The Pirate Empress

by Deborah Cannon

  “You laughed at me when I swore vengeance on Lotus Lily, Master Warlock. You diminished me in front of my warriors. Look who’s laughing now.”

  “Mongol,” Master Yun said. “I have come to bargain with you.”

  “I’m not afraid of you. I run things now. This palace is mine. All of these men obey me. They won’t listen to you. And all your magic can’t change that.” Esen threw a look at his generalissimo, His Majesty’s former Military Governor, Zheng Min.

  Master Yun ignored Zheng Min’s twitchy glances. He knew the man favoured whoever was in power. The minute the Emperor was restored to the throne, Zheng Min would switch loyalties. Esen, however, was another matter. The fox faeries had no intention of allowing him to rule. He was a puppet and served their purpose for now. Their real intent was to destroy Master Yun and Quan, Li and Wu—all the pieces to the game that thwarted their goal. In fact, he was certain it was only a matter of time before the foxes discovered the Middle Kingdom’s secret weapon—and before that time, all of the pieces must be in place.

  Master Yun raised his arms and the shadows over his companions vanished. The tall, white-furred Yeren appeared first. Beside him stood the Emperor in red and blue. Below him was little Peng. But the thing that had Esen gagging on his own spittle was the sight of the blue dragon that filled the entire room. “Fucanlong,” Master Yun said. “Perhaps you might be so good as to assume a more reasonable shape for this space.”

  The dragon let loose a hot chuckle and transformed into a handsome Imperial soldier, complete with topknot and military chest plate. The only thing different between him and any other Imperial soldier was the colour of his skin. It was blue.

  “I did not come unarmed,” Master Yun said. “I want to return the true emperor to his throne.”

  “But I am the emperor,” Esen wailed. “Jasmine promised me.”

  Master Yun tossed a glance in the direction of the blue soldier. “He breathes fire, you know. Do you want him to turn you into barbecued duck?”

  The Mongol usurper was ignorant of the fact that Fucanlong could not breathe fire. “No,” he gulped.

  “Do you see how powerful we are, Mongol?” Master Yun asked. “These are only a sample of the folk who follow the Son of Heaven. Don’t you think, perhaps, you’ve chosen the wrong side?”

  “What will you do to me?” Esen snivelled.

  “Fight for us. Fight for the freedom of all mortal men,” Quan said.

  The Mongol stared at the dragon soldier and the Yeren. “What about them? How can you trust them? Their kind fight for the fox faeries.”

  “They do not,” Master Yun interrupted. “The Yeren are our ancestors and the dragon folk have served emperors from the beginning of time.”

  “Will you make me a general? Will you give me an army?”

  Master Yun glanced at Quan and Quan conceded.

  Esen rose from the throne and passed the cup of wine to the Emperor, who to his credit had remained completely silent. But now his indignation reached the spilling point, and he snatched the cup and threw its blood-red contents into the Mongol’s face.

  %%%

  If she escaped from this box and confronted Fong now, she would kill him. She would not have the discipline to crush her rage. She couldn’t risk it. He was needed alive to take his place on the Crosshairs of the Four Winds.

  Li shut her eyes and let the image of the Crosshairs fill her mind: North, South, East and West. Water, fire, wood and metal: these elements of the earth were represented by the Black Tortoise, the Vermilion Bird, the Azure Dragon and the White Tiger. Why was it then, that none of these people knew how important they were to the balance of the universe? They were scattered across the Middle Kingdom. Correction—Some, like the White Tiger, weren’t even in its domain. And Wu. The gods knew where he was—in the Mongolian desert with Peng? The Emperor himself had spent the last little while not even on this earth, but in the Courts of Hell. Li drew on her memories of Chao and the Taijitu, the Emblem of Balance. It seemed to her she was once given a choice. What had happened to that power of choice? What did Master Yun mean when he said that the Emblem was broken? What choice did she have now? The choice not to stay boxed like a crate of tealeaves!

