吃熊心豹子胆
chīxióngxīnbàozidǎn
To eat bear heart and leopard gall.
To pluck up some courage.
As it happened, the opportunity to ask Ao about her past presented itself the next day.
"Zakhar," Ao's voice said above him.
Zakhar opened his eyes. He was laying on a sofa on the terrace of Wo You Nai. Ao stood above him, dressed in robes of deep blue.
Zakhar had moved to the terrace just before dawn after he had woken from sleep. Another dark dream, of gnashing teeth and black blood and a white sky.
Even after moving, he had been unable to fall back asleep, and had resigned himself to simply laying there with his eyes closed as he listened to the world come alive around him. But he must have drifted off at some point however, for he had not heard Ao approach.
Judging by the way the light filtered through the great trees that stretched above Wo You Nai it was now mid morning.
"Do you want to come into Linjing with us today?" Ao asked him. A familiar smile quirked her red lips.
Zakhar sat up. "I'll come. When are you leaving?"
"As soon as Ermi and Liang'yi arrive."
Zakhar hurriedly rose, went to his room and dressed in one of his better shirts. He ran a hand through his wild hair and glanced at himself in the mirror.
"Bloody hell, I really do look like an old man," he said, seeing his own face from behind the beard. Tugging at it, he left.
Outside, Ermi and Liang'yi had arrived in Ermi's carriage.
"Ah, I thought you were walking," he said. "I'll saddle Dunya and follow."
"Ride with us, Zakhar Dage!" said Ermi enthusiastically, leaning out of her carriage window. The princess was dressed elaborately in robes of red and orange. "We can practice our lines in the carriage."
I don't have any lines, thought Zakhar, but he obediently climbed into the carriage.
Inside, he found himself squashed on the bench next to Ao.
"Sorry," he apologized to the slim woman as forced himself into the small space. He sat down, and was forced to stretch his arm along the back of the seat behind Ao to fit in. The seats were made for young ladies and their maids, not men Zakhar's size.
"It's fine," said Ao, looking out the window to where the forest was now flashing past.
Across from him, Liang'yi nodded at Zakhar's arm stretched around Ao's shoulders and gave Zakhar a pronounced wink.
Zakhar shook his head at the Dachuo.
"I'll read brother's part," said Ermi, taking up a script. Zakhar saw Liang'yi and Ao also had scripts in their hands, though Ao seemed more interested in looking out the window and Linagyi had leaned back against the bench, eyes closed.
"'Oh great fortune it is that I came here today and happened upon you, my lady," Ermi began dramatically. "'Were it not for the whims of fate that brought me here, you might have met your end in this monster's maw.'"
Ermi looked to Zakhar over her paper. "That's you, Zakhar Dage."
"I thought you said I didn't have any lines?" said Zakhar.
"You don't, but you still need to act as a bear does."
"'Rawr'," Zakhar obliged.
"'I will slay this monster, so it does not attempt to attack any more of my citizens,'" Ermi continued. When there was a pause the little princess reached out a foot and nudged Ao. "Ao-jie, it's your line."
Ao reluctantly looked away from the window and lifted her script. "My Lord, I am afraid—"
"No, not that line. You're too early," chided Ermi.
Ao scanned the page. "'I beseech you, spare the beast. It is not but a dumb animal, and knows not what it does."
"Ouch," snickered Liang'yi, meeting Zakhar's eyes. Ermi shushed her.
"'You look quite shaken my lady by your ordeal. My carriage is just ahead. May I escort you to my home, where my physician can look to your health?" Ermi said, over the sound of the wheels.
"'My Lord, I am afraid I cannot enter the carriage of a man I do not know. Will you not tell me your name?" said Ao.
"'Forgive me," Ermi said, her voice made deep and dramatic. "I am Jinyan, the Golden Emperor."
*~*~*~*~*~*
When they arrived in Lin'jing, their first stop was a tea house that Ermi was excited to visit.
"I heard from cousin Feiqing that they have the most delicious baked pears!" She said, eagerly leading them inside.
