by JC Kang
“What about me?” Jie would’ve thrown her arms up if both had worked.
Fleet grinned. “You guard the boat with Yuha. Cyrus, wait in the boat so we can make a quick getaway.”
Guard the boat, indeed. More like, don’t get in the way. Jie sighed as the others shuffled off toward the fort, making plenty of noise as they did. She tracked their progress as they stepped on pine needles, fallen branches, and dried leaves. It’d be a miracle if they didn’t rouse the entire garrison.
Brehane stopped them with an open hand, just thirty-some feet from the bridge. She barked out several guttural syllables. The men in the fort turned and pointed—
An explosion blossomed out from the center of the bridge, erupting in brilliant streaks of sparks and flames. Jie shielded her eyes against the sudden brightness as the ground trembled beneath her. Men screamed, and the fortress descended into chaotic cacophony. The bridge lay in charred ruins. Burning logs sizzled in the water.
Since when had Brehane grown so powerful? Jie met the Aksumi’s eyes as she staggered back, panting, supported by Tian and Ma Jun. Sameer followed them, backing away from the fortress with sword in hand.
“Hurry!” Fleet zipped past her toward the shore. “There might be patrols on this bank.”
They gathered on the shore, and Sameer helped Brehane into the boat.
Fleet waved. “We part again. Perhaps we will meet again, in Hua.”
Jie stared at the madaeri. How would the three Southerners get past the East Gate? How would they get past the East Gate?
CHAPTER 27:
Loose Threads
Stomping boots, swishing robes, and garbled conversations in the palace grounds below interrupted Kaiya’s fleeting moments of quiet and peace. With just a couple of hours before the generals and Chief Minister Song arrived, she had cleared the Hall of Supreme Harmony in hopes of collecting her thoughts.
It was not to be.
The double doors opened, revealing Cousin Kai-Hua. With husband Liu Dezhen and a pair of imperial guards in tow, she cradled the new Tianzi in her arms. Asleep and innocent, beautiful as only a baby could be, he was an unwitting pawn in a power struggle which promised to continue despite all the oaths of loyalty and pledges of support.
Kaiya relinquished the central dais and knelt on the floor before it. Her cousin stepped up and, bowing deferentially to the Jade Throne, took a seat. With the dizzying shifts of fortune, Kai-Hua must have been bewildered. Nonetheless, she had always been a close confidante. If not for the awkward circumstances, the two would likely have hugged.
“Cousin… Queen Mother,” Kaiya said. “It is good to see you again.”
Kai-Hua nodded. “Yes, Kaiya… Jie-xia.”
“Jie-xia.” From his place next to his wife, Liu Dezhen bowed low. “Forgive me for my outburst earlier. I am grateful for your patience and confidence.”
Kaiya waved a hand. “There is nothing to forgive. As far as I am concerned, until we ascertain the fate of my brother Kai-Wu behind the castle walls, your son is Tianzi.” She pressed her forehead to the cool marble floors. “I swear to defend him and faithfully administer affairs of state in his stead until he comes of age.” Perhaps her maternal ancestor had prostrated herself and spoken the same words to her adolescent son three hundred years before. Unlike the Founder’s consort, Kaiya would relinquish her position. She raised her head.
Liu Dezhen and Wang Kai-Hua bowed. She smiled when she straightened, but the glint in his eye didn’t inspire confidence. Kaiya’s spine pricked. Perhaps a knife in the back awaited her later. Queen Regent Wang Yuxiang had faced several challenges to her rule, all underhanded and life-threatening.
Kaiya held a low bow as they left the hall.
“Dian-xia,” a female voice called from the entrance.
Rising, Kaiya returned to the bloodwood chair beside the Jade Throne and squinted at the doors.
With Doctor Wu and Weiyong at her side, handmaiden and body-double Han Meiling bowed as much as her enlarged belly would allow. Sacrificed so that Kaiya could escape a doomed city, Meiling was yet another one of Emperor Geros’ rape victims. Kaiya’s own womb twinged. Memories of his calloused hands sent a chill up her spine and squeezed her chest. The fear disappeared as quickly as it appeared, the emotional armor of the Tiger’s Eye forming up.
