The king exchanged a few words with Lords Hong and Anjin, making some light comment that had them both smiling as they rose. Taeshin’s pain was only growing, blossoming through his stomach and making his heart pound. He knew he was sweating as if he had trained all morning and come straight from the yards. Once again, he felt Lord Hong’s gaze flicker past him. The old man gave no visible sign of disapproval, but there would be trouble later – a reprimand or even worse.
The king strolled to the benches with father and son, leaving the personal guard to stand down on their own initiative. Taeshin nodded to the most senior of the group. Though he disliked Xian, he could admit the man was competent. At Xian’s whispered order, the six guards took station in a single rank, settling into a statue stillness they might have to maintain for hours. In the past, Taeshin had prided himself on his physical control at such times, though it was in part a relaxation of thought, a placidity that allowed the body’s itches and twitches to die away. He sought that perfect calm and instead felt his side burn so savagely he had to stifle a cry of pain. He felt his eyes fill with tears and actually spill down his cheek as if he wept! It was appalling.
The king rose to address a dozen of his most senior lords, not twenty paces away. Taeshin stood with other files of guards. Some wore ornate armour that resembled huge, scaled beasts, for show rather than function. He was grateful Lord Hong preferred the simple armour of the battlefield that allowed a man to move and breathe.
Taeshin felt the room sway around him and he fought against panic. The king’s seneschal was calling out the arrival of another house and he focused on the crash of voices and the jingling armour as they approached. He saw the king walk over once more, bringing the lords out of the armed group as if plucking seeds. The young man looked relaxed and cheerful, with no sign of tension. Taeshin envied him, for the agony he did not feel.
‘My lords,’ the king said. ‘I have found my dear uncle, at last. I was not even born when he broke faith with my father. Indeed, I believe it was that betrayal that hastened my father’s death and cost me years of his guidance. I doubled the reward my father offered, then doubled it again. Yet nothing came of it until this month, when two monks returned from a pilgrimage into the west. They came home with a dozen stories, my lords, of fighting in the streets of a city, of unrest and treason – and a report of Mazer steps being taught to children.’
That caused a ripple to go around the entire hall. Even Taeshin felt the room steady for a moment as the import struck him. The steps were taught as a secret craft, never to be shared with outsiders. The knowledge had kept the realm safe for over a thousand years, with every child trained and only the very best selected. It was the heart of Shiang, and the thought of it given freely to the citizens of another nation was a blasphemy.
The young king patted the air for silence.
‘I see you share the outrage I felt on hearing the news. It is my thought to send a small group of warriors to fetch my uncle home. Men of experience and judgement. We do not seek a war. We seek only the return of what is ours. My uncle will be an old man by now, but who knows what allies he might have bribed. He took my mother from my father’s side, after all. Tellius was always said to be a persuasive man.’
He sneered the last as if the words were acid on his lips. Another murmur went around his lords, though there were assessing glances as well at the mention of warriors.
‘I ask then that you put your best men forward,’ Yuan-Choji said. ‘Decades of dishonour have already passed, gentlemen. I do not wish to lose the man to old age or a winter fever. Select … four masters of the sword – those you can all agree are without peer. I will lend my own First Sword to the enterprise. Perhaps it would be fairest to say you should select three from among your own.’ A dutiful chuckle clattered through the noble lords. ‘I will send them west with one instruction: enter the city of Darien and bring home the one who was called Tellius, who was once my father’s most trusted brother.’
He paused for a moment in thought and then nodded, making the decision with all the quick certainty of a young man.
‘I do not know how many he has taught, but if it is just a few, perhaps that knowledge can yet be pruned back before it spreads.’
He might have gone on then, but the voice of his seneschal bellowed out once more. Taeshin knew better than to turn his head like some gaping slave. Instead, he counted the banners arrayed ahead of him. Only one was missing, as the seneschal confirmed. Lord Ran had come into the king’s presence. The king’s Lord of Trade was not one of the old families. Neither was he particularly successful in trade, so city gossip had it. Lord Ran had accepted the title as a reward for his research, but showed only disdain for such worldly concerns.
