Shades of the Silent: Jewel of the Mountains

[aithne]

4/10/1221

Lhasa was three weeks or so away, and we made good time as the weather improved. One evening, I went for a walk, to talk with Ahmad. "Ever heard of a woman named Jaida?" I asked.

"No, not really. Why?"

"We're traveling with her and her people at the moment. Hm. Ever heard of a copper dragon named Sabur?"

Ahmad chuckled. "Oh, yes, indeed I have. Sabur's old, but still mischievous. In his youth, he had a very devil-may-care attitude, and he's still got a reputation as a flirt. Dragons were hunted for sport, and coppers live relatively close to human civilization. He may be one of the last coppers left in the world. On the whole, Sabur will do something when he agrees to it, but you have to get him to say he will. Otherwise, you may assume that he agreed but won't do whatever it was."

"Interesting. Jaida said that he was hard to convince to come along. Wonder what she promised him."

"Something rather large, I would suspect. If he is one of the last coppers out there, he won't risk his life freely."

I chuckled. "Maybe I'll ask him, later. when I met him before, he did seem pretty settled into his territory. Not really sure about this Jaida, but we're going to be traveling together for a few weeks." I didn't know her or her people nearly well enough for trust, and I was going to be sleeping lightly for the next few weeks.

"That's fine with me. Shouldn't be a problem, I don't think."

"If nothing else, her folks might come in handy if Lhasa turns out to be a trap," I said, and stretched. "Speaking of, I should be getting back."

As we traveled into the mountains, the weather got colder, and there was some snow on the ground, still. Two weeks out from Kashi, we reached a town we learned was called Ngari. The day we arrived, there was a brisk wind whipping through town, but it held none of winter's bite and the snow on the ground was melting to reveal green spring grass beneath. We were met with some apprehension, but no more than we'd expected.

There hadn't been much between Kashi and here, and we needed to resupply. "We'll stay the night here," I said, turning to face those behind me. "We can resupply, have a meal, rest the horses." The others agreed; Jaida's team was still looking a bit the worse for wear. We found a place just outside of town to camp, and a couple of Jaida's warriors helped Temur set up a camp and get a fire going while the rest of us went into town.

Sacha and I went to get the prosaic supplies we needed--salt and grain, leather to repair tack, a goat to vary our diet which had mostly consisted of small game on this leg of the journey. Zayd left with a mage from Jaida's group, to go find his own supplies and a few for me, and Nomolun went with a couple of priests to find her supplies. It was a very colorful city, bright banners inscribed with text I could not read flapping in the breeze. Red and blue were much-favored colors to paint things, it seemed.

There were several places that looked like monasteries in town, and there were many robed monks around, begging on the street or walking from place to place, engaging in conversation with the citizenry. Everyone treated the monks with reverence; religion seemed to be quite important to these people. As Sacha and I wandered the market, I saw Nomolun engaged in animated conversation with several monks, her eyes bright with interest.

Once Sacha and I had finished with the market and returned to the camp, we stowed what we'd bought and helped secure the picket line for the horses. The horses were, in my opinion, mostly poor specimens, being some of the few Kashi had had left after the wolves. They didn't have nearly the endurance of our own horses, and their temperaments weren't the best. Temur and I were working with them, hoping to improve them a bit before we parted from Jaida's group, but I rather thought we'd be recommending that they replace them as soon as they could.

Zayd and the mage he'd wandered off with--Layla, that was her name--came back, and he caught my eye and waved me over as he set down the sacks he was carrying. "Yesui, you should come with me when you have a minute. Ran into a monk from the Tholing Monastery south of here that tells an interesting tale."

I grinned. "Sure, I'm pretty much done here. Let's go." Zayd stashed the sacks with his tack, and we walked away from the camp.

When we were out of earshot, he let out a gusty sigh. "Whew, thanks, that one is going to drive me crazy."

I raised an eyebrow. "She seems nice enough, what's wrong with her?"

"Let's put it this way. If she got any friendlier, there would be three of us in bed together."

Come to think of it, I had noticed her sort of following Zayd around. I didn't feel any particular jealousy, just amusement. "Heh. I don't really fancy sharing my bed with another woman. Not tempted, Zayd?" She was pretty, after all.

"Nope, needy," he said, and shrugged.

I almost decided to ask him more about it, then thought better of the idea. I said only, "Ah, one of those. So where's this monk?"

"Down here. His name is Wada." We passed into town, and Zayd led me down several narrow streets to an orange-robed monk sitting cross-legged on the ground, bowl in front of him. His face was a little lined with wind and sun, but I couldn't have said how old he was for sure. All of these monks seemed to have a timelessness about them. Maybe it was the shaved heads.

Zayd said to the monk, "Wada, can you tell Yesui the same thing you told me?" It suddenly occurred to me to wonder why Zayd had started talking to a monk in the first place, but now was not the time to ask.

Wada smiled. "Yesui, pleasing to the eye, good to meet you."

Weren't monks supposed to not notice those sort of things? I blinked, then recovered and said, "Good to meet you as well, Wada."

"I am a monk for the Tholing Monastery. We come to Ngari to get offerings for our temple. It is a short walk from there to here but we have an extensive library that Zayd said you might wish to see, but he was particularly interested in the ruins of the Guge kingdom. The kingdom fell just twenty-five years ago. The people all laid down and died in the streets. Plague, they all thought, but monks know different. Kamil, they called him. He came and left them to die in the streets."

Zayd glanced at me. "Interesting, no?"

"Interesting, indeed. I would like to see this library, and the ruins."

"Tomorrow or tonight?" he asked.

I thought about it, and glanced at the sky. "Tonight, I think, at least we may be able to tell if we need to come back in the morning. Shall we go back and let the others know where we're going?"

Zayd inclined his head towards Wada. "Wada was insistent that he couldn't leave to guide us there until he made his keep for the day. Got a few coins to persuade him to leave early?"

"I do indeed," I said, digging into my pocket and pulling out four coins, left over from resupplying earlier in the day.

"Come on Wada, let's go back to the monastery," Zayd said, and silently the monk unfolded his legs and got up to follow us.

We went back to the camp. Temur elected to stay behind, as did Jaida's group (I thought for a moment that Layla was going to ask to come, then saw her look at me and reconsider. I was good and didn't laugh, or even smile), and Sacha and Nomolun came with us. We would go to the ruins while there was still light, and then to the monastery.

It was about fifteen miles to the ruins, and fortunately we got there with plenty of light to spare. The wind out here was more insistent, tugging at our sleeves, kicking up dust in the streets. The buildings were old, but most of them were still standing. Roofs had fallen in or rotted away, but that was the only real damage to the buildings.

