Before he retired, T'ien Luo-Bi drank a final cup of warm wine in his chambers. His servant stood before him in a respectful attitude. "Is there any news of that person?"

"No, your highness. He has neither been seen nor sent any message."

"And what of my brothers? How is their health?"

"The Second Prince spends his time in contemplation. His poetry has not improved. He eats well. The Fourth Prince has been confined to the military prison. He also seems at ease."

"But not wasting his time on bad poems, I presume."

"No, your highness. He has been seen studying the close-order drill manual."

T'ien Luo-Bi showed his teeth. "I wish them joy of their impotence. You may go."

"Thank you, your highness. Sleep well."

"Wait! One more thing...." He drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair. His servant did not show his surprise though it was rare for this prince to make any unnecessary movement or to hesitate in giving his commands.

"This girl...this Miss Earthquake...what an alias!"

"Your highness?"

"Find out everything. Where was she yesterday and every day of her life? How does the Grand Consort know her well enough to foster her into the Royal Household?"

"Yes, your highness. I shall begin with her servants."

"Save that. Watch her servants but do not question them as yet. I do not want her or the Grand Consort to know we are investigating her. Let her be comfortable in her mind for a while. Now you may go."

Others came in, soft-slippered and silent, to attend his person. T'ien Luo-Bi paid no more attention to them than to the quilt on his bedmat or the guards on the door. They were part of the furnishings of his house. Even the patient girl in a single robe standing by his bed meant nothing. He dismissed her along with the rest.

He lay down, his long body at ease, folding one arm behind his head. Ever since he was a boy, he had felt that this was the best moment of the day, when there were no distractions. His torturous mind could follow even the most twisting paths to their inevitable conclusions. He could picture each possible outcome as though watching a play unfold, only he chose the story's end himself. It never failed to amaze him that the strings he had tied to others worked exactly as he predicted every time. Only once had he completely failed because the person he had misunderstood had been himself. There were now no living witnesses to that disaster, save one, and he felt easier in his mind about it. Time to think only of the future.

So why then, despite his efforts, did a pair of stormy eyes persist in staring boldly into his own, a vision of bright-brown eyes that would not be dismissed at his command? Others had defied him; many others had declared quaveringly that they were not afraid of him. Over the years, he had become a connoisseur of fear, understanding each type, how to raise the level of intensity, and learning how to make dread do his work for him. That girl, that Earthquake, was afraid too, yet still her eyes had challenged him. Who did she think she was? Who did she remind him of so strongly? Every word she'd said to him had been like an echo of something he had heard before.

"It is going to drive me crazy...." He found himself smiling into the darkness. "I shall have to see her again tomorrow. And I think I shall find out her real name at the very least."

* * *

The next morning, An-Xia and Ganxie set out on a tour of exploration at the Grand Consort's instigation. "You must learn the palace thoroughly so that wherever I send you, you may go and come as quickly as you can."

Walking along the red-pillared colonnades, admiring the thoughtfully-placed potted plants and blossoming trees and breathing the fresh morning air, made An-Xia happy to obey. Even as she appreciated the elegance of the setting, her head pounded with the demands of a hundred questions. But Ganxie had a few of her own. "How is Sergeant Yan?" she asked as soon as they were out of the consort's quarters.

"He is very well, though he broke his arm during our escape."

"Broke his arm? Oh, dear."

"The nuns set it. He was charming the prettiest one into doing up his belt buckle the day we left. But tell me. When did you learn to speak again?"

"That was Lieutenant Luyo's doing. He would ask me questions and when I could not answer, he would invent absurd and ridiculous stories until I had to speak for myself. But is it true that Sergeant Yan likes that nun-girl?"

"She was at least forty. But why do you care?"

"I do not care! Why should I?" the maid demanded with a toss of her head.

Despite all the late Mrs. Li's attempts to bring out the feminine nature in her daughter, An-Xia had never understood fine shades of meaning when dealing with other girls. Their giggling denials of any attraction to a young man, their sudden turns of bashfulness, the boldness of their speech when no adults or males were near, these confused her. She had a little more insight now that she was in love herself.

