Matilda -The Story Mat Trilogy : Book 2

by Burt Candy

  Suddenly the trip was over and the Story Mat gently lowered her to the ground. She stepped off the mat to see that she was on the outskirts of a city. A large sign over the entrance read “Shi Guang” - the City of Light. The Story Mat rolled itself up and disappeared.

  As Matilda stood there, a rickshaw wheeled by a tall slim man wearing a blue silk uniform and a conical hat came out of the entrance and stopped in front of her. The man bowed his head and put his hands together in front of him in greeting. Despite his pleasant manner he seemed to be sad.

  “Welcome to Shi Guang, the City of Light,” said the man. “We have been waiting for you. My name is Lam Quong and I have been sent to transport you to our honourable Emperor's Dragon Palace. Please be seated in my humble rickshaw.”

  “Thank you, Quong,” replied Matilda, making sure to use the man's individual name which, in the oriental custom, was always given last, the family name coming first. She climbed carefully into the rickshaw and, standing between the carriage's shafts, the man set off at a fast pace through the entrance and into the city.

  The streets were cobblestones which made for a bumpy ride but Matilda was too engrossed in the scenery to worry. The houses were rather small, one-storey buildings, mostly made of wood with thatched roofs, although there were stone-walled houses intermingled with them. The majority looked as if they could be blown away in a good storm but were neatly maintained and showed personal pride. People in attractive dress sat outside in the morning sun, most men and women in colourful jackets and loose black trousers with conical hats on their heads. Matilda noticed that they all seemed to be unhappy, staring out into the distance from the fronts of their houses and not responding when she waved to them.

  Chapter 5

  The Dragon Palace

  After almost half an hour of bouncing through the streets and lanes, the rickshaw finally emerged into an enormous square or plaza. At the top of this area, which was covered in flowery gardens, sculptured shrubs, gentle waterfalls and gravelled paths, stood the palace that Matilda had seen in the crystal ball. It was huge, with the traditional sloping roofs of the orient and covered in dragon symbols. Lam Quong pulled the rickshaw to a halt at the bottom of steps leading up to the doors of the palace where uniformed guards holding spears stood at attention.

  “Why is everybody so sad?” Matilda asked as she once again noticed how sad the soldiers were.

  Taking her by the elbow and guiding her up the steps, Quong replied, “All will become clear when you are in the palace. The guards will not stop you as they were also told of your expected arrival. They will sound the gong to have the doors opened for you.” With those words he returned to his rickshaw and ran back towards the city.

  Matilda continued up the steps. As she reached the top, one of the guards put down his spear and walked over to a huge gong situated beside the palace doors. He lifted a large leather hammer and struck the gong which gave out a loud and long bong sound. The doors to the palace opened and an old man, with a wispy white beard and dressed in a deep blue silk gown, walked out.

  “Welcome to the Dragon Palace, Matilda. My name is Wu Enlai. I am the Grand Vizier of the Province of the Dragon, First Assistant to the Emperor. We have been expecting you but I am afraid this is not a good time for your studies. However, I'm sure we can make do somehow.”

  Matilda was taken aback. “I'm so sorry that I have arrived at an unsatisfactory time,” she apologised, “but Maximilian didn't tell me that I would be intruding.”

  “Of course not,” Wu Enlai hurried to explain. “There would be no way for Maximilian to have known. The misadventure only occurred last night.”

  “Misadventure?” Matilda queried.

  “All will be explained to you soon,” answered the old man signalling with his hand. “Come, there are refreshments awaiting you in the Greeting Chamber.” He turned and shuffled inside.

  Matilda followed and entered a large entrance room with tapestries of dragons covering the walls. The furniture was made up of low tables and luxurious lounges covered in dark blue silk. Pretty silk cushions in a riot of colours were sprinkled around. Blazing torches in brackets on the walls provided light to the dark room. There were jugs of peach juice and crystal glasses on a table.

  “Please be seated,” instructed Wu Enlai, “and have a cooling drink. Somebody will be with you shortly to assist you in settling in.” With that the old man continued to the end of the room and disappeared through another door.