The strange part was the things that had been dropped in the streets.

Bundles of rotting fabric. Tattered baskets. Children's toys. A bundle of firewood. There were no human bones as far as I could tell, but there were animal bones everywhere, gnawed and sun-bleached. It was as if the whole town had simply laid down and died where they had stood. I turned to Wada. "Wada, you said Kamil came here? Do you know what happened while he was here?"

The monk nodded. "Yes, he did. He carried a candle through the town and they all laid down. For days they laid there, not moving, not caring, until they died of dehydration. We tried to keep some alive but they had lost the will to live."

"Do you know if he stayed here at all, or if he was just passing through?"

"He came through, he was on his way to Lhasa, but he never made it, because the Dalai still reigns."

I blinked, wondering why the monk had just spoken Mongolian, and then realized that he was not referring to dalai, the ocean, but the Dalai Lama, the monk who ran this country. We had heard the name in Ngari, always spoken with reverence. He was more often called Gyalwa Rinpoche, which I gathered meant something like "treasured conqueror", though that didn't make a lot of sense. After all, this country had surrendered to my father the great Khan when he had come here, over fifteen years ago now. There had been barely a fight, and in return for their cooperation my father allowed them to govern themselves and take care of their own affairs.

This country in general occasionally didn't make a lot of sense, but the entire place was mad for religion, which had much to do with it. "The Dalai--Gyalwa Rinpoche, correct? He stopped Kamil?"

"Gyalwa Rinpoche is quite powerful," Wada said, as if that statement explained everything.

"He'd have to have been. Are there any stories about where Kamil went after he didn't manage to get to Lhasa?"

The monk shook his head. "The Dalai would know. That is all I know about it."

"Ah. Well, I'll look around a bit, see what's still to see after twenty-five years." We did so, coming up with not much but a notable absence--shelves for books and scrolls in the royal house, but no evidence of even rotted remains of parchment. "Wada, does the library at the monastery have books taken from here?" I asked after I'd come out.

The monk had sunk down to his cross-legged posture once more, appearing to be praying. He looked up. "Yes, we preserved them for history."

I nodded. "I think I'm done here. I'd like to see the library."

Wada led us there, back towards town. The monastery was a bustling one, carved wood and stone, bright banners flying in the wind. There were many bald and orange-robed monks around, bowing to us when they took notice of us at all. He led us into the heart of the monastery, to the library. It appeared from here to be a warren of small rooms, all interconnected in a maze of twists and turns.

In the front room of the library was a big-bellied monk who was reclining in a chair, reading an open scroll propped up on his belly. Wada said, "Yesui, this Rafi, the librarian. He can tell you anything you need about the books in here."

Rafi looked up inquiringly. I said, "Rafi, good to meet you. I'd like to see the books from the ruins, if I could."

He re-rolled the scroll and set it down, then got to his feet. "This way," he said. He led us through six rooms, making twists and turns along the way, and into a seventh, where he stopped. "This room and all the books in it are from the Guge Kingdom. Mostly business things here and here, but on the south wall, it's the religious matters and things of magic."

I scanned the shelves he'd indicated, looking for familiar bindings. There, on the bottom shelf, all by itself. I frowned. "Why is that one all alone?" I asked, pointing to it.

"It is dark and evil and was owned by the darkness himself--Kamil. We do not wish to taint all the other books."

"Ah," I said. I was finding myself saying that a lot today, when dealing with these monks. I stepped over to the shelf and pulled the book off of it. It was one of Kamil's, all right. The tooled front, the hanged man on the back.

"Yak butter tea?" asked Rafi.

I looked up and smiled. Truly back in civilization, we were. "That would be most welcome."

The monk smiled and withdrew. After he left, Zayd said in a low voice, "Read fast, that stuff is wretched."

I snorted as I sat down on the stone floor and opened the book. "Speak for yourself, I like it. It's a lot like some of the tea we make in our home camps."

"Good gods, you like that stuff? Who puts butter in tea, milk maybe but butter? Mint tea any day, for me."

"It tastes really good after you've been our riding the steppes for hours at a time," I told him, chuckling. "I like mint tea all right, the couple of times I've had it, but butter tea tastes like home. Yak butter is a little odd-tasting, but good." I opened the book and got to reading. I flipped through it. Like many mages, Kamil had a tidy mind. He put the important information in the same places in all of these books.

The short version was that the candle, when lit, would cause lethargy to take over all who saw it. Those affected by it would not lift a finger to defend themselves, to satisfy thirst or hunger, to take care of animals or children. I got to the back, and frowned at a note written on the last page, in a different hand than Kamil's.

"Look at this," I said, and turned the book around to show the others. "Rumored destroyed by the Dalai Lama. This is weird. Either the rumor's wrong, or there's something else going on here."

Sacha bent to take a closer look, and frowned. "That is odd, sounds like one of his. But destroyed? Are you picking it up?"

I shook my head. "I can tell you in a bit. They said they were transporting it in a lead box, which might interfere with me picking it up."

"One less if it's true, but somehow we may not be that lucky."

I chuckled without mirth. "You know, I'm thinking that we're unlikely to be that lucky. There's something going on here, but I'm not sure what. Let's take a look at the other books and see if there's anything else interesting."

We pulled the books down, and found vague references to some of the other artifacts in a few of the records, including one I hadn't heard of before--a thorn. No reference to what it did, but it did say that its last known location was in the north somewhere. That was twenty-five years ago, though, and who knew where it had gotten to in the intervening years.

As we finished looking at the books, Rafi came back with the tea. I saw Zayd's pained look and turned away to hide my smile. We drank tea with him, then went on our way. Rafi was more than happy to allow me to take the tainted book with me, as I thought he might be. Back to town we went, and I stowed the dulcimer and went on a ride on Spirit. I did pick up something east a ways, about where I thought Lhasa was from here.

I came back, gave Spirit a good scratch, and went over to Sacha, who was sitting next to the fire. The stallion followed me as I went and sat down next to Sacha. The sky was darkening to violet above us, the stars brilliant already. The higher we went, the closer the stars seemed to be. "There's something east of us a ways. Something's there, at least," I said.

Sacha frowned. "So it's there, can't have been destroyed. And we got information that the brotherhood was transferring to a large brotherhood warehouse. So, what's going on? The Dalai was taken over by Kamil?"

An ugly thought. "I hope not. Though the Dalai stopped him once, Kamil's pride may have been wounded, and he may have made a special study of how to defeat him."

