by JC Kang
Temptress of fates
JC Kang
To JC Nelson, the best writing buddy an author could have.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and events are either fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, organizations, or persons, alive or dead, is entirely coincidental and unintended.
Copyright © 2019 by JC Kang
http://jckang.dragonstonepress.us
[email protected]
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this work or portions thereof in any way whatsoever, as provided by law. For permission, questions, or contact information, see www.jckang.info.
Cover Art by Binh Hai
Maps by Laura Kang
Logos by Emily Jose Burlingame
Maps
Tivaralan
Cathay
The Capital
1. The Floating World
2. The Trench
3. The Promenade
4. Songyuan Quays.
5. Lord Shi’s House
6. Yushan Jade Market
7. Clothiers District
A Courtyard Home, courtesy of www.chinahighlights.com. Click on the image to visit the webpage and learn more:
CONTENTS
Maps
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6:
Chapter 7:
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Epilogue
Preview of Last Heir of the North
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Prologue
Yan Jie avoided the knife slash and countered with a twisting No-Shadow Cut. The wooden practice blade would’ve left an oil mark on Wen’s white padded armor, had Lilian not slipped by and tried to seize Jie’s wrist. The sloppy technique would’ve bruised Lilian’s ribs if Jie hadn’t pulled up short.
As adopted daughter of the Black Lotus Clan’s grandmaster, she felt the weight of responsibility for her juniors on her fourteen-year-old shoulders. It was getting harder, now that ten-year-old Wen and eleven-year-old Lilian—both of whom she’d taken under her wing when they came to the temple—had outgrown her. She followed up with a stab slow enough that Lilian could evade.
“Break!” the master yelled. His gruff voice echoed off the walls of the Hall of Blades, the cushioned reed mats doing little to soften the sound.
With the precision of the antique dwarf clock in the Hall of Time, Jie and Wen disengaged and looked back to the wizened old man. Lilian stepped back a second late. With a knowing nod between them, Jie and Wen waited so all three could salute in unison, palms into fists. They had to take care of each other, after all.
“As usual, Yan Jie’s armor is clean.” How he could tell, with his supposed nearsightedness? It was the talk among all the students, from initiates to apprentices. “As usual, Lilian has more stripes than a tiger and more spots than a leopard. What went wrong?”
Jie sucked on her lower lip. Poor Lilian always bore the brunt of criticism.
She bowed her head and saluted again. “Eldest Sister would’ve dealt Little Wen a fatal blow, so—”
“So you sacrificed yourself.” The master shrugged. “Perhaps if your team had to ensure Wen returned from a mission, that would make sense. Was that your intention?”
Lilian shuffled on her feet. “No. I was trying to disarm Jie.”
“Your failure would’ve cost you your life. A dead operative means more work for the Cleaners.”
Bowing her head, Wen took a step forward. “Master, my initial attack was poorly timed. It was my fault.”
“No, it was mine.” Jie advanced, palm in fist. “I—”
“Your fault was in not finishing your attack. That might’ve been the third time you successfully executed a No-Shadow Cut, had you not pulled up short.”
Heat flared to the tips of Jie’s ears. She’d been the youngest clan member to ever succeed at it, though only twice in the hundreds of times she’d tried.
The knife master waved toward the hall’s double doors. “Now, the grandmaster is waiting for you in the Audience Hall.”
“Yes, Master,” they all replied in unison.
Jie exchanged glances with her friends. They must be in store for more reprimands. Dismissed, they filled out of the Hall of Blades in silence, and out into the whirrs and buzzes of insects in the Shadow Grove. The shade from the eldarwood trees did little to cool the stifling summer heat as they headed toward the Audience Hall.
Along the way, they passed by the Hall of Knowledge. A twin to the Hall of Blades, the vaulting wood building was crowned with a steeply pitched, green-tiled roof. The open double doors provided a view of the long table where kneeling young initiates were learning to read and write. Two-year-old Yuna, who Jie had just rescued from the Trench, jumped up and ran over. The precocious little girl had clung to Wen like a wet leaf ever since she’d arrived.
She did a front roll off the veranda, landed on the path, and wrapped her arms around Wen’s legs. “Jie, Wen,” she said, her pronunciation perfect for someone so young. “Where are you going?”
It never ceased to amaze Jie how well she could already speak. She knelt down. “We’re meeting with Master Yan. Now go back to your studies.”
Pouting, Yuna climbed back up, shuffled back to her place at the desk and knelt.
Jie couldn’t help but smile. She turned to Lilian and Wen. “I remember when you two were here, trying to write your names. Yuna is already much smarter than you.”
“But I’m cuter.” Wen batted her eyelashes. As the daughter of a celebrated Floating World Blossom, abandoned as a baby at the Black Lotus Shrine there, she was one of the clan’s prettiest girls.
