Romancing the Clown
6
Fools Rush In
“YOU MUST BE BANDY, the renowned,” I said. “Looks like we’ve come to the right place at last.”
“It’s the last place you’ll look, anyway,” the dwarf said.
“I couldn’t help but notice that you have some fine performers, but that there is no real organization to their shows. It is just act after act that people watch until they are bored and then leave. I believe that by joining forces, we might bring a certain je ne sais quoi to the show. We could generate real excitement. Bring people in to see something and stay until they do,” I said.
“And what would you have to add to my circus?” he demanded.
“Magic, music, and dance for our performance end. Good direction and organization are our management skills.”
“I’ll try you in one hour. You’ll perform in the circle. If I like what I see, we’ll talk. If I don’t… Let’s just say you should hope I like what I see.” He turned and slammed the door of his wagon closed behind him.
Our guards pointed us to our wagon and we went to prepare the show.
“He’s a filthy little pig,” Legs grumbled when we started getting ready. “Are you sure this is where she is?”
“If we find she’s not here, then we’ll have to convince him to tell us where she is,” I said. “Lees and Thorin, I hate to say it, but be prepared. Bandy does not like competition.”
“His guards have reach on us,” Thorin said to Lees. “We need to move quickly to get inside of them where their advantage is only strength.”
“Let’s go,” I said. “It’s show time.”
We needed to pull out all the stops. We rolled the wagon into the center ring and in a flourish unfolded the stage side. Bandy entered in front of us while we set up, accompanied by some crawling creature that slithered beside him on a leash.
“From the frozen reaches of the Far North to the Southern Climes of this fair city, Bandy’s Exotic Exhibition brings you the first performance in this area of Il Troupo di Stupo for Music, Magic, and Mayhem.” I guess we had a new name.
We launched directly into a lively and somewhat bawdy song with Legs dancing as I drummed with my canes and the twins added their eerie vocalese behind my voice. Legs and I turned in opposite directions to bow and one of my canes rose to lift the back hem of her skirt. This got a number of hoots and howls. From there on, it was magic.
We’d made up a number of props as we traveled, including what looked like a barbell. Of course, it was made of the lightest wood we could find and was hollowed out as well. Lees and Thorin carried it to the stage, making a big deal out of how heavy it was. Their stomp as they set it on the floor shook the wagon, emphasizing the weight. I flexed and went through a routine of trying to bend over while still supporting myself with the canes. I finally got them out of the way and set about to lift the weight, but couldn’t budge it. I limped to the side holding a hand to my back.
Up on the stage came Saul. He was growing, but still looked pretty scrawny, especially dressed in the ridiculous caveman outfit Lees and Legs had made. There was a lot of laughter as he approached the bar and made a show of flexing his muscles. He bent to the bar and strained to much laughter. Then the bar moved and rose into the air as he lifted it above his head. There was applause and hoots. Saul took one hand off the bar and gestured to the audience. They gasped. The bar stayed steady. More applause. Saul stepped out from under the bar completely and bowed to the audience as the bar remained in the air. He stepped to the side and gestured to me where I was making mystical motions with my hands and finally lowered the bar to the stage. Saul and I both bowed. The twins ran from either side of the stage and leaped at Saul who caught them on his arms and held them up. It was a good thing they were so small, but it was like looking at a miniature strongman.
Legs and I went back into a routine of music and dance with some sleight of hand and slapstick thrown in. We did our finale and took our bow.
I saw the apple launched at us from my left. My sword was in my hand and the apple skewered on it as I snatched it out of the air and launched it directly back off the tip of my sword at the person who had thrown it. I noted it was one of the acrobats who had performed before and was satisfied when the apple hit him in the forehead. My sword was back in its sheath before most people had registered what had happened.
We jumped from the wagon, closed up our stage and rolled the wagon out of the little arena.
The last of the crowd had gone for the night when I was summoned to Bandy’s wagon. Lees went with me while Thorin watched over our family. Bandy’s big guards did not want to let Lees in, but I refused to enter without him.
“I’ll deal with the mock guard later,” Bandy called from within. “Let them in.”
Lees and I entered the wagon. A lantern lit a bizarre scene before us. Bandy stood at the far side of the wagon, completely naked. His body and head were near normal size, but his arms and legs were short. His huge cock dragged on the floor in front of him.
