“I found out the day that Yabin-Oshin attacked me that Suyo wasn’t who he said he was,” Sheiji began. “He took of his turban to stop the bleeding in my wounds and, though I was delirious with pain, I saw her hair.”
“Her?” Fa-Ying asked.
“Suyo is a girl. She disguised herself as a boy because it was safer for her on the streets,” Sheiji explained. “But that’s not the only surprise. Just a few days ago when she found me here in Taiyunyi, I discovered who she really is. She, herself, did not know.”
“Know what?”
“Her name is Sahima.”
“Not…”
“My betrothed,” Sheiji said. “Our rings fit together. It was merely by accident. She saw my rings and told me she had one of her own. She asked what they were and I told her. She just wanted to see if I was right when I said that no two rings are alike. She put hers with mine and they fit together!”
“But what if she didn’t die?” Sheiji asked. “What if the man who kidnapped her somehow lost her later on? Or what if he left her to die on the street? No one ever found her body!”
“Sahima Loromi,” Fa-Ying said again. “And you let her go out there past the enemy?”
“There was no other way,” Sheiji argued. “Besides, she’s more than capable of taking care of herself. She’ll be all right. Do you think I would have let her go if I didn’t think she’d be safe?”
Fa-Ying shook his head. “We must tell her parents. I’ll send a messenger to Nakuchi immediately.”
“What?” Sheiji’s heart fell. Was he going to be separated from Sahima yet again? Surely her father would take her back with him. “Couldn’t you wait just a little while?”
But Fa-Ying wasn’t listening. He was furiously pulling on a rope near the door of the room. Fa-Ying sat down, taking up a quill pen and ink and rummaging around for a blank sheet of paper. Writing swiftly, Fa-Ying composed a note to Emperor Vishou of Nakuchi. He blotted the wet ink, folded it and sealed it with a blot of wax. He pressed his signet ring into the wax.
Sheiji watched all this with great dismay. He sighed repeatedly until Fa-Ying paused in his work and looked up in annoyance.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Does she have to go back to Nakuchi, Fa-Ying?” Sheiji grumbled. “She could stay here and her father could see her when he comes for the wedding.”
Fa-Ying stared at Sheiji in momentary confusion. Then he grinned and patted Sheiji’s shoulder. “I see. You were always been so hesitant to speak of marriage before you left, but I see it now. No, lad. She can’t stay here. It just wouldn’t be proper. Besides, don’t you think a father ought to have more time with his daughter than only a few short months allotted for a wedding visit?”
“I suppose,” Sheiji reluctantly said.
A knock sounded at the door. Fa-Ying hushed Sheiji and pushed him towards the bed. Sheiji barely fit underneath the low stand that supported the mattress. Sheiji heard the door open, but from his position, he could not see who was there.
“Yes. I want you to send a messenger to Nakuchi as quickly as possible. Here is a letter. It must get to Emperor Vishou,” Fa-Ying explained. “When you have found a messenger, you are to prepare the loyal troops to march on the palace at a moment’s notice.”
“Has Sheiji returned?” Inon asked eagerly.
“Sheiji, you can come out!” Fa-Ying called to the bed under which Sheiji was hiding.
Sheiji wormed his way out and came to stand beside Fa-Ying. Inon bowed low before him.
“I am happy at your safe arrival,” Inon said. “And I am happy you decided to return.” He rose and turned back to Fa-Ying. “Is there anything you need, Fa-Ying? Anything else I should do?”
“I think that is all, Inon, thank you,” Fa-Ying replied.
“Perhaps some new clothes?” Inon’s eyes fell on Sheiji’s tattered street clothes.
Fa-Ying followed Inon’s gaze and smiled, “Yes. Something more…er…suitable to Sheiji’s rank.”
“I hate fancy clothes,” Sheiji mumbled.
Fa-Ying’s grin grew, “Surely this is the Sheiji I know! But bring the clothes anyway, Inon. We will find some use for them. Also, you may find some clothes like Sheiji wears now. He may yet need them.”
Inon turned to go and Fa-Ying added in a low voice, “I’ll give the signal when it is time to act.”
After Inon left, the two sat in silence. They tried to speak, but their conversations lasted only minutes. Both Sheiji and Fa-Ying were too tense to focus on conversation.
All of a sudden, Sheiji leapt to his feet and cried, “I’m sick of this!”
“Sit down, boy, and be quiet,” Fa-Ying said in a warning voice. “I’ve been down here for more than a month. How do you think I feel?”
“I’m going out, Fa-Ying. I have to see what things are like inside the palace,” Sheiji announced.
Fa-Ying exclaimed, “You mean to go into the palace?”
“Yes,” Sheiji replied quietly. “I must see my brother’s destruction. There are so many who have helped me. I must see what Sui-Tsai has done to them.”
“I will not allow it.”
“I am king, you cannot stop me.”
“I am responsible for you. I won’t have you getting killed just when we’ve almost won. Now, sit down and wait like everyone else for your army.”
“I must go see. Korin knows something very important. If Sui-Tsai has killed him, we will never know who really killed King Tuan of Osaku.”
“Korin knows who killed Tuan?” Fa-Ying asked doubtfully. “The killer was found, I thought. They disposed of him.”
Sheiji shook his head.
“How will you get into the palace? They’ll see you and kill you on the spot. The palace is filled with spies. They’re as thick as flies on a rotting carcass,” Fa-Ying argued. “Who knows, the army may arrive even today.”
Sheiji sat down slowly and sighed. Resting his chin in his hands, he quietly submitted to Fa-Ying’s father-like authority over him. He comforted himself with the thought that very soon, perhaps even tomorrow, the army would come and Sheiji would get his fill of the palace and of Sui-Tai.