Chapter33—TheNewsfromKharun
McamequietlytotheXianborder。ThesoldiershadbarelyfinishedgingshiftswhenNannyZhangandAyaowerebroughttotheinfirmary。Theyhadspentthenightthere,exhaustedfromthejourney,butherhadsleptproperly。ThemomenttheyheardthatSuyuanhadbeenfound,theyrushedinside。
NannyZhangstoppedatthedoorwaylookingatSuyuanwhowaslyihseveralblas,pletelyunscious。Herpalefacelookedalmostcolourlessagainstthepillow,heronce-darkhairwasnowstreakedheavilywithsilver,andthegewasevenmorenoticeableinthemlight。Ayaocoveredhermouth。"MissSuyuan。。。"
NannyZhangslowlywalkedtothebedside,forseveralseds,shesimplystoodthere。
ThenshereachedoutandtouchedSuyuanshair。
"Mypoorchild。。。"
Hervoicebroke。
AyaosatbesidethebedandcarefullytookSuyuanshand。"Yousaidyoudwaitforustoeback,"shewhispered。"Youliar。"
Therewasnoresponse。NannyZhangwipedhereyesandstraightenedherself。"Shecamebackalive。Thatsenoughfornow。"Ayaohoughtearstiofall。herofthemknewhowlongSuyuanwouldremainunsciousbutatleastshewasnolongeralone。
---
Acrossthecamp,XieZhenghadbarelyslept。ThecopyofmapPrincessShuranhadleftbehindreadacrossalargewoodentable。Severalmilitaryofficersstoodaroundit。RedmarkingsshowedoldsupplyroutesbetweenXianandYounis。Somerouteshadbeenalteredyearsago。OtherscorresporangelywiththemovementsofthearmyduringthebattleinwhichXieZhengsunclehaddied。
"ThisisntsimplyamapofYounisterritory,"oneofficersaid。
"No,"XieZhengreplied。
Heplacedanotherdotbesideit。
"Itsarecordoftroopmovements。"
Theroombecamesilent。
Ifthemarkingsweregenuine,someonehadknownthemovementsofXiansforcesbeforethebattleandthatmeantGeneralSusdeathmighthavebeenectedtosomethingmuchlargerthanabattlefieldmistake。XieZhenglookedtowardthewindow。"Weoprepareforthepossibilityofwar。"
Anofficerfrowned。XieZhengfoldedthemapcarefully。"TheyhavelosttheirKhan,theirpalace,andmuchoftheirleadershipbutthatdoesntmeantheyvebeeweaker。"
"Thenwholeadsthemnow?"XieZhengsexpressionbecameserious。
"Wellfindoutsoonenough。"
---
Theydidnothavetowaitlongbynoon,amessengerarrivedfromthenorthernroad。
"TheYounishavechosenanewKhan。"
XieZhenglookedup。
"Who?"
"ThelateKhanseldestsurvivingson。"
Theroomfellquietagain。"Thehasgatheredbehindhim。HeiscallingthesurvivingwarriorsbacktoYounisterritoryandhasorderedtheborderswatched。"
XieZhengseyesnarrowed。
SotheYounishadnotfallenintochaos。
Theyhadsimplygedrulers。