by JC Kang
His forehead furrowed. “I would guess eighty li.”
A ways away, though it made sense: they had departed the previous relay point not long before. “Inform the troops that we will rest there.”
“As the regent commands.” He bowed, and then spurred his horse forward.
Outside the windows, eldarwood trunks ambled by. What had Tian said? That the Mandate of Heaven was just an illusion, that Hua’s greatest asset was its eldarwood ships? That as long as the ships brought luxuries from abroad, the people would be content and the nation would be stable?
Kaiya sighed again. Hua had reached the pinnacle of its prosperity under Father’s rule, and the realm now teetered on the edge of fragmentation and occupation.
A loud crack burst from below. The carriage lurched, the rear rising and slamming back down again. The jolt threw Kaiya into Doctor Wu’s lap. The doctor helped her back into her seat, and she slid over to the window. Outside, the orderly ranks of mounted soldiers staggered to a halt.
Commander Zhuang rode up and opened the door. “Jie-xia, are you all right?”
Kaiya composed her expression and stepped out of the carriage. “Yes, Commander. What happened?”
Soldiers milled around the carriage, several forming up a defensive line around her. Face pallid, rubbing his arm, the driver bent over and looked under the chassis. “The front axle snapped near the right wheel. Had we been travelling at normal speed, the carriage might have flipped.”
Kaiya pursed her lips. “Can it be repaired?”
The driver bowed. “I cannot say. Only a wheelwright could tell.”
Commander Zhuang pointed. “The maps indicate the town of Hualian not seven li away. Shall I send a patrol ahead?”
Kaiya nodded. “If you cannot find a wheelwright, then go to the castle and ask Lord Fen to provide a palanquin.” She’d met the Yu-ming’s son years before, under the pretense of visiting the scenic gorge nearby. Hopefully, the young man didn’t hold a grudge.
Commander Zhuang bowed. “We will never make it to Fenggu in time if you ride a palanquin.”
“Then bring me a horse. We will all ride to Hualian. If it turns out the carriage is beyond a quick repair, then we will be seven li closer to our destination.”
Doctor Wu placed a weathered hand on her shoulder. “No, Dian-xia. Not in your condition.”
Kaiya suppressed a scowl. Only a handful of people knew of her pregnancy. “Doctor, we have no choice.”
The doctor’s severe gaze almost cowed Kaiya into acquiescence, but the Tiger’s Eye held strong. A soldier swung down from his horse and knelt on all fours beside the saddle.
Using him as footstool, Kaiya mounted. She turned to the doctor. “Don’t worry, we won’t be riding at a full gallop.”
Doctor Wu shook her head, but then beckoned a horse over. Without a word, the soldier dismounted.
With a spryness of a woman a quarter of her age, the doctor swung into the saddle. “I am coming with you, stubborn girl.”
They set off at a trot. By the time they reached the castle in Hualian, Kaiya wished she had listened. Cramps gripped her womb, and a wet hotness pooled between her legs. A few weeks into the pregnancy, this shouldn’t be happening! Her chest squeezed.
The visit to Lord Fen’s castle looked to be a request for a bed instead of a palanquin.
CHAPTER 34:
You, Spy
In his dark green and black uniform, Tian might as well have had a target on his back. All the Metal Men lurking the streets would see him as an enemy soldier. They made plenty of noise, affording him time to duck into alleys before they spotted him, but still, it made for a slow traipse through the enormous city. At this rate, the Teleri might very well catch up to Princess Kaiya before he even made it to the city’s south gate.
Waiting in an alley for a patrol to pass, he caught sight of a laundry line on a second floor balcony. He pop-vaulted up and took a closer look. Plain beige robes and pants hung among socks, shirts, and undergarments. He swapped out his tunic for simple but loose-fitting clothes that would make it easier to dissemble if a Metal Man stopped him. He folded his own garments and left them on the balcony with a silver jiao.
Tian jumped down and landed lightly in a crouch. Not letting his guard down despite the disguise, he continued on his trek to the south gate. A handful of people ventured out—twenty-seven males, no females for the first li. Those that stopped and talked all repeated the same thing: the Tianzi had been murdered by his sister, the regent, who now refused to repel the occupying army.
