Shades of the Silent: Trade Goods

[aithne]

Zayd's mouth dropped open. "Sweet winds. Yesui, is that you?"

I grinned. "Well, I guess the disguise is working."

My lover eyed me with an ambivalent expression. "Rather too well, I think."

I'd found some Tibetan men's clothing that could pass for Chinese if you didn't look too closely, tucked my hair up into a hat, bound my breasts down and added some padding around my waist to create a straighter line. Some charcoal smudged my face and gave the impression of someone who occasionally needed to shave, as well as darkening and thickening my eyebrows. Gloves covered my hands, and with a rearrangement of my posture and how I walked, I could pass for male. A rather feminine male, but male. It also had the net effect of making me look less Mongol and more Persian. I'd decided to take the name Ivas; it was a common enough Persian name, and it was memorable to me, at least.

"And you're going to spend months looking like that?" Zayd said, incredulously.

"It's either pose as male, or spend a lot of time getting you or Sacha to speak for me," I said. We'd parted from Jaida's group three days before, and I had been experimenting with disguises for those days. I'd finally found something that I thought was passable, from looking into the still stream that served me as a mirror. "What, don't you like it?"

He opened his mouth and closed it again. Finally, he said only, "It simply obscures your beauty, lovely one. Though your eyes are left unchanged, which makes me happy."

I chuckled. From Zayd's reaction, I thought that this would work out well. A few illusions to bolster the effect--standing up to pee, lowering my voice a little--would be all to the good, as well. "It's only for us traveling in China. Once we're back in friendlier lands, I'll put the disguise away."

"I can't wait," he muttered, and I chuckled at him.

Sacha, on the other hand, found the disguise undeniably erotic. I worried about that a bit, and then discovered it wasn't just my disguise as a male that Sacha liked, it was me in any sort of disguise. Thinking back to my training days, I had an inkling of why that was. The scout who'd taught me everything I knew about changing my appearance had been a tall woman with a stern air that balanced the fact that she was, when she was being herself and not someone else, classically beautiful.

When I asked him about it, Sacha ruefully admitted that he'd had a fierce crush on her when he was going through his own training, a few years before I'd had her as a teacher. "It never came to anything, of course, I was only fifteen and she was ten years older. I was sorry when she pronounced me done with her training, though," he told me.

That night, sharing my blankets with Sacha, I whispered to him a list of guises I intended to take on for him one of these days, and he responded with a heat I'd rarely seen from him before. I was walking a bit stiffly the next day, but I counted it well worth it. I was delighted with this side of Sacha that I hadn't guessed was there.

We parted from Jaida's team after a few days spent in Lhasa, and though I was going to miss the backup, I wasn't going to miss the temptation that Sabur had become. He'd continued flirting with me for the entire time we'd been traveling together. Things with Sacha and Zayd were coming into something like a balance, though, and I wasn't about to do something to upset that balance now. Telling them that I was going to sleep with the dragon was unlikely to make either of them happy.

Besides, it wasn't like Sabur would be a long-term thing. I was human and he was a dragon, and it was unlikely that a liaison with him would last more than one or two nights. One or two nights, no matter how curious I was, wasn't enough compensation to be worth upsetting Sacha and Zayd over.

After Lhasa, we traveled east, and the farther east we went, the less I spoke. By the time we got to Wuhan, three weeks later, I was going days without saying more than three words at once to anyone. I kept up the act night and day, going so far as to stop sharing my bed with Sacha and Zayd except for secretive midnight encounters. Anyone watching probably wouldn't have come to the conclusion that I was female, but that I was one of those men who preferred the company of men to that of women.

It was hard, much harder than I expected, and as I curled up in my cold blankets at night I looked forward to the day we were able to turn west and leave this place. It was going to be months before I could go back to being myself. It was all I could do to endure it day by day. I couldn't think about the time between now and leaving this guise behind.

I talked to Spirit quite a bit, since I could do so silently. You've been telling tales on me, I playfully accused him one afternoon. The Dalai told me that you went on about me.

Spirit snorted. He asked me why I was with you. I told him. It was good to talk to the Gyalwa Rinpoche. He has a most unusual mind.

You're telling me, I said. I almost asked him what his answer had been, but forebore.

I had been going out on Spirit on a regular basis, trying to find the nearest items. At Lhasa, the closest item had been somewhere near Beijing. Probably my father. When we reached Chengdu, I felt a flicker to the south, somewhere around Hong Kong. We stopped at Chengdu and bought some silk, as well as some more durable cloth to replace shirts and trousers that had worn out with.

We traveled on to Wuhan after that, keeping off the main roads, avoiding the emperor's soldiers when we could. Most of the soldiers we saw were heading north, towards Beijing. The rumor was that the Khan was massing his forces near the city, and Beijing was either under attack by the Khan or he was seriously thinking about attacking it.