  Chapter 6

  Choy Jia

  “Peri,” Matilda whispered, and the little fairy appeared on her shoulder. “What do you think?”

  “Strange,” answered Peri. “Everybody seems to be so sad. I wonder why.”

  “Yes,” agreed Matilda as she poured herself a glass of peach juice. But, before she could taste it, the door at the end of the room opened and a beautiful young girl appeared, dressed in an embroidered blue cheongsam and carrying a finely decorated fan. Her dress was so narrow at the base that she could only walk with small steps. Peri quickly waved her wand and vanished.

  “Hello, Matilda,” the girl said in a soft voice as she approached. She bowed her head. “We are so pleased to see you. My name is Choy Jia, Number One Grand Daughter of our Honourable Emperor, Choy Ziang. I have been given the honour of assisting you in your study of our culture.”

  “Hi, Jia,” Matilda responded warmly. “I'm so glad to finally be here and I'm looking forward to learning as much as I can about you and your people.”

  “Please, finish your drink,” said Jia, “and then I'll show you to your quarters where we can talk in private.”

  “Thank you,” said Matilda. “I already have many questions to be answered.” She picked up her glass and drank down the delicious liquid.

  “I am not surprised,” said Jia as she watched and waited. “I have been told you were informed that our province has recently suffered an unpleasant occurrence and I will tell you about it when we have you settled in your room.”

  Matilda finished her drink, placed the glass back on the table and stood.

  “Please lead the way,” she said and slowly followed Jia to the end of the room. After they had passed through the door they entered a wide hallway which had a wooden floor with silk carpet runners. All along the hallway there were niches in the walls displaying valuable-looking vases, urns and sculptures. Once again the space was lit by flaming torches.

  Chapter 7

  The Emperors Who Aren't

  At last they reached the room that was to be Matilda's base during her stay. It was simple but quite splendid, with a low, lacquered table, colourful silk cushions to sit on, a wash stand and a mattress on the floor covered by a pretty, down-filled, silk quilt. Food and drink were set out on the table.

  Matilda shrugged off her backpack and took out the notebook and pen that Maximilian had given her. “I hope you don't mind if I take some notes while we talk,” she said.

  “Of course not,” Jia replied, “seeing that you are here just for that purpose.”

  Matilda felt a pang of guilt for deceiving this lovely young girl.

  “Now,” she said. “Where would you like to start?”

  “The Honourable Emperor extends his apologies for not greeting you himself . . . ,” Jia paused.

  “No . . . that is not correct. I love the Emperor, my grandfather, dearly but, in truth, he is a cranky old man who does not wish to meet you. He thinks that Maximilian is interfering in our business and it has become even worse since our loss last night.”

  “Oh!” Matilda was startled by Jia's honesty. “And what happened last night?”

  “I am sorry for my harsh words but I like you and cannot tell you lies,” said Jia, with tears in her eyes. “Perhaps it is best to start at the beginning so that you understand everything.”

  “That would be wonderful, thank you Jia,” said Matilda, feeling even more guilty.

  “Our Emperor, my grandfather, is not really an Emperor. He rules over a prov
ince. The Dragon Province is not an empire. The Emperor of the Tiger Province is also not an Emperor. But they both pretend to be. Before the old Emperor died he did not say who would take his place. He had no sons but there were two nephews, my grandfather, Choy Ziang, and his cousin Li Peng. When they couldn't agree on who should be Emperor, they built a wall to divide the old empire into halves and gave themselves the title of Emperor. Now they stare over the wall at each other, waiting for the other one to pass on so the survivor can rightly claim the whole empire. And they are both as bad as each other; cranky and stubborn old men.”

  “M-m-m,” muttered Matilda, thinking that this was exactly the situation that Maximilian had described. “And what happened last night to make matters worse?”

  “Firstly you must understand the titles of the provinces,” explained Jia. “The dragon is honoured because it controls the weather. There are dragons in the mountains to the north-east of Choy Ziang's province and, as well, he is fortunate to have the Pearl Dragon in his possession. The Tiger is revered as the protector from invasion in Li Peng's province and there are many tigers in the jungle to the south of their capital, Shi Hua, the City of Blossoms. So it was that each province was given its name.”