Impossible. According to his Black Lotus brothers and sister’s earlier report, Princess Kaiya had fled the city.
Others huddled near street vendors, chatting. Apparently, collaborators had started going door-to-door, taking a census for the Teleri and issuing identity papers.
One citizen held up his own, a sheet of rice paper with a wax seal. “They say that as long as you carry one, they won’t bother you in the streets.”
Nodding, his larger companion showed off his own. “It’ll be safe again, like before the insurgents started attacking the nobles.”
Tian wondered. If the Metal Men treated the people from Beyond the Wall like they had the Kanin peoples, safety would be purchased at the cost of dignity. Men forced to work. Women forced to procreate. In any case, if he could procure such an identity paper, he could make it through the city unmolested. He skidded to a halt at a pile of charred stone and splinters. Soot covered the pavestones, blackened nearby buildings. A fire had struck here.
No, more than a fire. A blast, from the way the debris field spread out. Curious, Tian worked his way toward the epicenter. The scorched frame of stone and wood was all that remained of what must’ve been a fairly large building. The stench of spent firepowder hung in the air. A significant amount of it had been stored here. Perhaps an armory.
Princess Kaiya had probably had it destroyed to prevent weapons from falling into enemy hands. Or perhaps the enemy had ignited it later. He continued on his way, avoiding patrols until he could borrow identity papers.
Up the street, a queue of chatting young men looped around a corner building. A promising place to glean information. Tian approached and cleared his throat. “What is this for?”
Several in line turned around. An exceptionally burly man, almost large enough to be Bovyan, said, “The Teleri are offering work.”
Tian craned around to see the line entering the stone building. The sign above the door indicated a stonemason’s workshop. He turned back. “What kind of work?”
“Repairing the east walls.”
“What happened?”
“Where have you been?” Another fellow cocked his head. “The regent left two gaping holes.”
Tian offered him a sheepish smile.
“Right,” the big man said. “The regent is busy destroying things, and at least the Teleri are trying to fix it.”
“Is that what happened to the armory?” Tian pointed northeast.
“Two of them.” Another man waved toward the east. “Before the Teleri even breached the north gate.”
Before. Why would Princess Kaiya do such a thing? Unless it hadn’t been her. Jie had mentioned something about Teleri Moquan operatives in the city. If they’d destroyed two armories, they must’ve been well-informed and well-organized.
The larger man’s eyes locked on Tian’s. Insistent. Not unlike the earlier man showing off his identification papers. Could they be Metal Men? Though big, neither was as enormous as the brutes he’d fought in the Wilds. Also, all of those had been fair-skinned, except for one who looked Kanin, in Father’s castle.
Tian pointed at the man’s identification, clutched in his hands. “Where do I get my papers?”
“The scribes didn’t come to your home?” The man raised an eyebrow. “What part of town do you live in?”
Where, indeed? More people had been out north of here, so they had likely already registered with the city’s new owners. Tian jutted his chin
in that direction.
The man nodded, but his gaze shifted past Tian, up, and then back. “Perhaps they haven’t come to your neighborhood yet. You are brave to come out without them.”
Tian shrugged. “It seems safe enough.”
“Well, you’d better get your papers.” The man pointed toward the front of the line. “They won’t let you work without it.”
“Right.” Tian backed up and bowed, then walked east. Once the stonemason’s and the line fell out of sight, he picked up his pace. That large man, and likely the first one with identification papers, were both smaller Metal Men of Hua stock.
Of course. With only five thousand soldiers to maintain order, the Teleri were now engaging in an organized campaign of disinformation. Seeding rumors and subjugating the city with propaganda alone.
Hair prickled on the back of his neck. Something wasn’t right. Somewhere out there, eyes watched. He glanced at the windows in the buildings around him. Nothing. No shutters closed, no faces withdrew. Beyond the distant marching boots, there was no indication of anyone else around.
Except for that unsettling feeling.
