Jeannie Lin - A Dance with Danger

There was no use wallowing in regret. She had left home because she had to. This emptiness would fade with time. She finished her meal and climbed the steps on to the top deck.

Sunlight flooded all around her. A strong breeze filled the sails, and the shore was no more than a sliver in the distance on either side.

A group of crewmen were lined up on the deck and armed with bamboo poles. They appeared to be running through fighting drills, executing strikes and blocks. The eastern barbarian, Kenji, led the men through the exercise while Lady Daiyu watched from the prow.

All around her, everyone had a place and a purpose, either adjusting the ropes on the sails or cleaning the deck. Jin-mei had paid for her passage and could hardly be expected to engage in the upkeep of the ship, yet she found herself wishing she had some task to occupy herself.

Jin-mei took a deep breath and forced herself to approach Kenji. His shadow engulfed her and his hands looked large enough to crush rock.

‘May I practise with you, Master Kenji?’ she asked.

It was a ridiculous request, but she was in a strange predicament. At first the foreigner didn’t even acknowledge her request. It was like speaking to the silent mountains.

‘Miss, this is not for show.’ He turned his back to her to watch over the drills. ‘We are training here.’

Her first inclination was to disappear back into the sleeping quarters and spend the day with a needle and thread, something familiar to her, to calm her nerves. But if she was going to survive outside the four walls of her father’s house, she would need to be stronger and bolder. She straightened her shoulders, taking what little extra height it gave her.

‘The world of rivers and lakes is a dangerous place,’ she said, echoing Yang’s words. ‘I want to learn how to defend myself.’

Kenjii laughed. Rudely. ‘What do you know about rivers and lakes?’

‘Be hospitable to our guest.’

The lady captain spoke from the other end of the deck. Yang was at Daiyu’s side and he leaned in to tell her something. A knot formed in Jin-mei’s stomach at the sight of the two of them standing so closely. The knot pulled tighter as the other woman approached.

Daiyu held out her hand to one of the crewmen and he surrendered his staff to her. She turned the bamboo around in her hands, as if testing its weight, before holding it out to Jin-mei. Tentatively, Jin-mei closed her hands around the pole and tried to mimic how the men were holding it. Yang met her eyes with an amused expression on his face, before turning to look out over the water.

She felt better without him watching. After a brief show of protectiveness the day before, he now seemed to mock her with every look. Lady Daiyu stood beside her, keeping her apart from the men as she corrected Jin-mei’s grip on the staff.

‘Hands at shoulder-width,’ Daiyu instructed. ‘Not too wide. It feels more natural that way, does it not?’

Nothing about this felt natural. Jin-mei was standing with the wind blowing around her, the sun beating down on her head, while surrounded by strangers. And she had never held a weapon in her life, not even a kitchen knife.

Before she could learn how to fight, she apparently had to learn how to stand. While the men swung and blocked and parried, all she did was stand there with her shoulders back and knees bent, holding the staff up in front of her.

Even standing still was a challenge. She had to steady herself against the roll of the deck beneath her. Before long, the muscles in her legs and arms were burning and her forehead was damp with perspiration. She had been holding the stance for no more than twenty counts.

She felt like a fool. Not just for joining the practice session, but for everything. But it would be more embarrassing to stop now, especially when Lady Daiyu was taking the time to instruct her.

‘If your stance is not strong, your defence will crumble. Your strikes will have no power,’ Daiyu said. ‘Let us try some blocks.’

The captain retrieved another staff and turned to face her. Yang regarded them over his shoulder and even the surly Kenji stopped to watch.

Daiyu led her through a drill, repeating the same blow while Jin-mei deflected. With each repetition, Jin-mei gained more confidence in the way her body moved. The tiredness receded as her muscles warmed and she stopped thinking about everyone else, blocking out the curious stares of the crew and even Yang’s smug look.

‘Don’t get lost in the rhythm,’ Daiyu warned. ‘Stay focused.’

Jin-mei winced as Daiyu struck her upper arm with the bamboo. It hurt!

Daiyu altered the pattern, moving slowly and deliberately so Jin-mei would have time to react. Gradually she increased their speed until the techniques flowed naturally. The captain was light on her feet, graceful as well as powerful. How freeing it must be to be able to move like that, with such control and precision.

‘What are you looking at?’ Daiyu’s weapon came down fast. Jin-mei parried at the last moment, with her staff lengthwise and her full weight braced behind it.

‘Your eyes,’ Jin-mei replied, breathing hard.

That was what Father had always said, wasn’t it? The eyes revealed what the mind was hiding.

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