They were both big men, but Ryko stood taller and broader. The guards nodded and Ryko tossed them the coins, ushering me through the gate.
'Do they really think you are taking me to the pleasure houses?' I asked as Ryko led me off the main road onto the Emperor's riding track. What use would a Moon Shadow have for the Blossom women?
'Of course they do,' he said, and I heard the amusement in his voice. 'They know there is more than one way to skin a cat.'
I felt heat rush to my face and was glad for the cover of night.
Suddenly, Ryko pulled me behind some bushes. A dung-man had rounded a curve in the track and was wheeling his barrow towards us. We both crouched and I peered through the foliage, watching as he stopped in front of us and shovelled up a heap of horse manure. He banged it into the barrow, his vigour sending a foul stench into the air. I clamped my hand over my nose, my eyes watering. Finally, he walked on. I moved to stand, but Ryko pulled me down again, his hand on my arm until we heard the guards jeering as the man pushed his barrow past their gate.
'We will need to cut through the gardens and avoid the paths, my lord,' Ryko said softly. 'It will be quicker if I carry you.'
Before long I was perched on his back and we were striding through the extravagant band of gardens that separated the Dragon Halls from the palace precinct. The Emperor called them his Emerald Ring and allowed only his favourites to walk the paths and enjoy the cool groves.
At this time of night they were deserted, eerily quiet of even night noises, with only the main paths lit with large red festival lanterns strung on ropes between poles. I pressed myself closer against Ryko's solid shoulders as we ran past gilded pavilions and skirted around glades and ponds spanned by elegant bridges. Part of me was exhilarated by our speed, another part breathless with fear at what lay ahead. What if we did not find the folio? What if we were discovered? As we rounded a stand of ghostly beech trees, a shadow darted forwards. I flinched, sending Ryko into a half crouch that rocked me against his back. The inky shape of a fox slipped into the cover of some bushes.
Ryko blew out a breath. 'Hara,' he murmured, using the island name for the messenger fox god. He straightened, shifting me up into his waist.
'A bad omen?' T whispered uneasily.
Under my arms, his shoulders lifted in a shrug. 'Hara warns that a message is near, not if it is good or bad.'
Hopefully Hara was foretelling the return of the folio. Ryko tightened his grip and we started running again. There was a strange sense of comfort in being held so closely to the body of another. Perhaps it was the faint memory of my father carrying me in the same way.
Emboldened by the sense of unity, I pressed myself closer to his ear.
'Thank you for helping me,' I said. 'You are a good friend.'
He turned his head slightly, his cheek brushing mine.
'It is my honour,' he said warmly. His voice deepened with urgency. And we must protect the Emperor and his line.'
I finally voiced something that had puzzled me. 'Why do you support the Emperor, Ryko? He gelded the Trang men — your people — and forced them into slavery'
Ryko grunted. 'The Emperor did not order the gelding. The uprising came at the same time as Her Majesty's death. The Heavenly Master placed all military decisions into Sethon's hands. It was Sethon who ordered it.' I felt his pace slow. 'Quiet now, we approach the road.'
He stopped in the cover of a small copse of trees and studied the gentle slope in front of us.
We were at the far corner of the Ox Dragoneye burial ground that stood opposite the Ox Dragon Hall. The carefully placed tombs clustered under an auspicious rise in the land, their curved marble altars like a crooked set of teeth. Beyond it was a stretch of the Dragon Circle, the wide paved avenue that lay between the edge of the gardens and the ring of Dragon Halls.
It was reserved for the use of the high ranks and, at this time of night, was clear. Alone figure in the neat livery of a servant walked along the rough track beside it.
'This is the best place to cross,' Ryko said softly, pointing across the road to the ragged edge of a thick wood. Its dark shadows looked impenetrable. 'The Ox Hall keeps a hunting forest that stretches the entire length behind it. We'll go through and come up beside the Rat Hall.'
But first we had to make it across the exposed width of the road. We watched the servant disappear from view. All clear. Ryko tapped my leg, a signal to hang on tightly. I pressed myself against him as he ran, my back itching from the gaze of a thousand eyes that did not exist. We both sighed in relief as we gained the cover of the trees.
It seemed to take forever to work our way through the small, dense forest. The tracks were narrow and ill defined in the dim light and I could feel Ryko's shortened breaths against my chest as he weaved around trees and pushed through undergrowth. Every now and again a night animal skittered away, a flash of silvered fur becoming shadow. Above, the half moon was rising towards its zenith — the midnight bell would soon ring. And I could do nothing to help our progress except sit against Ryko as lightly as possible.
Finally, the trees began to thin out. Ryko slowed, his shoulders heaving with effort. Ahead of us, across a wide space empty of any cover, was the immense stone bulwark of the Rat Dragon Hall. We stopped in the shadows of the last patch of growth, Ryko taking in deep breaths as he scanned the top of the thick wall.
'We'll wait,' he panted, shifting me more firmly against his back and adjusting the bulky pouch tied at his waist. 'Guards may be walking the rampart.'
We watched, but no dark helmeted figures appeared along the edge.
Ryko turned his head and I saw the corner of a smile. 'Time to go.' I felt my heartbeat quicken as we crossed the clearing. Could he feel my fear against his back? Keeping in the shadow cast by the wall, we slowly crept towards the front of the hall. Halfway along, we came to a metal gate. I looked up and saw the six gilded spikes that Dillon had described to me.
'This is it,' I breathed in Ryko's ear.
He nodded and released his grip on my legs. I had only just touched the ground when the midnight bell sounded. A cracking boom suddenly punched into my ears and whistling fire arced across the far wall, bursting into a flower of falling light. I felt something drag at me and then I was flat on the ground, Ryko's body across mine, his weight pressing dirt into my mouth. Voices — screaming, yelling, commanding — erupted from the hall. I shifted my shoulders and bucked, trying to find some room to draw breath.
The weight lifted, releasing my chest. I gasped in air as Ryko rolled onto his knees beside me.
'My lord, are you all right?'
We both heard the scrape of a lock opening and looked up. Dillon peered around the edge of the gateway, his eyes round with fear.
'Eon?' He shook his head. 'I mean, Lord Eon, is that you?' He saw Ryko loom up beside him.
'Holy gods.' He ducked inside the gate, but Ryko was faster. He caught Dillon's arm, pulling him back out.
'Be easy I am Lord Eon's bodyguard,' he growled.
Dillon cast a wild look down at me.
'It's all right,' I said soothingly, nodding at Ryko to let him go. I spat out some grit. 'Did you do that? The explosion?'
Dillon nodded. A couple of Twelfth Day fireworks. We won't have long, though.'
Ryko hauled me to my feet. 'Your leg, my lord? Is it all right?'
I was stiff and every bit of me felt bruised, but complaining would not change it. And if I did, Ryko would probably try to make me stav outside.
'I'm fine,' I said. 'Let's get going.'
Dillon beckoned us through the archway then carefully closed the gate. We were in a long alley between two buildings.
'How many guards are there?' Ryko demanded.
Dillon flinched at his tone. 'Only eight. The rest have gone with Lord Ido.' He pointed to the left. 'The library is that way, in the formal garden. Built into the hill.'
