by Guy Antibes
The instructor told the Deep Mist strategy class that when on a mission, not to think any further ahead than the next tactical step, but Jack was beginning to think of what to do after he retrieved the Battlebone. He stopped.
“What is it?” Namori said.
“I have to adjust my attitude. I’m looking too far forward in the future.”
Namori frowned. “Is there something wrong with that?”
“There is,” Jack said. “It takes your mind off your current mission. It is something I learned at Deep Mist, but I think I always sort of knew it. I have to concentrate on helping stabilize Yomomai until I can get the Battlebone.”
“That is a big thought.”
Jack half-laughed. “That is the thing. You have to approach things one step at a time, or at most two.” He caught some color to the right-hand side and stopped Namori, who stood on his left.
“Are there Red Herons down that street?” Jack asked. “I don’t want them to think I’m looking at them.”
“Four, but they look young to me, and only two are carrying swords. They have noticed us.”
“That could mean two are wizards,” Jack said. “We have no choice but to continue walking. I didn’t think we would run into two groups on the first day.”
“Not to mention catch them bringing arms into the city.”
“The door might be closing on a political solution,” Jack said. “Torii Ishoru’s position of waiting and seeing might be undermined by events.”
They continued on for half a block until they heard shouting behind them.
“Deep Mister,” one of the Red Herons called out. “Stop right there.”
Jack couldn’t continue to walk if there were wizards behind him, so he stopped and turned around.
“What is your business?” Jack said.
“Do you think you can stroll around the northwest side of Yomomai with impunity?” one of the unarmed Red Herons said.
“I do, and I think you can do the same, can’t you?” Jack said.
“This is our part of the city.”
“Since when?” Jack asked.
“Since whenever I say,” the same Red Heron said.
“Say it tomorrow, then,” Jack stood a little straighter. The Red Heron wanted to fight. “We will be on our way.”
“No, you won’t.” The Red Heron pulled out a wand, but Jack was ready for him and used his blue cuff to encase the man’s shoulder with ice.
Jack turned to the other unarmed wizard and did the same as the other two men drew their swords. Jack did the same as Namori drew hers, and they both stepped toward the Red Herons.
Swords clashed. The Red Herons both had mastered the enhancement technique. Namori fought her opponent to a draw, but Jack’s speed was too much for his opponent, and Jack ended up punching the Red Heron in the face with his hand still on the hilt of his sword. He swiveled and put the point of his sword against the throat of Namori’s Red Heron before checking to make sure he had knocked out the man he had hit with his fist.
“I don’t have a reason to damage you,” Jack said as more passersby crowded around the fight. “Can we go without you following us? If you do, there might be blood spilled.”
One of the Red Herons pointed to his fallen comrade. “Blood was spilt there.”
“A bloody nose is different from a bloody corpse, right?”
The Red Herons nodded. “We will let you go if you leave the west side of the city.”
“If you hadn’t stopped us, we would already be on our way out of this area,” Jack said as he urged Namori down the street. They turned a corner when Jack grabbed Namori’s arm, teleporting to the dining hall at the Pearl Mist headquarters.
Namori immediately dropped to the floor, hanging her head down, looking exhausted.
“I didn’t think we would emerge from that alive,” she said.
“That wasn’t the concern for me. I didn’t want to kill the four Red Herons in front of a crowd of people,” Jack said. “I think we both need something to eat before we report.”
~
They assembled again in Torii’s audience room.
“We have reports,” Torii Ishoru began, “that the Red Herons are preparing to take over the capital.”
Ruki Sinda looked alarmed. Evidently, Torii had told the others. Jack now felt bad for not telling Ruki, but going directly to Torii.
Jack was directed to tell his experience at the docks and close to the warehouse where the Red Herons kept their weapons. “I think the emperor should know,” Jack said. “This isn’t a rivalry, anymore, it is an insurrection.”
