by JC Kang
“Then it was truly foolish to attempt an infiltration,” Feiying said. “It would be difficult to get in and out of a place protected by a Black Fist cell without being noticed, unless you had superior numbers and skill.”
The Altivorc King rose to his feet and turned towards Geros. “It looks like you have your hands full with your plots, so I won’t bother you any more with idle chatter. One of my sons will coordinate with you regarding our deal.” He looked again towards Feiying.
Geros stood. He hid his relief at the King’s imminent departure behind a broad smile. “Have no doubts, the Teleri always honor our arrangements. If you provide the support you promised in our Northeast Campaign, the pyramid in Lietuvi will be yours to administer.”
“Farewell.” The King of the Altivorcs grinned again. He barked a series of harsh syllables, and his guards fell in behind him. Geros watched as the King led his entourage out of the hall, their clopping steps the only sound.
Once the orcs had disappeared, Geros turned to the steward. “Summon the healer to attend to these injured men.”
The steward bowed and hustled out of the room, leaving Geros alone with his soldiers. He threw himself down onto the throne and motioned the spymaster and Feiying over. “I want you to combine your great minds and come up with a plan that will give us an upper hand when negotiating with Cathay. I don’t want the princess harmed in the process.”
After all, he was looking forward to seeing if the Dragon Charmer was really as beautiful as the rumors said. He picked up the collar and turned it over in his hands. The metal resembled the Teleri imperial crest pinned to his chest, which blocked magic.
CHAPTER 10:
Battle of Wills
Tian’s heart felt like a chunk of ice as he weaved new lines into his web early the next morning. The names of each person working in the Hua embassy—all of whom he knew, liked, and trusted as much as a Moquan could—dangled from those threads. The list even included the ambassador, his spies, and Jie. None escaped his scrutiny as suspects in abetting the attack the night before. The only person whose innocence he was absolutely certain of was himself.
The task had taken much longer than expected, but after the better part of a morning of subtle questioning, he was now relieved to have torn down over half the names. Nothing he could think of even remotely implicated any of the other half, with the exception of Jie.
Jie. She was unaccounted for in the minutes before the attack. The very thought of her betraying the princess was ludicrous. Nonetheless, evidence exonerated a suspect, not personal feelings.
And just what were those personal feelings? Tian was not even sure anymore. Adopted Sister. Best Friend. Unexpected Beauty. He laughed at this last and newest revelation. How stupid he’d been all these years. As he stood amid the zigzagging lines, his mind was more tangled than his convoluted web of information.
Fresh air would help restore clarity. He huffed out onto his balcony, accidently dislodging several of his threads in the process. He didn’t bother to tack them back up.
Tian settled down with his back to the door, looking out onto the harbor. No sooner had he eased into a comfortable position than a crisp sound cut through his troubled thoughts. What was it?
A torrential resonance of the guzheng, a Hua zither, drowned out the late morning din of the western marketplace. Not only that, there were no other sounds. Not because the guzheng was that loud. Rather, it seemed that even the birds had stopped chirping to listen.
Tian rose to his feet and looked past the compound walls. Hundreds of people gathered outside, held spellbound by the mystical quality of the music.
Curious, he leaped down from the balcony and followed the song to the southern side of the main residence. To a spot below the princess’ suite. The placid melody seemed to tangibly billow out of her window, wrapping tendrils of sound around him and settling his scattered thoughts.
The princess’ renowned music! It had vanquished a dragon, and now, like the ocean’s lullaby, it calmed him. Worries forgotten, he stood entranced for several minutes before returning to his task of rooting out the traitor. His efforts took the rest of the day, and ended with more names removed from his list.
As dusk approached and the Iridescent Moon waxed to its fifth crescent, Tian put aside his work. He descended into the courtyard to join the official procession to the Teleri Embassy. Like Ambassador Wu and the other officials assembled there, he wore a dark-blue silk robe, with his pony tail hanging from beneath a square black hat.
