張牙舞爪
zhāngyá-wǔzhǎo
Bare fangs and brandish claws.
Make threatening gestures to intimidate an enemy.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Over the next few days I remained at 'Rabbit Run' with Ermi, doing little.
I kept expecting one of the men to ride into the courtyard looking for me. Zakhar, or Sanli or maybe even Zhangyu. Probably not Kageyama.
No one came however.
I quickly fell into routine with Ermi. We would rise late, as there was no class while students prepared for the end of term. We would study, or rather Ermi would study, while I would read about wild wolves and their mistresses, or whatever other romance I found stashed behind Ermi's university books on her shelves.
"You should study for our history exam Ao-jie. I was speaking with a second year the other day who said he failed it three times."
I snorted. "I have already studied plenty, princess." I had lived through most of history, and taken part in some of it.
After studying we would eat and go for a walk near Ermi's courtyard to admire the falling leaves. We would return for an early dinner, and then sit and talk and eat sweet treats late into the night with Liang'yi.
Then we would sleep, and rise the next morning to do it all over.
I enjoyed my time with Ermi. But I felt lost.
It's time to go, I thought. I had been here too long. I did not stay with the hope of reconciliation. After what had happened, I doubt Sanli still had any desire to free me of Yan's seals. He was probably afraid of what I would do if free.
I'll be stuck this way forever.
The disappointment I felt made me realize I had begun to hope, begun to believe that Sanli really could do what he said he would.
I was a fool to hope.
I had stayed with Ermi a little over five days when a runner in green livery ran into the princess's courtyard.
"The Lord Regent has returned!" The boy shouted to the courtyard outside the window. "And with him a Princess of the West! She requests permission to call upon Princess Ermi."
Outside the servants of Ermi's courtyard immediately started bustling around, making ready to receive guests of such prestige.
"I've never met another princess before," said Ermi, hurriedly closing the book she had been reading and putting it to the side. "Would you stay with me Ao-jie, when she comes? I'm too nervous."
"You have Liang'yi," I said, nodding to the rabbit, who was lounging on the sofa, dozing away a hangover.
"I'd-I'd feel better if you were here," replied Ermi.
I sighed, and debated it. I had intended to be gone by the time Sanli's older brother returned with the Western Princess, so as to avoid any contact with the tigress. But it was too late now. And I did not want to deny Ermi, not when she looked quite so pale.
I had never met Baihu's daughter, in any of my forms, so she would not know me. And Baihu rarely employed other mu'ren as guards or servants, so there was little chance of another long lived mu'ren accompanying her daughter who might know my human form.
And I doubted Baihu herself could recognize me, as I was now.
"I will stay, princess."
Ermi sighed with relief, and let her servants lead her off to her dressing room.
I went to my own small room, that I had been using to dress in while staying with Ermi, and dressed myself humbly, in robes of pale green, so I would blend in with the other servants. Then I did my hair and makeup, again simply, and went to see how Ermi's preparation was going.
Ermi sat in her formal robes, in all different shades of green, looking like a wooded hillside. The silks flowed out around her body like the contours of some mountain. I was reminded of the Midsummer Banquet, when she had looked like a bright red sea flower in her gown.
Hair pins of gold and jade jangled in the princess's hair, and her make up was equally ostentatious, with long lines drawn on the corner of Ermi's eyes to make her eyelashes appear longer.
She looked ridiculous. I wanted my plain-faced little princess back.
"How do I look Ao-jie?" Ermi asked, seeing me enter the room in her mirror.
"Lovely, princess. Do not twist your dress so, or the material will wrinkle."
Ermi's hands let go of the section of her dress she had been wringing, as if to extract water like a washerwoman. "I- I can't help it. I am rather nervous. What if I say the wrong thing, and cause her to become angry?"
If the daughter was anything like the mother, that was a possibility. "Just be yourself, princess. Everything will be fine."
"I thought you told me to wear a mask, like my brother?"
Hmmm. I did say that. "Ignore what I said before. Be yourself. No one could get angry with you."
