Chapter Three:

He rushed at her, and her face registered complete shock–but she crossed her knives and brought them up just in time to catch the blade of his sword on them. The strength of his attack sent a shock up her arms and she stepped aside, to use some of his own momentum against him by twisting his blade out of his grip.

She wasn't done there. She quickly stepped up behind him and brought the hilt of one of her knives down on his head–or would have, if he hadn't stepped out of her way himself and grabbed her wrist, pressing the nerves that made her hand open and drop the knife.

"Good," he said simply.

She dropped the knife in her free hand and punched him–hard–in the face, making him let go of her wrist. Seeing him reach down to pick up his sword, she spun around to the shelf with weapons on it and grabbed the first things she saw–two daggers, as it happened–and turned back to face him, ready for any attack he might launch. He was on her in a second, swinging and thrusting his sword at her almost faster than she could see, but she parried every attack, one or both daggers always ready to meet his blade. It was difficult at first to get used to her new weapons–they were at least six inches longer than her knives and heavier to boot–but she found the rhythm quickly.

They finally came to a stalemate when he pinned her against the wall, his sword caught on the cross of her daggers. "Enough," he said breathlessly, his eyes on her intense with...what emotion? He stepped back, taking his sword with him, and replaced it in its sheath. She staggered over to the shelf and replaced the daggers, her arms trembling with exhaustion from the extra weight and Zhou Yu's hard attacks.

She had never been more exhausted in her life. Her instructors had never worked her so hard, and she was dripping with sweat.


He watched her put the daggers back on the shelf, pleased with his ruse–if exhausted. He had instructed that everyone except Mai Li be kept out of the room until he was finished with it, and had ordered all weapons save the knives, daggers, and an extra sword be taken out. He was sweating like a horse, so he removed his shirt, and was surprised to see all the slashes in the article of clothing–not to mention the thin red stripes on his torso that were leaking a very small amount of blood. So she had gotten in a few swipes of her own! And that punch...He brought a hand to his jaw. It was swelling–he would have a fantastic bruise in an hour or so, but he smiled anyway.

She was good...very good. She must have practiced extensively on her own to be that quick on her feet and clever in tactics. He hadn't been able to pull many tricks on her, and what few he did manage she had countered admirably. Her moves were graceful, smooth, confident–so much so, in fact, that he realized how uncomfortable and clumsy she had been in the dress from earlier! She hadn't been half so graceful in the fine clothing as she was when she was fighting. He watched her with a smile on his face as she regained her breath by the weapon shelf, her back to him. If she was that good with the long daggers, which she had never before fought with by her own admission, how good would she become with a sword? Not that he would take away her twin daggers–absolutely not, it was too great a strength, but she could easily become proficient at swordplay as well as with her knives.

He smiled broadly as he thought about sparring with this fiery woman.

"Just what do you think is so funny?" a sharp voice asked, intruding upon his brief fantasy. "What were you thinking, charging at me like that with an unprotected blade! Do you know how dangerous that was! I could have been killed! I could have killed you, you great idiot, and then where would I be! In the dungeons for killing one of the greatest generals of Wu!" She had apparently regained control of her breathing, and was using it to yell at him with that rich voice of hers.

"So you have heard of me," he said wryly.

"Of course I have! Who hasn't? I just hadn't expected you to be such a maniac!"

"Look, I wasn't going to hurt you," he started when she took a deep breath to continue her tirade. "I had to see how you'd react when you thought your life was in danger to gauge how good you were with your weapon of choice–turns out I got to see you use a weapon you've never used before as well.

"And as to possibly killing me...do you really think you could have?" he asked cockily.

She pointedly looked at the thin ribbons of red on his torso. When a sheepish blush came over his face, she lifted her chin with pride, and there was an "I told you so" look in her eyes.

"I admit, you are better than I expected. When I made you drop one of your knives I was going to stop it and try you out on the daggers, but you beat me to it," he said ruefully, gingerly touching his jaw, which was throbbing with pain. "And, I have to say that I was a little angry after you punched me. But that's not the point. Do you want to learn swordplay?" he asked abruptly.

She stared at him blankly.

"I take that as a yes," he said brusquely. "Meet me here at dawn for your first lesson." With that, he picked up his tattered shirt and left the training hall.

Inexplicably infuriated, Mai Li took up the daggers again and stayed and practiced, pummeling the defenseless dummies until well after dark.


While Mai Li was taking out her anger on wooden men, a hooded man was sneaking up to the Qiao sisters' rooms in the dark. He was very much surprised when the door slid open just as he was about to knock and he came face to face with none other than Qiao Da.

"Lord Sun Ce!" she exclaimed, and he put a hand on her mouth, motioning for her to be quieter.

"Qiao Da, will you come with me? I want to talk to you," he whispered.

She hesitated for a moment, then nodded, and proceeded to lead him outside the residence to a modest garden with a small pond. She motioned for him to sit on one of the benches, and she herself sat on another bench. They looked at the pond in the moonlight for a long time, neither of them speaking, when Sun Ce suddenly said, "I'm sorry."

Da looked at him, surprised, and asked, "For what?"

"For not giving you a chance to consent to be married to me. My father told me I needed to get married, so he sent a letter to your father requesting a betrothal between you and I. Your father sent an enthusiastic letter back, so Dad sent an envoy to retrieve you. He wasn't going to send me, but I convinced him to in hopes that I could talk to you and get to know you before returning to the city. Please forgive me," he said, the story spilling out of him like water.

Suddenly, Qiao Da smiled. She very much appreciated his honesty, and after some thought had realized that she could have been engaged to someone far worse than Sun Ce. He was handsome, and had just proven that he was honest. He also had a boyish charm about him that attracted her, even though she hardly knew anything about him as of yet. She decided right then and there that she liked him, and she would, indeed, get to know her husband-to-be better before–and during–the trip to the city.

But she wasn't going to start tonight. It was late, and it would be unseemly if they were seen together alone so late at night, so she bid him good night and went back to her room while he returned to his tent.


Alright, another chapter completed. Thanks very much to my first reviewer, Winds of Eternity! I'm glad you like it so far. I would have replied to your review in the last chapter, but been a bit slow today, so I didn't get it until late! Thank you again, and I hope you like the new chapters. I'm going to attempt to finish this story before continuing with the other one, but who knows...now that I've said something I'll probably get hit by inspiration for the other one, lol.