"Do you like Sergeant Yan? Or Lieutenant Luyo?"

Ganxie bit her lip, hesitating, and then nodded. "I like them both. But Yan always looks so fierce; it gives me a delicious fright."

An-Xia pictured Sergeant Yan, his tanned and wind-roughened face, and compared him to his captain. She could not understand the attraction at all. "A fright? Is that good?"

"Maybe I chose the wrong word." She put her hands over her heart. "In here, I feel a flutter. But then, I feel the same thing when Luyo get that dreamy-eyed look and holds my hand. But maybe you do not know about that as you were a...what you were...."

"We had better not speak of that," An-Xia said, as a couple of palace maids passed close by. "Look at that duck pond!"

She felt awed by the scope of the palace. Every few steps, it seemed, they passed a squad of gardeners or maids rushing about in twos and threes, not to mention the ever-present guards on watch. Clerks and eunuchs seemed almost to skate along the walkways and terraces, the motion of their legs hidden by their long robes. Few of the palace people spared a glance for the two girls who alone did not seem to be in a hurry

After a while, An-Xia asked, "Were you surprised to find out the truth about me?"

"Yes, so surprised, I almost forgot how to talk again. You were so brave when we first met that I would have sworn to anyone that you were...what you were."

"Do you remember why you were in that place?"

The maid shook her head, the red ribbons in her hair flying out. "Lieutenant Luyo says he knew of a man who lost all his memories, even of his children, even of his mother, until he almost drowned in a lake. Then the memories came back."

"Do not do that."

"Well, not until the river warms up anyway."

An-Xia took the girl's arm. "We are a fine pair. Neither of us dares speak of the past. And neither of us knows our futures."

"No one knows that, do they?"

"No, I suppose not. Well, never fear. Yan will be with us as soon as he can and Uncle Mo as well. I am most concerned about him, besides my...."

"There you are!"

The Third Prince walked toward them, two secretaries in train behind him. Instantly, Ganxie stepped back behind An-Xia, her head bowed in proper humility. An-Xia was glad to know she was there. Even when T'ien Luo-Bi smiled at her as he did now, she could not reflect back to him the warmth he sent toward her. Always she remembered that, if life had been different, they would be married, giving him all the rights and privileges of a husband. With that thought in mind, she could not be at ease near him.

He stopped within arms' reach; his voice low enough to reach her ears alone. "I found your own room empty. I had hoped to meet you privately there."

"Your highness," she said, wondering if he had seen Miss Lung. "Forgive me, I did not know you were looking for me."

"I would have looked for you anyway, but the truth is that I am searching for you in my official capacity."

"Indeed?"

He waved one of the secretaries forward. "Every member of the Royal Household must fill out this register. Name, parents' name, birth place, age...the ordinary procedure, you know."

"I would gladly do so, but I am not a member of the Royal Household staff. I am the personal guest of Lady Liu, the Grand Consort herself."

"Ah, but...."

"If Madame asks me to fill out such a form, I will happily comply with her wishes. Until then, I must reluctantly refuse."

"Step back," he snapped at the secretary. The man obeyed instantly. "Farther. Both of you."

The Third Prince came closer to her, bending a little from his great height to look into her face. His eyes were the deepest shade of brown, reflective as a bronze mirror. She smelled the fragrance of night-blooming tobacco and sandalwood that clung to his robes. "Why do you defy me?" he said quietly.

"I? Defy you? I assure your highness I would never think of doing such a foolish thing." She did not trouble to lower her voice.

"But you are doing it now, at this moment. Do you think I cannot recognize the anger in your eyes?" He raised a hand as if to touch her face with his fingertips. She turned her face away. "Why so shy? Did I not already embrace you once?"

"You thought I was someone else at the time."

"Then is this jealousy?" He moved his lips closer to her ear, lowering his voice to an even more intimate level. "It would be no hardship for me to transfer my affections from Miss Lung to you."

"And from me to...who?" Almost without realizing it, An-Xia matched his discreet tone. "I think you are not a faithful keeper of such oaths, your highness"

"I have never yet met anyone worth the keeping of such a promise. Or have I?"

