The Pirate Empress

by Deborah Cannon

  He Zhu spoke from his horse, gazing down at her, not thinking his eavesdropping inappropriate. “What makes you think the Emperor wants to kill you? He’s your father. You are princess of all of the Middle Kingdom and he only wants to marry you off. To make a good alliance.”

  “I will not marry.”

  Zhu made a face as if to contradict her, his irritation passing to his horse, causing it to fuss. He steadied the sensitive beast but before he was able to reprimand her, Quan sent a warning look in his direction. Zhu wasn’t happy with the censure and his hand made a slight motion toward his sabre as did Quan’s, and then went still. Quan returned his attention to her. “His Majesty’s promise was to wed you to the first high-ranking officer who found you. That would be me.”

  “You would marry me?” Her heart lifted at the thought, but then sank as she saw Quan hesitate, and she frowned. He would marry her even knowing what he knew? Li sucked in her cheeks asking the question silently with her eyes, the secret of Lok Yu’s demise forever an awkward bond between them. Respectable men, seeking a wife, shunned women who weren’t virgins no matter how they got that way. That was why concubines never became wives. Besides her feet were unbound, unacceptable in palace society. Li trapped Quan’s gaze and saw him swallow, noted that the steely look was gone as he nervously shifted his posture.

  He cleared his throat and the steel returned to his eyes. “At His Majesty’s request, yes I will marry you.”

  At His Majesty’s request? So, he was like every other man in the kingdom.

  A pair of swallows circled the sky and Li’s senses heightened. Something felt wrong, and she voiced her concern to the captain but he merely shrugged it off as a weary and frightened girl’s overactive nerves. “Don’t worry. I will escort you to your father myself,” Quan said, trying to pacify her. “I found you first. And Zhu will vouch for me, won’t you, Zhu?”

  The lieutenant was silent. His hand had left the sabre and now hung slack at his side as he shrugged, remaining noncommittal. “We should go,” he finally said. “It will soon be sunrise.”

  Li climbed back onto the horse behind Quan. Something still didn’t feel right. With one hand, she hugged his mantle around her shoulders and with the other she held onto his tunic tight, shutting her eyes to seek the rising sun on her face. The very air trembled, like the flowing manes of a thousand horses, and she nervously glanced behind her, but either Esen’s barbarians had yet to discover their leader’s body or they were plotting a reprisal.

  The day broke red, the colour of a New Years day banner. When they entered the garrison the place was in chaos as men dragged away the bodies from this latest assault to be buried downwind from the work site. Something was happening that sent shivers down Li’s spine. A palanquin stood by the roadside, soldiers in Imperial colours clustered in groups, and there was obviously someone important inside one of the stone fortresses attached to the repaired portion of the wall. Quan reined in his horse to a trot while Zhu raced on ahead to see who had arrived. The sense of wrongness in the air had transmitted itself to Quan and he spoke cautiously, though disdainfully over his shoulder, “Those are Zheng Min’s men. He must be inside the fortress making himself at home.”

  “Why is he here?” She wet her dry lips, gasped as the realization dawned on her, grip tightening around Quan’s waist. “He’s here for me! But how did he know where I was?” They both came to the revelation at the same time. “Jasmine,” she whispered into his ear as he nodded. “She works fast. She was at Esen’s encampment when they captured me. She can run like the fox. Quan, we must leave. If Jasmine is behind this—”

  He reared the horse and wheeled the beautiful brown and white stallion south. “No, not south,” Li objected. “We can’t return to Beijing.”

  “We aren’t going to Beijing. We’ll go to the coast. We’ll follow the Yellow River to the sea.”

  “Captain, turn your horse and return at once!” The order came from Military Governor Zheng Min who stood with his hands on his hips outside the fortress. “By order of His Imperial Highness, I order you to bring the girl to me.” Zhu was already galloping toward them, his knees squeezing his horse’s hide, grass shooting out from under the stallion’s hooves while a troop of uniformed soldiers followed. Both Li and Quan’s heads were turned to eye their pursuers; dust flying to cloud their vision, but Zhu had a crossbow aimed at Li’s back.

  A hit of adrenaline rushed through her.