‘Lord of Trade, Lord Ran of Shiang!’ the seneschal roared. ‘In peace of realm, on pain of death, approach!’
The man’s steps were audible because he approached without guards at his side. Taeshin kept his gaze forward, but could not resist watching the one some called ‘Lord Ruin’, for the way he ignored his responsibilities. Taeshin had never been able to understand why the king endured him.
‘Highness, I crave an audience with you,’ Lord Ran said, dropping to one knee. He carried a number of scrolls under his arms, which crumpled and rustled as he dipped down.
The king’s mouth was a tight line as he came forward and raised the man to his feet. Taeshin was close enough to hear the words the king hissed to the older lord.
‘Really, Ran? I agreed to hear your plan after this meeting, did I not? Unless it is the same foul business as before. I will not allow you to risk the lives of free men. Use slaves if you must, my lord. I will not waste a single guard on such things.’
Rather than accept the rebuke, Lord Ran’s eyes were bright with possibility.
‘Highness, you said you wanted to send swordsmen after your uncle. If I am right, I can make those men immune to hunger or thirst. I can make them faster and deadlier than anything we have ever seen. Yet I have only the one stone, Highness. I dare not waste it on slaves.’
The king grew more pinched as the man kept speaking. Taeshin heard himself gasping as the room seemed to lean back above his head. He felt his jaw loosen so that he gaped like a village idiot, with a line of spittle drooping from his lips. He saw the king turn to him, the man’s gaze drawn by unfamiliar movement. Lord Ran began to turn to see what had caught the king’s attention.
Taeshin fell out of line with a crash that echoed right across the hall. He was unconscious before he hit the floor, so that he did not put out a hand to save himself. Instead, he lay on the polished stone, his eyes rolled up to show the whites, as he began to shudder and kick in a great fit.
3
Mercy
Taeshin opened his eyes to see the face of Lord Hong looming over him. His master looked as stern as Taeshin had ever seen him. He thought he saw a glimmer of concern in the dark eyes, but no doubt he had imagined it. Lord Hong was famous for two things – the quality of the men who served him, and the way he counted every renminbi coin he spent. The nobleman’s book-keeping was meticulous and if Taeshin saw strain in his master, he suspected it was at the thought of all the training costs he had clearly wasted.
As Lord Hong slipped from sight, Taeshin saw the ceiling was very low. He was no longer in the royal hall, but had been removed to some basement, where beams of polished oak were set in white plaster. He searched his memory for an explanation, but there was nothing. He had been listening to Lord Ran speak to the king and then … he was here, feeling as if he had been beaten to within an inch of his life. He felt his face heat with humiliation. The room smelled of antiseptic and … sweat, or urine. Something sour. He blinked, his thoughts tumbling slowly, like ice in a deeper sea.
Lord Hong was saying something and Taeshin tried to sit up. He could not rest like some slothful child while his master addressed him! The pain in his side returned instantly, a flame held to his skin. That was at least something familiar. Fear surged
as well when he found he could not move. Thick straps of leather held the wrists that turned in them, probing automatically for weakness. He could not even crane his neck to see the cold band pressing against his throat. Taeshin felt panic then, the sort of swallowing horror that would make him a wild animal if he gave in to it, his humanity lost. He clamped down, his will surging through the confusion.
‘He is awake, Lord Ran,’ his master called.
Taeshin could turn his head a fraction in the restraint. He saw the king’s Lord of Trade approach him, peering down with detached interest.
‘You did the right thing, bringing him here,’ Lord Ran said as he peered and examined Taeshin’s side.
