The Pirate Empress (70 page)

“They used to call you Ghost Catcher. Can’t you stop him?”

He stared at the ghost warrior without hope. “Alas, no. I failed to bring the fifth rib of Dilon
g
.”

“You must fight him.”

“You would betray your emperor?”

The red and yellow colours of the phantom soldier deepened into an angry hue. They swirled, dissolving his face, then reformed into a sharp scowl. His rage was just. Jasmine had destroyed his life. Master Yun removed the Scimitar from under his robe, and stabbed it into the ground in front of Yongfang’s feet. The bronze blade impaled itself five inches deep.

“So you remember,” the ghost warrior said. “May the fox faerie rot in hell!”

“Then you will not join her and her queen?”

“I will not.”

Master Yun withdrew the Scimitar, bowed and extended the blade, hilt first. The Scimitar was strong and sharp. Yongfang had stolen it from the crypt itself, and had armed his rebels with the weapons with which First Emperor meant to enter eternity. One quarter of the Night Guards Army were without weapons. First Emperor had trapped the rebel leader here as punishment. Yongfang shook his head. “Return it to me when we claim victory.”

Master Yun hoisted the Scimitar. The bronze from which it was hewn was old but it still shone with the brightness of new metal. “
Huli Jing
will pay,” he assured the ghost warrior. “But first I must find a way out of here. Any suggestions?”

“No. But rest assured that although First Emperor’s ghost armies are freed, they will not rise to attack on his voice alone. Not all of the soldiers are faithful. Some of the terracotta faces are the faces of my rebels. The statues were erected before they turned against him. They will follow me.” Yongfang hesitated for a second, before continuing. “I must take the bone of Dilong from Jasmine. Meanwhile, you have no choice but to stay here.”

Master Yun slid the bronze Scimitar into the sash at his waist beneath his robes. He sought the ghost for further instructions. Yongfang bowed, and looked to where the rust-grey terracotta fragments of his likeness littered the floor. The pieces remained where they were, and the nebulous apparition floated away. His last words came in a deep breathless echo. “I will return for you.”

And then there was nothing but black for as far as he could see.

CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

Esen’s Ambition

Esen stepped back against the wall, the nervous slaver drooling from the corner of his mouth. He wiped it away, pressed his back hard into the shadows. Sentries were posted everywhere with orders to keep him from entering the Forbidden City, while Lotus Lily, that pirate girl with the lives of a cat, was free to come and go as she pleased. Here she came now, head high, with a little boy in tow, but not the boy he had once kidnapped from her. This one was a strange little bugger, with a white stripe down the side of his hair. She walked past even as their eyes locked.
How dare you look right through me!

“Lotus Lily!” he shouted.

The frown she gave was odd. Had he changed so much in ten years?

“Your father is waiting to see you,” he overheard her saying to the boy. “We must clean you up and make you look presentable. Otherwise, he’ll think we’ve been maltreating you at the royal court.”

Impossible.
I was your nemesis.
He caught up to her before she finished crossing the public square, and stepped in front of her. She stopped, recognizing the rank of his uniform. “What is it, Captain?”

“Let me escort you inside. These are dangerous times. And the boy—” He suddenly realized where he had seen that striped hair before—on the White Tiger. “The boy must be protected from the strange creatures that have been seen around the town. He is clearly the son of an important man.”

“Thank you for your concern, but we are almost inside. We’re quite safe.”

Esen realized that Lotus Lily, whom everyone now called Li, did not know him. “I was sent to be your bodyguard. You and the boy.”

“Master Yun sent you to protect us? Why would he do that? His father has arrived at the palace,
he
will protect him.”

“But who will protect you? From him, I mean.” He had heard the stories of Admiral Fong’s vendetta against his former wife. “The White Tiger wants you dead.”

Li frowned. “Master Yun does not trust the White Tiger? He was the one who sent me to bring him here.”

Esen nibbled on his lower lip. “Well, I didn’t mean him exactly; he only agreed to the idea. It was Brigade General Chi Quan. He doesn’t trust Fong.” Esen was guessing all of this, and was surprised when Li nodded.

“Yes, well, that does sound like Quan. You’re one of his captains, I take it?”

“I am,” Esen said. “And not only is the brigade general concerned for your safety, he worries over His Highness as well. As soon as I have seen you and the boy to your chambers I am to report for a private consultation over security matters. Will you announce me to His Majesty?”