Hands supporting her stomach, Meiling tottered to the front of the room and started to kneel.
Kaiya held up a commanding hand. “As you are, Meiling.” She stood and bowed at the waist. “I am so sorry for what you endured in my defense.”
Meiling shook her head. “It is my honor.”
More like a dishonor, at least in the eyes of a man looking for a virgin bride. Meiling had probably hoped to improve her marriage prospects by serving as an imperial princess’ handmaiden. Kaiya forced a regal smile. “If you wish it, after you give birth, I will adopt your son and arrange a suitable husband for you.”
Meiling blew out a sigh and bowed. “As you command, Dian... Jie-xia.”
“Please take care of yourself in the meantime.” Kaiya gestured toward Weiyong and Doctor Wu. “My doctors are at your disposal.”
Weiyong’s face flushed. It was cute in its own way. He supported Meiling as she shuffled backward toward the exit.
As if Kaiya’s own twins weren’t enough responsibility, she was volunteering to take on a third child. She watched as Meiling departed and passed by three new petitioners. Behind the palace chamberlain stood a short human male with a rough, sun-drenched complexion and long brown hair. He supported a woman with a lighter bronze skin tone and unruly red hair. A free hand cradled the swell of her belly.
The chamberlain stepped over the threshold and bowed low. “I present—”
Kaiya bowed. “Prince Aelward of Tarkoth and Princess Alaena of Serikoth. I owe you both a great debt of gratitude.”
“That you do, lass.” Prince Aelward chuckled. “Little did I expect to see you in the big chair.”
Kaiya bowed to the Jade Throne and shook her head. “No, my baby cousin sits here. Until he comes of age, I will act as regent.”
“Then perhaps you can repay those debts of gratitude.” Princess Alaena gritted her teeth. There had been no sign of a pregnancy four months before, when her rangers and Tian had rescued Kaiya from ogres, but now she looked even more pregnant than Meiling. Which meant Tian was not the father. Maybe the elf Thielas. The two had seemed close.
Prince Aelward nodded. “Princess Alaena’s baby is due in a month, and I had hoped to have her resting in Vyara City by then. However—”
“He is coming sooner,” Alaena said. “I am sure of it. I want a good midwife.”
Always so blunt. Kaiya nodded toward Doctor Wu. “My personal doctor will see to your needs. However, Cathay might not be the safest place. A Teleri Army with Emperor Geros at the head is just a day away.”
Aelward and Alaena exchanged glances as Doctor Wu approached and placed her wizened fingers over the princess’ wrist.
The doctor looked up and nodded. “Yes, your boy will come in three days.”
Kaiya gestured toward the doors. “I suggest that you return to the Invincible in Jiangkou so that you might make a quick escape if need be. Doctor Wu will accompany you.”
“Thank you,” Prince Aelward said. “I also have bad news. Ayana Strongbow died peacefully in her sleep.”
“My condolences.” Kaiya bowed her head. The old elf wizard had guided her in magic and helped during the confrontation with Avarax. A loss, to be sure, even if the Tiger’s Eye prevented Kaiya from feeling it.
The Eldaeri prince and princess turned and departed with Doctor Wu, passing yet more familiar faces waiting outside.
Iskuvi’s refugee Queen Ausra stepped over the ghost-tripping threshold, with her husband’s two teenage sisters at her side. A wet nurse bounced a toddler on her hip—the queen’s nephew and heir to Iksuvi, except…the queen herself cradled yet another baby. Which meant, if he were hers, she had been pregnant when they fled
Iksuvius; and she now held the new heir in her arms. He appeared especially robust, even for a baby of Nothori stock.
All of the newborns and babies and pregnant women. A fluttering erupted in Kaiya’s heart. To think she would be joining these women in motherhood before long, glowing…no, the supposed radiance was no more than an illusion conjured by poets to assuage fatigued, sleep-deprived mothers.
“Princess Kaiya, I was surprised to hear of your sudden return.” Queen Ausra curtseyed in the fashion of the North, at least as well as she could while holding her treasure. “We heard only rumors of your escape from my homeland. I did not know what became of you until I received your summons just now.”
