Page 68 of Silk and Sensibility

Now, crouched on the deck of a boat after a volley of pirate arrows sailed past, she was terrified. She trembled as she peeked over the edge of the boat.

Meilin stood unharmed while holding her zither, but she stared at their uncle in shock, her face as white as mourning hemp.

Uncle Meng looked up at Ailin, grimacing in pain at the arrow lodged in his shoulder. “Come down quickly. We have to go.”

Ailin hesitated. Uncle Meng didn’t seem in any condition to help. He needed medical care immediately.

“Let me help you, Master Meng,” Tian said as he rushed toward Uncle Meng and slung his good arm over his own shoulder.

Uncle Meng gasped in pain. “Ailin—help her first.”

The whistle came again, and Ailin ducked instinctively. As she waited for the volley fire to end, she realized she was the last one on the boat. The others would be in more danger if they waited for her.

“You all go first,” she said. “I’ll catch up.”

Uncle Meng tried to protest. “No, Ailin—”

“Go, Tian!” Ailin shouted in her most imperious voice, trusting that Tian’s good sense would prevail over Uncle Meng’s avuncular chivalry. This was no time to sacrifice more lives to wait for the slowest person.

Thankfully, Tian listened to her and pulled the reluctant Uncle Meng away.

Ailin looked down the gangplank and saw Meilin still standing with her zither. She wasn’t moving.

“You go too,” Ailin ordered. “I’m coming soon.”

Meilin shook her head as if waking from a trance. “Come down right now! I’ll help you!” She tucked her zither under one arm and extended her free hand.

Ailin sighed. Arguing with Meilin would put her at greater risk, so she took her sister’s hand.

The wobbling gangplank forced Ailin to take the tiniest of steps to keep her balance. She wished she could walk faster, but it would be worse if she rushed and fell, so she proceeded with caution.

Once she stepped off the gangplank, Meilin hooked their arms together. “It’ll be easier if we go together.”

Ailin didn’t think that was true, but she followed Meilin anyway. They climbed slowly up the grassy hill of the shore, trying to surmount the ridge Tian, Uncle Meng, Grand­mother Jiang, and the other guards had crossed.

Meilin encouraged her to go faster, but Ailin couldn’t, no matter how hard she tried. The small feet she had diligently taken care of since childhood caused her pain with every step. Ailin knew she was only slowing her sister down.

Captain Bai once said that Meilin could probably run fast with her natural feet. Obviously, he was right. Meilin had a much better chance of survival if she left Ailin behind.

Ailin couldn’t bear it any longer. She pulled her arm out of Meilin’s grasp. “Go on without me. You’ll be faster on your own.”

Meilin twisted her face as if Ailin was crazy. “No way. I’m not leaving y—”

The whistle of arrows came again.

Ailin was so tired that she didn’t even react when she felt Meilin’s arms wrap around her protectively, pulling them both down. She shut her eyes as they collided with the ground. Wood crunched as the zither shattered.

Meilin screamed.

Ailin opened her eyes. She was fine despite the fall, but Meilin was clutching her left arm as red seeped through her hand. There was no arrow shaft anywhere; it had completely ripped through her upper arm.

Oh heavens.

“Why did you do that?” Ailin exclaimed in horror. “You could have let it hit me instead. You wouldn’t be hurt right now if it weren’t for me.”

Meilin gritted her teeth. “Don’t talk like a martyr, jiě. Today, I’m going to be the hero.” With that, she rose to her feet, her broken zither on the ground, more determined than Ailin had ever seen her, full of inexplicable courage. “Come on. Let’s go.”

Ailin couldn’t think. She was completely overwhelmed. Nothing in life had prepared her for running up a grassy hill while pain shot up her legs, her heart racing, bracing for the possibility of getting hit by Wōkòu arrows. She didn’t know how her body kept moving. She mindlessly followed her little sister.