Chapter26—TheFeastoftheYounis
TheKhanspalacewasoverflowingwithcelebration。Nearlyeverymemberofthehouseholdhadgatheredinthegreathall。leaderssatbesidetheKhan,hissonsoccupiedtheplacesofhonour,andhisdaughtersandsortsfilledthetablesbehindthem。Musisplayedbehthehangingbannerswhileservantscarriedroastedmeat,bread,fruit,andwiweenthecrowdedtables。
Everyonewasinhighspirits。
Afterall,SuyuanwasgoheKhanbelievedhistroublesomedaughterhadalreadybegunherjouroKharuntobeePrinceKhasarsbride。Therewasnoreasontothinkofhertonight。Theywerecelebratingasuccessfulalliaheywerecelebratingpeaceyettheydidntknowtheywerecelebratingafuturethatwouldnevere。
Suyuanstoodquietlyheentranobodynoticedheratfirst。
Shewatchedthemlaugh,watchedthemraisetheircups。ShewatchedthepeoplewhohadonceignoredhermothersitfortablybehwarmfirelightwhileShuranscourtyardhadbarelybeengivenenoughcoaltosurvivewinter。AfaintsmiletouchedSuyuanslipsthen,shewalkedintotheterofthehall。
OneoftheKhansdaughtersnoticedherfirst。“Whyisshehere?”
ThemusitinuedforanotherfewmomentsbeforetheKhanfinallyturned。
Hisexpressionged。
“Suyuan?”
Shestopped。
“Father。”
TheKhanstaredather。
“Ithoughtyouhadalreadyleft。”
“Iwassupposedtobutguesswhat?Imnot。”
Heranswermadeseveralpeopleexgefusedlooks。Beforeanyonecouldquestionherfurther,acupslippedfromsomeoneshand。Itstruckthetablethen,tothefloor。Themanbesideitsuddenlyslumpedagainstthetable。
Themusicstopped。
“Whathappened?”
Anotherpersonstumbledbackward。Aservantdroppedairetray。
Panicspreadrapidlythroughthehall。Peoplebegancallingforphysis。Guardsrushedbetweeables。Sometriedtoleave,onlytofindthemselvessurroundedbythefusion。
Suyuanremainedwhereshewas。
Calm。
Almosteerilyso。
TheKhanlookedaroundthehall,thenbackather。
Hisfacehardened。
“You。”
Suyuansmiled。
“Whathaveyoudone?”
Shetiltedherhead。
“Nothingyouhaventdoneyourself。”
TheKhansurgedtowardher。
Aguardtriedtointercepthim,butheshovedthemanasideandseizedSuyuanbythecollar。