“Suck,” he commanded the slithering creature, also now naked. She looked up at us with a mournful expression on her face and then crawled across the floor to lick his cock up off the floor and into her mouth.
Cathy! She was crippled and reduced to crawling around servicing this bizarre little man. Once she was actively sucking his appendage, he relaxed and looked at me.
“I will pay fourteen shells for all your contracts and equipment,” Bandy said. “You will be my indentures for seven years at which time you will receive an additional fourteen shells in severance. That is my standard contract. Take it or leave.”
“I had heard you were a reasonable man. My sources were mistaken. We are not indentures but free men and women. We own our equipment and horses. We will work in partnership, granting you a majority ownership of sixty percent and collect the remaining forty percent as our fee for managing and improving your show,” I said.
“All my performers are indentures. I own this circus. It is mine. Mine!”
“No wonder their performance is so lackluster. You stole their lives and even if they outlive their contracts, they will have nothing to show for it. Do you run a business or only your ego?” I snapped.
“Do you really think you can walk into my circus and make demands on me? My guards will cut you in half before you are down the steps of my wagon.”
“You forget that they are outside and you are in here with us,” I said. “If you are dead, they belong to me.” For the first time he showed some hesitance. There was a catch in his breath and he thrust his hips forward, gagging the damsel.
“Watch your teeth or I’ll knock them out!” he snarled, grabbing her hair. Having someone weaker than him seemed to bolster his courage again. “Until we leave this city, you have a deal,” Bandy said. “If there is no improvement in the revenue in three days and better crowds attending, you will turn and go North while my circus continues its circuit.”
“Three days,” I affirmed. He grunted and his eyes rolled slightly.
Sperm trickled out the corner of Cathy’s mouth.
“Lick it up, snakeslut!” he commanded. “Don’t leave a drop on the floor.” He turned back to us, suddenly very pleasant. “Shall we drink on it?”
“I only drink with those I trust,” I said, bowing slightly. I looked down at Cathy. A tear trickled from her eye. Lees and I turned and left.
“Is there no end to how depraved this world can be?” I asked. Our guards had not accompanied us from Bandy’s door. I was constantly on the lookout for someone else.
“He owes his life to the Marquis de Sade,” Lisa whispered. “If I had not seen what the last man I killed had done to those children, I would think Bandy was the vilest creature on Chaos. Perhaps he’s the vilest one left.” Lees and I made a wide circuit around the encampment, so we could talk in hushed tones. I was surprised there were no other guards around the camp. Only the two behemoths that guarded Bandy.
“We need to figure out how to get her out of here,” I said.
“In three days.”
“I think it is time to show a little more magic.”
Whipping the circus into shape was not an easy task. The operating procedure was that performances went on all day long. People came to the roped off area, paid a pinch, and stayed to watch as long as they wanted. The acts cycled three or four times a day. Performers kept performing until they were either exhausted or the audience grew tired of them.
I zeroed in on one acrobat. He was the only one I’d seen who showed some real life. He’d thrown an apple at me.
“What makes you think you can change things?” he asked. “In three days, you will be gone and we will still be indentured to travel and perform. Nothing will change.”
“What would you do if you were not indentured?” I asked. He looked at me puzzled.
“I would perform. It is what I do. It is what I was doing when I fell on hard times and signed my contract. I have regretted it for over three hundred days and will continue to regret it for six more years,” he said. “Better to have been sent to the mines.”
“So, he beats you.”
“No.”
“He starves you.”
“No.”
“He forces you to do manual labor.”
“Well, of course. We have to maintain our equipment and move from place to place.”
“What is it that is different about being indentured to him and performing on your own? You would still perform every day. You would still have to maintain your equipment and move from place to place. You would be worried about food. You would need money. You would have no protection in numbers. Why is your life in the circus so bad?” I asked. He puzzled that for a bit.
“It’s him,” he said, finally. “He is despicable and lords it over the performers and servants. We are his cocksuckers, as he refers to us. His warriors keep us in line and are a constant threat. And finally…” He stopped and looked at me. “Finally, there is that poor woman. She can’t walk, so he makes her crawl on the ground behind him on a leash. He calls her the snakeslut. She is fortunate his little legs can’t carry him too fast for her to keep up. He makes her suck him whenever he is addressing us. We look at her and we see ourselves. Humiliated and used and bound to that evil little toad.”