  Li angled her head until she could peer through the slit and across the deck to a patch of sky on the horizon. Thunderheads gathered in a low frothing blackness, but too far away to bring the storm to aid her. She did not need the storm. She only needed a single bolt of lightning. She called on her will and summoned a jagged silver flash. The powers of earth and sky heard her, and responded with an ear-splitting clap that shook the warship from stem to stern. Clouds rolled across the sky and disappeared, blocked out by the wooden ceiling of her prison. A fork of light dived straight at her and she braced herself for the impact. The wood sizzled, burst into flame and ate the fuel surrounding her body. Heat and smoke bit at her skin and lungs, and she waited until the heat was intolerable, threatening to bake her like a suckling pig. She thrust with her feet, heard the wood strain and crack, break through where the fire had weakened it, and shoved herself feet first into a blazing inferno. She shook herself like a wet dog, trying to rid herself of the flames as she rolled onto her knees, but the fire had caught her hair and her clothes, and she raced like a burning torch to the rail and catapulted, headfirst, into the sea.

  Her face shot up, broke water, and she gasped for air. If she was burned, she never felt it because of the cold of the seawater. She couldn’t swim to shore, not knowing where it was, and she dared not call upon Xiang Gong once more.

  She looked up into the peculiar eyes of the phoenix. The bird waited. Silent. There was no point in going to Fong; a different tactic was in order. She stroked toward the hull of the warship, grabbed the rope ladder that hung down its side and climbed back to the deck. It had started to rain and the box that had been her prison smouldered like a doused campfire. No one was on deck as night had fallen. Orange lanterns came on one by one, but no men stayed to hazard the storm. Lightning flashed.

  If memory served correctly, Fong’s quarters were nearby. She made her way to the porthole where she knew Lao slept. A single lamp glowed inside. She ventured a peek and saw him roll over in his bed and sigh. She sidled to the next porthole, rain dripping off her brow. Fong and Lin were partaking of the evening meal. A whole fish sat in a plate of ginger and bubbling oil. Bowls of noodles, rice and dumplings steamed. Her stomach grumbled and saliva filled her mouth, the clicks of their chopsticks obscured by the roar of the storm. They ate, oblivious to her peeping, until Lin stopped and smiled, and watched the Admiral finish his meal. Li could not risk leaving her stepsister a message. What she must do, she must accomplish tonight.

  She returned to the first porthole and climbed inside, landing on her former cot. She drew the blanket from the mattress and towelled her eyes dry. No point in looking for dry clothes. Where she was going, it would be wet. She went to Lao’s bed and knelt beside him. She gently lifted him in her arms, half-expecting him to awaken. He did—with a wailing shriek.

  “Quiet, Lao,” she ordered in a harsh whisper. “It’s me, your mother. We’re going on an adventure!” The boy continued to bawl and Li called upon the Ghostfire to mask her escape. Fong and Lin came rushing into Lao’s quarters only to find it enshrouded by a bloom of mystical lights. Could she trust Lin to keep her mouth shut? Li caught her stepsister’s stunned expression as she and Lao disappeared through the porthole.

  Standing in front of Fenghuang with the squalling Lao, squirming in her arms, she gripped him tight, warned him to silence, but to no avail. She had no key to open the door to the phoenix’s cage—the one failure in her plan. How were they to escape without the bird to fly them to freedom? The hue and cry was up, and men spilled onto the slick decks waving swords and muskets. Li was ready to toss herself and Lao over the rail and take their chances with Xiang Gong and the open sea, when the iron door of the cage swung open and the bird stepped out.

  The phoenix obviously had
powers beyond her own. Li slung Lao onto its back, threw a leg over, and ordered it to fly. Strangely, the phoenix obeyed her. They plunged into the night, slicing broken cloud, the last drops of rain squeezing out as though from a giant’s sponge. She smirked to think what they must look like to those below, a pair of riders, one taller, one shorter, perched on a behemoth of a bird, their shadow cast against the radiance of the moon.

  Below, the warship creamed the ocean in pursuit, ten dozen lighted lanterns illuminating the boat like a floating city. Nothing else was visible in the inky sea—no sign of the Pirate King. Alas, she was wrong. Something else watched from the deep. Two pairs of red lights cut through the water aft of the warship. No lanterns these, they darted to and fro like eyes. Li shuddered, drew her vision skyward. By morning they would sight land. She held the shivering Lao against her breast. His skin felt cold, his wailing had ebbed to muffled sobs, and only now did she realize how frightened he was. To him she was a stranger who had abducted him from everything that was warm and comforting, exactly as Wu had been taken and how he must have felt when he was kidnapped. She hugged the boy and kissed him atop his head. “It’s all right my brave sailor. Your father is following us, as is your Auntie Lin. I am taking you to meet your grandfather and your great grandfather, and your big brother Wu.”