Kaiya nodded. “The last time we met, I sent you into exile on a Hua ship. I am afraid I must do the same now. A Teleri Army of fifty thousand, with Emperor Geros at its head, is only a day away.”
The queen sucked in a breath. “So the rumors are true. Fifty thousand. No one is safe.”
“No. Least of all your son, the heir to an occupied nation, a symbol of its hope.”
Queen Ausra nodded. “Born in safety because of your assistance.”
So the child was King Evydas’ son. Kaiya pointed to a captain at the doors. “His men will escort you to Jiangkou, where you will board a trade ship bound for Ayudra Island. I will make arrangements for you to stay at our embassy in Vyara City.”
“Vyara City.” The queen sighed. “When we spoke of Vyara City at the banquet, it had been about nostalgic memories.” She rocked the baby. “To think Iskuvi’s heir will be nothing more than a pauper there.”
A pauper, like the Ankirans whom Kaiya had met, forced into exile by the same Madurans who now invaded Hua from the South. In selling muskets and gunpowder to Madura, Hua had invited a future enemy to its doorstep. As regent, she would have to consider recent history in order to formulate future policy. If the realm survived the current crisis…
Boots clopping across the Hall of Supreme Harmony drew Kaiya’s gaze up from the queen. Minister Song shuffled behind three generals, who strode down the center of the room. Helmets were tucked under their arms, and capes flowed behind them.
All three dropped to a knee, fist to the ground. Minister Song bowed low. “Jie-xia,” they all shouted.
The title of regent still sounded strange in her ears. She nodded at them. “Generals, I would hear your plans for the defense of the capital.”
“As you command, Jie-xia.” General Tang unfurled a huge map, the length and width of two men, with the help of the others. “Fifty thousand Teleri heavy infantry march on the highway, a day away from the city. We have eight thousand imperial infantrymen and a thousand cavalry, as well as a smaller number of provincial soldiers, at our disposal.”
Kaiya kept her face impassive, just as her father would have. Still, even with her lack of military acumen, the odds did not sound promising. “How about the bulk of our soldiers in the South? They must have seen the light towers’ signals. They could help bolster the city’s defenses.”
“No, Jie-xia.” General Shan shook his head. “Our armies in the South are holding off an onslaught from the rebel Peng and his Maduran allies.”
Kaiya buried a snort. Somehow, a treacherous cousin who wanted her dead had managed to ally with a lecherous prince who wanted her in bed. “What if they retreated to the city?”
General Shan pointed to the map. “We would cede control of the central valley and the food supplies it provides to Peng.”
Looking at the map, it made sense, but— “If the capital falls, there will be no need for those supplies. We are overwhelmingly outnumbered.”
General Tang cleared his throat. “If I may, Jie-xia. The Jade River and city walls negate the Teleri’s numerical advantage. If they assault the north gate over the bridge, our guns would decimate them.”
The bridge was wide enough for thirty men to walk abreast. Kaiya frowned. The stakes were too high.
“Before they could even form up on the other side of the river,” General Shan added, “they would be in range of our cannon.”
“Are there any places where they could ford?” Kaiya pointed and traced a line along the Jade River and Sun-Moon Lake.
“No, Jie-xia,” the third general said. “The heavy winter snows have led to higher water levels. The only place any army could cross would be east in Dongmen Province. Even then, they would have to conquer Linshan Province to reach the capital.”
For whatever reason, the Tiger’s Eye faltered. Her chest tightened. Heavy winter snows had stranded her in the Wilds, yet now helped defend her against Geros. It would be welcome news if the Teleri fell back to Dongmen Province, where she had sequestered herself for two weeks waiting for Zheng Ming.
Still, that left all the people in the towns and villages north of the river undefended, with no way of escaping. The women, falling prey to the depravations of the Bovyan scourge…her stomach clenched.
Again, the emotions disappeared just as quickly as they had surfaced. They were safe. Unless… “Are there any towns where they could commandeer boats?”
General Shan shook his head. “Not enough to ferry over a credible threat before we discovered them. I will assign the cavalry to patrol the river to ensure that.”
She turned to Minister Song. “Minister, you will manage the non-military aspects of the crisis. Generals, I entrust the defense of the city to you.”
