by Brian Thomas
Not long after he had been joined by Laulun who though remaining in charge since the incident increasingly looked to him for guidance. He had no plan, whereas Laulun did and he certainly had no desire to lead a motley group of villagers to an uncertain future. He had resisted her subtle overtures to assume leadership of their band, but in the meantime the daily routine of travel and camping with weapons practise each evening had been almost hypnotic in its effect on him.
Despite his efforts to remain aloof from the group his sense of responsibility for them had grown as he had become used to his new situation. This had only added to his feeling of truculence. He did not want responsibility for these people, or any people. But then, what did he want? As if reading his thoughts Laulun had volunteered. “We need a Lord to take responsibility for us, as much as you need people to take responsibility for. We are well suited, will you not stay?”
He had laughed bitterly and avoided a direct answer. “You people want to call me Lord and I do not believe I am fit for the purpose. Perhaps Shushan has the right of it. She has sworn never to call anyone Lord again.”
Laulun had regarded him steadily. “Shushan is young enough to believe she can change the world around her, whereas the rest of us are old enough to know we cannot. If we have to live in the world as it is, until Shushan and other young people make the changes we couldn’t, then we would do so with you leading us.”
Zun had again been moved but his black mood prompted an evasive response. “Your people are lucky to have you at their head Laulun. I shall be my own man and leave when I am ready, do not look to me for your salvation.” Laulun had nodded sadly in understanding before returning to the others, leaving him to stew in his misery.
Zun’s current reverie was interrupted by Laulun who had been talking to a number of the town’s people while he brooded but now returned. “My sister’s people are outside of the main town, in that group of buildings over there.” She beamed at him and the others who were listening eagerly. “We have found them. The village is much larger than even a few months ago. It seems a lot of new people are arriving daily. I suggest we go to my sister’s group and see if there is sufficient room available to establish our own plots near to them.”
As they began turning their carts round to head for the distant collection of buildings two armed men broke from a larger group gathered on the veranda of a tavern to approach them, blocking the road. “Where are you going?” one of the men demanded belligerently.
Laulun looked from the two men questioning her to the others of their gang watching them avariciously from the shade of the veranda, like dogs in a pack assessing their prey. “We go to join my sister and her family in that group of buildings over there.” she replied deferentially.
The two men rested their hands on the hilt of their swords suggestively. “There is a tithe for all newcomers who enter the town. You must pay the tithe.”
Laulun responded nervously. “We entered only to get directions, we are not staying nor have we used any of the town’s facilities.”
The spokesman leered at her with a gap toothed grin. “Well, you will have to pay anyway. Pay willingly or we will take it from you in goods and that will cost you more.” As the man spoke he passed an appreciative glance over Shushan, who had come up to support her mother as she talked with the strangers. Laulun felt vulnerable in front of the two men, especially with their watching friends’ obvious amusement at her discomfort.
Zun’s anger suddenly flared as he heard what was said and saw the lascivious look the man gave Shushan. The incident provided a focus for his anger which had been simmering under the surface for a long time and he strode defiantly between the men and Laulun. “Enough of this. We will not be paying you anything.” His voice was controlled but the menace was clear, whereas Laulun had been conciliatory he was blatantly aggressive in his intervention. All activity on the street stilled as Zun intervened and a space had miraculously cleared around them, passers-by pausing and stepping back to watch what was happening from a safe distance.
The two men were momentarily wrong footed. There was usually little resistance but this man was neither intimidated nor cowed by their numbers and he wore a fine sword at his waist. They instinctively spread out a little as they faced him, conscious they were being watched by a wide audience. With their gang they clearly outnumbered the men of this group and only the man who confronted them was obviously armed, giving them confidence. “Everyone pays. Give it to us now or we will take it from you, after we have sliced you open.” Both of them braced, clearly indicating their willingness to follow through on the threat if he did not comply.
Zun drew his sword and swung in a single action, moving so quickly none even saw his intention until the man who had threatened him staggered back, his throat cut through by the tip of Zun’s sword and spouting blood as he fell. In a continuation of the same stroke Zun stepped forward and changed his grip, the blade skewered the second man, taken completely by surprise as they had thought it was they who controlled the situation. Zun withdrew the blade from the man’s gut with a twist, calmly watching as he fell forward flat on his face at Zun’s feet. Zun turned to face the other members of the gang who had been watching and then deliberately wiped both sides of his blade clean on the gown of the man at his feet, before sheathing it in a fluid action back at his hip. Most of the gang were thugs with swords but it was obvious to anyone who had seen him that Zun had not even been concerned by the threat posed by the two men. His inferred challenge to the others made it clear he was no more concerned about any threat they might pose and invited them to come at him, if they dared. None of them moved, looking instead at their fallen comrades speculatively, but without noticeable regret.
Zun turned his back on them, a deliberate mark of his contempt and an invitation for them to try their luck. Still they did not move against him, though Zun could see the shock on some of the faces of his own group at the sudden violence, especially when they had been expecting a safe sanctuary. Laulun, who had been quite close to the men when he had killed them looked pale. Whereas Shushan, if anything, looked satisfied at the outcome and eager to launch into the fight if the remaining men took up his silent challenge. Though he noticed she did not seem to be armed.
