The tea had gone cold.
I didn't mind. It hadn't really been worth drinking to begin with.
Zhu Mingyu hadn't moved in some time, but I could tell his mind hadn't stopped once. His fingers hovered over a southern map, tracing paths no soldier had taken in years. That, in itself, was the problem.
I don't even know if those maps were still accurate. You needed up-to-date information before making any type of decision, but there were no cellphones here; any information would be weeks old at best by the time it got to Zhu Mingyu.
He must know that just as well as I did, and the whitening of his knuckles let me know he wasn't quite as stupid as he sometimes appeared to be. He didn't speak, and neither did I. Silence stretched between us, companionable but taut. I liked it. There were worse people to share silence with.
Then came the knock.
