by Resa Nelson
“What information do we have that the empress would want?” TeaTree frowned. “Why would she want to control us?”
During the past several months, Madam Po had spent most of her days and nights alone, except when the empress demanded a lesson in fighting. Every night she’d asked the portents to come to her through her dreams. Although her long-dead husband came into her dreams every night, he rarely brought any portent worth knowing.
In all her life, Madam Po had never known such a drought of portents. Maybe it happened because under normal circumstances she rarely had to ask for the portents. They typically came without asking.
Maybe the drought happened because she had never felt so trapped or desperate in her life.
Or maybe it happened because Madam Po’s life had begun to wind down toward an end.
In the brief time since TeaTree returned from his travels through the Wulong Province in search of Njall, Madam Po had hesitated to share her thoughts. But now it seemed foolish to withhold them any longer.
Madam Po crossed the floor and sank down to sit next to TeaTree on his mattress. She whispered in case guards might be listening on the other side of the door. “I have my suspicions about Ti.”
TeaTree matched her whisper. “Suspicions?”
Madam Po nodded. “Emperor Po died an unnatural death. Magic had to be involved.”
TeaTree’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “But we were both there. The wind carried him up into the sky with his kite and dropped him to his death. How could Ti have anything to do with that?”
“As I said, magic had to be involved.”
“Impossible. Everyone knows Emperor Po and Tao Chu were the best of friends since childhood. Chu was devastated by the emperor’s death.”
“Tao is not the only magician in Zangcheen.”
TeaTree stared at Madam Po for several long moments. “The boy?”
Madam Po nodded.
“But he’s so young!” TeaTree said. “Wouldn’t it take years of practice to manipulate the winds like that?”
“There are different types of magic,” Madam Po said. “Tao Chu practices a magic that taps into the light. His intents are pure and good, and the light helps him. This is often accomplished by drawing upon the generosity of the elements. If Tao Chu had practiced magic involving the wind, the dragon goddess would have known about it. She would have aided Tao Chu in his magic. But no dragon god would be willing to bring about the death of an emperor. Not without good reason.”
“And the boy?”
“Asu Chu may have come from his father’s seed, but Asu is not his father’s son in spirit. Based on what we saw on the day the emperor died, I suspect Asu dabbles in tableau magic.”
“Tableau?” TeaTree said. “I don’t understand what that is.”
“It’s magic that taps into the dark. A magician uses earthly materials to create a tableau representing real people and a real place. He then calls upon the darkness to infuse the tableau with power and connect it to the people and place it represents.”
“It’s symbolic?”
“Precisely. Once the power is established and the connection is made, the magician can control the people and place by manipulating the tableau. Whatever he does to the tableau will happen in the mortal world.”
“Then Asu Chu isn’t just a boy,” TeaTree said. “He’s a very powerful and dangerous magician.”
“Very much so. No royal magician would witness Emperor Po’s death without suspecting who was behind it. Tao must know his son caused the emperor’s death. And yet Tao has done nothing to punish the boy. That tells me Tao Chu is terrified of his own son.”
“Why?”
“Just like Tao and Emperor Po were fast friends in childhood, Asu has been Ti’s closest friend—possibly, the empress’s only friend. I find it impossible to believe that as soon as the emperor passed a law stating his eldest child—male or female—would succeed him as emperor that he happened to die. I believe Ti is behind his death because her closest friend made it happen. Asu Chu had no reason to want the emperor dead. But Ti had all the reason in the world.”
TeaTree ran his hand through his hair. “What do we do?”
“Continue,” Madam Po said. “We must act the same, no matter what. Ti has sharp eyes. If she suspects we know the truth, our days are numbered. We should placate her, but no more than we’ve already done. We can do nothing to raise suspicion.”
“But how does that help anything? If we do nothing, we’ll be locked up in here forever!”
“Being locked up is better than being dead.”
