Knight's Prize (45 page)

"Did
she not tell you?" Morbroch asked.

"Tell
us?" Rand echoed, looking expectantly at Sung Li.

"Nay?"
Morbroch brought his hands abruptly together with a loud clap, startling
everyone, then began to rub them together with glee. "Then I've quite an
amazing tale for you, lords and ladies."

Miriel,
her guard relaxing for the moment, unclasped her knife. All around her, weapons
found their sheaths again.

"Of
course," Morbroch said with a sigh, "the tale would be much better
told had I an ale to wet my tongue."

The
castle folk crowded along the benches to make room for the knights of Morbroch.
Fortunately, Miriel had planned for an abundance of provender, so Rivenloch was
able to offer hospitality to the unexpected guests.

When
all
were
seated, they were treated to Morbroch's
account
of
The
Shadow's
escape, a story so greatly exag
gerated
that
it
left Miriel squirming.

"I
wouldn't
call it an escape," Morbroch said, shaking his head. "Nay, not at
all. That black creature that slithered out of the tree was one of Satan's
serpents, come to retrieve a minion of Lucifer himself."

Miriel
skewered Sung Li with a glare, but her
xiansheng
seemed completely
unperturbed. Forsooth, if she didn't know better, she'd swear he was smiling.

As
the story continued, it became more and more obvious what that cunning Sung Li
had done. He must have traveled back to Morbroch on his own, dressed as a maidservant,
on the pretense of finding out what had become of his "brother," The
Shadow.

When
the story was related to him by the people
of
Morbroch,
Sung Li had simply filled in the gaps of understanding regarding the curious
aftermath. Morbroch and the other lords, unable to explain the strange
occurrence, embraced Sung Li's explanation as the truth.

"The
outlaw roused the wrath of the great Dragon of China," Morbroch said,
widening his eyes dramatically. The beast swooped down upon the hanging tree,
snarling
and
spitting
fire, and snatched up The Shadow in his horrible claws to deliver him back to
Hell. The sky was filled with thunder and lightning, moon and sun all at once,
and the
light
of a thousand stars as the great Dragon raged
and
shrieked and
roared across the heavens. At last, in a
cloud
of po
is
onous
smoke
and with a mighty swish of his terrible
tail,
he ascended
into
the clouds with the doomed
Shadow, never
to
be seen
again."

A
long
silence
ensued.
Miriel had pressed her fingers to her lips, pretending astonishment
when she felt laughter bubbling in her mouth. From the corner of her eye, she
saw her sisters struggled with their amusement as well. Sung Li gazed on with
smug satisfaction, as if her imaginary wicked brother had deserved no less. As
for Rand, his eyes gleamed dangerously at the fanciful account. No doubt he was
reliving his role as the great Dragon.

Again
and again the tale was told. After the tables were cleared, and everyone had
their fill of dancing, when all had gathered around the great hearth in the
midst of the hall, still the story circulated. All of the Morbroch knights had
been there, and each had his own unique version of the incident. The people of
Rivenloch listened in rapt awe, marveling at the heretofore unknown magnificence
of their outlaw. Boniface even composed a verse on the spot to honor the event.

But
while she should have been grateful for Sung Li's stroke of genius, Miriel
found herself growing more and more glum and troubled as the night wore on.

When
Rand left her for a moment to visit the garde-robe, Sung Li joined her.
"It is your wedding night," he scolded. "You should be
happy."

Miriel
frowned. "You killed The Shadow."

Sung
Li shrugged. "It was time for him to die."

"But
now how will I balance the accounts? You know how my father wagers. The coffers
will run dry if—"

"As
long as your
yin
and
yang
are
in balance as husband and wife, the accounts will remain so as well."

Not
in a mood for Sung Li's indecipherable advice, Miriel snatched him by the front
of his kirtle, and bit out, "What the bloody hell is that supposed
to—"

Sung
Li reached up calmly and pinched hard at the flesh between her thumb and
finger, making her yelp and release him. "The reward your husband earned
for catching The Shadow will greatly
un
balance the accounts. It may take
years of losing at the gaming tables for your father to put them right
again."

It
took a moment for Miriel to understand. When the truth finally penetrated, that
Rand had been paid handsomely for The Shadow, she raised her brows in wonder.

"However,"
Sung Li added as Rand entered the great hall again, "if the accounts
should become unbalanced again..." He gave her a sly smile. "There is
always my
second
brother."

"Second
brother?"

"The
Ghost."

