Page 64 of Tiger's Dream
“On the contrary. It is difficult to persuade me.”
I took one step closer, rising to the challenge in her eyes. She froze stiffly but didn’t move as I gave a guttural growl and lowered my head to her neck. Closing my eyes, I inhaled her intoxicating scent, my chest rumbling as I grazed the line of her jaw lightly with my stubbled cheek. It only took a few seconds before I felt her hands on my chest, pushing me away.
“It appears you are right,” I said, moving back readily. “You are very difficult to persuade, that is, if a man is making the attempt. I think I would have had an easier time befriending you as a boy.”
“Friends do not”—she gestured toward her throat—“touch one another in such a manner.”
She pressed her fingers to her neck as if trying to brush off my feathery touch.
“Why are you so frightened of me?” I asked. Even though she was closed off to me, I could sense her roiling emotions.
“I am not frightened. I simply do not wish to indulge your habits of…of caressing women.”
“Despite what you think, I do not go around caressing women.”
Sighing, Ana said, “Can we not discuss this later? I would like to complete this task before I am summoned again.”
After a moment, I nodded and she picked up a dangling mallet and hit the gong by the gate. It gave off a silvery sort of mellifluous sound. An old man appeared almost instantly. I wondered how much he’d overheard.
“What is it you want?” he asked.
“We have come on a matter of some urgency,” Anamika said, in what I believed was too animated a voice. She was still nervous. Without invasively reading her or her telling me, there was no way to know why. Ana continued, “We believe your master’s life is in danger.”
Chapter 13
Silk Liberated
“My master?” the man asked, his voice low-pitched. “To what danger are you referring?”
“We have reason to believe that the emperor seeks his life.”
“Why would the emperor bother with a poor silk maker? The master can barely even see, let alone cause an uprising big enough to disturb the emperor. I believe you are mistaken.” Feebly, the man lifted his arms to shoo us out the gate. When I stood my ground, locking my arms and planting my feet, his eyes skimmed over me and his voice rose in a falsetto squeak. “Please leave,” he begged. “We have nothing of value.”
Ana put her hand on his arm and her touch soothed the man. I wasn’t entirely sure if that was a natural gift Ana possessed or if it was a part of her calling, but she’d used the same trick on me and it usually worked. That is, unless it was her I was mad at. With a honeyed voice, she asked, “We humbly ask to meet with your master. It is in regards to the emperor, your master, and…and the woman he loves.”
When she said that, the man gasped and stepped back. His eyes shifted to the shadows. “You’d better come in. Hurry.”
He led us across a cobblestone path that cut through a grove of mulberry trees and paused outside the open door of a large warehouse. A strange fizzing sound emanated from the building. It reminded me of the first time Kelsey introduced me to soda, but this sound was like a thousand sodas being poured at once. It took me a few moments to realize the noise was coming from insects—silkworms.
I watched a woman scatter a pile of leaves over a large woven tray and then slide it back into place. Then she pulled out another and repeated the process. Several women inside the building were hunched over tables and cutting leaves from long branches. “Are you nearly done for the night?” our guide asked them.
One of the women came up to us carrying a large basket of what looked like tiny eggs. “Nearly,” she said.
I’d never seen silk produced before and the process fascinated me. I spotted women carefully tending to large, round woven baskets that sat in frames row upon row. Across the way, a good distance from the worms, a woman stirred a bubbling vat and yanked out cocoons with her bare hands. As I watched, other workers sifted through the cooling cocoons, pulling out the cooked worms and separating the thread from the insect.
One woman popped a handful of worms in her mouth. I could hear the crunch and realized the smell in the air was the boiled worms and not dinner. Pairs of workers unwound the cocoons while their partners rewound the threads on large spools. There were vats for dying, and colorful thread hung on large hooks drying in the rafters.
Our guide waved his hand. “Good,” he said. “Carry on. The dinner bell will sound soon.”
“Wonder what’s on the menu,” I said quietly to Ana. She gifted me with one of her rare smiles and I felt like I’d won a prize.
The woman with the basket inclined her head respectfully to all three of us, and we responded in like manner and moved on. Turning the corner, we came upon a large building that looked like barracks but I saw workers shuffling inside. We passed that one and ended at a building that was smaller than the others, but the workmanship of it was much finer.
We were instructed to wait at the door while he announced us. Once we were allowed in, we were shown seats at a long table. I folded my legs under me and sat, Ana took the place at my side, and our guide brought in his master. The man was crippled with age. His back was so curved it must have caused him terrible pain, but he made no complaint as he sat down across from us.
Refreshments were brought in and we ate quietly, Ana only remarking on the pleasant evening and me on the brightness of the moon. I regretted that last observation when the master of the home reached for his cup with a trembling hand. When he brought it to his lips, I saw his eyes. They were opaque and milky. I knew from attending long, diplomatic meetings that we would be expected to wait until the meal was finished before conducting business.
I was used to the slow, traditional pace of the past and I enjoyed it most of the time. But there was also something to be said for the rush of conducting business that happened in Kelsey’s time. As much as I felt out of place in the future, I found I did like how quickly things moved. Especially the things that I found tedious. My foot twitched impatiently while we waited for the man to finish his dinner. Ana put her hand on my knee under the table to still my juddering, and I slid my hand on top of hers, twining our fingers together.
