The Emperor's Seal

by Amanda Roberts

  “If we ride hard,” Zhihao said as they both finally mounted their horses, “we should be able to make it back to the inn.”

  He didn’t explain further, and she did not respond, but it was implied that by making it back to the inn, Jiayi would have somewhere to sleep and be able to get food without having to rely on someone else. Zhihao hoped Jiayi took it as his way of being kind and not an insult, but he couldn’t bring himself to explain further.

  They rode back to the town and the inn without speaking. When they arrived, Zhihao ordered them each a bath, a room, and a meal. When they saw each other at dinner that night, near midnight, they both looked clean, but still physically and emotionally worn. As they picked at their rice and vegetables, it was Jiayi who finally spoke first.

  “I know you don’t want to talk to me,” she said, “but I need to know more about what we spoke of yesterday, about getting a job in America or England. I…I don’t want to go back to the empress. Especially since we…since I failed. I’m not sure I can face her.”

  “You don’t have a choice,” Zhihao said. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I can’t get you a job. You don’t have any education and no one will believe in your ‘powers.’”

  “But you said—”

  “I wasn’t thinking clearly,” Zhihao interrupted. “I was just…caught up in the excitement of the moment or something. But after…after what happened, I realize that I have no idea what we are dealing with here. I mean, what are you even? Is any of this even real? I…” He dropped his chopsticks and rubbed his face, not sure if he should laugh or cry. “I don’t know. I just don’t know. I don’t know what happened back there. I don’t know what is going to happen for myself next. I can’t even be bothered to try and think about you right now. I just need to go back, get back to work, get back to…to reality for a while and then, maybe later, after I’ve had some distance, maybe then I can think of what to do.”

  “You can’t be bothered?” she asked incredulously. “This is my life we are talking about. Do you know what the empress will do to me?”

  “And me!” Zhihao exclaimed. “You aren’t the only failure here. The empress is going to have my neck!”

  “We both know that isn’t true,” Jiayi said.

  “She’s going to be furious,” Zhihao said.

  “But she won’t kill you,” Jiayi said. “You are a man, one she already invested heavily in by sending you overseas for your education. You are well respected at the university, very well known. It’s why you were selected for this mission. And you were favored by Prince Gong, a man the empress respects to this day. Yes, she will be angry, but you will survive. Your career will survive. You have a family that loves you and friends to support you. But what about me?

  “Outside the Inner Court, no one even knows I exist. Even among the ladies, I’m no one, just a dirty little street urchin who can’t even read.” She gasped as though trying to stop the tears from flowing.

  Zhihao put his hand to his mouth. She couldn’t read? A street kid? He knew she had grown up poor, but he didn’t realize she meant that poor. Even the empress had come from a poor family, but they were from a noble lineage and had been able to present her as a gift to the emperor when it was time for the consort selection. He assumed Jiayi had a similar background—poor yet respectable.

  “I’m nothing but a gongnu, a palace slave,” she said. “The empress could kill me with her own two hands and would be within her right to do so as my owner. So, forgive me if I don’t have the luxury of being angry about going back empty handed like you. I’m terrified.”

  Zhihao couldn’t even look at her, but he could feel her trembling. Her shaking hands were vibrating the table. Zhihao couldn’t speak. He knew anything he said would be wrong. He didn’t know where to begin. At least he now had a more clear understanding of where she was coming from, why she was upset, but that didn’t change the fact that he didn’t think he could help her. If he did help her in the way she wanted, whisking her off to a foreign land, the empress would certainly want him dead—and that was no exaggeration. He didn’t have the means to anyway. He couldn’t get her permission to enter another country. And there was no way he could get her a job. He had been crazy to think he could. He did want to help her, but he had no idea how. He needed time to think of a plan.

  “Jiayi,” he finally said, reaching across the table and placing his hard on hers. He felt her trembling subside. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I have not been more sympathetic. But I’m even more sorry that I don’t know how to help you.”