Miriel
smiled conspiratorially. Somehow she suspected there would be no need for The
Ghost. Still, 'twas good to know if times became desperate, if she was forced
to turn to a life of crime
...

"It
is time," Sung Li said.

“Time?"

"You
will make your babe now."

Miriel's
jaw dropped. "Sung Li!" She furrowed her brow.
"Do not
deign
to tell me when I will and will
not
..
."

But
when
Rand swept up, grinning wide enough to
show off
his twinkling eyes and
irresistible dimples, and wrapped
an
arm around her shoulders,
she had to admit that the prospect of making a babe was indeed tempting.

************************************

Rand
kissed his bride's damp forehead as they lay in the sweet afterglow of
coupling. He wondered if Sung Li's prophecy was right, if they would make a
babe this night.

It
didn't matter. If not this night, then the next. They had a whole lifetime of
lovemaking ahead of them.

Miriel
nuzzled his shoulder, murmuring, "Sung Li was wrong, you know."

"Wrong?"

Where
he still nestled within her, she tightened around him, whispering, " 'Tis
The Shadow that has swallowed The Night."

He
drew a lusty breath between his teeth as his cock awakened yet again to her
coaxing. Soon the warm coals of their desire were stirred to life, igniting and
exploding into searing flames of passion.

When
they finally fell back to earth, like spent fragments of falling stars, Rand
realized there was one thing Sung Li had been right about. Their joining was as
fiery and magical as
huo yao.

Surely
the child forged from such a union would be likewise unique—as strong and
fearless as his father, as brave and clever as his mother. Sung Li had promised
to take the babe under his wing, to teach him, or her, the Chinese arts of war,
just as he had Miriel.

Miriel
burrowed affectionately against Rand's shoulder, and he buried his nose in her
silken tresses, breathing in the soft, unforgettable scent.

Miriel
was a sweet prize indeed. She was beautiful and wise, headstrong and brilliant,
kind and coy and charming. And, he thought as his gaze caught on the gentle
flicker of
candlelight reflected in the array of silver blades
oa
the
wall, as fierce a warrior as he'd ever met.

He
grinned. Just as he'd needlessly feared that Miriel would scorn his mercenary
past, she'd assumed he'd be appalled to learn she was capable of wielding those
weapons.

Naught
could be further from the truth.

She'd
forgiven him for hunting her down.

He'd
forgiven her for attempting to slay him.

And
once he recovered from the shock of being viciously attacked by his own betrothed,
his surprise turned quickly to respect and admiration. He'd learned something
from Miriel and her sisters. Never again would he scoff at a woman with a
blade.

Miriel
sighed.

"What
is it?" he murmured.

"I
wish
Sung Li hadn't killed The Shadow."

"You
liked life as an outlaw?"

She
shrugged. "Just once, I would have liked my father to see me."

"I
think he knew."

She
lifted her head. "What?"

“I
think he knew you were The Shadow. He once said
to me,
'The
Shadow walks among us, under our noses.'"
He
grinned.
"I
think
he knew all along. Indeed, I suspect
'tis why he
lost so often at wagering.
He wanted to keep
his
outlaw
daughter
in fighting form."

She
smiled then
in wonder and fell quiet, but he still
sensed
a
melancholy
to her silence. Now that The Shadow
was
dead,
he supposed
Miriel's talents would go to waste.

As
Rand lay there
for several moments, admiring the display
of
exotic
weapons
on the wall, a spark of a clever idea began to smoke at the back of his
brain, burning away like a black powdered fuse.

"Miriel,
are you awake?"

"Mm?"

"I've
been thinking."

"Aye?"

"I've
decided the mystery of
huo yao
is too precious to allow it
to disappear in secrecy."

That
brought her wide-awake. "What?" She speared him with a threatening
glare. "You promised!"

He
shrugged. "But do you not see? That knowledge would make Rivenloch an
impenetrable fortress." He let a gleam come into his eyes. "Its
knights would be undefeatable," he reasoned, "its lands
unconquerable. Rivenloch would become the roaring dragon of all Scotland."
He shook his head. "Nay, I don't see how, in good conscience, I can hold
my tongue."

Whether
'twas the telltale twitch of his lip, the merry sparkle of his gaze, or simply
that she knew him too well, Miriel quickly guessed his game.

"I
see," she said, feigning a sigh of defeat as she settled back onto the
coverlet. "And what would it take to convince you to hold your tongue? A
purse fuU of silver? A new coat of mail? My firstborn?"

"Teach
me."

She
craned her neck to look at him. "Teach you?"