I nodded and we continued to walk around as I asked him questions about the acts and how long various people had left on their contracts. I was surprised to find that no matter how miserable, most performers planned to sell themselves again at the end of their contracts. They had no other way to exist.
“Lemiel,” I said, using the name he had given me, “I believe we can work together to improve the lot of people in this circus. Though he calls you his cocksuckers feeding from the tit of his manhood, the truth is that he feeds from your efforts. He is verbally and emotionally abusive, but you are all doing exactly what you want to be doing. And you are good at it. Help me to make a difference in three days and I will put my mind to improving the lot of the snakeslut.”
He was reluctant and suspicious, but eventually agreed to help orchestrate the plan.
The first thing we did was schedule showings. There would be a show at noon, mid-afternoon, and early evening. Performances at night were next to impossible unless we managed to get enough torches to light the performance area. That would take some time to orchestrate. Not all performers would perform at every showing. There would be some difference between the two-hour shows. My own troupe would perform only at the evening show. I encouraged the various acts to also not use every trick they had in every show if they could help it. That meant that the three performances each day would be substantially different from each other and that performances from day to day would also differ. Next, rather than paying to enter at any time and leave at any time, audiences would pay to enter for the noon show and have to leave before the afternoon show. If they wished to attend in the afternoon or evening, they would pay again.
Our first day was less than successful. There was confusion regarding how long each performer should stay in the ring. There was further confusion in getting the audiences in and out of the makeshift arena. It was really nothing more than a roped off area with the circus wagons as a backdrop and a performance area in the center. People could easily stand outside the roped area and look over the top. In fact, a few pulled wagons up outside the arena and sat on them to watch over the heads of those inside. I was going to do something about that tomorrow. And I was going to reward the performers, though without Bandy’s knowledge. After we finished the last show, I circulated around the campfire where the cooks were ladling out stew to the performers and other servants. I quietly thanked each performer and pressed a pinch into his or her hand. Since joining the circus, the performers had received little compensation other than their food and security. The promise of further reward for improvements in our production brought smiles to several of the faces that had been doubtful.
Of course, I hadn’t taken any of the reward from today’s gate. I provided it myself. But tomorrow, if things worked the way I expected, I would be able to skim the rewards before Bandy ever saw the take.
The second day actually saw an improvement all the way around. First off, we moved our stable to the front of the arena instead of behind the wagons. This fenced off an area twenty yards deep and the full width of the arena that we filled with all the horses, the mules, two oxen, and a dairy cow and calf. People could still pull up a wagon and watch from it, but the increased distance made it scarcely worthwhile. People were lined up to get into the noon show and when two hundred had been admitted, we closed the gate. Sold out until mid-afternoon. When the season turned and we started toward fall, we would have to start the first performance earlier in the day, but for now, lengthening days meant longer performance time. Perhaps Bandy’s intent was to move north again as days got shorter in the south.
We had a full house for all three performances, and many of the people who attended the late show had already been to the early one. The performers, having received some reward for their efforts yesterday, put a little more into it today. Some were actually asking for an opportunity to perform in all three shows. I skimmed ten pinches from the take for each show before it went to Bandy. At dinner that night, I distributed them.
Day three was an equal success and after dinner, I joined Bandy in his wagon. I hated to go there, but Lees and I stood as Cathy sucked the long dick of the deformed man while we negotiated. At no time had we managed to separate her from the dwarf.
“I want your indenture.”
“No.” It was a pretty simple negotiation. “Partnership. Forty percent.”
“I don’t need your partnership anymore. You’ve changed the way we did things. We’ll just keep doing it the new way,” he gloated.
“Do you think the performers will continue to entertain the way they have the past three days without me?” I asked.
“They are indentured. They’ll do as I say.”
“Precisely why I won’t sell you my indenture.”
“Your little performance once a day is not worth forty percent and I no longer need you for improving our take.”
“I’ve taught the performers something else this week,” I said. He thrust his cock further into Cathy’s throat and moaned.
“What?”
“Not to give away everything in the first performance. I have taught you all you know, but not all I know.” Bandy was becoming agitated and thrust his hips more violently at Cathy’s mouth. I steeled myself to ignore it. Lees fidgeted.
“Thirty percent.”
“Forty percent. Non-negotiable.”