By now, they were at the palace door. The sentries crossed their lances to block him from entering. “No one is allowed inside except the princess and her son.”

“Oh, it’s fine, sentinel,” Li said. “He can walk me inside. I will send him back out in a moment.”

“My orders—”

“Whose orders?” Li demanded, cutting him off.

“Brigade General Chi Quan specifically requested that no one be allowed inside the palace without escort.”

“
I
am escorting him.”

The sentry looked nervously at her; she
was
His Majesty’s daughter. “Quan may give you orders, but he doesn’t give me orders,” Li said. “I want this man to accompany me.” The sentry bowed, and Li shook her head. “Sometimes Quan goes too far in trying to protect me. I understand he is trying to make up for years of what he perceives as neglect, but this is not the way to do it.” She raised her hand and the guards extricated their crossed lances.

“As to your request, Captain” she said. “Not right away. I have an important audience with Lao’s father and His Majesty. Perhaps I can mention your request when we’re done. Now, you have fulfilled your duty to the brigade general. When next you see him, you can tell him that all is well and that I am in no need of a bodyguard. I’m assuming he is still abroad with Master Yun? Then, please, see yourself out.”

Li led the boy away and disappeared down one of the marble hallways. The sentries had returned to their posts. He made his way to the throne room, but the Emperor was busy consulting with some of his generals. Esen fumed. His Majesty had promised to make him General, and had relegated him to Captain instead. Now was his chance for revenge. Esen was familiar with the palace layout and located the royal bedchamber. This was the best place to wait, the least likely place for His Highness to be accompanied by a blade-bearing escort. Silk draperies, satin bedding and pillows, exquisite tapestries surrounded him. Larceny and resentment welled up in Esen’s chest. He had spent a good month enjoying these luxurious trappings before the return of the warlock. His plan was to take some of it back.

One of the tapestries on the walls looked crooked, and he touched the woven image—an azure and gold phoenix. Interesting. The wall had edges. He swept the tapestry aside and poked at the nearly invisible frame behind it. A passageway appeared, and he followed it along a gravel path to a private pleasure garden. The sun had arced to the top of the sky and now he stopped for a moment to get his bearings. Beyond the rocky terraces, shrubberies, and twisted fruit trees was a path to a gate.

Esen stood atop Coal Hill. Below him the armour of marching sentinels winked in the midday sun. Pavilions and temples flanked the sprawling alleys between the Forbidden City and the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. South of the city walls, the Temple of Heaven peaked like a mountain as it broke the surrounding parkland. He was about to retrace his path when he noticed a flash of yellow. So, the Emperor had finished his business with the generals and was out on the town, reacquainting himself with his subjects. He was bowing to them even as they bowed back. Never had he seen the Emperor act like that. In the days when he had paid tribute to the Son of Heaven, he kowtowed while His Royalness snorted in disdain. Even now, Esen was not treated like a loyal subject. Not like that foreign hero, they called the White Tiger. Even before he knocked up the princess, he was a Manchurian outcast. And yet they treated the striped freak like royalty, and Esen like horseshit.

He fingered the blade at his hip, narrowed his eyes to focus. Beneath the Imperial yellow satin was a heart that beat just like his—a heart that pumped blood. All he had to do was stop that pump.

But it wouldn’t be easy. The new bodyguard was not human, nor was he mortal. The blue soldier went everywhere with the Emperor, and Esen recalled his first glimpse of the dragon—pale blue like water, scaly and horned, with wings and a whip for a tail. It was the biggest creature he had ever seen.

A foul smell wafted forward. Like rotting meat. He looked around but saw nothing except a tall, red pavilion. Through the windows was a spiral staircase. He frowned, returned his attention to the activity below the hill, and saw that the Emperor was returning to the palace. Again, the reek of dead things drew his eyes to the tower. A large shadow flitted, blocking out the sunlight at intervals up the length of the pavilion. Scared breathless, Esen shot down the hillside and back into the garden, where he paused only long enough to look over his shoulder. Nothing followed. The sense of some malignant presence kept his heart hammering, and he bolted through the doorway and back inside the royal bedchamber.

%%%

“Where is His Majesty?” Admiral Fong demanded.

“He is out rallying the people to his side,” Li answered.

