The Dragon Songs Saga: The Complete Quartet: Songs of Insurrection, Orchestra of Treacheries, Dances of Deception, and Symphony of Fates

by JC Kang

  General Shan strode forward and swept the message away. He marched back to the Tianzi, where the Crown Prince received it. He unwrapped the cover and snapped it open. A messy script, reminiscent of Tian’s careless hand.

  The Crown Prince’s eyes darted back and forth, his face darkening before finding the Tianzi. “Huang-Shang, Lord Tong agrees to the marriage, but insists that the matchmaking meeting occur in Wailian Castle. The wedding will take place before Prince Kai-Wu’s so that Lord Tong may attend as brother-in-law.”

  The room rose in uproar. Jie slipped through the shadows to the side to better gauge the lords’ body language.

  “Impertinent!” Lord Han of Fenggu slammed a hand on the floor.

  “The audacity!” shouted Lord Wu, whose daughter’s marriage to the second prince might be affected.

  Lord Liu’s forehead furrowed, his look one of confusion. A slight smile formed on Lord Liang’s face. Lord Zhao of Ximen, father of the Crown Princess, tightened his fists.

  “It comes as no surprise,” said Lord Peng. “We are dealing with a traitor, after all; an ambitious man with no honor.”

  Perhaps even more ambitious than they all suspected. Jie closed her eyes and thought of the voice in the Maduran guesthouse. If Lord Tong, in league with the altivorcs, Madurans, and other untold allies, attacked the imperial wedding, his marriage to Princess Kaiya would give him substantial standing in the aftermath.

  The Tianzi swept his gaze over the men, silencing them. “I will hear your counsel.”

  Lord Liang rose to a knee. “Huang-Shang, unless we want a costly civil war where we could potentially run out of firepowder, we must acquiesce to Lord Tong’s dem—requests.”

  Jie studied his expression. So much of Wailian’s firepowder ended up in Lord Liang’s province. Perhaps he, too, was in league with Lord Tong, a mole in the Tianzi’s inner circle.

  Lord Peng Kai-Long rose to a knee again. “Huang-Shang, I think Lord Liang is correct. However, maybe we can bend this to our advantage. Send Princess Kaiya to Wailian County with an appropriate honor guard of a thousand men. As her cousin, and now Tai-Ming myself, I will lead. Once inside Wailian Castle, the honor guard will weaken its defenses from the inside while General Lu leads the imperial armies in the North to assault it from the outside.”

  The room fell silent as the lords nodded. Jie shook her head. Leave it to military men to suggest cutting off an arm to remove a wart when a surgeon’s knife would do. Only warlords could fathom this hare-brained plan actually working.

  Master Yan shared her opinion. “Huang-Shang, what if Lord Tong does not allow so many in the entourage to approach the castle?”

  General Shan’s white mustaches quivered. “All we need to do is capture the gatehouse and hold it open long enough for reinforcements.”

  “General Shan,” the Tianzi said, “were the plans for Wailian Castle submitted to the War Ministry?”

  The general’s jaw set at a hard angle. “No, but we can rely on General Lu.”

  Jie sucked on her lower lip. Maybe it was no a coincidence that the princess had met General Lu for a matchmaking meeting.

  “We will keep the pretense by adhering to Lord Tong’s demanded schedule.” The Tianzi sighed. Actually sighed. “General Shan, how long will it take to reach Wailian Castle?”

  “By forced march, nine hours to the Great Wall, another two to reach Wailian Castle.”

  “Then Princess Kaiya’s procession must depart tonight. Mobilize a thousand of your best soldiers and send word to General Lu. Chief Minister, provide logistical support so we can depart in four hours. Deputy Yan, have your people ride ahead and learn of Wailian’s defenses.”

  Jie rubbed her butt. It looked like another horse ride lay ahead.

  Master Yan bowed his head. “Might I suggest instead you send an imperial phoenix rider? It will arrive sooner and get a better view.”

  “So it shall be done.” The Tianzi peered around the room. “The rest of you withdraw and mobilize your vassals, in case Lord Peng’s idea does not work.”

  The men pressed their heads to the floor. When the Tianzi released them from their bows, they rose and filed out of the room. Jie waited and watched. Once they left, the Tianzi would need to hear of the exchange in the Maduran guesthouse.

