hierodule in the temple. I don't know what the old bitch said to her-' But he broke off and looked at Miravia. All at once the young man's motives unfurled to Shai's gaze as a flower under the sun. 'I prefer to stay here, if I may be permitted to.'
Anji's answering smile troubled Shai. He looked exactly like a man who has just watched his bets in a wagering game fall into place.
'I think it can be allowed for you to remain here, if Miravia has no objection.' But Anji glanced at Tuvi as Miravia blushed, and
Tuvi shook his head, as if to answer for her. Anji rose, 'I wish to pray at the altar and make an offering in Mai's memory. If you'll excuse me.'
'Do you want me to go up to the waterfall with you, Captain?' Miravia asked.
'No. I'll go alone.'
He did not go alone. He carried Atani, and Tuvi and two guardsmen — men who flanked Anji everywhere he went, just as Sengel and Toughid had once done — each carrying one of the small chests. Another pair of guards followed. Shai was allowed to walk behind them.
'I'll just come along with you,' said Tohon, falling into step beside Shai.
'You think he's going to kill me, too? What benefit is there in that? I'm nothing to him.'
'I'll just come along,' said Tohon, patting him on the arm. 'Hush, son. Don't tire yourself out. We've got a long way to go yet.'
It was a hard, long hike for a young man recovering from such burns as he had sustained. Odd how Chief Tuvi did not labor as much, or seem as weak, although he bore ropy scars as if he'd been lashed by a fiery whip. The Qin forged ahead, while Shai, shadowed by Tohon, fell behind. Losing sight of the others, they trudged up a trail fenced in by thick walls of vegetation. The trail had been dampened by mist, but the dirt wasn't yet mud.
Into a clearing they walked. Beyond the ruins, a waterfall and pool churned as mist spattered the stones. Atani was chortling, reaching for the pool and babbling complaints when his father would not let him touch it. Distant thunder boomed in cloud-shrouded peaks. A dark shape roiled the depths. Blue fire like spikes of lightning snaked through the water and vanished as Atani laughed.
The Qin stood a few paces back from the lip, where waters rippled and sighed. There was no sign of the three little chests, as if they'd thrown them into the pool. Anji gripped the struggling baby more tightly and, leaving his guardsmen to wait, he crossed behind the curtain of water into the overhang behind.
But Shai could not move to follow him. For a ghost sat on one of the low walls, hands resting on thighs as he tracked Anji's departure. Looking back, his ghostly expression flickered with startlement as he rose.
'Hari!' breathed Shai.
Hari's essence looked exactly as Shai had seen Hari last, dressed in the local manner with loose trousers and a tunic tied at the hips, except he was a ghost, not truly substantial. His crooked smile hadn't changed at all, for he was angry at the world and laughing at himself for the futility of it.
'Hello, little brother. Hu! I hoped you would find me. How can it be you walk beside the man who killed me?' Of course Anji hadn't wanted Shai to come here. He'd known there was a chance Hari's ghost might linger. He'd known Shai could hear as well as see ghosts. But Shai already knew enough to condemn Anji. This was just one more stab wound.
'How did he kill you, Hari?' he said past this fresh grief.
Anji's men looked at Shai, looked at each other, shrugged, and went back to waiting.
'He walked up here alone. I thought he was come to deliver a message from Mai, or check to see if I was alone before he allowed her to come up. He does guard her so, does he not? You'd think he actually loves her, which I suppose might even be possible for a Qin. Then before I knew what he was about he drew his sword and cut me down. He unclasped the cloak and tore it from me. It was easy to let it go, once a person with more determination than I had was willing to relieve me of it. I'm free, Shai. Spirit Gate calls me. But I can't cross. I need to warn Mai what manner of husband she has, that he would promise her one thing and then turn around and do the opposite. He's veiled, did you know? Like you. That's why I couldn't see it coming. Is Mai safe, Shai? Tell me she's safe.'
Ghosts are caught in the moment of their death. They do not know past or future; they cannot feel the passing of days or years. That is their fate, and their misery.
Shai could not add to Hari's misery. Not now. After all, those who are veiled may lie to both cloaks and ghosts.
'Yes, Hari. She's safe.'
'Don't weep for me, little brother. It's for the best. It's only that I worry about Mai.' He laughed the familiar, mocking life. 'Now you can take my bones home to our ancestors, can't you? If you can find my sorry remains. Not much to show for a life, is it? Yet Mai would poke and prod in that way she had, wouldn't she? Getting you to do more than you had any intention of doing. I had just started to hope I could learn what it truly meant to be a Guardian.'
Tohon cupped a supporting hand under Shai's elbow. Anji emerged from the spray, the baby still squirming, quite the
handful as he babbled as if to spirits in the air that no one else could see, batting and waving his hands. Anji's gaze caught on Hari's ghost, then tracked to Shai. He halted, waiting for Shai to speak.
What was there to say? Mai's father had told Shai to bring Mai home if Anji didn't treat her well, but what a pointless little speech it had been. Father Mei had only said it to make himself feel better, knowing he'd sold away the treasure of his house. The road that passes under Spirit Gate runs in only one direction. There is no going back.
'I need my brother's bones,' said Shai.
Anji nodded. 'I'll have my men dig up his remains.'
Wind moaned along the cliffs. The waterfall wept its constant tears. The baby buried his sweet face against his father's neck.
'I'll take you home, Hari,' Shai said, 'if it's truly what you want.' But already Hari's ghost was dissolving under the chill spray of falling water. He'd held on. He'd given warning. Too late.
'Ah, well,' murmured Tohon. 'Kartu Town is on the way, if we take the northern route.'
'The way where?'
Anji and his men walked down through the ruins and vanished into the forest. Only Chief Tuvi glanced back.
'I thought…' Tohon tugged at an earlobe. He examined the lofty peaks as if seeking a lofty speech there. Abruptly his gaze fastened on something Shai did not see. He tracked it, lost it, shrugged. 'You'll take his bones to Kartu Town. What about the mistress's bones?'
'There are no remains. Anyway, she doesn't belong to the clan. She was sold to the captain. Her bones belong to him.'
'Indeed, they do. We'll go to Kartu Town, then.'
'I don't want to return there.' To think of being trapped again in the Mei clan made his stomach roil and his anger burn. 'I can't, and I won't.'
'No, of course not. You're not the lad you were then, are you?'
Yet his tone had changed. Cool, calm, collected Tohon sounded unsure. He fussed with his knife. He patted his hair as if he'd for- gotten his cap, but he was wearing neither cap nor helmet today. His words fell diffidently.
'After you get your brother's bones settled, you're welcome to come home with me.'
Shai staggered. When had he gotten so dizzy? He groped, found a broken wall, and sat. 'Home with you?'
'I've been dismissed from Captain Anji's service. I'll have to report in to Commander Beje, but I've served with honor. It's time for me to go home to my youngest son's wife's tent and meet my grandchildren. Come with me, Shai. We'll find you a good woman to marry. She can be your knife, as you can be hers. You'll be my son, and I'll raise your children as my own.'
Tohon watched him with dark eyes and a vulnerable smile. He'd been hit hard before, but he knew how to keep riding even if the path didn't open onto the vista he wished was there. That didn't make the question any easier to get out. 'What do you say, Shai?'
