Longhai touched my shoulder and shook his head.
“First you accuse me of breaking your hand, now of starting the fire.” Norbu sighed. “I know you must be angry, young Tamarin, but that does not give you the right to slander my name. I will forgive you this time, since the night has taken its toll on everyone.” He paused. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to work.”
With that, he left me alone with Yindi and Longhai.
“I’m sorry,” I said, drawing a sharp breath when I saw how badly burnt their jackets were. My efforts to save them had been in vain. “I tried to—” I stopped, startled by the sound of Yindi angrily tearing his jacket in half.
Longhai barely flinched. Defeat stung his eyes.
“Don’t,” I said, putting my hands over Longhai’s jacket before he, too, gave up. “You still have half the night.”
“I know when to bow out gracefully,” he replied. “It’s something you learn with age.”
“Norbu started the fire,” I whispered. “I know it. You can’t let him win.”
Longhai’s wide shoulders fell. “I already knew it was him.”
My brows furrowed. “How?”
“His clothes reeked of smoke even though he said he’d been nowhere near,” Longhai said. He swept a pile of ash with his foot. “How didyouknow?”
I thought about the hawk’s piercing cry—how it had sounded like a warning. But who would believe me if I told them that?
I coughed from the smoke, covering my mouth with my sleeve. “I’d gone out to get fresh air, then I saw the smoke. I rushed in to get your jackets…and I saw Norbu just outside the hall.”
“I’m going to admit defeat. Yindi will too.” Longhai eyed my bandaged hand. “And you should as well.”
“You can’t give up without trying,” I implored him. “Maybe Emperor Khanujin will postpone the trial. You can’t let Norbu win.”
“Norbu is a man with two faces,” Longhai said. “I thought he had changed, but he is as ruthless as before. Do you know how Master Huan died, Keton?”
I shook my head.
“The servants found him drowned in the river just outside Niyan. Everyone assumed he fell into the river because he was drunk.” He hesitated, and the grooves on his face deepened. “But I knew Master Huan. He never drank, not while he was the imperial tailor. He was poisoned.”
I caught my breath. “How?”
“I don’t know,” Longhai said. “But Norbu was the last man seen with him.”
He sighed, and I realized I had misjudged his friendship with Norbu.
“I’ve been trying to get it out of him the past few weeks, but the sly dog won’t talk.” He turned to me. “You’ll learn that certain things aren’t worth the trouble. I have my business and my family, and I will not risk my reputation for the sake of any contest. And you—you are young. Come with me and become my apprentice. You could make a good name for yourself. But you’ll have no future if Norbu doesthatto your hand again.”
His offer was tempting, but I hung back.
“I’m staying,” I said firmly. “I can’t let him win.”
“Then Amana be with you.” He gripped my shoulder. “May the Sages give you the strength to win.”
Yindi had been quiet throughout our exchange, but now he walked up to us. His eyes were wide and wild. “The fire is a sign from the gods to leave. Nothing good will come of this wedding.”
“Norbu made that fire, you fool,” said Longhai. “And Norbu has played us all.”
“No,” Yindi said. “The shansen is playing us all. There are demon forces behind him. And once he brings them to A’landi, it will be too late.”
“You’ve been listening to too many soldiers talk.”
“Why do you say the shansen has demons?” I asked. “Doesn’t he hate magic, like his daughter?”