  The Tianzi raised a hand. “Lord Peng, Deputy Yan, wait.”

  Both men knelt. The room cleared, save for them and the two princes.

  Shoulders slumping, the Tianzi seemed to age. “I cannot have Kaiya marry Lord Tong. His late wife was always happy in her youth, but looked terrified after just a month of marriage. We know how he treats women. If the plan should fail, and there is no means of escape…” His voice choked. “She will have led a happy life.”

  Lord Peng bowed his head. “I shall take care of it myself. Quickly, mercifully.”

  “There is another way.” To avoid revealing her identity Peng Kai-Long, Jie reached into a pouch and touched the magic bauble. Appearing as Princess Kaiya’s idealized image, she stepped out of the shadow and bowed.

  The Tianzi’s eyes widened, while the princes and Lord Peng gasped.

  Master Yan offered her a rare smile. “With this disguise, my daughter will be able to get close enough to the traitor to kill him. The princess needn’t even go to Wailian.”

  “But the…” Lord Peng coughed. “She looks similar, but not exactly alike. And Lord Tong will have her checked for weapons.”

  Jie grinned. Not like she needed a weapon to kill a man. “That is not our biggest problem. I overheard our altivorc guests say Lord Tong is coordinating some attack with the Teleri Empire and Madura. At first, I suspected it was an invasion of Hua, but I wonder now if they plan to attack Prince Kai-Wu’s wedding. When I meet Lord Tong, I will find out how many traitors conspire with him.”

  Face blanking, Lord Peng’s head bobbed in slow nods.

  The Tianzi tilted his head a fraction. “Master Yan, your people are resourceful.”

  “Daughter,” Master Yan said, “go trail the princess and learn her voice so you can imitate it with the Mockingbird’s Deception.”

  Crown Prince Kai-Guo raised a halting hand. “This must all be kept secret from the princess. She must not know the procession leaving tonight is meant for her. She might think to interfere.”

  Tian dumped the two crossbows used to assassinate the late Lord Peng and his eldest son onto a table next to the Eldaeri crossbow Jie had stolen and a standard Hua repeater. The authorities considered the case solved, making it easy to retrieve the murder weapons and bring them back to the safehouse. It had also been easy for his comrades to ambush the large boy who trailed him back.

  Side by side, the Hua repeater was clearly smaller than the other three, which all appeared exactly the same. He popped open the magazines of the murder weapons. The one used to kill the Tai-Ming lord still held two bolts, while the one used to murder his son had one. Their heads were too large to fit the Hua repeater, while the shafts were as short as the Eldaeri ones. Either the Serikothi or Tarkothi must have provided the weapons.

  Except…the Eldaeri used sablewood, whereas the bolts used in the assassination were made of ironwood, a tree that didn’t grow in Eldaeri nations thanks to their forestry programs. And the bolt heads, the same width, were cast instead of wrought—a Hua technique. These crossbows posed more questions than they answered.

  Back in the safehouse’s main room, Chong and Huang discussed their prisoner. They’d have to wait for Little Wen to return. Her male-targeted contact toxins and feminine wiles should have no problem drawing information out of a strapping young man. That left some time to see if the crossbows themselves were as different as the bolts they fired.

  With deft hands, Tian first disassembled the Serikothi crossbow. The articulating wood joints used wax to help with the cocking motion—an old technology, from when the Eldaeri first conquered the eastern coast nearly three centuries before, and which they apparently still used today.

  In a side room, i
t sounded as if Little Wen had returned and had already started working her magic. Let her use her special skillset; Tian would use his. He took apart one of the murder weapons to look for any internal differences.

  He sucked in a breath. Though it might look like an Eldaeri repeater on the outside, its internal mechanisms were Hua improvements. Oiled steel ball bearings for a smoother motion. Cogged gears to minimize the jerking of the cocking lever. An exact channel for the bolt. That, combined with the longer barrel, would improve its accuracy. Just as the Hua had reverse-engineered the Eldaeri repeater and designed a superior weapon, whoever made these crossbows had taken the guts of Hua innovations and made an even better weapon.