  “I have a brother?” he asked sniffing, his voice barely audible in the wind.

  “You do. And I know he longs to meet you.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “To the Forbidden City.”

  He gasped. “The palace? I have heard stories of the wonders of the palace. Is it true that it is made of gold and that you were once a princess who lived there?”

  Li laughed. “Who told you that?”

  “My Auntie Lin.”

  “Well, you will get to find out if the tales are true. Sleep now. Rest your head against my chest and close your eyes. When the sun rises, we will be there.”

  %%%

  Bright sunlight stabbed her eyes and she awoke with a start. Lao snuggled against her and she was careful not to disturb him. She ventured a glance below and saw that the White Tiger had kept up the pace, and behind the warship Mo Kuan-fu’s Lady White Snake had joined the chase.

  Good. One wanted revenge and the return of his son; the other wanted his prize for the capture of a fugitive. They would both get their rewards, but they must follow her to the Forbidden City. After that she must obtain their fealty, their unconditional loyalty, but to convince them of the Empire’s peril, she must show them its fate. How to do this?

  Their flying mount carried them over the mangrove swamps of the lower kingdom and up toward Beijing where the curved roofs of the palace shone pink in the dawn light. Movement caught her eye in the white plain, beyond the boundaries of the city—marching soldiers, great armies, thousands upon thousands practised maneuvers on the outskirts of the capital. Sickened by the sight, she was determined that Fong and Mo Kuan-fu see this. Urging the bird to wheel about in a sharp dive, they turned back toward the sea. Neither pirate nor admiral would listen to reason so they must witness with their own eyes what she had seen. Li nudged the bird to descend toward the warship. Fong was on the bridge shaking his fists. They dropped down and Li willed her thoughts to the phoenix; it understood and lunged with its crane’s claw at the admiral. He shrieked as sharp talons seized his uniform. Then it darted into the wake of the warship to meet the pursuing pirate junk. Again Li willed the phoenix to perform its latest trick, and the other claw snatched the pirate captain.

  The two men screamed for their lives. They might not forgive her this indignity, but it was worth the risk as the only way to make them see. She tugged on Fenghuang’s feathers, and it circled back over land, over the mangrove swamps and jungles toward the level plain. Below them an army of gargoyles outfitted in chest plates and helmets marched. Li had only ever seen renderings of these creatures on vases and tapestries. In life they were more ugly than scorpions and snakes. Legend told of their greed and ruthlessness, how they fought their enemies with claw and tooth, and ate every part of their victim’s bodies including the head. They were called Tao Tie.

  Li sent the phoenix low so that both Fong and Mo Kuan-fu would have no doubt as to what they had seen. Their shrieks came louder, and Li yanked on the neck feathers of her mount to indicate that it was time to flee. Higher they rose until the serpentine twists of the great Dragon Wall appeared below them. More enemy soldiers stormed the ramparts. These creatures that marched from the northwest—from the land of Scorched Mountain and the Coldhot River—made the gargoyles seem less revolting. Man-creatures with arms that grew front-to-back, some of them had only one leg, but that didn’t stop them from bounding across the steppe in stupendous leaps, and over the wall.

  %%%

  “What news, Quan?” Master Yun asked as the Brigade General and Esen returned from their reconnaissance.

  “Bad news,” he answered. “The reports are beginning to filter in, and it looks like Dahlia has succeeded in amassing hundreds of thousands upon hundreds of thousands. I don’t think we can defeat them, Master Yun. Bull and serpent-headed men have been sighted amongst her armies.”

  “Those are Yaoquai,” Master Yun said. “A bad sign. That means the Hell Master has lost control of his sentries.”

  “There are armies of hopping corpses, too. And even one report of a single giant that can wipe out twenty men with one footstep.”

  “Kua fu,” he said. “A simpleton easily bribed by promise of the sun.”