Ermi smiled and blushed happily. "I will then."
At that moment, servants came to announce that our visitor was waiting in the reception hall.
Ermi swallowed and stood, the hills and valleys of her robes collapsing around her.
Head held high, she turned and followed the servant, Liang'yi and I several steps behind her.
"Why are you still here, Noodles?" Liang'yi asked as I fell into step beside her. "Did the Third Prince finally tire of you?"
"I tired of him," I shot back, keeping my eyes on Ermi's nervous form ahead of us.
Liang'yi snorted. "You couldn't handle a little competition, eh? Even from a nun?"
"Shut up, rabbit."
We entered the reception hall then, and were forced to fall silent.
The reception hall of Rabbit's Run was not really a hall, compared to some of the majestic rooms in other courtyards of the Valley, but it was the largest room of the princess' courtyard, and so received that role by default. Old furniture of a carved and polished dark wood filled the space, to lend a gravitas that the otherwise plain room did not have.
At the end of the hall was a raised platform, built of bricks and ceramic tiles, under which wood could be burned to produce warmth. A kang, the construct was called, and I suddenly had a memory of being curled in blankets atop one, while Lu read in a chair nearby.
"Call the servants for more wood," I demanded of him.
Lu chuckled. "It is already so warm I can smell the blankets singing. You will cook yourself and my fine Dayang blankets as well."
I shivered, teeth chattering. "This is the last winter I spend with you."
Lu turned a page of his book. "You are dramatic. It is not so cold here, really. But if you want, we can winter in Zhanghai next year."
I smiled at the memory.
The hall was filled with the two princess's servants. Ermi's servants, dressed in pale greens as I was, stood to one side, women of all heights and ages. On the other side of the hall stood quiet rows of tall elegant women dressed in white, accented with pale blues and purples that were popular in the west. At first I thought them ladies in their own right because of their height and beauty, but they all kept their eyes cast down respectfully, and I realized they were simply servants.
On the raised kang, atop one of the pillows, Baihu's daughter herself lounged, studying the room around her.
The tigress was pretty, with long dark brown hair falling down her back, and soft brown skin, the color of carmeled sugar. She had the look of her mother, of someone from the south west. From the lands where the sun was hot and jungles grew close and spices scented the warm night air.
The Dahu's age appeared to not be much more than Ermi, but I knew that she was probably at least two centuries old. The woman's eyes, when she turned them toward us, were bright, and laughing, and a gold color too close to the metal itself to belong to a human.
There were other tale-tell signs that the woman was not human. Her dress for one. Despite the chill of the season the Dahu wore a light white gown without sleeves, that opened at that side and exposed muscled legs and thighs. The princess's legs ended in shoes that were fitted with a tall, impossibly sharp metal point at the heel, designed to elevate the wearer's heel and increase overall height. The shoes would require practice and an acute sense of balance to walk in.
Hmph. The dress was indecent even by my standards, and the shoes thoroughly impractical.
Around the Dahu's neck countless golden chains hung, the links so fine they were lost to sight. They flowed like a golden waterfall down her chest, following the ample swell of her breasts. More gold coated her fingers. Each of the Dahu's nails tapered to an impossible fine golden point, like claws. I looked closer, and realized that on each finger she wore a long golden nail guard, similar to the talons Lady Lu wore.
Along with Dalong, my kind, Dahu were some of the most feared mu'ren, and for good reason. Their strength and ferocity were legend, as was their temper. It was said that if you wanted to anger a dragon you stole from it, while a tiger would anger if you simply didn't give it what it wanted.
My spine prickled with danger, as I realized this was a Dahu before me. And not only that. She was the child of the woman I had been enemies with for generations.
She will not know you, I reminded myself. I had been made human long before she had been born.
As we entered the room, the Dahu's flashing gold eyes turned to Ermi, and she smiled a smile filled with perfect white teeth. "Ah, Princess Ermi. I thank a thousand stars to be able to meet you at last. Your brother told me much of you as we traveled here."