Torii pursed his lips. “I would have disputed your observations, but Namori Ganshi is a witness, and our other people out on the streets have noted an acceleration of Red Heron activity.”
Lord Kaseru hadn’t yet arrived, but Iraishi Ranturo nodded. “We underestimated the timetable of our rivals.”
“Enemies,” Takatai Minza said. “The time has come for the people to choose sides.”
Yoki Tirashima did not look happy. “We must prepare for battle, and we should first look to Ishoru to share with us his plans to protect the city.”
Torii shrunk a bit as he sat at the head of the group. “We don’t have a plan for a situation like this,” he admitted. “I thought we could successfully fend off the Red Herons politically.”
Everyone began talking at once, but one voice persisted.
“Then why have we trained in conflict for centuries?” Okiku said. “We have the people who are better trained than the Red Herons, and now they have no direction. You have let us down, Torii. You have personally put me off, saying the plans were in place before we became Pearl Mist leaders.”
Torii colored. “I, I…”
“I will take responsibility,” Iraishi Ranturo said. “Torii and I have long agreed to rely on a political defense. It is my fault as much as his.”
Jack shook his head. For all the talk of honor, and the shock of so much intentional deception, the Pearl Mist seemed to have devolved into a club playing their own games. “I won’t ask what is to be done,” Jack said. All eyes turned to him. “Perhaps not having a set plan will allow us to develop a better one. I suggest that Torii Ishoru continue to work on fighting politically, since Iraishi Ranturo and he know the people. Lord Kaseru is another who can work on that. Either Ruki Sinda or Takatai Minza should work on the military aspects. I also suggest that Tanner Simple join them since he has more battle experience.”
Grigar nodded. “I concur with Jack and think that Yoki and I should act as liaisons to ensure both groups work together, or at least not at cross purposes.”
“That is heavy lifting from the Corandians,” Takatai said, “but I see the wisdom in it. Being experienced outsiders, they can see things that we might not be able to.”
Jack felt relieved. He shouldn’t have piped up like that, because he risked being asked to be a leader, and that wasn’t what he wanted to do. His focus had to be on retrieving the Battlebone.
Lord Kaseru entered the room and sat down in an open space closer to Torii.
“What did I miss?”
“A major restructuring of the alliance,” Iraishi said. “The Red Herons are readying themselves for an armed takeover of Yomomai.”
“Impossible. The Imperial Guard has many more men than they do,” Ruki Sinda said.
“Can you guarantee they will fight on our side?” Takatai asked.
Lord Kaseru looked shocked. “It has never occurred to me.” He took a deep breath. “I think we have some work to do. I know there are factions among the guard leaders,” he said.
“Then among the emperor’s guards it is time to separate the goats from the sheep,” Okiku said. “I will accompany Lord Kaseru to talk to my cousin.” She looked appraisingly at Jack. “Sakoru Sinda will accompany us. The emperor has always been impressed by wizard-warriors, and I think we might need a little more protection than my skills can provide.”
“I’d like to remind y
ou that whatever you do, please don’t allow the Black Finger society to infiltrate your government. They are a force for evil,” Jack said.
“We need to get started now. Our first plan will be to attack the weapon warehouse that was discovered,” Takatai said. “We won’t want to put down a citizen uprising promoted by the Red Herons.”
The ideas kept coming, and the meeting ended with the political leaders and the war leaders separating. Yoki stayed with Torii Ishoru, and Grigar left with Takatai and Ruki Sinda. Jack and Namori ended up in the dining hall.
“I’m worried about our chances of success,” Namori said.
Jack laughed. “They are much better now than they were before we set out this morning. Sometimes people need to be shaken up before they will start thinking about coming to a solution,” he said. “The Black Finger monks in Passoran didn’t know what to do about the drift of their fellow Black Fingers into typical Black Finger fanaticism until we showed up and stirred the pot. Their fellow Black Fingers attacked, forcing the monks to fight. I hope it ended well.”
“Hope?”
