Mai and Broken followed the old man through the streets. He hummed to himself, contentedly. Others stepped away from him, out of respect, or, Mai thought, annoyance.

Fen led them through the streets to one that had barely any people, though it was quite wide. “When I moved here, this road used to be a center of business,” said Fen. “Times have changed.”

Stone buildings filled the sides of the streets, but they all looked to be warehouses for some material or another. All of them, except the house Fen led Mai and Broken to. It was quite large, two stone stories. As the reached the door, one of the few on the street, a man riding a cart filled with materials, stopped by.

“Moonsinger!” he said. “You have visitors!” The man then continued on his way.

“As the only person who lives here anymore, I’m quite a novelty,” said Fen. “But I manage.” He opened the door to his house, and walked in. Mai and Broken followed.

The first room in the house was filled with too many chairs and tables, almost all of which were covered with papers, books, and artifacts. A tiny wheel set onto a stand caught Mai’s eye.

The only chair that was empty was leather, faded, and looked quite worn. Fen settled himself down in it.

“Whatever it-is-you-call-yourself-now, Broken,” said Fen. “Indulge an old man, and take the chair opposite me.” He pointed at one stacked so high with texts the back of the chair could not be seen. “You can move what is on it to the floor.”

Broken immediately began the work, but it took him a moment to find a spot on the floor that was not covered with other things.

“As for you, girl,” said Fen. “By my back door, there should be a bucket of water on the floor. Find some glasses, and fill them up. Even though I don’t have a family to support me, Gansu’s government is still grateful for the services I once provided them.” When Mai hesitated, Fen shouted, “Chop, chop!”

Mai looked at Broken, trying to make him realize that there was no way she was going to be performing menial labor, but he ignored her. Mai, now not seeing much of a choice, walked through an open door, into a back room.

This room was just as cluttered as the first, and dark, as there were no windows or lanterns. A small bed was in the corner, and Mai supposed that was where Fen slept. There was another door at the back of the room, and Mai went through it.

The third room was very different. It was stocked like a pantry, and there was no clutter, only order, as if someone besides Fen had been responsible for putting the room together. Glasses were on a table, and the bucket was on the floor, by the back door, just as Fen had said it would be.

Mai filled two glasses, as she could not carry a third, and started back, wondering all the while why Fen wanted a drink of water.

Mai was almost out of Fen’s bedroom, when she stopped, by the frame of the door. Through it, Fen and Broken were talking, and Mai sensed they would stop when she came in, so she waited. She was curious what Fen and Broken could possibly have to talk about.

“You’re sure about this?” came Broken’s voice.

“Oh, yes, master,” replied Fen.

Why would the old man say master? Mai wondered. Master was only an honorific to be used on children, or on those so far above you in status that no other title was appropriate. Broken was no child, but he certainly had no high status. He was just a commoner, who had somehow managed to become a warrior. Perhaps, to Fen’s deluded mind, Broken is a child, Mai thought.

“And you have texts that can prove it?” asked Broken. “I believe you; I just need to see for my own eyes.”

Broken can read! Mai thought. Commoners almost never learned how to do that. She supposed it came from his warrior training.

“Of course,” said Fen. “I would not dream of withholding them from you, you who deserve to see them more than anyone…By and by, why do you travel with the last spawn of Arathou?”

“Careful,” said Broken. “She stands outside this door.”

Mai could take no more oddities and strange statements. She came into the room. “I demand to know what is going on,” she said.

Fen reached out for a glass of water, and Mai handed it to him, without thinking. She put the other glass on the ground, by his chair.

“That’s better,” said Fen.

“How could you know who I am, and still treat me like a servant? How could you know who I am, at all?” Mai expected Broken to be just as startled as she was, especially after all he had said about maintaining her secrecy.

However, Broken just sat in his chair, calmly, allowing Fen to do all the talking.

“I am a historian, of sorts, girl,” said Fen. “In my youth, I traveled far and wide. I would never forget an Arathou face.” The old man reached out a mangled hand, and brushed her cheek.

Mai wanted to jerk away, but the thought came to her too late.

“Now go, girl,” said Fen. “I have things to discuss with the one you call broken.” The lack of emphasis on the ‘b’ was clear.

Mai phased her question directly at Broken, now. “What is going on?” she asked plainly. “Who is Fen?”