"That's possible too, but the brotherhood captured the candle from Turpan and brought it back here. I don't get it."

"We're missing something, here. And it may be something we don't see until we get to Lhasa itself. So, let's see. Twenty-five years ago, Kamil comes through here, heading for Lhasa. He doesn't get there. So he...turns north, ending up in Turpan. But why use the candle against the people here, then? Was he planning on doing that to the whole country?"

He shook his head. "The other conjecture is that he made it to Lhasa, got beat and fled north to Turpan."

"Also possible." I narrowed my eyes, remembering something. "Though--Ahmad said that Kamil had most or all of the artifacts with him when he died, and the people in Ahmad's party killed Ahmad and took off with the artifacts. Kamil may never have been in Turpan. Someone else might have brought it there."

"Twenty-five years was about the time that he died, right, or was that longer?"

"He only died about five years ago. Twenty-five years ago, he was just starting out. His family died, supposedly, about thirty years ago, which is what started him down this path in the first place. The brotherhood started to form around him twenty years ago."

Sacha leaned forward and used a stick to stir the fire a bit. It was nice not to have to hide our fires, for once. "Ahmad said all, or most?"

I thought back. "He didn't say, but I got the impression it was most of them, but not all."

"If it's all then this makes no sense whatsoever, but if it was most of them, then did this one end up here, taken by the Dalai? And if so, is it possible that this is the first one built? Twenty-five years ago, he would just have been starting."

"Very possible. So the question is, when did it end up in Turpan? It could have been in Lhasa for years, if the Dalai took it from him. If the Dalai did take it from him, is it possible that when Kamil died, he took him over?"

"Then the brotherhood moved in about five years ago." Sacha poked the fire again. He was silent for a moment, then said, "I think we should get there quickly."

I had to agree.

That night, I was on watch with Sabur. I'd been avoiding spending any time alone with Sabur. The dragon intimidated me; I could never forget that he wasn't what he looked like in his small form. Even in his small form, he could tear me apart bare-handed if he took it into his head to do so.

The other reason that I'd been avoiding him was because, well, he was flirting with me. The flirting wasn't the problem; men had been flirting with me since I'd grown six inches and acquired breasts in the same year. The problem was that I rather liked the flirting.

Overall, Sabur was a temptation that I would be far better off avoiding. One watch shift together wouldn't hurt, though. We spoke little to each other, walking patrols together. Finally, curiosity overcame common sense, and I asked, "So, Sabur. Why are you here? I was surprised to see you away from your home." There was no use being subtle with someone who could read your mind, I figured.

We were sitting together, looking out into the darkness. He twisted around, making eye contact with me, and leaned forward. There was the hint of a smile on his lips. "Not telling," he said in a low voice.

I didn't back off or break eye contact. He was very close, close enough that I could smell the oddly spicy overtone to his personal scent. I smiled gently and said, "Ah, well, I will have to assume you were enthralled by her stories of a noble task that needed to be done."

He moved just a hair closer. "For a kiss, I will tell you. For more, I will tell you anything."

I held his gaze for a heartbeat, two, three. Then I sat back and chuckled. "Sorry, Sabur, I'm taken. I suppose my curiosity will have to go unsatisfied." About any number of things, I thought, and then remembered that he could probably read that thought.

The dragon laughed. "Ah well, suffice it to say that Jaida took the more option and here I am."

I tried to remember if Jaida was sharing Sabur's bed at the moment. I didn't think she was. "Seems a pretty price to pay for some sport, but I suppose we all have our priorities."

He shrugged. "Ah well, I didn't think she would take me seriously. No one usually does." He gave me a woebegone look.

"Got caught out, did you?" I said, laughing.

"A bit and it's time that something be done about this." His voice was abruptly serious, and he glanced away from me. "The brotherhood sacked Leh soon after you left."

The news hit me in the chest like a kicking horse. For a moment, it was all I could do to breathe. "Oh, no. Were there any survivors?" I thought about Banah, the half-Mongol woman who had been so suspicious of me, but who had pointed me in Sabur's direction anyway.

"I am afraid not many," Sabur said, his voice grave. "So it was a silly bargain, but one I was willing to lose."

How many of the other places that we had visited lay in ruins because of us? Dien Bien Phu? Nepalganji? Kengtung? "I see," I finally managed to say. "We drag destruction in our wake, everywhere we go."

"It's not your fault, which is why I was reluctant to tell you." His voice had gentled, now. "It just is."

"I know it's not. Neither is the fact that Kamil killed my sister and the nomad tribe she was leading because he couldn't find us. Neither is killing a young child because she had the misfortune to be taken over by Kamil. None of it's my fault. It hurts all the same." My eyes stung, and I turned my face away from Sabur, fighting to get my voice back under control.

"More would die, if you didn't do it."

"I know. I know what kind of place Kamil will turn the world into if he's given a chance. That's one of the few things keeping me sane, at this point." That knowledge, and the unquestioning support and love of my little tribe. The flashes of beauty we'd seen. The memory of quiet spaces and times, like the weeks in Kengtung. The knowledge that I had saved my brother's life.

Sabur nodded. "I understand, but someone had to stand up and say enough. It was you this time."

"And I'll keep on saying it. Loudly." My lips curled in a fierce smile. "He might end up killing me, but at least I'll have tried, and kept trying."

"You have taken away some of his power, you have destroyed some of those abominations. The more you find and destroy, the more he will lose his power in this world." He caught my gaze then, looking into my eyes. "Then he will die for good, as he should have five years ago."

"He'll finally go wherever he ought to have gone in the first place," I said quietly. "I hope I can manage to send him there before my father gives up the fight against him."

"Your father is strong. He will wait as long as he long as it takes."

"I hope so. And I hope that Kamil doesn't manage to kill more of my family, or my little tribe here, before I'm done."

Sabur smiled wryly. "I wish I could say he won't but he might. But we do what is right, even though it may cost us dearly."

How very true. "I don't know what the final price is going to be, but it's high and getting higher all the time."

"That's because he is getting desperate."

"He's afraid. Of me and my group, you and yours. We finally managed to scare him. It's a little worrying, because his arrogance has protected me so far. I can't count on that any more."

"No, he may hunt you now more than ever. You can't stay in one place long." Sabur raised his head. "I see Temur and Nomolun coming. Our shift is done. Good night, Yesui." He got up and went back to the camp without another comment, leaving me there, staring up at the stars.

I got up and wandered off before Nomolun could see me and ask what was wrong. I'm not even sure I could have told her, at that moment. I felt anew the grief of Al Alta's passing, the sadness that destruction lurked in our footsteps. I walked until I was settled, and then headed quietly back towards camp.