“Political solutions only last so long. Look at the pressure on the emperor. The Tesorian dynasty almost crumbled. Change is inevitable, but we all hope it won’t change while we are alive, so people end up trying to hold things together. That is what Torii Ishoru and Iraishi Ranturo tried, and it didn’t work. Even if we win, the Pine Bear alliance will change the Pearl Mist. Wait and see.”
“Wait while we hold things together?”
“Not me,” Jack said. “I still want to get the Battlebone and return to Corand.”
Namori reached over and touched his hand. “Will you take me with you?”
Jack laughed. “Leave Masukai? It wouldn’t be easy getting used to a different culture. Are you sure you’d want to do something like that?”
She nodded her head. “What is there for me here? More lies? More empty missions? I don’t want that.”
“I’d have to ask Grigar, Tanner, and Helen. I might even want your father’s blessing to take you across the sea.”
“He would say yes,” Namori said.
“I’m not so sure. Fathers, in my experience, can all of a sudden be very protective of their daughters.”
“Then think about it,” Namori said.
Jack smiled and patted the hand on his wrist. “I will certainly do that.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
~
O kiku traveled to the palace in a palanquin while Lord Kaseru and Jack rode horses on either side. Four of Lord Kaseru’s retainers led the way through the busy parade thoroughfare and four Pearl Mist members, two warriors, and two wizards, escorted them from the rear. People stopped and stared as they proceeded northward to the palace.
Jack noticed Lord Kaseru gazing at his manor as they moved right past it. Not much later, the palace gates were open. Guards conferred with Lord Kaseru and Okiku before motioning the entourage inside the palace walls.
This was a first for Jack. The pavement looked to be stone ground down to be perfectly flat. The woodwork was colored bright green with red trim with splashes of blue. All the walls were white on the bottom levels, just like the upper levels that Jack had seen from outside the walls. Dark wood trim was mixed with painted frames as well. Jack thought the look was simple yet impressive.
Lord Kaseru’s mansion had many of the same touches, but here the stories were taller and the wood carving deeper and more ornate. The look was majestic and quite different from the palace in Tesoria. He never did make it to the king’s castle in Dorkansee nor where the head of Passoran’s government lived, so he couldn’t make comparisons.
Three silk-clad retainers rushed down the steps and bowed deeply to the litter.
“Princess, the emperor awaits,” one of them said to Okiku, still bent over.
Two of them helped Okiku from the litter.
“Dismount, Sakoru,” Keneto Kaseru said.
The escort dismounted and held the reins to their horses, but two servants took Jack and Lord Kaseru’s horses, permitting them to follow Princess Okiku. Jack’s mental image of a princess was of Ralinn in Tesoria, not the late-middle-aged Okiku.
The woman stiffened her back and walked up to the steps to the palace.
“Okiku doesn’t enter the palace grounds very often,” Lord Kaseru said quietly out of the side of his mouth. “Bow more deeply than you usually do for the emperor and only speak to him if spoken to.”
Jack nodded and walked through the large gate that led to the palace buildings. They walked into another courtyard. Ornate buildings lined the courtyard. The residence of the emperor of Masukai was directly ahead of him. Jack looked up at the eight-story building. The steps led up to the second level.
They were asked to remove their shoes before entering the building. To their left, Okiku and Lord Kaseru bowed deeply to a wall filled with tiny cubbyholes. In each cavity, a rock sat.
Jack gave a little bow since the symbolism escaped him.
Kaseru nodded to him. “Each rock represents an emperor of Masukai. Their name, birth date, and death date are carved into their rock. The practice stretches back three thousand years and fourteen dynasties. I have a closet in my manor with rocks for the heads of the Kaseru household. We go back three hundred and fifty years.”
“Is this an Akkora practice or a Zukori practice?” Jack asked.
“Neither. It is a Masukaian cultural practice.”
Jack nodded. He wondered how Namori would really feel about leaving the rock totems of her ancestors.