Another look around. Nothing. Still, the last man must’ve sent a signal to his friends. Now, they followed him. It would only take time to expose them. Tian continued on his way.
In the city’s vast central square, fourteen merchants stood by their carts while seventy-three citizens shopped. A patrol of twelve Bovyans prowled from cart to cart, but didn’t interfere with trade.
Ducking low, Tian worked his way through the people. Very few dared make eye contact with each other, let alone the Metal Men. Then, a large Hua man’s gaze fell on Tian for a split second. A bodyguard, maybe? He might not compare to a Bovyan in size, but he was easily the largest Hua around. Like the other two. No weapons to speak of. The weight of his stare…
Tian stopped at a vendor selling pork buns. He held up a polished silver coin and found the large man’s reflection. Definitely watching him. Likely the source of his disconcertion.
Chewing on the pork bun as he continued his walk, Tian kept track of the man in reflective surfaces. He continued south along the nearly-deserted main boulevard. For the first two li, he encountered only two citizens heading north, and no Metal Men at all. Only this one shadow, pretending to mind his own business, walking just far enough away to stay in sight.
Capture him, and chances were he wouldn’t talk. Lose him, and he would stick around to cause more trouble for the young Black Lotus Clan members.
A quick glance around revealed no sign of anyone watching from alleys or windows. It was time to act.
Jie listened at the sluice gate for a few minutes, differentiating the various sounds above the lazy flow of the stream. Fish swam, plopping in and out of the water. Crustaceans clawed their way over the paved streambed, undoubtedly enjoying the feast of garbage. No signs of humans, besides the missing lock on the grate.
She motioned Yuha to help her open it. With her good arm, she pulled herself into the rectangular tunnel. Though wide enough for eight men to march abreast, the passage was just tall enough for her to stand upright. The water came up to her waist.
Meanwhile, a hunched-over Yuha grimaced. He stared at the refuse with unbridled disdain. White Duck Stream must’ve looked and smelled nothing like the pristine streams and rivers meandering through his homeland. His doeskin pants would stink for days.
With a snort, Jie waded toward the other end of the tunnel, where the stream passed under the city walls. Like all the waterways in Huajing, the streambed was paved. At the mouth of the channel, she paused and peeked out.
Noble’s villas and pavilions, along with the occasional temple, formed a dark silhouette against the dusk sky. A stone bridge arched over the stream not far away. In the aristocrats’ section of the city, on such a beautiful evening, there would usually be poetry parties and receptions. Yet tonight, only birds chattered. No sign of any human activity—
A person moved, ever so slightly, in the shadows of a pagoda.
Jie ducked back into the tunnel and palmed a biao. Whoever was out there didn’t want to be seen. If not for her elf vision, she might’ve missed him.
“Master Jie,” a voice called. A male voice. Familiar. But not coming from the movement near the pagoda.
A Ghost Echo, perhaps? But why? She glanced out again, zeroing in on the source of the voice. A person, not quite grown, crouched by a stone lion. He must’ve been expecting her. The person by the pagoda, however—
Something whizzed through the air at her.
Jie stepped back and nearly bumped into Yuha. A dart. Coming from the pagoda. She sprung out and whipped her biao at the large man as he dashed toward the cover of manicured bushes.
The biao zipped past him. Curse the bad arm, throwing her balance off!
The boy at the stone lion came out from his hiding place and hurled his own biao. The bushes quivered, and the man, still hunching low, yanked the throwing star from his calf and hobbled toward a nearby wall.
With deliberate aim, taking into account her new throwing mechanics, Jie flung another spike at him. It flew true, lodging into his right upper back. He tumbled and crashed face-first against the wall. Both she and the boy raced forward, converging on the Teleri at the same time. He turned and reached for a shortsword.
The Moquan boy slashed with a knife, severing the man’s wrist tendons before he could draw his own weapon. A dagger in hand, Jie hooked his ankle with her foot and swept it up, then kicked out the other knee.
The Nightblade collapsed onto his back. His chest heaved with labored breaths, while blood pooled around his lips.
“Roll him over,” Jie said. “He’s less of a threat.”
