Butterfly Swords. Jeannie Lin

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СКАЧАТЬ also rich and powerful,’ he pressed her. ‘And in command of an army of thousands. Not the sort of man who takes refusal lightly.’

      The tail of her braid whipped over her shoulder as she faced him. ‘It is not as if I’m refusing Li Tao because he is old or ugly or fat.’

      ‘Well, is he?’

      She stopped, caught off guard. ‘I—I don’t know. I mean, it doesn’t matter.’

      ‘You don’t know if he’s ugly?’

      ‘I’ve never seen him. When he came to fetch me for the wedding procession I was wearing a red scarf over my face.’

      ‘So he hasn’t seen you either?’

      ‘Of course not.’

      ‘Now I understand.’

      She cast him a wary glance. ‘Understand what?’

      ‘You were marrying a man you’d never met. Of course you had doubts.’

      ‘You don’t understand at all.’ She turned on her heel and continued down the bank. Her stride had lost its carefree gait. ‘In our custom, it would be the greatest insult for a bride to refuse a match simply because she did not like the look of her husband. It would be disrespectful to his family and a great dishonour to mine.’

      ‘It’s not important that you at least see each other before being wed?’

      ‘Not at all. I would trust my parents would make me a good match.’

      It was hard to believe someone with such unquestioning faith would run away from an arranged marriage. Even if she had been wilful or stubborn, it was unlikely a woman of her standing would risk so much to defy convention. Perhaps there was a lover. The thought alone sent a hot streak of possessiveness through him, unwarranted as it was. But why would she want to return to her family when they would certainly denounce her? Besides, her every touch spoke of innocence. He knew the signs well enough to steer clear under most circumstances.

      ‘You wouldn’t prefer someone that was strong and handsome?’ he goaded.

      ‘That doesn’t matter to me.’

      ‘What if this Li Tao is ancient? Wrinkled, toothless …’

      ‘He is not!’ Her eyes grew wide despite her denial. She lowered her voice as if in confidence. ‘Mother told me he was twice my age.’

      ‘And what is that?’

      ‘I was born the year of the dragon.’

      ‘Dragons, rabbits, tigers,’ he said with a laugh. ‘I could never figure out your calendar.’

      She regarded him through her lashes, blushing. ‘I have nineteen years. I know that is very old for marriage, but the last years have been … very unusual.’

      Ailey was beyond adorable when flustered. He leapt across the stream ahead of her and stretched out his hand. She landed before him in the moss, bracing against his arms to steady herself. This time he held on. Her pulse fluttered beneath his fingers.

      ‘You don’t want someone who makes your heart beat faster?’ he challenged.

      She ran the tip of her tongue over her lips, too pretty and too curious for her own good. It took all of his will to hold himself back.

      ‘I … I don’t.’

      Little liar. He could pull her into his arms right then and she would melt against him. Her mouth would taste just as sweet as he remembered.

      He let go of her. He had to.

      He swallowed forcibly, words failing him. ‘So you were ready to marry him no matter how old and ugly he was. What made you change your mind?’

      He held himself apart from her, unmoving while his heart threatened to punch a hole through his ribcage. The force of his reaction stunned him and for some reason, he needed to know exactly what her ties were to the man she had been promised to.

      Ailey swayed in the damp earth of the riverbank, caught off balance at his abrupt departure. ‘The wedding ceremony was to be completed before his family altar. On the journey, I was carried inside a palanquin, while he rode with the escort.’

      ‘A man would be mad with lust being forced to wait so long to see his bride.’

      She frowned at him. ‘This is not something I do lightly. My family could disown me.’

      He stopped his teasing when he saw the sudden tension in her shoulders. He was beginning to see that Ailey never did anything lightly. Every word carried weight with her.

      ‘Go on,’ he said. ‘What happened?’

      ‘You must know that there have been uprisings within the empire over the last year. My fourth brother, Ming Han, had a military command, same as all my brothers. He was sent to put down a rebellion near the border of the Jiannan province. Li Tao’s domain.’

      ‘Which is where we are now.’

      ‘The empire is too large for the imperial army to control,’ she explained. ‘Control of the empire is a delicate balance between the imperial forces and the regional armies. Han joined with Li Tao’s troops in the effort. We later received reports that Han had been ambushed by rebels and killed.’

      She looked away, pressing her lips tightly together. For a moment, he thought she’d lose the fight. Always so strong.

      ‘You don’t have to explain,’ he said.

      ‘No, I want you to understand. A soldier who had once served under my father swore Ming Han was killed by Li Tao’s soldiers. The warlord has been secretly building his army. Our marriage is merely a ploy.’

      Something didn’t seem right. ‘One of the warlord’s soldiers betrayed him to you?’

      ‘Wu was once a member of the Dragon Guard. He’s a man of honour and he risked his life for me. I trust him.’

      The same way she had trusted her bodyguards. As she now trusted him.

      ‘When Father learns what happened to Fourth Brother, he’ll denounce Li Tao as the murderer he is,’ she said. ‘And the empire will be better off for it.’

      Ailey’s family was involved in the sort of politics he knew to stay far away from. The Chinese emperors ruled as descendants of heaven, but they were just as readily assassinated and replaced as any mortal.

      Their lost legion had been caught at the centre of the rebellion following Emperor Li Ming’s death. The Tang rulers were masters of intrigue. They had perfected the art of it over centuries of rule. What chance did a band of barbarians have against such deceit?

      After order was restored, Emperor Shen had allowed them to settle in the frontier to the west, in a region that had been abandoned by the empire. They guarded one of the northern branches of the many trade routes that originated from Changan.

      It СКАЧАТЬ