, enough to put your fears to rest for the moment?'
'My fears to rest? Anji! We speak of assassins. Of a coming war!'
'Little enough time for pleasure in the face of these difficulties. May we continue?'
'No.' She watched his surprise at her bald refusal, and in that brief startled release of his vigilance, she rolled him over so she was on top. She smiled, because what else could she do? He would ride away soon enough. She had him for so short a time. 'But now we can.'
The bed was only a respite. He did not linger afterward. He washed and dressed, called for and dandled the baby on his lap while Mai, seated behind him, combed out his hair and twisted it up into its topknot, bound with gold silk ribbons, very festive. When she had finished and he was presentable, he left for the militia encampment with his officers. She nursed Atani and then, according to Anji's specifications, supervised packing up for a journey while Sheyshi fussed over which silks to bring and which to leave behind.
Priya and O'eki's arrival surprised her.
She kissed Priya, while O'eki went to supervise the closing down and sealing up of the counting room.
'I am leaving for Astafero.' She dared not beg Priya to come with her, because she did not want to beg, and yet she could scarcely bear to go without her.
'The captain asked us to attend you,' said Priya, indicating a traveling chest, two covered baskets, and a pair of scuffed old saddlebags stuffed to bursting.
Mai touched Priya's arm, shy of contact because she did not know how to treat a woman she had once called 'slave.' 'Did he ask you, or command you?'
'I do not mind, plum blossom.' Priya kissed her on the cheek with dry lips. 'These last few days have been difficult for you.'
T have been selfish. If you do not wish to go-'
'We are going, Mistress. Let it be.'
The harbor was busy, the town abuzz with messengers, gossip, commerce, and nervous anticipation: the army was on the move, leaving Olossi with a scant guard to protect itself should the worst happen and the attack into the north fail. The folk of Olo'osson were gambling, having offered up their young men, their horses, and significant supplies. They had only one chance.
'Should I have chosen a welcoming gift?' whispered Mai to Priya as they watched two low-slung cargo ships being laded with a remarkable amount of cloth and other fineries. Mai stroked Atani's back anxiously until the baby wriggled to show his discomfort, his dark eyes drawn down very like his father's when Anji was trying to hide annoyance. T have to make a good impression. Why didn't Anji say something to me?'
'There the captain comes,' said Priya, squeezing Mai's elbow.
Atani squirmed, hearing hooves, a sound he evidently associated with his father. He reached, spotting his father among a cadre of thirty-six riders. A cadre of foot soldiers marched behind.
The horses would be going with the army. Anji dismounted. He greeted Mai first, then kissed Atani and handed him to Chief Tuvi. He greeted Priya and O'eki with respect, acknowledged the others with a glance, even the silent Sheyshi. At Anji's look, Keshad actually took a step back, bumping into one of the hirelings, who muttered a curse. Many folk had gathered to watch, as Hundred folk commonly did, for any activity or interaction that occurred in public was meant to be watched, discussed, and commented upon.
'I forgot to bring a welcoming gift for your mother,' Mai murmured.
'She would accept no such gift from you.'
'How am I to greet and converse with a woman who has already tried to get rid of me?'
'Listen, Mai.' He glanced back at Atani, content in Tuvi's arms, then bent his gaze toward her as they walked up the gang plank onto the deck. 'She is my mother. She raised me. She saved my life at the cost of her own freedom. I owe her respect and obedience, as all Qin sons respect and honor their mothers. Anyhow, until I know what has brought her here, I can make no plan. You must follow my lead in this.'
The same tension that had troubled his visage last night before
he had devoured her settled heavily on him, making him seem a different person than the uncomplicated Qin captain who had plucked her out of the marketplace and carried her off to distant lands. But perhaps he had not changed at all. Perhaps this man had always been masked behind the other one, thickly chained like the little chest Toughid carried slung over his mount's hindquarters. Now and then this other man escaped, and however much she loved Anji, she was not sure she liked that piece of him very much.
Shai tracked sixth Cohort for four days before he spotted Zubaidit. He was hiding in a stand of pipe-brush overlooking a stream, and cursed if she wasn't wearing a sergeant's stripes and leading the rearguard along the bank, striding along in that easy way she had. Her soldiers were quiet and disciplined, but they were also in a hurry. For four days Sixth Cohort had been marching toward Nessumara.
