Anshi left his yurt early the next morning, as he usually did every day. He slipped out in the dark before dawn and began to walk the camp, greeting the sentries as they guarded the parameters and leaving each man with the feeling of pride that he had singled each out for his attention. He never varied this routine; it was his obsession, this time to make sure his people were safe and secure. It eased the ghosts that haunted him and drove away echoes of terrified screams, the smell of thick, metallic blood, and the visions of scattered loved ones. This time was as vital to him as breathing.

As he neared the yurts granted to the regiment that had accompanied High Minister Han, he was startled to see every man and bodyguard already awake and active. They had gathered in a circle around Han, and they were doing calisthenics.

Each personal bodyguard was huge, well over six feet tall, and at least 200 lbs. Their builds were massive and perfectly muscled. Each movement was coordinated and even in the morning chill, lit by firelight, they gleamed with sweat.  Han surprised him. The man was as tall but slim and he was dressed simply in a white tunic and exercising with them. As if sensing his presence, the Minister wove his way through the men and walked towards Anshi, wiping down with a towel.

"Pardon my appearance but I take exercise every morning with my men."

Anshi nodded. "You bodyguards are renowned. I am impressed."

'You have heard? Yes, they have been hand-picked by me for the job."

"Then the rumors..." Anshi stopped, nonplussed at where to go with his train of thought.

Han smiled. 'Yes. Are you shocked? Every one of them is a eunuch, such as me. In our little segment of this world, people look at us as less than worthy. I decided to prove the world wrong. When I began to carve out my powerbase, I gathered and built a group that I could trust to protect me without question."

Anshi raised an eyebrow. This man was full of surprises.

Han smiled wryly. "You are not alone in finding ways to survive, rebuild, and self-protect. I went to the training schools set aside for the palace eunuchs. I went looking for those whose 'altering' came later than mine, whose physical development was not hindered at a much earlier age."

"I see."

"I offered them a chance to escape their dreary futures, The right to a semblance of dignity. I am dedicated to them and they are devoted to me. Will you join me for tea?"

"Thank you."

Han spoke to his men. "Eat and be ready in two hours. Bring food for the shift around my yurt. Thank you, you are dismissed."

The yurt was like the man, spartan, organized, efficient, and cold. There was no sense of home or indulgence. The only thing out of place was a coiled whip on a nail pounded into one of the wall lattices. Han noted his startled attention. "I keep that with me at all times. Our former Crown Prince was a...diligent master. I keep it to remind myself that nothing is permanent and that everything can disappear at any time. I want to never slip into complacency or overconfidence and his tool of personal power keeps it fresh for me. There are traces of both of us on that thing, You were not the only one punished the night he turned his back on you."

"Is this your way of bonding with me? If so, it is a curious one."

"Not at all. It is just what happened. I will remove it if you wish."

"No. It means nothing to me. I nullified him a long time ago. He matters nothing to me now."

Anshi's mind was not, however, doing as well as he had hoped. And he felt a memory press in, one he had shoved aside for a while now.

**********

The Crown Prince thrashed on his bed. The migraines had returned to full force. He could not sleep; his mind was in constant turmoil. Ghosts haunted his every thought, and he knew they wanted him, his life, his very soul. He had to have his Singer back, no matter what it took. No matter what Chief Eunuch Han said, or his father, the King said, he wanted Jalgiz, his lonely boy, back.

"Jalgiz..." he murmured brokenly.

"I am here, Most Benevolent Highness," and a dark shadow detached itself from the furthest corner of the room, near a window that had been quietly opened.

The Crowned Prince bolted upright and pushed himself back as far as he could on his sleeping platform.

"Who...who are you?"

The figure walked slowly into the furthest edge of the lantern's light and stood perfectly still while a flicker of light touched on iridescent green eyes. Anshi appraised the man on the bed.

"I received your message in person. It was delivered by your assassins most emphatically. We answered it back in equal measure and more. None have returned to you, have they? But I have come. Isn't this what you wanted? Jalgiz back again?"

Jalgiz? Is it you?"

"That was never my real name, but you may call me that. I do not wish to hear you use my given name. You wanted me to come back, Your Exalted Majesty. Why? I failed to please you once. What is it you want of me?"

"I... I was wrong. I should have had more patience. Outwaited your change into manhood. I am sorry, I lost my temper."

"I see. And how may I offer you my assistance now?"

"I want you to stay here. I cannot sleep. It is so much worse than when you helped me before. I cannot bear it."

"Your Royal Highness, is that all you want?"

"I will give you anything. Anything you ask."

'Perhaps my voice is not what you think it is. The changes may not be to your liking. It has been a long time and I have been through a lot in that time. What if I disappoint you in some way? I was very frightened that day and for a long time afterward, I refused to sing."

"I wish I had never sent you away."

"For a long time, I waited, sure that I would be sent for. I waited for you to stop the first slave auction. I wanted my savior to save me again."

"Is it too late?"

Anshi moved to the bed and gestured to it.

"May I? Like old times?"

The red eyes suddenly gleamed with hope.

"Of course. Of course." He looked at Anshi in amazement.

"You grew up. You are quite handsome. The clothes are of fine quality."

"I have a fine family. One person, the only one that I am aware of who survived the attack on my tribe, found me and freed me. I am now adopted by the Lan Sect. "

"The Lan Sect of Gusu? Cloud Recesses?"

"The Lan Sect Master, and the Lan Sect Leader, as well as his Husband are my adoptive Brothers. I am content. I am finally loved and part of a family once more. Yet 5 men and 1 woman died trying to save me from assassins, recently."

