The Dragon Songs Saga: The Complete Quartet: Songs of Insurrection, Orchestra of Treacheries, Dances of Deception, and Symphony of Fates

by JC Kang

  Jie whipped a throwing star at the Nightblade’s back, but he twisted out of its path.

  “Stop.” He stood and held his hands up. “It’s me. Tian.”

  Jie’s heart skipped a beat. It was Tian’s voice, though perhaps the Nightblade had learned the Mockingbird’s Deception. Still, whoever it was helped Huang to his feet. She dashed over.

  Up close, it was clearly Tian. She careened into him, wrapping her good arm around his back. “I thought you’d run after the princess again.”

  “I’d planned to. But something puzzled me.” He pointed at the body. “This Teleri tried to trail me. I evaded him. And stalked him instead. He came here. He started making notes. About the mansions in this district.”

  “The nobles’ quarter,” Huang said.

  Jie shuddered. “Standard operating procedure for the Teleri as they subjugate a land. They will kill all male royalty and take all women of childbearing age to breed the new ruling class. No doubt they’ll be sending troops here once they’ve accomplished more pressing objectives.”

  “They already know so much,” Tian said. “About the city and its defenses. They were able to capture a well-defended city. While taking minimal losses. They must have had someone in the city. For quite a while.”

  Leina stared at the Weiqi board, continuing the game with her only worthy opponent. She placed a black piece down right next to where she had set the white, closing off an escape route. Cathay was doomed, and if they saw the board as she did, they would just surrender and spare their soldiers brutal deaths.

  A tear formed in her eye. News out of the far south had come to a sudden halt once Emperor Geros had captured Huajing and proceeded on his mad pursuit of Princess Kaiya. He had promised the release of Leina’s mother from the Madurans, but... Practically speaking, an old woman with a small escort would have little means of making it first through Peng’s rebellion and then Cathay’s imperial army.

  If her mother made it to the capital, at least, she would find it pacified. Leina was seeing to that, even with her limited resources. Five thousand heavy infantry, with nearly six hundred injured and unable to fight. Thirteen Nightblades, though their leader Feiying had disappeared and two had not reported back. The enemy might outnumber them two to one, they might have a handful of the mysterious Moquan at their disposal—but she kept them plugged up in Sun-Moon Palace and tricked the populace with rumors.

  Leina stood and stretched out her tired legs. The stress of strategizing weighed heavily in her neck and shoulders. How ironic that a nation of rapists, who saw women as a vagina and womb, now relied on a female to spearhead their occupation. How ironic that she did so. Cathay might be a hateful nation of greedy, immoral merchants, but they probably didn’t deserve absorption into the Teleri Empire. Regardless, as long as there was hope for her mother, she would do Geros’ bidding. Her home would serve as the brain center for the occupation, with the Nightblades coming and going in secret, relaying her orders to the Teleri officers.

  She walked through the sitting room, avoiding the spot where Old Hong had died. Even though the Nightblades had disposed of the body, it seemed like his spirit still lingered there, gazing at her through those sad eyes. Shuddering, she came to the pantry and released the dwarf-made trigger to the secret door into the Jade Teahouse.

  The common room was empty, save for pretty little Purple Autumn sipping tea at a bloodwood table with the proprietress. The silence felt so different from the Floating World’s heyday, when Night Blossoms entertained rich patrons at this late hour. The teahouse’s high-class clientele had fled the city, and the Bovyans were not allowed to partake of women until they set up the mating compounds. Leina shuddered again at her own experiences in a rape camp in Madura.

  With a sway in her hips, she sauntered over to the table. “May I?”

  “Please.” Purple Autumn nodded and extended her hand to an open seat. The poor girl had spent so many days here, wearing a simple dress instead of one of her extravagant gowns.

  The proprietress stood. “I’ll get another tea cup.”

  Leina settled into the bloodwood chair. “I’ve seen you here a lot recently.”

  “The Teleri prowl the streets, and I have nowhere else to go.” Purple Autumn dabbed her eyes.

  With a pat on the girl’s arm, Leina cast a sympathetic smile. Always women suffered the most in war, through loss of children or their dignity. The poor girl’s mysterious patron must’ve been one of those who had fled, deserting her. Leina’s own surviving patron, Liu Dezhen, hid behind the palace walls with his infant son, the Tianzi. He had probably forgotten all about her in an attempt to save himself.

