Chapter 7: Dawn at the Gate

The Sect Lord received Azure Peak in the Gate Court, in the open air.

He kept them standing in the cold for a quarter of an hour.

Shi Wen stood at his right elbow with a cup of hot ginger water and tried to look like furniture.

It was the only kind of protecting he had been trained for.

Forty disciples in pale blue filled the court.

At their head walked an old man with a silver beard and a gentle face.

Beside him walked a young man with a sword on his back.

Shi Wen knew them both from the page.

Zhu Hongdao, Master of Azure Peak, head of the Nine-Sect Accord, four hundred years old and kind to everyone.

Qi Yunchuan, the Young Sword, twenty-four, the hero of Dawnbreak and the man who was going to kill the person in the chair.

In the book, the hero had a smile that made readers fall in love with him.

On the page that sentence had been a compliment.

In the court, in daylight, it was a smile, and it was aimed at Shi Wen.

"Lord Duan," said the Peak Master, bowing as far as the Charter required. "Thank you for your welcome."

"I have not welcomed you," said the Lord.

"Then thank you for your patience."

"You are not welcome either. State your business and go."

The old man smiled, patiently.

"The Accord comes under the Charter," said Zhu Hongdao. "It has been sixty years since the Sword Terrace was sealed."

"By the old agreement, the Terrace opens again for the Tournament of Nine Sects, and the host valley receives its guests."

"I sealed it," said the Lord.

"For sixty years, as the Charter permits," said Zhu Hongdao. "No longer."

Shi Wen felt the Lord's hand tighten on the arm of the chair.

The Young Sword had taken a step forward.

The sword on his back was in a white-gold scabbard, and when he moved the scabbard hummed, very faintly, on one high note.

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