The light came too soon, as it often did. Wu prodded the embers, which were as reluctant to wake as she was, and then called Dawn Star's name until her friend opened her eyes.
"Should we break camp?" Dawn Star asked after they had eaten a cold breakfast.
Wu thought for a moment. They could leave their things here and it was unlikely that anyone or thing would disturb them. On the other hand, Wu did not wish to be caught in the marsh alone at night by anyone or thing.
"Let's leave it. If we are lucky, we'll have no reason to stay the night," Wu finally said. Her friend seemed relieved.
Wu was apprehensive again. She had not felt this much anxiousness in a very long time. First the cave and now the marshes - Wu stopped the spiral of thoughts before it began. She would deal with whatever was - or was not - in the marsh when she was there. One foot in front of the other, one decision at a time; that was the way she lived now.
The crowd screamed Wu's name, but up here in the presentation cages, she had eyes for only one thing. She stared at the floating palace and she would keep that vision in her mind until she'd freed her master from that place. From this moment forward, everything else had to be dust.
The storm had done nothing for the heat and the air was a heavy wet blanket. The cages lowered and the stone dragons breathed fire around her, forming steam. Yet she could barely feel any of it; her fingertips were turning blue from a cold that came from within.
The stands reverberated with the stomping feet of the fans and Iron Soldier said something to her as they took their positions opposite each other. She thought for a moment that she heard Dawn Star's voice above the crowd, but it was swallowed by noise and...
She felt it before she saw it. It was what gave Dawn Star chills and caused Wildflower to flinch at shadows when they walked in the city.
It danced on the walls and the ceilings, it twisted like trees in a storm. All these people that were crying out for entertainment, for blood that could not actually be spilled in the Arena, were feeding into the discord of the city.
She saw the chaos moving around and past her, like green and gray and yellow greasy ghosts. Iron Soldier did not seem to feel it, or if he did, he did not mind it. The faceless not-ghosts slid by and by her skin, just out of the reach of her shadow. They did not touch her. Nothing was touching her today.
Iron Soldier barked at her, "Let's finish this, pup!"
"Cub," she said, taking a step back. Her breath curled in the air in front of her, pushing ghosts aside.
The old soldier's lip curled. "What?"
"Tigers don't have pups. They have cubs." She brought up her hands to fight. "And they are born with claws."
The drums sounded, the announcer yelled, and the fight began.
Chaos was there and here and she was in-between it all, moving faster than she ever had before. The currents of discord parted for her, danced with her, but they did not hold her back for a moment.
She was standing over Soldier. His nose was bleeding. First blood for her - that is what the announcer was crying over the noise of the crowd.
She could see it now; the chaos was showing her all the ways this could end if she'd just let herself go, let herself move without thinking. There were hundreds of ways she could defeat Soldier, no matter how he defended or attacked. Gray-dead and green-sick and yellow-craven flowers opened, petal by petal, showing her the way.
But this was going too fast. She'd been at the Arena long enough to know that quick fights, no matter how beautiful in their execution, were not profitable ones and she had been an entertainer too long to take the easy route today.
Also... Iron Soldier hadn't been humiliated enough.
She waited for him to get up and then waited for him to attack. She thought she was leaving Soldier easy attacks, but he missed them all. She slowed herself down to what felt like a crawl and still he missed these openings she presented him. She was starting to get impatient.
Iron Soldier turned and kicked her right in the chest. She flew backwards across the sand, landing on her back. The crowd screamed her name, some with disappointment and some with glee.
She waited again, her back in the sand, catching her breath. She had seen Soldier fight before and knew that he liked to get close for the finishing blow. When his foot came at her, she grabbed it and twisted as hard as she could. He fell next to her and she rolled away.
Wu got to her feet quickly and she waited for her opponent to rise. The crowd could not know, not even the ones in the close seats, but Wu had watched Soldier for weeks now and she could see that when he got up, he was fighting not to favor his now injured ankle.
She kept her guard lower than normal, leaving him a gap near her ribs and one on her chin. He caught her on the chin with his fist, drawing blood.
"This is bad even for you, Tiger," he said. A triumph danced in his eyes, but she saw doubt there too. His mind was quicker than she thought.
"Can't you tell, Soldier?" She took a second to wipe the sweat dripping from her nose. "I'm trying not to embarrass you."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that when you lose this title to me, I do not want people to whisper that the Guild had you poisoned or that old dogs are doomed to lose." She smiled, shifting her weight and her guard. "I will not have my victory look bad."
Crushed pride and self-doubt warred in his stance. She had hurt him worse than if she'd shattered his ankle bone instead of just twisting it and her only weapon had been the truth.
Soldier yelled inarticulately and threw himself at her. She stepped aside, resisting the urge to kick him in the backside. Instead she pushed him in the back, releasing Storm Dragon from the palm of her hand. Soldier froze as the lightning danced inside him and she finished with a leaping elbow to the back of his head. He slumped to the sandy floor, beaten.
