by Resa Nelson
At first, Njall assumed he came awake inside the sleeping room in the Hall of Concubines, just as he’d done for the past several months. But the wooden surface beneath him rocked, and the floorboards of the deck above his head creaked when the vessel shifted with the howling wind outside.
I escaped!
The same relief he’d felt last night rushed through Njall’s veins again when he remembered the unexpected opportunity he’d met. Jojen, one of the royal guards, returned Njall’s dagger after guiding him to a city gate and releasing him.
What was it that Jojen said?
Tell your wife my debt to her is paid.
Njall wondered what Frayka had done that would inspire a guard to defy the empress and give Njall his freedom. Jojen claimed Frayka had saved his life and felt gratitude that his wife still had her husband and their children still had their father.
But how did it happen? What kind of danger had they been in? And why had Frayka decided to help a royal guard?
Does she have feelings for Jojen? Did Frayka find comfort in his arms?
Njall shook those thoughts away. He’d known Frayka all his life. He couldn’t imagine her doing such a thing. Northlanders valued being loyal to one’s spouse in the bedroom as fiercely as they valued being loyal to one’s fellow warriors in battle.
Njall propped himself up on his arms. His eyes adjusted to the dark, and he saw the movement of a tiny animal near his feet.
Startled, Njall sat up and crossed his legs to put distance between his body and the unknown animal. He struggled with his layers of clothing.
Months ago, he’d left his Northlander clothing at GranGran’s house and donned typical Far Eastern clothing in an effort to blend in as much as he could. But he’d kept his Northlander belt and pouch hidden under the Far Eastern shirt. At the Hall of Concubines, his one acquiescence to Empress Ti’s demands was to wear a pale green robe of a concubine. But unlike many of his peers who wore nothing beneath their robes, Njall preferred to remain fully dressed.
Within moments, he recognized the shape of a mouse. As if mirroring Njall’s actions, the mouse sat up on its haunches. The mouse chewed a small object held in its paws.
The smell of something unfamiliar but pleasant made Njall’s stomach rumble.
As his eyes adjusted more to the dim light, Njall realized he’d slept next to a row of barrels lining the lower deck’s outer wall.
Maybe whatever the mouse is having for breakfast came out of one of these barrels.
Njall stood and lifted the barrel lid, greeted by a richer, deeper version of the pleasant smell coming from what the mouse nibbled. Reaching inside, Njall withdrew ridged shells the size of his fingers. He cracked one open, and a few nuts dropped into his hand.
Like peas in a pod.
Popping them in his mouth, Njall enjoyed the earthy and slightly sweet flavor of the pod nuts. He reached through his layers of clothing to dig out the pouch attached to his belt. First, he withdrew the drinking skin he’d rolled up and saved inside the pouch—he’d had no use for either when he lived in the Hall of Concubines.
If there’s food, there must be water.
Listening as the ship shifted, Njall detected a sloshing sound.
The mouse squeaked in protest and ran to hide when Njall crossed the lower deck and filled his skin with water from another barrel. He then returned and filled his pouch with pod nuts.
Do I have everything I need? Am I forgetting something?
With a start, Njall remembered that Jojen had thrust a small piece of leather into his hands before they parted ways. Jojen had insisted that Njall strike him so they could pretend Njall had overpowered the guard should he be caught, and Njall remembered keeping the leather balled in his fist when he hit Jojen.
In a panic, Njall thought back to last night and retraced every step in his mind. Finally, he remembered tucking the leather in the front of the waistband of his pants. He clapped his hands against his waist until he discovered the leather had shifted to one side while he slept. Pulling it free from his waistband, Njall held it in front of his eyes. The dim light made it impossible to see.
Maybe there’s enough light outside. If sunrise isn’t far away, there should be some light.
Njall crossed the lower deck toward the ladder that would lead him outside.
The clack of tiny claws against the floorboards sounded, followed by a metallic sound.
My dagger!
