The Dragon and the Pearl

by Jeannie Lin

  He nodded warmly, as if they were co-conspirators, but they had never been anything of the sort. He had held all the power and she had feared him. Gao pinned her with his gaze. He was assessing her, planning for this sudden change.

  Her old fear remained, but it had grown like a wound that had festered over time. She was no longer in the palace and no longer the expendable concubine, but she had so much more to lose. A child grew inside her, a tiny thing that held more power over her than Gao Shiming ever had.

  Li Tao remained tense, ready to strike. She was here beside him, unharmed, yet he still refused to back down. If he murdered Gao, there would be no escape for any of them. Li Tao would be denounced and executed. Her stomach lurched and she forced out a breath. She knew what had to be done.

  Gao Shiming had used her and tried to kill her, but now she had to keep him alive.

  She lifted the ewer to pour with poised hands, supple wrists, practised grace. Courtesans were brought to such dealings to be beautiful diversions. It was akin to being a mediator used to keep the peace.

  ‘You do look very well, Lady Ling.’

  ‘The governor is kind. I am well.’ She glanced to Li Tao as she handed him his wine. ‘Well and safe.’

  His hand paused on the cup for a heartbeat, his fingers just shy of hers.

  ‘It’s been a long time since I’ve poured for such illustrious company,’ she said.

  ‘An art form,’ Gao acknowledged appreciatively.

  Li Tao scowled. Everyone was playing the part but him.

  ‘The rule of the August Emperor was a different time, wasn’t it, Governor Li?’ Gao lifted his wine cup in tribute. ‘It was.’

  ‘A great time, blessed by Heaven,’ Gao remarked.

  Li Tao finished his wine and set his cup down. ‘Say what you came to say.’

  A low rumble hid beneath those words. The old warlord laughed. Showing impatience was a sign of weakness. Someone else was in control and you were not.

  ‘I forget who I’m dealing with,’ Gao crowed.

  ‘I doubt that.’

  Gao took his time sipping from his cup, enjoying the game too much. Her heart pounded, and she could feel her palms going damp. Gao was oblivious, overconfident in his advantage. His guards wouldn’t be able to stop Li Tao.

  ‘Don’t be so impatient, Tao,’ she scolded with a sweetness she’d never affected for him.

  Li Tao stared directly at Gao. ‘I don’t think anything said here will change my mind.’

  ‘But one must always consider alternatives,’ she argued hastily.

  If Li Tao would only look at her. She was no longer hostage. Yet he still believed killing Gao was the best solution. Nothing could sway him. She groped for his hand beneath the table and brought it to her midsection. To the place where a tiny part of them rested, innocent and unknowing of any turmoil beyond its haven. She was shaking inside and out as she closed her hand over his.

  Li Tao grew deathly still.

  Would this child mean anything to him? Or had he already resigned himself to death? The knot at his throat lifted as he swallowed. His gaze was still pointed at Gao, but his hand tensed beneath hers.

  ‘One must always think of the future,’ she went on. Her throat was suddenly parched, but she didn’t dare drink. She didn’t dare to do anything but wait for Li Tao’s response. If one soul could ever cry out to another in silence, she did it now with all her being.

  Please, Tao. Please.

  Endless heartbeats passed between them. She willed him to choose the right path. Only a slight sharpening of the lines around his mouth told her anything. Her true adversary wasn’t Gao or Lao Sou. It was Li Tao and he was more difficult to negotiate with than either of those scheming old men.

  Gao chuckled. ‘Why, Lady Ling, you should do all my negotiation for me!’

  She shot the elder warlord a warning glance. His presence was as welcome as a disease. ‘Perhaps you should speak quickly, Governor,’ she said.

  Her challenge brought back the Gao Shiming she had feared all those years ago. He shed all civility and charm and fixed his attention intently on Li Tao. She became nothing. She was below nothing. An instinctive shudder slid down her spine.

  She held her breath and prayed.

  The earth stood still. The heavens revolved around it and he was nothing but a speck beneath the sky. Suyin’s fingers twined gently over his.

  He knew. He knew deep in his flesh and blood what she was telling him. On the heels of the knowledge came true fear.