Outside of Wuhan, there was another pull of an item. This one was in Wuhan. Very, very close. When I returned, I quietly told the others about the item I'd felt. "Zayd, you and me into town."

He nodded, and we dismounted, leaving the horses with the others in a clearing a little way out of town. We walked into Wuhan together, not sure what we were going to find. What we did find astonished us.

Elegant-robed mages walked the streets of this city as if they were commoners. It seemed like every other male had on the elaborately embroidered robes that declared one a mage. Many of them wore the imperial seal, but a surprising number of them did not. We walked through markets selling things I had never imagined existed, past many opium dens where, if you lingered, the smoke coming out the door alone would make your fingers and toes tingle.

As we went, I noticed that Zayd was looking around him, searching for something in particular. He took several unexpected turns, leading me into a warren of alleys that were close with people and opium smoke. He finally pulled me into a tiny storefront. Behind a long table, a lean Chinese mage was smoking, his eyes closed. To me, Zayd said, "They say if its high magic and it's bought and sold in Wuhan, Harb over there would know who has it."

I raised an eyebrow, but turned to the man. "I am looking for an item of powerful magic, one of a set. Unfortunately, I don't know which item of the set may have made its way here."

He took the end of the opium pipe out of his mouth. "Strong magic? What set?"

"Made by a now-dead mage named Kamil, who had an unsavory imagination. Each item in the set looks different and does something different."

"Ah, I know that set." Harb took a deep drag on the opium pipe, and then blew the smoke at me. "You won't get it easily."

"Who has it?"

Harb set the opium pipe down with the metal bowl on a small brazier. "His name is Jahm. High mage to the emperor. He transports it to Beijing to be used against the Khan who is getting closer to the city. Some snake made of clay, I believe."

I remembered Dien Bien Phu, a man who made magical toys, a little girl orphaned by the clay snake. I let not a flicker of recognition show. "And I suppose his price will be beyond our means." I shrugged. "Too bad, really."

The man chuckled. "He will not sell it. It would mean his head. Your only chance is to steal it."

I eyed him as if he were slightly insane. "I am sure it is, but stealing from mages is a very bad idea. I suppose I'll have to live without it."

"Might be best, but if you are thinking about it--" He picked up his pipe and took a long drag. Smoke curled gently from his mouth as he spoke. "Go through the girl."

"What girl?" I asked.

"Not sure if it's his sister, which some claim, or his mother or his lover. I have heard rumors of all of those being true, sometimes more than one at once. They always travel together. Her name is Shifa. She has a large appetite for things. Opium, men, women, wine, food, games of chance."

"Ah, a woman of a number of weaknesses."

Harb smiled. "Yes, so it is said."

"They are staying in town, somewhere?"

Another long drag. "You will find them at their house in the early mornings. They keep a residence here. Afternoon and nights, they go shopping and indulging."

I smiled. "I still think it's not a good idea. But thank you for the information." I was keeping my eyes open for signs that he expected to be paid for the information, but none were forthcoming. He was wealthy, certainly; I had just seen him smoke more opium than I would be able to comfortably afford. I bowed and got out; my head was starting to feel strange, and I needed some fresh air.

As we wound our way back through the narrow alleys, Zayd asked in Persian, "So, feel like taking on the high mage of the emperor?" He shook his head. "Or letting your family die from the snake. It's not a good choice."

It was a moment before I responded. "Feel like it? No. Do I need to? Yes. Though I can't start making plans until my head clears. Good gods, that man was smoking a lot of opium."

"That's nothing, step into one of the dens over there. You won't feel a thing for a week. The girl has to be the way in, but I hate to use his advice."

I laughed. "No thanks, I prefer the inside of my head just the way it is. I don't really want to follow his advice, because if he was lying even a little, it'll get one or more of us killed. If he wasn't, it means one or more of us is going to have to get up close and personal with her."

"Sounds like it could be any one of us."

"That's what it sounds like, at least. We're going to need to find them and watch them, see how much is rumor and how much is truth."

Zayd nodded. "That's a Sacha and you job for a few days. Or at least a Sacha job."

"Oh, me as well. It's always easier to go undetected if there are two of you." I picked up the pace a bit, stretching out my legs. "Let's go meet the others and tell them we'll be staying here for a few days."

As usual, we camped outside of town. We found a good place several miles away that was relatively isolated, and Sacha and I walked into town after all was settled. We took rooms at two separate guesthouses in one of the seedier sections. It was a little unnerving for me at first to have street prostitutes calling out to me as I walked the poorer sections of town, but soon enough that too became just part of the background noise.

For the next three days, we watched and learned.

Jahm and Shifa had a quite predictable schedule. They lived in a wealthy neighborhood that had no opium dens in it, and tended not to get up until noon or later. Shifa skipped most of her meals, preferring to smoke them with a lover that seemed to change daily. Her preferred den was one on the outskirts of one of the poorer neighborhoods, called the White Cloud. She was razor-thin but pretty all the same, with thick black hair that fell to her ankles in a shining curtain, and lips that seemed to be perpetually swollen from kisses.