Sixty-four of the imperial guard stood at attention. The dragons etched on their sparkling breastplates glowered, inspiring as much fear as the dao swords that hung at the guards’ sides. Drummers and palanquin bearers all wore shiny blue coats with high collars embroidered in gold. A porter carried a guzheng in a silk brocade bag.
The princess was conspicuously absent. Her music had continued through the day, but no one had seen her. If it were up to him, he wouldn’t have to look at her again. Minutes passed, though all hid their impatience with irreproachable decorum. Maybe his wish was coming true.
When she finally emerged from the residence with her handmaidens, all in the courtyard bowed in unison. The sound of ruffling clothes and clinking armor stuttered through the ranks.
“Rise.” Her voice could have shamed a nightingale.
Tian stood and gasped. The entire embassy staff gasped as well. Even the ambassador stood with his mouth agape. While the princess may have been stunning after a long journey the day before, her appearance now, after an afternoon of preparation, was nothing short of divine.
She wore a sleeveless, strapless pure white silk inner dress, with an undecorated bust that just barely gave a hint of the soft curves beneath. From her waist down, the white silk was embroidered with a bright blue dragon-and-plum-blossom pattern. An open-face outer robe of translucent sky blue, bordered by a thicker dark-blue silk with gold embroidery, trailed behind her lightly on the courtyard stones. Its long sleeves hung to her ankles. A broad, dark-blue silk sash encircled her slim waist, accentuating the curve of her hips.
Her lustrous black hair, which had been straight and tied back the day before, now appeared in full-bodied tresses, fragrant and curled into a slight wave by shouwu berry juice and adorned with simple platinum jewels. It fell nearly to her waist and just partially obscured her delicate neck and collarbones. Her pearly complexion was now slightly tinged with light rouge from danhua petals.
Tian blew out a breath. In ancient times, wars would be fought over this beauty.
Behind her stood three of her handmaidens dressed in dark-blue gowns, holding the train of the outer robe so that it would not touch the ground. Although all would be considered beauties in Hua, they didn’t warrant a second glance in the company of their princess.
Yet Tian did linger on one. Jie, in disguise, would use this opportunity to enter the Teleri Embassy. He’d never seen her in such elegant dress or exquisite make-up. Though she’d always seemed like a girl not quite to the edge of womanhood, tonight she had transformed into a delicate blossom, rivaling the princess herself. If she felt awkward primped up as such, she hid it well.
The princess interrupted his moment of admiration. “My horse,” she commanded.
The order was audacious, even from her. For such an official function, dressed as she was, it was absurd to consider.
The officials and guards looked among themselves, but none dared speak. Tian dropped to one knee, rehearsing his lines in his head. “Dian-xia, it is unwise. Even your father, the Tianzi, would have ridden in a palanquin.”
Her large eyes glinted as sharp as a knife. “I am not my father. I will ride a horse.” Her voice took on a musical quality and tugged at his mind.
Expecting the tone of suggestion, Tian braced himself. His resolve weakened, yet her voice didn’t wash over him as it had the night before. He glanced around for support, but even Ambassador Wu just shuffled on his feet. “Please Dian-xia. We must protect the image of Hua
.”
“What better show of confidence is there than a procession with a member of the Wang family at the head, in full view?” She raised a perfect eyebrow.
“It is not just image.” Tian kept his tone less than deferential. “Consider your safety as well.”
She waved a hand at the procession. “Will the foreigners dare attack when we are protected by the imperial guard?”
The ambassador stepped forward and bowed. “Please, Dian-xia, I humbly recommend following Zheng Tian’s advice. He has been monitoring troop movements, and he thinks it is best for your own protection.”
“If we were truly in danger, would it not be better to be on a horse so that we can escape quickly?”
Ambassador Wu fell silent, head bowed.
So stubborn! In this, Princess Kaiya had not grown up. Tian clenched his jaw. “If we do not set off now, we will be late. An imperial princess, of all people, should understand protocol. Being late, riding in the open, allowing the common foreigners to behold the daughter of the Dragon Throne. It would be unacceptable.”