I was nearly back when I saw something that made me freeze in place. Nomolun and Temur were beyond the circle of firelight, standing and embracing one another. Nomolun's back was to me, but I could see fatigue in the set of her shoulders, the way she set her forehead on Temur's shoulder.

What gave me pause was Temur's face, the lines of it engraved by starlight. His lean face was set in an expression I had never seen before, a fierce protectiveness and love in it that I would have never guessed he possessed. He was holding Nomolun so carefully, as if she were the most precious thing in the world.

I couldn't help feeling as if I were intruding on the moment, and turned my face away. I heard a rustle, a brief kiss, and then footsteps as they walked away, never knowing I was there.

I slipped into the campsite and into my tent, where Sacha slept, waiting for me. I curled my cold body around his warm one, and he murmured in sleepy protest but turned so I could fit myself to his body. I am so lucky, I thought as sleep overtook me. So very lucky.

It was a week to Lhasa, through some of the more mountainous land we'd been through in our travels. We climbed steadily upwards, our ascent slowed by needing to adjust to the thin air up here. We finally reached Lhasa, placed on the only flat spot of valley between two high mountain peaks. Cliffs rose up and away from the city. The mountains and the altitude would make it nearly unassailable, though a determined siege could probably break it. At the moment, the place was calm and quiet, with colorful banners snapping in the mountain wind.

I was riding Wind, Spirit posing as a pack horse behind me. As we rode into town, people stopped and bowed respectfully, then went back to whatever they were doing. I saw a flash of red robes ahead, and reined in suddenly. It was a member of the brotherhood...but he was not looking this way. Cautiously, we rode forward. The man was helping repair a stone wall, and as we passed he straightened, bowed, and went back to helping another man lift a stone into place.

He either didn't recognize us or he was the best actor I'd ever seen. As we rode into town, we saw more people in red robes, and none of them paid any attention to us whatsoever. Some bowed as we passed.

The hairs on the back of my neck were standing to attention, but so far, I could see no threat. Just what was usually a threat, completely defanged. We found one of the several places that seemed to be set aside for pilgrims to camp at, complete with fresh water for the horses and several shelters. Several of the city dogs came to check us out, but at a challenge from Nomolun's stallion Bee, they whined and ran.

"Zayd, with me," I said. "The rest of you, stay here. We'll see what there is to be seen." We walked through the streets, the calm of the place unnerving. We made our way to the Potala Palace, at the center of Lhasa. The palace was built on and into a large hill, white staircases leading upwards seemingly into the heavens themselves. It was a beautiful building, if overwhelmingly large and somewhat fortress-like.

The great gates were standing open, and just before the entrance, there was a plain wooden table. On the table was a candle, lit and glowing, and people were walking up to it, bowing and praying.

I didn't need to see the magic to know that this was the candle I was looking for. It had been changed, since everyone was still alive. But how?

A saffron-robed monk was walking our way, having just finished praying at the candle. I came toward him, a hand outstretched.

"Yes? How may I be of service?" he asked.

"Forgive me, I am a stranger here in town. I was wondering about the candle. What is it, and why are people bowing before it?"

The monk smiled. "It was a thing of evil once brought to this town. The Dalai changed it to be a force of good, and now it resides here to give any the chance to use its goodness."

"Ah. What does it do?"

"Instills peace and wisdom to those that see its light," he said.

"Has it always been here?" I asked.

The monk shook his head. "No, about five years, maybe four."

I nodded. "Ah. Thank you very much, it is indeed a thing of great power." I took Zayd's arm and steered him away from the monk.

Zayd was shaking his head. "That's a bit strange," he said in Persian.

"A bit?" I replied, also in Persian. "According to that monk, the candle's been here almost since Kamil's death. And yet, those papers we found mention the candle specifically. So, here's a question--why would Kamil want to send us here? Because at this point, that's the only explanation I can think of."

Zayd had a thoughtful look on his face. "Unless you look at this differently. Remember that Kamil in the black city? He said he was feeding on the brotherhood to keep him alive. What if he was trying to stop them?"

"You think the brotherhood members were saw weren't working for Kamil? Instead, the Dalai sent them." My eyes narrowed, and I thought furiously. "It's certainly plausible, considering that the brotherhood's walking around here and not giving any of us so much as a second glance."

He nodded. "If this thing creates peace and wisdom. He may have used them to recover the candle from Turpan. You should ask that monk if the candle was off display for any time or not."

"You think Kamil maybe stole it and took it north, and the Dalai sent his own people him? Interesting. I'll ask that monk, and see." I stepped over to the monk once more, and asked, "Pardon, but I had one more question. Was the candle off display for a time, recently?"

The monk smiled. "Yes, it was put back on display about 3 weeks ago."

"How long was it not displayed?"

He frowned, trying to remember. "Less than a month."

I thanked him, and Zayd and I moved on. "Stranger and stranger," Zayd muttered.

There were several things that didn't fit, here. "You're telling me. I think a sit-down with one of these brotherhood members here may be in order."

Zayd raised an eyebrow. "Think you can pull off an ambassadorial visit to the Dalai from the Khan?"

"Very likely, though I'd probably have to clean up a little beforehand."

"The Dalai could probably explain this all rather quickly if you can get an audience."

He could, at that. And as a Khanate, I had the authority to be as ambassadorial as I liked. "The Mongols are on good terms with Tibet these days, so there's a good chance we can get in to see him. Let's go shake the dust of the road off and see if we can get in. I've never actually done any ambassadorial work, but I've been around it a lot."

Zayd nodded. "You will need an a group with you. Guards, advisors, that type of thing. We are all going to need to clean up."

"Us and Jaida's group would be about an average to large-sized ambassadorial group. It's a little odd that most of us aren't tribesmen, but I'm not sure the people here would realize that it's strange. Let's go see if we can't round everyone up and explain what we're doing."

So we did, and there was a flurry of washing and dressing in our best clothing. To Mongol eyes, we were an odd group. Tribesmen rarely traveled with people from other parts of the world, and the variety of weapons we were sporting was odd to say the least. Mongols would carry bows, short swords, and daggers. Jaida's group favored longer swords and polearms.

Despite the impression Jaida's group gave, Sacha, Temur, Nomolun, and I were every inch Mongols, coats freshly brushed and hats on. Jaida's group would be posing as guards, Zayd, Sacha, and Nomolun would be my advisors, and Temur was my master of hose, a very high position indeed among us. Then away we went to the palace at the center of town.