  “Go!” she shouted at Quan and kicked the horse in the flanks herself, but the confused signals the two riders gave caused the poor animal to rear up onto its hindquarters.

  “Stop that, Li,” he ordered as she grabbed his waist to keep from sliding off the bucking horse. He forced the stallion to circle. “I can’t risk Zhu hitting you. He’s a sharpshooter, an expert marksman. He won’t miss.”

  “He won’t dare shoot the Emperor’s daughter.”

  The lieutenant approached with his weapon still aimed at them, several other horsemen close behind, crossbows at the ready.

  “Zhu,” Quan said. “What are you doing?”

  “Return to the camp. If you try to run, I will shoot you. Military Governor Zheng Min wants a word with you.”

  Quan cantered his horse toward the military governor who was waiting for them a few paces outside the fortress. They stopped at a respectful distance from him in a flurry of yellow dust and alighted. Zhu replaced his crossbow with a dagger, leaped off his horse onto the grass and took the reins to Quan’s stallion before escorting the fugitives to the military governor.

  “I will take charge of her now,” Zheng Min said, extending a hand to guide Li toward him. He glanced at the slinky dancing girl’s skirt that peeked from beneath Quan’s mantle. The wind blew, ruffling her hair, reddening her cheeks and lips, and Li hugged the warm cape closer even though the military governor put out two fingers to pluck it from her shoulders.

  “Can’t you see she’s cold, you animal,” Quan said.

  Not smart to annoy the military governor, she decided. She could take care of this by herself. She removed the mantle from her shoulders, ignoring the goosebumps that rippled along her arms, and handed it to Quan who looked like he wanted to kill his superior.

  “Those savages dressed her like this,” Quan said. “It is not appropriate for the princess to be seen in this barbaric costume. Have the decency to look away.”

  No one did, of course, and Zheng Min’s eyes gleamed lustily while his lips looked vulgarly wet.

  “It’s all right, Captain,” Li said. “Perhaps I’ll wait in the palanquin. I assume that it’s for me?” She bowed slightly and allowed the military governor to escort her to the carriage that was horsed and ready to take her back to the Forbidden City.

  %%%

  After settling Li inside the palanquin, the military governor started back toward the fortress to collect his things, and Quan marched over the trampled grass, scattering a pair of scavenging crows and intercepted him by standing in his path while the cold sun blazed down. “You realize that Lotus Lily is mine. I found her.”

  The military governor turned a scornful eye at him. “You forfeited that claim when you tried to abduct her. The deal was to return her to His Majesty.”

  Quan’s claim was untenable without a witness and now he asked his lieutenant, who had followed. “Zhu, you were with me; you know I found her first.”

  “Indeed, I was. That means I have an equal claim. We saw her at the exact same moment.” He turned his back on his captain, stating that His Majesty would make the judgement.

  Zheng Min’s men were faithful; Quan had ample evidence of that. They would spin tales to rectify the military governor’s mistakes and vouch for him against Quan’s own claim. He Zhu, he was less worried about. Quan outranked him and the reward of marriage to the princess only applied to the highest ranking officer. Well, if he couldn’t prevent the military governor from taking the girl, then he’d accompany the convoy back to Beijing. He went to his tent, packed his
belongings and loaded his thirsty stallion before watering it, when he heard a sound from behind him.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Zheng Min, arms overloaded with silk pillows and satin coverlets, had obviously been looting the fortress. Those items of luxurious comfort were for His Majesty if he ever intended to visit the work on the frontier.

  “I mean to escort the princess to her father and await his verdict,” Quan said.

  “You’ll do no such thing. Your orders are to supervise the rebuilding of the border walls. You’ve shirked your duties long enough.”

  There was no point in arguing with the mule-headed military governor. Quan stood back and watched as he joined Li and adjusted the pillows and coverlet around her before smiling lasciviously and re-entering the fortress for more silly luxuries. The soldiers prepared for travel, and while no one was looking Quan wandered to the palanquin where Li sat observing him. He glanced around, and then slid over to the side where he was less visible and crouched with his head in the window to shoot a disgusted look at the silk and satin enshrining her. No doubt the military governor intended to be her companion for the journey home.

