The Manticore's Soiree
Page 18
“Our f-father,” Cho Jun began, running his fingers along the length of the bundle, “was a man of honor.”
“Of course.”
“While you were a-away, in the east, s-something happened, something momentous. An in-intruder snuck inside the w-w-warlock’s tower, pierced the ancient wards, and s-stole something.”
Coldness filled her. “What was stolen?”
“The ch-chest.”
Cho Lin was having trouble staring at anything except the wrapped object on the table. “Was it the Raveling?”
“The w-warlocks think not. They think . . . they think it was a barbarian from the north. He or sh-she used sorceries they had never f-felt before to unravel their w-wards.”
“And whoever it was, they opened the chest?”
“They d-did. The warlocks have sensed the Betrayers since th-then, moving in the n-north.”
“And what would you have me do about it? Why did you recall me from Red Fang Mountain?”
He reached out a trembling hand and clutched at her wrist. “I n-n-need you, Lin. I c-cannot fulfill our f-family’s sacred duty. Only you can s-satisfy our ancestors. Our father.”
“What would you have me do?” she repeated, barely whispering.
Her brother peeled away the cloth from the object on the table. Tapering steel glimmered in the sunlight as the legendary sword of Cho was revealed.
“When I heard he had died in far-off lands, I feared it had been lost.” Her own voice sounded distant to her ears.
Her brother’s shaking hand closed around the black dragonbone hilt. “N-no. A p-prince of a city near wh-where our father died sent the sword south when he r-realized who our father was. With it was a l-letter describing our f-father’s death, at the hand of a d-demon which wore the skin of a man like a c-cloak.”
A new demon? An ally of the Betrayers?
He watched her carefully. “The w-warlocks say it sounds like a d-demon from Shan’s lost past. But they were thought all to be d-dead thousands of years ago, long before the R-raveling.”
“Has the emperor bestirred himself after hearing of this new threat?”
Her brother choked back a laugh. “He is c-consumed with his own p-petty interests, and cares not f-for what happens outside the palace walls. The w-warlocks suspect the Raveling’s servants have penetrated even the heart of the Jade C-court. B-before they move openly, they w-wish for us to try once more to rec-cover the chest or destroy the Betrayers. Our f-family has always been first among the demon-hunters of Shan.”
“Assassins were waiting for me when I descended from Red Fang Mountain. Did the Raveling send them, or another House?”
Her brother shrugged, stirring his tea with a long nail. “House Cao, I w-would suspect. But perhaps another l-lurks in the shadows. It is a d-dangerous time. We have f-few friends, and with f-father gone, our enemies think us weak.”
“Us? So I am a Cho again? I thought you disapproved of me.”
Her brother looked out over the lake’s tranquil waters. “I d-did, first sister. B-but with father dead only you are l-left who c-can bring honor to our House. Only you c-can finish what he started, and what our ancestor began a th-thousand years ago when Cho Xin f-first bound the B-betrayers.”
“And if I refuse?”
“Th-then the Cho are finished, and the g-ghosts of our ancestors will howl in sorrow and r-rage.”
“Do they have any suspicions about who stole away the Betrayers?”
He told her. When he finished, Cho Lin rose, searching his eyes for any hint of falseness. The Nothing within the Self she had been so tantalizingly close to reaching seemed to be tumbling farther and farther away as she stood motionless within that tiny pavilion in the middle of the lake.
Her brother smiled to himself as he watched her walk back across the curving bridge, carrying their father’s sword.
ALEC HUTSON was the Spirit Award winner for Carleton College at the 2002 Ultimate Frisbee College National Championships. He has watched the sun set over the dead city of Bagan and rise over the living ruins of Angkor Wat. He grew up in a geodesic dome and a bookstore and currently lives in Shanghai, China. The Crimson Queen is his first book.