9
Jian
In a silent field, surrounded by dead men, Jian lost his faith.
“That wasn’t her.” Ru was the only person with the courage to speak what they all now knew. “Hua is gone.”
Fa Minglan cried quietly into the dark while her husband stared down the road as if waiting for his daughter’s return.
Luca kneeled beside one of his men, a young bearded fellow who could have been sleeping if not for the blood arching over the curve of his neck.
“My men are dead.” It was the only sentence to pass Luca’s lips.
Jian wasn’t a stranger to losing his comrades. He put a hand on Luca’s shoulder and squeezed. There were no words for any of them, nothing that could erase the sight of Hua holding a knife to her brother’s throat.
Hua’s grandmother looked to the bright stars above. “Protect her. Pleas
