Butterfly Swords. Jeannie Lin

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ could no longer feel anything.

      The swordswoman hovered over him, her lips moving soundlessly. He fought against the blackness that seduced his eyelids downwards, but the ground felt really, really good.

      Unable to resist any longer, he let his eyes close. He hoped he’d have a chance to open them again.

      The foreigner lay on his back, denting the wild grass while his breath rumbled deep in his chest. Taking hold of one shoulder, Ai Li shook him as hard as she could.

      The man was built like a mountain.

      With a sigh, she looked back at the line of the trees, head tilted to listen. No footsteps. No one chasing after them. The dense undergrowth provided cover, but if they found her she was lost. She did not know who the attackers were, but she hoped they were merely outlaws. She prayed they weren’t men sent to take her back to Li Tao.

      The men could be tracking her through the trees, but she couldn’t abandon the barbarian while he was helpless. Wiping the sweat from her brow, she turned back to him. At first glimpse, his pale skin and sandy hair had shocked her. When he spoke her language, she had fled like a superstitious peasant, but up close he was no ghost or demon. Just a man. A wild-looking, possibly crazed man who had saved her.

      He slept lion-like in the grass. A tawny growth of stubble roughened his jaw, making him appear as if his face was chiselled out of stone and left unpolished. Emboldened by his slumber, she reached out to push away a lock of hair to get a better look. Her fingertips grazed the edge of a scar above his ear. She recoiled and looked once more to assure herself that he was asleep. Then, with morbid fascination, she traced the line of the old wound.

      When she first noticed him skulking by the roadside, her heart had gone out to him. Here was one of the unfortunate souls forced to wander after the recent rebellions. Now she knew he was the sort of man who could rush into the thick of battle without a trace of fear.

      His hand remained curved about the hilt of his sword. A Web of nicks and dents scored the blade. Her father would have called this a sword with a past, one that deserved respect. With her brothers and the men under her father’s command, she had been around warriors all her life. A fearsome swordsman like this would have to be desperate to beg for food like a peasant.

      He had come to her rescue despite his troubles. To leave him now would be dishonourable, no matter that he was a barbarian. Picking up her swords, she rose to stand guard. Her ancestors would expect no less of her. Even Fourth Brother’s spirit would understand.

      She twirled the blades restlessly, trying to attune herself to the rustle of the leaves and the scatter of bird song. The woods stretched on forever, and it seemed she would never get home. She had never done anything so wilful in her life, but Father had promised her to a man he considered an ally. He didn’t know that Li Tao was false. Not only had he been plotting against them ever since the former Emperor had died without an heir, but he’d done far, far worse. As soon as the stranger woke up, she would need to hurry home.

      The sun had slipped low to wash the grove in amber light when the barbarian finally stirred. Her long shadow fell over him as his eyelids flickered open. With a startled sound, he grabbed his sword and sprang to his feet.

      She brought her swords up defensively. For the ox that he was, the barbarian was unexpectedly agile. She had to remember that.

      ‘Who are you?’ she demanded. ‘Why do you risk your life to save a stranger?’

      He peered at her, struggling to focus. Then he sank back to his knees and pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes. ‘Please. Slowly.’

      The side of his chin had been scraped from his fall. With a lost look, he surveyed the barrier of trees, oddly vulnerable despite the sheer strength in him.

      Cautiously, she slid one sword back into her boot and searched through the knapsack slung over her shoulder. She held out a waterskin, then watched in fascination as he took a long drink, his muscles gliding with every move. Centuries-old writings proclaimed the Great Empire of the West as a land of tall, powerful giants. For once, it seemed the accounts hadn’t been exaggerated.

      ‘You stayed,’ he said with some surprise as he handed the skin back to her.

      ‘I owed you a debt.’

      The corner of his mouth lifted crookedly and his blue eyes slid over her. ‘To see you is payment enough.’

      She must have been confused by the mix of dialects and his atrocious inflection. A man wouldn’t use such sugared tones when she was disguised this way.

      She squared her shoulders. ‘Where did you learn how to speak?’

      ‘Why?’

      ‘You sound like you were taught in a brothel.’

      He exploded, his broad shoulders shaking with laughter. ‘Can’t deny that,’ he said with a grin.

      The words of his native tongue sounded jarring to her ears, but she recognised them. ‘I can try to speak in your language,’ she offered.

      ‘You know it?’ A deep frown appeared over his forehead. ‘Few in the empire do.’

      She clamped her mouth shut, biting down on her lip. ‘My father is a tea merchant. He travels far outside the empire along the trade routes.’

      The explanation seemed feeble at best, but his expression relaxed. ‘They call me Ryam.’

      ‘Ryam.’ She tested the sound of it. ‘What does it mean?’

      He remained seated in the grass, his arms dangling carelessly over his knees. ‘It means nothing.’

      No mention of a family name as was the custom. She didn’t ask about it for fear of being impolite.

      ‘My name is Li, family name Chang. You can call me Brother Li.’

      ‘Brother? Anyone can see you’re a woman.’

      Her hand tightened on the sword. Suddenly she didn’t like the way he smiled at her at all.

      ‘I’m not going to harm you,’ he said quickly, holding up his hands, palms out. ‘I ran into a horde of men waving knives to help you, remember? You kicked me pretty hard for all my trouble.’

      She blushed, remembering exactly where she had kicked him. ‘My name is Chang Ai Li,’ she relented.

      ‘Ailey. That’s a pretty name.’

      She ignored the compliment. ‘What is a foreigner doing so deep in the empire?’

      ‘What is a woman doing travelling alone with a group of men?’

      His eyes met hers without wavering, as if she were the strange one. She was becoming more curious about him with each passing moment, but it wouldn’t do to linger out in the woods with a barbarian.

      ‘I see now that you are not hurt.’ She spared him a final glance. ‘Farewell then.’

      ‘Wait, where are you going?’

      He shot to his feet and her breath caught as he stretched to his full height before her. Her gaze СКАЧАТЬ