Read Online Butterfly Swords by Jeannie Lin - Free Book Online

‘Understand what?’
    ‘You were marrying a man you’d never met. Of course you had doubts.’
    ‘You don’t understand at all.’ She turned on her heel and continued down the bank. Her stride had lost its carefree gait. ‘In our custom, it would be the greatest insult for a bride to refuse a match simply because she did not like the look of her husband. It would be disrespectful to his family and a great dishonour to mine.’
    ‘It’s not important that you at least see each other before being wed?’
    ‘Not at all. I would trust my parents would make me a good match.’
    It was hard to believe someone with such unquestioning faith would run away from an arranged marriage. Even if she had been wilful or stubborn, it was unlikely a woman of her standing would risk so much to defy convention. Perhaps there was a lover. The thought alone sent a hot streak of possessiveness through him, unwarranted as it was. But why would she want to return to her family when they would certainly denounce her? Besides, her every touch spoke of innocence. He knew the signs well enough to steer clear under most circumstances.
    ‘You wouldn’t prefer someone that was strong and handsome?’ he goaded.
    ‘That doesn’t matter to me.’
    ‘What if this Li Tao is ancient? Wrinkled, toothless…’
    ‘He is not!’ Her eyes grew wide despite her denial. She lowered her voice as if in confidence. ‘Mother told me he was twice my age.’
    ‘And what is that?’
    ‘I was born the year of the dragon.’
    ‘Dragons, rabbits, tigers,’ he said with a laugh. ‘I could never figure out your calendar.’
    She regarded him through her lashes, blushing. ‘I have nineteen years. I know that is very old for marriage, but the last years have been…very unusual.’
    Ailey was beyond adorable when flustered. He leapt across the stream ahead of her and stretched out his hand. She landed before him in the moss, bracing against his arms to steady herself. This time he held on. Her pulse fluttered beneath his fingers.
    ‘You don’t want someone who makes your heart beat faster?’ he challenged.
    She ran the tip of her tongue over her lips, too pretty and too curious for her own good. It took all of his will to hold himself back.
    ‘I…I don’t.’
    Little liar. He could pull her into his arms right then and she would melt against him. Her mouth would taste just as sweet as he remembered.
    He let go of her. He had to.
    He swallowed forcibly, words failing him. ‘So you were ready to marry him no matter how old and ugly he was. What made you change your mind?’
    He held himself apart from her, unmoving while his heart threatened to punch a hole through his ribcage. The force of his reaction stunned him and for some reason, he needed to know exactly what her ties were to the man she had been promised to.
    Ailey swayed in the damp earth of the riverbank, caught off balance at his abrupt departure. ‘The wedding ceremony was to be completed before his family altar. On the journey, I was carried inside a palanquin, while he rode with the escort.’
    ‘A man would be mad with lust being forced to wait so long to see his bride.’
    She frowned at him. ‘This is not something I do lightly. My family could disown me.’
    He stopped his teasing when he saw the sudden tension in her shoulders. He was beginning to see that Ailey never did anything lightly. Every word carried weight with her.
    ‘Go on,’ he said. ‘What happened?’
    ‘You must know that there have been uprisings within the empire over the last year. My fourth brother, Ming Han, had a military command, same as all my brothers. He was sent to put down a rebellion near the border of the Jiannan province. Li Tao’s domain.’
    ‘Which is where we are now.’
    ‘The empire is too large for the imperial army to control,’ she explained. ‘Control of the empire is a delicate balance between the imperial forces and the regional armies. Han joined with Li Tao’s troops in the