The establishment was large, and grand, a tea house designed to cater to the upper echelons of Linjing society. Zakhar had personally always felt that the larger the place and the fancier the decoration, the less tasty the food, but he didn't want to say that to Ermi.
A serving maid escorted them up a stair lined with banisters carved into the shape of twisting vines, and then down a wide hall. She slid open a door and showed them into a large, comfortable room, furnished with countless beautfiul items, clearly designed to please ladies.
Ao, Ermi and Liang'yi settled on the cushions around the low table. Zakhar followed suit with a groan. They told their order to the serving girl and she disappeared.
"Alright there old man?" Liang'yi teased.
"You're far older than I am," grunted Zakhar.
"I am in the prime of life. 84 years young."
Ermi laughed. "It must be nice to be mu'ren and live that much longer."
Liang'yi shrugged. "There are some benefits." The Dachuo glanced to the window. "Speaking of mu'ren, now is a good opportunity to practice." Liang'yi grabbed the little princesses arm and pulled her up and toward the open window. The two stopped there, looking down on the street below.
"Practice what?" Zakhar wondered aloud. He looked to Ao, still sat across from him, calmly blowing on the tea the serving girl had just brought.
"Liang'yi is teaching the princess to identify mu'ren," Ao said. Deeming her tea cool enough, she took a sip.
"Oh," said Zakhar.
Comfortable silence settled between them. Zakhar looked at the decoration. Rich drapes and wall hangings covered with scenes of lovers walking in flowered gardens hung from ceiling to floor. A wooden case stacked with colored glass twisted into the shapes of animals sat against another wall. A huge white and blue vase stood on its own in the corner.
Zakhar wondered if he wanted to break the silence. "You... I supposed you've already heard of what happened in the capital?" he asked nervously.
He had heard the maids talking of the news of what had happened to the Golden Emperor's priest and at other temples across the empire this morning. It had only been a day since the rider had come, and already news was all over the valley.
"What happened in the capitol?" asked Ao disinterestedly. She swirled the tea in her cup.
"The- the Golden Dragon's head priest was murdered, on his own altar."
"Oh my," said Ao, not looking up from her tea. "By who?"
"Groups of masked and hooded men raided the temple, and others across the empire. They left a six fingered handprint above the altar," said Zakhar, surprised by Ao's disinterest.
Ao snorted. "Six fingered? Liu Zhua? They want to worship a monster?" She pulled the pot of tea toward her and opened the lid to study the leaves inside. "What type of tea do you think this is?"
At that moment Ermi called from the window. "Zakhar Da-ge, come here for a moment!" Zakhar stood and left Ao peering into the teapot.
"Zakhar Dage, that man standing across the street talking to the woman in the blue robes. Is he mu'ren?" Ermi asked once Zakhar had reached the window.
Zakhar looked at the street below. The inhabitants of Linjing passed by going about their daily business. In this part of the city, most were upper class, out for a day of shopping and pleasure. Noble women walked in pairs or threes, in rich dress with paper parasols to keep off the sun, their servants trailing behind.
The colors of the ladies were offset by the merchants and gentlemen. They dressed in more subdued colors to give an air of modesty. But still, the men wore ornate belts about their waste or rings and necklaces about their necks that gave away their wealth.
Zakhar found the man Ermi was referring to, then looked down at his arms, searching for the faint changes in his tattoos that told him what kind of mu'ren were near. Lines that once swirled smoothed straight, and straight lines now curled infintestiently.
"There's a Dama nearby," said Zakhar, staring down at his arms. "It's probably him."
"Drat," said Ermi, swinging her clenched fist. "Liang'yi said he was a horse. I thought he was an ox, because he's so tall."
"Look at his hands, little princess. Horses have those long thin fingers. And ox tend to be big in the shoulders, but they're not necessarily tall," said Liang'yi, laughing at Ermi's frustration.
"I wish I had tattoos like yours, Zakhar Dage. Then this would be easy," Ermi sighed.