  Across the table, Old Gao stared at them with a shrewd look. Li Tao never felt anything when he was asked to kill, but this time—this one time, he wanted nothing more than to remove this smiling demon from the world. A quick sword through the tangled weeds and Gao would no longer be able to threaten them. Now that he had the crafty warlord before him, Li Tao could sense the truth of the Old Man’s taunt.

  It would be easy. One knife, one death. This was what he was meant to do.

  ‘You and me,’ Gao proposed.

  ‘Why would I even consider it?’

  Li Tao removed his hand from Suyin. She was trembling, though her expression showed nothing but cool tranquillity.

  ‘You and I want the same thing,’ Gao continued.

  ‘Which is?’

  ‘To honour the memory of the August Emperor. The true imperial line. The only claim Shen holds over the empire is the strength of his army. He’s a usurper and a barbarian.’

  ‘I’m surprised that you’ve decided to act so openly,’ Li Tao countered. ‘A man who usually thrives on rules and laws and petitions before the court.’

  ‘Times are changing.’

  He regarded Gao sceptically. ‘Who will rule, then? You?’

  ‘No.’ Suyin’s response startled everyone. She faced her old enemy with all the poise the years in the court had given her. ‘The revered governor never acts directly. He’s found some puppet. Some distant relation with a blood tie to Emperor Li Ming. Your family claims imperial blood, does it not?’

  Gao wanted to use Li Tao’s army to face Emperor Shen on the battlefield, while Gao would continue to fight political battles in the capital. This was shu gun: endgame. A time for bold moves and decisive measures.

  Li Tao had come here committed to action. The bitter taste of death hovered on his tongue. After years of scheming and politics, he welcomed the quick efficiency of this solution. This was familiar. Certain.

  He looked to Suyin. Grace and beauty, even now. Her poise never broke in the face of her longtime enemy. She hadn’t faltered before Lao Sou either, not until he’d been threatened. He wanted to embrace her for it. Hold her fiercely to him. Hide her away from all this. He could never have peace, but she could. Their child could.

  He had decided.

  ‘You spoke of loyalty to our August Emperor and to the dynasty.’ Li Tao folded his hands thoughtfully before him, the daggers beneath his sleeve easily within reach. He had a clear line to both of the guardsmen should it come to that. ‘Laughable, considering that you owe Emperor Li a debt of blood.’

  Gao’s focus darted to Suyin.

  ‘Don’t,’ Li Tao warned.

  The sharp reprimand brought the older man’s gaze back to him. No one was smiling now, feigned or otherwise.

  ‘I would advise you not to look at Lady Ling. Do not do anything to convince me you have any intention of harming her. We will talk now, like civilised men as you so desired. But if I think for a moment that she’s in danger, I will stop talking.’

  The guards tensed, but Gao wisely held them back with a raised hand. The coldness of his gaze showed that he, too, could show no fear in the face of death.

  ‘There was a list given to me by the August Emperor,’ Li Tao began. ‘The names of the men who had conspired against him. I recently learned that there was one name left off the list.’

  ‘You’re jiedushi now,’ Gao replied smoothly. He was skilled at the art of confrontation. ‘You command thousands upon thousands. I wo
uld think you would look beyond revenge.’

  ‘It was never for revenge.’ Out of the corner of his eye, he saw how Suyin shuddered at his cold words. She should know what was required to become who he was now. ‘There was never any emotion to it, for me or for you. You supported the August Emperor, yet murdered his Empress after he was taken down in battle. Loyal to no one.’

  ‘What does loyalty matter to you?’ Gao sneered.

  ‘It matters to Shen.’ And it mattered to the other noblemen and warlords who revered the imperial line. The same families Gao strived to bring under his control. ‘It seems that you, Shen, and I have come to the same conclusion—balance can no longer be maintained. My army, my captains and the entire Rising Guard have been sworn over to the Emperor as of this morning.’

  Gao took in the blow impassively. His shrewd expression wavered, but not in defeat. Already he was reassessing and coming up with a new plan. A simple knife in Gao’s chest could stop those treacherous thoughts for ever. It was the only way to ensure that Suyin would be safe. Li Tao considered it. His hands itched from considering it.

