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stone, I’ll—”
    Ping’s words died in her mouth. There was something behind the tussock. It was a body, a twisted corpse lying face down in the dust. An arrow was sticking out of its thigh.
    Kai made sounds like a cracked bell.
    The soldiers came up behind them. “We’ve seen quite a few bodies since we left the palace,” one of them said. “Why is he so concerned about this one?”
    “Turn the body over,” she said to the soldiers.
    The soldiers looked at each other dubiously, but did as Ping asked them. She knelt down next to the body. The face was cut and swollen, caked in dust. There was an old scar that cut through the right eyebrow.
    The soldiers stood staring at the dirty, blood-stained body.
    “He’s past help,” one of them said. “The burial squad will find him eventually.”
    The man was wearing the red leather tunic and leg guards worn by all imperial guards. His chariot would have been marked with red bat and blue crane symbols. His horses would have had yellow plumes on their bridles. There should have been mounted soldiers surrounding him, carrying yellow banners proclaiming his rank, but they were nowhere to be seen. There was nothing to distinguish him from any common soldier.
    “Don’t you know who this is?” Ping said.
    The soldiers shook their heads.
    Kai squatted at her side.
    “Lu-lu,” the dragon said softly. “It’s Lu-lu.”
    Ping nodded. “It’s the Emperor.”

• chapter five •
H EALING
    His right hand was clasped around something.
It was encrusted with dried blood and dust
.
    Ping remembered the last time she’d seen the Emperor, and hatred seethed inside her like coiling snakes. He had ordered her execution. But worse than that, far worse, was his cruelty to Kai.
    “Poor Lu-lu,” Kai said.
    “How can you feel sorry for him?” Ping touched Kai’s shoulder. “Did you know it was the Emperor when you saw his body?”
    “Didn’t know. Kai saw what he was holding in his hand.”
    Ping knelt at the Emperor’s side. His right hand was clasped around something. It was encrusted with dried blood and dust. Even up close, Ping hadn’t noticed it. She reached out and touched the Emperor’s hand, and then pulled away again as if she’d been stung by nettles. After a few moments, she reached out again. This time she uncurled the Emperor’s fingers one by one so that she could take the thing he was holding. It was thin and just a few inches long. It could have been the end of a spear or a fragment of clay pot, but when Ping wiped it with her sleeve, its true colour was revealed. It was purple and as shiny as if it had been made from some sort of gemstone. It was a shard of dragon stone, a piece of the egg from which Kai had hatched.
    She looked at the Emperor’s dirty, bruised face. He had been her friend once, but he had betrayed their friendship. She could have easily walked away and left him for the burial squad. It was what he deserved. But she knew she’d regret it if she did.
    Ping grasped the arrow sticking out of the Emperor’s thigh and pulled with both hands. She could feel the flesh resisting. The soldiers watched in horror, wondering what sort of person would pull an arrow from a corpse. The barbed head of the arrow was designed to penetrate flesh, not to be pulled out. Ping took her bronze knife from her pouch and made an incision in the Emperor’s leg. Dark blood oozed from the wound. As she drew out the arrow, a low groan escaped from the Emperor’smouth. Ping threw the bloody arrow aside, undid the Emperor’s shoulder buckles and pulled off his leather armour. She slit open his clothing, revealing his other wounds. The spear wound in his stomach was the worst. It was deep and ugly.
    “Did Ping know Lu-lu was still alive?” Kai asked.
    Ping nodded. “I knew when I took the shard from him. His hand was warm.” She turned to the dragon. “You didn’t know?”
    “No.”
    Ping looked up at the soldiers. “We must carry him back to the