  “Where are you staying now?”

  “Here, until my money runs out.” Tears gathered in Purple Autumn’s lashes.

  If not for the Nightblades’ constant coming and going, Leina would offer Purple Autumn a place to stay. Maybe she still could. The girl was just a sixteen-year-old pampered prostitute who wouldn’t notice the frequent backdoor visitors. Even if she did, she had always proven smart and witty. Perhaps given the chance to avoid gang rape at the hands of the Bovyans, she might make a capable lieutenant.

  CHAPTER 35:

  Allies

  A guzheng twanged somewhere nearby, each note strummed to the beat of Kaiya’s heart. Cool silken sheets caressed her body while the residual shiver of lovemaking receded in her core. Limbs languid, she shifted to her side.

  Tian. He lay there beside her, the smooth tone of his bare body sending her pulse pounding again. He flashed his crooked smile, and her belly erupted into a swarm of butterflies.

  He rolled onto her, pressing his chiseled abdomen and chest against hers. Heat flared inside of her. He propped himself on his elbows and met her gaze. His dark eyes saw past the regal princess, saw her. “Don’t tell her. The babies are safe for now, but she couldn’t handle the news.”

  News? Her? Who did he mean? And why was he speaking in Levanthi-accented Ayuri?

  She blinked and looked again.

  Tian was gone.

  Replaced by Geros.

  Pressed against her, he grinned. When he spoke, it was in Ayuri as well. “We’ll keep it to ourselves.”

  Jolted from sleep, heart racing, Kaiya jerked up to find herself on a soft bed, covered by a cool silk sheet. Neither Tian nor Geros were to be found. The Tiger’s Eye rose up around her, squelching the conflicting tidal wave of emotions.

  Where was she? The Paladin Citadel in Vyara City? That would explain the sing-song intonation of Ayuri spoken among the dark, human-shaped forms around her. Somewhere nearby, a guzheng played. She blinked, clearing her vision.

  The elegant bloodwood furniture, fine porcelain vases, and hanging scrolls could only belong in a Hua noble’s villa.

  “She’s awake!” a deep voice said in Arkothi.

  Kaiya tracked the voice to its source, a man with a curly mop of brown hair. He stood beside Doctor Wu, but only came up to her chest. Fleet! And next to him, the chocolate-skinned Mystic Brehane.

  “Athran smiles upon you,” said someone on the other side of the bed, in halting Arkothi.

  She turned to see Cyrus Estazadeh, one of the few remaining true Akolytes, bowing his head.

  By his religion’s moral standards, her sleeping robe exposed too much of her bust. Kaiya pulled the sheets up to her chest, and Fleet’s lower lip jutted out.

  At Cyrus’ side, Sameer pressed his palms together in Ayuri greeting. “Princess Kaiya, I am glad to see you awake.”

  “How long have I been asleep? Where are we?”

  “Foolish girl,” Doctor Wu said. “We are in Lord Fen’s castle in Hualian. It has been three days since you fainted from blood loss. You are fortunate the Akolyte’s divine magic could heal you.”

  Three days. Only five days to reach the pyramid. Kaiya looked from her to Cyrus and placed her fingers and thumb in a circle over her heart, in the fashion of the Levasti. “Thank you, Cyrus. How did you find us?”

  Cyrus started
to speak when Fleet cut in front of him with a wide smile. “We were paddling up river when we saw your men on the highway, just outside the city. We thought they were going to join up with the Cathayi army until we saw you with them, hunched over your horse.”

  Doctor Wu wagged a finger at her. “If not for the Akolyte thrashing through the water to get to us, you might have bled out.”

  Cyrus bowed. “Your baby is safe.”

  Kaiya met each of their gazes. Their expressions said it all; they knew. No point in hiding it, anyway. “Babies.”

  Fleet leaned in. “Whose—ow!”

  Sameer let go of the madaeri’s ear and pressed his hands together. Brehane sidled over and clasped her hand. The warmth was as reassuring as it had been during their escape from Iksuvius, when the altivorcs were chasing them.

  Kaiya turned to Doctor Wu. “How far away are the Teleri?”

  “They have gained ground on us. The latest scouting report puts them in Long-An.”