Li led Lao to his father, who got down on one knee to speak to his son. “Are you well?” he asked. “Did they give you all you needed?”

“They did, father,” Lao said. “It was so exciting. I rode on the back of the golden
Fenghuang
and we flew over the sea, and I saw the strangest armies, gargoyles and men with arms that grow front-to-back and—”

“I saw them, too. Now go with Lin, I need to speak to your mother. Alone.”

Lao did not want to leave them, but Lin urged him to obey, and Li turned to her ex-husband. “I’m sorry I had to use such unconventional means to bring you to the capital.”

“I should let you taste my lash once more.”

“Perhaps I deserve that, but it would do no good. You must choose sides, Fong. The Fox Queen or the Emperor. Who will it be?”

“You know that is no choice.” He scowled. “I must say one thing for you, Lotus Lily. You have not changed. You are still the fiery girl I captured and married.”

“Surely, you don’t mean to tell me that you wish our marriage to continue?”

Fong glanced at the door of the audience hall. Li smiled, seeing the answer to her question in Lin’s retreating form. She explained to Fong the reason why he was here. “I ask only two things of you, if you wish our marriage erased. One, that you will call me Li from now on. And two, that you will take your place on the Crosshairs of the Four Winds. We need you Fong. All of mortal men need you. As much as we need the Emperor.”

CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO

Master Yun’s Escape

All means of escape were blocked to him. The statues were in pieces on the floor, the ghost armies released. The blade turned all that wielded it into one of Emperor Qin’s warriors. And although it had lost that ability during its long sojourn away from its master, perhaps returning it here had restored its power? It was worth a try. Master Yun gripped the hilt of the Scimitar and looked down at his boots. They remained unchanged. He released his grip. Just as he was about to give up, a blue dragon’s head appeared out of the dark. “Fucanlong!”

The dragon morphed into a nebulous Qin soldier. “I heard you were in trouble and flew swiftly to help. The burial mound recognized me as one of its own and sucked me down here.”

“Can we get out?”

“Yes. The ghost soldiers are free. There is nothing to keep us here, except for the key to the gate.”

“Well, first things first then. Ah, how pleased I am to see you my dear friend. But we must save the niceties for later. Come, we must find the gate.”

When he entered the mound the first time, Master Yun had dropped straight into the vault of the Night Guards Army. After that, he had found the seat of Emperor Qin’s Military Command. The first vault should have been through the opening where Yongfang had left him. They need only return that way and they would be standing beneath the gate.

“Do you remember how you found me?” Master Yun asked the blue dragon, now decked out like a Qin warrior. “I seem to be all turned around.”

Fucanlong stared about their surroundings and agreed. Something in the dank atmosphere muddled the brain. “I think I came from this direction,” he said and turned to his left. Master Yun followed but the vaults he expected to see did not materialize. He tried his Moonstone again, but no light hit the walls. The more they proceeded in this direction, the farther away from their destination they seemed to go. Master Yun touched the hilt of Yongfang’s Scimitar. The hilt hummed in his hand as though some energy within the blade itself struggled for release.

This way, he gestured. He walked by feel rather than sight. By the time they came full circle and he opened his eyes, he saw what he wanted to see.

He turned and smiled at Fucanlong
who had followed faithfully. When their sight grew familiar with the blue luminescence, they noticed that broken statues were scattered across the floor. But Master Yun knew he stood among the former rearguard. He moved, confidently now, amidst the shattered ranks. Along the northern and southern walls, cracked pottery chest plates, sabres and crossbows littered the ground. At the very front, where the battle formation of warriors had posed, were now fragments of clay. The mighty steeds had exploded out of their terracotta shells to escape with their riders and war chariots.

Master Yun raised the Scimitar, which vibrated in his hand. Fucanlong, in his Qin warrior guise, moved up alongside and accepted the blade. A moment later, a crack of light appeared in the burial vault’s ceiling. Fucanlong returned the Scimitar and transformed. Master Yun clamped his legs over the dragon’s back, and they shot through the ever-widening gate into the glare of early dawn.

The mound fell away. Below, the plains of the Yellow River loop flew by. Soon treetops appeared, an even line along the dirt road, leading to the outskirts of the capital.

%%%

Men practising maneuvers just inside the gates of the Forbidden City made way as Quan stopped in front of Captain Huang. He dropped to the ground with a clatter of boots, and passed over the reins. “See that my horse is tended to, Captain,” Quan said. “Where is the princess?”