The boy met her gaze, revealing a teenager with thin lips and narrow eyes. Huang Zhen, if memory and age progression skills served. They’d served in the same cell in Jiangkou during Lord Tong’s rebellion. He bowed and pushed the Bovyan over.
The Teleri flopped like a sea cucumber. Her throwing spike was now buried deep into him, undoubtedly puncturing a lung. Even if he could talk, he wouldn’t last long.
Huang rifled through his possessions. “Master Tian told us to be on the lookout for the Nightblades and to triangulate the source of their orders. This one started trailing me at the Jianguo Temple on my way over to meet you.”
Jie snorted. “You could’ve found a way to warn me. He almost hit me with his dart.”
“Hit you?” Huang’s eyes widened.
She used her good hand to hold the other arm up. “I’m not what I used to be.” She beckoned Yuha over.
Gawking, his head turned left and right, and then down at the stone road, which he stamped on a few times. He mumbled several foreign words which nonetheless conveyed the universal message of awe. The poor man had probably never seen a grand city before.
“Where’s Tian?” she asked.
Huang’s lip quivered. “He went after Princess Kaiya.”
Jie sighed. Yet again, he chose the princess first. “Where is she now? The palace?”
“No, she fled south to Fenggu Province just yesterday.”
Jie shook her head in disbelief. The Tiger’s Eye must’ve worn off in order for the princess to do something so emotional and stupid. She’d be safer behind the castle walls, where they could hold out for years. Tian, too, had gone. Had the princess not fled, perhaps they’d be reunited by now. Jie’s stomach knotted. “She has put herself in danger, for no reason.”
“No, no.” Huang held up a hand as he tried to pry the biao out of the Nightblade. “The regent wanted to draw the Teleri army south, away from the capital.”
“And?”
“It worked. Only five thousand enemy soldiers remain in the city, mostly surrounding the palace.”
Jie sucked on her lower lip. “How many men do we have?”
“Maybe eight thousand? But they’re holed up in the palace.”
Choking breaths coming to a stop, the Nightblade stilled.
&nbs
p; Jie tapped him with her foot. No response. Even if he were playing dead, they would likely not get any information out of him.
Kneeling over him, Yuha placed fingers along the man’s carotid pulse. “Dead,” he said in Arkothi. He bowed and chanted several words.
She sniffed. “He has a faint flowery smell.”
“I didn’t notice.” Huang gaped at her. Of course, her elf senses surpassed a human’s.
She pointed at the shoulder of the man’s black stealth suit. “Gold and silver cosmetic dust.”
Huang’s brows furrowed, his eyes shifting back and forth. “The Floating World.”
Jie nodded. Perhaps this operative had already partaken of the Floating World’s pleasures. Or he’d been there for other reasons. “Are there any adepts who gathered information there?”
“Feng Mi. During Minister Hong’s entrapment of Chief Minister Tan, she was the one who choked him out.”
Jie sucked on her lower lip. In retrospect, Minister Hong never showed any knack for conspiracy, yet had somehow cornered a master conspirator. “Where’s Chief Minister Hong now?”
“The regent dismissed him and he’s now unaccounted for.”
A man’s muffled yell trickled through the air, so quiet Huang Zhen didn’t notice.
With her elf ears, Jie tracked the source. A villa, not far upstream. She gestured in Moquan code. Over there. A sound. It might have come out unintelligible with only one hand, but Huang nodded and padded lightly in the direction she’d indicated.
“Dump it,” Jie whispered to Yuha, pointing at the corpse before running after Huang.
“Spirits not approve,” Yuha grumbled.
Kneeling by a wall, Huang motioned for Jie to halt. He pointed.
With barely a sound, a dark human shape in the shadows of a nearby villa wall dragged a body toward an evergreen hedge. Undetectable without elf vision.
Investigate, Jie signaled.
Huang nodded, and then crept up on the interloper. He reached in.
The stranger let go of the body and grabbed Huang’s arm. With a graceful spin, he dumped Huang on his back, mounted him, and placed a short blade to his throat. He was good. Nightblade good.