I recalled that Zhangyu had said he would travel to meet his uncle at the border. He had met the princess already then, I gathered.
Ermi curtsied nervously. "You as well, Princess of the White Peaks. Welcome to my humble home."
The Dahu laughed. "Oh, no need to rest on formalities. You may call me by my pet name, as my brothers do. It's Sita."
Ermi's eyebrows perked. "Oh, what an interesting pronunciation. How do you write it in the old language?" Ermi stopped before the kang, her nervousness forgotten in her interest.
The Dahu smiled. "Oh we don't place as much weight on the old language in the west as you do here. I don't have an old spelling I commonly use. Perhaps you can help me pick out some characters."
The Dahu's words were friendly, but her tone was not. It was patient, and patronizing, as though dealing with Ermi was something beneath her, but something she must subject herself to all the same.
"Oh. Yes, I could do that," said Ermi, clasping her hands together tightly, suddenly self conscious again.
The Dahu's eyes studied Ermi as a cat would a mouse, observing the princess's nervously twisting hands.
The tiger's smile widened slightly, revealing teeth too long and sharp to be human.
"Come Princess, sit beside me, and let us get to know one another," the Dahu said, gesturing to the kang beside her as though she were the host. "I have something for you."
Ermi obediently sat on a cushion beside the Dahu. Liang'yi and I both moved to stand behind the kang, as close as possible without actually mounting it.
The tension in Liang'yi's shoulders looked out of place on the usually easy going Dachuo.
The Dahu gestured to one of her servants stood to one side, and the womanhurried forward with a leather wrapped bundle in her arms.
"I heard you like rabbits, so I bought you a present," the Dahu said, taking the bundle and passing it to Ermi.
Tentatively, Ermi took it, and at the tigress's insistence, unwrapped the package.
A cape of white fur fell onto Ermi's knees. I knew without touching it that it would be incredibly soft, and pleasantly heavy around the shoulders. A beautiful gift.
"It is made from the pelts of over 40 mountain hares. If you hunt them in the summer, their fur is brown like any other rabbit. But if you hunt in the winter, their pelts are white as snow," the Dahu princess explained proudly.
I suspected she had done some of the hunting. Tigers took great pride in their hunting skill.
Ermi looked aghast. Beside me Liang'yi swallowed nervously.
"It- it is beautiful, Princess Sita, but- but I cannot wear it." Ermi stuttered.
The Dahu's smile never changed, but her eyes sharpened, and I saw just how predatory her expression really was.
"You would refuse a present I have given you?" The Dahu said, her voice deceptively light. "On our first meeting?"
I tensed. Out of the corner of my I saw Liang'yi's hand creep slowly closer to her sword.
Ermi, for all her naïveté, managed to sense the situation. "I... n-no. I just, it's rather warm today. I think I will wait to wear it once it snows. It will look lovely over my winter robes."
The Dahu studied Ermi's face, a dangerous smile playing about her lips. "Of course."
*~*~*~*~*~*
A runner arrived shortly after, to announce that a banquet welcoming Princess Sita had been prepared at Lady Lu's residence.
We made our way to the courtyard, where Princess Sita's carriage waited, drawn by four white horses. It was made of dark wood, practical in construction rather than ornamental. The corners were all edged in metal, for protection and durability.
On the door, roaring bronze tiger heads were affixed.
Ermi went to order her own carriage but the Dahu stopped her.
"No need, we can ride in my carriage, Princess," said the Dahu. "It can comfortably seat four."
A servant opened the carriage door, and we filed inside.
I found myself sitting on the bench, directly across from the Dahu.
"And who is this?" the tiger princess asked, golden eyes studying me. She crossed her legs, her dress shifting to expose one long slender brown leg, tipped with a sharp heeled shoe.
Before Ermi could introduce me, I quickly introduced myself. "I am called Yunyou, my lady. I am Princess Ermi's companion."
"We- we go to school together," said Ermi bravely. "I just started at the university this—"
The tigress ignored Ermi's words, and instead turned to look at Liang'yi, her interest in me already gone. "And you? You are Dachuo, are you not?"