We were met at the door by a monk with a gold sash over his saffron robes, accompanied by two small animals. After a moment of study, I decided they were probably dogs. No more than knee-high, with long fur that looked like golden-colored silk, they followed at the senior monk's heels and sat down next to him while he was speaking to us with quite an important air. Through the fur, I thought I could see the sparkle of black eyes.

The senior monk listened to my request for an audience, then told me that the Dalai had an hour's worth of time in an hour, or we could come back tomorrow and have the whole afternoon. We opted to wait, and were shown up many, many flights of stairs to a richly appointed waiting room. It was comfortable, with low benches surrounding a fire pit to warm ourselves by.

Butter tea was brought in wooden bowls, much to Zayd's dismay, along with bread to dip, an innovation that seemed to be peculiar to Lhasa. There were a number of maps on the walls of Tibet and the surrounding area, and I wandered from map to map, studying them. I saw a number of hidden passes through Tibet on them that several mapmakers seemed to agree were there. I didn't really trust mapmakers, but usually if several agreed, the maps were something close to reality.

In an hour, the same senior monk came to fetch us and bring us before the Dalai. They did not take our weapons or otherwise search us, which surprised me. Even my father insisted that ambassadors from other countries be searched before they came into his presence. The little dogs accompanied us once again, heads held high. The senior monk caught me looking at them, and said, "They are temple guardians, lion dogs."

The Dalai was in a large, airy room that seemed to catch and hold the sunshine that streamed in through large, open windows. The man himself sat on some stone steps that led to an empty dais, in a place where the sunlight from a window could fall directly on him. He was perhaps forty years old, his head shaved bald as were all the monks, and as he looked at us I immediately felt at home in his presence.

"Honored guests, please sit," he said. He gestured at some straw mats in front of the steps he was sitting on. There was a low table between the mats and where the Dalai sat. I nodded to the rest and we came forward. Those of use who were advisers sat cross-legged; those who were guarding knelt. I listened briefly behind me; the echoes in the room were such that I would hear even the softest footstep, if anyone approached. The dogs trotted to the Dalai's side, and sat watching all of us.

"Holy one, thank you for seeing us on such short notice," I said.

He smiled, crows' feet crinkling the corners of his eyes. "I understand your need, Ambassador. What can I help you understand?"

"The candle that you have was once a thing of great evil, and now it appears to be a thing of great good. I would be honored if you would tell me the story of how that came to be."

"Many years ago as a young boy, a man came to kill us all using the candle that you see burning. He failed to influence me and I released some his own warriors to help me. He left, and we retained the candle."

It almost took my breath away, to think of the victory this man had achieved. "And you changed it to become what it is now?"

The Dalai inclined his head. "I changed the candle to what it is now but later, it grew stronger and a presence emerged. It was the man who came to harm us, now his mind was inside the candle. I shunted his mind away from the item and buried it deep inside. It is where he resides now."

Then there was still work to do here. "One of the monks outside told me that the candle was off display for a few months. What happened?" I asked.

"The brotherhood came again and took it. We followed them to Turpan, where they tried to deliver it to some creature. My people snuck in one night and lit the candle. Its magic worked overnight, and they tried to return. That creature went wild and killed a great many of them, trying to find the candle. My people captured it and returned it to me."

"Ah, I see. When you say they were delivering it to a creature--what sort of creature?"

"A creature that rose out of the desert, moved very quickly and lived far longer than it should."

I let out a breath, and nodded. "I believe we encountered it."

"Was that an accurate description?" the Dalai asked, giving me an inquiring look.

I nodded. "It is, though missing some details. I knew it had killed at least a few members of the brotherhood, but it claimed it was feeding on them, not looking for something."

"I have found in life that evil lies very readily and about all things, even when the truth is more interesting."

I almost had to laugh. How true it was. "And I'm afraid that Kamil has extinguished every last bit of good about himself by his actions. That particular incarnation of his met an untimely end recently."

"That is probably good. So your interest in the candle is what, Ambassador?"

No need for guile, here. "Kamil created thirteen items like the candle. I've been traveling and either destroying them or changing them, severing his link with them. It sounds as though the fragment of Kamil's soul that resides in the candle is still resident. I may be able to help you figure out how to send that fragment on to wherever its destination is."

I cannot say that the Dalai's expression changed, but I suddenly had the impression that he was shining from within somehow, lit by an anticipatory joy. "I have tried for years to rid it of its soul but it hangs on, persistent to the last. It has to resealed every year or it breaks its bonds and becomes what it was again."

"I have a way of gathering knowledge about it that may help change it permanently. I will need to touch it, however."

The Dalai nodded and motioned to someone behind us. Bare feet approached; a red-robed member of the brotherhood. I stiffened, despite myself. The man bent down and the Dalai whispered into his ear. He then straightened and padded away. In a few minutes, he returned with the candle and set it on the table before me.

It was made of creamy wax, the flame dancing eternally on the wick. It was footed in a cracked wooden base, stained dark. I could not tell if it was making me wise, but I certainly felt much calmer than I had when I had walked in. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see those next to me lower their shoulders, as if feeling the same thing I was. I reached out to touch the candle, letting the bracelet fall against it. Don't be visible, I thought to Ahmad. Just voice.

"Destruction is caused by returning it to the hot springs of Yanpachen, Tibet, 57 miles north of Lhasa, where it can be melted in the holy waters," Ahmad's voice said into my ear.

We were close! I knew a moment of wild joy. "Can you tell if there's a way to not destroy it, but sever Kamil's link to it permanently?" I asked Ahmad.

The dead mage's voice was contemplative. "It has been altered already, it is possible that taking it to the spring and melting with the Dalai's help, he may be able to reform it back into what it is now."

"We can only hope." I looked up at the Dalai. "There is a holy spring in Yanpachen to the north of here. The candle may be melted in those waters. With your help, there is a possibility that we can reform it once more into what it is now, only without a piece of Kamil's soul in it." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jaida looking at me sharply. I thought to myself that I really ought to talk with her more, to find out who she had been before embarking on this journey, and perhaps sharing more of my own story than I had.

The Dalai was smiling at me. "I have been able to call his soul out before, but never have I been able to remove it from the candle. Had I know that the Yanpachen waters could contain him, I may have been able to release him."

"It makes sense. Will you help us send this fragment of soul on to whatever awaits?"

"Certainly, we can start the trek in the morning."

My heart fluttered with relief. "I was hoping you would say that, holy one."

"Good evening, ambassador. I will see you in the morning."

I rose, and those to either side followed my example. I bowed deeply, and said, "In the morning, then."