Jahm had a different schedule on rising. He would usually go out for a meal, and then would peruse most of the shops in the city on a regular route. He appeared to be looking for something in particular. He would end his day at the shops a few hours later and then go to dinner. He kept with him one visible bodyguard and one invisible one, who a coincidence of an eddy of smoke had revealed to me.

About two hours before midnight, he would meet up with Shifa, and they would go to gambling dens until dawn or so. They then returned home to sleep, and then would get up and repeat the whole thing again.

I was deathly bored. Did all rich people in this part of the world live like this? I could barely imagine the mind-numbing tedium of doing absolutely nothing of use all day long.

There were some interesting things happening at their house. From the outside, it looked like bags and boxes were being brought out, and arrangements for horses were being made. They were leaving, it looked like, and planning on not coming back for some time.

Following Shifa, I discovered that she picked up the people she smoked with just about anywhere--bars, opium dens, street corners, shops. She flirted, and they followed. The girls I saw came from a very, very expensive brothel near her house. All of the girls were exquisitely pretty, which Shifa seemed to appreciate.

The odd thing was that in the three days we watched her, she didn't bed any of the people she had with her. She took none of them home with her, and unless she was having quickies in back alleys, her schedule of frantic leisure meant that she had no time for playing with her toys. She flirted and teased, but I suspected that everyone left her side unsatisfied.

Jahm's interest was far more straightforward. He was looking for any information he could find on Kamil. I could lead him right to me, if I wanted to.

"I think the girl's a dead end," I told Sacha. We were sitting in the ramshackle room I'd rented. The brazier in the center was not quite enough to combat the cold drafts that were coming in through the cracks in the walls. I was just glad it wasn't raining; the roof had several holes. "At least, for getting into the house. She's still a good source of information about where Jahm's keeping that snake, and what he's planning to do with it."

"Probably," Sacha agreed. He looked sourly down at the wineskin he'd brought with him. "I've been on boring assignments before, but these people's lives are so--useless."

I chuckled. "Remind me to tell you about the four months I spent in Otrar, sometime. Now that was a boring assignment. So, we have limited time, it seems. We need to make a move sooner rather than later. I don't think I can get into that brothel as a girl, and Shifa's touchy enough that she'd likely notice my breasts eventually, no matter how tightly I bind them down. You think you can get close to her, and keep your head even with the opium?"

He frowned. "Maybe, anything magical that could help that you can think of?"

"Actually, yes, Nomolun should have something that will help keep it from affecting you quickly, and may have a potion to neutralize it afterward."

"Then, yes, I can get close to her." He took a swig of wine. "What do you want to know, or should I just keep her busy?"

I considered. "I'd like to know what their plans are, where they're going and when. I'd also like to know about where Jahm keeps that item of his, whether on him or in his house somewhere. Be careful, though. She's more than she seems, I think. She may be a mage, herself."

"I can do that. What are you going to do?"

I smiled lazily, and stretched. "I am going to see if I can sell Jahm a book."

Sacha's smile in return was sharp and appreciative. It was good to be back doing the work we'd both trained for, and this was a challenge that was going to be worthy of our skills. I thought of something, and met Sacha's eyes. "By the way, Sacha, this is work. Do what you need to."

His wry twist of a smile let me know that he knew exactly what I was talking about. "I'm hoping what we've seen is the case and she doesn't bed any of the people she smokes with. But I'll keep it in mind."

A thought struck me, and I frowned. Sacha caught the look on my face and asked, "What?"

"Just a thought. What if one of them has used the snake already? If they've had it for four years or more, we know for certain that one of them has. Remember the toymaker."

Sacha's eyes widened. "Shifa. Do you think her habit--"

"Might be her way of keeping Kamil from taking her over. Or, for all I know, Jahm may be a Kamil-bearer, and Shifa's indulging herself to keep from screaming in horror all the time. It's something to keep in mind. If she says anything, does anything that makes you think that she recognizes you..." I shook my head. "Get out of there. You're more valuable than whatever information she has."

"I will." The one window was shuttered, and Sacha glanced at the door, then rose, reaching for me. He pressed a hungry kiss on my mouth, and I moaned quietly as I returned it. "Yesui," he breathed as our lips parted once more.

"Sssh. That's not my name, remember." But I was smiling at him, holding his gaze with mine.

"I know," he said, and released me reluctantly. "To the camp, to speak with Nomolun."

I nodded, then Sacha turned and left. I gave him a quarter hour, then I left as well. Nomolun provided Sacha with a spell that would slow down the action of opium on him, I picked out one of the books we carried, and separately we walked back to town.