"I am the princess's yah'ying," Liang'yi said firmly.
The Dahu chortled. "A Dachuo as a yah'ying?" she said, addressing Ermi, rather than Liang'yi. "How adorable. I wonder how you found one. It is rare for Dachuo to train in fighting arts, is it not?
"Not so rare," started Liang'yi. "I learned from my fath—"
"I was not speaking to you." The flash in the tigress's eyes stilled even Liang'yi's free tongue.
I felt the hairs on my arms prickle.
"Do- who is your yah'ying?" Ermi asked quickly, trying to alleviate the tension.
The tigress laughed again. "Oh little princess. I am a Dahu. What need do I have for a yah'ying?"
The carriage clattered under the arch of Lady Lu's courtyard, and pulled up to the stairs. We all got out and ascended the long flight to the decorative entrance of the main pavilion. The Dahu princess led the way, the metal heeled shoes she wore cIanging and clacking on the stone steps.
I briefly thought back to when I had arrived here in the valley a few months ago, and climbed these steps to meet Lady Lu for the first time.
I was apprehensive again this time, but it was not because of Lady Lu.
Inside the hall, places had been set only for the main family members, all of whom were already sitting. Lady Lu sat at the end of the hall, in the place of honor, and to her right sat a man of around sixty who I did not recognize.
That must be Xiangli, the current Regent, I realized. Sanli's older brother.
The man had a square shaped face, and was rather plain, compared to the other handsome male members of his family. His clothes were ornate, and instead of greens he wore reds and purples. His hands were covered with rings of gold, far more than a man should wear.
Beside him, head bowed humbly at her place, a woman I took to be his wife sat. She had been beautiful in her youth. But age had worn most of the beauty away, and now the most remarkable thing about her was the ostentatious number of hairpins she wore in her overly elaborate hair.
The woman's dress was dark blue, and I caught sight of the character stitched in gold at the sleeves. 王, Wang. The woman was a member of the Wang family, also known as the Dashu, or Great Rat clan. A human, most likely adopted into the clan as a child, to be used for the purpose of political marriages, such as the one she had made with Sanli's older brother.
There was a saying among humans and mu'ren alike: never trust a rat.
Beside his mother, Xiangwu sat. Xiao Qingxi was absent today, and the hall was noticeably quiet in her absence.
Across from Xiangwu, Zhangyu and his witch of a mother sat, with their half brother, Sanyu, beside them. And beside Zhangyu and Erli...
...was Sanli. The little prince was wearing his black military uniform. A single button of the collar was undone, as though he had dressed carelessly.
I smiled. It felt an age since I had seen him. I was glad to see that his lip had healed completely.
As we entered Sanli looked determinedly away from me. I could not help but notice the dark shadows beneath his eyes. He has not been sleeping again.
I looked around for Kageyama, and caught sight of him, standing in the shadows to one side. He too seemed determined not to look at me.
Liang'yi and I also moved to stand back, with the other servants and guards. Ermi took her spot beside her mother, while the tigress ascended to sit on Lady Lu's left with a confident stride.
"Welcome, Princess of the White Peaks, to my home," the man, Regent Xiangli, said. His voice was deep, like his son's, but unlike his son's, it boomed loudly, suggesting that he thought himself and what he had to say so grand, all needed to hear it.
"Please, allow me to introduce my honorable mother," Xiangli continued, with a gesture to Lady Lu sat beside him. The old woman looked older than when I had seen her last, a few months earlier. Lady Lu bowed, and the Dahu princess responded with an equally deep curtsy.
"It is my honor to welcome you to our Valley—" Lady Lu began one of her long monologues. But the Dahu princess cut her off, causing the old woman's eyes to bug.
"Which one of these handsome gentlemen is your son, Lord Xiangli?" The tigress enquired, her golden eyes shifting from Xiangwu, to Zhangyu to Sanli.
I noticed they lingered on Sanli the longest. Behind me in the shadows, I felt Kageyama stir.
