Chasing the Phoenix (13 page)

The old man whom their kidnapped noble had identified as the head of the council was the first to break into tears. He wrapped his withered arms around Surplus's legs and, touching his head to Surplus's knees, said, “I swear my allegiance to the Hidden Emperor—and to China, returned to us at last!”

*   *   *

FOR A
week Surplus was the de facto ruler of Peace, and by extension all of what was now the Province of the Mountain Horses. During that time, however, he was careful to make no changes in city government or to issue any orders, lest one turn out to be displeasing either to the city fathers or to the Hidden Emperor. Consequently, he was immensely popular. He and Fire Orchid were given a suite of luxurious rooms, and banquets in their honor were held nightly, along with such entertainments as moon-watching parties, operas, acrobatics displays, poetry slams, and kirin hunts.

They were also given gifts. One morning Capable Servant brought, along with their breakfasts, a cane for Surplus. “A gift, noble sir, from the son of Lady-Bureaucrat Moon Flower.”

“From—? Oh, yes, the young idiot that Vicious Brute plucked from the roadside.”

“His fortunes are on the rise due to his association with you, so he wished to show his gratitude.”

“This is my sword cane. I already own it.”

“Look more closely, sir, and you will see that it has been improved.”

Surplus drew the sword from the cane to find its old blade had been replaced with another of the same length and shape but of superior steel and that, further, it had been exquisitely etched with an admittedly romanticized scene of the Dog Pack in full gallop, he himself in the lead and Fire Orchid by his side. He admired the blade carefully, then resheathed it. “The knob has been replaced. The old one was undecorated. This one—what are those two birds chasing each other on its top?”

“Phoenixes, sir. That was my idea. The silversmith wanted to make one with dragons, but since the dragon is a symbol of the emperor, I thought it unwise. The phoenix is a symbol of longevity, which is a good thing in a master and a marvel in a warrior.”

“Hmmm.” Surplus thoughtfully tapped the knob against his lips. “This may sound an odd question, but in my culture a decorated sword is the sort of present a superior gives an inferior who has performed some notable service, such as winning a battle or seizing the enemy's flagship. Is it the same in yours?” Then, when Capable Servant refused to meet his eyes, “The impudence of that brat! I have a good mind to throw this back in his face.”

“It is a lovely gift,” Fire Orchid said, “and very valuable. Capable Servant, you must tell the idiot that we are, both of us, grateful for his thoughtfulness.”

“I will keep the thing. But I refuse to be grateful.” Putting down the cane, Surplus attacked his breakfast. He had a strong appetite and was soon done. “Which reminds me. We need to make an accounting of the bribes collected to date.”

Fire Orchid was still eating. She sat in the bed beside Surplus with her robe open but her breasts concealed behind her long, ever-changing hair. Once or twice he thought he saw a nipple peeping through her tresses, but he was never absolutely sure. “Oh, we are collecting a great deal of money. Everybody wants to ask you for things—a position, a promotion, his neighbor's house—and they know that to reach you they must go through me. But to reach me, they must first bribe Vicious Brute, and of course he cannot be approached without the intercession of somebody in the family. Every step of the way they pay, so of course it adds up very fast.”

“Exactly how much does it add up to?”

“Lots and lots.”

“Can you give me a more precise figure?”

“Oh, no. It has already been spent.”

“What!”

“I used it to buy up land outside the city walls. Such property is very cheap now, but since China the Great has been restored and it will soon be safe to build there, it's about to become quite valuable.”

“Shouldn't I have been consulted? A certain percentage of that money was mine, after all.”

“Do I tell you how to conquer the world? You should not tell me how to spend the household money. Nobody loves a controlling husband.”

“I'm not your husband.”

“That's only because I want a proper wedding and we're too busy to plan one just now.”

“I grow less and less convinced that there will ever be such a wedding. Not only have I yet to propose to you, but you are proving to be an acquisitive, dishonest, and manipulative minx.”

