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closed it behind him.
Kati thought Master Yung might compliment her, but it was not so. He jerked
the sword from her hand, his face close before she could even remove her mask.
"If you ever hesitate again, I will have you standing with two swords
outstretched for half an hour! Do you hear me?"
"Yes, Master. I'm sorry. I will not do it again."
"You are not here to play, but to prepare yourself, by order of the
Moshuguang! I will not accept less than full effort from you! To hesitate in
battle is to die!"
"Yes, Master. I will give you everything I have, and more, and I'm shamed by
what I did today. I have no excuses for it."
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Now his face softened. "You fight well with anger in you. For several moments,
I saw a fierceness that is necessary in battle."
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"I was not angry, Master."
Yung reached up, pulled the mask from her head, and looked at her with a
smile. "Your eye color betrays you. Anger is good, to a certain point, for it
gives energy and quickness. Too much of it clouds the judgment. There is a
fine line between too little and too much. This you will have to find for
yourself. Now go. Your progress is excellent, but you will achieve much more
with continued dedication."
Kati left the room as Master Yung returned the swords to their position on the
wall. Shan-lan was sitting on the bench, leaning his head against the wall.
His face still glistened with sweat, and his eyes were filled with tears he
made no effort to hide from her as she sat down beside him.
Kati dared to put a hand on his shoulder. "Master Yung does not lie. You are
quite good in your technique, but I think you lack energy. Do you eat before
coming to practice?"
"I have little appetite," said Shan-lan. "Food doesn't interest me, and
besides, I don't even want to be here."
"So why are you here?"
"My father. I must learn the sword, the bow. I must ride with the guards to
impress them with my skills, and stand in court all day to hear the whining of
the nobles. I'm interested in none of it."
"But you'll be Emperor someday. You must learn these things."
Shan-lan ignored what she'd said. "Do you know the pagoda above the garden,
the one called Stork
Nest?"
"Yes. I've been there once."
"I go there as often as I can with paper, inks, paints and brushes. I go there
to paint and to write."
"You are an artist," said Kati, not surprised.
"Yes. But there is little time for it. My father prepares me for a throne I do
not want or care about. My life is what I do in Stork Nest. It's all I
desire."
"I don't have artistic skills," said Kati, "but I admire art, and I read about
many things. What do you
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write?"
Shan-lan looked at her, finally noticing her interest. "Mostly poetry, but now
I'm working on a story about a noble family involved in the intrigues of the
court."
"You draw upon your own experience?"
"Some things I've seen and heard, yes, but the family is fictional."
"I know that a good artist must experience life," said Kati. "It gives
authenticity to their work. Are you aware that Wang Quing-li, our third
Emperor, was also a fine artist?"
"Yes. I see his paintings everywhere."
"He was an artist and an Emperor. It was Quing-li who engineered the dome over
our city. He assumed his duties, yet continued to pursue the real passion of
his life. There are many hours in the day, Shan-lan.
You can do both things."
"And what about you?" asked Shan-lan. "The troopers comment about the way you
ride, and I've just seen and felt what you can do with a sword. You are
Moshuguang. What do they prepare you for?"
It was the first time she'd been called that, and somehow she could not deny
it at the moment. She thought quickly, and said, "My purpose is not yet
defined, so my preparation is broad. Perhaps I will take Juimoshu's place when
she's gone. Someday, I might be serving you, Shan-lan."
He smiled. "I will remember a dream for you to interpret sometime, Mengnu. Do
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you display art in your quarters?"
"Yes. That is how I know about Quing-li. Lady Weimeng is also an artist, and I
have some of her work."
"Would you accept a small painting from me?"
"Oh, yes. I would be honored." The movement of her eyelashes was automatic.
"I will bring something to class for you," he said. Kati felt his emotion,
then, a gentle, loving feeling from a gentle person suddenly in her life.
She recovered herself by changing the subject. "Do you like honey cakes?"
"Yes."
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"I have a suggestion. Eat three of them just before you come to class each
week. If you do this, I think you'll have much more energy for practice.
Promise me you'll do this!"
His aura was still weak, but now the red fans had returned. He took her hand
from his shoulder, and kissed it, looking into her eyes. Kati was shocked, her
heart fluttering.
"You are beautiful and wise, Mengnu. I will do as you say. Ah, my escort
returns to take me away to court."
Three troopers were coming towards them. Kati stood up, her hand sliding from
his warm grasp. She bowed deeply to Shan-lan, and turned away.
"Mengnu," he said softly, and she turned back to him.
He looked up at her with velvet, brown eyes. "Thank you for being my friend."
Kati smiled, then walked away, trying not to appear rushed. Her heart was
still fluttering when she reached her rooms to find Huomeng talking to Sheyue
there, waiting for still another tutoring session with the learning machine.
And in the weeks to follow, the honey cakes did their work for Shan-lan, and
he gave her three beautiful paintings with pagodas, mountains, and birds.
The love poems came later.
* * *
Mengmoshu met with Mengyao and Juimoshu over a lunch of rice and vegetables
served in his office.
They discussed the new tunnel to the eastern slope of the mountain, now
half-finished, and the security measures to assure access only to the nobles
and mountain personnel. And then the topic changed to their Tumatsin ward.
"First Mother was correct in saying further progress awaited the chemical
changes in Kati. She now sees the aural mappings in the gong-shi-jie and is
able to locate large masses beyond," said Mengmoshu.
"How far has she gone?" asked Mengyao.
Mengmoshu put down his sticks, and wiped his mouth with a moist towel. "First
Mother never leaves her side, of course, but Kati has penetrated real space
out to the gaseous giants. The next step is Tengri-
Nayon itself. We are now only six years from closest approach."
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"Yes, but has she tried any energy or mass transfer yet?"
"Not yet. First, she must find her way around."
"But couldn't we perform some short-range tests right here on Shanji? We could
give her a small object to move from here to, say, the western plateau she's
familiar with, a place by the three peaks."
"I've suggested such a test to First Mother. She tells me that within the
gong-shi-jie the aural signature of a large mass has no resolution within
itself. One point on a planet, even a small one, cannot be distinguished from
another. Kati might transfer mass from this office, but it could end up
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anywhere on
Shanji."
Mengyao shook his head. "Yet Kati returns to herself each time, at a small
point in space."
Mengmoshu chuckled. "Even First Mother does not understand the process in
herself. Kati goes nowhere in the gong-shi-jie. It is a projection of herself;
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