  “Ah yes, that legend. I remember now. But still, Master Yun, what are we to do? How are we to fight these creatures? They are not men; they fight with primitive strength and magic, not weapons. How will we defeat them?”

  “We don’t need to defeat her armies with force. We only need to buy time until Li brings us the White Tiger and Wu is found. Now Quan, what news of Zheng Min’s efforts? Has he managed to rally an army?”

  “The people are frightened, but the sight of their emperor at the parapets of the Forbidden City have raised their spirits. Every able-bodied man and boy is being outfitted for battle as we speak. Even the rebel Zi Shicheng has returned to the fold. I just hope Zheng Min does not lose his courage at the last instant.” The Military Governor was known for his talent at spinning tales to change defeat into victory simply to make himself look good. “Altan is with us.”

  “My brother wants his daughter back,” Esen interrupted. “He wants to see her now. He is waiting with his army outside the gates.”

  Quan shot a look at Esen, now one of Quan’s captains. Neither warlord knew the foxling’s true sire, and that secret must stay hidden to keep their allegiance.

  “Fine,” Master Yun said. “Bring him in. I will send for her. But for safety’s sake, Esen, the girl must remain within the confines of the palace. I don’t want the fox faeries to know we have her.”

  Quan stared at Master Yun when the warlord left to fetch his brother. “Peng knows that Zhu, and not Altan, is her father.”

  “Then we must swear her to secrecy.”

  The warlock sent a eunuch to fetch Peng from the nursery, the room where Lotus Lily had played when she was a child.

  %%%

  Mo Kuan-fu’s screams could be heard from the Black Mountains to the Yellow Sea. Li ordered the phoenix to set the two men down on the decks of their ships, and then she perched the giant bird on the bridge of the warship and gazed down at the two leaders. “Choose your sides, Brave Rulers of the Seas, but choose wisely. You have seen the armies of the fox faeries. And that is only the beginning.”

  A curse escaped from Mo Kuan-fu’s twisted lips and he called the White Bone Spirit to his side. From the portrait of her painted shrine at his junk’s bow, the ancient demon-goddess emerged in the guise of a pale-skinned, black-haired noblewoman. “Kill her!” he shrieked. “And bring me Fenghuang!” Instantly, the beautiful woman transformed into a seven-headed Jian, each head sporting a single eye. But instead of lunging at Li, the
creature turned on its master and Li had to move fast to save him from becoming bird feed. She sent the phoenix swooping in a shower of gold and azure, shouted to the pirate captain to grab her hand, and hoisted him behind her and Lao, onto the back of her giant mount. Bai Gu Jing, the White Bone Spirit made chase, but Li outmaneuvered it. At their tail, a spray of musketfire followed amid a shower of arrows let loose by Admiral Fong’s marines. Whether the attack was intended to kill the Jian or herself, Li had no time to ponder. She turned her steed toward the mountains and the serpentine wall that protected the Forbidden City, knowing full well that the White Tiger would follow.

  %%%

  “What was that?” Altan asked.

  Jasmine studied the sky. A Chinese Phoenix carrying three passengers circled, then dropped beyond the walls of the palace. “That is Lotus Lily. That girl has pluck if nothing else. It seems she refuses to quit. But she no longer concerns us. We have her son. And that brings me to you, my champion. What is this I hear about you joining the Imperial forces? You can’t be serious. After all we’ve meant to each other? After all I have promised you, you intend to fight against me?”

  “You put my dotard of a brother on the throne,” he boomed.

  She shrugged. “That was just a gesture to appease the fool, and clearly a mistake. Somehow that devil of a warlock, has rescued the Emperor from the hellfires of Feng Du, and knocked your foolish brother off of his phoney pedestal. I should have known better than to think he could hold the palace. And to be honest with you, I never thought he could. Our capture of the Forbidden City was premature. We had not counted on the devilry of Master Yun or the success of Lotus Lily to find her way back to the capital. It is for you that the throne awaits. But first I need your armies to crush the Imperial forces once and for all. They are so like a child’s toy ball. You throw them down only to have them bounce up again. But this time they will not win and I think, Altan, you want to be on the side of the winning. I need your leadership. Only you can lead my human armies—such as they are. You know as well as I do that Esen cannot lead an army. He is a weakling compared to you, my mighty Khan.”