  ‘So you must ask yourself, why did I come here when there was nothing left to say?’ he posed calmly. ‘Why did I come here alone to meet you?’

  Gao’s jaw worked silently. A drop of sweat beaded over the old warlord’s brow—his first sign of fear. Suyin froze in her seat. Her knuckles were white against the edge of the table. He could see the jump of her pulse beneath the pale skin of her neck.

  ‘It is bad form for men like us to hack at each other like butchers,’ Gao said through his teeth.

  Death would have been easy to accomplish. His knife would cut through the two guards. He’d wring Gao’s neck with his hands if he had to. He was fast enough and more ruthless than any of the other men in the room, but Suyin’s presence and the secret she’d revealed to him changed everything.

  Li Tao exhaled slowly. ‘I agree.’

  A dark sense of peace had washed over him that morning when he’d signed the decree swearing his army over to the imperial prince. Soon he would be done.

  But he’d been wrong. Murdering Gao would only send the opposition charging forth under a banner of righteous outrage. Their confrontation would come soon enough, once the battle lines had been redrawn.

  ‘Go,’ he told Gao. ‘Before I remember that list.’

  The old wolf stared at him before rising from the table. ‘An army of thousands is easy to find.’

  The bastard bowed before leaving.

  Suyin held her breath beside him as they watched Gao’s withdrawal through the windows of the tea house. His men helped him on to his horse to return to his troops. Gao would continue to work his schemes, but the warlord’s secrets were exposed. He would have to face them out in the open.

  Suyin turned to him with a gasp. Her arms curved around him, squeezing tight. Relief poured from her.

  ‘Tao,’ she whispered.

  Her curves fit against him and he could smell the faint perfume in her hair.

  He remained unmoving. ‘You’re with child?’

  ‘I am.’

  His chest tightened unbearably, and he could hear each individual beat of his heart in the silence. There would be a son or a daughter.

  Wordlessly, his arm tightened around her waist to lead her from the tea house. Once outside, he kept her close. Gao had departed, but danger continued to lurk in every shadow. His bodyguards waited for them at the bridge. Somehow Suyin had been smuggled past them.

  He would think of a suitable punishment for such carelessness, but he was more concerned about getting Suyin as far from there as possible. The knowledge that she was with child left him vulnerable. The feeling was new and decidedly unwelcome.

  Her hand curved warm over his stiff fingers. She shouldn’t look so relieved. Part of him would live on once his life was over, but that knowledge was all he could have of this dream. He would never see their child take his first breath.

  ‘You’re not happy,’ Suyin said as they neared the riverbank.

  ‘Nothing has been resolved.’

  ‘But you’ve sworn allegiance to Emperor Shen.’

  She didn’t yet understand. The threat was still very much with them. Gao would gather his followers and attempt to denounce Emperor Shen. The Emperor would go on the offensive. He would need his strongest generals behind him. And that was only part of the danger. Li Tao could never let down his guard, not even for her. She was his one weakness and it had nearly destroyed everything.

  Li Tao looked to the two guardsmen. ‘Now is not the time to discuss—’

  ‘Now is the time.’ She shook free of him and stood her ground. Pain and anger radiated through her. She’d thrown herself between him and Gao Shiming. He owed her an explanation. He owed her more.

  It took only a minute to order the guardsmen to take the horses. They moved slightly ahead on the path, just out of hearing range. These were matters that couldn’t be spoken of in the open.

  ‘How did you get free of Lao Sou?’ he asked.

  When she didn’t answer, he knew his suspicion was correct. She had put herself in the Old Man’s debt to come to him.

  ‘What does the Old Man want from you?’

  ‘It’s not like that—’

  He took hold of her arm to pull her close, speaking only in a fierce whisper. ‘I’ve failed Lao Sou twice now and I can’t protect you. I can’t protect our child. Nothing means more to me than that.’

  ‘Nothing means more to me.’ Suyin tried to cradle his face in her hands.

  He pulled away from her. Every touch pained him. Her words held so much hope and faith.

