Butterfly Swords by Jeannie Lin Read Free Book Online Page B

swordsmen marched on Changan during the palace rebellion. Were you with them?’ she continued.
    This time his hesitation was obvious. ‘Maybe the less we know about each other’s stories, the better.’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    He halted to turn to her. ‘The rest of the empire is not as tolerant as you towards unwashed barbarians.’
    She stared at the coppered spots where the sun had darkened his cheeks and the rugged growth of his beard. It was a face unlike any she’d ever known.
    ‘I don’t think of you as an unwashed barbarian,’ she said softly.
    He started to speak, but stopped. The intensity of his gaze made her shift uncomfortably. ‘We need to get you to Changan as fast as possible,’ he said. ‘And then I need to disappear.’
    As if to make a point, he forged ahead in long strides that left no room for conversation. She couldn’t deny what he was saying. The empire had become fearful and suspicious. No one trusted anyone in the capital, let alone outsiders. She hated living with that dark cloud always over her.
    At the end of the passage, Li Tao’s proclamation had been pasted on the wall. She tore down one paper. Ryam stared over her shoulder at the black brushstrokes.
    ‘What does all that say?’
    So he couldn’t read the characters. That was fortunate. She didn’t know how he would react if he discovered who she truly was.
    ‘Li Tao is offering a reward of a hundred taels of silver for my return.’
    He whistled. ‘The man must be as rich as the Emperor.’
    With a scowl, she crumpled the paper into a tight ball and tossed it aside.
     

    Ryam wove a path through the alleys with Ailey close behind. He had never been this deep within the borders before, but the change was noticeable even to a foreigner. The regional armies were wary. Soldiers were authorised to confiscate weapons and imprison anyone they thought was a threat.
    They would need to stay off the main roads from here all the way to the capital. He had travelled for the last month in hiding, sleeping beneath bridges and seeking refuge in remote monasteries when they would let him. But he was responsible for Ailey’s safety now as well. Having a woman with him made things more difficult.
    He ducked through a broken section of the wall.
    ‘How do you know where we are going?’ she asked.
    ‘These towns are all the same once you’ve been to enough of them.’
    Vice lurked in the forgotten corners of any city of this size. Hideouts for smugglers, thieves, and citizens who wanted to escape into anonymity for the evening. He knew he had found their destination the moment they emerged in front of a dingy building tucked into a dead end. Red lanterns swayed from the eaves.
    Ailey stopped short. ‘Is this a brothel?’
    ‘No. Let me see your money.’
    She kept her eyes on the shadowed figure perched just inside the doorway as she handed the purse to him. He picked out several coins and then untied his cloak.
    ‘Put this on and stay close,’ he instructed.
    The flash of silver was enough to get them past the guard. Once inside, the entrance hall glowed with the gritty light of oil lamps and pipe smoke. Ryam pushed through the beaded curtain and the strands clinked and slid around them. The shuttered windows of the main room cast it into perpetual nighttime. Copper coins changed hands from one huddled figure to another at the tables.
    Ailey pulled his cloak tight around her and inched closer to him. Ivory and wooden dice clinked into porcelain bowls and the low hum of conversation did not rise the slightest at their arrival. The gamblers looked up with casual disinterest as Ryam and Ailey passed by. After a brief glance, the betting resumed. A man could be tattooed as a criminal and still show his face in a den like this.
    An ancient-looking man with a white beard that tapered to a point sat in the far corner, surrounded by cronies. One of them blocked Ryam’s path when he came forwards. The den master continued to sip his tea,