Ganxie had dressed An-Xia's hair in a series of softly hanging loops, secured with pins in the shape of swallows. He raised his hand and gently touched one. An-Xia froze in place, feeling her heart pound. "It was about to fall out," he explained. "It would be a pity to lose such a nice little thing to carelessness."

He straightened up. "Walk with me a bit. There are gardens beyond these walls that are coming into their own now that spring is here."

"I should return to...."

"Grant me this desire, Miss Dizhen...eh? Or shall I make it a command?"

His smile would have dazzled any other woman as would the look of intent admiration that went with it. An-Xia, however, did not want to spend another moment in his company. There had been night-blooming tobacco in the gardens of the Summer Residence. She remembered one of the day-maids had been very fond of it, every year making up a scented miscellany of herbs and petals that perfumed each room. The girl had been flirting with one of the head gardener's sons on the morning of the day that would end in flames.

The fragrance had brought the memory with her first inhalation. But it was his smile, indulgent and superior, that brought her rage bubbling up from the depths where it had hidden. Stonily, she stared past him. Her gaze happened to fall upon the secretary. His face behind his official mustache and short beard was pale, while sweat beaded beneath his gauze cap. Handing his book to his companion, he put his hands together in silent sign of supplication. They shook.

"Very well, your highness," she said in reluctant pity. "Show me."

Turning her head, she glanced over her shoulder at Ganxie. "Wait for me; I shall not be gone for long."

Walking at his elbow, An-Xia saw that her anonymity had been lost. Everyone looked at the girl beside the Third Prince, whether covertly or with a gasp and a stumble. She knew color burned in her cheeks and felt a great yearning to drop her head to hide her face. But she reminded herself sternly that, while she no longer wore their uniform, her heart belonged forever to the Wild Hawks. She would not be the one to spoil their boast that no man could ever cage them.

Raising her head, she squared her shoulders as though on the march. Swinging her arms, she kept pace with the prince's long-legged stride that reminded her so much of Sun-Sin's. She had learned to keep up; she would not be defeated by this man.

The way was longer than he had suggested. They entered a private garden through a moon-door on a blind alley, the prince unlocking the door with a key he kept around his neck. "Come in and rest; you must be tired."

"I? No, your highness. It was pleasant to walk so rapidly. I am not used to the creeping pace proper to a palace."

As he held the door, she passed in front of him with a would-be regal nod. His smile was far from cold; she felt he was laughing at her. As he shut the door behind himself, he said, "I am sorry I cannot offer you tea. None of my servants are allowed to enter here, except when I am absent."

An-Xia, whether at home in Bashan, at Sun-Sin's manor, or here in the palace, had grown used to the polished and garnished perfection that was the aim of every gardener. No leaf could stay on a pebbled path, no flower bloom above its allotted height. Nature must submit to control to achieve the greatest beauty, even as men and women must obey the dictates of their parents to create a harmonious family.

Here, none of the principles of harmony and order had been applied. Plants grew side-by-side regardless of whether their foliage challenged some other growth. The earliest flowers of spring, the white and purple crocuses, the tiny bell-flowers, pushed aside the leaf-mulch of last autumn's falling. A spray of leaves lay beautifully and haphazardly scattered across the path they walked on, crunching beneath their feet. A large spider's web garlanded a cherry tree where swelling buds showed that soon the pink flowers would arise in glory.

As he led her to the sharply-eaved pavilion, his shoulder touched the bending bough of a small maple tree. A chiming fall of droplets began. At once, T'ien Luo-Bi held his arm over her, catching most of the water on his hanging sleeve. An-Xia looked up, startled, and touched the drop of water that had fallen on her cheek. "Did it rain last night?"

"Yes. I am not surprised you could not tell. They come and sweep all the water away in the morning so that none of us higher-ups get our feet wet."

Under the pavilion roof, An-Xia began to feel again as though the Third Prince stood too close to her, as if no room, not even the Royal Great Hall, would ever be large enough to give her sufficient distance to avoid this choking sense of his nearness. To gain at least the illusion of space, she went at once to the railing. In most gardens, this would give a glimpse of water. But in T'ien Luo-Bi's garden, she looked down upon a river of moss, set off by white stones, leading her gaze to a selection of stone lanterns against a dark screen of laurel bushes.