Her eyes flashed.
Though he withered under her glare, he stood resolute. In this battle of wills, for her own good, he would not give in. And Heavens, he’d probably just uttered the longest sentence of his life.
Behind the princess, Jie flashed a grin unbecoming a handmaiden, while the rest of the procession shifted nervously.
The seconds dragged by before Imperial Guard Captain Chen Xin stepped forward and dropped to his knee. “Please, Dian-xia. We must trust the judgment of the embassy staff, who know this area. After we return to Hua, we will see to it that this uncultured cur be reassigned to the most uninhabitable, forsaken excuse for a country with which we have relations.”
“Which would be here,” the princess said with a sigh. She afforded Tian one last contemptuous glare, which he returned with detached nonchalance, before ducking into the ornate palanquin.
He’d prevailed. For now. No doubt there’d be more struggles to come. The tomboyish streak and unrelenting stubbornness from their childhood was still there, even if it were wrapped in a pretty package.
The gates swung open and the procession embarked on the half-hour march down a tree-lined boulevard to the Teleri embassy in the city center. Along the way, crowds gathered, marveling at the Hua, whose colorful regalia still stood out in the light of the full White Moon, Renyue.
Tian broke formation on his horse and fell back to be closer to Jie, who walked with as much grace as the other handmaidens behind the palanquin.
Little Sister beautiful, he signaled.
Her cheeks flushed slightly, all the way to the tips of her pointed ears. He chuckled.
Beautiful like your princess? she gestured back.
What kind of question was that? He just smiled and spurred his horse back towards the front of the formation. Though not before seeing Jie sucking on the right side of her lower lip.
Arriving at the Teleri embassy, the procession passed through the heavy steel gates, set into twenty-foot walls of grey-speckled stone. The compound looked more like a fortress than an embassy, with battlements and crenellations manned by hundreds of stoic Bovyans.
Tian tapped his chin. Getting in or out, without permission, would not be easy.
The front wall stretched hundreds of feet, with guard towers at regular intervals. Flanking the vaulting metal-and-glass reception hall stood an equally impressive official residence that easily dwarfed its Hua counterpart. Several stone barracks were on the left.
The procession came to a stop in front of the reception hall. The bearers lowered the palanquin and a handmaiden dropped to one knee as she opened it. Ambassador Wu extended his hand to meet the princess’, and she glided out with his help.
Was her hand trembling? Did her face seem somewhat paler? Perhaps their earlier confrontation was still on her mind. If so, all of those signs of nervousness instantly disappeared when she met Tian’s eyes.
She faced forward, and Tian hurried to take his place on her right side. With the ambassador on her left, she glided up the dozen stairs. How elegantly she moved; the embodiment of grace. Her handmaidens followed, stiff in comparison.
Four enormous Teleri guards with close-cut dark hair and bronze skin flanked the top of the landing. Their formal black overcoats had gold-embroidered cuffs over high-collared black shirts, accentuating their strong, chiseled features. They stood unmoving as statues, longswords held at their chests in salute. Tian’s fists clenched as he passed between the hedgerow of blades. These were the people who tried to intoxicate the princess, and now she was walking into their stronghold.
Two equally imposing men greeted them near the doors. The Teleri ambassador to Iksuvi on the right had long blond hair and a short beard that covered his sharp jawline. Fair skin and blue eyes marked him as local Nothori, except for the telltale Bovyan height and muscular frame. He bowed in grand Arkothi fashion. “Ambassador Wu, welcome.”
Hands at his side, Ambassador Wu returned the bow. “Thank you,” he said in perfect Arkothi. “Allow me to present Princess Kaiya Wang, daughter of the Tianzi of the Heavenly Empire of Cathay.”
“Delighted to meet you,” the princess said in Arkothi with a lilting Hua accent. She afforded the Teleri ambassador the slightest of nods as he took her hand to kiss it. Her fingers looked so small and delicate compared to his. No telling how many other hands his lips had touched already. Still, she didn’t appear taken aback by the barbaric custom of the north.