  This time Jiayi could not staunch the tears. She pulled her hand away, putting it to her mouth.

  “I’m sorry,” he said again. “I don’t know what else to say. I just need time—”

  Jiayi stood up and flew up the stairs to her room. He had wanted to tell her that he needed time to figure out what to do, but she hadn’t given him a chance.

  He decided not to chase after her. She was upset and needed to be alone. Hell, he felt the same way. It was now the wee hours of morning and they had been through hell. Maybe if he got a few hours of sleep, he could think more clearly and come up with a plan.

  He left his uneaten bowl of food on the table and slumped up the stairs to his room. He kicked off his boots and fell onto the bed fully dressed. He was asleep in moments.

  “Can you believe it?” Eli asked, holding up a lantern. “Actually inside the tomb of a king.”

  Zhihao sighed with satisfaction and took in the sight. They were deep inside the Great Pyramid of Giza. Even though the pyramid had already been discovered and excavated, Eli was there to examine the pyramid from an engineering standpoint so people could better understand how the pyramid had been constructed. They were in the lowest accessible area of the pyramid, very nearly at its base.

  “Do you see this here?” Eli asked, pointing to a corner that to anyone else would seem an utterly mundane meeting of two stones, but to Eli told an elaborate story.

  “See the two smaller stones on the right side of the joint but the one large stone on the left side?” he asked. Zhihao nodded. “Clearly an imperfection. If the pyramid had been divinely designed and built, God would not make such mistakes.”

  “You might be a heretic, but at least you aren’t irreverent,” Zhihao joked.

  Eli laughed. “Let’s just hope the scholars back home agree with you,” he said. “Not only does this prove that the pyramid was made by a human engineer not so unlike myself, but I believe there were at least two engineers, perhaps two designers of this pyramid.”

  “Why do you think that was?” Zhihao asked.

  “You’re the historian,” Eli said. “Hopefully you can find some documents to support my claims. Perhaps the first engineer couldn’t work out the details, or he displeased the pharaoh and had to be replaced.”

  “Your sister is the linguist,” Zhihao said. “Once we determine if it is safe to get a crew down here maybe she can interpret the hieroglyphics. Maybe the engineers included their own story in the pharaoh’s journey to the afterlife.”

  “Speaking of my sister…” Eli said, waggling his eyebrows.

  “Not now,” Zhihao said. “We should focus on our work.”

  Eli laughed and turned back to examine the wall further. Zhihao walked back toward the entrance and barked orders at some of the workers.

  “That’s right, move those support beams over there. We need this place secure by tomorrow so the team can get started,” he said.

  The workers quickly brought in the beams and began putting them in place. Zhihao reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief Rebecca had given him that was laced with her perfume. He held it to his nose and breathed in deeply. The scent nearly transported him back to her side. Even though she was just topside, he couldn’t wait to bring her down into the pyramid. He loved working with her. Rebecca was not just his lover, his little woman waiting at home, but his partner and workmate. Working together side by side on expeditions or research gave h
is life such a fullness.

  One of the workers called out to him, but he waved him off. He wandered over and looked at some of the hieroglyphs on the wall of two birds soaring together. He would have to remember to ask Rebecca what they represented.

  “Sir! Sir!” one of the workers called out. “Sir, the beam!”

  Zhihao turned back around just as the ground started to shake. He looked up and saw that the workers had placed one of the beams in the wrong place and it had smacked against a load-bearing stone near the top of the chamber. The shaking increased and smaller rocks began to fall, followed suddenly by some larger ones.

  “Cave in!” one of the workers yelled, causing a panic as everyone headed for the exit.

  “Get out!” Zhihao yelled. He headed for the exit, but stopped to help the workers escape one at a time through the small doorway. After the last worker was out, he glanced around. “Anyone else there?” he called out. He saw a shimmer of light and thought he saw a hand move.

  “You there!” he called, and he thought he heard a groan. Damn, he thought. Someone must have been stupid enough to get trapped.