I contacted a bookseller, someone on Jahm's regular route, hinting at a commission if he managed to send someone who would pay well for it my way. Less than an hour later, a runner pounded on the door of my room. There was a buyer. He would meet me at a place of my choosing.

I named a place that served as one of the few bars that wasn't also an opium den. I knew it had rooms available in the back for an hourly rate. I paid the barkeep for one of these, and went to take the room.

It was small, mostly taken up by a table and two chairs. I set the book on the table and leaned back in my chair, considering it. There was a brusque knock and the door opened, Jahm stepping in.

He had maybe four decades, his hair grayed a little at the temples but not too much. He was a small man in black robes with red protections embroidered into them, but what he lacked in height he more than made up for in presence. I had felt him coming when he was still out in the corridor.

He had the one visible guard with him, and as I turned my gaze towards Jahm I saw the flicker that meant someone invisible was behind him. "Jahm, I take it? Have a seat, be welcome."

He nodded and sat, eyeing me. "You have the book?"

"Right here." I tapped the cover, then pushed it across the table to him. "It's about an artifact in the shape of an arch. Unpleasant thing."

"Yes, they are. Your price?"

I thought for a moment, and then named a price just shy of exorbitant, the worth of about twenty horses. Jahm lifted an eyebrow. "Pay him," he said to the guard standing at his shoulder.

The guard fumbled at his side, and a heavy sack thumped onto the table. I smiled. "Foul things. Fortunately, the books are unique, so I can sell them after I've committed the contents to memory. Postpones my return home for a bit longer."

That made Jahm's ears prick up, just as I thought it might. "You have had more? Where did you sell them, and what can you remember of them?"

I made an expansive, dismissive gesture. "Here and there, I've been traveling all over. There was one about a statue that caused plague, a cup that would make whoever wanted to torture men for their blood immortal and invulnerable. The books leave out a very important bit about the artifacts, though."

Still that raised eyebrow. I had his attention, sure enough. "Such as?"

"Near as I can tell, whoever uses one of those things gets taken over by them. Met a man it had happened to, poor sod. He was still fighting it, but he was in bad shape. When I found that out, I lost any desire to own one of the things."

"Interesting. Was he taken over by this Kamil, or by some other entity?"

"Kamil, so he said. That was between the ranting and raving." I snorted gently, leaning back in my chair again, watching Jahm. "I'd have called him a madman, but the guy was living in a wasteland of his own creation. The description he gave of the artifact he used matched perfectly with one I'd heard of. Guy wasn't all there. Kept claiming his sister would save him."

"Very interesting, indeed. Have you heard of the silver gloves?"

Of course he would want to know about the gloves. "Have I ever. Saw the book, but the owner disappeared before I could buy it off of her. That Khan has them, so I hear."

"So it is said." He was looking at me steadily, and I found myself unable to tell whether he was simply curious or doubting I was telling the truth. "Have you ever seen one, not just the books?"

Easy enough to lie with the truth. I leaned forward and tapped the book's cover. "This one, actually. Managed to talk my way into a guy's house in Samarqand, and he had it in his collection. I was thinking about trying to buy it off of him, but he got killed the next day. I don't know what happened to it, and that was a year ago by now. That was before I found out what the artifacts do to people."

"And he had not used it?"

I shrugged. "He was an old guy, and this one needs an army to be effective. But, on the bright side, I haven't heard of any demon armies wandering around, so maybe whoever has it now is smart enough not to use it. It changes men and horses into some sort of demon-things."

"Well, I thank you for the book and the information, sir. I have to be on my way to Beijing tomorrow."

"Beijing? Isn't it under siege?"

Jahm shook his head. "Not yet but soon, I fear."

"Maybe I'll head east next instead of north, then. Maybe I'll see if I can find this sister the guy I met was talking about, see what her story is, how much of what the guy told me was the truth." I was probing now, trying to get him to question me, but it was a lost cause. His mind was elsewhere.

He shoved his chair back from the table, picked up the book. "Good luck in wherever you travel. You will excuse me. I have more packing to do and a sister to find."

I smiled. "Of course. Good luck."

He turned and left, and both his visible and invisible guards went with him. I got up and ghosted after them. Following them wasn't difficult; Jahm was nearly running, his visible guard hurrying to keep pace.

A quarter hour later, they and then I arrived at the White Cloud. I slipped in behind the guards, using the dark smokiness to cover my presence. Shifa was reclining on a couch, one leg thrown possessively over Sacha's lap. I controlled my twitch of jealousy and watched closely.

Jahm stormed up to her, and Shifa squeaked as he hauled her to her feet. He pulled up her sleeve and pulled off of her wrist a coiled snake, dark in the ruddy light of the opium den. The snake writhed in his hand, looking irritated. "You haven't used this, have you?" Jahm demanded.

She shook her head frantically. Jahm nodded once and then left, pulling Shifa behind him. Sacha watched them go, looking confused.