“You are not to call me Fen, girl,” said the old man. “To you, I am the honorable Moonsinger. Now, go to the back of the house, and wait for us to finish with our business.”

“Go,” Broken echoed. “Trust me, for now.”

Mai didn’t feel like trusting anyone. She turned and left, not seeing much of a choice. She stood in the pantry, for several minutes, without doing anything. Broken had no right to tell her to leave, and no right to ask her to trust him. I have already put my life in his hands, the hands of a commoner, thought Mai. He cannot dare to expect me to do any more.

As more and more time passed, Mai became increasingly determined to do something, anything. As she thought, she found flaws in Broken’s logic. I can still go to the Minsu, she thought. I have codes, codes I was told to memorize, just for this sort of purpose.

Mai didn’t know if the Minsu commander would even know the codes, or if they were only knowledge among House Tachen, but she had to try. Mai wasn’t even sure if she remembered the codes, as they had been told to her so long ago, it was like a half-forgotten dream, but she had to try.

She would not spend one more instant with Broken, if she had the choice.

Mai quietly slipped out the back door. She walked through the streets determinedly, trying to ignore the glances. They don’t know who I am; they’re just looking because I’m there. They don’t know who I am; they’re just looking because I’m there.

Mai found her way to the main square, where tents had been set up, guarded by dozens of stone-faced Minsu, who had set up a perimeter. There were still many onlookers, but nowhere near as many as there had been, earlier in the day.

Mai approached the closest Minsu guard, trying not to think about how, a few seconds ago, he had shoved away an old crone asking for a donation.

“Do you want something?” asked the guard, after Mai approached him, but had not yet worked up the nerve to say anything. The guard’s massive shoulders seemed ready to rip her head off, if she did the slightest thing wrong.

“I...I need to see your commander,” Mai squeaked.

“Is that so?” asked the guard. “Tarn, she wants to see the commander!” Another soldier, Tarn, who stood by one of the tents, with his arms crossed over his chest, chuckled with the first. However, Tarn walked over.

Tarn was slightly slimmer than the first guard, but that didn’t mean much. He was taller, and Tarn looked like he had more authority. “Go,” he said to the original guard. “I’ll handle this…Why do you want to see our leader, exactly?”

“I can’t say,” said Mai, acutely aware that she was starting to attract attention from nearby commoners.

“Well then, leave,” said Tarn. “Not every girl off the street can go talk to him.”

“It’s very important,” said Mai, heartened a little by the fact that Tarn didn’t look quite as battle-hardened as the guard before. “I…I’m not who you think I am.”

“Then, who are you?”

“I can’t say.”

“Well then, come on,” said Tarn, grabbing Mai’s arm, and dragging her to the tent. “I’ll probably get in trouble for this, but it’ll still be funny.”

The inside of the main tent looked almost like a room in a building. A carpet had been rolled out, and two servants were putting on the finishing touches. Sitting behind a desk, sat a man who looked more than a little bookish, not at all what Mai had been expecting.

“Who is this, Tarn?” asked the man, in the commanding voice that she had heard during the speech, putting some of Mai’s fears to rest.

“Someone off the street, Adjunct,” said Tarn. “She claims she’s not who she says she is.” He seemed to be barely holding back a laugh.

The Adjunct, however, seemed willing enough to play along. “Well, girl,” he asked. “Who are you?”

“Mai…Maiako as Arathou del Tachen,” Mai stuttered.

“The late Emperor’s daughter,” said the Adjunct, getting up from his chair. “Well, that’s truly an interesting person to pretend to be.” He walked up to Mai, until he stood right in front of her, a full head higher. “I don’t suppose you have any proof?”

“I...I was told that if I said the word Veksis, I would be recognized for who I was,” said Mai.

“That word means lie in the High Tongue, in case you are unfamiliar,” said the Adjunct, with a smile. “Proceed.”

Mai could barely remember the rest, and the fact that the first word had meant lie did not hearten her. “Veksis…Veksis say Morticum Artur.”

“Lies and death rising,” said the Adjunct. He had a peculiar expression on his face. “Is there any more?”

Mai struggled to remember if there was, but could not. “No.”

“Then I am sorry, my dear,” said the Adjunct. “Wait. What is this?” His eyes had caught sight of the fabric of her dress.

