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

by JC Kang

  His heart pounded in his chest. This was where he was supposed to be, who he was supposed to be with. He turned the lockpick pouch over in his hands, pausing each time at the flap and the awkward stitching. It weighed too much for just a set of picks.

  Of course. Withdrawing his knife, he cut away the stitches on the flap and opened the secret pouch he had sewn in during their sojourn in the Wilds. Inside hid the dull grey metal of the Teleri imperial crest.

  Somewhere behind him, Jie stifled a cry.

  Jie could only watch the reunion she’d tried to sabotage several times over. But now, they looked so right together, the Big Brother she adored and the Sworn Sister she hated.

  Oh, what could’ve been, with Tian. They’d come so close, not once, but twice. Still, their love had never been allowed to blossom, thwarted by circumstance and bad timing. Now, he was with her. Against all odds, their hearts came together in a way his would never beat for Jie.

  It was meant to be. Her life would continue forward, without Tian in it. She wiped a tear away.

  With her bad hand.

  She stared at it in awe, but when she went to move it again, nothing happened. She searched the heavens through the driving rain, wondering why the gods played such evil tricks on her. With a sigh, she turned back to the fires in the east. To duty, like she always did.

  There, the flames persisted despite the downpour. The rain might’ve cleared some of the smoke from the air, yet still the city burned. Thousands of yells and screams erupted in a disjointed cacophony.

  Jie turned back toward the hated princess at the focus. “Jie-xia, harder! The fires are still burning.”

  The princess’ voice rose, angelic yet powerful.

  The temple well bubbled over, spilling onto the ground.

  “Wells are rising everywhere,” Ming yelled from the front gate. “The stream and canals, as well.”

  Fang Weiyong shook his head. “Impossible. It’s rained a lot, but not so much that it could raise the water level.”

  “The music,” Doctor Wu said. “Sun-Moon Lake itself rises to salute the gods. Backflowing into the canals and streams.”

  Ming chuckled at the couple. Apparently, only his kid brother could melt the heart of the Ice Princess. Still, as sappy and charming as it might be, their love alone couldn’t save the city. Though perhaps a different type of magic would help.

  “Come with me.” He grabbed Brehane’s hand and tugged her toward the entrance and the horses.

  She fought back, a scowl crossing her face. “Didn’t we go through this before? It’s a beautiful moment, but no means no.”

  “No, not that.” There were too many negatives to keep track of. “No, I need your help. The city needs your help. Can you ride a horse?”

  Her pursed lips answered the question. Of course, they had ridden in Selastyas.

  “Come on, then.”

  She followed him out. Ming gestured his aide off a horse, then Brehane onto it. He mounted up and spurred his mount into a gallop. Rumor had it the princess had taken off from the Temple of Heaven on a New Year’s Day, in a mad dash through the city to come visit him. Now, he might very well have been retracing her path.

  Except now he had a different destination in mind. Her song reverberated in his ears, no matter how far away he galloped. Everyone else’s ears, too, as soldiers, commoners, and even the occasional Bovyan wandered aimlessly, staring in the direction of the Temple of Heaven. He looked back to see if Brehane was keeping up.

  They arrived at White Duck Stream, now rising nearly to street level. He followed it until they reached a famous pile of rocks—debris from an earthquake a century ago that had transformed Qingjingtian from a reservoir to a grassy basin. Water gurgled over the levee, feeding into the old streambed which the locals had since filled halfway with dirt to grow vegetables. It might take work crew days to clear the rocks, but Brehane…

  He pointed at it. “Can you do something about the levee?”

  Her eyes tracked from the pile of rocks to the streambed, now green with vegetable seedlings, then back to White Duck Stream. “It will wash all of the crops away.”

  “And the Bovyans with it.”

  Brehane shook her head. “The people will go hungry.”

  Ming threw his hands up. “Dead people won’t eat at all. Plus, it’s not like this one stretch feeds even a fraction of the populace.”

  She glared at him for a few seconds before closing her eyes and starting her chant.

