Rosethorn frowned.

Briar smiled wryly. “I don’t think any trade will be going down the Snow Serpent for a while, Rosethorn, if that’s what’s wrinkling your face. It won’t matter if the pass is blocked.”

She nodded slowly. “We could do thorns, then. I’ll go with Parahan and Soudamini as far as the Tom Sho River, provided they don’t slow down too much alerting the villages and temples.”

“And I’ll go with you, since Evvy will be snug as a flea in an armpit here,” Briar said cheerfully. Soudamini choked on her curried rice.

“Briar!” Rosethorn cried. “Where are your manners?”

“In the same dung hole you left your bleating brains when you said you were going off without me!” Briar shouted back, jumping to his feet.

“Boy, you cannot go to the Temple of the Sealed Eye with her,” Dokyi said. “It will not be permitted.”

Briar stared at Dokyi in white-hot rage, wondering if he should tell the old hand waver what he could do with his permission.

Dokyi stood and put an arm like stone around Briar’s shoulders. “Let us confer outside,” he said agreeably.

I’m not even one of his precious dedicates! Briar thought, indignant. He did not argue. At the moment standing this close to the old man was like being close to Rosethorn when she was in the depths of her magic, only stronger, like stone.

Outside the room with the door closed, the First Dedicate released him. Softly he said, “I know that you have lived under terrible strain since you reached Yanjing.”

“So?” Briar demanded. He kept his own voice quiet. He didn’t want Rosethorn to hear, either.

Dokyi folded his hands in front of him. “I honor your care for her, Briar, but this is now something only she can do, and it concerns survival for many. She wanted you to come with her, but it is quite truly not possible. If you love her, you will help her, not hinder her.”

“Is there no one else?” Briar whispered.

Dokyi shook his head. “The task requires someone extraordinary. She is that person. Do not make her duty more painful.”

He walked back into the supper room, leaving Briar to think and kick the wall. When he returned to his seat, Evvy was saying, “The emperor has plenty of riches. He doesn’t need Gyongxe. The farming here isn’t very good. What can he want here?”

Dokyi shook his head, smiling. “But he isn’t the heart of the world. He hears Gyongxe is the spindle on which the world turns, but he does not understand it. He thinks if he takes Gyongxe, people will say that he is the spindle.”

“He thinks Gyongxe means wealth, and magic,” General Sayrugo explained. “He thinks that people build temples here to be close to magic. In truth they come to be closest to the sky, where the gods dwell. When our ambassador reminded him that five holy rivers, that feed hundreds of thousands, rise here, he only said that was interesting.”

“He must not be allowed to control our temples or to handle the gifts of our gods,” Dokyi said. “He will do what he has done to every other realm he has conquered. He will loot its treasures and destroy all the signs of its history. That is what the emperor does to his conquered nations.”

Evvy stared at the man, her eyes wide. Briar glared at him for frightening her and put his arm around Evvy.

They picked at their food in silence for a time before Parahan said, “Do you know, I would like Briar with us.” To Soudamini he said, “You must see what my friend here can do with a handful of seeds, Souda.”

“Truly?” she asked.

Evvy nodded. “There’s plenty of the emperor’s soldiers that won’t be buried with their ancestors because of what Briar can do.”

Souda smiled wickedly at Briar. “Impressive.”

Briar looked at her. Parahan’s twin was a couple of inches shorter than Briar and well curved. Tonight she wore her blue-black hair in complexly twined braids secured with gold pins. A wicked dimple accented her mouth. Briar was the first to admit he was a fool for a dimple.

“Ride with us and find some Yanjingyi dogs to fight,” Souda proposed. “Show me these skills of yours. A prebu is always welcome.”

Briar looked at Parahan, confused by the strange word. “A nanshur,” Parahan explained in tiyon.

“We’re going to have a splendid time deciding which language to speak,” Souda murmured.

Briar shoved his hands into his pockets to give himself a second to think. If he went with the twins, at least he could watch Rosethorn for part of her journey. He could see Evvy was worn-out. There was also her un-Evvy-ish drifting off as she stared at the vast mountains. Perhaps if she stayed here for a time, to feed her cats and rest, she would get used to the tall peaks and come back to herself again. With the pass closed off, and Gyongxe armies roaming in two directions, the fort ought to be safe for her.

He hated to think it, but maybe Dokyi had a point as well. Watching Rosethorn until she left the twins for this strange temple was probably all of the orange he was going to get. Half of the fruit was better than none. With luck, he would find her when she returned from her strange errand. He would be able to sense her as she came down from the mountains: The very grasses would tell him.

He glanced at her. She had actually cleaned her plate. Her color was better than it had been since they left the Traders.

“You need to go to bed if we’re taking the road again soon,” he said gruffly. He looked at Dokyi, Parahan, and Soudamini. “We can’t wait another day?”