“Very well!” he snapped. He let out a mighty groan and flooded Cathy’s mouth and throat with his spend. When she pulled off to swallow, he swatted her head. “Clean it up, snakeslut.” She immediately licked off his cock and then licked the floor around him. “Your cut is on the sidebar.” I looked at the purse on the small cabinet and emptied its contents into my hand.
“This is not forty percent,” I said.
“I deducted the amount you have been paying the performers from your cut. Did you think I cannot count?” He sneered at me. I smiled back.
“Always consider who works with you because they want to and who because they have to,” I said. I pocketed the purse and followed Lees out the door. The guards snarled at us and made to draw their swords. Apparently, Bandy had an alternative way of getting rid of us. Our swords were out before the two could clear the sheath of their long sabers.
“If your sword comes out farther than it is, you will lose the hand you draw with,” I said. They dropped their blades back into their sheaths. I tossed two quads on the ground between them. “No profit grows where there is no pleasure taken,” I said, quoting The Taming of the Shrew. “Surely pleasure may be found in a city this size.” They grinned, teeth gleaming against their dark skin. As they bent to take their coins, Lees and I faded into the night.
I had a feeling they didn’t need to leave the camp in order to spend that on pleasure.
We broke camp and hit the road in the morning. Our caravan, moving at the speed of the slowest wagon, made about twelve miles before we made camp. I was happy to note that everyone took part in guarding the caravan while on the road. Weapons were at hand whether male, female, young, or old. After dinner, I distributed a quad to each of the servants and cooks. The ebony guards had already received theirs. I promised each of them a quad per week, making their pay equal to the pinch a day for performers on circus days. The cooks and servants got no days off, after all.
Thorin and Lees discouraged me from walking on guard duty with others in the camp and insisted that I sleep in the wagon. Legs and the children slept in a tent next to the wagon. I wasn’t thrilled with this arrangement, but until we were certain about Bandy’s next move, I could see the sense in it. We still didn’t have a good plan for getting Cathy out of the circus and back to Crossroads. I seriously considered a challenge to Bandy and simply taking him out. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t fight his own battle. He’d send the two black men at me and I’d end up dead or having killed them. If I killed them, then Bandy would no longer be a threat and I couldn’t justify killing him. I wasn’t sure how the rules would apply to this situation, but I didn’t want to risk being unable to return to Crossroads and Earth.
I awoke in the middle of the night with a warm naked Legs stroking my cock.
“Allegra! What are you doing?” I demanded. Well, obviously she was jacking me off. It was the best I could do as I woke up.
“You have not taken pleasure from me since I entered your service,” the girl said. She pulled my hand to her plump breast and sighed. “I know you have not taken Lees, either. It has been too crowded. No one will think ill of you for taking what I freely offer.”
“You know I cannot make love to you,” I said. But damn, her hand felt good.
“You cannot fuck me, though I don’t understand why not. I would bear your child like my grandmother bore Hero Alfonso’s. Nonetheless, I have other openings for you. Let me please you.”
There was really no more discussion. Legs inhaled my cock and I buried my face between her thighs.
The next town was a bit smaller than the previous. We held only two shows per day and left after three days. The revenue was obviously not as high, but we collected more pinches than there were people in the town, so it was obvious that people came for more than one show. Bandy and I met each night to divvy the proceeds while Cathy slurped his cock. I went from there to the fire to reward the performers from my share of the proceeds. Bandy was a fool. It was clear that the loyalty of the performers and the servants was shifting. Even his guards ignored me when I went to his wagon.
I gave the performers a pinch when I gave the servants their quad, “for the extra service on the road this week.” It was amazing that the performers were grateful for the bonus when it all worked out to the same rate I paid them when they performed—a quad a week.
When it came time to restock and resupply in the next city, Bandy demanded forty percent of the expenses, which I willingly paid.
The city we eventually came to was huge by Chaos standards—larger than Rock Canyon—and walled along the sides that did not face the river. There was a discipline around it that reminded me of the soldiers of High Castle. An escort guided us to a fenced area where we would be allowed to camp and perform. It reminded me somewhat of a stockade. We wouldn’t have to worry about people driving carts in to watch from outside the perimeter. On the other hand, I didn’t think we would be allowed outside either.
They made exception, of course, for our cooks to go to market. We were warned, however, that performances were not allowed on the streets. The next morning, we began our performances an hour before noon.