It couldn't possibly be this easy. Could it? But as I wandered the town that night, keeping my eyes and ears open, I found nothing to contradict any of what I had seen in the afternoon. The next morning, before sunrise, we presented ourselves at the gates of the Potala Palace, and the Dalai met us there with his own horse, a handsome spotted gelding. He brought with him neither guards nor attendants, apparently thinking we were enough for protection. "There is a monastery at the spring that we can stay at," he said. "It will be a long day, but the monastery will welcome us at the end of it."

We left town, riding north. This was certainly a spectacular country, if a hard one. We saw few people; nomads on the move, evidence of a camp several miles away from the trail we were following. There was a point, as we came over a rise, that we could turn and see what I would have sworn was the whole country spread out beneath us, patchwork in grays and greens and browns with a little white from the snow that was busily melting, and a sky above that was a deep blue.

It was, all things considered, a pleasant ride. It was very late afternoon, almost sunset, by the time we reached Yanpachen. At first, I took the cloud that hung in the air as we rounded a hill to be vapor from the hot spring here.

Then the smell reached us.

It was the smell of death, smell of battle, with something strange added to it. I picked up the pace, and as we came around we saw what ought to have been a lovely sight, a bowl-shaped valley with a small lake at the bottom, a monastery built above it. What we saw was a smoking ruin where the buildings had once stood, and no sign of life to be seen.

We rode in silence towards the scene of the destruction. We pulled up a little ways away, and Sabur dismounted and walked over to the ruin, appearing to be looking for something. Then he turned our way and motioned to us. "Jaida, Yesui, if you would?"

I walked over to him, as did Jaida, and he led us closer to the ruin. I saw several crumpled figures on the ground, unmoving. Sabur said, "Keep your voices low, I don't want to spread panic. This is dragon work. Something that breathes acid, black or another copper. It melted the stone, and was trying to seal the spring over. It would have worked, too, had you not had another acid breather to uncover this, but this is very fresh work. The sun is going to set soon and if it's a black, it will attack at night to cover itself."

I glanced at the sky and said, "And it likely knew we were coming. I foresee a very nervous night ahead, unless we manage to track it down before then."

"I would be able to smell it out, unless you want me to start on this. If we have a few hours, I can dig it out but as soon as I start, they will probably attack. There are going to be a lot of casualties."

"We need to take care of the danger first, then." I gave the dragon a wry smile. "If we uncover the spring only to die in the attack, that's rather pointless."

"It is, I have to agree. We need to track this down. Hopefully he didn't fly too far, so I can pick up the scent again. He moved toward the water after this."

"How many of us do you want with you? I don't want to divide our forces too much. If you give me a few minutes, I can probably figure out if there were more attackers than just the dragon, and where they might have gone."

Sabur nodded. "Go ahead, I will keep tracking him."

We parted then, Jaida going with Sabur. I walked into the ruins. The smoke seemed to be coming from fires that had been started by fallen lamps; mostly, the rock was slagged, partially melted by acid. The bodies I saw had also been either melted or torn partially apart. I saw no booted footprints other than my own.

Behind me, someone cleared their throat. The Dalai was standing behind me, looking serene as ever, except for what I thought might be an expression of pain in his dark eyes. "I think that you will find that only the dragon did this," he said. "They would not have sent humans, they would be affected by the candle."

"It doesn't work on dragons?" I asked.

"I would have my doubts. Inherently magical by nature, I would doubt my magic would have much affect and even if it did, it would take far longer."

"True enough. I don't know all that much about dragons, so I'll take your word for it. I haven't seen any evidence of humans other than the monks, so I think you're right." I glanced over at our assembled group, and watched Spirit standing guard at the edge of the group. "If we get into trouble, holy one, mount up on Spirit-walker, my black horse. He will take you to safety."

The Dalai smiled. "Ah yes, the horse that speaks."

I blinked. "You can hear him?"

"He does go on about you quite a bit, yes."

I realized my mouth was hanging open and shut it. "...about me? Wait, no, I don't really want to know right now. He will be able to carry you away from here very quickly. The experience is disconcerting the first time."

"Ah yes, seeing through the eyes of another can be disconcerting, I agree."

I gave him a smile that I hoped looked less shaky than it felt. "I've ended up enjoying it, but the first time was startling."

The Dalai nodded. "I suggest you look closer to the waterline by that log over there."

I blinked again. "Thank you, we will." I went to find Sabur, and told him to look near the log.

Off to the indicated spot we went, and Sabur lifted the large log away to reveal a hole beneath it. "Nice work, probably a tunnel entrance or exit for the underground caves that they live in. Catching him not flying is a big benefit to this battle, but that still leaves a breath weapon to deal with."

I thought about it. "Let me talk to Nomolun and see what she can do for us. You have a natural acid resistance, right?"

"Yes, so I will take the lead. As few as possible, less causalities."

"Me, Zayd, Temur. Who from your team are the best candidates?"

Sabur glanced over at the rest of his group. "Jaida and I, I think five is enough."

I gave the dragon a small smile. "And let's just hope there's only one."

He chuckled. "There is. No offense, but it only takes one of us to kill a great deal of you."

"None taken. Let me go talk to Nomolun, and then we can go."

But as I stepped over to Nomolun, the Dalai caught my arm. "I will be coming with you."

Carefully, I said, "Holy one, are you sure? You're more important by far than any of us, I don't want to put you in danger if I can help it."

He smiled. "I can be more help, I think, than a hindrance. I would like the opportunity to see a black dragon, and possibly help. If nothing else I have a great deal of healing at my disposal."

I wouldn't have dreamed of asking him to come along, but as long as he was volunteering... "All right. Six of us, then."

"Seven. Nomolun will come with me."

I wasn't particularly happy about that, but I had a feeling arguing would gain me nothing. I gathered those who were going, and we started down the tunnel.

The tunnel was carved into stone. Water dripped from the ceiling and ran in a small stream down the center of the tunnel, and the smell was positively foul. It was the fetid smell of rot, combined with some sort of musk. The tunnel curved downward. The footing, as we descended, because progressively slipperier, and when I slipped and had to use the wall to catch myself, my hand came away slick with some sort of slime. I swore to myself and paid more attention to where I was putting my feet.

Sabur, in the front, held up a hand as the tunnel opened out into a large chamber. He went the last few feet into the chamber, then looked back at us, nodded, and began his transformation. There was light in here, coming from where I couldn't tell, and in that light I was reminded yet again of just how alien Sabur truly was, what his human guise hid.