Jie looked sidelong at Lilian as they continued on their way. If anyone was the most beautiful, it was her, though her origins were a mystery. She’d been abandoned in the neighboring town as a three-year-old, starved to not much more than skin and bones. She’d almost died, and was so traumatized she barely remembered her own name. The only clue they had to her identity was her Northern high-bridged nose, mixed with crude mannerisms and diction, and a central valley accent. Most likely, she was like many other abandoned children: born to impoverished families, sold to bondsmen. No doubt her birth and bond were registered at one of the thousands of magistrate offices in the central valley. Master Yan had challenged Lilian to one day track down those documents, infiltrate the office, and steal them.
Jie shook the memories out of her head as they arrived in the Audience Hall to find six more apprentices kneeling in a row on the floor—five girls and one boy, all dressed in training robes. Five of the clan elders formed a semi-circle at the head. Master Yan sat cross-legged in the middle, while to his right knelt a woman in her late twenties, who Jie had only seen a few times in the past.
Her eyes studied them as they walked in, like the village farmers evaluating prize pigs.
Jie dropped to her knees to the west of the others. She realized that all the summoned students were close in age, all among the best-looking. Of course. Master Yin came once a year, and usually a handful of newly minted adepts left with her on assignment. Which meant…<
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“You nine have mastered the basics of our clan,” Master Yan said, “and are now ready for your first deployment. Master Yin?”
The woman had a hard beauty to her, which echoed in her tone of command. “Stand.”
Jie rose in perfect synchronicity with the rest of the students, save for Lilian just to her east, who as usual was half a beat behind.
Master Yin rose with the grace of a willow’s branches swaying in a breeze and glided over to the west side of the line. Her eyes studied Wen and, with a nod, came to Jie. She looked back to Master Yan. “Your daughter is older than the rest. Has she flowered with Heaven’s Dew?”
“No.” Master Yan shook his head. “Given her age, and the doctor’s reading of her pulse, we think it will be within the year.”
Master Yin scrutinized Jie, and her laugh sounded like a chorus of nightingales. “My predecessor said Jie’s virgin price would fund clan operations for the year. With such an exotic face, I don’t doubt it.”
Jie fought the urge to squirm. Adepts who’d left with Master Yin in past years always moved more gracefully when they came back for visits. The girls mentioned lying with men to collect information, and getting paid to do so, the most when they did it for the painful first time.
Of course. Master Yin’s predecessor had died in the fire which had killed an entire cell in the capital’s Floating World. It had claimed the famous twins, the Steel Orchids.
“But,” Master Yin continued, “I also hear her fighting and stealth skills already equal seasoned operatives. Are you sure this won’t be a waste of her talents?”
“Yes,” Master Yan said. “She can sharpen the rest of the cell.”
With a nod, Master Yin continued to Lilian. “She is the most beautiful of this group. Given what else I’ve heard, the Floating World suits her the most of any other assignment.”
Jie’s stomach knotted. Everyone knew Lilian would be a fair operative at best. At least maybe in the Floating World she could serve the clan well. And they could be together.
Master Yin reached the end of the line, where the twelve-year-old boy, Dun Lai knelt. He was a pretty young man, his looks ruined by the way he bullied the younger kids, and especially Lilian.
Master Yin studied him, she returned to the head of the room. “You are all proficient in fighting and spying. Starting now, I’m going to teach you a very different kind of skill.”
Chapter 1
Amid chatter of a threat to the Emperor, the Black Lotus Clan had assigned Jie to retrieve the contents of a lord’s safe. Instead, she was sitting on a stone fountain in the northwest of the capital. Yuna’s death the night before, and the revelation that there might be more to Lilian’s betrayal, felt like a vise on her heart. Her chest squeezed so tight it was hard to draw in a breath.
It had been ten minutes since she’d made contact with the mysterious Fixer Zhang’s contact, an old male temple sweeper with a bushy beard and eyebrows. He’d told her to come to this paved square and set a copper fen on the fountain beside her. Surrounded by well-kept, two-story wooden rowhouses with ordinary shops on the first floor, and residences on the second, it was typical of many neighborhoods in the city. Incense hung in the balmy air, mingling with the scent of fresh fruits.
Wen had stayed back to surveil the sweeper, and now Jie watched middle-class residents go about their morning chores. Perhaps Fixer Yang was among them, but nobody made eye contact. Her pulse pounded like horse hooves on pavement, and the scarf covering her elf ears made her head sweat. The stitches on her shoulder itched.
Light footsteps approached, belonging to someone no more than fifty jin, and it took all her discipline not to sneak a glance.
Someone sat down behind her and spoke in a flitting female voice. “Don’t turn around.”
A woman? It shouldn’t have been a surprise, since the last three villains Jie had faced were female. She gave a nod, but took in the newcomer’s gardenia scent.
“Fixer Zhang?” Jie asked.
“Maybe. What do you want?”
“I’m told you have information about Ju Lilian, a Blossom who recently perished in the Floating World fire.” Or rather, Jie had had to kill her—her own lover—for betraying the clan.
