Fox and Phoenix (13 page)

Without waiting to hear more, Yún stalked toward the door. One of the soldiers grabbed her arm. She bared her teeth and growled. The man snatched away his hand and recoiled. Seeing my chance, I ran after her and slid through the half-open stall door.

And nearly ran smack into three wizards just inside.

They stood with their backs to us, palms lifted upward as they chanted in low rhythmic voices. Our pony huddled against the opposite wall. Yāo-guài crouched in the middle of the stall, surrounded by our scattered gear. His wings were spread wide and stiff. All his feathers stood on end, like spikes. His eyes glittered with fury and magic.

“What happened?” Yún demanded.

All three wizards spun around. “What are you doing here? Get out before that monster—”

“That ‘monster' belongs to us. He was protecting our belongings and our pony. Anyone with two good eyes could see that.”

She glared at the wizards. The oldest of the three wizards folded his arms and glared back. “We are responsible for keeping peace within the kingdom,” he said evenly. “Your little monster is clearly dangerous. Do you have a permit for importing magical beasts into our jurisdiction?”

“Legal talk.” Yún spat on the ground.

The man's lips tightened into a satisfied smile. “Which means you do not. I need you and your companion to come with us to the palace for questioning.”

“Us?” My voice squeaked up. “We didn't do anything—”

“You imported a dangerous creature. You did not notify the authorities of its presence. And whatever the provocation, your monster attacked and almost killed a man. You will come with us for questioning.”

Yún drew herself into a straight line. “We refuse.”

“Then we will arrest you for threatening the safety and tranquility of our king's domain. Do not think,” he added, “that we cannot. Our chief wizard is more powerful than you can imagine.”

More glares. More hisses from Yún. The wizard, however, was taller and older, with the immovable patience of a mountain. If we had a century to wear him down, like rain wearing through rock and metal . . . But we didn't. And this mountain had two wizards and a bunch of armed soldiers on his side.

“What about that thief?” Yún said reluctantly.

“He will be questioned. Do not worry.”

Easy for him to say. He wasn't facing any fines or jail sentence.

I touched Yún's arm. “We have no choice.”

She flinched away from my touch. “I know,” she said in a low voice. “But”—she rounded on the senior wizard—“we bring our griffin with us. It's not safe otherwise.”

His eyes narrowed, but he only shrugged. “You are probably right.”

“And our stall,” she continued. “You must set a guard here so no one else attempts to rob us. Understood?”

He grunted, which I took to mean
yes
.

I scooped up Yāo-guài. He shivered in my arms and made small chirruping noises. It was hard to imagine this small feathery creature attacking anyone. (Killing them. Admit it. He almost did.) The griffin nibbled at my shirt. I offered him a chunk of lamb from the basket. He gobbled it down so fast he almost choked.

They tried to smother him,
Chen said.

For Chen to call a companion spirit “strange” meant something.

The wizard coughed. Right. Better to get this questioning over with. Besides, it made more sense to tell the chief so-and-so about the thief's friends.

They hurried us through the crowds to the miniature palace, and down winding stone steps to an underground (more underground) hall with doors and corridors leading off in all directions. Our wizards directed us down the widest of these corridors, to a set of double doors with guards on either side.

The senior wizard stepped forward and presented credentials. He and the two guards spoke in low tones.

“. . . taking care of that other one now . . .”

“. . . really think it's necessary . . .”

“. . . unauthorized magic . . .”

The guard must have agreed we were terribly dangerous criminals because he stared at us nervously before tapping on his wrist talk-phone. It beeped right away, and the doors swung open.

Our wizard keepers herded us into a small room covered on all sides by stone fitted to stone. A striped carpet blanketed the floor—all greens and browns and brass-bright yellow. A steady golden light illuminated everything without any sign of lamp or candle. And though there was no fireplace in sight, the air was as hot as a summer day, and smelling of crushed herbs and sweat. All around us magic flux flickered.

An old woman dressed in dark blue sat behind a desk. Her hair was snowy white and so thin that her skull showed through. Her eyes were shining black buttons in a nut-brown face, thick with wrinkles. In spite of the heat, she wore layer upon layer of woolen robes.

The chief wizard observed our approach. “I hope you have not misjudged the importance of interrupting me,” she said mildly.

Our wizard bent low. “A matter of a magical disturbance, Your Honored Worship.”

“Ah. That.” She beckoned him closer and they conferred. Her expression never changed, but at the end of two minutes, she nodded briskly. “Good enough. Leave them with me.”

“Your Honored Worship—”

“I am not in danger, Captain.”

Though her voice was low, he snapped back with a salute. “Of course. I just—”

“—wished to articulate your concern. Good. You have done so. Now go.”

She dismissed the wizards with a flick of one tiny prune-hand. Once the door closed behind the men, she turned to us. “Sit.”

There was a bench in front of her desk. We sat. Yāo-guài wriggled in my arms. His eyes were brighter than before, almost alive. I tightened my hold and prayed to all the gods in heaven that he would behave.

The chief wizard studied us a few moments with an unreadable gaze. “You possess an interesting creature,” she said. “He was dying when you brought him here, no?”

Yún nodded mutely. Her anger had drained away. She looked shaken and her wounds were probably bothering her. I wanted to take her away and let her lie down to rest, but when I made the slightest movement, Yún shook her head.

“Hmmmmm.” The woman hummed, as if trying to recall a song. “You haven't trained him very well.”

“We didn't know how,” I said, irritated.

“Not a good excuse.” She hummed again. Yún's expression eased, and her cheeks flushed with better color. “Now then. About this matter of theft and attack. You admit the creature nearly killed someone.”

“Yes, but—”

“No more excuses.”

