Mîn Jíng and Sī skipped along the storefront road brightly lit by rows of colorful lanterns, some that were hanging and others on posts tied to buildings and shops. The air was still cool in the early spring, and the occasional breeze blew the smell of local dishes and fragrant flower pouches all around.

 As Mîn Jíng closed her eyes to envelop her mind with the scents and sounds, she bumped into a group of drunken men leaving a nearby tavern. Her eyelids flew open and she stopped suddenly before them.

 “Forgive me,” she apologized with a short, courteous bow.

 She took Sī’s hand and attempted to walk around them, but the one she had run into stopped her. He laughed and held onto her arm.

 “Why in such a hurry?” he asked with a menacing grin.

 He pulled her closer as she struggled against his grip.

 “I told you we could find better company out here than in the brothel,” he joked with his friends.  

 One of the men stroked her hair as another man took hold of Sī’s arms.

 “They’re much cleaner, too,” he replied.

 “Fourteen? Fifteen?” pondered another as he took Sī’s soft pale hand to examine the meticulous care of her skin and nails.

 “Almost too old for me,” laughed the one pressing Mîn Jíng ever closer against himself.

 The strong odor of wine made her dizzy.

 The men surrounded both young women and began to move them onto a street not as well-lit as the main roads. Mîn Jíng struggled against their movement and was about to lift her mask to call out to familiar villagers. 

 As her hand touched the edge of the mask, two of the four men were hit and landed onto the ground beside her. A third was grabbed from behind and shoved to the ground.

 She spun around in time to see a man standing before her in her butterfly mask. She heard her fourth attacker grunt in pain as he was hit and landed onto the ground behind her with his cohorts.

 The sounds of the fighting seemed distant as she stared up into the shining black orbs beneath the eyeholes of the mask she knew so well. Two other men in masks walked around her to stand behind him, brushing off their clothes as the four assailants stumbled and ran away.

 “Are you hurt, Miss?” asked the man in her mask.

Jié Qiáng quickly looked her over as he waited for her reply. All she could do was silently give her head a shake in answer, awestruck at their fortuitous meeting.

 He inhaled deeply, still shaken with adrenaline as he had pushed through people to get to her in time.

 She looked around and noticed the dangerous men were gone. He and his friends had saved her, like the butterfly in her story that inspired his mask.

 “I ... I like your mask,” she managed to say through the excitement building inside.

Her voice was soft and sweet and sent shivers through his heart. Sī cleared her throat to warn Mîn Jíng about the familiarity and moved closer to her.

 “Beautiful,” Jié Qiáng replied in a deep whisper. He cleared his throat and expanded on his reply. “Your mask ... it’s beautiful.”

 She breathed deeply and smiled at his nervousness, relieved she wasn’t the only one and happy he felt the same.

 “Thank you,” she replied and relaxed a little as her earlier fear subsided. “Thank you for the compliment and thank you for saving me.”

 “You shouldn’t be here unescorted,” he cautioned. “Even if you know your surroundings, there are men like those waiting to take advantage of your confidence.”

 She softly laughed and folded her hands delicately at her waist.

 “You sound like my brothers,” she told him.

Sī nudged her in an effort to silence her from saying too much and becoming too friendly, but Mîn Jíng was entranced by this encounter.

 He laughed at the absurdity of being compared to a brother. He wanted very much to express to her how unlike a brother he could be.

It occurred to him then that they could be somewhere nearby. Would they somehow recognize him?

 “Are they here?” he asked, looking carefully around.

 Yǒng Ming and Yáng Ning were alerted by his question and paid more attention to the crowd.

 “No,” she answered, ignoring Sī’s quiet gasp at her dangerous honesty. “They were supposed to bring me like they do every year, but they were called away.”

 As soon as the words escaped her lips, she wanted to swallow them back. This man may have saved her, but how was she to know if he wasn’t simply taking her for his own misdeeds? She should have been able to feel the answer, but her senses strangely ran amuck in his presence.

 “We know most of the people here,” she quickly continued. “All of the shopkeepers are my friends. I was about to call out for help when you arrived.”

 He grinned at the confirmation of his earlier assumption, but the smile faded. Her faith in these people made her too arrogant and brave.

 “And if they covered your mouth and dragged you away?” Yáng Ning impatiently asked.

 “Yáng Ning!” Jié Qiáng snapped with a sideways glance.

 She should be educated about the flaws in her escape plan, but he didn’t want to ruin the moment by frightening her again.

 Yáng Ning huffed and continued to observe the crowd. He didn’t like how many people were around. His ability to protect his young master would be hampered by innocent lives of the enemy realm.

 “Forgive my friend,” Jié Qiáng told her. “The other here is my older brother.”

 “We should move to a less populated area,” Yǒng Ming suggested.

 He directed them to walk to a relatively clear spot away from vendors and shops.

 Mîn Jíng and Sī went with them, and Mîn took note of their swords.

 “Too rich for commoners,” she noted to herself, “just like their clothes.”

 She took special care observing the one hanging from the belt of the man in her mask. The hilt and scabbard appeared to have been engraved by the quality of artisan only the royals could afford but looked nothing like those from the palace.

 “Officials’ sons?” she pondered. “Rich merchants?” 

 As they reached a closed booth, she deliberately brushed passed him to examine his scent. She closed her eyes to recall the fragrance from his hair. It was nothing with which she was familiar.

 “Better?” Jié Qiáng asked Yǒng Ming.

 Yǒng Ming looked around and huffed once more.

 “It would be better if we returned home,” he answered.

 She took note of the worry in his tone as he spoke to her mysterious mask wearer. The friend called Yáng Ning looked troubled, as well, as he paced from side to side and kept an eye on everyone around them.

At any rate, none of them seemed interested in hurting her. She decided if her brothers couldn’t be her escorts, these heroic men would do.

 “Is this your first time here?” she asked.

 Jié Qiáng nodded. “We’ve traveled a long way to explore the kingdom. I doubt we’ll have the good fortune to make our way here again.”

“Oh,” she replied, sad at the news this was the only time they would meet. 

“They’re about release the lanterns,” she told him, hiding the disappointment behind a delighted tone. “I can bring you to a vendor who sells the prettiest ones and show you the best place to send them off.”

 He smiled and was about to agree when Yáng Ning moved closer to his ear.

 “It’s inappropriate,” he reminded him.

 Yǒng Ming nodded as he heard the advice. It was his duty to keep his brother out of trouble before the wedding.

 Jié Qiáng sighed impatiently and looked to the sky.

 “It’s only lanterns,” he argued.

 He looked down again and into her bright eyes. The deep black reflected the glow of the candles lighting the decorations along the street.

She returned his gaze from beneath the eyeholes of the glistening crane mask, and he knew his memory would never escape their magic. He suspected the longer he was with her, the more rebellious he would become toward his arranged marriage, but he didn’t care.

 She watched the men closely and wondered why they were suspicious about a young girl. Perhaps they thought she would bring him more trouble.

 “As soon as I’ve guided you to the right place, we can go our separate ways,” she told them regretfully. “I have to return home soon.”

 He smiled slightly as he intended not to let her go so quickly.

 “See?” he offered his brother and guard.

 Before Yǒng Ming and Yáng Ning could stop him, he walked away with her in the lead.