Page 49 of Song of the Crimson Flower

“Do not deploy those unless I say so, my lord,” Commander Wei warned, nodding at the sack. “We attack only under provocation.”

Lady Yen stepped forward, her eyes darting between the two men. She twisted the hem of her simple gray tunic. “Please be careful,” she begged. “Don’t endanger yourselves. I don’t know what I would do if anything happened.”

Lord Nguyen looked at her, touched. “You worry for me that much?”

But even as he spoke, Lady Yen came close to the Commander and slipped her hand into his, turning to look at the nobleman as she did so. “I respect and admire you, Lord Nguyen,” Lady Yen said gently. “I believe you are a good man, and I am proud to know you. So I do worry for you.But I worry for others as well. A rash action on your part may put them in jeopardy.”

“I see,” Lord Nguyen said, his eyes on their joined hands. He pressed his lips together and looked away, back toward the Gray City guards outside the gate. Lady Yen began to say something else, perhaps to apologize, but he waved her words away with an impatient hand. Averting his eyes from her and the Commander, he allowed one of the Imperial soldiers to help him onto his horse. “Come, let us be off and deal with these people once and for all.”

Without another word, Commander Wei released Lady Yen’s hand and mounted his stallion. One of the soldiers offered Bao his hand, and he took it with a backward glance at Lan, swinging onto the war horse as it rode out toward the gates. Lan and Lady Yen followed close behind, standing at the gates as the group faced the enemy.

The guards of the Gray City rode steel-colored horses and wore matching iron-hued tunics and pants with a simple emblem that Bao recognized: a crimson flower with a sprinkling of leaves around its stem. The men and women did not look nearly as impressive as Commander Wei’s soldiers, who were large and fearsomely trained, but the intensity in their expressions frightened Bao. He remembered that fierce, maniacal conviction in his own mother’s eyes when he had spoken to her last.

The leader of the honor guard had a face like stone and a terrible, dark red scar that stretched across his face from his left eyebrow to his right cheek. “Do I address Commander Wei of the Great Forest and Lord Nguyen of the Sacred Grasslands?” the man asked crisply, and the Commander gave a single nod. “I am Captain Quang. Mistress Vy sent me to fetch her son.”

Bao lifted his chin. “I am Mistress Vy’s son,” he said, trying to keep his voice from shaking. “And I am ready to go with you.”

“And I’m going with him, as his companion on this journey,” Lan said firmly.

Captain Quang’s eyes skittered over her and landed on Lord Nguyen. “My lady also commands that you accompany her son back to the city, my lord. You would be a most honored guest,” he said, baring a feral smile that must have hurt because of his wound. “I’m afraid you have no choice but to accept her generous invitation.”

“Yet I beg to differ,” Lord Nguyen said, tipping his head to one side. “I don’t think your lady quite has the power to command me just yet. And I have refused her many times.”

“Lord Nguyen has made his stance clear to your lady,” Commander Wei spoke coldly. “There is no need to bring him into this matter again. His answer will not change.”

Captain Quang’s steely glare swept him from head to toe. “Interesting to see a great warrior lowering himself to be some pompous aristocrat’s secretary,” he said.

The Commander remained composed. “Take Vy’s son to her, and that will be that.”

“No, Commander,” the captain said, laughing. “That willnotbe that. We know you have three armies gathering before the walls of our city. They come from the Great Forest, from the Sacred Grasslands, and from Dagovad.” His eyes moved to Wren, who fixed him with a stare that Bao was surprised did not strike him dead on the spot. “Or should I say four armies? I see you have a woman of the Crimson Army with you.”

“And you’ll have more before the sun rises,” Wren growled.

Captain Quang turned back to Lord Nguyen. “You are in high favor with the king of the Sacred Grasslands, and respected by all of the rulers of Feng Lu,” he said. “Mistress Vy wantsyouto lead the negotiations. She is willing to compromise...”

Wren let out a huge snort, and Bao couldn’t help but agree with her.

The captain’s nostrils flared, but he continued speaking in a calm voice. “She is willing to compromise as long as you, Lord Nguyen, will give your word that the armies will not attack.”

“You willnothave my word,” the nobleman said, holding his head high. “Mistress Vy has had many opportunities to negotiate, and she has turned them all down. I don’t see any point in coming, and even if I did, I would only advise her to surrender before subjecting her people to violence. She should give in to the peaceable request of the Great Forest, Dagovad, and the Sacred Grasslands, and forfeit this nightmarish formula of hers.”

“Peaceable request?” Captain Quang laughed again, and his men joined in. “You call the forces of three kingdoms converging upon our city apeaceablerequest? Nobleman or not, you aren’t cut out for diplomacy or subtlety, are you?”

“She has been given many chances before,” Lord Nguyen said again. “Don’t pretend you are victims of senseless violence when Mistress Vy has been warned to stop producing her drugs for years, but refused to desist. It is long past time for negotiations. You have no hold on me.”

The captain quirked his eyebrow. “No hold, you say? She knows Commander Wei is here to deliver your bride. I assume that is the fortunate lady there.” He raised his right arm, and behind him, one of the guards lifted a crossbow to his shoulder and took aim. He was pointing straight toward Lady Yen, standing by the gates with Lan.

“No!” Bao shouted, leaping off the horse.

The crossbow fired, but the lethally sharp arrow did not hit Lan. It grazed Lady Yen’s upper arm and embedded itself in the cobblestones behind her. Crying out in pain, the noblewoman sank to the ground as Bao and Lan hurried over to her. Commander Wei spun in his saddle,his eyes furious and desperate as he yanked out his sword in a great shrieking of metal. All around him, the Imperial soldiers did the same.

“My man is not going to miss next time,” Captain Quang said, smirking at Lord Nguyen.

“No, my lord!” Commander Wei yelled, as the nobleman made a quick movement. “Don’t do—”

But no sooner had the words left his mouth than a massive explosion erupted, sending rubble and shrapnel everywhere. Lord Nguyen had plucked a small bomb from his sack and thrown it directly at Captain Quang. Horses screamed and men collapsed, and Bao threw himself and the Commander’s cloak protectively over Lan and Lady Yen, his ears ringing from the loud noise. His eyes stung from the dirt, and his nostrils burned with the smell of fire and blood. Lan was lifting her head, her gaze frantic and her lips moving, but Bao couldn’t hear a single word.

Pandemonium had broken out around them. Through the ringing in his ears, he detected the sound of metal clashing and felt sick, disoriented, and deathly cold.Focus, he told himself sternly, ripping off cloth from the hem of his tunic and wrapping it tightly around Lady Yen’s arm. It was bleeding profusely, but it was only a surface wound and had not pierced any muscle. He looked into her white face and tried to be reassuring, but the ground was tilting beneath him.

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