I was afraid it would take more time to get larger crowds in and out of the space. There were only about two hundred who attended the first two shows and I was worried that these people just weren’t into entertainment. The evening show, however, proved that wrong as close to 500 people crammed the stockade, including the palanquin of the local warlord who ruled the town. He, of course, simply waved away the request for money at the gate, both for himself and the rest of his entourage of thirty or forty.
Command performance, I guess.
At the end of the evening’s performance, the command was that Legs and I join the warlord for dinner in his palace. Thorin and Saul stayed with the twins. Lees, of course, went with me. It was a palace by Chaosian standards. It was no larger than Duke Niccolò’s keep, but silk drapes hung from the walls and thick carpets covered the floors. Our shoes were removed at the door. We’d been accompanied by four well-armed guards and they didn’t want to let Lees join Legs and me.
“We will return to our camp until Lord Chang extends a better invitation,” I said. “Where I go, my caretaker goes.” There was some whispered conversation between the guards and they relented. We were led into an antechamber and all hell broke loose. As soon as the door closed, they moved to take our swords.
Like fuck!
There was a scuffle. Legs shrieked. A guard yelped and doubled over clutching his groin. Lees and I were back-to-back with swords drawn and Legs sandwiched between us. The three standing guards drew their weapons and advanced on us.
“What is the meaning of this?” yelled the warlord as he entered the room. “Put up your arms. Master Minstrel, even with your quick hands, you cannot hope to escape twenty men with crossbows.” I looked up and saw ten soldiers with bows pointed at us from each end of the hall. “So, we are your prisoners after all,” I stated flatly. “I would rather take my chances with the crossbows.”
“Of course you are not prisoners. I invited you into my home to share stories and adventures. Perhaps to hear you sing something less raucous than the circus permits. What has started this confrontation?”
“These gentlemen brought us into this room and attempted to detain and disarm us after attempting to prevent my caretaker from joining us.”
“It is a misunderstanding. You do my house injustice, Minstrel. All of you, put up your swords. Guards, depart!”
“My lord, we never allow weapons in your private chambers.”
“Do you think that even if he was dead you would find all the weapons on his person? Minstrels do not rise to this position through treachery. If one were harmed in my house, I would risk war with all the lords surrounding us. Depart now. My dinner is waiting,” the warlord announced.
I took a good look at him. He was about as pure Chinese as I could imagine a man being but spoke clearer English than the norm. A few inches shorter than me, but sturdily built. I felt that in a fair fight, he would probably hand me my ass on a platter. He had the bearings of one highly trained, and not just by Chaosian standards. The soldiers and archers left and Lees and I sheathed our swords.
“My apologies for the misunderstanding, Lord Chang,” I said, bowing my head to him.
“Méi shì,” he responded. “How do you say it? It’s nothing. Let us dine and talk about our home.” He led us into the next room, more elegantly draped than the anteroom with lamps and cushions around the walls. In the center of the room was a round table, somewhat lower than tables up north or back home. A servant quickly scurried in and set a fourth hassock at the table, it apparently having been set for only three people.
“Honored host, you speak of our home,” I said, hoping he would continue. A servant poured tea in my cup and not wishing to interrupt the thought, I simply tapped two fingers on the table. He smiled, as did the warlord. “Please elaborate.”
“You and I come from the same world, Hero Lincoln. It is a gift to be able to meet another and gather news from the home I will never see again.”
“You, too, are a hero? How did you come to be bound to Chaos?” I asked. Lisa was wide-eyed, but Legs simply took it in stride. If there was one hero in her life, why would there not be many.
“Alas, I am not a hero, but rather a hero’s companion. We came here to make war against the slavers and my hero, Danny Sun, was slain by treachery. When you think about the number of heroes who have died on Chaos, I am sure there are other companions stranded here as well.”
“I have heard stories of the slaver wars and am honored to meet one who served with such a legendary figure. I am sorry for your loss and resulting abandonment here on Chaos,” I said. Bowls of peanuts were set before us and both Chang and I laughed at the efforts of Lees and Legs to capture one with their chopsticks. I managed one and nearly choked when I discovered how spicy hot the peanuts were. Chang reached over with his fingers and grabbed a couple out of the bowl to pop in his mouth.
“I heard you refer to Master Lees as your caretaker. I must confess he looks nothing like any caretaker I have ever met, nor have I ever heard of a caretaker traveling to Chaos. Tell me what is new in our world,” he said. Servers once again entered the room and, in a flourish, unveiled several plates and baskets with dim sum, as well as a bowl of rice and a bowl of soup for each of us.