  “Be on your guard, Li,” Quan said. “Zheng Min intends to marry you himself.”

  “I have no intention of marrying him,” she said hotly.

  “I don’t know how much say you’ll have in the matter.” Quan clapped a hand over Li’s fingers, which gripped the door to her carriage. “Don’t do anything stupid. The last time you took off, you had the help of Master Yun, plus you also had my unwitting help. On hindsight, I would say it might have been better for all of us if you had told me the truth in the first place.”

  Li’s eyes darted nervously toward the fortress and the bustling activity of the soldiers. So far, no one noticed him conspiring with the captive. “You have to help me, Quan.”

  He nodded, turning to go but Li slapped her hand on his retreating arm. “Wait. Where is Master Yun? Why has he abandoned me? He went to all of the trouble of saving me when I was a baby, why has he deserted me now?”

  “I don’t think he’s abandoned you. Not of his own volition anyway.”

  “At least, Tao will be there at the palace. He won’t let anything bad happen to me until Master Yun shows up.”

  Was Tao still alive? It was unlikely. All of the concubines and eunuchs involved in the abduction and harbouring of Ling She’s newborn had been punished. The penalty for crimes of betrayal was death. Alas, had Master Yun fallen prey to this treachery?

  “What’s the matter, Quan?” Li asked. “All colour has drained from your face.”

  For answer he unhooked the mantle draped over his shoulders and passed it to her. “Cover yourself. The less that lecherous pig sees of you the better.”

  She leaned forward and kissed him on the mouth. He was startled to say the least, so startled, in fact, that he didn’t return her kiss; and she smiled as he touched his lips to her fingers, and then let go of her hand to slip away.

  Zheng Min and his men were ready to leave. Quan stood by the fortress and bowed at the military governor like he intended to obey orders, all the while restlessly anticipating their departure. He gave them a twenty-minute head start, and when all he could see of the princess’s escort were clouds of yellow dust, he mounted his horse.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Flowerpot Slippers

  “Naughty child,” Jasmine said when Li was dumped at her aunt’s bedchamber. “What were you thinking masquerading as a boy so that you could escape the palace?”

  “Esen is dead. I killed him,” Li boasted, ignoring her question.

  Jasmine’s dark eyes registered alarm before fading to scorn. “Oh, is he? That’s news to me. But what do I care? I have all of this.” She raised her arms like a queen taking in her opulent surroundings. “And there are other delicious warlords to take his place—younger than him.”

  Fire burned at the edge of Li’s tongue and she almost let slip that at this very moment Captain Chi Quan was plotting her rescue.

  Jasmine reached out and plucked at the fabric covering Li’s well-formed breasts. “Esen has good taste. A cheap Turkish girl’s dancing costume for a cheap dancing girl.”

  “How dare you? I am not a dancing girl. I am Ling She’s daughter, His Majesty’s heir.”

  “Women do not inherit anything but misery in China. Ask your mother.” Jasmine chortled. “That’s right, you can’t. Burnt to a crisp she was.” She snickered again. “You will see. A cheap dancing girl you will be until your death.”

  “That’s ridiculous. If His Majesty wanted a cheap dancing girl he would have asked for you, and not bothered to go to all of the trouble of finding me.”

  The fox faerie’s face changed to anger. “You should have stayed with Esen. Your fate with him would have been far more to your liking than what’s in store for you here. He, at least, would only have used you for a sex slave—in between your dancing stints, of course.”

  “Like I said, Esen is dead. And if I’d had the time, I would have chopped off his head and speared it onto a spike to prove it. I, on the other hand, am to be the wife of a high-ranking Imperial officer. Captain Chi Quan found me; I’m going to marry him.”

  “Ha!” Jasmine’s laughter made Li’s stomach shake. “You will marry no one when they find out that you’re not a virgin.”

  Li’s eyes shot wide open. How did she know?

  “I’m sorry Lotus Lily, but you can’t be allowed to live.”

  “Why not? Because I was raped? How is that my crime?”

  “Because you might be carrying the next Son of Heaven.”