They were escorted along a wide corridor and left standing in front of a set of wide sliding doors. They had a decorative fretwork of plants and birds. Jack didn’t see a heron among the species. The doors had thick white paper behind the carvings making the figures stand out in relief.
“Rakota always makes people wait. He could be having a servant file his toenails right now, for all I know,” Okiku said.
After some time standing in front of the doors, someone on the other side of the door called out. “Princess Okiku; Lord Keneto Kaseru; and Sakoru Sinda, a Deep Mist wizard-warrior, await your pleasure, O Mighty Ruler of the True People.”
The doors slid open, and Jack followed Okiku. She bowed her head as did Kaseru, so Jack mimicked them. They sort of shuffled in, taking short steps. Jack had no idea why they would do such a thing, but Jack stopped where they halted about ten paces from the emperor and bowed, deeply.
The man sat on an elevated platform behind a low gilded desk. Behind him, a scene similar to the ones on the doors was carved in thicker relief gilded in gold with a red velvet backdrop. It was very impressive, along with white-robed guards lining the room on both sides.
Emperor Rakota wore a white robe with a device embroidered with gold thread on the chest. It was circular with two sections separated by a lightning strike-looking shape that slashed diagonally across the disk. One side of the slash was filled with white, the other with dark red.
“You may come forward. What brings you to my humble abode, Okiku,” the emperor said drily.
“Danger stalks your throne, cousin.”
“As always,” he said. “You have some new information?”
Okiku looked at Jack. “Cousin, will you let this man, Sakoru Sinda, speak about what he saw yesterday on the streets of Yomomai?
Rakota nodded his head. “You may speak, foreigner.”
Jack bowed to the emperor before talking. He related his story about what he found on the docks and what happened on the streets as they observed the wagon filled with weapons rolling into a warehouse.
“And what happened to the weapons?” Emperor Rakota asked.
“The Pearl Mist captured them this morning,” Jack said. “Four hundred swords, seven hundred spears, and assorted piles of armor. Pearl Mist people delivered the weapons to the palace.”
Rakota nodded. “I inspected them. Not very good quality, if you ask me.” He leaned forward. “Would you show me your sword, Sinda?�
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Jack looked at Okiku, who nodded.
“I only draw this in your presence at your request,” Jack said, just as Okiku had instructed them before they left Pearl Mist headquarters.
“You may approach me,” the emperor said.
Jack held his sword in his palms as he walked up the steps to the emperor. The emperor held out his hands. Jack spoke the word “Clean” in a whisper.
Rakota Yomoko swayed in his seat. “What have you done?”
As the emperor said that, Jack was surrounded by twenty sword points inches away from his body.
“I spoke a cleansing spell. I am a wizard-warrior with a few special talents. One of them is cleansing any person of a compelling spell. You could feel the spell lift, couldn’t you?”
Rakota narrowed his eyes at Jack. “How did you know?”
“I didn’t,” Jack said. “Princess Okiku did not put me up to this. I have done it at other times to royalty. If you have a piece of jewelry or a token you wear around your neck, I can imbue it with a spell that will protect you from spells meant to follow others’ orders.”
The emperor stared at Okiku. “Does he speak the truth?”
Okiku’s eyes widened since Jack hadn’t told her about his spell. “He has extraordinary capabilities, cousin.”
The leader of Masukai relaxed. He pulled a necklace from within his collar and removed the tall white hat that signified his rank before he removed the necklace. “Here. Imbue it.”
Jack took a moment and handed it back to the emperor. “Do you know who put a spell on you?”
The emperor shook his head. “I believe it was in a delegation from Botishi four months ago. They also brought a foreigner with them. He had black fingernails. I will never forget them.”
“It is possible he did the compelling,” Jack said. “He was a member of the Black Finger Society, an organization of evil wizards that plague Corand, Tesoria, Passoran, and Lajia. They exist in other countries, Kadellia being one of them.”
“I have been introduced to a few others since that meeting,” Rakota said.