"Do you like it?" he asked quietly, leaning his elbow on the railing. She realized he had been watching her face, gazing at her as though at a view.

"Of course, your highness."

"No. Not like that. Not because I am a prince and you want to please me by agreeing with me. Do you like it?"

"It is the most beautiful place I have ever seen," she said with sincerity. "And so quiet. As though...."

"As though we were alone in the world."

Not all her training could keep back her gasp of surprise, not at his words but at the understanding behind them. "I like silence," he said. "I have never brought anyone here before because I like the silence so much. But I would not mind hearing you talk to me."

He did not touch her but the thought that he might at any moment do so gave An-Xia insight into what Ganxie had meant by 'delicious fright'. She hated him, she was sure he had ordered the murder of her family, but her slowly-dissolving insides did not seem to care about any of that. As one summons a deity to drive out a demon, she tried to remember Sun-Sin's face, to imagine him coming toward her now, his warm and reassuring smile, laughing love shining in his eyes. She felt her heart's beat slow and grow stronger.

"Shall I give you a key?" the Third Prince asked. "You can come in here and wait for me any time you like."

"I would...never use it, your highness."

"No?" She felt his breath on her cheek and the warmth of his body as he came to stand slightly behind her, his hands resting beside hers on the rail, trapping her. "I think you might. I should like it very much if you would. Dizhen...Dizhen, look up at me."

She kept looking at the stone lanterns. "Who...did you build all this?"

The Third Prince drew back. "No, not I. It was my mother's garden."

"Your mother?"

"Did you think I did not have one? She was...she was a concubine of the third rank. My father did not marry her until I was seven years old and even then, only because she begged him on her deathbed. I remember how he glanced at me...."

"You were there?"

"I was there." He sighed heavily. "This garden was her main occupation during those years when he would not see her. She poured all her love into this place."

An-Xia thought 'all her love'?

"When she died, this became neglected. Upon my majority, I found the gardener she had used and brought him back. He still comes in and dodders around, though his son does most of the work. I have seen him spend an hour deciding which sprig to cut and which to leave alone. Very instructive...and inspiring."

T'ien Luo-Bi turned away. "Come sit down on the bench. It is more comfortable than it looks. I come here to read sometimes."

When she did not follow him, he reached back and took her by the hand. "Come."

An-Xia dug in her heels. Of all the places she did not want to be – the heart of a brutal sandstorm, waiting her turn for a beheading, lost in the Thousand Li Forest with devils closing in – relaxing cozily on a comfortable bench within reach of the Third Prince ranked at the top. "I should return to the Grand Consort. She did not give me leave to be away so long."

"When it is time for you to go back, I will escort you personally and explain." He pulled insistently on the grip he had taken, all but dragging her a few steps closer to that innocent yet ominous piece of furniture.

"Please...." An-Xia twisted her arm in the way Master Cho had taught her. Even without daily practice, she had not lost all of her strength. The Third Prince stared into his empty hand.

"Who has taught a maiden how to fight? Yesterday...." He patted his midsection.

"A friend. Even a maiden needs to defend herself."

How could he, of all men, look hurt? "You have no need to defend yourself from me. If you thought I had any evil intentions, dismiss that idea. I merely wanted you to rest a few moments as you seem somewhat agitated."

"Agitated? Haven't you been doing you best to make me agitated ever since we came in here?" Belatedly, she added, "Your highness."

"Perhaps I have, a trifle. It amuses me to see how far you will go before you remember that I am your superior."

"My superior...." She scoffed.

"Infinitely. For one thing, I am a man. I mention it in case you have not noticed that. Hmmm? What did you say?"

"I...noticed."

"Good," he said, taking her hand again and running his thumb over the back of it while holding her gaze with his own. "That is a very good first step. Therefore, you may leave. With the understanding that you are to come back again whenever I ask."

"You know I will not do that."

"Then you stay here in my quarters until you promise." His grip tightened.

"You said you had no evil intentions toward me."