Shushan’s disregard for her own safety both appalled Zun whilst also appealing to his warrior’s heart. This combined with a little guilt at his sense of release with the sudden action made him snap at her. “Collect their weapons. We will probably need them later.” Perhaps a closer exposure to the gory aftermath of a real fight, rather than just practise, would dampen her enthusiasm he conjectured silently.
Shushan glared at him before dashing to comply, searching the men quickly for any hidden knives or coins before running back to the carts with her arms loaded. Turning to Laulun Zun relented slightly. “If you do not stop them from the beginning they will leech everything you have. Best to do it early, so they know we will not give up our possessions easily. This way the rest of them will seek easier prey that doesn’t bite back.”
Laulun glanced at the fallen men and remembered the fear she had felt at their leering looks and unwelcome, suggestive proximity. Looking back at Zun she nodded and replied demurely with a brief bow. “Yes Lord.” before taking up the lead again.
Zun frowned at her response but had grown tired of correcting the villagers, with the notable exception of Shushan, when they used the title. That Shushan chose not to call him Lord bizarrely made him angry as well. He was surprised to see Mengpo was discreetly returning the bow they had scavenged from the imperial soldiers back inside the end of a cart. Some of the men he had been training with Shushan were also removing hands from knives discretely sheathed at their hips.
Zun had assumed he stood alone but felt pride in these simple men who were willing to stand with him and cover his back. He would not have needed them but it was an indication of how much they had changed, accepting the necessity of fighting for their own self defence. They were now able
and, more importantly, willing to fight. Zun decided they would probably have to prove this many times over if they were to make a sustainable life here, amongst the wolves. He smiled as he thought these villagers at least were no longer the sheep they had been and the wolves had in future better be careful.
Chapter 24
Master Guang was on his throne looking down from a raised dais at his kneeling factor and the prostate Lieutenant Rong. Behind these two, also flat on their bellies, were the remainder of the Snake Battalion officers who had overseen the fiasco just reported to him. The factor had given his version and, not surprisingly, it was all the fault of the officers. Mostly that of the dead Captain Hi Fat and subsequently of Lieutenant Rong.
Guang was proud at not showing one iota of the fury he felt at them but took satisfaction from knowing there was also not a person in the audience chamber who didn’t realise that lives hung in the balance. Partly to maintain the calm he sought to project but also to absorb the factor’s version of events he did not immediately respond to what he had been told.
Guang reminded himself not to take most of what he’d been told at face value, the factor had wheedled in his own defence and was casting blame on everyone but himself. Only the factor, however, would have the authority to agree the terms of the contest, to offer such generous trade sanctions. There should, nevertheless, have been unquestioning loyalty to the factor from the army, whatever the odds against them and they had to all accounts outnumbered the enemy significantly. The story so far was full of holes.
Well, he would get all of the detail eventually. Guang signalled nonchalantly with a finger and the factor crawled to one side on his knees. “Well Lieutenant Rong, what do you say to this man’s charges against you and your officers? What is your defence in returning my factor, your superior, to me gagged and bound after defying his direct instructions to you in the field?”
Lieutenant Rong rose to his knees, looking directly at his master for the first time during the factor’s twisted version of events. He had never reported directly to Master Guang before, an honour usually reserved for the senior officers of a battalion. He had thought much about this meeting on the way back, deciding that his life and probably those of his other officers would most likely hang in the balance as a result of his House’s loss of face let alone the lost trade concessions. Having accepted this there was little to be gained with political correctness, though before starting he reminded himself to retain a suitable deference in his tone when speaking to Guang as there were degrees to how unpleasant executions could be. “The basic facts are as they have been outlined, Master. I will avoid any defence or correction of minor details to the factor’s version, to draw your attention to specific issues taken from a military perspective.”
Rong was pleased to hear his own voice sound more calm and assured than he felt. To maintain his track he concentrated on the events, rather than the man who in a few moments would decide whether he lived or died a dishonourable death. “I have come to believe that Hi Fat was gulled into the challenge from an early stage. Their champion is a clever man who understands the psychology of other men very well. He probably expected the challenge from Hi Fat before Hi Fat had selected him, even manipulating Hi Fat so as to be selected.”
Guang was immediately interested by his lieutenant’s considered response, which was not at all what he had been expecting. Guang had been confused how the situation had arisen in the first place, when they had been in such a position of strength. “And how do you reach this conclusion Lieutenant?” Guang’s voice remained neutral, but could easily have been mistaken as inferring sarcasm.
