Wearily, I drag myself to my feet and go back inside.  I need water.  I have to be careful because there’s not much left.  Slowly, my mind gets back into gear.  Steeling myself, I drag Yi Yong’s body back into the secret room and close the panel on him.  Then I heave the King’s dead weight off the couch and onto the bed.  Liang Zhou said the sleeping drug would be effective for twenty-four hours, but just in case, I get some of the restraints out of the chest and put them on his hands and feet.  I arrange him so that it looks as if he’s sleeping and cover him with the quilt.

Now all I have to do is wait.

It’s getting very cold now.  The King’s fur cloak is lying on the couch.  I put it over my shoulders and settle down.  The fur’s soft and golden in colour, from I don’t know which beast.  It’s very warm.

I doze.

I have no idea how much time passes, but I suddenly come awake and sit up.  All’s silent, but I can tell from the quality of the darkness that dawn isn’t far away.  I check the King's pulse.  He’s still deeply asleep.

They’ll all be moving into position now.  Mo Jiang and Qin Feng in the city below my window.  The Commander and Lin Chen preparing to storm the city gate.  The men on the plateau waiting to enter the city through the back gate.  Shao Ru getting ready to impersonate an Imperial courier.

I need all my strength.  I eat the rest of my food and drink a cup of the wine that’s still standing on the table. 

Out of the blue, I think, They won’t know where I am.  The Palace is a labyrinth.  They could spend hours looking for me. 

An idea comes to me and I act on it immediately.  Untying my sash, I take off the azure blue robe and, wrapping myself in the fur cloak, I squeeze out on the balcony and hang the robe from the iron balustrade.  It might be seen by the guards when day breaks, but I’ll have to risk it.  With luck they won’t look up.

The sky’s getting lighter by the minute.  As I go back inside, I hear the faint sounds of a commotion down below.  I turn and dart back to the balustrade, ducking down so nobody notices me.  Hoofbeats, a man’s voice shouting.  It’s Shao Ru’s battlefield voice, the loudest in the troop.  The hoofbeats get nearer.  More prolonged shouting and then a flurry at the gate as soldiers rush to open it.  They’re letting him in.  It’s still dim down there, but I hear the sound of weapons clashing and more shouts, this time of alarm.  Further off, the same kind of shouts and noises arise, but fainter. 

As the sky brightens, I watch in anguish, praying that all goes according to plan.  It looks as though my prayers are being answered, because suddenly Imperial soldiers flood in through the Palace gate and into the courtyard, where by now, the Palace guard has got itself together and counter-attacked.  A fierce fight ensues.  It’s difficult to see what’s going on, but it seems as if the Palace guard’s being forced backwards.  Men are falling, blades clanging and flashing in the morning light.  Then more men come charging out of the Palace and fall on the enemy from behind.  The men from the plateau!

Somebody bangs on the door of my room.  A voice yells, “Your Majesty, Your Majesty, we’re under attack.”

Galvanised, I rush back into the room   More banging ensues and the same voice yells, “Your Majesty, please answer.  Are you well?”

This is it.  I draw out my sleeve sword.  Sitting at the head of the bed, I heave the comatose King into a sitting position and arrange him against my chest, the sword at his throat.  There’s scuffling outside the door, I hear an abrupt order in a language that I don’t understand, and the door begins to shake under a regular, heavy assault. 

The bolt’s a stout one and the battering goes on for some time before I hear the sound of wood splintering.  It’s not going to hold.  I take a firmer grip of the sword, my heart thumping.  The battering grows more intense.  The door begins to give way.  Then the wood round the bolt splinters, the door slams open and four men rush into the room.  They’re all Tibetans.  The leader’s a man in middle age, heavily armoured, carrying a long black sword.  They stop dead when they see us.

“If you come any closer, I’ll kill him,” I say clearly.  And I mean it.

My eyes are on the leader.  I'm guessing he’s the captain of the guard, Thokmay.  He’s the one who counts.  His gaze holds mine and I read anger and doubt there.  He moves slightly and I tighten my grip on the King and put pressure on my blade.  A thin line of red appears on the King’s neck.  Thokmay becomes still.  And then suddenly he makes his mind up and the sword comes straight at me.

I‘ve already seen his intention in his face.  Before he even begins his lunge, I let go of the King and throw myself off the bed onto the floor.  The King topples slowly sideways and Thokmay’s sword pierces straight through his chest and skewers him neatly to the headboard.

Everything stops.  The Tibetans are rooted to the floor, aghast.  Thokmay’s frozen, still clutching his sword.  He’s killed his own master.  He tugs at the sword to try and pull it out, but his lunge was so fierce that the sword’s too deeply embedded.

I’m completely at the end of my resources.  I can’t think what to do next.  And to cap it all, there’s more noise and shouting in the corridor.  Oh Gods, I’m finished!  But then I recognize one of the voices:  Shao Ru’s bellow, unmistakable.  At the top of my voice I yell out, “I’m here!  I’m here!”

The room's suddenly full of people.  Still dazed, the three Tibetan soldiers are cut down in a trice, while a man leaps forward and with one slash cuts off Thokmay’s sword arm, the hand still gripping the embedded sword.  The second stroke slashes Thokmay’s throat, the only part of his torso unprotected by armour.  Blood sprays everywhere and I close my eyes instinctively but I’ve already seen who the attacker is.  It’s the Commander.  Before I can really register this, I’m seized, hauled to my feet and held in a bone-crushing embrace.  Equally quickly, he releases me and says urgently, “Are you hurt?”

“No, not at all.  You were just in time.”

Shao Ru comes over and pats me on the shoulder.  “Good to see you, Young Master Yan.”