TeaTree groaned. “It’s an impossible situation. Your portents tell you nothing, and you don’t know why. We’re controlled every minute of every day. We don’t know where Frayka or Njall is, and we can do nothing to help them, much less ourselves. It’s hopeless.”
Madam Po patted his knee. “Nothing is ever hopeless. Not as long as we still breathe.”
CHAPTER 14
Empress Ti stood at a palace window to watch the sun set and twitched with impatience. She didn’t understand why everything had to be so difficult.
She shuddered at the memory of this morning’s fiasco. Ti assumed she’d found her salvation at last—a newborn whose blood could be the answer to all of Ti’s problems.
Instead, she’d been tricked by magic: the shape assumed to be Frayka and her baby revealed itself to be nothing more than a mortal-like body made of sticks.
At first, Ti suspected the royal magician Tao Chu. She knew he suspected her of causing Emperor Po’s death. Surely, Tao Chu bore a grudge against Ti for the loss of his closest friend.
But as soon as she saw the sticks, Ti looked at Tao Chu, who appeared as shocked as Ti felt.
No one can pretend to look that surprised. Tao Chu looked scared. I bet he never knew anyone else could create that kind of magic.
Other than Asu.
And yet, Ti knew Asu Chu had no reason to craft such magic. He had never done anything to harm Ti. Throughout their young lives, Asu only helped her.
Besides, Asu Chu appeared to have expertise in tableau magic alone. Any time Ti tried to explore other types of magic, he resisted and complained it would be too difficult.
So, who created those forms made of sticks?
Staring at the evening sky, ablaze like fire, Ti chewed her fingernails down to the quick.
She didn’t see how any other magicians could exist in the Wulong Province without her knowledge. Her father would have told her. Tao Chu would have told her. Even Asu Chu would be aware of such a thing.
After calling the royal guards to sweep the sticks away and dispose of them, Ti had grilled both magicians. Asu had simply shrugged and refused to speak. His father claimed that other than trained magicians, only a dragon god could have executed such magic.
Ti didn’t believe in dragon gods. She didn’t even believe in the realm parallel to the mortal world, a realm ruled by the Great Emperor that her father consulted. A Great Emperor who ruled not only the dragon realms but the dragon gods themselves.
The empress believed only in what she saw with her own eyes. She found the notion of an afterlife ridiculous, convinced that the only life she would ever live was the one she now had. She’d spent her sixteen years—soon to be seventeen—looking down on everyone who claimed such nonsense had to be true.
But if my magicians didn’t make that stick woman, who did?
Ti pressed her face against the window, its glass still warm from the late afternoon sun.
There must be at least one magician other than mine. Someone who lives in Zangcheen or somewhere else in the Wulong Province.
But why would the Unknown Magician send a body made of sticks to Ti?
The empress reconsidered the question.
She’d sent Asu Chu and several of the royal guards to the mountainside where Frayka had gone to help a girl captured by a serpent dragon. Frayka failed to return, but the message intercepted by Asu claimed the Northlander recently g
ave birth to a baby girl.
Someone knows I’m looking for Frayka. But who?
Surely the Unknown Magician had to be someone who lived in those mountains. It had to be someone who met Frayka and had reason to help her.
A cold thought ran through Ti’s head.
What if the Unknown Magician is Frayka? What if she’s the one who cobbled together a shape made of sticks? What if she did it to escape getting caught?
Ti watched the final sliver of sun drop below the horizon. She turned her back to the window and collapsed to the floor in dismay. Ti’s mind raced, frightened that she’d failed by underestimating the Northlander woman so severely.
What does Frayka want from me?
A knock at the door startled Ti. She looked up to see Asu Chu hovering in the doorway.
“Ti?” he said.
“What do you want?” The brusqueness of Ti’s voice surprised her. She willed herself not to cry and held one hand out toward Asu.
He took a hesitant step forward. “I had a funny feeling I should talk to you.”
“Please,” Ti said tearfully. “Come sit with me.”
Asu Chu obeyed, although he didn’t touch the hand she extended.