  Geros listened to Princess Kaiya’s song, so loud she might’ve been standing right next to him. But she wasn’t. She never would. If only she’d come, he would’ve found a way to prove his love for her.

  And in his anger at her refusal, he had set the city ablaze. His men almost refused, grumbling that it went against the tenets of the Last Testament of the First Geros. The Bovyan race was to bring order and build prosperity, not to wantonly destroy cities out of vengeance.

  Returning from their forays into the nearby city blocks, the soldiers now gathered stoically around him, only their eyes indicating that they waited for some word of encouragement. Or maybe even absolution.

  He had failed them all. He might reach his preordained death in just a few months, but many of these men still had years to serve the Teleri Empire. He’d let his passions turn a sure future victory into a premature invasion and defeat.

  Let history remember him as a fighter. He cleared his throat so they could hear him over the pounding rain. “Bovyans! The enemy is marching on us, though the rain renders their guns useless. Defend the barricades. Let no Cathayi set foot in this basin until the last of us is dead. They shall rue the day they invited us in. Our people will celebrate our last stand. Now go, up to the barricades!”

  The men broke out in cheers. They chanted his name as they sloshed in the mud toward the barriers.

  Let the Cathayi come fall on Teleri spears. Let her know her people had died because she refused him.

  Outside the amphitheater, the crackling flames fizzled. The orange-and-red glow dulled. Gurgling at the western end of the basin led to a gush of water from a gully. Filling in from the west to east, and then spilling from the rim of the basin and down the slopes, the water level rose.

  His men cursed and yelled as the makeshift barricades toppled under the torrent and tumbled into the growing lake. Water rose to his knees already. Geros looked toward the stone seat tiers. Even when the water completely flooded the basin, at least those would still be dry. Better to die fighting than to drown like a rat.

  He slogged through the waist-high water toward the seats. By the time he reached the slope, the water came up to his chest. Dropping to all fours, he dug his hands into the grass and mud, yet still couldn’t find purchase on the stones through the storm surge. A wood rafter tumbled down the banks and slammed into him, knocking him back.

  It was all he could do to hold on to it as the water level rose. Many of his men floundered in their heavy armor, and very few held on to weapons. Those on the stone seats shouted, beckoned, and men who had managed to climb onto floating wood paddled with their hands.

  Then the princess’ song ceased. The rain slowed as the clouds thinned. Sunlight lanced in ever-widening blades across the new lake. Thousands upon thousands of Cathayi musketmen lined the edge of the basin, weapons covering every angle.

  “Throw down your arms,” called a male voice in accented Arkothi.

  Geros searched the ranks of men and found Zheng Ming astride a horse. The lordling had come of age, it appeared. Geros growled. “Men, attack!”

  The soldiers on the seats yelled out a war cry and charged, only to be cut down by volleys of musketfire. In a matter of moments, his men were either dead or incapacitated in the stands, or floating.

  Ignominious defeat. The only thing that could make it worse—

  “Emperor Geros,” Kaiya called from where she sat on horseback at Zheng Ming’s side. “You have lost.”

  The water’s tumble sounded like applau
se as it receded back into the streams, sewers, and canals. Kaiya watched as Teleri gratefully accepted the ropes thrown to rescue them. Oftentimes, it took three or four of her men to subdue just one unarmed Bovyan as he came ashore.

  She sighed. Behind them, the rain and rising water had doused the flames, but they would undoubtedly leave both a physical and emotional scar on the neighborhood and its residents. The victory, in what was hopefully the last battle, had come at great cost.

  Kaiya turned back to the remnants of the once-proud Teleri army. There might be only a few hundred survivors at this point, out of the fifty thousand who had joined the invasion. Among them, Emperor Geros. Without the Tiger’s Eye protecting her, even the sight of him sent a chill up her spine.

  Still, she forced herself to look at the emperor. Though one arm hung limp, he fought against all the ropes pulling his wooden beam toward land. If only he would just let go and let the waters swallow him up. If he came ashore alive, it meant facing him.

  Tian’s hand found hers, from where he sat awkwardly in his saddle. It was warm, comforting, and she would lean into him now if it wouldn’t send the both of them tumbling into ankle-deep water. His gaze fell on her. “When he reaches the bank. I will kill him. For what he did to you.”