  Turning away from this new piece of the puzzle, Tian went to the main room, where Chong and Huang combed through the boy’s effects—all Moquan tools. From the side room, the boy’s deep panting suggested a large lung capacity.

  Tian lifted his chin to the boy’s items. “Find anything interesting?”

  “If I didn’t know any better, I would swear he was Moquan.”

  So would Tian. Sliding the door into the interrogation room open a crack, he peeked in. The scent of yinghua flowers percolated out. Bare back to him, Little Wen tilted her head a fraction, enough so that she could probably see him in the corner of her eye, and then returned her attention to the sweating boy she straddled. With a stupid grin, he sat bound to a chair, naked save for undergarments, which strained against his excitement.

  Clad in only her underpants herself, Wen rubbed against him while pressing her ample bosom into his face. She pulled back, just out of the reach of his craning neck. Her voice came out pouty, breathy. “Why did Lord Tong want Lord Peng dead?”

  “I swear I don’t know. He just gave the order.”

  “You’re sure?” Her sultry tone stirred Tian’s pulse.

  The boy nodded like the seals that wintered in Jiangkou. “I swear.”

  “I will be back.” Covering herself with crossed arms, she lifted herself off him and turned around.

  Averting his eyes more out of politeness than because any of the Black Lotus cared, Tian found a cloak hanging next to the door. He draped it over her shoulders before making way for her into the main room. “What did you find out?”

  “He claims they belong to a Moquan clan known as the Water Snake, trained by a Black Lotus defector.”

  A new clan didn’t seem possible. Tian searched her eyes. Moquan interrogation methods could be painful or pleasurable, but none were completely reliable. “All Black Lotus members, past and present, are accounted for.”

  She shrugged. “They work for Lord Tong. He ordered the assassination of Lord Peng and his son. There were three in Jiangkou for the operation, and they know about us.”

  Now one was dead, another captured. A third remained at large. “How much do they know?”

  “This one saw you retrieving the crossbows, and tracked you back to our base of operations.”

  “And their own base of operations?”

  “Wailian Castle.”

  Tian tapped his chin. “Try to find out how many there are and if they had anything to do with the attacks in the capital last night.”

  Bu slipped in, panting. “Word from Master Yan, on the last horse of the night. Jie is disguised as Princess Kaiya and heading to Wailian Castle tonight.”

  “What?” Tian’s heat jolted. It might keep Princess Kaiya out of danger; but if Water Snake Moquan defended Wailian Castle, it would be hard for Jie to infiltrate and even more difficult to attack. But how could he get word to the capital without use of the horse relays?

  CHAPTER 33

  Changes in Mind and Fortune

  From where she stood just outside the double doors to the Hall of Pure Melody, Kaiya listened to the arrhythmic clops of boots across the central courtyard. There marched a contingent of imperial guards, casting long shadows from the Blue and White moons.

  Every nerve tingling with desire for Hardeep, she couldn’t return to the imperial residence. Not tonight, or at least not now. Once behind those walls, there would be no getting out until morning, and he’d forget all about her.

  Her stomach twisted into a knot again, as her better sense warred with the primal urges brought on by the pillow book. She’d strong-armed Secretary Hong into allowing her to come here, ostensibly to retrieve a book from the music library. From his wringing hands, no doubt he thought her insane given the trouble caused by visiting the day before. The poor old man seemed tired all the time, but ever since she played the lute for Hardeep, he looked as if he might keel over and die.

  The two guards, as well, lacked their usual composure. Shoulders slumped and heads hanging, they resembled the crude illustrations of the laborers who built the Great Wall six hundred years before. She closed her eyes and listened. Yes, their hearts were beating slowly and sluggishly. If they were all so tired, perhaps it wouldn’t take much more to put them into a sleep. There had been a song like that in the book…

  Light, slippered feet pattered up the Hall of Pure Melody’s marble steps. Kaiya opened her eyes to find Han Meiling, cloak in hand. Bowing, she presented it.

  “Come.” Legs trembling, Kaiya stepped over the ghost-tripping threshold and into the main corridor.

  Secretary Hong and her two guards followed. She shuffled down the hall to the performance hall’s open double doors. If she entered without permission, it would be the second time breaking the same rule in as many days.

  Was this worth the risk? Father had only suspended her death sentence as long as she remained obedient.