Zakhar shuddered at the thought of tattoos like his running across Ermi's skin. "No, princess. No you don't."
Liang'yi's face sobered. She squeezed Ermi's shoulder. "Come little rabbit, let's go eat some baked pears before Noodles gets them all."
*~*~*~*~*~*
After eating one too many sticky sweet pears, baked and stuffed with browned sugar and nuts, the group exited the tea house and made their way toward the market.
Zakhar walked beside Ao, who seemed content to look and not buy. Ermi and Liang'yi got further and further ahead, as Ermi rushed from one stall to the next, admiring jewelry and scarves and silks.
Despite her lack of reaction earlier, Ao seemed distracted as they made their way through the market. She stopped suddenly, staring blankly at the fountain in the center of the market as though the birds perched on it had caught her interest.
"Ao... are you alright?" Zakhar asked.
Ao shook her head. "Yes. Just rather sleepy. All the pears."
Zakhar led her over to the fountain and they sat down at the edge, causing several birds to take wing.
He cleared his throat. "You know, if there was ever anything on your mind, you can tell me. I'll listen," said Zakhar.
"Hmmm. Something on my mind? Why would there be?" Ao said, idly folding her thin fingers together.
Because you were the bloody Sixth God, and a cult worshiping your ex-lover is attacking temples across the empire, Zakhar thought. But all he said was, "Oh I don't know. We all have things that bother us at times."
Ao looked at him sharply from the corner of her eyes, "Why are you asking, all of a sudden?"
Zakhar smiled bitterly at her suspicion. Trust? Hah, Sanli didn't know what he spoke of. Ao didn't trust him.
Zakhar wondered if Ao trusted anyone.
He shrugged. "We are friends, aren't we? Friends should hear the other's troubles."
"We should, should we?" said Ao with an odd laugh. "Fine. Tell me your troubles Zakhar, and perhaps I will tell you mine."
"My troubles? I don't have any tro--"
Ao interrupted him with a snort. "Please. I know what those tattoos mean. Why are you here? What were you assigned to do? And how long do you have to do it?"
Zakhar steeled himself. He could tell her. He could gather his courage, and tell Ao what it was the Black Lord had sent him to do. And what he had chosen to do instead.
But... giving voice to his fate would make it that much more real. He did not want to discuss it. Not here, in the warm autumn sun of the marketplace, sat beside this fountain. Not with Ao beside him, and Ermi and Liang'yi a little way away, haggling with a stallholder over cheese.
He did not want to talk of what was to come, and darken what he had now. He could not. He was not that brave.
Zakhar sighed then, and stood. "Let's go see what Liang'yi and Ermi are up to."
*~*~*~*~*~*
Time passed. The trees became more flamboyant, daring every day to don cloaks of brighter and brighter colors.
The weather became colder. Just as the trees had donned special garb with the changing of the seasons, the women too changed their wardrobes. When they left for university every morning, Ao and Ermi would wave to Zakhar and the other men of Wo You Nai from beneath capes of warm fur draped around their shoulders.
One morning Zakhar woke just before dawn and for the first time felt chill, even in his bedroll. The air was cool, and caused his breath to hang in clouds above his mouth.
Rising, Zakhar went to the metal brazier and stoked the embers in it into life. He added a few more sticks of kindling, and then a log, stirring and repositioning until at last the log's bark caught alight.
Then he sat and drank cold tea while he waited for the kettle on the brazier to heat.
Zakhar's room was simple, with nothing but the absolute essentials. His bedroll, the brazier, and trunk for his belongings. The only furniture was a small desk sat to one side. He almost never used it, as he rarely had the need to write anything.
After adding hot water to his tea, he rose, dressed, and went to the kitchens for breakfast.
Leaving the kitchens full of fresh baked bread, he ran into Sanli, dressed in his sparring clothes.
"We're going to Ermi's courtyard to train this morning, so Liang'yi can train with us," Sanli said. "Are you ready to go?"
Zakhar nodded and followed him.
