Provoking his escort further is thinly nulled by the soft world of rain in her voice. The lady is careful not to offend and it has its desired effect. She is guarded in talk and made modest to please the Son of Heaven. Clouds cast over the joy of the Emperor’s woman, among those kept with him even after most assuredly tiring of many others. She is made to be a man's receptacle, and so it is far better for him to be a ruler than a poor trader in a brothel.

“Must be," is echoed. "In time of war or misfortune all kin must be able to fight and hunt.” The han see his plainspeople only as beasts in animal skins, but they are wrong to believe there is no form to such things.

Lady Lihua is a master of the mongol tongue. His look considers her more keenly in drapes of dampened silver. “Your Emperor, he win many wars? He demand his people hone their skills at hunting and fighting?”