"You are the daughter of my king, the wife of my khan," he replied. "I am your servant."

"That is good, Ho Sa," she said, "but we are friends as well, I hope?"

Ho Sa bowed again, deeper than before. As he straightened he accepted a bowl of dark green tea and inhaled with appreciation.

"We are, of course, but what is this? I have not smelled…" He took another deep breath, letting the warm scent into his lungs. He was homesick then and the force of it made him sway as he stood.

"My father sends a little in his tribute each year, Ho Sa. The tribes have let it grow stale, though this is the freshest batch."

Ho Sa sat carefully, cradling the bowl as he sipped. "You are too kind to have thought of me." He did not press her, but he did not know why she had summoned him on that day. He was aware that they could not spend too much time in each other's company. As natural as it might have seemed for two of the Xi Xia to seek one another out, a man did not visit a khan's wife without a reason. Over two years, they had met barely half a dozen times.

Before she could reply, another man entered. Yao Shu pressed his hands together to bow to the lady of the ger. Ho Sa watched in amusement as the monk too was handed a bowl of real tea and breathed a sigh of delight at the scent. It was only as Yao Shu finished his greeting that Ho Sa frowned. If there was danger in meeting the wife of a khan in private, there was more in being accused of conspiracy. His concern mounted as the two slave girls bowed and left the three of them alone. Ho Sa began to rise to his feet, the tea forgotten.

Chakahai pressed a hand on his arm and he could not move without throwing it off. He settled uncomfortably and she looked into his eyes. Her own were wide and dark against her pale skin. She was beautiful and no taint of rancid mutton fat lingered around her. He could not resist a delicate shiver running down his back at the touch of cool fingers on his skin.

"I have asked you here, Ho Sa. You are my guest. It would be an insult for you to leave now, would it not? Tell me, I do not yet understand the manners of the ger." It was a rebuke as well as a lie. She understood the subtleties of Mongol status very well indeed. Ho Sa reminded himself that this woman had grown up as only one of many daughters to his king. Despite her beauty, she was not innocent in the affairs of the court. He sat back and forced himself to sip the tea.

"There is no one to hear us here," she said lightly, worsening his agitation. "You fear conspiracy, Ho Sa, where there is none. I am second wife to the khan, mother to a son and his only daughter. You are a trusted officer and Yao Shu has tutored my husband's other boys in language and martial skills. No one would dare to whisper about any one of us. If they did, I would have their tongues cut out."

Ho Sa stared at the delicate girl who could make such a threat. He did not know if she had the power to match the words. How many friends had she cultivated in this camp with her status? How many of the Chin and Xi Xia slaves? It was possible. He forced himself to smile, though he was cold inside.

"Well then, here we are. Three friends, drinking good tea. I will finish my cup, Majesty, then I will leave."

Chakahai sighed and her face softened. To the astonishment of both men, tears shone on the rims of her eyes.

"Must I be always alone? Must I be suspected even by you?" she whispered, clearly struggling with herself. Ho Sa would never reach out and touch a member of the Xi Xia court, but Yao Shu had no such inhibition. The monk put an arm around her shoulder and let her rest her head on his chest.

"You are not alone," Ho Sa said softly. "You understand that your father has given my service to your husband. For a moment, I thought perhaps that you were conspiring against him. Why else bring us here and send your girls away?"

The princess of the Xi Xia sat up, pressing a strand of hair back into place. Ho Sa swallowed dryly at her beauty.

"You are the only man from my home in this camp," she said. "Yao Shu is the only man of the Chin who is not a soldier." Her tears seemed forgotten and her voice strengthened as she spoke. "I would not betray my husband, Ho Sa, not for you or a thousand like you. But I have children and it is the women who must look to the years ahead. Will we three sit and watch the Chin empire dragged down in flames? Will we see civilization torn apart and say nothing?" She turned to Yao Shu, who was listening intently. "Where will your Buddhism be then, my friend? Will you see it crushed under the hooves of these tribes?"

Yao Shu spoke for the first time at that, looking troubled. "If my beliefs could be burned, lady, I would not trust them, nor live by them. They will survive this war with the Chin, even if the Chin themselves do not. Men strive to be emperors and kings, but they are just names. It does not matter which man holds a name. The fields will still need to be worked. The towns will still be thick with vice and corruption." He shrugged. "No man knows where the future will take us. Your husband has raised no objection to having his sons trained by my hand. Perhaps the words of the Buddha will take root in one of them, but it is foolish to look so far ahead."

"He is right, Majesty," Ho Sa said quietly. "You have spoken out of fear and loneliness, I see that now. I had not considered how hard this must have been for you." He took a deep breath, knowing he played with fire, but intoxicated with her. "You have a friend in me, as you said."

Chakahai smiled then, her eyes bright with fresh tears. She reached out her hands and they each took one, feeling the coolness of her fingers in theirs.

"Perhaps I have been afraid," she said. "I have imagined my father's city being overrun and my heart goes out to the Chin emperor and his family. Can they survive this, do you think?"

"All men die," Yao Shu replied before Ho Sa could speak. "Our lives are no more than a bird flying through a lighted window, then out again into the darkness. What matters is that we do not cause pain. A good life will defend the weak and by so doing, set a lamp in the darkness that will last for many lives to come."

Ho Sa glanced at the solemn monk, seeing how his shaven head gleamed. He did not agree with the words and could almost shudder at the thought of such an earnest and joyless life. He preferred Khasar's simpler philosophy that the sky father would not have given him strength to waste. If a man could raise a sword, he should use it, and there were no better opponents than the weak. They were less likely to gut you when you weren't looking. He said none of this aloud and was pleased to see Chakahai relax and nod to the monk.

"You are a good man, Yao Shu. I have sensed it. My husband's sons will learn much from you, I am certain. Perhaps one day, they will have Buddhist hearts."

She rose suddenly then, almost making Ho Sa spill the dregs of his cold tea. He placed the bowl to one side and bowed to her once more, thankful that the strange meeting was at an end.

"We are from an old culture," Chakahai said softly. "I think we can influence a new one, as it grows. If we are careful, it will benefit us all."

Ho Sa blinked at the princess of his people, before falling into the courteous routines that would take him back into the outside air, Yao Shu beside him. Both men stared at each other for a moment before taking separate paths into the camp.

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