“What time of day?” the blue-armored woman asked him now.
“Night,” said William. “Our camp was pitched next to a chasm—not that we knew it at the time. With a river below. It was the night before last.”
He saw the woman hesitate, and then translate his words. He knew very little Chinese, though he had picked up a smattering of words on his travels. He heard her use the word “black”. Black Chasm?
The big man in the bear armour scowled and barked something. Lin Mae turned back to William to translate her commander’s words.
“There were just the two of you? You alone did this?”
Pero looked uncertain, as if he didn’t know where this was going. William wondered whether the creature he had killed was sacred in some way, and whether whoever killed such a creature was destined to face a terrible punishment.
“Well… that’s…” Pero was saying, but before he could wrongly incriminate himself, William jumped in.
“I killed it.”
The blue-armored woman’s eyes widened incredulously. “You alone?”
William felt all eyes on him. He didn’t need the woman to tell him that the air was thick with hostility and suspicion. He nodded.
The blue-armored woman turned back to the black-armored commander and spoke in Mandarin, presumably telling him of William’s claim to have killed the creature by himself.
Now the eyes that looked at him were full of incredulity, scorn. The little man in the black robes and hat on the far side of the room was gazing at William with an intensity that he found unsettling.
Pero leaned towards him. “What if that’s the wrong answer?” he hissed.
The commander in the purple armour, metal antlers curling from his helmet, asked what was clearly a question, his manner full of astonishment. The red-armored commander responded with equal disbelief. It was clear that they were questioning William’s claim to have killed the creature single-handed.
Confirming his assumption, the blue-armored woman said, “Tell me how you did this.”
William nodded at the other commanders, who clearly didn’t believe a word of his story. “Is that what they were asking?”
“Yes. They want to know how you alone killed the creature.”
William shrugged. “With a swing of the sword.” He demonstrated as best he could. “Sweep, thrust and full carry-round. The piece on the table… the hand… it came away clean. The beast fell back into a chasm. It landed somewhere in the river below.”
Now the blue-armored woman’s eyes widened even more than they had previously. “It fell back?”
“Yes.”
She shook her head fiercely. “They do not fall back.”
William looked at her in frustration, and then at the others. Was she the only one who spoke English? The only one he could talk to?
Pero spoke up for the first time, addressing the blue-armored woman. “It had no choice but to fall back. William was attacking it. If it hadn’t fallen he would have cut it apart.”
The blue-armored woman was silent. Now she was regarding them both suspiciously.
Frustrated, William said, “Well, aren’t you going to tell them? You’re not telling them what we’re saying.”
“I think you lie,” she said fiercely.
William rolled his eyes. “Are you in charge?”
Instead of answering his question, the blue-armored woman responded with a question of her own. “Why are you here?”
“We came to trade,” William said quickly. “We were ambushed.”
The blue-armored woman barked an order, and William and Pero were grabbed by the soldiers flanking them and hauled to their feet. The soldiers then wrenched aside their ragged outer robes, exposing the chainmail tunics beneath. Before either William or Pero could react, the female officer had drawn her sword in one slick motion and pressed the point into William’s throat, forcing him to tilt his head back.
“You lie!” she hissed. “You are soldiers! Why are you here?”
The bearded, black-armored General lifted a hand and barked a command, and after a moment the woman reluctantly sheathed her sword and stood back.
Ruefully William rubbed his throat. “Seems to me he’s the one in charge. Maybe you should tell him what I said.”
The woman’s eyes flashed dangerously. “Hold your tongue.”
For a moment there was a stand-off between them, each staring into the other’s eyes.
At last William said mildly, “I think your General is waiting.”
The blue-armored woman’s pale cheeks flushed. She took an aggressive step back towards him, fixing his gaze with her own. “And I think you lie.” She gestured disdainfully at the green claw. “I think you found this in the mountains.”
The black-armored General asked a brief question, his voice curious, concerned. One of the words he spoke was “Lin”. Was that the woman’s name?
The woman’s eyes flickered, and then her expression became steely. She turned to the General, speaking in tight, clipped phrases. William supposed she was telling her superior, and the rest of the room, how he had disposed of the creature, exactly what had happened. He didn’t for a moment believe she was repeating what he had said after that.
Lin Mae was angry at the stinking foreign soldier for making her feel flustered, but trying not to show it. Her voice business-like, she said, “They claim to be traders who were ambushed. He says he killed the creature with a sword and it fell into the Black Canyon at the mountain pass.”
Commander Chen of the Eagle Corps was scornful. “He expects us to believe that? These barbarians are liars!”
Across the room Strategist Wang had been examining the glittering black rock. Now he placed it carefully back on the table and looked up.
“I believe him.”
His voice rang across the room. Everyone looked at him in surprise.
Indicating the green claw with an economical twitch of his hand, Wang said, “They brought the claw here. The wound is fresh. He has green blood on his sword and clothes. These details verify his story.”
Now attention swung back to the two men, who looked uncomfortable and concerned beneath the steady gaze of at least fifty blank-faced soldiers.
“They travelled thousands of miles and encountered Tao Tei as soon as they entered China,” Wang continued. “Does that sound likely to you?”
Still brimming with anger, Lin Mae barked, “Does it matter?” She looked at William. “I say we kill them now to preserve our secret and escape the trouble they will bring.”
Commander Wu’s snarling yellow tiger helmet flashed as he nodded. “I agree. Let’s get rid of them and get back to work.”
Commander Chen too added his support to the views of his colleagues. With a dismissive glance at the two filthy men, he said, “General, we have no time for this nonsense.”
General Shao, though, was not so impetuous as his younger, hotheaded subordinates. He looked silently to Wang for his input. The wily strategist, his age closer to the General’s own, said quietly, “I advise we keep them alive for a few more days… at least until we all arrive at the same truth.”
General Shao gave an abrupt nod. “Agreed.”
Lin Mae scowled. She glared at the two men, who clearly had no idea what was happening. That, at least, gave her a little satisfaction. Unless the General gave her a direct order to inform the foreigners of his decision, she would leave them stewing in their own uncertainty as to whether they were to be executed immediately or allowed to live a little longer.
All at once, from outside the doors to the Great Hall, but approaching rapidly, came the steady pounding of a drum. The discipline of all those in the room dissolved for a moment, and they began to chatter among themselves. Then General Shao held up a hand and they were silent once more. But Lin Mae could not blame them for their momentary loss of control. The drum meant only one thing. It was a warning of dire peril.