“Oh! Our first argument. I must remember to write this down in my diary so we can celebrate its anniversary every year.” She leaned back, her hair flowing so that now Surplus could definitely see her nipples. “Capable Servant, please remove the breakfast things and lock the door behind you. We are going to argue a little more and then reconcile by making furious, passionate love.”

Which was precisely what they did.

They were midway through a second, less frenetic bout of lovemaking when someone hammered desperately at the door. “Dog Warrior, sir! Dog Warrior! The city is under attack! By monsters!”

*   *   *

THE “MONSTERS,”
as it turned out, were not so much attacking the city as approaching it. When the Dog Pack rode out to confront the menace, they turned out to be—as Surplus had suspected they would—crushing wheels, diggers, mobile bridges, and a motley variety of other Utopian machines in such profusion that they must surely constitute the entirety of the Division of Sappers and Archaeologists. At their head rode White Squall in an abomination with a snout like a shovel and a tail like a scorpion's, which (Surplus later learned) was called a backhoe.

“What is
that
doing here?” she demanded, when they had pulled up before her.

“It is the Hidden Emperor's new flag,” Surplus explained. “Every seamstress in Peace is currently at work making more.”

“Hmmm.” White Squall was briefly silent while she processed this information. Then she said, “I heard you took the city. That's good. But now you're standing between me and it. That's unwise.”

“Cao, I say this with all respect: You can't bring those monstrosities into Peace. They would terrify the citizenry.”

“Their terror is of no concern to me, and I outrank you. Therefore they will go wherever I wish.”

“Terror is no abstract thing. There would be riots. Lives would be lost, and some of your machines might well be damaged.” Surplus placed a paw on the backhoe. “Even as stalwart a war engine as this can be broken.”

White Squall's face went hard and cold, as she fought an inner battle against the logic of Surplus's words. He, in turn, did not voice any further arguments. At last she said, “Your advice is good and the machines are not needed in the city anyway. I shall make an encampment by the ruins of the ancient power plant, which is a primary site for investigation. However, your brazen affrontery is unforgivable and calls for your immediate demotion. What rank are you?”

Surplus spread his arms. “To tell you the truth, that has never been established. I am an officer of some sort, obviously, but I have no formal status or rights whatsoever. It is entirely possible that I am still a civilian. Not that I would wish to test that thesis! I exist entirely on the sufferance of the Hidden Emperor.”

A ghost of a smile appeared and disappeared on White Squall's face. “As do we all. I'll let you get away with your insubordinate talk this once. Never again. Now get your people out of my way.”

“As you command, cao.”

The backhoe grumbled forward, fouling the air with hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides. Then it lurched to a stop, and over her shoulder, White Squall said, “Oh, and I almost forgot. You are relieved of command of the city. The Hidden King—or Emperor, I imagine, since you appear to have promoted him—has sent advisors with me who will restructure its leadership in order to integrate Peace into his empire.”

*   *   *

BECAUSE WHITE
Squall had relieved him of his responsibilities without extending any further orders, Surplus found himself at loose ends. In a pensive mood, he strolled the top of the defensive walls, saying good-bye to the rule of the only city he had ever conquered. From this height he could see the sappers and archaeologists digging trenches by the ruins of the Utopian cooling tower. Their uncanny engines ripped into the earth, tearing open subterranean rooms and passages. To what purpose, he could not guess.

On the inward side, meanwhile, he could look down on the gray tile roofs of the buildings huddled below like cattle in a byre. Plazas at each of the gates fed into broad avenues leading into the heart of the city. These gave way to narrower streets, which sprouted twisty alleyways, which in turn debouched into tight clusters of courtyards. It all fit together as cunningly as pieces of a puzzle box. Through these passages flowed laborers and bureaucrats, peasants and soldiers, scholars and merchants and artisans going about their daily business, like so many red blood cells coursing through a web of arteries. From this vantage, the city was a single living organism, as complex as a man and as fragile as an egg.