Xiangwu stood and introduced himself. I saw the way the tigress's eyes studied him, before she sat in the place of honor on Lady Lu's left side.
She is not just here to sign an alliance treaty, I realized.
"Shall we eat?" spoke up Lady Wang, beside her husband.
Servants came and placed food onto the lacquer trays set out before each diner. Standing to the side and watching, my stomach rumbled.
"I hate when they do these formal banquets and we have to stand around like furniture," muttered Liang'yi beside me. I heard her stomach, equally loud.
The main dishes were cleared away, and dessert was served. I was jealous to see bowls of shaking white almond pudding set on the trays.
Talk finally began. "How is the fall play coming along, Little Rabbit?" Lady Wang asked Ermi, breaking the painfully silent atmosphere. I noticed the hateful look Erli shot her sister-in-law.
"Fall play?" inquired Princess Sita.
"It is a family tradition, to put on a play, every autumn," said Ermi excitedly. "This year, I wrote it. It is about Xiyu, and her quest to free her lover Liu Zhua. If you will be staying with us some time, perhaps you can see it!"
The tigress looked at Ermi patiently, as though the princess were an imbecile. "It seems it is different here, in the east. But in the west, the Sixth God is not so romantically portrayed. She caused the deaths of thousands, after all."
I clenched my hands at my sides.
Ermi looked crestfallen. The Dahu continued. "Surely, even here it is well known that my mother and the Sixth God were enemies? I am somewhat offended that you would even suggest I watch such a play."
"Please excuse my sister," said Zhangyu, quickly. "She is young, and unfamiliar with much of the history of our empire."
The Dahu's eyes swung to Zhangyu. A pleasurable smile played about her lips. "All is forgiven, Prince Zhangyu."
The Dahu's eyes moved to Sanli, beside Zhangyu. "And who are you?"
"That is my younger brother," said Xiangli hurriedly. "My half brother, rather."
Sanli looked up from the tea cup clutched between his hands, which had held his attention.
"Half brother?" said Sita, sharp golden eyes cutting across Sanli's face and features. "Ah. A bastard brother."
Sanli's shoulders stiffened at the hated word. At her place, Erli snorted.
Xiangli began speaking quickly. "Princess, perhaps it would interest you during your stay with us to travel up to the temple where our ancestor—"
The Dahu raised a hand and the regent instantly fell silent. For a man in a position of power, Xiangli seemed accustomed to taking instruction.
I wondered if it was his wife or his mother whom he obeyed. Perhaps both.
"In truth, Lord Xiangli, charming as your kingdom is, I do not intend to stay long. I came only to cement our alliance more firmly." As the Dahu spoke, her eyes traced once again over the three princes before her.
I thought of a golden-eyed tiger, who, coming upon a herd of deer in a meadow, crouches and decides which to pursue.
I knew what was coming next.
"You have offered me your son's hand in marriage," the Dahu princess said, rising and going to stand before Xiangwu.
Xiangwu looked up, shocked. It was clear this was the first the man had heard of such a proposal.
"I— I had a wife," Xiangwu began.
"Had a wife," the Dahu repeated, mercilessly. "She is dead, is she not?"
"I have a daughter—"
"Not an issue. She may come with us to the Mountain. Or stay here."
"I don't, I can't—" Xiangwu stuttered, looking horrified.
The Dahu's mouth twisted in a smile.
She leaned down, patting the first prince's cheek as one would a fretting child. "Not to worry, little prince. I know you have responsibilities here. If you are unwilling, I will not force you."
The currents of the great hall, the emotions and thoughts and wants flowing off those assembled seemed to pool and swirl around the ugly carved pillars, thick as water, as the Dahu princess turned and went to stand before Sanli.
"You are a very handsome man," she told him.
Sanli looked up at her coolly.
"What do you say, prince? Marry me, come with me to the Mountain. I will treat you like a king, not an unwanted bastard as those here do."
Sanli calmly took a sip of his tea, eyes down as he thought.
I took a step forward. Liang'yi grabbed my arm.