“I understand that the news you seek is of our unique worlds of Earth, Chaos, Cassandra, and Crossroads, and not simply of current affairs on Earth,” I said. He nodded. “Wars and rumors of wars,” I laughed. “As far as I know there has been no wide-ranging conflict since the slaver wars. I was not around during that time. This is only my fifth mission.”
“Get through this one and you exceed the average,” he nodded.
“The heartlands, the Rider Citadel, and the kingdoms of Malcolm and Sid, I understand, are stable since the slaver wars, but have also seen some deterioration. I do not know if any of those heroes are still active, though certainly songs of the heroes continue to be very popular. My own mentor was killed on Chaos some time ago and left me his ring and portal. My caretaker on Crossroads is, I am sure, of the caliber you remember from your journeys.” He smiled with some wistful memory crossing his face.
“I remember Caretaker Mei-Xing fondly,” he sighed. “I loved her every bit as much as Danny did and she loved me as well. You know caretakers and companions often develop as close a relationship as caretakers and their heroes. After all, we spend most of our time together while our hero is rewarding his damsel,” he laughed. Lees blushed. He noticed and raised an eyebrow.
“I was a bit of an unusual case,” I said. “I was hit by an auto and crippled. Lees was my caretaker on earth and pretty much carried me on my first trip to Crossroads. The powers that be indicated that… he should continue to be my caretaker on Earth and Chaos.”
“I hear the hesitation in your voice.” He looked at Legs and back at me with that canting of his eyebrow that indicated a question.
“She knows,” I said. He turned back to Lees. “Mistress Lees…”
“Lisa,” she whispered. He nodded.
“Lisa Caretaker, welcome to my humble dwelling. You will always find sanctuary in my abode.”
“Thank you,” Lisa whispered. Legs was practically dancing in her seat as she listened to the conversation, but wisely kept her mouth shut. “And this, then, I take it is your companion. Surely you must have a better name than Legs, dear.”
“Allegra,” she whispered, practically mimicking Lisa’s voice.
“Allegra is not technically my companion,” I said. “Though the granddaughter of a hero and his Chaosian paramour, she is considered a native of Chaos.”
“And to you, Bright Flower, I extend my welcome and open invitation as well,” he said. Legs blushed brightly. “Now tell me, have you found your damsel? What is your status and what service may I offer?”
“I have found her. She is in the hands of the dwarf who owns the circus. I may have to kill him to get her away,” I said.
“Don’t,” Chang said abruptly. “Within the territories that I govern, you will find customs somewhat different than in the North. Even than in other districts of the South. You must remember that Chaos was planted with people and entire villages from the twelfth century. While still primitive by our twenty-first century standards, the Chinese development was far superior to the Europeans who suffered through the Dark Ages. The Jurchen Dynasty that started in Manchuria established dominion over much of modern-day China and there was a proliferation of arts as well as some industrialization. The people here in southern Chaos have held most of their crafts secret and export only finished goods, not the skills to make them.”
“I have noticed a significant difference in both the products and the willingness to share,” I said.
“But I grew up a child of Mao,” Chang said. “My father and mother were both in the Red Brigade. Though I have no use for communism myself, there were elements of his regime that I have implemented under my lordship of the area. So, rules are somewhat different here than they are in the North. For example, any man who kills another, other than in an act of war, is summarily executed. People do not enhance their wealth here by defeating others in combat. The wealth of both parties is distributed equally among their heirs, so do not think I have acquired mine by preventing others from inheriting. In other offenses, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. It may seem primitive in your day of lawyers and judges, but it is effective in maintaining order here in our district.”
“That is very good information to know,” I said. “So, if I have to kill him, I’ll be sure to wait until I am far north.”
“Use other means. You are a clever man with quick fingers. Remember, though, that if you simply steal her and are caught, he may demand many different forms of recompense. That will extend well into your next visit should you escape to a bank with her. You would have to stay out of the South if you violate the code and escape.”
I sighed. As much as I loathed killing people, having my options limited like this might even be worse. Now that I had the circus working and performing better, I was going to have to start working on Bandy.
Our meal was finished with baozi, steamed buns with a sweet paste filling. We thanked our host and returned to the caravan. Three days later, after filling the house for each of our performances, we packed our wagons and moved onward.
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