“Ah. Then we will be ready to do so.” She nodded curtly and we strode together through the city gates.
The city was bustling. We followed the bulk of the travelers and ended up at a central market. The cloying smells of cooking meat were coupled with the bitter tang from the offal of pack animals. Yards and yards of silk whipped in the morning breeze. I guided Anamika in that direction, hoping to ask the vendor some questions about silk makers and the seamstress who lived in the emperor’s house.
A snarling dog beneath the table leapt at us and kept barking until I growled softly deep in my throat. He whined and tucked his tail before slinking off. The vendor finally turned to us, his eyes widening when he saw Anamika.
“Some pretty silks for a pretty lady?” he asked. “I have the finest the city has to offer.”
“We’re looking for a certain silk maker, one who might have recently fallen out of favor with the emperor?”
I saw the shutter fall over his eyes. This was a man who liked possessing secrets.
“Perhaps a small token of our sincerity might help you remember?” I suggested.
He held out a plate and Anamika dropped a gold nugget inside. It bumped around loudly, and the man quickly snatched it up and rolled it between long, dirty fingers. His nails were overgrown but filed smoothly. Probably so as to not ravel the silk. He peered at us keenly, then said, “You must be very confident in your woman to allow her to hold your purse strings.”
I leaned forward. “Who said they’re my purse strings?”
The man deftly pocketed the gold nugget and turned his attention fully on Anamika. The corner of his mouth was lifted in a sly grin. He drew out a lovely roll of blue silk and held it up to her face.
“Not the blue,” I murmured. “She should wear gold.”
Anamika lifted her eyes to mine and gave me a small smile. “It is lovely,” she said to the vendor dismissively. “Tell me, have you remembered anything about the silk maker?”
The man moved away and clucked his tongue before bringing back a gorgeous embroidered scarf. “Ah,” he said, “but you haven’t seen the best we have to offer.”
Proudly, he unfolded the square and revealed it in all its splendor. Anamika gasped and touched the threads that wove together to show winking dragons and a phoenix. Boldly, the man lifted his hand with the scarf clutched between his fingers, as if he was going to touch Ana’s cheek. “Feel it against your skin,” he said.
Before he could get near, I grabbed his wrist in a firm grip, stopping him just inches from her face, and forcefully pushed his arm back down. “The lady doesn’t like to be touched,” I warned.
With the easy, dimpled smile of an experienced salesman, he backed off. “Of course, of course,” he said, his temper wily and bombastic. “I was merely offering her a closer view.”
“I’m sure you were,” I replied.
The man winked at Anamika and then said, “I have heard rumors of the emperor’s esteemed fiancée and her fondness for a certain man. Perhaps this is the one you refer to.”
“And where can we find him?” Anamika asked.
“I buy silks from his family often. I could arrange a meeting between you if the price is right.”
Gritting my teeth, I said, “How much?”
“Oh, not much, not much. A trifle really.”
“What do you desire?” Anamika said.
The man licked his lips greedily. I knew that look. He desired to rob us and it wasn’t only our money he had in mind. I could easily imagine what he saw when he looked at Ana. The vendor only looked on the surface. He saw an uncommonly beautiful woman, unattached, and with only one man to guard her. My hackles rose with the desire to spring, to protect her, but at the same time, I knew she, of all women in the world, had the ability to protect herself.
As if sensing my distress, Ana put a hand on my arm. “This is what we offer.” She held out a brilliant ruby. I wasn’t sure where she’d gotten it, but she always carried various types of gems and coins in her bag for just such a purpose. “Be quick with your answer,” she warned the man. “For this is a generous sum and there is another seller of silk down the way. Perhaps he will be more helpful.”
The man lowered his brows, snatched the ruby from Anamika, and snapped his fingers. A young boy scrambled to his feet from beneath the table. The dog he’d been petting nudged the boy’s leg, wanting his attention back. “Xing-Xing,” the vendor barked. “Take these visitors to the silk maker’s home. And you’d better return within the hour. Otherwise you’ll feel the back of my hand. Understand?”
The boy nodded vigorously and ducked under the bolts of fabric, seemingly appearing out of nowhere between us. “Come,” he said and held out his hand to Anamika. She smiled at him and took it as he quickly wove his way between people, dragging her along, heedless of those who yelled at him for getting in their way.
It was all I could do to follow their bobbing heads through the thick throng. The boy didn’t slow until we entered a new district, strangely devoid of people. His eyes darted from side to side and he licked his lips nervously. “Are you worried?” Anamika asked him.
“This area is famous for thieves and robbers.” He glanced back at me. “I don’t think your man could handle more than a couple.
I frowned until Ana said, “I assure you that Sohan could handle many dozens of thieves even without my help.”
The corner of my mouth lifted and the savvy boy turned to study me. “I think you exaggerate,” he told her after his perusal. “He doesn’t look that formidable.”
We soon got to prove exactly how formidable we were. Just as the boy suspected, we were very quickly surrounded by a half dozen thieves. They were wiry and young. Some of them were not much older than the boy guiding us. I held up my hands. “We do not wish to harm you,” I said in a flat, calm tone. “Go in peace and we will forget your disrespect to the lady.”
To his credit, the dirty boy guide pulled a short knife from his belt and stood before Anamika, guarding her, a fierce expression on his face.
She snaked an arm around his chest which served to make him stand up as tall as he could, puffing out his chest. I knew she did it to protect him but he likely believed she was cowering behind him. I understood the feeling. Anamika inspired bravery like no other.
Holding up my hands to show I had no weapons, I turned in a circle to study my opponents. By my count there were seven assailants. Four of them carried knives. One had a short sword and the others were large in stature with no weapons visible except their fists. “Very well,” I said, cracking my neck. “Come on then.”
I heard the shush of steel as the sword was drawn from the sheath. The boys circled us, their eyes hard. They stuck to the dark shadows of the alleyway and moved in such a way that I easily spotted their plan. The thieves paid no heed to the boy or Anamika. They probably figured the least of them was a match for her. Instead, they focused on me.
At once they rushed, the boy with the sword coming at me first to distract me while the smaller, younger boys would try to stab me in the leg or the back. I sensed more than saw the young man coming at me from the side as the one with the sword came head on. Playing along, I kept my hands and eyes raised to the first boy and waited until just the right moment, then my hand came down on the arm of the boy with the knife. With one move, his weapon fell and I grabbed him, tossing him into the path of the other attacking from behind.
They fell in a tumble. The boy with the sword slashed repeatedly but he was untrained. I shifted my body one way and another, taking out the other boys one at a time, while letting him continue to come at me. When they were all down except him, each nursing various bruises and cracked jaws, I turned my attention to his moves.
“That’s better,” I said. After another thrust, I coached, “You’re leading with the wrong foot.”