Once they were gone, I stepped out of the shadows. He saw me, then I jerked my head at the door. Once we were outside, I breathed deeply. My fingers has begun to tingle from even that small of an exposure to the opium. "Well, at least we know where they keep it now. And I think I managed to scare him good," I said in a low voice. We stopped in the corner of a square by a fountain; the splashing water would cover our voices.

"Sounds like it. Well, she is a piece of work, really."

"How so?" I asked.

He ran a hand through his hair. "I got her life story. All of it ugly. Her mother sold her and Jahm to a merchant for her own opium habit. Jahm was given out to a mage to mind his wares in a shop here in Wuhan. Shifa was put on the street as a prostitute when she was eight."

I winced, shaking my head. Tribesmen had a number of bad habits, I'd be the first to admit, but we did not sell our children into that kind of slavery. "Nice. I'm surprised she survived."

"She almost didn't, several times. But Jahm always seemed to be able to find her and save her before she was beaten to death. Jahm started reading the books in the mages shop and taught himself magic. Didn't realize you could do that."

"Most people can't." It was only the very rare native talent for magic that would be able to, as a matter of fact.

He spread his hands. "Jahm kills the mage, kills the merchant, and takes his sister away from Wuhan. They travel a lot and end up in Beijing, where he falls into the hands of the emperor. The emperor makes him work, using Shifa as a threat against him. Shifa turns high class prostitute and gets an opium habit. The emperor uses her to find out information about his enemies, letting them borrow her for the night. Jahm gets stronger and stronger and the emperor is now pondering that he may be a target. He gives him back Shifa, pays him well, and sends him on artifact finding missions."

"Thus his interest in the artifacts."

Sacha nodded. "Along the way he finds many things, but only gives about half to the emperor and sells some to another party. Shifa doesn't know about them, but from her description of the people, it's the brotherhood. He keeps a few for himself. They find the snake a few weeks ago heading toward Taiwan, being guarded by a monk and some warrior from Japan. They kill the monk, leave the warrior for dead, and then head off to sell the snake to the brotherhood. The brotherhood, tells him to keep it and deliver it to the emperor with their blessings."

The blood must have drained from my face, then, thinking of what was about to happen. "I think friend Jahm is in over his head, and is just realizing it." As may be we.

"He's being used to take it to the emperor and then Kamil runs two empires, who will suddenly join forces and rule the world. That what you are thinking?"

"That's exactly what I'm thinking." I hissed a breath between my teeth. "Kamil's played him, more or less."

"Now the question is, can we convince him not to give it to the emperor?"

I rubbed my earlobe, thinking. "Well, I threw a scare into him, so he might think twice about doing so. Problem is, he's kind of stuck, unless he decides to disappear. Getting the snake away from him isn't going to be easy. I'd almost want to talk to him as myself and explain exactly how he's been played, but that could go very badly if he takes exception to it, or just doesn't believe me. I don't get the impression that he wants it for himself, and stealing it from him is going to be very, very dangerous."

"Shifa did. She said it talked to her. That's what we were talking about when Jahm came in."

I narrowed my eyes. "Kamil wants her, not Jahm. Wonder what she has that he doesn't? Maybe Kamil just figures that she's got a weaker mind, and Jahm will stand beside her and be her ally no matter what happens. Did she mention what the snake was telling her?"

Sacha shook his head. "Nope, didn't have time."

I closed my eyes. "All right. Back out to the camp. I have an idea, but it's going to take a certain amount of nerve, and I want to talk to Ahmad first."

He eyed me. "You're not thinking what I think you're thinking, are you?"

I grinned. "Later."

Out at the camp, I took a walk a little way away. Spirit followed me, hanging his head curiously over my shoulder. I almost laughed; he was such a horse sometimes. I called Ahmad out of the bracelet, and gave him a quick rundown of what was going on. "Have you ever heard of a Chinese mage named Jahm, in the service of the emperor?" I asked.

"Yes, last I knew that was where he was." Ahmad rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, and I wondered if it got cramped inside the bracelet. I'd hardly gotten to talk to him since we'd started traveling in the east.

"What have you heard of him?"

"Youngish, powerful, headstrong. overprotective of a sister."

"That sounds about right. Though youngish might be overstating it, he's probably twenty or so years older than I am. Any indication about his ethics, or lack thereof?"

"Well this was a few years ago. So he was younger." He wrinkled his nose briefly and I laughed, heartened. I'd missed Ahmad and the way he could make me laugh over the last few weeks. "He only really is interested in magic. So the way to his ethics or lack thereof can only be bought with magic. Money is not really a problem for him."

"No. The sister is, though. Kamil wants her, and not Jahm, and I don't know why. She's been used as a prostitute most of her life, picked up an opium habit along the way." An idea was starting to coalesce in my mind, a way that both Jahm and I could get what we wanted. "I wonder if she has the same potential as Jahm, but not any of his training."

