Chenzhou hadn't meant to sneak out, but as the hours went by, it became increasingly clear that Eirian and Rat suspected enough not to leave him alone. And Eirian had clearly told Mingzhe, because Chenzhou's personal guard had suddenly doubled in size.
The news from the Camelia didn't help. Eirian had been furious when she read of Finn's poisoning, and Chenzhou suspected the only reason she didn't storm back to the estate to check on him was because she was equally worried about Chenzhou, and her suspicions won out.
It was fascinating that the Vermeers had been breeding out their susceptibility to certain poisons and not at all surprising given that family's…intensity.
It would never cease to surprise Chenzhou that Lord Soliel was currently a greater threat to the thorne than that family.
It had taken hours, a food and reports, and healer's updates to finally put Eirian and Mingzhe to sleep, passing out from exhaustion sometime in the early morning hours, long before first light appeared.
Chenzhou had tucked blankets around them and stepped out, unable to sleep himself.
He needed to find a way to contact the tribes.
A way that they would actually listen to and not just cut him down on sight.
As terrible as it seemed, Beng Shai's funeral was his best chance. Funerals were sacred for the tribes, for Sorrow too, and most of the civilizations on the Rock; starting a fight or any type of violence was frowned upon. Not that it never happened, but it was rare.
Rare enough for Chenzhou to risk it.
He wasn't even planning on it, but as he walked the perimeter, the opening appeared in front of him, and Chenzhou didn't even think about it.
He just went.
Slipping out through a hole left by the guard and walking into the wheat. He didn't even intend to go to the Bandri.
Not really.
There was just so much noise and so much weight surrounded by the Crimson Army, responsibility for every life in the camp that simultaneously made him more determined to establish peace and to protect everyone at whatever the cost.
He stopped several hundred yards outside the camp, looking up at the expanse of stars and trying to find some answer, some sense of peace.
He found neither, but he did find Rat, waiting with two saddled horses.
Chenzhou should have been irked by the spy's confidence, but it was overshadowed by the relief that he wouldn't have to walk all the way to the Bandri's camp.
Rat didn't speak as Chenzhou approached, just watched with dull eyes and an expressionless face.
"How far to the Bandri?" Chenzhou asked him, glancing out over the prairie.
"Couple of hours," Rat responded. "The funeral will be in full swing." He glanced at the distant horizon, the pale sliver of light starting to break. "Best to catch them as the sun rises, they'll still be in remembrance and unarmed."
Chenzhou snorted. "There's enough of them that I doubt being armed will make a difference."
"Not for you, maybe. If this goes sideways, I'm leaving you behind to buy time." He said it matter-of-factly, like leaving his lord behind to die was normal and perfectly acceptable.
Chenzhou nodded, because he didn't intend to drag anyone down with him if it went badly. Attitude aside, Rat belonged to the category of people Chenzhou was trying to protect. "You can leave once the camp's insight and I can make my way myself."
Rat looked surprised at that, but nodded. "As you wish."
They set out at a leisurely walk. Chenzhou needed all the time he had to figure out what to say to the Bandri. Funeral or not, he only had a small opening to convince them to listen, and everything else hinged on that.
The prairie was cool before daylight, enough that Chenzhou pulled his cloak around him and flexed his fingers to keep them from going stiff.
Rat seemed content to ride in silence. One of Yuze's senior and most experienced spies, he had agreed to reach out to the others, triggering some sort of chain reaction that would alert all of the Camelia's spies to what had happened. Snake was long gone, he'd said, her survival instincts strong enough to overwhelm whatever delusions she'd held about Yuze, and he'd refused to even bother trying to find her. He didn't seem bothered by the loss of Fox, but Chenzhou got the sense Rat hadn't trusted or liked the other spy. To be fair, he didn't speak in any way fondly of anyone, so Chenzhou was comfortable assuming he didn't really like anyone.
Halfway to the camp, guilt started to creep in. Eirian and Mingzhe would be furious and terrified when they woke up and found Chenzhou gone. He hoped they could forgive him someday, but the desire to keep them safe overruled all else, and he kept riding.
The camp came into view as the light on the horizon grew.
"It should be sunrise soon," Rat announced, pulling his horse to a stop, closer to the huge camp than Chenzhou would have expected. "They don't keep guards up during funerals," Rat explained before he could ask.
Chenzhou nodded absently. They were close enough that he could pick out the tents of the visiting tribes at the edges of the Bandri camp, the differing symbols and styles all mashed together among the wheat. Until the last war, a sight like this would have been unimaginable.
He dismounted, handing the reins to Rat. "If it sounds like it's going badly, go back and warn Eirian and Mingzhe."
Rat nodded, watching Chenzhou with something he imagined was curiosity. Wanting to see if Chenzhou was really going to go through with something so utterly stupid.
Chenzhou squared his shoulders and marched through the wheat.
~ tbc