  “Sir! Sir!” one of the workers called from the doorway. “You must come!”

  “Someone is trapped down here!” he yelled back. He gritted his teeth and ran to the light. When he saw what had happened, his heart stopped.

  “Eli!” he yelled and went to his friend’s side. Eli’s legs were trapped under a huge boulder. He had not seen such a large stone fall, but it must have shifted just enough to catch Eli unawares.

  Eli grabbed Zhihao’s hand and grunted. “You must go!” Eli said. “I’m done for!”

  “No!” Zhihao yelled, holding his friend’s hand tight. “I’ll not leave you.” He pushed against the stone but could not budge it an inch, much less lift it to free his friend.

  “You must go!” Eli said. “Now!”

  The shaking became greater and ever-larger rocks began to fall.

  “She cannot lose both of us! Go!”

  Zhihao, with tears streaming down his face, left his friend there in the cave.

  They never found his body.

  Zhihao awoke, drenched in sweat. The same dream over and over again plagued him, especially in times of stress. He sat up and ran his fingers through his hair. Well, she had lost both of them, hadn’t she? Eli died that day, and not long afterward, Zhihao returned to China. He had lied to her. He never even wrote to her, not once. He was a coward. He couldn’t face her, even on paper. He couldn’t live with the guilt. Even though she didn’t blame him, she was Eli’s sister, and Zhihao could not look at her without seeing his friend’s helpless eyes staring back.

  The sky was the cool grey of the sun just starting to rise. Had he managed to sleep a few hours? It didn’t feel like it. He felt worse than before. He didn’t care for Eunuch Lo, but he was reacting the same way as he had after Eli’s death. He was taking his guilt and anger out on the woman closest to him. He knew it was wrong. He had to stop. This time, he had to help her.

  He still didn’t have a plan, but perhaps he and Jiayi could come up with something together. After all, he had to acknowledge that they had worked well together so far.

  He put on his shoes and then walked down the hall to her room. He knocked softly so as not to disturb the other guests.

  “Jiayi,” he called. There was no answer. She was probably still angry with him. He knocked again.

  “Jiayi, can we talk, please? I know I was terrible, but I’m sure we can work things out.”

  He waited, but still, there was no answer. His heart began to race. He shouldn’t have let her room alone. Even though it would have been improper for them to room together, she was vulnerable. Without Eunuch Lo here to protect her, any man could have broken into her room in the night. She could have been kidnapped. She had also been upset—terrified, in her words. Would she hurt herself if it kept her from having to face the empress?

  He banged on the door. “Jiayi, open this door right now,” he ordered.

  Just then, the innkeeper came up the stairs, shushing him. “You’ll wake the whole house,” she admonished.

  “Use your key,” he said. “She could be hurt.”

  “Young miss isn’t hurt,” the old woman said. “She’s gone. She left as the cock crowed.”

  “What?” he yelled. “Open this door!”

  The innkeeper pulled out her collection of keys and waved for him to be quiet.

  Zhihao had barely heard the lock click when he burst through the door. Sure enough, the girl was gone.

  Eighteen

  Only a few minutes after Jiayi had returned to her room, she heard the door to Zhihao’s room slam shut. What an irritating, selfish, useless boor he was!

  Jiayi reached into her bag and pulled out her dragon and phoenix necklace. She laid on her bed and held the necklace to her chest.

  She opened her eyes in her favorite place, the arms of Prince Junjie. He was cradling her face in his hands and kissing her. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him with abandon. She then realized that they were laying down. She moved her leg, wrapping it around his. They were naked and in bed together. She was sandwiched between a cool silk sheet and the prince’s hot body.

  “How did I get so lucky?” she asked. She couldn’t believe that she had awoken precisely where she wanted to be.

  “I think I’m the lucky one,” he said. “You are the one happiness in my life.”

  “I am sorry to hear of your troubles, my love,” she said.