  Li slapped a hand onto her stomach. “That’s impossible. That weak-kneed son of a snake couldn’t possibly father an emperor. Besides, what do you care? Esen is dead. And you have the Emperor fawning at your feet.”

  “There was a time when your father was a man of great deeds and valour. Look at him now: a fish-bellied puppet king, ruled by his officers and his women. Your son will be a greater warrior and a more valiant man. He will topple the Empire and assume its throne before he reaches manhood.”

  Absurd. Li whirled about. She was getting out of here. First she needed some decent clothes, and then she was going to find Tao. Tao would know what to do.

  The sneer on Jasmine’s beautiful face was ugly; it was like she knew what Li was thinking. Had they done something to Tao? Li ran to her room, but all of her concubine’s gowns were gone and the room had been stripped clean. She turned on her heel to go search for him and found Jasmine smirking in the doorway.

  “I want to see my father. I want to see the Emperor.” She shoved Jasmine aside, but behind her were two Imperial guards.

  “No, darling, His Majesty doesn’t want to see you yet. He has no intention of marrying you off to anyone. Look at your feet. No man of position would marry a girl with unbound feet.”

  Li gulped. “I’m too old to have my feet bound.”

  The fox faerie arched her brows. Li noticed now that Jasmine was carrying a pair of flowerpot shoes in her hands. They were not Li’s shoes; they were much too small.

  “The Emperor does not want to see you until you are fit to be seen.”

  “How can I be fit? You’ve taken away all of my clothes.”

  “That’s because I like what you’re wearing now. You have bloomed into a lovely young woman, Lotus Lily.”

  “First you tell me that the Emperor wants to kill me. Now you tell me that he wants to see me fit to be a bride. Which is it, Fox Faerie?” Li couldn’t bring herself to call the wicked spirit by her aunt’s name. She frowned at Jasmine’s hesitation. Could it be that her power wasn’t all it was purported to be? “Where is my tutor, Tao? I demand to see him.”

  “You demand.” Jasmine huffed. “I should have seen that you were Ling She’s daughter all along. You’ve always acted like a flea of a spoilt princess.”

  Li turned to the guards. Neither of them responded to her pleas. She was scared now, cornered like a chicken in
a pen—about to have her head lopped off.

  Jasmine raised a milky white hand and made a slashing motion across her throat. “He and the others, everyone involved in your abduction and rearing, all dead.”

  No. No, this can’t be. Tao can’t be dead.

  “Enough of this talk. We still have a small job to do. You wish to see your father? Well, you will see him after we make you presentable.”

  Jasmine gestured to the two guards and they came at her. Li ran but they caught her by the arms before she could escape. They lifted her between them with her feet kicking and her body thrashing, and carried her back inside her room. One of them had a mallet hooked to his waist; the other had a roll of fabric bandages in his hand.

  %%%

  Hauling himself up until he could see over the wall, Captain Chi Quan surveyed the maze of courtyards. Lotus Lily’s room was attached to one of the inner courtyards; he remembered because he had wandered into it the night His Majesty had entertained the Mongol warlord. This time, he would not enter through the archway of the main palace.

  He dropped down and tethered his horse to a tree outside the barricaded palace and shot a nervous glance behind him. Since his arrival in Beijing, shortly before nightfall, he’d had the feeling of being stalked. The sensation was similar to what he had experienced on the open steppe before Esen had massacred the Emperor’s rearguard. Slowly, he returned his gaze to the Forbidden City to the curved, hat-shaped roofs silhouetted against the night sky. He spit into his hands, rubbed them together, and leaped for the wall, landed in the public square and followed his shadow to the rear of the main structure. Shrouded by his grey tunic and black boots, he met no sentry. He blended in with the whispering noises and movements, and dark shades of the night, tracing the maze of palace courtyards until he was dizzy with apprehension—before recognizing his surroundings. He approached the brick wall of Li’s courtyard and peered over. The moon was full, delivering silver onto the white flagstones. No lanterns shone from inside the concubine’s quarters for it was bedtime and most of the palace household asleep. He eased himself over and crept behind the arched bridge. A lily pond lay below, if memory served correctly, and he mustn’t fall into it. With due stealth, he crossed the stone patio to Li’s room.