"How did you survive?"

"They had orders not to kill me. I killed 15 of them myself. So, you see, it would take a lot for me to change my situation. I like where I am."

The prince began to rub his forehead and Anshi shifted a bit and crossed his legs, lotus style. He reached up slowly and touched the older man's shoulders, a gesture so familiar and natural to them both. The older man looked into the emerald eyes and saw nothing but a softness there, as he remembered from the child, Jalgiz. He could not resist the implied offer and laid his head on Anshi's lap. And Anshi began to rub his temples in rhythmic circles. He could feel the prince release the tension in his neck and shoulders as Anshi massaged the throbbing veins in his forehead.

What is it you want, my Beloved Highness?"

"I want peace. I want freedom, the same freedom you sang about, the freedom of your homeland. I want your love back. I want to hear you sing."

"I am no longer a child, who loved you unconditionally, who looked for a father no matter what that father turned out to be. No matter what that loyalty cost me. At that time, I adored you. And in the end, I was destroyed once more. But I can do this one thing you asked first. I can and will, bring you peace. I can and will sing to you again."

The Crowned Prince grew still. Anshi's hand has topped moving, and a firmness began to blossom in those eyes, making them hard and sharp. The prince tried to rise but Anshi held him down firmly, one hand pressing hard on the forehead and the other leaning painfully against his breastbone.

"I have learned a lot from the martial teachings of Lan Sect. If I desired it, I could kill you with one blow, Highness, or with one note, like I used to kill the force you sent to abduct me."

Anshi flicked his hand and then returned it to the man's forehead.

"What did you just do?"

"Covered this room with a Quiet Spell. No one can hear us now."

The prince suddenly looked terrified. " What can I give you to make you go away?"

Anshi laughed ironically. "So now you want me to leave? Just like that? Well, let me see. You cannot give me back my dead. But I will sing to you one final time."

"No. I have decided I will not do this. I no longer want to hear you sing."

"Ah. You are afraid I will use this voice to kill you. Nothing could be further from the truth. But you do have a son. A small boy that can fill your place. I hear his mother is kind and gentle and will most likely impart that to him. Your country needs a period free of fear, and since your father is old and will not last much longer, she would be a perfect Regent until your child's majority. Is this not so, Chief Eunuch Han?

From the same corner, emerged the dour and rigid form of Anshi's trainer. He had gotten taller, which was expected, but he was still amazingly youthful and handsome. Yet, for some reason, he had kept his eyes on the floor for the entire time he had entered the room. His hands were clenched tightly together in front of him. He looked...disturbed. Yet when he spoke, he spoke firmly and with conviction, and in full accord with his former pupil.

"That is so, Lan Anshi. That is so."

"You, filthy traitor!" screamed the prince.

"He is no traitor. Your line will continue, and he will advise the Crown Princess in her Regency. And you will be allowed to live. No more fear, no more anger, just a simple and uneventful existence."

Anshi settled in, still holding the prince, firmly at first. He began a low and soothing song, and he held tightly as the prince screamed and fought for a while. The struggle lasted longer than Anshi expected. The prince fought, desperate to save that all-consuming hatred he held dear, that ugliness that made him who he was. Finally, some tension began to leach out of the man, and his eyes met Anshi with a puzzled look, mixed with fear and confusion. Ashi kept singing, gentle and comforting, and the struggles lessened. The terror ebbed and their eyes met again. A questioning appeared in the prince's eyes; his cries eased, and he spoke for the first time.

"Is it...is it always like this? I feel lighter, somehow. Can you stop now?"

Anshi shook his head, tears filling his eyes, his natural compassion warring with what he had to do. He continued to sing. There was a point when the prince looked up and a lone tear fell down his cheek.

"I can see it all now. I am sorry."

Anshi nodded and continued to sing, but at this point, he released his grip on the sweating forehead and tremoved the hand from the chest.

The prince's eyes became dreamy and he looked up, deep into the sea of green before him

"It is nicer than I thought."

Anshi persisted, singing this final song, but to a man with the eyes of a boy; a boy no younger than he had been when Jalgiz was first created. A boy who looked up at him with happiness and trust and no memory of what had just occurred. A boy, yet a man who would be that five-year-old forever.

When the song ended, he helped the prince into a sitting position.

"Who are you?"

"I am just a dream you once had. When you go to sleep tonight, you will no longer have them and will not remember me."

"Oh. Alright."

"Now lay down and go to sleep"

The prince did as he was asked, and Chief Eunuch Han approached. He started to touch Anshi's shoulder and the younger man flinched.

'i am sorry. I was too forward." The Eunuch drew discreetly away.

"At least his madness is harmless now. See to it that he is cared for and that the newly Crowned Prince is raised well by his mother. You do not want another visit from me."

The Chief Eunuch took a pace backward and bowed. The bow was not returned, and Anshi dropped from the open window, stepped on his sword, and flew from the palace as silently as he came.

Anshi looked up and saw the same memory reflected in Han's steel-grey eyes. They sat on cushions around a simple table. Han whisked the tea into a froth, then poured the mixture into two cups. They began to sip, uneasy and silent, waiting for recollection to pass and for the thick, shared atmosphere to begin to clear once more.

A/N In Anshi, Lost Eagle of the Steppes, I will, upon occasion, use passages from Meng's Revenge (which is the third book From the Life Among the Clouds trilogy) so that those who have not read the trilogy and have not had a proper introduction to him, and a myriad of other characters introduced in Life Among the Clouds, can understand his backstory more fully.