Ti let it fall into her lap. “Why did you think you should talk to me?”
“I don’t know. I had a funny feeling, so I came here.”
“Everything is going wrong,” Ti said. “I think Frayka is the one who sent that magic.”
“Frayka?” Asu Chu giggled. “She’s just a girl.”
Ti glared at him. “As is your empress.”
Asu composed himself. “I know. But she’s just a Northlander girl.”
Ti gestured wildly to illustrate her words. “Northlanders are warriors! And don’t forget that Frayka is Madam Po’s great-granddaughter. Madam Po has the gift of portents. What if Frayka has that same gift?”
“Seeing the future has nothing to do with magic,” Asu said.
His words surprised Ti. “But if Frayka can see portents, couldn’t that help her learn magic?”
Asu Chu pondered the question by staring at the ceiling and drumming his fingers against his jaw. “I never heard of a magician who can see portents. They’re very different things.”
“But isn’t it possible?”
Asu looked back at the empress. “I suppose so. But magic is a craft. It took me years before I could do the littlest bit of magic.”
“What if Frayka has spent her life studying magic?” Ti said, becoming more and more convinced of her new theory by the moment. “All we know is she’s from the Land of Ice.”
“And she belongs to the Po Dynasty,” Asu said.
“Yes,” Ti acknowledged. “But we don’t know how she spent her years in the Land of Ice. What if she spent all that time studying magic? What if she uses her portents together with the magic?” Ti brightened, excited by her own conclusions. “What if Frayka sent that message? What if her portents said you intercepted it and gave the message to me? What if the portents told her about the false message we wrote in reply? What if the portents told her that you and the guards went to the mountains to find her? Wouldn’t it make sense that she would conjure up a figure and cloak it because she wanted to make you think it was her?”
“It would explain a lot,” Asu said.
Filled with new hope, Ti said, “The question is: what can we do next?”
“If she can use a decoy, then so can we,” Asu Chu said. “I have an idea for a decoy. I also have an idea for what to do after the decoy.”
“Oh, Asu,” Ti said, beaming. “I knew I could count on you.”
* * *
That evening Empress Ti ordered her most trusted royal guard Jojen to escort her to the Hall of Concubines. Just as she’d been counseled by her most trusted advisor Li Chien soon after Ti became empress, all of Emperor Po’s concubines had been moved out of their hall and into the royal palace to work as servants. Ti knew that when her mother lived, her father’s constant visits to his concubines caused great pain for her mother. Since reassigning them, seeing the concubines slave in servitude gave Ti much pleasure.
She’d charged Jojen with finding replacements for the concubines that would be suitable for an empress instead of an emperor. The guard had done well by recruiting men from Zangcheen who were strong and fit from constructing new buildings and roads. Jojen had also found several attractive men who were well versed in music and art. Although Ti had been too busy with more pressing matters, she looked forward to relaxing with her own concubines in the future.
For now, she needed to see one concubine in particular.
Ti waited alone in the welcoming room. She arranged several floor pillows and then flopped down on them.
Minutes later, Jojen escorted the requested concubine into the room.
To Jojen, Ti said, “Close the door to give us privacy. And stay on guard in case I need you.”
“Of course, my empress.” Jojen bowed and then exited the room.
Ti looked up at the concubine who stood before her and smiled. She patted the floor pillow next to her. “Sit.”
“I like to stand,” the concubine said.
Ti widened her smile. “It’s not a request. It’s a command. I’m your empress. Sit.”
With reluctance, the concubine sank to his knees and then sat on the floor across from her.
His unwillingness to obey and the need to convince him excited Ti. She leaned forward and then crawled cat-like toward him on her hands and knees. “You belong to me now. You will do anything I want.”
Ti liked the way the concubine’s face stiffened. She enjoyed the way he refused to meet her gaze. “They tell me you’ve done an excellent job of learning our language. I know you understand me perfectly well.” She paused and then said his name. “Njall.”