  Her shoulders trembled as horrifying memories of Geros’ calloused hands on her surfaced. Now, here he was, coming closer to land. Closer to her. Her free hand balled into a fist so tight it might draw blood. He clawed his way to the far end of the beam.

  A rope dart whizzed in and wrapped around his limp arm. Another caught around his neck. Two young men in plain clothes held the other ends of the cords. Soldiers grabbed the ropes and pulled. Geros lurched onto land, flopping like a fish out of water. Men crowded around him, seizing his arms and forcing him to his knees. Others cleared a path between him and her.

  So similar to what he had done to her, in the Wilds, humiliating her before all his men. Another shudder wracked her. Tian… where was Tian? His hand had been there just a second before. She looked around, from his horse, to the crowd of her soldiers, and finally to Geros.

  Tian rose up behind the emperor, yanking his hair back. A knife flashed in Tian’s other hand. Just like when the Golden Scorpion had killed Cousin Peng.

  Her lips moved, but no sound came out. This was nothing short of murder. “Stop,” she finally croaked, though not loud enough for her to hear her own voice. She cleared her throat. “Stop.”

  Tian’s blade halted against Geros’ neck. He looked up at her, eyes questioning. Geros’ stare fell on her as well, his mismatched eyes twisting her stomach into knots.

  Straightening her back and squaring her shoulders as she had done so many times in the past, she raked her gaze over the expectant faces before settling somewhere between Tian’s chest and the top of Geros’ head. “We will act with justice, not vengeance. Enemy generals must be accorded every respect. Confine him to the Hall of Water Spirits in Sun-Moon Palace.”

  Geros shook his head. “Kill me now. Better yet, allow me to kill myself.”

  It would be so much easier if he did. Kaiya sighed. “I have a mind to let you live what remains of your god-cursed life as a warning to others who might try to attack us.”

  Tian withdrew the knife from Geros’ neck, stepped back and bowed. “As you command, Jie-xia.”

  What was that expression? Disappointment? Relief? Kaiya sighed. Whatever it was, they now had time to sort it out. The war was over.

  CHAPTER 47:

  Just Rewards

  Kaiya fanned herself as she listened to the buzz of cicadas whirring outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Her belly now pushed out, with the occasional kick as a reminder of the two lives growing inside of her.

  In front of her knelt a crowd of ministers and hereditary lords, lined in orderly ranks throughout the cavernous hall, and spilling out into the courtyard one hundred and sixty-eight steps below. In the three months that had passed since the defeat of the Teleri army, she’d worked behind the scenes, helping Chief Minister Song and General Tang administer the government and military as they labored to restore stability and imperial authority throughout the realm. Today, she would hold court as regent for the first time, where many expected her to announce her choice of a new Tianzi.

  Beside her, the Jade Throne remained empty, which allowed her to relax in a cushioned chair at its side. The inner castle had opened months before, but her brother had never emerged, at least not publically. Having never wanted to be Tianzi anyway, he had been grateful for the Guardian Dragon’s anointing Kaiya the decision-maker, and he let the rumor spread that he had died in the attempted coup. Today, he was enjoying a life of anonymity in Peng’s province with his wife Wu Yanli. He said he wanted to be a teacher, and without a doubt, his gentle nature would serve him well in that endeavor.

  Despite Lord Liu Yong’s ambitions, his heir Liu Dezhen had relinquished his son’s claim, probably at the urging of Cousin Kai-Hua. For the first time in seven centuries, there was no Tianzi.

  “Take your time, make a wise choice,” Doctor Wu had said a month before, with a wink. “The Guardian Dragon might very well reappear if need be.” Since the victory, she had stopped by often. Why such a powerful being had an interest in her pregnancy remained a mystery. Now, she stood toward the back with Fang Weiyong.

  Kaiya pushed herself up from the chair. In front of her, the assembled lords, ministers, and generals pressed their foreheads to the ground. Many of them had served admirably throughout these trying times. Future historians might try to hail her singlehanded quelling of the rebellion and defeat of the Teleri army; for now, she’d make sure everyone got their just recognition.