"Kamil will want access to the Chinese emperor. She probably has the best chance of physical contact, I would guess. Or she may have some potential that no one else knows. Opium is a good way to stop certain telepathic abilities."

Now that was an interesting idea, and if it was true, I was glad she'd been smoking heavily when she was talking to Sacha, before. "Another possibility. I'm trying to decide if walking in there, telling him who I am and what's going on, and offering to help his sister in exchange for the snake would work, or if it would be a fast track to getting me sold to the brotherhood, who he's had some dealings with. Though I don't think he has any clue who they are."

Ahmad gave me a thoughtful look. "How would you help his sister?"

"I'm reasonably sure the cup could take away the physical addiction. And spending some time in the light of the candle would probably help quiet her spirit, maybe give her a chance to work out the things that made her turn to the drugs in the first place. It wouldn't be instant, but it's a ways to Beijing, and we could travel together. He'd have to disappear afterwards, but it's a big world." And a mage of his talents would have no trouble becoming rich just about anywhere.

"Depends, do you think there is a chance he may just give you the snake for helping his sister?"

I thought about the man I'd met, his presence and the way he'd reacted when I'd told him about what the artifacts had done. He hadn't even tried to pay me for what I knew. "I think there's a chance. I don't think there's much in the world Jahm fears that's not connected with her. He has a...presence, is the best way to put it."

"I think it's your best chance really. Stealing it from him may be hazardous to your health."

I snorted. "I wasn't about to try it. After meeting him, I figured out that there was no way I was going to attempt it."

Ahmad thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "I think I would chance it. With a backup that your people are outside just in case."

"I'm glad that at least one other person doesn't think it's instant suicide. Besides, I can sweeten the pot a bit for Jahm. My father's sitting outside of Beijing, thinking about attacking it. I'm one of the few people in the world who might be able to get the gloves away from him."

"Jahm wants the gloves as well?"

I shook my head. "I don't think so. The snake's being transported to Beijing, I believe because the emperor is afraid that the Khan will attack the city with the gloves. If I can get the gloves away from him and get out, then the emperor might not hunt quite so hard for Jahm after he disappears."

"True enough. I think it is your best chance, besides waiting until he hands them off at Beijing and trying to intercept it then. Your only other choice is that if Shifa carries the snake, then getting to her and stealing it may be an option but likely that operation will injure or kill her and then Jahm will be hunting you."

I shuddered. Jahm hunting me was a nightmare that I wasn't willing to confront. "I don't think Jahm's letting her carry it anymore. I told him that Kamil takes over people who use it, and he found her and took it away from her. It was coiled around her wrist. At least, if I were him, I wouldn't let her carry it."

"Nor would I. I think talking to him truthfully is your best chance. If he refuses, he will be on guard but he probably won't kill you for the question."

That was my estimation, as well. "Off I go, then. I need to get out to the camp and back in here tonight. Wish me luck."

Ahmad chuckled. "Good luck. More with convincing your companions than Jahm."

I laughed, stretching. "They're going to think I'm insane. That's all right, they've thought that before."

"And probably will again."

"Undoubtedly. I'll let you know how it goes." Ahmad disappeared, and I went back to the others.

"This is insane. And this is coming from me," Zayd was saying. Nomolun was looking quietly horrified, Temur looked quite doubtful, and Sacha was staring at me as if I'd grown a tail.

"I've met the guy. I wouldn't want to try to steal anything from him," I told Zayd. "I think I'm going to have to give kind for kind on this one. On the good side, if I can convince him to travel to Beijing with us, at least the trip will be much safer."

None of them were convinced, but in the end they agreed. I decided to go in as myself, and to that end washed up, combing my hair out and letting it dry in springy curls. It was almost finished growing out after I'd had to cut it in Dien Bien Phu, the time that Hamid had almost killed Zayd, back when Kamil was still underestimating me.

"I have to admit, Yesui, that is a definite improvement. I could almost like this mage, for now I see again the face that prompted me to come along in the first place." Zayd was grinning, and I rolled my eyes at him.

"You'd like him better if he meant I got to drop the disguise for more than an hour. Come here, you, kiss me while I still look like a girl."

"With pleasure," Zayd said, and stepped over to me, sliding a hand under my chin to lift my mouth to his. The kiss left me breathless, my toes tingling as if I'd just taken a deep breath of opium.

"Be glad it's your night," I muttered into his ear once we broke the kiss. Zayd smiled and kissed me again, and then turned me loose to go find the things I was going to need. I was going to take Zayd and Temur with me, all of us riding our own mounts, me on Spirit. "I'll leave you outside the house. If I'm attacked, Spirit will know and he'll alert you," I told them as we rode back into town.

They nodded, and we were off. We pulled up outside the gates of Jahm's house. The gates themselves were standing open, and inside servants rushed to and fro with boxes, bags, bolts of cloth, stacks of books and scrolls. I dismounted, nodded to my escort, and walked into the courtyard. I snagged the sleeve of an empty-armed servant. "I need to speak with Jahm."