A river and city walls stood between them and the invaders. It should have been reassuring. Still, Emperor Geros had proven resourceful and unpredictable.
Astride his horse, Emperor Geros led his army through a village on the highway. Cathayi peasants lined the road, holding low bows. An industrious yet docile folk. No wonder Cathay’s founder had unified the lands with so little effort, and then prospered. The grains in the North and rice in the South would all feed the Teleri’s righteous cause in the future.
A runner pounded a fist on his chest. “Your Eminence, a message from your spy inside the capital.” He proffered a tightly wound piece of paper.
Rice paper, from Leina. Geros unrolled it and read.
City in upheaval. Only 10,000 defenders. Camp outside the city. Approach under flag of parley. Await my signal.
It would be some signal. Geros grinned. Whereas the Teleri used Eldaeri messenger birds, stolen from Tarkoth a century before, Cathayi news travelled at the speed of ships and horse relays. It only took the right bribe at the right time and place to paralyze their communications systems. How surprised Princess Kaiya would be to find fifty thousand Bovyans at the city walls.
Geros looked south. They could be no more than a day away at their pace. If he took off on his horse, he could be at the city and closer to his love by early afternoon.
He snorted. A fool’s errand, obviously, one which only a besotted rube like Prince Dhananad would take up. That proved the Altivorc King wrong about Geros eschewing strategy. He turned and beckoned the only non-Bovyan in his army forward.
Feiying jogged up and pounded his fist to his chest. “Yes, Your Eminence?”
“Take a horse and set off for Huajing. You will find Leina in the Floating World, at the Jade Teahouse. You are to assist her in weakening the city’s defenses, but your first priority is to steal the imperial regalia from the Temple of Heaven.”
Master Feiying gawked for a split second before his expression blanked. “Yes, Your Eminence.”
CHAPTER 28:
Home is Where the Heart Is
The last time Ming had looked at the Great East Gate, Emperor Geros had paraded him as a prisoner of war. Now, with Guanyin’s Eye almost completely open, and Renyue less than a half-crescent to new, he stared through the darkness at the gatehouse parapet. A single Teleri soldier paced, torch in hand. Just enough to illuminate himself, leaving Ma Jun and Jie shrouded in darkness on the ground just outside the gate.
Unable to accompany his cuckold of a little brother up the Wall, the irritable half-elf grew even more sour. Maybe a fight would be good for
her, or at least put her out of her misery.
Yuha tapped him on the shoulder and pantomimed something. It was either a buxom maiden or torrential rain. With the only female around being a flat-chested spy, and not a cloud in the sky, Ming grumbled to himself. If only the shaman could speak Hua. Though it wasn’t like they could even hear each over the roar of the waterfall in the distance.
Yuha jerked a finger three times at the gate.
Rising, Jie and Ma Jun rushed toward it.
Drawing his bowstring, Ming aimed and shot. The arrow arced and lodged in the sentry’s face. The torch floated off the Wall and extinguished halfway down.
Now, Yuha scampered across the yard between the tree line and the gate. Arrow nocked, Ming ran after him.
Back against a wall, Jie held position just inside the gate. Light bauble lamps stood mostly shuttered, allowing for only a dim light. Ma Jun and Tian were nowhere to be seen. Ming met her gaze and raised an eyebrow. Her pointed ears twitched. She pointed toward the other side of the gatehouse, then up.
A muffled grunt emanated from somewhere nearby, and Ming raised his bow. Footsteps approached, followed by a sword-wielding silhouette.
“Hold, Ming,” Jie said. “It’s Ma Jun.” How she could tell, he could only guess. He certainly wasn’t going to ask and let it go to her head.
Ma Jun neared and sheathed his weapon. “I took care of two soldiers, but there don’t seem to be any others on this level.”
With a nod, Ming pointed up. “Only one on top of the gate.” With one of his elf arrows stuck in his skull. He’d have to retrieve it, even if it was the one the little halfling had put his grimy paws on.
“Only three others on the second level,” said Tian from somewhere in the dark, “as well as our own winch operators.”
It was still hard to believe his little brother was such a skilled killer. Ming scanned the darkness. “Why would the Teleri leave such a small garrison?”