“Yes,” Njall said. His blue eyes stared straight ahead. “But I’m a married man, and I will do nothing to dishonor my wife.”
Ti slid to sit next to him and touched his long hair, fascinated by the contrast of his physical appearance next to hers. Everything about him looked opposite to a Far Easterner: his yellow hair, pale skin, and blue eyes. “You admit Frayka is your wife.”
“It’s true I have a wife,” Njall said. “A Northlander woman.”
“A Northlander woman who looks like you?” Ti took his chin in her hand and turned his head until she could look directly into his eyes. “Or a Northlander woman who looks like me?”
Njall lifted his chin out of her hand. Instead of answering, Njall leaned away from the empress.
Ti remembered the messages about Frayka that Asu Chu had intercepted. Ti thought about the way she’d read Madam Po’s responses to those messages and changed them.
Let’s see what happens when I tell Njall the same thing.
“You claim to be a servant to Frayka,” Ti said. She arranged several floor pillows and nestled into them. “A message came from the mountains where she went to fight a serpent dragon. You recall that Frayka disappeared and no one knew whether she lived or died.”
Njall’s gaze intensified, and he appeared to force himself to stay silent.
“Frayka lives,” Ti said.
For a moment, Njall’s lack of affect dissolved, and his face lit up as if overjoyed. He quickly composed his demeanor and said, “I’m happy to hear my mistress is alive. She’ll be expecting me to serve her again.”
Ti stretched out on her nest of pillows as if displaying herself as an object of desire. “Frayka already has someone else to service her. A new man in her life. And their first child has just been born.”
Njall stayed quiet for a long time. Although he said nothing to give himself away, his face betrayed him. His jaw clenched so hard that Ti thought she heard his teeth crack under the pressure of being forced together. His eyes blazed. But then a sense of calm came over him, and Njall relaxed. When he spoke, his voice trembled with joy. “Is the baby a boy or a girl?”
“A daughter.”
“A daughter.�
�� Tears welled in Njall’s eyes. “We—my mistress has a daughter.”
“It’s nothing to be proud of,” Ti said. She sat up and leaned forward. “It isn’t a man that Frayka has married but a dragon god.”
Startled, Njall jerked slightly as if someone had yanked him back.
Relishing his discomfort, Ti continued. “I find it disgusting, don’t you? Don’t you think women should marry men? Don’t you think women should lie down with men, not beasts?”
“Dragon gods aren’t beasts,” Njall whispered. His face became paler by the moment.
“They’re creatures,” Ti said. “They’re not mortal like us. They’re strange and unnatural things.” Ti paused for effect. “And so is Frayka’s daughter.”
Njall shook his head and looked away.
“That’s what the message said. That Frayka’s daughter is part mortal and part dragon.” Raising her voice, Ti said, “Frayka’s daughter is a monster that should be killed.”
“I don’t believe it.” When Njall looked at Ti, the strength in his eyes surprised her. “Frayka has Northlander blood, and there are stories of Northlanders who were shapeshifters. I’ve even met a Northlander woman who can turn herself into a dragon.”
“Then she’s a monster,” Ti said.
“She’s no monster,” Njall said. “She’s a friend. As for Frayka, maybe some of her Northlander blood comes from shapeshifters. And that blood has passed to her little girl.”
“And it doesn’t bother you to know your wife abandoned you? That she gave into a wicked temptation to lie with a dragon god? That her daughter is a monster?”
“No one abandoned me.” Defiance hardened the look in Njall’s eyes. “It’s true I have a Northlander wife. And I serve a mistress who will do anything to defend her people from the likes of you.”
Surprised, Ti laughed so hard that she held herself in a hug. Tears of laughter beaded at the outer corners of her eyes. “From me? How could a little girl like me be a threat to the Northlanders?” Settling down, she smiled at Njall. “Meaning, the few Northlanders who escaped when their gods destroyed their homeland and all the people who lived there.”
“The Northlander gods didn’t do that,” Njall said. “Your dragon gods did.”