The man started, then looked down at me. "I will see if he is free for a moment. In reference to what? Magic related?"

I let just the ghost of a smile appear on my lips. "In reference to the artifact that he transports to the emperor."

The man started, his eyes widened. "I will tell him immediately"

"Thank you," I said, then put my hands together and bowed. It was a gesture that I had learned in Tibet, uncommon in this part of the world, and the man looked slightly discomfited by it. He rushed off, and within a few minutes returned with Jahm in tow. "And you are?" he asked.

"My name is Yesui. I know quite a bit about the clay snake you have in your possession. I need to discuss it with you--preferably in private."

He calmly evaluated me for a moment, taking in likely a thousand tiny details of my dress and manner, and then nodded. "Interesting. Follow me." I followed him into the house proper, into a large room that was echoingly bare of furnishings. There was a table in here that would seat twenty easily, made of a dark wood with dragon feet as table legs. There were windows from floor to ceiling, but only one door, the one we'd come in from. It closed behind me with a gesture from the mage.

He did not sit, and neither did I. He was still watching me uncomfortably closely. "Now, how do you know about that?"

I let the same tiny smile come to my lips. "Because for the last year, I've been tracking down and destroying Kamil's artifacts. How specifically I know about the clay snake is a bit of a longer story."

"You must have something helping you track them down, they are notoriously hard to find."

"I do. Something created by an enemy of his years ago."

He smiled. "Ah, this Ahmad, I have heard about. And the horse named Spiritwalker."

The smile that had been on my mouth faded. "I'm not surprised you'd heard of Ahmad, but it seems Spirit-walker's name is getting spoken quite a bit more these days than it used to." By too many people, in too many quarters.

Jahm had not relaxed, still holding himself on edge. "Ah well, if you look deep enough, I don't think Ahmad was really the drive behind Kamil's downfall. I think it was the horse."

I tilted my head. "Interesting. How do you figure?"

"It is said that the horse was telepathic and with it he could keep track of Kamil's mind even when it broke up. It is also said that it would choose another to help, and lead them to the items."

"I see. Well, the horse did play a large part in Kamil's downfall, at least, so I hear," I commented, keeping my voice neutral.

Jahm's eyes grew just a tiny bit brighter. "Could you be such a person? Do you ride a big black horse?"

Fairly caught. "I do. And, yes, he speaks." I shifted, tense. If Jahm was going to try to kill me, it would be soon. Let me live long enough to hear what I have to say.

"So the rumors are true. So that brings you to me, because I have the red clay snake, and you want it. The dilemma is that the emperor wants it as well to defend against the Khan who is about to invade."

My voice was soft, but sure. "The person who uses it will be taken over by Kamil. The Khan has been. If the emperor, or someone close to him, uses it, then Kamil controls this part of the world with barely even a battle. The Khan, so I hear, has been sitting outside of Beijing for, what, weeks now?"

Jahm's voice was deadly calm. "Waiting for me, I would suspect, so that both are controlled by Kamil. And this unites the Mongolian empire and the Chinese one."

"Exactly. And with the power of both empires, he will start to spread his influence. South first, and then west, if I were to make a wager on it. So, in the end, it comes down to you, Jahm."

"You have a way to destroy this thing?" he asked.

I inclined my head. "I do. Possibly not right away, but I can also handle the artifacts safely, since Kamil has never managed to offer me anything I want. And, in return for the snake, I can give you a gift of great value."

Now that had piqued his interest. What could the likes of me offer him? "Such as? If I do this, there is nowhere in either empire that I can hide in."

I softened my voice. "This is a big world. I've seen many parts of this part of it, and the emperor's and the Khan's power does not extend to every corner of it. The gift I can give you--well." I paused, spent the moment regarding him, evaluating. "You have a sister. Your sister has a very troubled spirit, and an addiction to opium. I can help with both of those things, I believe."

There was no emotion on his face, or in his voice. "The spirit I can accept, but the opium addiction has to stay, I fear."

What have I stepped into? "Why?"

Still no real expression from Jahm; perhaps just the faintest pain at the corners of his eyes. "She is a telepath like Spirit is. But one that cannot shield any thoughts. She hears all, all at once and constantly. Only the opium clouds her mind enough for sleep. Otherwise she cannot sleep, and will die or go mad."

There were alarms ringing in the back of my mind. Something was not right. He called Spirit by his nickname. "A moment," I said, and closed my eyes. I reached out to Spirit. Is it possible, if one can hear thoughts, to learn how to shield yourself from them? Is it a matter of learning, or is the ability to shield inborn?

It is usually inborn, allowing you to shunt others away. I might be able to cut her off totally from the thoughts, but she would never hear anything telepathically ever again.