  “I see,” said Matilda, taking notes as Jia spoke. “Each province is named after its individual mascot.”

  “Yes,” agreed Jia. “But . . . the Tiger Province has been very unfortunate over the past three years. The farmers have suffered drought and all of their crops have failed so that the people are starving. Li Peng was forced to swallow his pride and ask Choy Ziang to send the Pearl Dragon to them so that it could change the pattern of the weather and bring the rains again. My grandfather refused.”

  “Is he really willing to let people starve to satisfy his ego?” asked Matilda.

  “I'm afraid so, such is the ill-will they feel for each other,” said Jia. “However, the situation changed last night.”

  Matilda was intrigued. “Go on,” she said excitedly.

  “I've told you that Choy Ziang is lucky to have the Pearl Dragon,” said Jia, and continued as she saw Matilda nod her head. “Well, in fact, he is twice lucky, for he also possesses the Golden Phoenix, the wonderful bird that rises from the ashes each one thousand years. Within our beliefs, the phoenix and the dragon, together, bring balance and harmony to our lives. The Phoenix is the Yin and the Dragon is the Yang - perfect balance. Our province has been very, very fortunate and has suffered no hardship since the dragon and phoenix have been here in the palace . . . until last night. When Li Peng's messenger was turned away by my grandfather there was naturally a great deal of anger in the Tiger Province, so much so that Li Peng devised a plan to hurt the people of the Dragon Province in return. He knew that he couldn't get to the Pearl Dragon because it was heavily guarded but the soldiers he sent last night under the cover of darkness did manage to reach the Golden Phoenix and they stole it. Our Yin was taken from us last night and we no longer have balance in our lives. That is why everybody is so sad and that is why my grandfather is so angry.”

  “How do you know that it was Li Peng's soldiers who stole the phoenix?” asked Matilda.

  “As the thieves made their escape they were seen by the guards and one of them was captured. He told us of Li Cheng's plan,” explained Jia.

  “Could this mean war?” said Matilda.

  “Oh, no,” Jia said quickly. “The Emperors may be old and cranky but they both fear warfare. I think Choy Ziang will be forced to come to some arrangement with Li Peng for the return of the phoenix. He won't be happy doing it but it seems that it is the only way to bring harmony back to the Dragon Province. At the moment our province is filled with sadness. Now I think you should see why that is so.”

  Chapter 8

  The Pearl Dragon

  Jia took Matilda by the hand and led her out into the hallway again. They walked for quite a while along the corridors of the palace until they arrived at its centre. Matilda was amazed to see a glassed in area where the domed roof was also made of glass so that you could see the sky above. Inside the area, trees and shrubs had been planted around a stream that ran over rocks and was fed by a waterfall which flowed through the glass wall.

  Against the far wall there was a cave and, sitting in front of it, was the Pearl Dragon. It was surprisingly small, about the size of a Shetland pony and was deep blue in colour. Its scales glistened with a greenish sheen and the claws on its hands and feet were a deep scarlet as were the ridges down its spine. In all it was a magnificent sight, except that the dragon was crying just as Matilda had seen in the crystal ball. The ground around the dragon was covered in small pearls.

  “Why is it crying?” enquired Matilda.

  “The Pearl Dragon is crying because she has lost her soul mate, the Golden Phoenix,” stated Jia.

  “How does she know that the phoenix had gone?” continued Matilda.

  “Look,” said Jia, pointing to the far wall of the dragon's area which was also glass. What Matilda had assumed was one large area was, in fact, two. She saw that the stream passed through another glass wall that separated the two areas. This second area was set out similarly to the dragon's space except that it contained a large nest made of twigs. The top of a large egg could be seen in the nest.”

  “That is the home of the Golden Phoenix and can always be seen by the Pearl Dragon,” stated Jia. “However, you reach it from the other side of the palace which wasn't guarded last night so that Li Peng's soldiers were able to enter unseen. We did not expect such a brazen attack. Fortunately, the thieves did not take the phoenix's egg as well.”