  He sighed and laid his head on her chest. She combed her fingers through his long hair and held him. Even though she had come here to be comforted by him, she was glad he found respite in her arms as well.

  “What I wouldn’t do for us to be together,” he said. “But I am starting to fear for your safety.”

  “My safety?” she asked.

  “Do not worry,” he said, smiling up at her. “Forget I said anything. I don’t want any of the troubles of the world in here. When we are here, there is only you and me.”

  “If only the whole world was just you and me,” Jiayi said.

  “The sun is rising,” he said, glancing toward the window. “I must leave soon.”

  Jiayi nodded but held him even tighter. “Just stay as long as possible,” she said. “Just hold me…”

  When Jiayi opened her eyes again, her cheeks were wet. Prince Junjie gave her comfort and hope, but leaving him often left her more despondent than when she arrived.

  Jiayi sat up, swinging her legs off the bed. She placed the necklace back into her bag and some of the gold coins there clinked. She pulled them out and felt the cool metal in her palm. She was tired of being scared, being hopeless, being sad. There was nothing she could do about Prince Junjie. She knew he was not real, not here. And now, she couldn’t rely on Zhihao either.

  Well, if Zhihao wouldn’t help her, that was just fine. She wasn’t so useless. She could save herself. She already had saved herself. She still had two more days to get to the Tanggu Port and board Marcus’s ship. Soon, she would be on her way to America—without Zhihao’s help.

  She put her few belongings back in her pack. Among the items was Zhihao’s pocket watch. She considered leaving it, leaving all trace of Zhihao behind her. How angry would he be when he found it? Or would he feel gratified? Justified in believing she was not worth his time? Just a stupid little thief. No, she would not give him the satisfaction. She stuffed the pocket watch into her bag and silently slipped through her door. As she passed by Zhihao’s room, she could hear him snoring. While part of her was glad, since it meant she would be long gone by the time he woke, part of her was hurt. How could he sleep so soundly after the fight they just had? He was a selfish pig.

  Jiayi went to the dining hall, where she found the innkeeper, who was still cleaning up after the guests.

  “Dear auntie,” Jiayi said, calling the woman auntie as a polite and friendly form of address. “Do you never sleep?”

  The wom
an chuckled. “What is sleep? And what of you? Hungry now? You didn’t eat your supper. You are too skinny!”

  “I can’t eat,” Jiayi said. “I…I need help. I need to…” Even though she had already been speaking in a low voice, she leaned in and whispered. “I need to escape that man.”

  The innkeeper pursed her lips and nodded her head. No doubt in her line of work, she had seen many scared young women brought through. Girls being bought, sold, and traded. None of whom she could help.

  “You know I need his permission,” the woman said. “You are his property.”

  “But I’m not,” Jiayi said. “Do you remember the other man I was with? The tall one? I was with him. He was my protector. But he…he was killed yesterday. So now I’m only with this man, and I’m scared. Please, please help me, auntie.”

  The woman sighed. Jiayi knew she had put the woman in a bad position. If she helped her, Zhihao could sue the woman for stealing his property. But Jiayi had a feeling that Zhihao wouldn’t do that. He could never admit to the empress that he had lost her. He would rather flee the country than face her wrath.

  The woman finally nodded. “What do you need?”

  Jiayi handed her Marcus’s card. “I need to get here,” she said. “As quickly as possible.”

  The woman nodded. “My neighbor, he will be taking a cartload of silk to the port to ship to the West. He should be leaving any moment. Follow me.”

  The two quietly exited the inn and walked down the road a ways. They soon came upon a man who was about to climb up into a loaded down cart that was harnessed to two horses. The man must have been quite prosperous to be able to own horses instead of donkeys to pull his goods. The innkeeper explained to the man what was going on, but they spoke in a regional dialect Jaiyi couldn’t quite understand. He nodded as the innkeeper spoke, and then the two had a lively exchange. Finally, the innkeeper explained to Jiayi what was going on.