"You want to absorb her," Lady Feng scoffed. "She is stronger than you, and you want to make her part of yourself."
"Yes, to make her mine. Is that not what love is?" The dragon glanced toward the cavern where Tang had first taken refuge. "I'm certain your son would agree-though I'm afraid I can't allow him that chance."
"You leave son alone!" Lady Feng warned. "If you harm him-"
Cypress whirled on the Third Virtuous Concubine so fiercely that Tang feared he would murder her.
"I will kill him, and you will do nothing!" the dragon roared. "I have allowed you both to grow defiant, and now I must teach you to obey."
Lady Feng dropped to her knees, then surprised Tang by kowtowing to the dragon-dishonoring both herself and the emperor. "Please. He is only son. Punish me-"
"I need you."
Cypress drew himself to his full height, then turned
Yanseldara's staff upside down and wedged the butt into a ceiling fissure. The dragon waded into the lake. Tang retreated deep into his worm hole, beseeching his ances- tors to make his foe see only the cowardly prince he had been before entering the swamp.
As Cypress neared the cavern wall, his great bulk blocked the red light from the treasure chamber, plung- ing the prince into darkness so thick he could not see the stone beneath his nose. The cavern shuddered around his body, and the dragon's voice rumbled through the very rock.
"… not changed after all, have you, Prince?"
There was a muffled whisper as the dragon inflated his chest, then a sharp hiss as he emptied it into the next tunnel. The exhalation seemed to continue forever, and soon a chorus of soft, eerie trills arose from the treasure chamber as the breath whistled through the network of passages and found its way back toward the lake. From deep within Tang's worm hole came a muffled clatter of stones, followed by the sputter and sizzle of dissolving limestone. The prince smelled the caustic stench of acid and expected to feel a stinging wind tear over his body, but the wall had not collapsed entirely. He felt only the light nettling of a faint mist. He crawled forward as far as he dared, and at last the eerie whistle died away.
Cypress stepped away from the cavern wall and turned toward the ingot island. Lady Feng threw herself into the water, wailing in motherly grief. The show was so con- vincing that, had Tang not been raised in the palace of the Third Virtuous Concubine, he would have believed her anguish to be genuine.
Cypress waded across the lake in two strides and plucked Lady Feng from the water. "Be quiet! That cow- ard is not worth tears. He was groveling in the corner like a frightened child."
The report only drew louder wails from the Third Vir- tuous Concubine.
The dragon placed her atop the ingot heap, then cir- cled to the far side of the island. "I will fetch the proper oil. When I return, have your ingredients ready to cast another spell-the permanent one."
Lady Feng raised her head. "Never! I let Yanseldara make slave of you!"
Cypress's claw swept down so swiftly that Tang did not see it move. It simply appeared beside Lady Feng's body, trembling with the dragon's fury, and the prince did not even realize it had touched her until he saw the blood seeping through her shredded cheosong.
"We shall see, shall we?"
The dragon dove into the lake and vanished from sight. Both Tang and his mother remained motionless and did not speak for several minutes. When it became apparent that Cypress would not return, Lady Feng turned toward the prince's hiding place.
"Are you there, Tang? I know you are fool, but honored ancestors claim you are no coward."
Tang pushed his head out of his worm hole. "I am here I see you kowtow to Cypress!"
Lady Feng shrugged. "I must convince him of grief . Besides, shame is removed after you destroy him." She craned her neck to look at the staff lodged in the ceiling, thirty feet above her head. "Now, Courageous Prince, please to honor humble mother by climbing up to retrieve spirit gem."
Ruha urged her horse forward, once again nudging it between the mounts of Minister Hsieh and the Lady Con- stable. Vaerana had been on her best behavior since departing the Ginger Palace, but with the wooded hills of
Elversult rising ahead and the planning session entering a crucial phase, the witch thought it wise to put herself between the two stubborn personalities.
"Very well. We hide Lady Yanseldara and ylang o beneath city prison while we search for lair," Hsieh said
"But who stays to guard them?"
"It's the Maces' barracks," Vaerana answered simply.
"Humble Minister begs to disagree." Hsieh's tone was anything but humble. "Maces know nearby lands. Per- haps they search for lair while Shou guard oil."
Vaerana leaned in front of Ruha, her face already turn- ing the color of blood. "If you think I'm going to leave Elversult in the hands of a bunch of slanty-"
Ruha pushed the Lady Constable back toward her own horse. "The minister's suggestion has merit, Vaerana
Perhaps it would be best to leave a mixed garrison at the barracks, and lend him some guides to help his men search for the lair."
Vaerana clamped her mouth shut and took several deep breaths, then nodded curtly. "We can do that."
Hsieh looked straight ahead. "As can we-for mutual benefit of all."
Ruha's sigh of relief was cut short by a chorus of alarmed cries. She turned in her saddle and looked down the long column to see riders of both races staring over their shoulders. They were tugging at armor buckles and tightening chin straps and generally readying them- selves for battle. For a moment, the witch could not imag- ine what was troubling them, but then she saw it: a pair of distant black wings hanging low in the afternoon sky, steadily flapping and growing larger with every stroke.
"Most wretched dragon!"
"Elversult's just over the hill," Vaerana said. "We'll skirt the edge and make a run for Moonstonn House!"
"We secure ylang oil first-then fetch Yanseldara!"
"This is my city. I know what's-"
"You are both wrong." Ruha kept her eyes fixed on Cypress, who had already covered so much distance she could make out the lines of his broken horns. "We cannot hope to outrun the dragon, so we must outwit him."
Vaerana and Hsieh both studied the witch for a moment, then nodded their agreement. "What do you have in mind, Witch?"
"We should feign a stand in the forest. When the dragon attacks, we will split. Vaerana will take the Maces toward Moonstonn House. Minister Hsieh and the Shou will stay behind to act as a rear guard."
Hsieh locked gazes with Vaerana, then nodded. He turned to Yu Po, who had two waterskins filled with ylang oil hanging from his saddle. Although the new blossoms had yielded more, the minister had assured them this was more than sufficient to save Yanseldara.
The rest had been burned at the Ginger Palace.
Hsieh took the first skin off his adjutant's saddle to pass it to Vaerana.
"That is not what I meant," Ruha said. Cypress was so