Chapter 213 - A Song Of The Past [6] (2/2)

”You only know the safe space in which you were brought up,” Fa Mu said. ”That's a wonderful thing, but it doesn't lend itself well to wisdom, or to understanding why folk do the things they do.”

”So to understand why Cerest is after me, I have to go right back where I started?” Chang Chang said. ”Into the hands of the people who think I murdered my own great-uncle, the same people who hate me for killing one of their own?”

”No.” This time it was Ju Feng who spoke. ”To understand yourself, you have to put your pride and fear aside. Believe me, I know what that costs a person. But the Watch can help you.”

”How?”

”I think you know.” He looked her in the eyes. ”Your great-uncle would not have you live as a fugitive. More than that, the Watch have casters, folk who can help the bloodscarred.”

Chang Chang felt like she'd been struck in the stomach. ”No,” she said automatically. ”I have never been touched by the bloodplague.”

”Are you certain?” Ju Feng said, his eyes boring relentlessly into her. Those red eyes. Bloodscarred eyes.

”Of course!” Chang Chang took a step back from them all. ”I grew up in South Ward! WaterWay is safe from the plague.”

”Safe, is it?” Fa Mu said gently. ”WaterWay is a refuge to those scarred by the plague. They may be scorned, shoved into forgotten corners like Weizin, but the plague is part of us.”

”No!” Chang Chang wrapped her arms around herself. The weeping sores stood out on her arms. Repulsed, she ripped the cloak off, peeling away the layers of rags and rotting flesh. She needed to see her own skin, needed to see it normal.

”Put your cloak back on!” Ju Feng snatched the cloth and covered her. ”You'll be contaminated.”

”I'm not plagued or spellscarred. I'm not like—”

”Like me?” Ju Feng said.

She took a step back. ”You know that's not what I meant. Stop twisting my words.”

Wang Jin touched her arm. Chang Chang tried to back away, but he held her fast. ”You know I'm with you, girl. But just because you've got gifts others don't, doesn't mean you're not a Waterdhavian. You have the right to be protected. You shouldn't be afraid.”

”Why not?” Chang Chang's c.h.e.s.t heaved. ”Look what my gifts have done.” Her magic brought nothing but disaster, and her memory ensured that she never forgot any of it. Every experience, frozen in her mind, perfectly preserved.

Except one.

”I have the same dream every night.” She spoke haltingly. Wang Jin squeezed her arm. ”I'm in a tower, surrounded by people whose faces I can't see. There's a bright light, a burning light, and I'm afraid.” She looked at Ju Feng. ”There's no such tower in WaterWay. I've looked.”

”If you've been outside the city, why don't you remember?” Ju Feng asked.

”I don't know,” Chang Chang said. ”You've no idea what it's like, to have everything lined up and catalogued in your mind, a vast library of things you can't ever be rid of; yet there's this huge crack in the wall, a terrifying maw, and that's the knowledge you'd give anything to have.”

”What's the Watch going to do for her?” Zu Ruo spoke up. ”If she's scarred, then that's that. Doesn't help her with the elf.”

”There are too many missing pieces,” Chang Chang said. ”The rest of the dream, Chang Wei and his bloodscar. That's what Cerest wants. Zu Ruo's right. The Watch can't help me with any of that.”

”But if you accept the spellplague is the source of your flawless memory, that's a place to start,” Ju Feng said. ”WaterWay has done better than any city keeping the plague at bay. There's a reason for that. You won't find another realm in Faerûn where folk know more about the plague's effects.”

Zu Ruo smiled grimly. ”And you think she'll just stride up to them and start interviewing likely candidates to help her, do you?”

”The other choice is confrontin' Cerest,” Wang Jin said.

”He won't harm Chang Chang, but he'll have no compulsion to spare the rest of us,” Ju Feng said. He looked at Chang Chang. ”Do you want to risk Wang Jin's life? Do you want to see the elf slide a blade into him the way he took your great-uncle?”

”Don't say that to her,” Wang Jin said sharply. ”I can see to myself fine enough, and I don't need a magic ring to do it.”

Ju Feng shook his head. ”You're a fool. You claim you want to protect her? You're letting your guilt cloud your judgment. It makes you useless to her.”

Wang Jin went pale. His hand slid off Chang Chang's arm.

Chang Chang looked at Ju Feng. He was like a stranger, his eyes bright, almost feverish. ”What's wrong with you?” she demanded. ”The last place you would ever put yourself is in the path of the Watch. Your instinct for self-preservation is too strong.” Her eyes narrowed. ”Why is it so important to you to see me safely delivered to them?”

”Because he's finally smartened up to doing what he's told.”

The voice rang out above them, and a crossbow bolt twanged into the hull a foot above Chang Chang's head.