49 The Room that Shook (1/2)

When she was certain he had fallen asleep, her hand drew closer to his hair, carefully stroking and putting back in place the strands of silver that never seemed to be in place.

Her hand fell from the gentle stroking down to his right arm that hung down at his side. Such an arm was said to have been crippled long ago. His right arm was heavy, as one of a corpse, the temperature was colder than that of normal body temperature.

As the sleeve of his brocade robe was pushed back gently, a thin scar stretched from near his wrist, extending towards the elbow.

”Just why?” She whispered in his ear. ”Why did you do that?” There were many more things that could have been said, but it was to no avail as the only person she could talk to had fallen into a deep slumber.

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Before she could ask any more questions that only she herself would hear, she heard footsteps. Her head whipped around, to see an old man step into the candlelight. The slight orange glow of the candle flickered slightly, casting an array of oddly shaped shadows.

”Madam.” He spoke.

”Did you follow me here?” Madam Lin asked. The person standing before her was mister Song, whose love for wine had long ascended the heavens. Even she could not understand why he would leave his yard of fermenting brew to follow her here.

Mister Song did not answer her question, instead, he said: ”Have you forgotten the agreement?”

”No.” Madam Lin answered in a word she spoke with contempt.

”That is good, as you know, Ruan Wang's death will be the root of all political upheaval in the capital. Do you wish to see the streets washed with the blood of innocents?” It was a rare tone of lecturing that he rarely used, but he could not understand the selfishness that came from her heart. Just like the philosophy of killing one to save a thousand, this was saving one to let a thousand live.

”Why should I care?”

”Do you not remember the Ye clan?” As soon as he spoke, he knew that it was a bad example. To say the least, Madam Lin had never had the slightest consideration for the lives of the Ye clan.

Madam Lin let out a chuckle ”And if he must die?”

”Then forgive me.” He said as he moved out of sight into the shadows. The candle flickered before plunging the whole room into darkness.

The sounds of cloth ripping the air ensued for a while before they came to a stop. It was uncertain who came as the victor, but two shadows stopped at the same time and faced each other.

Madam Lin, whose veil came off revealed a grin as she looked towards mister Song, whose sleave showed a tear with some blood seeping out. The two people did not seem to be holding any weapons. She took a deep breath of the air which included the burning scents of a blown-out candle and the scents of copper and iron, from the two men who were in the room with her.