Dances of Deception: A Legends of Tivara Story (The Dragon Songs Saga Book 3)

by JC Kang

  She crept towards the residence, pausing at the sight of a Teleri soldier standing guard at the main entrance. Not an easy access. However, a small balcony on the shaded side of the building offered an alternate insertion point. She slunk along the base of the wall and stopped right below. With spiked hand straps and feline dexterity, she scaled the wall and swung over the balcony.

  The door was unlocked. She opened it a crack and slipped in.

  The large, undecorated room was furnished with two single beds and a wooden armoire. Two sets of armor—each consisting of a chainmail tunic with a leather cuirass—rested on stands at opposite sides of the room. Large rectangular shields and longswords completed the set. The markings indicated that they belonged to high-ranking infantry officers. Nothing interesting here.

  Jie opened the interior door and peeked out into the moonlit hallway. Empty. The muffled conversations downstairs didn’t seem relevant. Most of the important people were probably attending the reception. She slid soundlessly through the halls, checking doors and sparsely furnished bedrooms. Nothing of consequence.

  After several minutes, she came to her first locked door. Perhaps this room was more important. It easily yielded to the lockpicks from her pouch. Pushing the door open a crack, she peered in. Even her elf vision couldn’t penetrate the darkness.

  She slipped in, closed the door behind her, and produced one of her Aksumi beads. Her vision adjusted to the sudden change in light.

  In the center lay a large table, over three times her height in diameter, its entire surface a scale model of the Iksuvi kingdom. Blocks of various colors dotted the map, likely indicating troop strengths and positions. Blues, the most numerous in and around the city, probably represented Iksuvi soldiers. The Yellows...

  They corresponded with known Teleri troop locations inside the city. But there were many, many more just on the Teleri side of the Alto River. If each block denoted two hundred men, then there must be over twenty thousand in the border town of Altogrina. And who were the Blacks?

  Someone outside the room pushed a key into the lock.

  Jie stowed her light bead into a pocket and slid under the table, just as the door opened. Heavy footsteps paced across the floor. His weight and length of stride, as well as the type of boot, all betrayed his identity. General Marius, her admirer. A flickering candle approached the table.

  His feet came to a stop. Several blocks brushed across the table top.

  Not even her newly discovered feminine charm could convince him she was a simple handmaiden if he saw her now. Jie kept her breath slow and silent. As long as she didn’t give him a reason to look under the ta—

  One of the blocks clattered to the floor.

  Was there enough light for him to see her? She crept back, deeper into the table’s shadow.

  He squatted down and plucked up the piece between two fingers, his head never dropping below the table line. Thank the Heavens for Bovyans’ tall stature.

  The block cracked down on a spot near the edge. He then turned and left. His footsteps trailed out and the door locked.

  Jie ducked out from under the table and looked at the changes in troop positions.

  She sucked in a sharp breath.

  Tian waited until well after the Teleri general and the altivorcs parted ways, contemplating the situation. With the entire region about to descend into chaos, they had to get the princess to safety.

  Picking himself out of the hedgerow, he brushed himself off and slunk back to the reception with his head swimming. The princess was still playing as he peeked in. There was no sign of Jie. Taking advantage of the captivated guests, he crept into a chair near the rear.

  The melody trailed off and came to an end, and the princess bowed from her seated position. The audience rose to their feet, and thunderous applause swept through the room. Tian stood and joined in, even if his thoughts were elsewhere.

  The princess made some adjustments to the bridges of the guzheng. She raised her arms, and the audience fell silent in anticipation of an encore performance. Her slender fingers danced over the strings, now plucking on a heptatonic scale reminiscent of Northern lutes.

  It was a Nothori folk song, popular in the drinking halls Tian visited to trawl for information. It celebrated the perseverance of a nomadic Nothori tribe on the Eastern Plains, which had refused to submit to the Arkothi Empire three hundred years before. They outlasted the empire’s attempts to wipe them out, surviving through the Hellstorm and ensuing Long Winter that led to the fall of the agrarian Arkothi nation.