He remembered that when Jojen returned his dagger, Njall had tucked it under his waistband along his spine. Knowing the pressure against his spine would keep him awake, Njall had removed the dagger and placed it next to him.
Now, just enough light shined against the blade, revealing where it remained on the floor.
“I don’t want to go anywhere without that,” Njall told the mouse. He walked back and scooped up the dagger. Now with the luxury of time, he lifted up the Far Eastern shirt, found the belt he wore beneath it, and tucked the dagger under it.
Emboldened this time, the mouse sat on its haunches with an expectant stare.
Njall chuckled and reached into his pouch. He tossed several pods to the mouse. “Many thanks for your help, my friend.”
While the mouse scampered to collect the pods, Njall climbed to the upper deck and surveyed the harbor of Zangcheen, located outside the royal complex.
Dozens of large ships crowded the dock. He couldn’t help but notice the differences between Far Eastern ships and Northlander ships. Instead of the single mast of a Northlander ship, each Far Eastern ship sported two or three masts, and the ship itself looked bulky and ungainly. Njall found it hard to believe that such monstrosities could stay afloat.
At the same time, he saw no sign of life at the harbor, despite the fading night sky. The stars had already disappeared, and it looked like the sun would rise within the hour.
Njall held the piece of leather up to the dim light.
It’s a map. Jojen drew a map for me.
All Njall cared about was finding a route that would take him to Frayka. When he and Frayka had first arrived in the Far East, they’d been met by a small army of guards. For that reason, Njall knew he couldn’t retrace their route. He had to be smart about how and where he traveled. Otherwise, he would end up back under the thumb of the empress.
His spirits lifted when he recognized their initial route on the map, which appeared to be the largest waterway leading to Zangcheen. At the same time, Njall saw the escape he desperately needed: several smaller rivers led out of the harbor, and Jojen had marked one leading south.
Njall tucked the map back under his waistband.
Now to find a ship.
Although Njall believed he should waste no time, a new thought stopped him in his tracks.
A wicked thought.
One that he would usually never be tempted to act upon, but his time spent in the Hall of Concubines had humiliated Njall. He couldn’t resist the opportunity to humiliate Empress Ti in return and show his contempt for the empress.
With a grin, he clambered up the largest mast only long enough to accomplish his mischievous deed. Landing back on the deck, he noticed a long-eared hat most likely used by a previous sailor.
Inspired, Njall twisted his long yellow hair and tied it in a knot on top of his head. He picked up the long-eared hat and covered his head with it.
One more step to hiding my Northlander looks.
Jumping from the ship’s rail, Njall landed light-footed on the boardwalk. He crouched and searched through the dozens of ships for one he could handle. When he reached the end of the boardwalk, he grinned when he saw the small Northlander ship that had brought him and Frayka to the Far East.
Njall boarded and said, “Hello, old friend.” He hurried to ready the ship and soon raised its single square sail to catch the boisterous morning wind. The ship sliced through the waters, and Njall easily found the small river marked on the map by Jojen.
Njall thought about the prank he’d pulled.
<
br /> You captured me, but you can’t tame me.
He courted danger by showing Empress Ti which way he’d escaped. Now, instead of sending her guards fanning out in all directions from Zangcheen, she would soon know to concentrate them all at the harbor. Njall hoped the help from a guard owing his life to Frayka would give him enough of an advantage to elude the empress.
Njall laughed.
This could be the dumbest thing I’ve ever done, but it feels good to throw some humiliation back in her face.
Before losing sight of the city of Zangcheen and its harbor, Njall looked back and grinned at the ship where he’d spent the night. Instead of a sail, Njall’s pale green concubine robe flapped from the top of its highest mast like a flag.
“That’s a message for you, Empress Ti,” Njall said. “You can make a Northlander wear the robe of a concubine, but you can’t turn him into one.”
CHAPTER 4
One minute, Empress Ti found herself happily entangled in the arms of her concubine Chi inside a private, locked room.
