Butterfly Swords by Jeannie Lin Read Free Book Online Page A

him, closing the scant space between them.
    As if sensing her thoughts, he pulled away to the window, leaving her so quickly the air beside her still tingled with his presence. He braced his hands against the frame with head bent and shoulders pulled taut, a powerful silhouette against the light outside. The silence went on for so long that she began to worry he had changed his mind.
    ‘I don’t see any more of them,’ he reported, peering down into the alley. ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’
    ‘What Li Tao has done is unforgivable. I would rather die than become his wife.’
    Ryam nodded, and moved away from the window. ‘We’ll go out the back way.’
    Reckless , she could hear Father proclaiming. To imagine she was safe with a barbarian she’d barely met.
    Always feeling, never thinking, Mother scolded.
    But she had thought very carefully and she trusted Ryam more than anyone else in this province. This was Li Tao’s domain and he would kill them both if he found them.
    She had vowed to her parents to be a dutiful wife, but that was one vow she could not fulfil. She prayed they would forgive her for her disobedience. She hoped they would believe her when she spoke against one of the most powerful men in the empire.
    Her legs burned as she stood and the blood rushed back into them. They must have been crouched there for over an hour. Ryam led as they picked their way around the baskets towards the stairway. He scanned the room below on the first floor, and gestured towards the door at the back.
    She peered over the railing before starting down, keeping her step as light as possible. Midway, a board creaked beneath her feet. Ryam muttered a curse as the voices halted down below. He gave her a small push.
    ‘Run!’
    They bolted down the stairs and through the door, abandoning any attempt at stealth. She took off around the corner and ducked into an alcove. Ryam shoved himself in beside her. They both held still, pressed against the brick. When it was clear that no one was following, she doubled over, gasping for breath.
    ‘We’d make very bad thieves.’
    She looked up to see Ryam grinning. He had a good spirit. She laughed, caught up in it. Part of her couldn’t help but enjoy this adventure.
    Once her breathing returned to normal, she poked her head around the enclosure. The streets had emptied in the late afternoon and the sounds of the market faded. Ryam emerged first, surveying the area before pulling her behind him. He shielded her as they ventured forwards. The protective gesture made her want to press even closer. She didn’t have much experience with cities. She definitely had no knowledge of the back alleys they were navigating. Most of her life had been spent in her family home nestled in the mountains, surrounded by family and household servants.
    ‘Where is it that you came from?’ she asked.
    ‘The other end of the world.’
    ‘You seem to have been here for a long time.’
    ‘Years and years.’ His answers became noticeably clipped when he spoke of his past.
    ‘We have a name for your land. We call it “Ta Chin”, the Great Empire of the West.’
    ‘I don’t come from any great empire.’
    She frowned.
    ‘That empire you speak of no longer exists. Our kingdom—what was our kingdom—is a small one compared to this empire.’
    The journey across the silk routes was said to be a treacherous one. If she only had the time to ask all the questions she wanted to. He must have amazing stories to tell.
    ‘Are you part of the lost legion?’ she asked. ‘The wandering soldiers they speak about?’
    He didn’t answer immediately. ‘I suppose I am.’ He cast a sideways glance at her. ‘Your people do love their legends.’
    His smile made her pulse skip. He was different and mysterious, and curiosity made her bold. Bold enough to kiss a man she barely knew. She was suddenly out of breath. Her mind kept falling like water down the mountainside back to that moment.
    ‘They say those