Lieutenant Rong frowned slightly in concentration. “I believe their champion was present at the original confrontation outside the tavern between the factor, Master Zanwen and Hi Fat.” The factor nodded in confirmation. “He would have taken the measure of our captain during that meeting. Later, when confronted by our men and when Hi Fat made his challenge he was the only one not willing to volunteer. Instead of maintaining a low profile he remained on a wagon seat at a higher level than any of the others. A prominent position which naturally draws the eye. He made no aggressive move but his failure to be either impressed or intimidated by Hi Fat, combined with his obvious bearing would have been irritating to a man of Captain Hi Fat’s character and would unquestionably have drawn Hi Fat’s attention. Captain Hi Fat sought to humiliate their champion in front of the town and this man’s composed self-confidence positively invited Captain Hi Fat’s selection. Even the fact he did not wear a sword implied he may have been of a high station within their House, giving credence to the man’s confidence and pride. Again this would have suited Hi Fat’s aims of humiliating Zanwen’s House even further. Even after the challenge was made the words and mannerisms he used were calculated to irritate Hi Fat, leaving him wrong-footed by the other’s passive acceptance of his fate and bolstering a false sense of confidence within Hi Fat by a lack of any direct resistance.”
Guang was almost tempted to smile at Lieutenant Rong. “You do not think much of your recent captain, Lieutenant. How is it you observed these things from so far and he did not see them when they were right in front of him?”
Lieutenant Rong’s reply remained frank. “Captain Hi Fat unquestionably possessed superior sword skills on which to base his confidence and it was not until after I saw the manner in which he was defeated that I became suspicious. I only arrived at my current opinion after the contest and much consideration. A luxury the captain did not have.”
Guang did smile thinly this time. “Continue Lieutenant, your interpretation of events is far more entertaining than the last one.”
Lieutenant Rong gave a bow. “After their champion had defeated Hi Fat we were all in shock at having lost and that Hi Fat had actually fallen, before the contest had even seemed to have started. It was all the more devastating for the nonchalance with which their champion had achieved this remarkable feat. I believe even the very manner of Hi Fat’s defeat was calculated by their champion for its impact on those watching. The captain’s death was noisy and drawn out, holding everyone’s attention long enough for their champion to reach our lines and begin his own address to our soldiers. At the end of his rhetoric, which was most skilled, he was directly in front of the remaining commanders and the factor. It was only when he stopped I appreciated he was standing almost amongst us with two drawn swords, whereas we were standing closely packed with sheathed weapons. I believe if we had made any hostile move his first act would have been to eliminate the officers, leaving our men leaderless.”
Guang followed the logic but was amused at his lieutenant’s modesty, not an attribute he normally associated with his senior officers who were invariably bombastic regarding their own martial ability. “You think so little of your own sword skill and that of your fellow officers that you believe he could so easily slaughter you where you stood, even with his cunning plan and other advantages?”
Lieutenant Rong bowed again, wondering if even now he was guaranteeing his own demise. “I know my own abilities and those of my other officers Master. It was only later I guessed at the ability of their champion. I had no doubt that he at least was confident this was possible and as he had just beaten the first sword of the Guang academy, the victor of over a hundred contests, without even deigning to use a weapon to do so, I believe he had some justification for his confidence. I have more reason to believe him than to doubt him, Master.”
Guang frowned at the man’s obvious sincerity, though was still cautious of the lieutenant’s fanciful interpretation of events. “But my factor here claims this man won the contest by his guile and deception rather than his martial ability.”
Lieutenant Rong bowed again before replying, the master was listening so perhaps there was hope for them after all. “Much the same way as he managed to confront the officers before Hi Fat’s replacement had assumed command. Much the same way he was the only armed man while confronting our remaining officers who were poor
ly positioned. Much the same way that he would have engineered a significant advantage over the leaderless men of the battalion, had he slaughtered their commanders in front of them.”
Lieutenant Rong’s tone and severe look left little doubt of his opinion that their men would have been routed if this had occurred. “As for the manner of his killing Hi Fat, I believe his martial abilities are without question beyond anything I have seen. The method he used for defeating Hi Fat was merely a tactic from a master strategist in a greater scheme to defeat the rest of our force should they not honour the contest’s outcome.”
Guang peered coldly at Lieutenant Rong. “You assume a lot to justify the inadequacy of you and your men to subdue an inferior force, Lieutenant.”
Lieutenant Rong bowed his head again before continuing. “There were other factors that have since convinced me I am correct in my assessment, Master.”
At a raised eyebrow from Guang he continued. “I enquired what he would have done if we had not honoured his victory. I believed him when he said he would have killed us.” He paused for a moment, “I then enquired what name I should give you when I reported his victory and he replied the House of Zanwen called him “Healer”, though he seemed amused by the title.”
Lieutenant Rong paused slightly before committing to his next opinion, which required a leap of faith and would probably cause his defence to collapse. “Long ago, before the covenant with the emperor’s dynasty Temple priests would walk amongst the people providing their healing skills and represent the common people in disputes such as this. I have come to believe he was a Temple priest.”
Guang sat back, his perverse amusement evaporating instantly at Rong’s words. The factor, still on his knees, shuffled forward before bowing. “This is preposterous Master Guang. The man was driving a cart! He wore no topknot, he was shaven headed and he bore no Temple tattoos on his forehead or on his forearms. There was ample opportunity to see them if they had been there but there was no sign of them.” Having undermined Lieutenant Rong’s argument with devastating logic he smugly shuffled back out to the side and kept his eyes averted, to avoid attracting further attention from Guang.