  The Teleri—who saw themselves as inheritors of the Arkothi Empire—would certainly understand the significance of the song. Tian had never seen anyone dare hum it in the presence of the Bovyans. Was the princess trying to encourage the Nothori kings? Or intentionally agitate the Teleri, not knowing that they were about to be entangled in a warzone?

  Around him, the Nothori people responded with nods and smiles to the princess’ unique rendering of an otherwise simple song. Even the musically disinclined Teleri grinned and bobbed their heads to the beat.

  And then she began to sing.

  If her speaking voice was melodious, her singing voice was nothing short of celestial. It resonated with clarity through the deep hall. Tian closed his eyes, as his heart floated. Perhaps this was like the music Guanyin sang when her consort Yang-Di presented the newly-forged world as a gift to her.

  The princess’ voice softened, and the guzheng took over again, repeating the refrain in different keys, becoming lighter and lighter until the hall reached complete, reflective silence. Time passed before deafening applause filled the room. Only the First Consul himself refrained, a contorted smirk on his face.

  Kaiya lifted her head and cast her gaze across the room. Guests stood, applauding. She had won them back, after losing their respect with her hesitance to eat their food. She suppressed a shudder, remembering the dragonshell. The dead eyes had gaped at her from its stalks, controlling her much as she had captivated the hall with her entrance. Her stomach had rebelled, and it took all of her power to conjure a smile at the expectant faces.

  Those faces now beamed, entangled in the magic of her song. She stood and bowed. Languid and fatigued, she took tentative steps towards the closest seat. After settling on the edge of a chair, she closed her eyes and listened.

  There it was: the subtle but unmistakable resonance from when she’d first entered the hall. It sang louder than the Teleri ambassador’s booming announcement of a dance, and the ensuing sounds of servants clearing tables and chairs from the floor.

  The reception hall must’ve been built over a deeply magical location. The first hint had been the colors. As she had played, the music appeared as swirls of iridescence, wrapping radiant light around her audience. The circumstances of resonance and visible sound bore an unmistakable resemblance to her experience at the Pyramid of Ayudra, and later, Shakti’s Hill in Palimur.

  However, none of the dancing lights ever reached the First Consul. The curious metal pin on his chest absorbed all her music’s luminescence before it could touch him. What did it mean? Her eyelids fluttered open.

  And there he was.

  Her heart lurched. Pushing through the crowd, First Consul Geros approached, his mouth curled into a smirk and his eyes predatory. He towered above her, his very shadow chasing away her bliss.

  He clapped his hands together several times. “Absolutely amazing. You have surprised me time after time tonight. When I heard your father was sending you to meet with me, I expected nothing more than a pretty face to distract us. However, you are certainly no ordinary girl.”

  If only she were. She rose to her feet despite her knees’ protests. “First Consul, my ambassador tells me that Bovyans do not care for art or music, but I am glad that you appreciated the zither tonight. We Cathayi believe that underneath prowess with a sword or technical knowledge of shipbuilding lie the cultivation of the spirit through creative endeavor. The arts form the foundation of our culture,
and it is the hope of noble and commoner alike to honestly express himself through art. To do so allows us to find a quiet amid all of the background noise of daily life.”

  He cocked his head, eyebrows clenched together.

  She gestured to the guzheng. “With this is mind, I would like to offer my zither to you as a gift, in hopes that you may find some peace through it. It is hundreds of years old, made during the Long Winter when the trees of the world grew slowly and densely, by one of our most famous craftsmen. Its value to our people surpasses even the fastest ship in the west, the Golden Phoenix.”

  The First Consul harrumphed. “You are correct. We care little for creative endeavor, because our austere lifestyle makes the Bovyans strong. Our contentment comes from the satisfaction of our basic needs, not from idle pursuits. A musical instrument may be beautiful, but it is easily smashed with a club. An artist’s hands may create fancy things, but her fingers can be severed with a blade. The zither means little without the musician to play for me.” Extending his hand, he added, “I wonder if this musician would join me for a dance.”