I swallowed. “Yes, ma'am.”

Her face wrinkled with a passing smile. “And no more false modesty. You were both furious with our wizards. Can't say I blame you. They are pompous fools. However, they were right to bring you here. We must guard our tranquility, especially when our kingdom is barricaded under the mountain. So I will question you both. And you, you will tell me the truth.”

“About everything?” I burst out.

She tilted her head. Her ancient eyes narrowed to black slits. “Have you something to hide?”

I gulped. “Um, a little. Nothing bad.”

Another smile, like the shadow of a brighter one. “I doubt that. However, I concede your argument. My duty to ensure tranquility does not give me the right to frolic through your thoughts and memories with abandon.”

The image of this tiny old woman frolicking anywhere had me snorting. I tried to stop myself and went into a coughing fit. Yún thumped me on the back—harder than she needed to. I subsided into hiccups and wiped the tears from my eyes. “Sorry.”

The woman wheezed. “Also doubtful. I can see on your face that you are seldom truly sorry. One day you must learn to speak honestly and from your heart, or you will regret the wasted years. So, the questions.” She held up a hand. The air stirred around us, settling into a deeper and denser silence than before. “You have the features and accent from the mountains north of us. You have been traveling several weeks, then. Is this the first trouble you've encountered?”

I opened my mouth. Felt my tongue squeeze into new and uncomfortable shapes. Yún was massaging her throat, her expression unsettled. She worked her jaw as though testing her ability to speak. “No,” she whispered. “A few days ago. Bandits—” Her throat spasmed. “Assassins. Soldiers. Not bandits.”

The woman nodded. “Who sent them?”

“We don't know. We-we guess but we don't know.”

“Are they dead, these not-bandits?”

“Yes. Died in an avalanche.”

“Hmmmmm. More and more interesting. And now a thief breaks into your belongings.” She turned to me. “Have you done anything to attract such attention?”

“Yes,” I said. “No. Nothing wrong.”

“Everything right,” Yún said.

“You work for yourselves?”

“For our—for the—” Yún struggled not to speak. The griffin whistled and keened in distress. The woman waved a hand, and Yún slumped into her chair. “Perhaps that detail is not necessary. I can decide later. Tell me this, however. Does your work have anything to do with Golden Snowcloud? With our king or our kingdom or anyone else here?”

No, and no, and no. We traveled south. To the Phoenix Empire. To bring news to a dear friend. We answered a dozen more disconnected questions—none of them as nosy as I had feared. I was just beginning to relax when the desk beeped. The chief wizard touched a metal plate and the door hissed open.

A guard hurried to the chief wizard's side and whispered in her ear.

“When?” she said sharply.

“Moments ago. No more.”

“And those fool wizards could not prevent it?”

“They tried—”

She dismissed the excuse with a gesture. “Never mind. I shall attend to the matter myself.” Her attention swung back to us. “What would you say if you learned that thief died? Not from his wounds, but from magic?”

I stared. Yún did the same.

“Someone,” the chief wizard said, “did not wish us to question him.” She tapped her fingers against her desktop, clearly distracted by the news. Yún and I shifted nervously. All I could think was that no matter who was to blame, they'd sentence us to jail for the man's death and we'd never get to Phoenix City to find Lian.

“I see only one solution,” she said at last. “You brought these troubles to our city, therefore you must take them away. You must leave Golden Snowcloud tomorrow morning and no later. If we detained you, we would only draw more violence upon ourselves. Better if you take it away with you.”

“You can't throw us out into a storm. Hospitality says—”

“There is no more storm.”

“What?”

Yún and I spoke at the same time.

“You had no idea?” She stared at us a moment longer. “An even stronger reason to send you away as quickly as we might,” she murmured. To us, she said, “Your griffin extinguished the storm with its magic. Now do you see why you must go?”

I was too shocked to argue. Yāo-guài? Our little monster? Yún appeared equally shaken.

The chief wizard shook her head. Ran a hand through her wispy hair. Her fingers were like small brown sticks. How many of her enemies underestimated her, thinking her old and weak and fragile?

“I wish I knew more about the reason for your journey,” she said, “but that is not my concern. Now, before you depart, let me remove the spell for truth. You might find it inconvenient.”

She spoke a word. I had the sense of a cloak falling away from my skin. Yún touched her throat. Her color had improved in the past few moments.

“You will find your injuries trouble you no more,” the chief wizard said. “You will also find the shopkeepers more accommodating. And when the gates open tomorrow morning, they will open earlier than usual. That is not a kindness, you understand. The easier you equip yourself, the faster you leave Golden Snowcloud. You should make good time before others notice your departure,” she added.

Her attention dropped to the desk and a stack of papers. Yún released an audible breath. Relief? Despair? I could hardly tell how I felt myself.

No time to wonder. The guard laid a hand upon my shoulder and pointed to the door. We were dismissed.

W
E SPENT THE REST OF THAT DAY REPACKING, repairing, and generally refitting for our journey.

It wasn't a happy time.

“I don't care what magic spells that old wizard worked. You should rest,” I told Yún, once we returned to our rented stall. “Watch over Yāo-guài, and let me take care of everything.”

“No.” She snapped off the word.

“But you're—”

“I'm fine. Great. Never better.”

She faced away from me, just the curve of her brown cheek visible, framed by wisps of black hair. Her shoulders were hunched high and stiff, and she'd wrapped her arms around her chest, like chains around a treasure box. Whatever words came rising up in my thoughts would be the wrong ones, I could tell.

“Shall I go to the
piaohao
?” I asked.

“If you like.”

It took a mighty effort not to stomp away, cursing. Instead, I blew out a breath (quietly) and counted to a hundred. “I would like that. And would you like to pack our gear?”