  No, she was protected. They needed her to marry Lord Tong. Kaiya hummed the musical notes, considering. The Night Blossoms were the epitome of Hua beauty and grace, the exact opposite of her. Prince Hardeep wouldn’t be able to resist their charms.

  Then again, that’s what men did. The Floating World wouldn’t exist without men’s urges. No, she couldn’t let it happen. With a deep breath, she entered and swept across the performance hall’s floor.

  Near the center, Kaiya stopped and listened for the heartbeats of her small entourage. In this acoustically perfect chamber, they all pulsed loudly in her ears, the rhythm slow and tired.

  Drawing in a quick breath, Kaiya gripped her toes to the floor and straightened her posture. She hummed the tune more loudly. Like a lullaby, it dipped and rose in gentle waves, slowing with each refrain. Her men wavered in their spots.

  Her own stamina guttered. Maybe it wouldn’t hold out. Maybe she would pass out before they did. She forged ahead with her hum, despite her wobbling legs and heavy head. Just a little more. Like a flame burning the last of its wax, she spit out one last stanza.

  Secretary Hong, the imperial guards, and Meiling all slumped to the ground. Kaiya, too.

  She propped herself up on her elbows to find their eyes closed, breaths shallow. Asleep? Summoning her last drop of energy, she picked herself off the ground and trudged over. Her feet might be disproportionally large, but now, they also seemed to be encased in Estomari concrete.

  She started to bend over to confirm they were asleep, but thought the better of it. She might very well fall over and not stand again until morning. If this were the cost of magic, it didn’t seem possible for the legendary Yanyan to sing Avarax to sleep.

  Several more paces and she reached the door. She rested against the doorframe, letting her flagging strength grow little by little. She took a few minutes to consider this foolishness. In the courtyard, she’d stick out like a cloud on a sunny day.

  But past the courtyard, it was all alleys between the buildings, and the guest pavilions weren’t that far away. Her heart pumped faster, replacing her fatigue with nervous energy. A few more deep breaths, and she was ready to try. For Hardeep. Show him the pillow book, and perhaps he would feel the same affection.

  Vitality returning by the moment, Kaiya tiptoed down the corridor to the hall’s entrance. She paused at the threshold and peeked out. A few officials walked through the courtyard,
but there were no imperial guards.

  Donning the cloak Meiling had brought, Kaiya pulled the hood over her head and peeked out of the hall again. The officials from before had walked even farther away, and still, no imperial guards appeared to be around. She hurried down the steps, nearly tripping on her gown along the way.

  Running would certainly draw the attention of any eyes she had missed in her initial scan, so Kaiya walked at a moderate pace. South and east towards the closest alley off the courtyard. When she turned the corner, she let out a sigh of relief. It didn’t seem as if anyone had seen her, or at least noted it was her.

  She would be reunited with Prince Hardeep soon. The fatigue from before seemed to melt away, replaced by a renewed vigor and excitement. And need. She shuffled quickly through the alleys, pausing to look around each corner for any stray official or guard.

  After several minutes, she came within two turns of Nine Courtyard. Soon, very soon! Hugging the pillow book to her chest, Kaiya took a step into an alley. She caught an imperial guard in her peripheral vision and quickly ducked back the way she’d come. How stupid of her! In her excitement, she’d forgotten to check, even forgotten to use her ears. The guard would surely challenge a cloaked and hooded stranger, carrying a mysterious bundle to the chest.

  Holding her breath, she pressed back against the wall and listened. The booted footsteps…headed in the opposite direction. Not daring to let out a breath, Kaiya loosened her sweaty fists. In the future, if she were to make a habit of sneaking around, it would be worthwhile to learn the patrol patterns.

  When the footsteps turned a corner, she edged forward…and paused again. Another sound lurked in the symphony of the night, somewhere behind her. She spun around to find its source.

  Nothing. She surveyed the space for a few more seconds. Shaking the doubts out of her head, Kaiya continued into the alley, stopping again at the edge of the courtyard and looking at the pavilion where she’d left Prince Hardeep.

  No! Girls giggled from within, mingling with a deep male laugh. Kaiya’s shoulders slumped. Perhaps he’d already started drinking, already started acting out pictures from the pillow book with the Night Blossoms.