Jeannie Lin - Butterfly Swords

‘You’ve risked so much to help me.’ It was so hard to start conversations with him when he didn’t use any of the accepted forms of address. She didn’t know whether to be formal or intimate.

‘Anyone would have done the same.’

‘I don’t believe that,’ she said.

‘Maybe I just wanted the company.’

He was smiling. She definitely needed to remain formal, for her own protection.

‘Those bandits could have smuggled me to a brothel in some remote corner of the empire. Or worse, they could have ransomed me back to Li Tao.’

As jiedushi, Li Tao had sworn to protect the empire, yet he plotted against it. They called Ryam’s kind barbarians, but there was nothing barbaric about him. His manner was direct and honest. It was her own countrymen she needed to be worried about.

The water at the bend formed a pool between the rocks. He stepped over a broad stone and then his hands circled her waist to lift her. His arms flexed as he set her down.

‘Be careful here, it’s slippery.’ He flashed another one of his easy smiles that sent her floating. His touch sent a lazy ripple up her spine and the look he gave her went on for a heartbeat too long.

She looked down at the water. ‘There are fish in there,’ she said absently.

‘Really? Where?’

Her shoulder brushed against his as they knelt to peer into the water. The turn of a tail sent a splash to the surface. The closeness that would have been improper with anyone else seemed so natural with him. Her heart was beating so hard and she could barely breathe. A school of grey fish darted beneath the surface, but all she could stare at was his reflection. The golden hair and light eyes.

Then she caught sight of her own reflection beside his. She looked like a madwoman! Her braid had fallen apart, leaving her hair in a wild nest. Horrified, she scrubbed at the smudge of dirt across her cheek.

He turned to her, his face inches from hers. She froze with her hand against her cheek.

‘Are you hungry?’ There was a hint of mischief in his eyes.

She was. They had been running all morning. She needed the rest as well, but had been reluctant to slow down their journey.

‘How are you going to catch them?’

He held up his hands and wiggled his fingers.

‘You cannot,’ she said.

‘Watch me.’

He loosened the ties of his vest and tossed it aside. Tiny knots formed in her stomach as one boot and then the other landed by her side. She ducked her head to stare at the moss beneath her knees. He had no shame at all. She peeked back over to see that he was still wearing his shirt as he slipped waist deep into the pool. The fish scattered in all directions, their dark bodies gliding in frantic circles as they tried to escape.

He shot her a warning look when she giggled. With the back of her hand pressed to her mouth, she watched as he cupped his hands and dipped them carefully under the surface, going as still as a mantis. The fish gradually settled and resumed their gentle sway. She held her breath.

In a flash he scooped his arms upwards, flinging a cascade of water up onto the grass. She shrieked and scrambled away.

‘You did that on purpose!’

Water dripped from his chin. He swiped at his face. ‘You’re scaring the fish,’ he accused.

She moved into the shade to seat herself as he crouched again. He pounced with an even greater splash, again coming up empty-handed. She fell back, grabbing at her sides. How long had it been since she laughed so hard it hurt? Not since her brothers had all been together. Not since they had left their mountain home for the capital.

She wiped at the tears at the corners of her eyes. ‘Have you ever been able to do this?’

His mouth twisted. ‘When I was hungry enough.’

‘No wonder you were starving when we met.’

‘ Quiet. ’

She combed out her hair with her fingers and started to braid it again. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ryam crouched for another attempt. His blond hair clung to the sides of his face as he stared into the pool with a mercenary expression.

The next moments were filled with the sounds of splashing punctuated by a string of foreign curses. For the moment, she forgot about the trouble she had got herself into. She could hide amidst the cool moss and long shadows of the forest. Li Tao would never find her.

But her ancestors would. They would call out to her in spirit and demand obedience.

When they reached Changan it would be the end of this reprieve. The hardest part of her journey would begin; the part where she’d have to explain her disloyalty to her mother and father. It would be her word against one of the most powerful men in the empire.

‘Victory!’

A fish the size of her hand wriggled in the grass, silver belly shimmering.

She stood and bit her lip to keep from smiling. ‘He will be a tasty bite for you.’

Ryam hoisted himself out of the pool. A river of water streamed from him, dripping onto the bank. ‘Don’t you dare throw him back,’ he warned. ‘That’s all we’re getting today. I’m out of practice.’

‘You’re not going to catch me one?’

Her words caught in her throat as he tugged the soaked tunic off. Sunlight gleamed off the broad expanse of masculine skin and muscle. The thatch of golden hair on his chest tapered over the hard planes of his stomach. A plume of heat rushed up her neck until her face burned with it.

He wrung the water from the cloth. ‘Seemed like a good idea at the time,’ he muttered. ‘I haven’t tried that in years.’

She barely heard him as she stared. Her pulse pounded hard in her ears. ‘You—you are going to catch cold,’ she stammered.

He looked up then and grew quiet. ‘It’s a warm day.’

An endless expanse of burnished skin hovered before her. When she tried to look at his face, it was even worse. Sky-blue eyes held her gaze as he tugged the damp tunic back down over his shoulders.

Deliberately, he turned away. The gesture did nothing to banish this dawning awareness that had invaded her and seized control. The sleek muscles of his back moved beneath the damp cloth as he pulled a knife from his belt and started cleaning the catch, his gaze fixed upon his task. She retreated against the trunk of a cedar tree and tried to look anywhere but at him, wishing she had something useful to do at the moment.

The gaping silence begged to be filled with anything, some sound to string one moment with the next. She hooked her arms over her knees as he sparked a pile of kindling and nursed the ember into flames.

‘You should teach me how to do that.’ She was babbling. ‘How to start a fire, find food.’

He speared a sharpened stick through the fish and held it over the flames. ‘You won’t need it. You’ll be home soon enough.’

She fell silent. This would all go away. This swordsman with blue eyes and the storm of emotions that came with him. She had to remember that these moments, no matter how wondrous, would die away like the fire. She needed to think, think and not feel. But how could she when he brought out so much that was hidden within her?

Ryam turned the fish over and over, the skin growing crisp and black over the flames.

‘What is it like where you are from?’ she asked.

‘Our men are encamped in the Gansu corridor just beyond your western border.’

His wary tone took her by surprise. Were his men in hiding? Was he fearful that she would reveal their location? She pushed away that disturbing thought.

‘I mean your homeland. Where you came from.’

‘Very different from here,’ he said, holding the skewered fish out to her.

She plucked a morsel from the bone with two fingers and lifted it to her lips. She hadn’t realised how hungry she was until that moment.