Do you think this is something the Dalai would be able to help with? I asked.

Spirit's deep voice was thoughtful. The Dalai could help, yes. But he is not a strong telepath. He may have trouble.

Well, we'll see, I said silently. To Jahm, I said, "Spirit says that he may be able to help, but I don't know if the help will do more harm than good. He may be able to shut the ability away entirely, but she would never hear anyone's thoughts ever again."

The mage shook his head. "That may be best for all, but I am more interested in helping her spirit. Do you have an item or some spell that you could teach me for this?"

Did I risk the truth? I would have to. "An item. Formerly one of Kamil's. Instead of being destroyed, it was changed. Time spent in the candle's light will calm the spirit, taking away anger, hatred, fear. The change takes some time, but the help it gives is more or less permanent."

I could see Jahm beginning to relax, and my own shoulders began to lower. "Then I will trade you for it. The snake for the item."

A price too high. "I had another idea, actually. Were you planning on using some magical transport to Beijing, or were you planning on traveling overland?"

"If I no longer have the snake, there is no need to travel to Beijing."

I spread my hands. "Yes, but my group needs to. It's several weeks to Beijing; that gives the candle plenty of time to work on your sister. And it will allow my people to travel much more safely than we otherwise would, since the emperor's soldiers are understandably touchy about tribesmen these days. We travel together to Beijing, and I help your sister on the way. Once we near the city, you leave and we disappear. I need to remove the silver gloves from my--the Khan's keeping." I cursed my slip.

"I would rather be farther away from Beijing than closer when the emperor learns I have betrayed him." He gave me another speculative look. "If the deal needs to be sweetened, I have money, lots of it. And once the item has worked on my sister I will return it."

I shook my head. "The item's return is all I would really require. I may need it, later."

Was that amusement in Jahm's eyes? "The Dalai a safe place to return it to?"

"Yes. Tell him to keep it for me." I gave him an amused look, knowing now that I'd had no secrets from the moment I'd walked into this house. "You have Shifa reading me, don't you?"

"She has no choice but to read you." His smile was thin. "Khanate."

I winced. "Not truly, any more. Not as long as a ghost controls my father." I had left the Khanate behind somewhere on the plains, and I didn't know if I'd ever find that part of myself again.

"True enough." Jahm made a gesture, then pulled, seemingly from thin air, a small lead box. He put it down on the table, and slid it towards me. "The snake, and if you have the item now I will take it. Three months long enough for the item to work?"

"I do." I opened the pouch at my side, unwrapped the candle. "Light it, let her sleep in its light, spend as much time as she can stand in its light. Three months should be plenty of time." And don't stint on it for yourself, I thought, and was dismayed when I realized Shifa had probably just relayed that thought to him.

Jahm took the candle from my hand, looked down at it. "Then three months and one day from now, it will be in the hands of the Dalai."

I nodded. "Thank you. By the way, the book about the arch is an interesting foray into the mind of Kamil, but the arch itself is dust beneath the great mountain in Nepal." He betrayed no surprise, confirming that he knew I'd been the one to sell him the book.

He plucked yet another item out of thin air, this one a diamond that was nearly the size of my fist. He set it on the table and set it spinning over to me. I picked it and the box with the snake in it up off the table. "Thank you, I am in your debt if this works."

"I hope it will, and I believe it will," I told him. Jahm nodded and left, leaving the door open after him. I quickly checked the lead box, and saw the snake inside, lying quiescent on a bed of silk. I carefully cleared my mind then, and walked out.

The snake, I found out later, could be destroyed in the Chashui river, in Changhua, Taiwan. If the hands of a snake would wash it in the river, the water would destroy it. And the diamond, if sold to the correct person, would keep us for two years of we were frugal, a year if we were not. It was a relief; we'd been getting low on coin and barter. On our way out of town, I dropped by the bookseller who had led Jahm to me, and gave him a quarter of the purchase price of the book, a handsome commission.

"The hands of a snake?" I muttered to Spirit that night, as I was running my brush over him.

Yuanti, they are called. Snake-people. Strange people. You may not like them much. And that was all he had to say on the subject.

It had been a good trade, and I was well pleased, even if I would have liked to have kept the candle. But I had to admit to myself that we were probably better off not traveling with Jahm and Shifa. Who knew what Shifa would have gotten up to? And I had to admit that I'd been drawn to Jahm, to his larger-than-life presence. Not attracted to him as such, nor had I really liked him, but there was something compelling about him.

I was unlikely to ever see him again. That, I had to admit, was probably for the best.

At that point, I put the brush away, and went to go join Zayd in my tent. Shanghai, next, and then north towards Beijing, towards my father.

Comments

[kyra-ojosverdes.livejournal.com]

There's something amazingly satisfying about this story. Wonderful, thank you!

[silenceleigh.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

(We're getting close to the end, beleive it or not. Five stories to go, by my estimation.)