“No, it was,” Chu disagreed. “What was not meaningless was my brother, who would be king, who loved me as much as I loved him. Thus, he helped me to escape so when the assassins were to come to take my life, and those of his other brothers, we were not there. Instead, I am here, alive, in the service of another great king, and my life has meaning.”

“I’m her older sister,” she reminded him.

“Then act it.”

She looked to the river.

He gave her time to think on that.

Before he was done giving her that time, she asked the river, “What happened to your other brothers?”

“During our escape, one was felled with a spear. After it, the other connived to go back, take vengeance and seize power. However, to do that and not leave any loose strings, he would have to dispatch me. We fought. He did not win.”

That earned him her attention. “So where is he now?”

“At the bottom of the sea.”

Her eyes were again large. “You killed him?”

“I preferred to be the one left breathing, but more, to be certain that my older brother would not eventually face the same test.”

“You killed your brother so he would not kill your other brother?”

He shrugged.

“Chu,” she whispered.

In the beginning, she did not remember his name.

She had come to learn it.

And he had learned to like it on her lips.

“As you can see, I come from a fond and affectionate family.”

He watched in the moonlight as something moved over her face. She seemed disconcerted and suddenly awkward, as if she did not know what to say, to do or to think.

This reaction did not surprise him.

It was that way, Chu had found, when you’d spent your life concerning yourself only with yourself, and suddenly, you thought of the feelings of another.

And it was not in his character, not in the role he played with a partner, definitely not in the role he was meant to play with her, but he felt the need to alleviate this for her.

“Come, mouse,” he murmured. “Bring your saddle rug and blanket. I will tell you a tale of the land of my birth.”

All awkwardness left, alertness suffused her frame, and she tried not to appear eager, but she failed as she moved to do as she was told.

He took the saddle rug and propped it against his own, leaning back to it, before he set her blanket aside.

He then opened and cocked his legs, tipping his head to his lap to share where she would position.

She moved there immediately, settling down on a hip between his legs.

“Slide down and free me,” he murmured, watching her face grow hungry. “Then get comfortable and draw my sac in your mouth.”