As Ghostdog wipes the dirt from the blade he gives me a sidelong look. “If you’re talking about imperial troops hanging you for guarding an illegal caravan, I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it. The law says they could, but trained warriors are too valuable to waste these days. You would have to work off your penalty by serving in the army for a time, you and your retainers both, though I think you’ll get a pass for destroying the last remnant of a failed rebellion. 

"Put on your haughty face, show them the Young Lord’s katana, and the ambush site if they need further proof. Browbeat the captain enough and his patrol will probably help you escort the caravan.” A nagging suspicion comes clear in my mind and it must show on my face, for Ghostdog cocks his head the same way Tiny does. “What’s wrong?”

I take a deep breath. Father always told me a knight must never let what he feels show on his face, and I school mine into stillness before I answer him. “The wine merchant said nothing of this road being illegal to travel on, only that it is lightly patrolled and frequented by bandits.”

Ghostdog gives me a sardonic smile. “Did you think only the Daemo tell lies? Men lie better than Daemo, and merchants better than both. But now that you know what he…absently…forgot to mention, we can confront him with the knowledge when the caravan reaches the city of Yellow Willows and extort more money out of him for your family.”

I hardly know what to say to his proposal, so instead bring up something else. “This Chai that the creature spoke of, who is she?”

Ghostdog sheathes the short sword into the scabbard at his side as he schools his own face into stillness. “Chai is a purple-eyed Daemo sorceress; powerful, beautiful, and driven to get whatever she wants. Before I left she was part of the emperor’s inner circle, but I don’t know what her status with the empire is now.”

A memory comes back to me from the darkest time in my life. “This Chai, is she human looking but thin, with dark hair, a pale face and large eyes?”

Ghostdog raises his eyebrows. “Does this Daemo have ears like the moon when she is but a sliver,” he says, holding his thumb and forefinger in a half circle, “with little bells dangling from the top like earrings?”

I nod, taking a deep breath as I remember that time. “I was there when my father was executed, in the great fortress where General Black-thunder holds court. There were several Daemo along with the general, and the Daemo Chai was one of them.”

Ghostdog’s face has become troubled. “No doubt the emperor sent his uncle to be the Warden of the West and quell the rebellion once and for all, and Chai is probably the most powerful of the Daemo sorceress’s in the empire, so that makes sense.” He looks at me. “Next to the general was there a knight in ancient looking armor who kept his face plate on at all times?”

“Yes there was; I thought he looked like something out of a painting from the old empire, except his armor was red as blood, including his face plate.”

Ghostdog is nodding thoughtfully. “He’s an ancient Daemo, the only one of his kind to become an imperial knight. Normally the emperors keep him beside them as an adviser, but if he’s here in the west then Emperor Black-dragon-sun feels secure enough to put him to good use. No wonder the rebellion went to the dogs like it did.”

I am staring at Ghostdog in shock. “You cannot be serious. The Arms-Master is a legend, something father used to threaten us with when we misbehaved.”

“He actually does look like something out of your worst nightmare when he takes off the armor,” the sardonic smile returning to Ghostdog’s face as he speaks, “but I’m telling you the truth: the Daemo you saw is the same one the Daemo prince Lord Battle sent as his emissary, hundreds upon hundreds of years ago. He’s actually quite easy to talk to, once you get over his resemblance to an undead skeletal monster. 

"The first time I met him, I nicknamed him ‘Syr Skull’, which made him laugh. He called me ‘Squire Ghost’, and asked the emperor permission to train me in the way of the ‘Warrior’s Path’, which is not only fighting with blades but other weapons as well, and even no weapons at all. The emperor agreed, insisting I also needed to learn the Code, so he taught me that while teaching me to fight.”

I decide I do not want to learn more about a Daemo resembling an old corpse. “What about the Daemo Chai? Does she know you well?”

His face becomes still as a pool of water in the hour before dawn. “Let’s just say we have history. I can hear the caravan coming, so I’ll take this fox and move her to a safe place before I continue scouting.”

Ghostdog kneels next to the animal, who tries to bite him even though her body is immobile. But he deftly moves his hand behind the animal’s head and holds it firm so she cannot go after him. As he rises to his feet I try to make sense of his actions. “Why are you doing this? The animal would savage you if she had a chance.”

“Foxes are sacred to the goblin-kin who maintain the aqueduct here. Besides, if I didn’t save her, then who would?” Ghostdog turns away from me and begins walking towards the opposite end of the ruin. “Get the caravan in a defensive position while I do a long scout. I’ll be back sometime after nightfall.”

Ghostdog continues walking away from me down the flagstone road, the small animal in his hands, as I hear footsteps behind me coming closer. I glance back to see Grandfather a few paces away, Tiny and my two squires at the front of the caravan, which is beginning to roll through the ancient stone gate. I turn back towards Ghostdog as the old man joins me. “Ghostdog is a madman,” I say in way of a greeting.

“When the times are mad,” he replies, “a madman will profit.”

I give Grandfather a disgusted look but he only smiles.