  ‘You made a deal with him. Suyin, you shouldn’t have.’

  ‘You were going to your death. It was the only way.’

  He’d always known that someone would come for him one day. It was useless to fear the inevitable, but everything had changed. The assassins knew that and they’d taken her to force his hand. They would never stop. Then there were the countless other enemies. Gao, even Shen himself. No one was truly an ally among the jiedushi. He’d already endangered her too many times. He wouldn’t do it again.

  ‘Does Lao Sou know you’re with child?’ he asked.

  She shook her head. It was only a small mercy.

  ‘You need to go away. Far,’ he insisted. ‘No one can know about the child.’

  ‘Our child.’

  An indescribable emotion coursed through him. Suyin seized on it.

  ‘We may never be safe and we may never be free.’ Her fingers gripped the collar of his robe. She was a fox spirit, a sorceress, a goddess. ‘I don’t want to hide any more. I want to live openly. I want to see your hair go grey. I’ll grow old and ugly beside you.’

  ‘You’ll never be old and ugly.’ His voice grew rough with emotion and he finally did hold her, running his hands from her shoulders down the length of her arms. His eyes never left her face. ‘Lao Sou will never forgive this second act of defiance. You don’t know what he’s capable of. He’ll come for my soul. He’ll come for you.’

  ‘I will die without you,’ she insisted.

  ‘You won’t.’

  Her eyes flashed with anger. She bit down to keep from lashing out.

  ‘You’ll survive and care for our child,’ he went on. ‘Tell him my name when he’s grown.’

  ‘You want me to leave? After all that has happened?’

  ‘This is the only way.’ The words were more difficult than he’d anticipated. He had to force them out. ‘I am doing this—for you.’

  Her nearness and everything about her tempted him, but this was not his happiness to claim.

  Suyin looked ready to claw his eyes out. ‘I’ll tell your child his father was a coward for abandoning his own flesh and blood. And you know what it is like for a woman alone.’

  The pulse in his neck throbbed. ‘You can be quite wicked.’

  She shoved him away with a frustrated sound. ‘You already tried to send me away once. We can�
��t hide. You should know that by now.’

  He braced himself, giving her nothing to strike at. No anger, no passion, no emotion at all. It was too easy to be persuaded to take the few hours, days, or even years they could steal for themselves.

  ‘After I join my army with Shen’s, there will be war among the jiedushi. It is inevitable.’

  ‘Men have lived with the threat of war for ages,’ she argued.

  She was right, but she didn’t understand the whole of why he couldn’t give in to her now.

  ‘Death will follow me,’ he said bluntly. ‘In one way or another.’

  That was the final truth. He was a killer who had defied the most dangerous men in the empire. From his very first night in the alleyways of Luoyang, he was never meant to have a future. Every moment since then had been stolen. Suyin needed to take their child and go far away where she would be safe. That was all he could give.

  ‘I won’t go.’ Like a stubborn child, she wouldn’t look at him. ‘What will you do then?’

  The commotion came first from the guards. He looked quickly to them, saw the movement bursting through the trees. He only had time to grab Suyin and pull her behind him.

  At first he thought the attacker had punched him. Sharp pressure struck his side, knocking the breath from him. But the pain continued. It spread as he fell back with a hand clutched to his abdomen.

  A stream of heated blood seeped between his fingers.

  His hands had become nerveless. His sword. He was under attack and needed a weapon, but shock and pain overtook him as he reached for his sword. He staggered and crashed to the ground. Ru Shan appeared above him. Suyin cried out, but the rebel soldier held her back.

  ‘Lady Ling, you must come with me.’

  ‘Get away from me!’

  Ru Shan’s hair was unkempt, his jaw scraggly with a growth of beard. Suyin clawed at him until he let go of her. Li Tao watched each action while his heart pounded. With each beat, he bled, his strength draining quickly. His gaze narrowed as Suyin collapsed beside him. She pressed both of her hands over his, over the wound. She was trembling. Frightened. He needed to say something.

  His lip curled. ‘Fitting.’

  All of Suyin’s clever manipulations, all the deaths he’d inflicted.