"What are you doing?" she hissed. "Don't interfere. This is not something those like us have a say in."
"Well, little prince?" the Dahu said, placing a long nailed finger under Sanli's chin and forcing him to look up at her.
I twisted out of Liang'yi's grip.
"Don't—" I heard Kageyama say and start forward behind me.
I didn't care. I stepped out of the shadows.
"You're hunting awfully far afield," I said as I strode forward, head high. "Does your mother know you're here, poaching humans in another god's realm?"
For a second the silence in the hall was so deep it was painful. Then it was broken by Erli's smug chuckle.
"Excuse me?" the tigress said. She stood from Sanli, her golden eyes snapping to me.
I approached her, stopping so close the Dahu was forced to take a step back. She was near a head taller than me, but I glared up at her as though she were a child beneath my knees. "Your mother. Does she know you are here? Shall I tell her?"
The tigress studied me carefully, looking at me as though I had gone mad.
Perhaps I had.
"Who are you again?" she asked disdainfully.
"I am nobody," I said.
"I see," said the Dahu calmly.
Suddenly pain lanced through my face. I heard Ermi and several other members of the hall gasp.
The Dahu had reached out and sunk her long golden claws into my cheeks. Blood pooled from the claw cuts and ran down my skin, dribbling onto my chest and the front of my dress like a rain of warm, sticky red.
"Ao—" blurted Sanli, standing, but I gestured for him to stay still.
The tigress pulled me closer, smiling into my face. "How will you tell my mother, no-body, if you have no-mouth?"
The Dahu sunk her claws deeper into my cheeks, and I realized she meant to rip them apart, shredding the soft skin to useless flaps, and destroying the shape of my mouth in the process.
My stomach turned. It took all the strength of my years, all the pain I had experienced in my life, to keep my tongue still. To not cry out.
As best I could, with the tiger's golden claws in my jaw, I smiled back.
Despite the pain and my own demise staring me in the face, I smiled. I poured all of my confidence, all of the old arrogance I hadn't let myself feel in so long into that smile.
There had been a time, after all, when I could have removed this woman's head with a flick of my hand.
The tiger princess stared back at me, puzzled by my reaction to her threat. I held her wild golden eyes as I reached out a hand to the arm that was grabbing my face.
Gently I closed my fingers around her wrist, letting the fingers tap softly against the bare skin of her arm. All of them. One...by...one.
For a second the woman didn't understand the significance of my gesture. Then I saw realization hit her as she counted. Her eyes swung from my face to my hand and she sprang backwards as if burned, hissing.
"You!" she snarled. She made as if to lunge forward, then hesitated, fingers flexing like a cat's claws. A few drops of my blood fell to the floor from her long golden nail guards. I could almost see the hair raised on her neck.
I wonder what her mother had told her of me to make her hesitate. Something horrible hopefully.
I was bluffing, of course. There was no way I could stand against a Dahu as I was, even a young one. But the bluff was all I had.
I smiled wider, the blood running down my face and chest and soaking into the low neckline of my gown. I hoped I looked a terrible sight.
I must have, because with a final snarl, the Dahu turned and strode towards the door.
"We can resume negotiations when THAT THING is no longer here," she spit over one shoulder, her metal shoes clacking across the hall as she left.
I suppose she meant me. How rude.
The family, the servants, all in the hall watched her go. Then their eyes swung to me. Various degrees of shock and horror showed on the faces around me. Ermi had both hands clutched to her mouth.
"Ao, why did you do that?" said Sanli softly behind me. I felt his hand on my shoulder.
I ignored Sanli, shrugging off his hand, then laughed, picking up a bowl of smooth white pudding from the tigress's abandoned tray.
"She didn't have her dessert."
I lifted a spoon of the white delicacy to my mouth. The cool sweet taste of almond melted with the twang of copper leaking from my damaged cheeks.
"What a waste," I said, scooping another spoonful.
Then, before I could take a bite, the great hall spun around me and I fell backwards into darkness.
*~*~*~*~*~*