The next minute, she jumped at the sound of a guard shouting outside the closed door.
“Empress!” the guard shouted. “You need to see this!”
Chi remained relaxed and sprawled across the pale pink silk sheet on which they reclined. When he spoke, a hint of sarcasm laced his voice. “Sounds important. But more important than me?”
Empress Ti climbed out of bed and looked for her clothes. No luck. Chi had been the one to remove them, and it seemed he had tossed them randomly around the room.
They have to be here somewhere!
“Here,” Chi said. He leaned over and picked up a handful of blue silk and tossed it to her. “Wear mine.”
Astonished at his arrogance, Ti let the tossed robe fall next to her instead of reaching out to catch it. “I’m the empress,” she hissed. “How dare you think a member of the royal family would wear the clothing of a concubine!”
Chi showed no remorse. “I’m being practical. I guess you would rather talk to the guards while you’re naked.”
An insistent fist pounded on the door so hard that it rattled. “Empress!” the guard called out. “It’s a most urgent matter!”
Chi smiled sweetly. “See? It’s urgent.”
His smile and teasing voice made Ti want to jump back into his arms. She fought the temptation to command the guard to go away.
Njall is missing. I told the guards to let me know if they found him.
Ti reminded herself that the solution the royal magician had found for her ills promised to be temporary. Today she felt strong and healthy, but how long would it be before her bones and teeth began to weaken again?
All the more reason for staying with Chi. I want to enjoy him while I can.
But Ti also remembered that the royal magician believed she would find a permanent cure that would restore her good health forever. That permanent cure was the blood of an infant within the family of the Po Dynasty: the child of her distant cousin Frayka. If Ti found the child, its blood would solve all her problems.
Ti knew she had to investigate every possibility for finding Frayka’s child. And one possibility was finding Njall. Everyone knew Njall must be Frayka’s husband, no matter how much they’d tried to hide their feelings for each other. Ti realized her good fortune in having sequestered Njall away and keeping his location secret from everyone trying to find him. That decision would soon pay off.
I can’t dawdle with Chi. My life depends on finding out where Njall is.
Ti clutched the silk sheet and tugged on it, gesturing for Chi to get off. When he complied, she wrapped the sheet around her so many times that she felt like the center of a pale pink rose. Having wrapped the sheet so close to her body, Ti’s legs were bound and she had to shuffle toward the door. She gaped in surprise to see the guard who had shouted standing next to her favorite royal guard, Jojen, sporting a swollen black eye.
“Jojen!” Ti cried, genuinely concerned. “What happened?”
“I don’t know,” Jojen said. He sounded exhausted, and confusion blurred his eyes. “I remember being at my post last night, but then something—someone—struck me from behind.”
Now Ti felt confused. “From behind? Then how did you get that black eye?”
The question appeared to startle Jojen.
The other guard answered for him. “I found him far from this hall, my empress. It looks like someone dragged him away and then beat him, first from behind to make him black out and then in the face.” The guard clasped a strong hand on Jojen’s shoulder. “He’s lucky to be alive.”
“My poor Jojen!” If Ti hadn’t been wrapped in a silk sheet that she worried might fall down if she failed to hold on tight, she would have reached out to hold Jojen’s hand. To the other guard she said, “Where did you find him?”
“By the city gate, my empress.”
All of the irritation Ti had experienced because of Njall’s constant rejections now boiled into full-blown fury. “It has to be Njall. Did the guards find any sign of him here?”
“None, my empress.”
Ti felt the urge to pace as a way to exorcise her anger, but had no patience for the way the sheet she wore made it impossible to do anything other than shuffle. Her frustration grew. “Then Njall has escaped. You have to find him. Send all of the royal guards to search for him. He’s probably left the royal complex. Comb the city. Send guards outside the city. Have them search on foot as far as the Mountains of Dawn. Search the mountains.”