When they reached the courtyard, Zakhar was surprised to see Ao standing beside Kageyama, waiting.
"Good morning," she said, with a wave of her hand. The long silk sleeve of her gown rustled as she waved her hand in greeting. She wore an embroidered over jacket, covered with orange leaves and sky blue streams.
"Good morning," Zakhar replied.
"Where are you going so early?" Sanli asked Ao, nodding to the still pink sky above them. The men usually rose at this time, but Ao rarely got up before noon on days she did not have to attend the university with Ermi, and today was a rest day.
"I told the little princess I would come to see her. Apparently my lines lack 'authentic emotion', and she insisted we practice the play all day," the humor in Ao's voice was mixed with resignation.
Zakhar chuckled. "I'm glad I'm just the bear."
The four left Wo You Nai, heading through the forest toward Ermi's courtyard. Fallen leaves crisped under their feet.
Kageyama raised his face and breathed deeply. "Winter is coming," he said.
"It was rather cold this morning, wasn't it?" said Sanli.
"It was," agreed Zakhar. "My face was numb when I woke. I'll have to start adding a log before bed now."
"Your face was cold?" Sanli teased. "Even with that mess of fur on it? You really should shave Zakhar." The third prince turned to Ao, and said in a too loud aside. "It may surprise you, but he's actually quite handsome underneath."
Zakhar grunted and took a swipe at Sanli's head, but Ao, walking between them, interrupted them.
"Leave Zakhar be," she said, looking down at her feet, to make sure she was placing her too high shoes carefully on the path. They were not quite as large as the ones she had worn before, but still too tall. "I like his beard. Besides, it is fall. It seems stupid to shave it now. He should wait till after the freezing season is done. Shave it in the spring."
As she spoke, Ao looked up, gathered the end of Zakhar's beard in her hand, and ever so lightly tugged on it.
Zakhar looked down at Ao, surprised. He tugged where her hand had just tugged. "Perhaps I will," he said.
Sanli caught his eye and mouthed 'You're welcome'. Zakhar scowled and looked away.
When they reached Ermi's courtyard, two carved hare statues stood on either side of the gate to greet them, wooden noses pricked as though to smell the visitors who passed between them.
Zakhar looked up to read the characters 養兔場 carved in the wood of the gate. Yang Tu Chang. Rabbit Run.
Ermi truly loved rabbits.
Inside the courtyard was smaller than that of Wo You Nai, but the buildings were more ornamental. In Wo You Nai, the buildings were of simple wood and wattle, and made for practicality. Ermi's courtyard was filled with carved wooden lattice work and red painted plaster. Archways led from the courtyard to different aspects of the garden or residence. Small statues of rabbits hid amongst ferns and plant fronts and around the edges of tiny pools filled with brightly colored fish.
Liang'yi and Ermi were waiting for them on the terrace of the courtyard. Ermi sat on a chair beneath a heap of blankets, a brazier burning nearby and a warm pot of tea by her side. Liang'yi lounged against the rail, dressed in her leather yah'ying outfit, her two swords on her hips.
"Ao-jie!" greeted Ermi, waving Ao to a cushioned chair beside her. "Come sit by me and we can watch them train while we practice."
Ao sat in the chair beside Ermi and pulled a blanket on top of her as a servant stepped forward to serve her tea.
Liang'yi came down the stairs to stand on the dirt of the courtyard with the three men.
"Well, who's first?" the Dachuo asked, fingering the ends of her two swords. "Fox, feeling lucky?"
Kageyama ignored her. "Drills first," he instructed Sanli. The third prince obediently went to a rack in the corner and picked out a long wooden pole.
Zakhar followed, and eventually so did Liang'yi.
"You boys are no fun. Let's get to sparring," said the Dachuo, half heartedly going through the warm up motions beside Zakhar.
"Drills first," repeated Kageyama. He stood beside Sanli. "Sanli, check your feet. They're too far apart."
"They're always too far apart..." muttered Sanli under his breath.