  Closing her eyes, Kaiya summoned a map in her mind. Now if only she had a better sense of geography. Long-An lay north, but the distance…well, they had passed through the town the day the carriage axle snapped. Which meant… She opened her eyes. “Summon Commander Zhuang.”

  Doctor Wu frowned. “You are in no condition to ride a horse.”

  “What about the carriage?”

  The doctor shook her head. “Lord Fen’s men say it could take them several days to repair.”

  Several days seemed too long to repair an axle. With the Teleri in pursuit and the conjunction just four days away, they didn’t have several days to wait. She sighed. “How can I travel while keeping my unborn children safe?”

  “A palanquin,” Doctor Wu said.

  Kaiya shook her head. “The palanquin won’t outrun the Teleri, nor will it make it to the pyramid in time.”

  “Pyramid?” Fleet stood on his tiptoes. “There is another way. On the other end of Hualian’s famous gorge lies a town on Teardrop Lake. Yanhu. You can take a boat to the pyramid.”

  Kaiya gawked at the madaeri. How did he know so much more about her country? “Will there be enough time?”

  Nodding, Fleet pointed out the window. “That’s the way we planned to go.”

  “You are going to the pyramid, too?”

  Sameer chuckled. “In Iksuvius, you offered us a tour of the Cathayi pyramid.”

  She had. Though not under such unforeseen circumstances.

  “How serendipitous.” Doctor Wu pursed her lips.

  With a glance around the room, Kaiya found clean travelling clothes on a bloodwood chair. “I will dress now. Have Commander Zhuang meet me here in ten minutes.”

  When everyone had filed out, Kaiya threw off the covers. Her bare feet found the hardwood floors, though her legs wobbled as she stood. Stuttering over to the chair, she shrugged off the robe and slipped on the dress. Tian’s lockpick pouch tumbled out of her folded sash as she picked it up. After winding the sash around her waist, she retrieved the pouch.

  As always, it felt heavy in her hand, like her heart whenever the Tiger’s Eye faltered. Always at the most inopportune times, and a now with increasing frequency. If—no, when—it finally gave way for good, she might be left a quivering tangle of emotions, unable to mother her fatherless twins, let alone rule a crumbling nation.

  A knock at the door startled her. “Jie-xia,” Commander Zhuang called.

  Kaiya straightened. “Enter.”

  The doors slid open and Commander Zhuang marched in with two aides. They all dropped to a knee.

  “Jie-xia,” the commander said, “messengers report that Lord Wu leads the Zhenjing provincial army through the western pass into Fenggu. The main imperial army is also marching north.”

  Both converging near the pyramid. Kaiya nodded. As long as they stayed just ahead of the Teleri, Emperor Geros would be walking into the imperial army’s waiting guns. There would be no need to rely on magic that she might not be able to conjure. “Send word to Lord Wu to hold his position and fall upon the Teleri rear when they pass him on the central highway.”

  With his officers nodding in agreement, Commander Zhuang’s lips twitched before finally smiling. “Very good, Jie-xia. I will send one of our men immediately. We are ready to ride on your order.”

  She shook her head. “I cannot ride a horse in my condition. I will have to ride in a palanquin.”

  His eyes widened. “The Teleri will overtake us before we meet with the imperial army.”

  “Which is why you will continue on the highway with a decoy while I go through the gorge.” Similar plans had ostensibly worked twice before, first in the escape from Iksuvius and again when fleeing from Dongmen.

  Commander Zhuang rose to his feet. “Jie-xia, we cannot leave you unprotected.”

  “I have travelled with far less protection.” She beckoned to the door, where her friends waited. “They will be with me, and while I do not doubt your men’s abilities, you serve the realm better with my plan.”

  He exchanged looks with the two officers, who shook their heads. He opened his mouth in protest.

  “That is my command.”

  “Yes, Jie-xia.” He bowed. “I will have Lord Fen prepare palanquins for you. We will procure some of his uniforms and banners to disguise thirty of us as his soldiers, to make it appear as if it is his family fleeing ahead of the Teleri invasion.”

  A sound idea. Kaiya nodded. The Southerners and thirty imperial cavalry would be more than enough protection against enemy patrols.