“With her husband, Brigade General.”

Quan felt a spasm of rage at the term ‘husband.’ “Where is Esen, the Mongol?”

Captain Huang thrust his head up from stroking the horse. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Quan knew his voice sounded harsh. But Huang should be watching the treacherous barbarian every moment. Couldn’t he see Quan had his hands full trying to muster forces large enough to break those of the fox faeries? Altan had re-joined their side, and Esen would betray them next.

“What is wrong, Brigade General? You seem overly anxious.”

“I’m sorry, Huang,” he said, slapping a hand on his captain’s shoulder. “But I have news that Esen intends to murder His Majesty.”

“His Highness is well-guarded. I think you can relax. He left with an escort of fifty, and among them was the blue dragon soldier. But the princess is inside.”

Quan made his way to Li’s courtyard. She was alone with Peng, practising Tai Chi on the arched bridge over the lily pond in the middle of the stone floor. It was past dawn. The pale red gleam of the sun lit the brick walls, casting shadows. Li’s eyes were closed but Peng’s were not. The foxling saw him. And Li opened her eyes in a flash.

“Quan,” she exclaimed. “I am so happy you’re back. Where is Master Yun?”

“He is delayed,” he said, and proceeded to enlighten her on the inauspicious meeting with the fox faerie atop First Emperor’s mound.

“So, Jasmine is at it again. Well, never mind. Master Yun will find his way back. He always does.”

The flicker of nine, golden, white-tipped tails caught Quan’s eye. The little girl had tired of listening to the grownups talk, and was entertaining herself by reverting to the foxling and chasing mice from the flowerbeds. Li caught herself from gasping out loud. “It always spooks me when she does that. She is such a sweet little girl that I always forget she is a fox.”

They made their way over the arched bridge to the white stone patio, and under the archway. The foxling shot out of her hiding place and tumbled onto her back, rolled playfully to have her belly tickled before she stood up.

“You are a scamp, Peng,” Li said. “Please revert to your human self. I wish to talk to you.”

Peng barked, then let her pelt dissolve into sun-kissed skin. She smiled at Quan, and then went rigid. “What is it, little one?” he asked. He looked over his shoulder to where she stared, and saw nothing.

Li squatted in front of the child. “Is something the matter?”

She shook her head. “It’s my mother. She is trying to talk to me. She is trying to talk to me inside my head. She wants to see the boy called Lao.”

“How does she know about him?” Li demanded.

“She can see him. Is that not he?” Peng asked, pointing to the archway.

Li turned to see, and Quan noted that there was indeed a small boy standing in the shade of the portal.

“Great Grandfather is in trouble,” Lao said. “But he is free now and on his way home.”

“Lao, what are you talking about? How do you know about Great Grandfather?”

“He is aboard the blue dragon, Fucanlong.” Lao reached his hands out toward his mother. “Oh, what a dragon!”

Admiral Fong approached, scowling. “Lao, what nonsense is this? I heard what you said. Now stop this nonsense. You have been talking foolishness all day. How can you see them? You are imagining things. Only babies do that. You must grow up, and cease the foolish chatter.”

“Fong,” Li said. “Don’t be so harsh. He may be half White Tiger, but he is also half Warlock. If he says he can see, then he can see.”

The furrows in Fong’s forehead threatened to collapse his face. He was not happy to have been brought here in such an undignified manner. He glared at Quan, then again at Li. It was as though he spoke the words that they all feared to give voice to:
So, you are the one her heart clings to and always has.

Although he had no love for this cruel man, Quan had to acknowledge that he had never made Li his wife. Fong had given her the honourable title and Quan was his rival. If the situation were reversed, he would be equally outraged. “She was your wife,” Quan said, humbly. “But she does not love you. Will you release her?”

“I already have. I do not want a faithless woman. I have found one to replace her. One who is true to me.”

Quan assumed he meant Li’s stepsister, Lin. “Then we are friends? We fight on the same side.”

“We may fight on the same side,” Fong said. “But we will never be friends.”

Quan understood and respected the admiral’s position. But would he take his place on the Crosshairs of the Four Winds?

Peng suddenly started shaking violently. She shivered and shook, saliva slavering from her mouth, her eyes rolling back. Quan dropped to his knees next to Li to prevent the little girl from buckling to the ground. “What is wrong with her?” he demanded.

