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.We were dismissed.9WE 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.I just wanted to do the right thing.And I am sorry.I am.“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?”“Yes.”One small word, as cold as an entire blizzard.What did I do wrong? All I did was kiss her.Twice.I thought she liked kissing.Chen didn’t even bother to say anything.Deep inside, I felt his presence, but nothing more.Maybe he didn’t understand girls either.In spite of our not exactly speaking to each other, we were awake and ready long before dawn the next day.One vendor had opened his stall early, and from him, we bought a hot breakfast, which neither of us felt like eating.As soon as the royal watch opened the doors, we left.Crews of workers had cleared away the snow our griffin had not melted with his magic.More snow trickled down from the leaden clouds, but already patches of a silvery sky showed through, and a faint sunlight glittered off the remaining ice and snow.The magic flux ran stronger, too, because the lifts were running smooth and quick, taking us up to the highway in moments instead of hours.We headed south in cold and determined silence.Three hours later, we reached a point where the highway split into five different directions.One large black stone pillar marked the main highway south.Three smaller tracks looped back toward Snow Thunder City and other points east.The fifth one wound up the mountain slope to the next narrow goat trail heading almost directly west.“South?” I said.“No.East.”“Won’t they expect us to head east? I mean—”“West then.I don’t care.”I glanced over.Yún glared back, tight-lipped, her eyes unnaturally bright.“West,” I said.“Sounds good to me.”The pony whuffed horse-curses under its breath, but didn’t balk, even when the goat trail vanished into an expanse of bare rock.Hours later, we’d gained a point high above the same highway.Yún called for a stop, and I wasn’t going to argue.I’m tired of arguing.I’m tired of this trip.I just want to find Lian and go home.We rubbed the pony down and fed Yāo-guài dried beef.I pulled off my boots and massaged my feet.How many weeks since I’d left Lóng City? Five, at least.Maybe six.I’d lost track through all the storms.Meanwhile, Yún was staring over the edge of our cliff at something far away.She’d found a new way to ignore me, I thought.Then, she gave a muffled exclamation.“What is it?” I asked.She motioned for me to be quiet.I crept quietly to her side and peered over the ledge.The cliff dropped straight down to a jumble of snow-whitened rock and dirt and scrub below.It was hard to make out anything in the patchwork of gray and brown and the bright glare of sunlight on snow.I wiped the tears from my eyes and stared harder.Then I saw it.The highway marker we’d left three hours before.A few spots along the highway itself were visible farther along.But what snagged my attention were the five black figures circling around the marker.Yún rummaged in her pack and took out a long round cylinder fashioned out of a dull gray metal.Both ends were capped with glass lenses.Brass rings circled the cylinder all along its length.There was a whiff of magic and science about the thing.She set the glass against one eye and aimed its other end at the stone marker.With her free hand, she twisted the brass rings, then hissed with satisfaction.“May I see?” I whispered cautiously.She shot me a glare, but handed me the cylinder.It took me a few tries, but all of a sudden, the stone pillar leapt straight at me, large and crisply clear.All its markings were as easy to read as if I stood right beside it.Without warning, a dark brown shadow blotted out the pillar.I jumped.“What is it?” Yún asked quietly.“I can’t tell yet.”With more trial and error, I found the black pillar again.Adjusted the brass rings until the pillar seemed to recede into the distance.Another blur obscured the pillar, but only for a moment.Then a second one blocked my view.Without taking the lens from my eye, I twisted the smallest brass ring just a hair.And saw a dark brown face staring upward.I yelped, nearly dropped the cylinder.Yún grabbed for it, but I yanked the device away and hunkered down to try again.Of course the man below didn’t see me.It was only an illusion that his gaze drilled into mine.Still, my heart was thumping hard and my hands shook as I adjusted the lens to draw back a few more feet.Five men stood around the black pillar.They were dressed in gray woolen cloaks with hoods, over leather armor.One man pushed his hood back and adjusted his steel helmet.They were pointing at the stone pillar and the different roads leading away.Silently, I handed the cylinder to Yún.Waited for her to make the same discovery I had.These were not bandits.And I would bet the rest of my reward from Princess Lian they weren’t soldiers from Golden Snowcloud.They were mercenaries.Assassins, Yún had called them.And they were looking for us.Someone wants to find us, I thought.To stop us.If they had magic, they could.The ancient wizards could see through all the roads of time, according to my mother’s lessons—past or present or even the possible futures.Cold crept over my skin.It had nothing to do with the winter winds scudding down from the mountain peaks.Chen? I kept my inner voice to a whisper.No.No magic.Can you tell where they come from?Too dangerous.Their companions are watching for us, too.Through Chen’s eyes, I glimpsed a raven, a giant rat, a scorpion, and other, stranger creatures I couldn’t identify.They weren’t magical—there were few humans with those beasts as their companion spirits—but ones that made me think of foreign lands, far away from these mountains.Yún laid down the cylinder.“Not good.But not so bad.”“What are they doing?”“Going the wrong way,” she said.“Qi is distracting them with a false trail.”But her tone was plainly unhappy.“Why is that not good?”“Because whoever sent these men probably sent more.”Right.Like those mercenaries we’d already met.A dozen last week.Five here.No, wait.There had been six, counting the thief in Golden Snowcloud.The number six teased at my memory.Weeks and weeks ago, when we were ordinary apprentices, Mā mī had given us a lecture about the magical properties of numbers.Some of those properties were genuine, some the heartfelt delusion of certain practitioners.The key to dealing with any opponent, she said, was to tell the difference.“Six of them,” Yún murmured.“Twice six before.”So she had noticed, too.“We should go,” I said.And for once, Yún didn’t argue
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