Lady Earthquake

Lady Earthquake Chapter 2

Even before the battle that took her husband's life, Mrs. Li had been in delicate health. An-Xia had never known what it was like not to be hushed and scolded, or to spend a whole day in her company. The strolling walk after the noon meal would be succeeded by a long rest in the quiet of Mrs. Li's rooms.

When the mistress rests, so do the maids. When the child rests, so does the nanny. An-Xia was encouraged to 'rest' in her own room long after she had outgrown the need for naps. An obedient child, for the most part, she would play quietly or read some light literature until the household stirred again.

Today, not all the pricks on her fingers came from embroidery. An-Xia pulled from her hiding place under the floorboards the black shirt and pants she had finished shortening last night by the light of her bedside candles. Meant for the house-boys, she had taken the clothes from the housekeeper's storeroom while allegedly in search of preserved ginger. She had never done her own hair before, but she fought with the heavy mass until it agreed to be subdued into a simple top-knot tied with a leftover strip cut from the bottom of the pants' leg.

At the back of the house, as every servant knew, were three louvered windows, the center one with a broken hasp. It was not much of a drop to the ground for an adult but looked daunting to a girl-child. But the feeling of urgency driving An-Xia could not be ended by so minor a thing. When Mrs. Loo called out from the kitchen, "Shu Ban-Li, you should be ashamed of yourself!" it gave her the desperate push she needed. A black shadow slipped over the sill, dropped to the ground, and hurried away down the muddy alleyway.

The Inn of Seven Stones was not very far away, though she had to ask directions twice. Nobody looked oddly at her or pointed or called her 'little girl'. Nobody paid any attention at all to the thin boy with the jaunty walk. With greater confidence, An-Xia made her way through the streets in the bright noon sunshine.

The inn had originally been a manor house for a long-defunct family that had chosen the wrong side in a rebellion. It still had a large training room at the back, used mostly to store supplies. Today it had been converted back into its original purpose. An-Xia hesitated in the doorway until a couple of bigger boys appeared and pushed past her.

"Out of the way! We are the sons of Merchant Han. Do not stand there gaping, dirtball!"

She stepped over the threshold. The sliding doors at the rear of the building had been opened, letting in the light and mild breeze. A dozen or so boys stood about, in groups of two or three. She hesitated, looking around her, as her confidence drained away like tea from a cracked cup.

"Looks like lessons have not yet begun," a young voice behind her said. She jumped a little. "Excuse me, please. I never meant to startle you."

He walked by her, older and taller than the rest. His black clothes were covered by a cape, the shoulders worked with red braid, and the holder around his high bundled hair bore a tracery of silver, that echoed the inch-wide streak of white that began at his left temple. He turned his head and smiled down at her, a stray beam of sunlight turning his eyes into a brighter brown. It brought out the deep mahogany gleams in his hair, contrasting with that strange white streak. She was reminded of the lacquered lion that greeted visitors at the General's gate, red and white and black. She never failed to pet its wavy mane when going in or out.

"I am looking forward to this; how about you?" the boy said.

"Yes, very much."

"You look quite young. How old are you?"

"Me? T-t-ten."

"I am fourteen, almost fifteen. I have had some lessons in sword-fighting from my tutor but nothing serious. You?"