Zakhar followed the well known motions mechanically, swinging the stick around, behind him, using it to block an invisible sword. He focused on his breathing, the tauntness of his muscles, the distance between his feet, all the time very conscious of Ao sitting on the terrace beside Ermi.
"Sanli, now your feet are too close," said Kageyama. Beside him Sanli sighed.
The sound of hoofbeats rang from the entryway. Zakhar finished with the set of motions he was doing and turned to look.
The Second Prince had arrived, and was dismounting. A servant ran forward to take Banli and lead the horse to the stables.
Zhangyu scowled when he saw his uncle. "Why are you training in my sister's courtyard? Don't you have space in your own?" he asked Sanli.
"I was tired of training alone, so I invited them over," said Liang'yi. "Why don't you join us, little prince? We're about to begin sparring."
Zhangyu's eyes slid to Ao, sat on the terrace by his sister with a script before her. "Why not?" he said, undoing the buttons of his jacket as he approached.
The second prince threw his uniform jacket over the banister near his sister and Ao, rolling up the cotton sleeves of his undershirt as he headed to the training rack. He took a pole like the one Zakhar and the others already held, meant to mimic a spear, from the rack. Then he marched to the sparring ring, marked out on the ground of the courtyard with white paint.
Zhangyu smiled at Sanli. "It's been a while since we sparred together, uncle. Shall we?" Sanli hesitated. "Or would you prefer we bouted with swords?"
Sanli glanced at the wooden swords in the training rack, then shrugged. "Why? If your goal is to humiliate me, you can do it much more effectively with a spear."
Zhangyu's smile deepened as Sanli walked to stand before him in the ring.
Zakhar glanced from the two princes to the girls on the terrace. Ermi and Ao sat watching, paper scripts forgotten in their laps.
Liang'yi and Kageyama moved back to stand beside Zakhar. "Your feet are too wide again, Sanli," Kageyama called.
"Yes, thank you Sho Sensei! Your instruction does nothing but instill me with confidence!" the third prince snapped.
Across from him, Zhangyu chuckled. "Say when, uncle," he said.
"When!" said Sanli, lunging at his nephew.
The two men met with a clack of wood. Sanli at first surprised Zhangyu with his quick attack, causing the second prince to take two steps back. But Zhangyu soon recovered, rounding on Sanli and causing the third prince into a defensive stance.
Sanli grunted in pain after he received a sharp wrap to his knuckles while trying to guard against Zhangyu's swing.
"What is he doing guarding like that?" Kageyama said, shaking his head with a sigh.
Zakhar looked to the terrace again. The two women had stood, and Ao leaned on the bannister, eyes eager as she watched the fight.
Zhangyu's attacks came quickly, fast and ruthless, holding nothing back. Sanli was forced to defend, again and again. When Sanli attempted to counter attack, Zhangyu took advantage of the opening created by Sanli's own attack to poke his uncle sharply in the chest, driving the air from his lungs.
"Oof," said Sanli. "Ouch, bloody hell Zhangyu, can't you--" but Sanli's words were lost as he was forced to defend against another of Zhangyu's blows.
The match was over soon after. Zhangyu continued to attack, forcing Sanli back until eventually the third prince stepped out of the ring. Sanli's face was red, either from exertion or embarrassment.
Ermi cheered from the side. "Good job brother!"
Zhangyu wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. The second prince's eyes widened as Ao descended from the terrace and came towards him, red robes swaying.
"You are very talented, my prince," Ao said, stopping before Zhangyu. She watched the Second prince much as a predator watches its prey. "Where did you learn?"
"Kageyama Sensei taught me the sword, and some of the spear. The rest I learned from northmen," Zhangyu replied, warily. The second prince could see the predatory glint in Ao's eyes.
"Hmm," said Ao. A smile quirked her red lips, and Zakhar suddenly thought of that night, at the brothel, when she had beat the drunken man senseless.
Ao tapped her chin and tilted her head, looking the second prince over from head to toe. "My dear Prince Zhangyu... won't you give me a match?"
*~*~*~*~*~*
Author's note HERE!