"What is evil? What is good? Believe that I can keep you here as long as I want to. You would have disappeared as mysteriously as you arrived. I want to keep you for my...my own for as long as you please me or until I remember where I have seen you before." More roughly than before, he put his fingernails under her chin and raised her face. Their sharp points pressed into her skin. "It is maddening. I know I have seen you before, even spoken with you. But I cannot seem to place you. I woke in the night wondering about it."

"I am sure I would remember such a meeting. You would be hard to forget." She touched his hand, moving it away, as she forced a smile. "I am quite certain that we never met before yesterday."

"Then is it fate speaking to me, offering me a ripe plum instead of bitter rice for once?"

An-Xia had learned to know what a man looked like when he was thinking about kissing her. In Sun-Sin's eyes, it had been a look to spark an answering fire. In Luo-Bi's, it made her feel as though acid were rising in her throat. Hastily, she said, "I will come here again, if I may bring someone else along with me. It is for your safety more than mine, your highness."

"Do you mean me harm?" His hands fell on her shoulders, heavy as a yoke.

"No, of course not. But you are in a high position. If you show me too much favor, it may affect your status, especially as you are currently in mourning, are you not?"

"That girl meant nothing to me but, yes, I must act in this play, taking the role of a devoted and heartbroken lover."

"Your family might take no notice of your pursuit of a notable lady known to the Grand Consort, but I am not such a lady."

"Then we return to the question...who are you, Miss Dizhen? Who are you?"

"No one who could be of any interest to you, your highness. The real question here is why are you interested? My beauty? Is it so remarkable that you have become enthralled? My charms have never been praised, my grace is less than a bull-calf's, and my feet are very large."

Suddenly he laughed and she glimpsed for an instant the man he should have been. "I will take you back, Miss Dizhen. And I will give you that key."

As they left, he said, "Look back once, if you please. I would like you to remember my garden even if you do not use the key. At any rate, in five days you may come and go as you like because I will not be here to disturb you."

"Are you leaving the palace, your highness?"

"I am going to take command of this war with Yiang. They have massed troops on the Eastern border, some fifteen thousand men. I believe it is a feint to test our strength but we must answer it."

"The Eastern border? But that is a much farther distance to march than the Western side if they intend to take this city."

The Third Prince chuckled in disbelief. "A military strategist as well as a martial artist?"

"You flatter me too much. I merely heard some military gossip when I...."

He waited, then prompted, "When you....?"

"I was in a silk shop, buying this very robe, when two officers came in." An-Xia breathed again. Her relief at being out of his garden had loosened her tongue too much.

"It is charming. But I think you would look well in a darker color. Scarlet, perhaps. Ah, here is your maid. Strange how they never stay where they are put."

Ganxie bowed respectfully, though her eyes were troubled. "But your maid is delightful," he said. "Have you seen long service with Miss Dizhen? Speak!"

"Not...not very long, your highness."

"I leave her in your care. Be sure that it is exemplary."

Ganxie bowed again, trembling. An-Xia said, "We will return to the Grand Consort now. Thank you, your highness, for your kindness to me."

"Kindness? Who shall say? Go safely."

She gave him a bright, false smile and turned away. Out of his sight around a corner, she drew Ganxie's arm through her own to speak quietly. "I hate to give this order but I think you and young Ri-chan should leave here immediately."

"Miss?"

"I do not trust him. I cannot trust him. Go back to the manor at once but take care that you are not followed."

"I...I do not know the way," Ganxie said. "Besides, how could I leave you here alone?"

"You are able to find Lieutenant Luyo when you wish, right? Send him a note to come to you but warn him that you must not be followed from here. Luyo is known to be close to his captain. If the Third Prince decides that you have information he wants, he will do anything to get it. That you are a maiden or Ri-chan a child would not weigh more than a single speck of dust to him."

"I would never tell. He could cut me in quarters and no piece of me would speak."

"Those are words of ill-omen. Do not say such things."

"I mean them. You rescued me. Our prince took me in. Without you, how would I have met the man I adore? There is nothing I would not do for you."

An-Xia's chest felt as tight as though the beat of her heart was restricted by iron bands. Whispering, she said, "I am afraid for you. For the first time, I am afraid."