We followed him in, bows up, Zayd preparing a spell. The dragon we'd come upon was indeed a black dragon, a large one, who took being woken by Sabur pouncing on it very badly indeed. Sabur was trying to get the other dragon's neck up, trying to direct the breath weapon towards the ceiling if it decided to use it. We were firing, Zayd let off a spell--a smaller one that would not hit Sabur as well. Our boots splashed in the stagnant water that covered the stone floor.

In the dim light, I could see that the black dragon was heavily scarred, especially around its neck and legs. I wonder who had this one captive, and how long ago it escaped? I wondered, loosing another arrow.

The Dalai slipped past me, walking towards the dragons. My heart suddenly in my throat, I asked, "Holy one, what are you doing?"

He did not look at me, intent on the black dragon. "She is not herself. She is being controlled and in pain. I am going to help her." With only that as an explanation, he walked forward, displaying an uncanny talent for being wherever flying arrows and spells as well as thrashing dragons were not.

The Dalai reached the black dragon and reached out, laying a hand on her leg. "It's time to stop the pain," he said, in a quiet voice that none the less rang in the stone room.

The dragon stiffened and then passed out, her head hitting the floor with a thump and a splash.

"HOLD!" I ordered, and by reflex everyone in the room froze. Then, seeing that the dragon was no longer a threat, bows were lowered and Sabur disentangled himself and moved back.

The Dalai looked at me. "Yesui, if you would, climb up behind her head and dig out the red crystal embedded there. She will be calm after that and I will release her."

I nodded and went forward, carefully rounding the head that was longer than I was tall, heedful of the fangs in her partially opened mouth and her two wickedly curved horns. I climbed to her neck and saw what the Dalai had mentioned, a red crystal as big as my fist embedded in a place where it seemed like a scale had been removed. With my fingers, I pried the crystal gently out of her flesh.

I did my best not to hurt her, but when the crystal came out it was accompanied by a rush of blood, black in the dim light. I slid off of her neck and splashed down, then went to show the Dalai the bloody crystal. "Is this what you meant?"

"Yes, it is. Break it if you can. She will be fine now. She has been tortured for a long time." His voice was perfectly calm, and I tried not to be unnerved--and failed utterly.

I set the crystal on one of the few dry patches of stone here, and gave it a few whacks with the pommel of my dagger. "Do you know who had her controlled?" I asked.

"The real brotherhood I would suspect. Yegu is the highest ranking brotherhood member that I know that I changed he might know something about this. He is back in Lhasa, though."

"We will be going back that way, we can speak to him then--or if not, I can go on Spirit and get him." I frowned at the crystal and used a bit more force with my next whack. The crystal cracked in half, sparked, and then went dim.

Behind me, a noise like wind rushing through a tunnel. I turned in time to see the black dragon complete her transformation to a naked human woman, who immediately curled into a ball, sobbing in the mud. The Dalai was walking towards her, and glanced over his shoulder. "I will let you know when you can speak to her, it might be a bit."

I nodded. "All right. We'll go outside, give her some privacy." I motioned for everyone to follow me, and walked out.

Not knowing when the Dalai and the dragon might emerge, we set to work, cleaning up. According to Nomolun, it was common practice here to burn the dead, so we built pyres and set to collecting bodies, Nomolun chanting as we went. Jaida set a couple of people from her group to making a camp a bit away from the destroyed monastery, and Sabur melted stone and dug at the spring, trying to uncover it.

An hour or so later, I saw the Dalai emerge from the tunnel, the dragon in human form following him. Jaida came forward with a blanket for her to wrap herself in, and the holy man led her to our fire. I met them there, and the Dalai said, "I think she can take a few questions."

"Thank you," I told him, most sincerely. To the dragon, I said, "Come, sit down. What's your name?"

She seated herself, moving gingerly. "Arwa."

Others were drifting over, in ones and twos, curious. "Arwa, can you tell us what happened to you?" I asked.

She wasn't looking at me, instead staring into the fire. "When, just now, or before?"

"Before. Who had you captured, and for how long."

Her voice was flat. "They called themselves the brotherhood of Kamil. It's been about six months now since my capture."

"And they put you under some sort of control?"

Arwa nodded shallowly. They did, they inserted a crystal into the base of my skull. I could hear them speaking and forcing me to do things, but I couldn't stop them."

"Where were they holding you, do you know?"

"I was captured in southern China and transferred to Ulaanbatar."

I had a sick, hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach. I did not want to ask the question, but I did anyway. "Was there a leader of the brotherhood there? Did you overhear a name, at all?"

She snarled and raised her eyes to meet mine. "I will remember his name and voice for as long as I live. It's Tolui."

Tolui of the laughing eyes, Tolui who had held my hair back for me the first time I'd drunk too much fermented mare's milk. "I was afraid of that. So then they finally sent you down here, to destroy the monastery?"

"After testing the crystal a few times in Ulaanbatar, they sent me down here to destroy all the monasteries that sat on lakes. Particularly if a spring ran from its foundation." She returned her gaze to the fire. "This one seemed to be the one they were looking for. So they forced me to destroy it and kill all the monks. Then seal the spring over as best I could and protect the site from anyone that came to uncover it."

"Are the people who controlled you still in Ulaanbatar?" I asked.

"It is where Tolui is. It's his voice I heard."

"Too far away to do anything about him right now." I took a long breath. "Well, you're free now, at least. And Tolui has much to answer for."

She did not take her gaze away from the flames. "He does, and I will find him and kill him when I recover."

I winced, but nodded. "You have right of vengeance, to be sure. Be careful, though."

"The brotherhood seeps into everything he touches. The Khan's personal guard is now all brotherhood. He boasted that one day."

Good to know, for when I ran into my father once more. "Does he have any of Kamil's items, do you know?" I asked.

"No, his father does. Given to him by a daughter."

I considered my words carefully. "Much to our sorrow, yes."

She looked up at me, and I wondered if my tone had betrayed me. if it had, she said nothing about it, only saying, "So, I will rest and recover. Thank you for helping me."

"You're welcome, I'm very glad we could help you. If you need somewhere to go, Lhasa seems like a restful place to recover. We'll be going back that way tomorrow, if you'd like to travel with us."

"I would."

I smiled. The Dalai would help her, I knew. "Good. We have something to do here once the spring is uncovered, and we'll be on our way in the morning."

She nodded and went back to staring into the fire. The Dalai gave me the candle for safe-keeping later that evening, after Sabur uncovered the spring. "There's a lot of acid in it at the moment," the copper dragon said after he'd changed to his small form. "Let it run for a while to clear it out."

"Until the morning," I said. We set watches and retired.