“Usually, people want hitmen, uniforms, or forged documents. This will take a little longer.”
Longer? Jie shifted. In the corner of her eye, the pool reflected a flash of brown.
“Wait here for five minutes. If you follow me, you will not get your information. If you turn around, you will not get your information. Do I make myself clear?”
There were ways of drawing information out of people, and the painless option was off the table, since Tian had destroyed the supply in order to trick another clan traitor who’d been presumed dead for two decades. Still, this woman might not be Fixer Zhang after all. Jie nodded, and the woman got up and headed north. Without her turning around, reflective surfaces didn’t provide a better look at the woman. Before long, her footsteps and scent mixed in with everyone else’s.
Waiting. The anticipation made each minute feel like an eternity; she was so close to answers she wouldn’t have thought to ask the questions for. On the count of three hundred seconds, someone new approached, with heavier footsteps and the scent of fermented soybeans, and sat down behind her. His deep breaths suggested a man with a barrel chest. Thank the Heavens she hadn’t followed her impulse and captured the first woman.
“The famous Floating World half-elf, Ju Jie,” he said, voice croaking.
“Tell me something I don’t know.” If this was Fixer Zhang, he knew her given name and assigned surname. Of course, there was only one half-elf around, and almost everyone in the capital knew of the most promising apprentice in the Floating World, whose virgin price would’ve been a new record had she not been tricked into forfeiting the bid.
“There are many things I know that you don’t, but I am told you want specific information. About Lilian.”
“Well?” Jie tapped her toe.
He laughed. “Information comes at a price.”
“Name it.”
“The Lord of Jinjing has a safe in the bedroom of his home in the capital. Bring me the contents.”
Jie hid her shock. Fixer Zhang wanted the same thing the clan did. And it was all coming together: over a week ago, a jade vendor in the Silk Market had mentioned something about the Lord of Jinjing wanting to carve jade into blossoms, and a lumber company in Jinjing County had been processing yue sap into an addictive form for illegal sales. It had been those ill-gotten profits that had put a target on Lord Ting’s back, the Steel Orchid who hit that target with a crossbow, and Lilian who’d orchestrated it all.
“Yes, you are putting it all together. Really, you wouldn’t believe what I will tell you without one of the items you’ll find in that safe.”
Was Zhang only a Triad fixer? Or did he know about her real identity as an operative of the Black Lotus Clan? It was time to probe. “What makes you think I can open it?”
He let out a fake yawn. “You’re a pretty girl. Use your imagination. I sure am.” Even though they were back-to-back, his tone might as well have been leering.
It always came down to that. “There are a lot of pretty girls who could have done this for you.”
“But of all the pretty girls, Lord Shi of Jinjing only made a bid on you. And you now have extra motivation to open his safe.”
Was he referring to her need to find out about Lilian, or the clan wanting the contents, too? Something didn’t sit well in Jie’s gut. Why would Fixer Zhang want the same thing as the Emperor? And if he worked not just with the Triads, but also with the peers of the realm, just how had he evaded clan scrutiny?
Heavens, she was thinking of going against the clan. Master Yan, her adopted father. But what if this was really the clan, testing her loyalty?
“Lucky for you, Lord Shi and his key just came back into town last night for his audience with the imperial court tomorrow.”
J
ie sucked on her lower lip. In all likelihood, the contents of the safe were related to Lord Shi’s audience with the Emperor. Now, Fixer Zhang wanted it; but why? “So I am supposed to bed him, and when he’s fast asleep, find his key, unlock the safe, remove its contents, and then get out?”
“Something like that.”
“Who is in his house?”
“His fourteen-year-old son lives there year-round, with one guard, a steward, and a servant. A maid comes twice a week to help with cleaning and sewing.”
Not that many at all, but… “How many guards is he travelling with?”
“Two hundred, but only four are usually in the house when he is there. The rest will be quartered nearby. You’re a smart girl to consider this.”
Two hundred. According to rules established by the Founder, who didn’t want sizeable groups of potential enemies around him, it was the maximum number allowed in the capital. It was large enough that they might not all know each other. A plan formulated in her head. “You’re a Fixer. In order to succeed, I am going to need a set of their ceremonial robes, for someone a little taller and wider than me.”
“I don’t think Lord Shi is into playing dress-up. Lord Tong, maybe…”
Lord Tong was among the Emperor’s favorites, along with Lord Shi, Lord Yang, and the deceased Lord Ting. They were the key to keeping the rest of the North loyal. She said, “I need some way to get out of the house, with the safe’s contents concealed.”
“You’re good at this. Maybe you should consider working for me when this is done. Imagine, a prostitute who could glean information or steal from important lords.”
It didn’t take much imagination, since that’s what the Black Lotus Clan’s cell in the Floating World did. The cell Jie was still the head of for three more days. “So, can you get me that robe?”
“Two hours. Meet me at the Yushan Jade Market.”