Hoping against hope that somehow, the Adjunct knew that a girl who was a commoner could not possibly afford such cloth, Mai remained.

“Where did you get this?” asked the Adjunct.

“I was given it.”

The Adjunct said nothing for a moment, then, “Tarn, take her out.” Mai heart sunk as Tarn escorted her out of the tent, and back into the mass of commoners.

Broken was right, after all.

Fallen, Mai walked back to Fen’s house, and through the back door, surprised she remembered where it was so easily.

When she walked through the back door, however, she found that her disappearance had not gone unnoticed. Broken sat on the table in the pantry, perusing a book titled A History of the Early Tachen Dynasty. As Mai walked in, he set it down.

“You went to the Minsu,” said Broken. “They did not believe your story.”

“How could you know that?” asked Mai.

“Where else would you go?”

As Broken did not seem angry, Mai asked, “How long must we stay here?”

“Only a little longer,” said Broken. “Moonsinger Fen is just a family friend. I told him who you were, but he likes to put on airs. You never had to worry.”

“Why did you tell him who I was?” asked Mai.

“He, more or less, knew what I did at the Imperial Palace,” said Broken. “Knowing who I was, and my penchant for getting involved, he made an educated guess. I merely acknowledged he was correct.”

At that very moment, Fen ambled in, holding a huge stack, containing a variety of books. He looked like he might topple over at any moment. “I found some more tomes that might be helpful for you,” said Fen. “They don’t contain anything new, just more which repeats what A History of the Early Tachen Dynasty says, in case you do not believe it.”

“It’s all right, Fen,” said Broken, as Fen put the books on the table. “I believe this one, well enough. I knew the author.”

“Well then,” said Fen. “As she’s back, I believe you two had better be going.” As Broken started to hand A History of the Early Tachen Dynasty back to Fen, the old man shook his head. “No,” he said. “You keep it, Broken One. There are other chapters you may find to be interesting, and I believe that somewhere, I have another copy.”

“I give you my thanks,” said Broken, stowing the small, old, and tattered book into a pouch at his waist. “Do you need help moving the books you just brought here somewhere else?”

“No,” laughed Fen. “It’s high time this room started getting cluttered.”

Broken and Mai started out the door, and Fen closed it behind them, continuing to laugh at his own joke.

As they walked through the streets, Mai asked, “Why were you so interested in that book?”

“It has some family history,” said Broken. “Fen’s interested in my family, and thinks I am, too. The book I took from him has nothing you would find helpful, or need to bother with.”

They reached the Emerald Singer in time for the midday meal, after which, they retired to their room.

In that room, there was silence. Mai could think of nothing to say, and Broken seemed content to stare out through the window, at nothing in particular. Even though Broken had not pressed her, Mai felt, that by going to the Minsu after Broken had warned against it, she had betrayed Broken’s trust.

But what’s done is done, she thought. While nothing good came of what I did, nothing bad came of it, either.

***

The Adjunct in charge of the Gansu occupation, Lin Harsel, sat at his desk, waiting for a meeting. Lin was thinking, thinking about the girl that Tarn had shown him. “Second!” he called from his desk, for he knew Tarn was waiting just outside the tent flaps. “Come here!”

Tarn walked in. “Your other captains will be here in a few minutes,” he said.

“I don’t care about that, right now,” said Lin.

“Then what do you care about?” asked Tarn, with a hint of a smile.

“The girl who you showed me,” said Lin. “She really just came from the crowd?”

“Yes, Adjunct.”

“She gave the first third of a code,” said Lin, rolling a paperweight absentmindedly on his desk. “The first third of a code that, if completed, would have proven her to be someone of high status.”

“She didn’t provide the whole thing, right?” asked Tarn. “So what’s the problem? I just sent her in here as a joke.”

“She was no joke,” said Lin. “For a commoner to speak the first third of the code, they would have to be rather lucky. She could ether be a spy…or the real thing. Either way, it matters not, and either way, her presence will cause problems. I have thought long and hard about what to do, and I have decided that whether she is a spy, or the real thing, it really matters not.”

“What do you want me to do about this, sir?” said Tarn.

“Dispatch a squad to find her, and bring her in. If she resists, kill her, and any others who put themselves in the way.”