Very, very early the next morning, there was a rustle in my tent that brought me abruptly awake. Zayd, next to me, muttered and turned over. The Dalai's voice came to me, low. "Yesui. Wake up. I think we should do this now, alone."

I nodded and eased myself out of the blankets. I was mostly dressed, having expected something like this. "All right. Let me get my boots on."

Another rustle and the Dalai was gone. I pulled on my boots, got the candle from the box where I'd kept it for the night, and joined him down at the spring. The sky was only beginning to pale, and steam rose from the small lake that was fed by the hot spring into the chill air. The Dalai nodded to me, and wordlessly I knelt and placed the candle into the waters near where the spring fed into the lake.

Under the water, I could see the wax start to swiftly melt. Abruptly, the water of the lake began to boil and bubble, and then a pillar of water came from the place where the candle lay. Though the water was moving violently, to a hundred feet in the air, it was utterly silent and still.

In that pillar, I saw a figure form, a darkness in the clear water. The face emerged from the pillar, then the front of the body, then it stopped, apparently unable to go any farther. I shivered as I looked on that face. It was Kamil. It had to be.

He was Persian, with a bladed nose and deep-set eyes. But those eyes tilted up at the corners, and in the slowly brightening light I could see that his skin was a dark golden color. The cast to his looks was decidedly that of our land; Chinese, Mongol perhaps.

He looked strangely familiar, though I could not say why. He glared at me and the Dalai balefully. The Dalai said, "There is the spirit that I have tried to release for so many years. Do you have questions before I let him go?"

I looked at the figure. "Only one real question. Why are you doing this? What happened that set your feet on this path?"

The smile that was on his lips was a hard, cruel thing. "Your father happened."

"My father was the one who killed your family?"

He sneered. "Nearly. Your father came and let his men rape my mother. I am the product of that rape. My father hated me because I was the son of the raping khans. I designed these weapons to take the world away from him. To kill his world, to rule over him. To break his family apart as he did mine." That smile turned even colder, even harder. "How am I doing?"

Tartly, I said, "Both better and worse than you had any right to expect."

Kamil's eyes were narrowed. "Your father wants you dead. How's it feel? Your brother has turned. I killed your sister. How does that feel?"

I rolled my eyes. "My father does not want me dead. You do. You might as well leave the rest of them alone. Every one you harm makes me even more determined to see you to your proper place."

He continued on as if he hadn't heard me. "You have killed many of me and with that comes a clarity. I don't care anymore, kill me, but I will take with me as many of your siblings as I can, lovers, friends, anything I can get my hands on. I will leave you alone in this world."

And yet you will not touch me. I looked at the image of the dead man I had spent the last year fighting, and a terrible suspicion came to my mind. I shied away from it. It could not be. I would not ask the question. "If that is how it must be, then it will be. But you still have time to reconsider."

The Dalai spoke. "He is scared to die. Nothing more that a little boy, lost to a father that beat him. Never growing up, never getting past the anger." The holy man's voice turned thoughtful. "What he says makes no difference. What we do today does. What are you to become, Kamil? A ghost for sure, but what force for good will Yesui choose for you to become?" He turned to me. "Yesui?"

I considered the form of the man before me, the holy man beside me. Two more different people could scarcely be imagined. The gulf was wide, but it was not uncrossable.

I smiled. "A light, to spread wisdom and calm to all who see it. To take away the anger and sorrow that clouds vision, and allow everyone who is in its light to see clearly, and allow them to forgive as Kamil has never forgiven."

"Then go, Kamil, and remember that the light that burns from this candle burns in your name, and with it come forgiveness, wisdom, and peace. Three things you lack."

The Dalai did not gesture, or move in any way. But Kamil threw his head back and shrieked as if the words had been physical blows, and then the pillar of water collapsed in on itself, falling back into the lake.

As the waters calmed, I saw the candle floating in the lake. The wooden base was gone, and the candle was lit, even though the flame was mostly submerged. I knelt and retrieved it, then turned to offer it to the Dalai. "Your holiness," I murmured.

To my surprise, he shook his head. "I will keep it for you if you wish but it is yours, you made it. I just allowed it to be formed."

I looked down at the lit candle in my hands, and nodded. "It may be useful in bringing some sense to the brotherhood. And Tolui, if I find him before Arwa does."

"It does take some time to work. It is not instant. So you may have to be in his presence for a bit it to work."

I smiled wryly. "I'll cross that river when I get there. I'm not even sure when I'll get to Ulaanbaatar."

The holy man stepped back, looking around. "I think I will build my summer palace here, it seems nice somehow. Yesui's Palace has a nice ring to it. Feel free to stay anytime, Yesui." He smiled at me, giving me a direct look that seemed to bore right through me.

I flushed, but chuckled. I could not argue with the Dalai over naming this place after me, if he really wanted to. "I will, should I ever come through this part of the world again."

"Back to Lhasa, unless you want to stay here for some reason?" he asked.

"No, I think we're done here. We may stay a day or two in Lhasa, but then we must be moving on. I believe this is where my group parts from Jaida's."

"Feel free to stay in the Potala Palace, Ambassador Yesui." He put his hands together and bowed, and I returned the bow. Then he wandered away.

I had so many questions. Why some people were able to handle the items safely, while others were terribly vulnerable. Why Kamil had looked oddly familiar. Whether I was going to be able to talk sense into my wayward brother. But would I understand the answers? And would the answers make me at all happy?

I shook my head and went to wake the rest, to tell them our job here was done and we were ready to go.

We traveled back to Lhasa that day, and spent three days in Lhasa, spending time in the white palace and enjoying the peace of the city. I decided I could become very fond of this country. I understood why my father, who had conquered the place while I was still in training, had mostly let them be after they surrendered, with only a token tribute required of them.

Maybe, after all this was done, I would come back this way. Spend some time learning from the monks, listening to the ceaseless mountain wind. Make friends with the fierce little lion dogs in the temples. It would be no bad way to spend a few years.

I didn't tell anyone of what Kamil had said to me, his threat to leave me alone in the world. It was an empty threat; as long as there was one Mongol left alive, I had a family, a fire I could warm myself by. And I knew that there was a risk that I was going to lose my blood family, as well as my little tribe here. But I rather thought Spirit was going to outlive me, and as long as I had him, I would be able to keep going.

In the end, it might come down to me and Kamil. I hoped it would not. Even if it did, I would continue to fight him. And afterwards, if I were alone--

I would not be alone.

If fate were at all kind, my reward for this fight would not be the death of everyone I knew and loved. But in the pit of my stomach and at the very back of my mind was always the question, what will you do if fate is not kind?

I will cross that river when I get there, and hope for the best.