  Fear clamped iron claws around her heart. Forcing a demure smile, she said, “First Consul, the last time you took my hand, I was not sure when I would get it back. Although I am honored by your invitation, I do not have the energy after performing so long.”

  “Princess, the style of dance in the North requires no energy on the lady’s part. All you have to do is follow the man.” Geros took a step closer.

  It took all of the willpower she could muster to keep from shrinking back. “I will meet you in two days at the appointed time to discuss more weighty matters than art. Perhaps after we establish our countries’ eternal bonds of peace, we might celebrate with a dance.”

  The First Consul grinned. “If your terms for a dance are so stringent, I wonder if we will be able to negotiate an accord.”

  “Regardless of the outcome of our meeting, I promise to share one of our dances with you before I return to Cathay.”

  Geros’ grin contorted into a frown. He raised a hand and motioned for some of his soldiers.

  Tian and Ambassador Wu closed in behind her. But where was Jie?

  CHAPTER 14

  Plans Never Survive

  First Contact With The Enemy

  With the First Consul intimidating the princess at the front of the hall, Tian reached into his sleeve. He palmed a stack of star-shaped biao as he took note of enemy numbers and positions. The closest escape path was through the door to the kitchens, and for the moment, no Bovyan blocked it.

  He could hold the First Consul and his guards here long enough for the princess to escape the hall, but with his old knees, Ambassador Wu wouldn’t be able keep up. Even if he could, he didn’t have the skill with a sword to protect her against one soldier, let alone the entire Teleri embassy. He mouthed to the handmaidens, Bring the imperial guard.

  And where was Jie? She didn’t seem to be among the dignitaries who watched the face-off in silence.

  The princess kept her chin up, her expression inexplicably calm. She must have been oblivious to the danger. If she gave the First Consul just one dance, they could walk out of there and then get her aboard the Golden Phoenix.

  Six enormous Bovyans closed in, and Tian eased forward. If they took two more steps, he’d put throwing stars into their faces. Would Sameer come to his aid? His Paladin skills made him worth a dozen Teleri.

  “Allow us to retire for the night,” the princess sang.

  Stern expressions softening in unison, the soldiers took two steps back and bowed.

  Her legs wobbled, and she reached out and took Ambassador Wu’s sleeve. She’d saved them for now, but it appeared as if the power she wielded came with a cost.

  The First Consul’s gaze shifted from his men back to her, his frown turning up into a calculating grin. “My men will escort you to your palanquin. I look forward to our meeting in two days.”

  Tian kept a grip around his biao. This was too easy to be true.

  The princess nodded her head at a shallow angle. “Thank you again for the pleasant evening. I am sure our negotiations will bring new opportunities.” Posture straightening, she beckoned the handmaidens to join her. She turned and glided leisurely towards the entrance and out the door. Heavens, she was confident, and thoroughly unaware that there were a thousand more Bovyans.

  The cool night air prickled at Tian’s damp neck. Had the First Consul called more men and barred their exit, there was nothing they could’ve done about it.

  At the base of the steps, the Hua procession stood at attention. Without protest, the princess took the ambassador’s hand for support and ducked into the palanquin.

  Her hand, previously concealed in her long hanging sleeves, trembled.

  She did understand the danger. And she had the sense to hide her fear.

  The entourage passed through the dark, quiet streets of Iksuvius without incident, their drums and lanterns breaking the sleeping city’s tranquility. Upon their arrival at their own embassy, the princess shuffled through the halls toward her suite without a word to anyone.

  Tian turned to Ambassador Wu. “Please meet me in your office. In a few minutes.” He then headed toward Jie’s room. Perhaps she had already come back.

  There was no sign of her, so he went next door into his own office.

  He hastily tacked up a few notes about the altivorcs and reorganized the relational positions of the three Nothori Kingdoms. Grabbing a map, he went to the ambassador’s office.