I could hug Shao Ru as well.

The Commander says, “Take Wang Meng’s body and hang it out over the balcony.  It might persuade them to surrender.”

“You got it,” says Shao Ru.

It takes two men to pull out the sword.  Then Wang Meng’s body is hauled to the balcony and hung over it with curtain cords.  Somebody hands me my blue robe, rather worse for wear, and I struggle into it gratefully.

“What about him?” Shao Ru says, indicating Thokmay.

“No.  That would guarantee the Tibetans will fight to the end.”

“They’ll probably do that anyway.” Shao Ru says philosophically.

The Commander turns to me.  “Stay here and barricade the door.  I’ll send someone for you when it's safe.”  He pats my shoulder and then they’re off, leaving me in the bloodstained room with four corpses.  My legs are trembling.  I don’t think I’m cut out to be a hero.  I pick up Thokmay’s sword to give myself some courage and sink down on the couch.  Then I remember the Commander’s instructions.  With difficulty, I pull all the movable furniture over against the door.  Then I wrap myself in the fur cloak, sink down on a relatively clean portion of the carpet and lean against the bed, exhausted.

After a while, the shouting and clanging dies down.  An eerie silence falls, broken by voices down below which I can barely hear.  I’m half-asleep, but am jerked out of it by more banging on the door and the sound of an anxious voice.

“Ah-Hai, are you there?  It’s me, Mo Jiang.”

Mo Jiang!  I rush over and scramble to pull the barricade away.  Mo Jiang’s blessed face greets me, unfamiliar under a leather helmet, but with the usual grin on it.  We hug and speak at the same time, “Are you all right?”

He’s unhurt.  I’m covered in someone else’s blood

“We’ve done it,” Mo Jiang says jubilantly, “We won!”

“Is everyone all right?”

“I think so.  Come on down, it’s safe now.”

There are bodies all over the place, but our men are already collecting them up and carrying them away, together with their weapons.  We make our way down the stairs towards the banqueting hall.  We see Wu Shun and greet him, but as he turns towards us, we see that tears are pouring down his face.

“Ah-Shun, what’s the matter?”

“It’s – it’s Ah-Chen,” he whispers.

The banqueting hall’s being used as a temporary hospital.  Lin Chen’s lying on a makeshift bed on the floor.  The Commander’s kneeling beside him while Liang Zhou works urgently.  Shao Ru and Qin Feng are standing by.  Liang Zhou looks up and sees me.

“Young Master Yan, I need your help.”

I recognize the look on his face.  I see that Lin Chen’s nearly gone.  There are several major wounds and blood’s pumping steadily out of one of them.  I apply pressure where Liang Zhou tells me to, but we can’t stop the blood, there’s too much damage.  Lin Chen’s unconscious, but the Commander keeps a firm grip on his hands.  All too soon, Liang Zhou sits back on his heels and says, “He’s gone.”

The silence is only broken by Wu Shun’s soft sobbing.  I feel numb.  I’ve seen plenty of death since I left the capital, but this is the first time I’ve seen the death of someone I knew well and liked.

“Cover him up,” the Commander says.  “We still have work to do.  Young Master Yan, go and get some sleep.  The rest of you come with me.”

I become aware of Liang Zhou’s hand on my shoulder.  “I’m glad to see you, Young Master Yan.  Are you hurt?”

“No.  It’s not my blood.  What about you?”

“No.  My battle starts now.”

“Did we have many casualties?  Apart – apart from Lin Chen?”

“Quite a few.  They’re still counting.  We wouldn’t have had so many if the Tibetans hadn’t refused to surrender. ”

I look round at the wounded being brought in.  “What happens now?” I ask.

“The clean-up.  The dead have to be buried, the wounded seen to, the soldiers found somewhere to sleep, food organised, messages sent, the people in the palace dealt with.  That’s just the start.  We’re going to be very busy.  But off with you now and get some rest.  You’re asleep on your feet.”

“Where am I supposed to go?” I ask, looking round.  The idea of staying in this miserable place horrifies me.

“The officers are quartered in the Black Snake compound.  Get someone to show you the way.”

All my belongings are up in that dreadful room.  I have no choice except to go and retrieve them.  Moving very slowly, I make my way back up the dim staircase to find four of our soldiers there retrieving the bodies.  I stand aside as a body goes bumping unceremoniously down the stairs, dragged by the feet.  The remaining soldiers see me and grin.

“Good to see you, Young Master,” one says, “You did a good job here.”

“Everyone did a good job,” I reply.  “By the way, there’s another body in there.”  I indicate the panel in the wall.

But try as we can, we can’t find a way to open the secret panel.  There must be a catch or a spring, but where?

“Never mind, Young Master,” says one of the soldiers, “I’ve got the key here.” And lifting a large foot, he kicks right through the panel, which splinters obligingly.  They drag Yi Yong out.

“Kill this one yourself?” the soldier asks. 

I nod. 

“Good on you,” he says.

I gather up the various bundles that contain my belongings and take the medicine box under one arm.  I’d better get rid of that poison pill.  I follow the soldiers as they drag the remaining bodies down the stairs, the heads bumping horribly on each step.  Having handed the medicine box back to Liang Zhou, I emerge from the Palace into a crisp sunny morning.  Little white clouds move briskly across the intensely blue sky.  Soldiers bustle to and fro.  Bodies are being piled onto carts.

I feel empty and displaced.  Everything’s changed now.  The familiar life of the troop has disappeared and I don’t quite know what’s going to take its place.  The threat of the King of Qiu has been lifted and I should be feeling delighted, but I can’t quite take it all in.