An Inch of Ashes Read Free Page A

handing the girls up on to the wooden jetty, the soft rustle of their silks as they disembarked seeming, for that brief moment, to merge with the silken darkness of the night and the sweetness of their perfume.
    They settled on the terrace, Fei Yen busying herself laying out the table while Wu Tsai sat and made pleasant conversation with Tsu Ma. Li Yuan stood at the rail, looking out across the darkness of the lake, his sense of ease, of inner stillness, lulling him so that for a time he seemed aware only of the dull murmur of the voices behind him and the soft lapping of the water against the wooden posts of the jetty. Then there was the light touch of a hand on his shoulder and he turned to find Fei Yen there, smiling up at him.
    ‘Please, husband. Come sit with us.’
    He put his arms about her and lowered his face to meet her lips, then came and sat with them. Fei Yen stood by a tiny table to one side, pouring wine into cups from a porcelain jug; offering first to the T’ang and then to her husband, finally to her cousin. Only then did she give a little bow and, pouring herself some wine, settled, kneeling at her husband’s side.
    Tsu Ma studied them both a moment, then raised his cup. ‘You are a lucky man, Li Yuan, to have such a wife. May your marriage be blessed with many sons!’
    Li Yuan bowed his head, inordinately pleased. But it was no more than the truth. He
was
lucky. He looked down at the woman kneeling by his side and felt his chest tighten with his love for her.
His
. It was three days now since the wedding and yet he could not look at her without thinking that.
His
. Of all the men in Chung Kuo, only he was allowed this richness, this lifelong measure of perfection. He shivered and raised his cup, looking back at Tsu Ma.
    ‘To friendship!’ he offered, meeting Tsu Ma’s eyes. ‘To we four, here tonight, and to our eternal friendship!’
    Tsu Ma leaned forward, his teeth flashing as he smiled. ‘Yes. To friendship!’ He clinked his cup against Li Yuan’s, then raised it in offering, first to Wu Tsai and finally to Fei Yen.
    Fei Yen had been looking up from beneath her lashes, her pose the very image of demure, obedient womanhood. At Tsu Ma’s toast, however, she looked down sharply, as if abashed. But it was not bashfulness that made her avert her eyes; it was a deeper, stronger feeling: one that she tried to hide not only from the watchful T’ang, but from herself. She turned her head, looking up at Li Yuan.
    ‘Would my husband like more wine?’
    Li Yuan smiled back at her, handsome in his own way, and loving, too – a good man for all his apparent coldness – yet her blood didn’t thrill at his touch, neither did her heart race in her chest the way it was racing now in the presence of Tsu Ma.
    ‘In a while, my love,’ he answered her. ‘But see to our guest first. Tsu Ma’s cup is almost empty.’
    She bowed her head and, setting down her cup, went to bring the wine jug. Tsu Ma had turned slightly in his seat and now sat there, his booted legs spread, one hand clasping his knee, the other holding out his cup. Turning, seeing him like that, Fei Yen caught her breath. It was so like the way Han Ch’in had used to sit, his strong legs spread arrogantly, his broad hands resting on his knees. She bowed deeply, hiding her sudden confusion, holding out the jug before her.
    ‘Well...?’ Li Yuan prompted, making her start and spill some of the wine.
    Tsu Ma laughed; a soft, generous laughter that made her look up at him again and meet his eyes. Yes, there was no doubting it; he knew what she was thinking. Knew the effect he’d had upon her.
    She poured the wine then backed away, her head bowed, her throat suddenly dry, her heart pounding. Setting the jug down, she settled at her husband’s feet again, but now she was barely conscious of Li Yuan. The whole world had suddenly turned about. She knelt there, her head lowered, trying to still the sudden tremor of her hands, the violent beating