  Ambassador Wu slouched in his chair, sweat beading on his uncharacteristically pale brow. He let out a long sigh. “Little Tian, I was concerned back there.”

  Tian nodded. “So was I, Godfather. We have more reason to be. The Teleri Empire is plotting. To overturn the balance of power in the Northwest. They are no longer content to collect an annual tribute.”

  Ambassador Wu frowned and sat up.

  Tian snapped out the map and spread it over the ambassador’s desk. “They are pitting Rotuvi and Lietuvi against each other. They will gobble up Iksuvi for themselves. The altivorcs will help. Iksuvi will fall by the end of the month. Lietuvi within a year. Rotuvi will stand alone as Teleri’s ally. Threatening our border.”

  The ambassador looked from the map to Tian, then back down. He pointed to the east. “The Teleri are too bogged down in their Eastern Campaign.”

  Tian nodded. “So we thought. But if I’m right, they will be a direct threat to us. In three years. Maybe even two. Then there’s their monstrous breeding program. In fifteen years, they’ll have produced enough troops. To fully pacify the Northwest. And they have gained this city. The only deep-water port in the region.”

  Wu’s eyes narrowed. “They are not far off from a navy, then. For now, the embassy is about to be caught up in a conflagration. What is our best strategy? What do we accomplish with our meeting in two days? What about tomorrow, when the princess meets with Rotuvi? Perhaps we should delay until after the summit so we know where the Empire stands in the Northwest. Or just send the princess away as soon as we can provision the Golden Phoenix.”

  “The summit is just a diversion,” called a soft voice from the door.

  Tian turned around to see Jie, her face black. Thank the Heavens she was safe. “Where were you?”

  Jie smirked. “In the Teleri embassy war room, and I’ve seen their plans. An army of fifty thousand regular soldiers and another ten thousand of their homeguard are about to cross over the border. There is also a large battalion of altivorcs moving up from the south.”

  Tian tapped his chin. “That might be why they left the southern gate open—it’s a trap to make the Iksuvi believe there’s an escape route.”

  “That’s not all,” Jie said. “A Lietuvi army of forty thousand has already crossed the border into southwestern Iksuvi. The bulk of the Iksuvi army will be pinned down west of the mountains.”

  Ambassador Wu sucked in his breath. “Is our mission here in any direct danger?”<
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  “No,” Tian said. “I overheard their general. He said we are of no consequence. They have little to gain from attacking us.” Except maybe a pretty princess.

  Ambassador Wu stroked his beard. “Would it benefit us to tell the Iksuvi of the imminent threat?”

  Tian shook his head. “The Teleri might take punitive measures. They could declare an embargo on our goods. Their influence is strong enough that it might hamper trade.”

  “It is our moral imperative to warn them.” The princess’ voice protested from the door.

  Tian turned to see the princess dressed in a double-layered white sleeping gown. She looked weary but resolute. And alone.

  He scowled at Jie. How could she make the mistake of leaving the door open?

  The princess locked her gaze on him. “We know their process of subjugating a country. They will slaughter the male members of the royal family, and subject the women to rape. I like Queen Ausra, and shudder at the thought of her fate.”

  Tian bowed his head. “If I may. That is Iksuvi’s problem. Not ours. Our concern is your safety. We must put personal feelings aside. And look at the implications of an unsettled Northwest.”

  The princess’ eyes glinted.

  Before she could reply, the ambassador said, “Dian-xia, it is late, and you have a long day ahead of you tomorrow. Please, let us formulate a strategy, and we will present our recommendations when you are fresh in the morning.”

  “Whatever that strategy is, it must include assistance for the Iksuvi royal family, even if we will not aid the nation itself. That is my command.” She turned on her heel and stomped back to her room.

  “She is idealistic,” the ambassador said in a low voice.

  “And stubborn.” Tian shook his head.

  “And she has good ears,” Jie said. “We have less than two days before the Teleri plot comes to a head. We need to demand Rotuvi turn over Lord Peng, and then get the princess out of here.”