Date: Unspecified
Time: Unspecified
Location: Zhongguo (China), Liaodong Province, Shuntian Prefecture, Shenyang City
"Red hair, where are you coming from?"
The head guard broke away from his men and approached the donkey cart, leaving the others to inspect crates and baggage in the long queue of merchants and travelers waiting to enter the capital. His gaze lingered openly on the two red-haired women seated in the cart. It was not a common sight in Zhong Guo, and certainly not one that arrived alone without banners, soldiers, or a noble convoy.
Martha felt her expression tighten at the crude address. Red hair. As though that were an identity.
Without argument, she reached into her sleeve and withdrew a golden token engraved with the imperial sigil of the Zhong Guo imperial family. She held it up calmly and said evenly, "We are guests of the imperial family."