The uncouth greeting didn’t begin to rate with the boorish leer of the man on the left. Towering a head and a half above Tian, he undressed her with sharp eyes, one the color of anodized steel, the other brown—The Eye of Solaris. Streaks of grey in his tied-back hair suggested he was not far from his inevitable expiration day. A scar over his right cheek marred what was otherwise a perfectly smooth olive complexion.
The Teleri ambassador gestured towards the larger man. “I present Geros Bovyan XLIII, First Consul of the Teleri Imperial Directori, King of the Arkothi Three Lakes Province, and Prince of the Western Plains.”
Tian assessed the famed Geros Bovyan, elected by his peers as head of the Teleri Directori two years ago. Supposedly, he was born to a virgin, begotten by the Arkothi Sun God, Solaris. His military, political, and economic acumen had expanded the empire to its historic pinnacle. A giant among men. No doubt, Princess Kaiya was overmatched. She’d likely make a fool out of Hua tonight.
The First Consul bowed ever so slightly, sending the medals on his left breast jingling. One curious pin stood out. Circular, with irregular squiggly lines etched into it, its dull grey surface absorbed all light.
As he snapped out of his bow, Geros drew up to his full height, towering above her. “Enchanted to meet you, Kaiya. We are pleased at Cathay’s participation tonight. You will enjoy yourself.” With an unwavering stare, he took her hand in his and pressed his lips to it.
Tian stiffened. The First Consul hadn’t even bothered to address the princess by her title. Beads of sweat gathered on Ambassador Wu’s brow. Behind them, Jie shuffled while the other handmaidens quivered. If the princess panicked now, like the rest of them…
Yet she stood steadfast beneath the First Consul’s hulking frame and overbearing stare. Her gaze remained on his, impassive, and she barely nodded in acknowledgement. “Many thanks for your gracious invitation. We look forward towards fraternal relations and eternal peace between our countries.”
Tian bit his lip. She was goading him! An ill-advised game of indiscreet messages, meant to let the First Consul know that Cathay saw the Teleri as equals. He’d earned a reputation for quick wit, and his retort would slap her down, taking Hua’s honor with her.
The First Consul’s mouth open and closed, while tight lines in his brow faded and the arrogant smirk melted. His eyes, only seconds ago sharp and penetrating, now softened as the princess held him with her gaze.
Seconds passed as other dignitaries queued behind them. Finally
, she smiled coyly, and spoke in a playful tone with the same lilting voice. “My hand please, First Consul…”
With a gape, he released her hand and bowed to the waist in a show of deference. A diplomatic faux-pas. The most powerful man alive, outwitted by a delicate blossom.
Tian hid his smile while their entourage passed the humbled First Consul. He’d misjudged her. As introductions continued behind them, all who witnessed the encounter would think that in the game of statesmanship, the Cathayi had won the first engagement.
All because of Princess Kaiya. No longer the naïve eight-year-old of his memories, nor the willful diva from the last two days, she was the Tianzi’s envoy. A well-honed weapon of diplomacy.
Tian looked out into the banquet hall beyond. If he were the one planning a Teleri invasion of the Northwest, this is where he’d start: a gathering of prominent leaders.
CHAPTER 11:
Change of Fortune
The buzzing of a hundred conversations quieted to a sudden hush as Kaiya stepped into the grand reception hall, with her retinue in tow. A thousand eyes met hers, though all of them combined were not as disconcerting as Geros’ brown one.
The Eye of Solaris. According to everything she’d read, a new First Consul would gouge his own eye out and replace it with the glass orb, which contained a spark of the Arkothi sun god’s divinity.
Suppressing a shudder and shaking the thought out of her head, she held the gathered dignitaries with a gaze for a brief second, before tilting her head a fraction down and to the right and offering a shy smile.
Whispered murmurs erupted, all echoing the same sentiment: never before had they seen such beauty. Whether it was the power of theatrics or the gullibility of males, a glance had captured the room more effectively than a thousand musketmen could with their guns.