Chapter 207: The Cloaks (1/2)
”To put the matter bluntly, that girl is rotting with bloodscars. While you can live with the knowledge that you'll die one day, Chang Chang is dying.”
”What?”
”About you or her?”
”Well, her.”
”Heavens tears, haven't you touched her yourself?” Saragui took in his expression. ”If you did, you'd doubtless find her frigid.”
Ju Feng lowered himself into a chair, in the way a cat sinks into a wary crouch. ”Why is she dying? Explain.”
”I am only speculating, of course, but I believe that whatever ability Chang Chang gained as a result of her brush with the bloodplague is interfering with her essence. Her arts go wild more often than they succeed. Am I correct?”
”You are,” Ju Feng said.
”Then, in effect, every time she casts a mystical spell, her body wages war on itself—the bloodscar fighting the ordered forces of magic. Her scar must be a powerful talent, to cause such a chaotic reaction. What is it, exactly, that Chang Chang can do?”
”That's for her to say.” Ju Feng stood. Tension hummed in his blood. His body must be readjusting to the ring, he thought. He held up his hand. ”Is there any magic like this ring that can calm the forces in her, make the bloodscar sleep?”
Saragui smiled. ”That's why I like you You think of it as a living thing, just as I do. It surrounds the city, weaving into the wood and stone. Folk think they're safe here, but they breathe the plague every day. They just don't realize it. You and I are the only ones who know how doomed the world is.”
”You've spent too long in the harbor rot,” Ju Feng said, ”and you're wasting my time. If you can't help me—”
”There is no magic that can stave off the bloodplague forever,” Saragui snapped. ”You know that as well as anyone.”
”She's stronger than she looks,” Ju Feng said. He turned away from Saragui. ”Stronger than you.”
Saragui laughed. ”Yet I would not trade places with her for the world. My men will bring your disguises. Bring them and Zu Ruo with you when you return to the Haven to fight for me. I'll give you a tenday before I hold another tournament. A tenday, Ju Feng. You've tried my patience more than any other man and lived. Don't displease me again.”
Ju Feng nodded. A question burned on his tongue, but he did not ask it. He climbed the ladder and left the ship, but the thought haunted him.
How long does she have? He'd have to touch her—the bare skin of her hands—to know for sure. He could touch other parts of her and get impressions, but they wouldn't be as strong.
He'd never known why it had to be so specific a touch. The buddhist monks and cultivators of his world believed the hands were the links that most strongly connected mortals to the world. A warrior's hands could take a life; a midwife's could bring a babe into the world. Chi manifested through the hands. He would see about that later.
”Everywhere we go has a name,” Chang Chang said. ”WaterWay , the Hearth, Whale Cavern now it's the Sinking Isle.” She gazed at the latest jumbled wreck of a ship. This one, a cog, had been hollowed out, the decking torn up to form one high-walled chamber at the bottom of the ship.
”There's a ladder here,” Zu Ruo said, stepping onto a short gangplank off the raised dock. She pointed to a rickety ladder laid against the inside of the ship. It descended into the cog's belly, disappearing from sight. ”That's our way down.”
”We're at the nether end of WaterWay, yet they still get around to namin' everythin' here,” Chang Chang babbled on. ”Unsettlin', that's what it is.” He shot a quick glance at the ladder. ”Unnatural.”
Ju Feng handed Chang Chang a rolled bundle of cloth. ”Put it on,” he said. ”You'll feel better once you're protected. Saragui said even the stench is blunted by the magic.”
”Why does he have these?” Chang Chang said, taking her own bundle and unrolling it. A simple cloak of layered rags, it hardly looked like it could stop a swift breeze, let alone be magical.
”He's never told me, but I suspect he uses them for spying,” Zu Ruo said. ”His own man poses as a beggar, then the master sends him wandering around the Haven. Folk try to ignore him. They don't see him as a real person, with ears and a tongue that can tell what he's seen.”