  “The phoenix has laid an egg?” Matilda was astounded.

  “Yes, and it is extremely valuable,” said Jia. “Some time in the future the nest will burst into flames and the Golden Phoenix will be reborn. However, at the moment you can see that the Pearl Dragon is distressed by the loss of her partner.”

  Matilda was full of questions. “Why do her tears turn into pearls?”

  “The Pearl Dragon's tears always turn into pearls. These are pearls of sadness and have no value. They only bring grief to our people so that is why you have seen the unhappiness that surrounds us.

  These pearls must be removed and buried deep in the earth to prevent the sadness becoming permanent. However, when the Pearl Dragon experiences joy, she cries two large tears that turn into pearls of wisdom and that is what we had been waiting for before this tragedy.”

  “Amazing,” whispered Matilda.

  “We must have the Golden Phoenix returned,” Jia stated forcefully. She then added, “You can now return to your quarters and note your observations. We shall meet again for dinner and perhaps you will meet our Emperor there.”

  Jia turned and sadly walked away from the Pearl Dragon. Matilda followed her back to her room where they parted company.

  Chapter 9

  Time For A Talk

  When she was alone again Matilda whispered, “Peri”, and the little fairy appeared on her shoulder before flying over to stand on the table.

  “That was interesting,” said Peri with her hands on her hips. “You received a lot of information for your research.” She smiled.

  “M-m-m,” said Matilda thoughtfully. “It certainly will be interesting if the Emperor comes to dinner with us. I have to say that Jia didn't give us much hope of getting through to him.”

  “No,” agreed Peri. “I think that this calls for some cunning thinking.”

  “What do you mean?” asked Matilda.

  “Well . . . ,” began Peri, “what would make the Emperor listen to you? What does he need help with?”

  “Getting the Golden Phoenix back of course,” replied Matilda. “Could you use your magic wand to do that?”

  “Unfortunately, no,” answered Peri. “To use my magic I have to be near the problem. We would need to go to the Tiger Province and find out where they have hidden the phoenix. And, on second thoughts, just taking it wouldn't really solve anything, w
ould it? We would only end up with a very, very cranky Li Peng and there would still be the problem of the drought. We need to please both of them and give them a reason to get together. Let me think about it.”

  “You are wonderful,” enthused Matilda.

  Peri blushed. “I haven't solved anything for you yet. But I must say this is a pleasant change. I can't see myself having to protect you this time. It will simply take some brain power.”

  At the mention of protection, Matilda touched her chest. The Zeus medallion . . . it wasn't there . . . she'd forgotten to fetch it out of the book it was hidden in at home.

  “Oh, no!” she exclaimed.

  “What's wrong?” asked Peri.

  “My Zeus medallion. I forgot to bring it with me,” replied Matilda.

  “I wouldn't worry,” stated Peri. “As I said, I don't think we'll be in mortal danger this time.”

  The little fairy didn't know how wrong she was.

  Chapter 10

  An Unpleasant Dinner

  Matilda and Peri spent the rest of the day in their room, Matilda writing in her journal and Peri having fairy snacks of fruit and peach juice between peeking over Matilda's shoulder. Later, as they looked out of their window and noticed the sun disappearing, there was a knock on the door. Peri quickly disappeared. A servant informed Matilda that dinner was ready and asked her to follow her to the Emperor's dining room. They arrived at the dining room to find only Jia there, sitting on cushions beside a low table.

  “Are we eating alone?” asked Matilda.

  “I don't know,” said Jia, “I don't normally dine here. I usually eat with all of my brothers and sisters but I received a message from my mother, the Emperor's Number One Daughter, to come here and to bring you as well. Perhaps the Emperor has decided to meet you at last.”

  Just as she finished those words they heard a commotion outside. Voices were raised in argument and it continued until an old man in a royal blue silk gown and a silk skullcap appeared through the door with a beautifully dressed older woman coming up behind.