Chapter 11

The rain of the day before was a memory, recalled in the occasional puddle and in the cool crisp autumn air. McAllister and Sable greeted the dawn and shared a morning kiss. McAllister nodded at the face his dark-toned lover made.

"Birch branches," he said, "and if we get high enough into the mountains, there's a low plant called 'wintergreen'".

"Being in a human form has its drawbacks," she noted, not for the first time.

McAllister simply smiled.

Not long after they broke their fast, Huídào met the travelers at the door to the guest-house. The house that she led them to looked no different than any other, and indeed was similar to the guest-house that McAllister spent the previous two evenings in, though truth be told, he had few hours of sleep in the bed there.

"It looks the same as all the others to me," McAllister said quietly to Sable, and Ban-Den gave him an amused glance.

"McAllister," Ban-Den spoke seriously. "Do you still wish for the brother's life?"

Sable stopped moving then, and fixed McAllister with a stare. Huídào simply gasped.

"I may regret it," McAllister said, "but, yes, I wish him to live."

There was little trouble persuading the brother to come with them. Little trouble once Ban-Den used the simple expedient of ordering the brother begin his trip into exile before sunset.

Somewhat unusual for those McAllister knew as Chinamen, the brother was the near-opposite of his sister Huídào in many ways. Tall and thin where Huídào was shorter and thicker, the brother, one Shan Hu by name, seemed more athletic. Spoiling the image was a pair of spectacles, though McAllister was surprised to see he wore them for close-in detail work.

It didn't take long for the house-keeper to settle accounts with the youngish man. Not much more time was spent gathering his goods, an iron frying pan among them, McAllister was pleased to see, with a small tent and bedroll.

"You look as if you had prepared," Ban-Den told him.

"In case I could not stay hidden in the city," Shan Hu replied, unperturbed. "I planned on crossing the mountains before the snows."

McAllister raised an eyebrow at that. To the east was a majestic snowy range, some hundred miles distant, the snowcaps visible above the horizon through gaps in the pine forest covering the foothills leading away from the harbor that was Sea's-Home.

"Well, Sister, you must meet me at the workshop after you gather your things," Shan Hu said, as he finished making up his pack.

"Every thing in that workshop will be destroyed," Ban-Den informed him. "Nothing will remain, to the bare walls."

"I am to be married," Huídào said meekly, to her brother. McAllister noticed how deferentially Huídào carried herself when surrounded by the men, and Sable had a frown on her face as she noticed it too. McAllister simply nodded as their eyes met.

"We go meet the groom at the University," Ban-Den announced, over the brother's evident surprise. "By evening, McAllister will be headed across the mountains with you, taking you into your exile, and your sister and her husband shall return with me to the Court of the Light of the Western Empire." Ban-Den studied the man, and then nodded, having come to a decision. "Mùtou shall be engaged with drafting the revisions to the mining regulations for the upcoming decade. It is a worthy position for a scholar, and this is a good marriage for Huídào. Huídào ... has a different position. Do not fear for their lives or livelihoods, Shan Hu. As McAllister holds your fortune, so shall the Light of the Western Empire hold theirs."