Ti paused when she noticed the guard’s face tense with hesitation. “What is it? Speak!”
“There’s something else you should see,” the guard said.
“What?” When the guard failed to answer, Ti looked at Jojen. “What he is talking about?”
“I don’t know, my empress,” Jojen said. “The other guards were talking when I was brought here, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying.”
“Tell me!” Ti commanded the other guard.
“I dare not,” the guard said. “It’s something you should see for yourself.”
“Then show me now.”
For the first time, the guard glanced at the silk sheet wrapped around her, an acknowledgment of Ti’s activity before being so rudely interrupted. “We need to go outside the hall and walk some distance. Or climb up to the roof, but that might not be high enough.”
A sense of dread brushed into Ti’s ear like a whisper. It scared her enough to forget her anger. “I see,” Ti said. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll join you.”
After closing the door, Ti ignored Chi’s lewd suggestions and hunted for her own clothing. When she found it, she dressed quickly and left the room without a word.
Now walking between Jojen and the other guard, Ti let them lead her outside the Hall of Concubines toward a city gate. She hesitated when they passed through. Never in her life had she set foot outside the wall enclosing the royal complex and keeping it safe from the unwashed masses that inhabited Zangcheen. The idea of walking among them made Ti feel unsafe.
“It’s only for a moment,” the guard said. “No one will see you. We must climb up the road to see the harbor.”
“You’re safe with us, my empress,” Jojen said.
Ti nodded her consent only because she trusted Jojen. He had already saved her from great harm by protecting her from an advisor trying to capture her as his bride when her father still lived. If Ti had been blessed with a brother instead of step-sisters, she imagined that brother would be as kind and protective as Jojen.
Still flanked by her two guards, Ti allowed them to lead her through the city gate and onto a hilly road outside the walls of the royal complex. True to their word, Ti saw no one else.
When they reached the top, Ti stared at the ships docked in the harbor, confused by what she saw. “I don’t understand. What kind of flag does that one ship fly? I don’t recognize it.”
“It’s not a flag,” the guard said. “May I suggest you take a close
r look?”
Ti squinted and shaded her eyes from the morning sun. “It’s white—no, pale green. And the shape is so strange.”
The wind hesitated long enough to let the full shape fall into view.
In that moment, Ti realized the robe of a concubine—the robe she had last seen Njall wearing—waved like a flag from the mast of the greatest ship belonging to the Po Dynasty.
The wind shifted toward the top of the hilly road, and its sudden emergence struck Ti like a hand across her face.
He’s insulted me. Njall left his robe there because he wanted to shame me.
“Find him,” Empress Ti hissed. “And bring him to me.”
CHAPTER 5
“You say we’re safe for now.” Frayka glanced at Dagby, still nestled in the center of a floor pillow and sleeping peacefully. The sound of ocean waves crashing to shore drifted through the open doorway. The air smelled fresh and clean.
“Then let’s talk about my next step,” Frayka continued. “The dragon gods of air, earth, and fire have all agreed to help me make peace between them and the Northlander gods. Now I need to find the Gate of Water and its dragon god.”
GranGran and TeaTree exchanged concerned glances.
Frayka frowned. “Will you help me find the Gate of Water?”
“It will not be as straightforward as finding the other gates,” GranGran said. “The Gate of Water is more complicated.”
“Why?”
GranGran shrugged. “The Gate of Water once stood below the waters near an island close to the Northlands. But that island no longer exists, and the dragon god withdrew the gate.”
Startled, Frayka said, “Withdrew it? How can you withdraw a gate?”
“The gates are malleable,” TeaTree said. “They stand at the will of the dragon gods. Say, for example, if a dragon god is angered, he can cause the gate to collapse and raise it in another place.”
“The dragon gods can move the gate?” Frayka shook her head as if she could force what she heard to make sense.
“In a manner of speaking,” GranGran said. “The dragon god of water should be able to reconstruct his gate if he ever chooses to do so.”