  Peng Kai-Long rode at the head of one hundred thousand soldiers, the imperial and provincial banners mingled amongst them. In every town they passed, the people all kowtowed to him. One day, soon, they would be rewarded. The nation would prosper again, growing as other civilizations bowed before Hua’s superior culture.

  From his place right behind, General Lu spurred his horse forward and bowed. “Huang-Shang.”

  Kai-Long lifted his chin. The formal address for Tianzi might be a little premature. There was still the rest of the imperial army to convince, and then coronation rites to be held. “Speak.”

  “The rest of the imperial army is encamped near the Luzhou, about five days away at our current march. If it is your will, I shall send word to have the commanders meet us first, to ensure their loyalty.”

  “You did not think the Guardian Dragon answering my call on the battlefield was reassuring enough?” Kai-Long straightened on his horse and stared back.

  The general cast his gaze down. “Of course not, Huang-Shang. The Mandate of Heaven is clearly with you.”

  As long as the Aksumi Mystic stayed pleased. Kai-Long snorted. The illusionist’s sexual appetite was becoming quite the tale around camp. He had already partaken of several of the new Maduran prostitutes they’d rescued from Prince Dhananad’s defeated army.

  Except the noble-looking one. If rumors were to be believed, she had yet to take any clients. How she fended off drunken soldiers, or even fed herself…

  The Water Snake spy, disguised as a messenger, ran up. He dropped to his knee and held up a missive. “Huang-Shang, the latest dispatch from the North.”

  “Rise.”

  With his head still bowed, the man stood and proffered the message. Taking it with a hand, Kai-Long snapped it open and glanced over the news. Nothing they didn’t know already. The Teleri army and Lord Wu’s men were all five days away from the Luzhou. He squinted, trying to decipher the coded language embedded within.

  From Fen. Regent left. In gorge.

  Kai-Long gritted his teeth. Lord Fen was supposed to have kept the princess until the Teleri arrived. Through the gorge would take her to Yanhu, on the lake, off-course from Luzhou…unless she found a boat. Damn her!

  The spy cleared his throat. “We have several friends who can solve this problem.”

  Friends, as in Water Snake Moquan, most likely. Kai-Long nodded. “Yes, take care of her.”

  Water bubbled over rocks outside of the palanquin, setti
ng a soothing rhythm for Kaiya to practice a magical song in her mind. If not for the urgency and secrecy, it might’ve been worth walking through the gorge, where smooth white rocks towered high above a stream. The path, carved in the cliff face some thirty feet above the brook, was just wide enough for the porters to carry her palanquin. Interspersed rock columns supported an overhanging path. To think that, if not for the Tiger’s Eye, she would be frozen in fear from the tight confines and the thought of the height.

  The procession came to a halt, and the porters lowered the palanquin to the ground. Kaiya slid open the window and looked out. “Why are we stopping?” With the narrowness of the path, they had to exit the gorge by sundown.

  “Jie-xia,” Doctor Wu said, “The porters need rest. You should stretch your legs, as well.”

  Kaiya squirmed around, readjusting her seat. Yes, her legs would benefit from a walk. “Very well.”

  The door slid open, allowing in the afternoon sun. She climbed out and found herself on a broad ledge that jutted out from the path, uncovered by the overhang. Her feet tingled as she shook them out. Around her, guards dismounted. The three Southerners sat. They had abandoned their own palanquins at the mouth of the gorge in favor of walking.

  Fleet balanced on the lip of rocks that lined the ledge. “Kind of reminds me of when we fled through that ravine in Iksuvi, escaping the altivorcs.”

  Kaiya sighed. That misadventure had taken days and claimed her loyal imperial guards Zhao Yue and Li Wei. Tian had been so sure Fleet was leading them into a trap, and yet, the madaeri saved them time and time again.

  Now, he froze in place, ears perked. Just like when the altivorcs ambushed them.

  Kaiya closed her eyes and listened. From above, something clicked and twanged. Air displaced, coming toward her. She dropped to the ground. A bolt thwacked into the palanquin. She dared a glance up. It would’ve hit her in the head.

  A cocking clack betrayed the weapon as a repeating crossbow. The trigger clicked. The string twanged. Another bolt whizzed at her. She rolled to the side, and a cramp gripped her womb. The bolt struck the ground right where she’d been.