She waved at the crowd for one last time and looked up at the open sky above the Arena. She could not see the palace there, but she knew it was near. She was one step closer to it.
Wu let the other fighters congratulate her as Dr. An pushed past her to attend to her unconscious opponent. Pretty Li Li hissed an insult at her as she rushed to her lover's side.
Qui was happily counting the money she had just earned the Arena when she finally made it to the promoter's area. He grinned when he saw her and tossed her a satisfyingly heavy purse without any prodding on her part.
"Thanks, Qui." She shook it again to hear the sound of the coins.
"Would you like to hear about your next opponent?" he asked quickly. "I have had the good fortune to run across a woman from the Prosperous East who - "
"Not now, Qui." Not ever, Qui, she wished to add, but she didn't. There might be some day when she needed to return to the Arena and she'd found it an enjoyable source of income.
"Tiger."
Wu had only spoken him to once, but the way his voice scraped through the air made her hair stand on end. She turned slowly, though all her instincts told her to strike fast, hard and to not stop striking until he was dead.
Even in the well-lit Arena, he gathered shadows around him like extra clothes. People were suddenly interested in everything but the two of them. No doubt if they were asked what was said and who spoke to who, they would develop sudden forgetfulness. Such was the power of the Assassins in this city.
"Your victories are impossible for the other fighters to ignore. You are master of the arena, the ground where Executioners are born." He held out a stone seal. "Take this. You may enter our Fortress with it and begin your training."
She held it in her hand. It would be easy to dash it to the ground and denounce everything he stood for, but Master Li was waiting for her. "And the Fortress is where?"
"At the far end of the Necropolis." The brief smile he gave her had no humor in it. "If you cannot make it through the Necropolis, then I will have misjudged you. And that would be a pity, Tiger."
He walked away. Assassins did not wish for a person's luck; they did not believe in anything but the Emperor.
Wu went up to her room to pack. She placed the seal in her bag and pulled a scarf around her head, so that she wouldn't be recognized in the streets.
Crimson Khana was standing at the door when she turned to leave. "It's true that you're going to them, then?"
Khana was not a typical city resident. Perhaps in the East, they did not teach their citizens to unsee things seen, unhear things heard. It was good that the woman was going home; Wu did not think she would very long if she stayed in the city. "Yes. I must. I made a promise."
"If I had known, I might not have given you the Tears."
"They will never be used for the Assassin's service." It would be an easy enough promise to keep; the Tears were beautiful and strong, but in a pinch, she would use the weapons she knew best.
The woman nodded, satisfied. "I do not know you well, Tiger, but I wish you luck."
Khana left and Wu covered her face, set to leave Arena for the last time. The hoi polloi fell for her simple disguise and she cut through the still excited crowds, making her way back to her friends.
The others were already waiting for her in the hangar, near the hotel. Kang had set something bubbling in the corner and it looked like Silk Fox and Sky were arguing. Dawn Star smiled when she saw Wu. Behind her was Zu.
Wu knew she should have the sense to be ashamed for being so forward last night, but she didn't feel the heat of shame in her face. Perhaps she'd used ice for so long that it had gotten into her brain and dulled her honor. Perhaps she was shallow, like the water in Two Rivers. Perhaps she was just tired after a long sleepless night imagining a floating prison in the sky.
Thoughts of an imprisoned master all but dissolved when he looked at her. The Water Dragon save her for a fool.
The princess brought her back to her senses. "So things are looking up. You've gained the favor of the Lotus Assassins," Silk Fox said triumphantly, as if she'd become champion of the Silver Division herself.
"And after we find the evidence against Death's Hand, you will take us to the palace to find Master Li?" Dawn Star asked.
Silk Fox's eyes crinkled at the corners; no doubt she was smirking underneath her veil. "Oh, I promise, little Dawn Star. After we get what I want from the Lotus Assassins, the palace is the first place we will go."
"Before you two begin making plans into the next year, perhaps you should let Wu rest?" Sky suggested. "Or at least let her put her things away."
Sky could always be counted on to lend her a hand, when she didn't think to defend herself. Wu headed up to her room, while the others waited for her. Well, all waited for her but one.
"I saw what you did to Soldier!" The Black Whirlwind said as she walked up the stairs to her room. He could barely fit in the narrow stairwell. "That's how we used to do it in my day. Gave the people a show, even if your opponent wasn't worth the sand you were grinding him into."
"I did what I could," Wu said. She opened the door to her room. It had been kept exactly as she had left it. Now, along with being untidy, it was musty as well. She dumped her things on her bed and walked back downstairs.
The mercenary followed her. "Too bad you can't keep going right for the top. I would have loved to see Kai Lan's face when you took the rank of Champion."
When Wu stepped out into the flyer hangar, Silk Fox began speaking again like she hadn't even left. "Now that you have permission, there won't be any trouble entering. It's only after we have the evidence against Death's Hand that there might be a problem."
Wu wished she did not have to have Silk Fox with her, but her tirades and her stubborn insistence that her father was not behind this made it all the more important that the princess be present when she learned about the truth about the Emperor.
