Gansukh let his tongue lie quietly in his mouth, and he acknowledged Lian’s point with a gentle inclination of his head.
She appeared to not notice, or perhaps she was feigning ignorance of his gesture. Her attention returned to the scroll and she unrolled it again, searching for the place where she had left off. “Let us continue then,” she said. “‘A man should not ascend a height, nor approach the verge of a depth; he should not indulge—’”
Gansukh slipped under the surface of the pool, letting his legs collapse until he was sitting down. Lian’s image wavered through a layer of water and steam, and her pale skin seemed to glow as if she were a ghost. He closed and opened his eyes a few times, but she didn’t vanish. Finally, his lungs burning, he pushed up and emerged from the water.
Lian stood like a statue—one eyebrow raised, one finger poised on the scroll—waiting for him to catch his breath. When he finished wiping the water from his eyes, she continued. “‘He should not indulge in reckless reviling or derisive laughing.’”
Gansukh let one of those laughs fly, and he slapped the water. “This is nothing but a book of rules telling me how to live my life!” he complained. “I already know how to live! Are the Chinese so stupid that they need instructions telling them how to do everything?”
“Are the Mongols so stupid they do not recognize the value of moral rectitude?”
Gansukh raised his gaze toward the ceiling. “Put the scroll aside,” he said. “This is wearying and useless. Come join me in the water instead.”
“Master Chucai instructed me to teach you how to behave in polite society.” She lowered the scroll and gave him a dismissive look—the sort an aristocratic lady might have given to an ignorant servant. “Behavior that includes learning how to respect women.”
“I respect fighters. I respect those—men and women—who prove their worth to their clan. You Chinese women sit around in gardens all day reading books and eating… I don’t know what you eat. Flowers, I suppose. Mongol women ride and hunt and fight until their skin is rough and tanned. What good is ‘culture’ if it makes you weak?”
“Were I a less cultured woman, I would not have fared so well when I was captured,” Lian pointed out. “Master Chucai recognized my value, at least, even if the Mongols never appreciate the things I have to teach.”
“And if you were a stronger woman, perhaps you wouldn’t have been captured at all.”
She looked away, and Gansukh felt a strange thrill in his belly. It wasn’t the same sensation he got on the battlefield when he killed a man, but it was similar—close enough that he felt both elation and confusion. But we aren’t fighting. Glancing down, he realized his body was also reacting to this commingling of emotions, and he pawed the water, disturbing the pool.
Her robe still clung to her body. It was distracting.
“How long have you been in Karakorum?” she asked.
“Not even a day,” he admitted, glad to talk about something else.
“You have much to learn,” she said, and her tone had none of the brittleness he would have expected from such a statement. “There is more to life than fighting.” She swallowed heavily and went to hug the scroll to her body, but demurred at the last second, sparing the scroll contact with her wet clothing. “Yes, I will admit there is value in knowing how to fight, but not all combat is with spear and arrow. The court can be as dangerous as the battlefield, if you don’t know how to conduct yourself.” She plucked at her robe, pulling it away from her skin.
Gansukh mulled this over, ignoring a twinge of disappointment at her ministrations to her clothing. Master Chucai had said that he had had to teach both ?gedei and his father how to conduct themselves. Did he respect them any less because they knew how to behave at court? Would he not follow them into battle without reservation? “Yes,” he said, nodding slightly. He walked backward until the edge of the pool pressed against his back. “So I am naked at court.” He raised his arms and rested them on the edge. “I have no armor. I have no weapons. I am like you were, once upon a time. Teach me how to survive. Teach me what I need to know to be strong.”
Lian regarded him, her head cocked to one side. She bit her lower lip as she lowered the scroll and let it fall to the ground. She walked forward and, to Gansukh’s surprise, didn’t stop at the edge of the pool. She disappeared under the water with a small splash, and he watched her slim shape glide through the water toward him. She surfaced not far from him, and he held himself still as she floated closer. She stopped when she was close enough to reach up and put her hand on his forearm. He felt her legs, constricted by the wet drapery of her robe, caressing his. Her breath was on his face, and he found himself staring at her mouth.
“You prefer your women strong, don’t you?” she whispered.
“Yes,” he muttered, the word getting caught in his throat.