The bargain
286 Words
Chapter 7 – The Bargain
Du was waiting for her at the infirmary the morning after the river run, his yellow ledger open on a low table, his clerk grinding ink.
"You were late," he said without looking up. "Red-wax delivery to the jade river outpost. Expected arrival, noon. Actual arrival, noon plus forty. Reason?"
Mei stood with her hands behind her back, the blood long washed from her sleeve. "Mule stumbled on gravel. I walked him the last li."
Du wrote it down, the brush moving in neat strokes. "And the blood on your cuff reported by the gate guard?"
"Scout arrow. Not mine. I bound a wounded man and left him at a shepherd's hut."
"Name?" Du asked.
Mei hesitated. Old Wei had taught her that some names did not belong in ledgers. "A traveler."
Du looked up then, his eyes quick. "A traveler who knows dragon chants, perhaps? The patrol found maroon cloth by the river. Tibetan monk cloth."
Mei said nothing. Du closed the ledger gently.
"The pills slow the body, Li Mei. They do not slow curiosity. If you learn things about the shard from unauthorized sources, you are required to report them. That was in the contract."
He slid a fresh bronze box across the table, thirty more pills. "Next month begins today. Continue."
Mei took the box, bowed, and left. In the courtyard, Old Wei was mending a signal flag, his one hand surprisingly deft with a needle.
"He asks too many questions," Wei said, not looking up.
"He writes too much," Mei answered.
Wei snorted. "Good. Keep your own writing small."
That night Mei took the loom weight apart in the dark of her bunk. Inside, the jade
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