  “Rise,” she said.

  The men straightened. A thousand pairs of eyes met hers, in what would be considered impertinence if not for the awe and admiration written in their expressions. Admiration for a girl, now officially an adult at twenty years old.

  She took a deep breath. “Today, because of your contributions, Hua is once again secure. Safe from insurrection and invasion. I command you all to strive to keep it that way, through your work in the ministries, in the administration of your provinces, and in the training of your troops.”

  “As the regent commands.” The chorus rang out, from inside the hall to out in the courtyard. Heads bowed again in a wave.

  She nodded toward Chief Minister Song, who bowed. He cleared his throat and started the lengthy process of calling important ministers, generals, and lords to present themselves before her, to swear loyalty and receive their rewards.

  Lord Lin’s reward was generous; certainly not for his attempted declaration of independence and late help against the Teleri invasion, but rather for his daughter’s role. Lin Ziqiu would serve in secret as a spy until she married the man of her choice. Kaiya suspected that man might be Zheng Ming, the only one she could not allow.

  Ma Jun, with Lana and Yuha at his side, was assigned an ambassadorship to the Kanin Tribal Council, though he retained his status as imperial guard. She committed to consecrating a shrine in the Wilds, where he might pray for the repose of his comrades who died in her defense during the escape from Iksuvius. Fang Weiyong had wanted to join him, but she appointed him Chief Imperial Physician.

  General Altos Di Bovyan, who had tried to protect her from Geros in the Wilds, had come at the behest of the Teleri Directori to demand that the emperor, now stripped of his title and reassigned his original name Haros Bovyanthas, be repatriated, along with the Teleri imperial crest and the Eye of Geros. She would have liked nothing more than to give them back, since Tian suspected the crest, not the Tiger’s Eye, had constrained her power. She offered it in return for the Teleri relinquishing their gains in the Nothori Northwest and the Wilds, and ending their breeding program in Madura—knowing well the Directori would refuse. In any case, she would ensure Hua worked to free those countries, and Geros—Haros—would die from the curse sometime soon anyway. Before then, they would try to get as much information
out of him as possible.

  Cousin Peng’s province in Nanling was gifted to her late imperial guard Chen Xin’s cousin Lord Chen, who had nominated her as regent in the first place. Chief Minister Song’s son was forgiven and assigned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where his planning and spying skills could be put to good use.

  Princess Alaena and Prince Aelward presented their baby girl, born in Jiangkou just before the Teleri’s breaching of Huajing’s wall. Kaiya gave her the Hua name Jin-Feng for Golden Phoenix. Cyrus had set off in search of Sameer, though Brehane had stayed behind to meet Lord Xu, as Kaiya had promised in Iksuvi. Leina’s mother, whom Tian had sought out and found wandering north alone, was allowed to live in Leina’s Floating World house until the end of her days.

  Throughout the proceedings, Zheng Ming remained handsome and dignified, bowing as each person received their reward. He undoubtedly wondered why he had been left out when all the other Tai-Ming lords had been recognized. Let him guess. She judiciously avoided his gaze the whole time.

  At long last, Chief Minister Song looked up from his list of names and turned to her. “That is all. Shall we adjourn, Jie-xia?”

  The chamber broke out into low murmurs.

  She stood. “I have an announcement to make.”

  A hush fell over all the assembled men.

  “For now, the Jade Throne shall remain empty.” She cradled her belly. “By laws of succession, my unborn son shall inherit.” Which meant she would continue to rule as regent until he came of age, and which son…well, the lords didn’t need to know about twins.

  She’d expected grumbling, but the hall remained silent save for the shuffle of robes as the men pressed their foreheads to the floor. She continued, “For his valor and exploits, I will take Tai-Ming Lord Zheng Ming as my husband in name, and as their uncle by blood, he shall be the adopted father of my sons. He shall retain his hereditary rule over Dongmen Province and be allowed to choose his heir from what I imagine will be a long list of sons from concubines.”