Wishbone: Chapter 12

After a stop in the kitchen to eat cold roast veal, Sir went to bed. Wishbone waited as long as he could stand, then knocked on Terefar's door until the servant came out, hastily dressed and groggy.

"What does three nights mean?" Wishbone asked him.

"It's jiadzi. A dueling forfeit, or sometimes a punishment. One shih-aan becomes the property of another for a brief time. Three nights is traditional. Why?"

"It's how Sir is compensating Ah Jiniráo for sharpening his fighting skills."

Terefar's eyes opened wide. "Oh, really."

"I still don't understand."

"The loser becomes property of the winner for three nights. And the two days between, of course. He has no rights during this time and may be used in any way the winner chooses. Permanent injuries are rare, since the fines are enormous."

"Property? As we are to Sir?"

"Exactly," said Terefar. "It's not such a horrible thing as you seem to think from the look on your face. It's no worse than what would have happened had enshan lost a duel, and this way he avoids an admission of fault.

"In this case, Ah Jiniráo gets paid twice. He gets to pound enshan into the ground for weeks of practice fights, then he gets his three nights of jiadzi. He'll forgive a lot for that. But you haven't said anything about how enshan is."

"Oh. The physician seems to think he's fine, though he looks awfully sore to me."

Terefar glanced down the hall at...