The Sword Dancer by Jeanne Lin

desirable.
    Perhaps desirable was not quite how she wanted to describe him.
    She had no doubt he would drag her to the magistrate once he determined her guilt, but for now she needed an ally.
    ‘I need to find out what happened to my mother,’ she told him, never looking away despite how difficult it was for her to share this part of her. ‘She was taken away by men with swords. The jade pendant is the one thing I have that belonged to her. I never saw her again.’
    Han grew quiet, giving her admission its proper respect.
    ‘How old were you?’ he asked finally.
    ‘Three.’ She had asked herself the same question many times. ‘Maybe four.’
    She looked to the furthest shore. They were at a point in the middle of the river where it seemed they weren’t moving at all, just drifting along without any progress in any direction.
    ‘Wen shifu found me and took me to the foothills of Mount Wudang. It was a quiet, open place. He was a recluse, one of those Taoist masters intent on seeking immortality through meditation. Every day, he would commune with nature and reflect on the mysteries of heaven and earth, but all I could think about was those final moments with Mother.’
    Duty to one’s parents was a law that transcended both the world of rivers and lakes and the cities. Her entire purpose in life revolved around this one memory.
    Li Feng had held on to the jade pendant. At the time, the carving had filled both her hands. Her mother had told her not to cry, but she did cry. Silently, as she waited for Mother to return for her.
    ‘I have made up so many different stories of how she and I came to that hillside. I’ve learned that this jade is quite valuable and we weren’t rich. There was a reason men were chasing after us… Perhaps she stole it.’ Her mouth tightened with a forced smile. ‘A tiger mother begets a tiger daughter, after all.’
    It was an ill attempt at humour. There was no judgement in Han’s expression as he regarded her, but he was very good at masking his emotions.
    She breathed deeply and met his gaze without wavering. ‘I know the story may not end well, but I need to know. But more than fifteen years has passed. There may be nothing left to find.’
    ‘Everything we do, all that we touch, leaves a trace,’ he said, sounding more like a philosopher than a hardened thief-catcher. ‘We have knowledge that has survived from the first dynasty, over a thousand years ago. Fifteen years is not so long a time.’
    * * *
    They disembarked at the other side of the river and followed the dirt path that wound up through surrounding hills.
    ‘The workers likely use this to transport the salt to the river to be loaded on to boats,’ Han said.
    Li Feng walked beside him. Even in the heat and on uneven ground, her step was light. It was the first time they moved together towards the same destination as opposed to one of them chasing the other.
    The woods thickened around them as they travelled further away from the water. Soon the river was no longer in sight and they were surrounded by a dense growth of trees that blocked the sun, providing relief from the afternoon heat. Li Feng slowed as a bamboo wall appeared at the top of a hill.
    ‘Soldiers,’ she announced, slipping off the path.
    Han followed her as she wove through the trees. Though it was unknown territory, she still moved with a confidence that enchanted him. He might have chosen to approach the gate directly if he was alone, but in this instance he was willing to follow Li Feng’s instinct and remain hidden.
    She stopped beneath a tree and looked up through the branches. The old roots crawled along the ground, twining up and over themselves like a nest of snakes. Apparently Li Feng saw what she was looking for because she ran a few steps up the trunk and grabbed on to the lowest branch. She swung herself on to it, stood and reached for the next one with the deftness of a golden monkey. In no time at all she was perched high above the