The swordsman blinked up at the ceiling. He imagined Lord Hong was furious he had not been told about his illness before, but there was relief too – and still fear. Lord Ran was said to experiment on animals in his workrooms by the river. The sluices that ran into the passing waters sometimes drew children in delighted horror. At the right time, a great gush of blood and entrails, even whole limbs, would slide out and disappear beneath the surface. In times of famine, the poorest river-workers waited for that harvest like fishermen with hooked poles. Yet some of the things they caught for their families were not for eating. Lord Ran concerned himself with the dead.
‘Is Doctor Elman here?’ Taeshin tried to ask. His voice had dried and he had to repeat himself twice before they heard him.
Lord Hong looked steadily down at the man who served him.
‘We thought you had fainted, Taeshin. I asked for you to be taken from the royal hall to another room to recover. The king’s own servants removed your armour to give you air. They found … well, you know what they found. You are very lucky Lord Ran looked in on you. He says he has seen such things before. He believes he can cure you.’
‘Why am I restrained, my lord?’ Taeshin asked. He tried to keep a tremor from his voice, but it was there and he knew his master heard it.
‘In case you thrashed around and injured yourself. You are not a prisoner, Taeshin. Here, let me remove the strap on your neck.’
Taeshin stared up at the ceiling as Lord Hong tugged roughly at a buckle he could not see, then pulled a strip of golden leather away. He breathed more deeply, as if he had not been able to before.
‘Will you free my hands as well, my lord?’ Taeshin asked.
In response, Lord Hong called across the room.
‘Lord Ran? Is there any reason my man should be restrained? Now he is awake?’
Taeshin watched the hollow-cheeked Lord Ran return to stare down at him. He repressed a shudder under that gaze. In the youth barracks, some of the boys told wild stories of Lord Ran. It was hard not to imagine others who had seen his cold expression in their last moments. The man resembled a cadaver himself, Taeshin thought. A cadaver with a scalpel and a detached interest that was somehow more frightening than anger.
‘I’m afraid so, Lord Hong. At least for the moment.’ Lord Ran leaned further over Taeshin. ‘Young man, I believe I can excise those lumps without killing you, but please understand, the most likely outcome is that you will die on my table. Can you hear me?’
Taeshin nodded, struck dumb. He could still feel the wrongness in his side. It lurked there, always in his awareness. He hissed in a cold breath as Lord Ran drew some pointed thing from his pocket and probed at him. He seemed to reach almost inside. Taeshin felt tears come to his eyes, the pain so sharp and sudden that he made a sound like a child.
Lord Ran tutted and shook his head, turning to address Lord Hong once more.
‘It is well advanced, as you can see. I have never seen such a fine specimen. Perhaps if he had come earlier to me … I do not hold out much hope, my lord. Nor should you.’
‘Has Doctor Elman seen him?’ Lord Hong said.
‘That charlatan? He is forbidden entry to these chambers, my lord! I do not let fools and gawkers in where they are not welcome.’ Lord Ran flushed at some memory and his entire face tightened.
‘If you wish to take your man to see Elman with his powders and useless ointments, you are, of course, welcome to do so. I say only that my door will be barred to you when you return! I will not waste a day waiting for you to make the right decision, Lord Hong. It is my opinion that the only chance is with surgery. Even then, it is almost no chance at all.’
Taeshin listened to the assessment with a calm that surprised him. He had decided to find a place on a hill with his swords just that morning. Had it been that morning? He had a sudden memory of waking before and raving in delirium.
‘My lords, how long have I been here? How long has it been since I stood in the royal hall?’
‘That was two days ago, Taeshin,’ Lord Hong replied more kindly. ‘You were screaming. If you do not remember it, I can only say that is a mercy.’
Taeshin had a sudden memory of drinking something bitter, half-choking on it. His sense of how much time had passed expanded. The room seemed familiar because he had been there for periods of waking. His groin ached and he wondered if his bladder and bowels had released in that time. Somehow, he could not make himself care.