Briefly he had protected Peace, if in no other way than through inaction. Now that privilege had been taken away from him.

Fire Orchid found Surplus staring blindly at the bell tower at the city's center and silently placed an arm around his waist. After brief hesitation, he put a hand on her shoulder. “Have I told you the story of how the Perfect Strategist and I first met the Hidden Emperor?” he asked.

She shook her head.

“We were younger then. The Admirable King ruled in those days and the Abundant Kingdom was at peace. Yet some of us were not content, for we knew that this peace was but temporary and therefore an illusion. Elsewhere in the fractured lands of China the Great, a dozen wars were being fought. These wars, moreover, achieved nothing. For every land that was conquered, another broke in three. Whenever one nation became big enough to dominate its region, a province would declare independence or a tributary nation rebel. In this way, there was ferment without outcome and warfare without end. It seemed to the Perfect Strategist and me that something must be done about this deplorable situation. China the Great had to be restored to her proper glory. But how? That was the question.

“The Perfect Strategist and I were walking the streets of Brocade discoursing on this very matter when a stranger approached us, saying, ‘I could not help overhearing your discussion. Your thoughts are so similar to mine that I feel we should make common cause.'

“We were of course delighted to encounter so well-spoken a young man. So we three retired to a nearby teahouse to talk. In the course of a single afternoon we not only laid out a broad outline for the restoration of China and the relief of the suffering of its people but became convinced that we three should be the agents of that cause.

“The next day, we went out of the city to a place our new friend knew of, a peach garden whose flowers were at their fullest. There we burned incense and made sacrifices. Then we vowed to bind ourselves together in brotherhood, combining our strength and purpose to relieve the present crisis. It was only after we had so sworn that the Hidden Emperor revealed his true identity. Imagine our delight! In that moment, the cause seemed half-won already.

“Since that oath, we three have been inseparable. The Hidden Emperor is our elder brother, with the Perfect Strategist as second brother and I as third. Thus, our friendship and our resolve are unbreakable.”

“This story sounds oddly familiar,” Fire Orchid said.

Surplus grinned roguishly. “It should. I took it from one of the classics of Chinese literature.”

“I see. What about the story that you and the Perfect Strategist are immortals who spent centuries studying the arts of war in the deserts of Mongolia? Should I tell the family to stop spreading it?”

“No, keep on telling that. But add this story to the roster as well.”

“They contradict each other.”

“Do they? Well, let them. Like all great men, I contain multitudes. Just make sure nobody tells both tales at the same sitting.” Surplus released Fire Orchid's shoulder and took her hand. Side by side, they strolled the wall in companionable silence.

After a while, Surplus said, “Why did you come looking for me?”

“I was in the city archives just now, talking with White Squall. She is a very interesting woman.”

“I have no doubt. What were you talking about?”

“Oh, girl things. Archaeology. Machines. Politics. I told her that you were like a god to the citizens of Peace. She said she outranks you and anyway she has already asserted control of the city. I pointed out that if she got into a power struggle with the famous Dog Warrior, the bureaucrat-lords might take this as a sign they should take their city back for themselves. She is such a busy woman that I didn't think she should have to worry about such things. When I told her that, she asked what I suggested. I said that if her people pretend the orders they give come from you, you promise not to issue any orders of your own. Also, we get to keep our rooms.

“She was not exactly happy about the deal. But she saw that it was sensible.”

Surplus dropped Fire Orchid's hand as suddenly as if it had burst into flames. “You
blackmailed
Cao White Squall? The second-highest-ranking officer in the Hidden King's armies? Without consulting me first?”

“Yes,” Fire Orchid said. “Shouldn't I have?”

“Of course you shouldn't have. She could have had us executed for that.”

“But she didn't. So all is happy.”

“No, Fire Orchid, all is not happy. I am, in fact, extremely angry with you.”

“Oh, but you cannot be angry with me.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Because I am so beautiful.”