Soundless(61)

I touch her arm gently, and she flinches, at first not recognizing me with my strange clothes and dirty face. Then joy fills her tear-stained features. She leaps to her feet and throws her arms around me. Fei! she says when we have broken apart. I didn’t know what happened to you. Everything got so confusing. What is going on? Who are those people?

They are the king’s soldiers, I say. Now that we know the truth, they have come to try to enslave us. We have a plan to save ourselves, but first I wanted to make sure you’re safe. I glance back at the assembled apprentices and servants who have come with Li Wei and me. Someone will take you back to the Peacock Court’s underground storage rooms, where you can wait safely.

Zhang Jing shakes her head adamantly. No. Wherever you’re going, I’m coming with you.

I hesitate. While I’m quick to run into danger on my own, I’m less willing to get her involved. She is still my sister, still the one I protect, and I’d rather see her safely hidden away with the elders. But there is a fire in her eyes, and something tells me she is not going to go so easily.

I mean it, Fei, she says. Let me come with you. Whatever it is, I’m not afraid.

We can use her help, Li Wei notes. I can tell he is anxious about the delay. Plus, we won’t diminish our numbers this way.

I am part of this village, Zhang Jing adds fiercely. This is my fight too.

I can’t stand against both of them, and reluctantly, I agree. There’s at least a small comfort in having her within my sight.

We backtrack toward the village, still moving covertly. Li Wei scouts ahead, searching for roaming bands of soldiers. We want them to catch us, but walking right up to them is out of the question. Our capture has to look as “natural” as possible, raising little suspicion.

Li Wei comes hurrying back, his face a mix of nerves and excitement. Up ahead, he says. There are three soldiers patrolling.

We move in on the soldiers’ position, walking clumsily through the trees so as to make a lot of noise. The ruse works, and moments later we find ourselves surrounded by the three soldiers, who unwittingly think they’ve captured a group of hapless villagers trying to flee. We act appropriately frightened as they raise their swords—really, there’s not much acting required for that—and Li Wei makes it look as though he is about to run. This earns him a blow to the head that makes me wince, but it convinces the soldiers there is nothing special about our particular group. With swords still drawn, they surround us and march us back in the direction of the mines. I exchange a glance with Li Wei as we walk, and although he is careful to keep his expression appropriately cowed, I see a fierceness in his eyes as our plan begins to unfold.

Back at the mine, the number of captured villagers has swelled, and the chained prisoners who came up the mountain have joined the group. It looks as though there are still some people hiding within the mines, but the soldiers are busy keeping the gathered prisoners in line and seem to be engaged in some type of sorting. One of the soldiers in our group shouts something, attracting the attention of a man who seems to be in charge. He glances over at us, looking surprised. My guess is that they probably thought they’d captured everyone by now. A party our size is unexpected.

He strolls over and assesses us, making some quick decisions. With a few gestures, he splits us into two groups. One is me, Zhang Jing, the boy whose clothes I took, and another young girl. Li Wei is with the others in the second group. I realize immediately that we’ve been sorted by size and strength, and the soldier indicates that Li Wei’s group should join another similarly sized group. Zhang Jing and I are sent to a cluster of prisoners consisting mostly of smaller-sized women and young children. I catch Li Wei’s eye as we move in different directions, and the message is clear: The plan must proceed.

Beyond him, I see the soldier in charge speaking with one of the prisoners from the plateau. The soldier makes those unintelligible sounds, and the prisoner follows his face avidly. I realize this must be the man who can read lips. Moments later, he turns and speaks to Li Wei’s group, using the same sign language Nuan did: They are going to send you into the mines to work. They say if you are diligent and do as you’re told, your lives will be spared. Although his signs say one thing, his expression conveys something entirely different. The other prisoners notice this.

Is that really true? Li Wei asks.

The man hesitates only a moment before answering: Probably not. But what choice do we have?

I turn to look at the group clustered near me. There are soldiers surrounding us, but we are not under as heavy a guard as Li Wei’s group. We are not chained. Because we are smaller, they probably see us as less of a threat. Knowing that this is the moment we’ve been waiting for, I signal to a group of women on the other side of Zhang Jing. I keep my motions small, so as not to attract much attention from the guards. I think few of them can understand us, but I don’t want to take the chance.

Pay attention, I say. There is a way to save us all, but it requires everyone participating. When I give the signal, you must all cry out.

One woman looks at me as if I am crazy. Cry out? she questions.

I can’t blame her. Although we make involuntary cries and screams all the time—in fact, there is a great deal of sorrowful sound around me even now—it is not something my people deliberately do. After all, none of us can hear the sounds when others make them. Instead, it is a residual instinct, something we acknowledge we do in times of great emotion. There is nothing more to it—until now.