‘Has he drifted off?’ he heard Lord Hong asking. ‘Taeshin? There. Lord Ran has dosed you with something for the pain, but it is a kind of poison. There is a limit to how much you can be given before it kills you as surely as that … thing in your side. Do you understand me? Lord Ran has been working night and day to prepare his surgery. He has some contraption he says will help control the flow of blood during the … operation, was it?’
Lord Ran could not conceal the contempt that twisted his mouth as he replied.
‘Indeed, Lord Hong. I have worked to prepare my “contraption”, yes. As every hour counts, I have worked through the night to gather tools …’
His voice trailed away as he bent to examine the black lumps. Taeshin heard the tall lord hiss to himself.
‘I think it is time, Lord Hong. If these buboes burst, they will carry their foulness into his blood – and that is the end. If you have anything else to say to your man, I suggest you say it now. I will knock him out in a moment. After that, well … we can only hope.’
Taeshin tried to sit up, but it was as if he had no stomach muscles. Weakness and fear left his senses swimming and he could only gasp and stare, his eyes blurry with tears that shamed him. Lord Hong grimaced at the sight. Taeshin felt the man’s callused hand pat him on the shoulder.
‘Good luck …’ he said gruffly. ‘You are a fine young man. I have every confidence in you.’
It was so transparently false that Taeshin chuckled through his pain and tears, though the action made him feel as if he might pass out. He heard Lord Hong’s steps grow quieter as he left. Taeshin became slowly more aware of the room around him, of a faint bubbling and the hiss of a gas jet. He wished for madness then, so as not to feel whatever lay ahead.
With no warning, Lord Ran tugged some mechanical lever and raised the whole top half of the bed. Taeshin cried out in shock. He clenched his eyes closed and felt tears dribble down his cheeks.
To distract himself, Taeshin looked over a place he had heard about only in whispers. The laboratory was long and airy, but a dozen narrow tables lined it. Each was of mahogany and supported something that snagged at his attention. On one, a monkey sat with shining rods through its joints. It was held in place by them and yet remained conscious. It looked back at Taeshin with red-lined eyes as he blinked in horror. This was hell, and he was in it.
He jerked his head back and forth, searching for the comfort of more familiar things. Instead, he watched pale flesh move under liquid, folding on itself over and over, in a glass case as large as a child. It rippled almost lasciviously as he watched, as if it sensed his gaze.
Lord Ran had placed his bed to face a pedestal of beautifully carved walnut wood. Thin strands of bare metal stretched from the tables around it, so that the item on the pedestal seemed suspended, held in all directions. Servants carried in massive chemical batteries, h
eaving them onto stands and attaching other wires as if there could be some sort of sense to the nest they made. The reek of acid became sharper, so that Taeshin had to struggle not to cough. He suspected he would pass out if he did and was suddenly desperate to remain conscious, despite the pain. He had never felt more helpless in his life.
A hand pressed against his forehead, without warning or sound of approach. Taeshin gave a shout of surprise, stifling it as Lord Ran stared into his eyes.
‘You are running rather a high fever, Master Taeshin. I have given you another dose of opiate milk. The results will be delirium and hallucination, I have no doubt. That is why I have kept you restrained. Can you understand me?’
Taeshin nodded and the man looked impressed.
‘You are very strong. I do not think I could have found a fitter subject, if not for your little passenger. Do you know how often the king has refused me permission to use live warriors? If I could have had healthy young men, I would have reached this stage a year ago. Instead, I am told to work with the dead, with monkeys, with men so old they die of shock on my table!’
Taeshin watched as Lord Ran grew red-faced in memory. A drop of spittle had appeared in each corner of the man’s mouth. It clung to his lips, so that a horrified Taeshin watched it seep into a thin line as the lord grew angrier in his recollections.
‘… more than eighty thousand warriors in the realm! Yet for want of a dozen, I am denied the materials for my work.’
Lord Ran seemed to realise Taeshin could not truly understand his concerns. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with two spidery fingers. The others flared out and Taeshin saw old stains on them, of yellow and black. He hoped it was nothing worse than ink.
SHIANG Page 3