“I am trying not to look at anything,” Peng said. “My mother is trying to see us. I don’t wish her to.”

%%%

A giant shadow fell over the group and Li looked up. Master Yun’s robes flapped as the blue dragon dropped to perch on the courtyard wall. He slid off the scaly back and lowered himself to the ground. “Return to the Emperor,” he ordered. “And thank you for the lift. And please, from now on, do not let His Majesty out of your sight.”

The dragon winked and flew off.

Was she ever glad to see him; they needed his advice. Before he could walk the ten paces to where the small group convened in Li’s stone garden, she reached him and told him all that had occurred prior to his arrival. “What do you think?” she asked. “What is happening to these children?”

“Nothing is happening to them,” he said. “Nothing harmful anyway.” He turned to Peng whose eyes remained shut. “Is your mother still there? Does she still demand you open your eyes?”

“Yes. I do not want her to see you. She means you harm.”

“Then keep your eyes shut.” He turned to Lao who was tightly gripped at the shoulders by his father, the White Tiger. “You saw me Lao? Where did you see me?”

“You were inside someplace very dark and very cavernous. But it was also blue inside, like your dragon. You were looking at some broken pieces of dishes on the floor.”

Master Yun smiled. “Dishes?”

Lao shrugged. “They were broken. I could not see what they were.”

“And then?”

“You walked in the dark until the blue dragon came to rescue you!”

“I did indeed, Lao. You have the Sight of Wuji. As does Peng.”

“What does that mean?” Li asked. “I have never heard of the Sight of Wuji.”

The Sight of Wuji was there in their lineage, Master Yun explained. Even
she
possessed its vestigial essence. It lived inside the gelatinous matrix of the inner eye. Most of the time it was invisible, but under the right conditions it could be engaged. The Wuji gave infinite sight, for it could transmit to its host the vision of truth. But Master Yun could not engage the Sight. And it seemed neither could Li. He frowned and glanced down at Peng who stood stiffly, eyes shut, looking pained. Lao, still in the grip of his possessive father, watched in empathy. Master Yun took the children by their hands, and dropped to his knees. Fong objected, but Li stayed his hand. “We must learn whether the Emblem of Balance is broken,” Master Yun said.

“Why?” Fong demanded.

“Because if it is, then all is lost. The balance of the world is broken. Everything will be reversed and the world as we know it will vanish. White will be black, legend will become reality, and
we
will become legend. Our only hope is to form the Crosshairs of the Four Winds.”

He took a piece of charcoal from the outdoor hearth and drew a symbol of the Taijitu. He painted one side of the backward S black and left the other side white. On the white side he coloured in the small circle, and on the black side he left the circle white. “Do you know this image?” he asked the children. They shook their heads. “Memorise this picture. Now, close your eyes and watch it in your minds. Draw the two circles together until they become one, and tell me what you see.”

Peng flashed her eyes wide. “A beautiful garden with red flowers and green grass.”

“It is broken,” Lao said. “The Emblem of Balance is broken. There are two pieces.”

Master Yun sighed. “Then it is as I feared. We must hurry. Where is His Majesty? Where is Esen? Has anyone gone to check on the Emperor?”

“Captain Huang said that he was surrounded by a bodyguard of fifty. And he mentioned that the blue dragon soldier escorted him as well. Did he desert His Majesty’s security to rescue you?” Quan asked.

“I’m afraid so. Send someone to summon the Emperor home. Where is Zheng Min? Send him.”

“I can’t find him,” Quan replied. “Before we left for Xian I sent for him, but Huang tells me he hasn’t returned from the Northeast wall.”

“That does not bode well,” Master Yun said.

A flicker of movement caught Li’s eye. She looked up at the wall and saw a golden fox perched on the coping. Master Yun and Quan’s stare followed, then Fong’s. Peng shrank back at the sight of her mother in her fox form. The white-tipped tail swished. Before their eyes Jasmine materialized in snowy white, breasts bared, legs crossed, the flowing stuff of her gown separating to reveal tantalizing skin. “So, daughter,” she said. “Why haven’t you answered me? Are these people torturing you? If they are, I’ll take you home.”

“Foolish demon,” Master Yun said. “You are outnumbered. You cannot take her without our permission.”