"I can take care of myself," Wu said. There was not much light in the hangar, but she watched for her shadow all the same. Had anyone but the demons seen it twisting when there was no wind?
"You don't want too much fuss," Silk Fox lectured, like they were going into a teahouse. "You'll only bring the place down on yourself."
"Sagacious Zu has knowledge of the inside. At least you seem to," Dawn Star added, turning to address her next question to him. "Where...where is he?"
"He was right behind you." It sounded stupid to her as soon as Wu said it.
"And they're about to close the hotel for the evening. Why would he leave so suddenly?" Dawn Star wondered.
A few quick questions and they realized none of them had seen him leave, though they all agreed he had been in the hangar when Wu had gone into the hotel.
"You are close to entering their lair," Kang said suddenly. Kang spoke about their plans and companions so rarely that everyone was immediately listening. He looked up from his cauldron. "He was an Assassin long before he ever met us, Wu."
Her stomach dropped and she felt hollow. She could not argue with what Kang was suggesting. It was a reasonable assumption to make and there was no reason for Sagacious Zu to stay after they - she - had chosen to ignore his advice and there was every reason for him to leave.
"Why are you surprised?" Lian sniffed behind her mask. "You should be more careful of who you trust."
"If I did that, none of you would be here." Lian's eyes widened with fury, but something in Wu's flat, dead voice kept the princess from answering. So that was the power of discord, she thought.
"If Zu has turned on us, we should move quickly," Lian said, recovering from her shock.
"Zu would not turn on us," Dawn Star insisted. Her voice was clear and strong. Wu wished she could feel as certain.
Wu went to the stairs that led to her room. "We're not going through the Necropolis in the middle of the night. If he has returned to the Assassins, we will know soon enough. Even if he has not, he could still be caught in this city of Assassins. They will not be gentle with him either. If you believe they will come, you - all of you - should leave while you can."
They did not go; not even Silk Fox, even though she insulted Zu's cowardice loudly and at length before going to her room.
Later someone came to her door and Wu could tell from the timid knocking who it might be. She wasn't surprised when it was Dawn Star who came in her room. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Of course."
Dawn Star took a deep breath. "Do you truly believe that Zu left us for good?"
"There is no reason to suspect otherwise." Wu stared at the ceiling. She looked for pictures in the cracks. It was easier than looking at her friend.
"Why is that?" Dawn Star asked heatedly. "He could have been caught. He could need us now. Why do you not trust him?"
"Because he hasn't given us a reason to."
"He helped us in the marshes," she countered.
"Sure enough. After I threatened him and impugned his honor." Wu waved at the thin walls that separated her room from the others. "But if it makes you feel any better, the rest of them haven't given me any reason to trust them either."
"They are our friends," Dawn Star said uncertainly.
"I did not say that they weren't." She did not raise her voice, could not muster any emotion. She'd worked very hard to kill anything she might have harbored during her long night alone and the lightning of feeling she'd felt in the hangar had iced over at the very real possibility of betrayal. "You must understand - people will always leave us. They may leave us by choice or not, but in the end, they will all leave."
"Even you?" Dawn Star asked fiercely, daring her friend to agree, afraid of the answer she might receive.
"I have the potential for disappointing you most of all," Wu said flatly. She turned on her side to face her friend. "Though the Water Dragon knows I will do everything in my power not to. You're the only one I have left, Dawn Star."
Dawn Star looked both troubled and relieved by her statement.
Wu realized she wanted to tell her friend everything. "Is it wrong of me to wish that the Assassins have found and tortured him? At least then it wouldn't be a betrayal he chose."
Dawn Star knew her very well and answered the questions she had not asked with words."If he is taken, that is not your fault. And even though you two have argued in the past, you have argued worse with Lian and I. That would be no reason for him to leave us."
Her friend sat on the edge of her bed and took her hand. "But if he left to go to them, then that was not your fault either."
Wu squeezed her friend's hand. The tears were frozen at the corners of her eyes. "Dawn Star, I haven't done what I should."
"What do you mean?" Dawn Star looked at her carefully.
"I've been selfish."
"In what way?"
But she could not say the next words. My eyes were fogged, my will was dulled. And for a moment, I wanted him, Dawn Star, more than I wanted to save Master Li. By the Wall of the West, she didn't care about her own disappointment, but she didn't want to see it in Dawn Star's eyes. Her friend's faith in her was the last pillar she could stand on now. So she lied. "I should have destroyed Fang's reputation - we would have gotten to the palace that much faster. Master Li could be hurt or dying and we've wasted so much time."
"We did what was right," Dawn Star said firmly. "You would not bow to Assassins and your fights in the Arena would have made our whole school in Two Rivers proud. Master Li, no matter where he is, cannot chastise you."
Dawn Star did not go back to her room. They lay in the small bed together like they had as children. They did not giggle and talk into the night as they had in Two Rivers, but Dawn Star's presence comforted Wu.
She almost felt safe that night.