by JC Kang
Allie nodded. “We’ll need your help, Zheng, to fight this group we are pursuing.”
“My duty is to protect the princess.” Tian crossed his arms.
Kaiya put a hand on his shoulder. “No, our duty is to protect the defenseless. Zheng Tian, just as they helped me when I needed it, we must help them. And remember, the doctor is with them.”
He opened his mouth to protest, but she shot him a stern look that silenced him. She straightened, invoking her tone of imperial authority. “That is my command.”
Tian dropped to his knee. “Forgive me, Dian-xia. I cannot obey your command.”
She took his hand, so large and calloused compared to hers. “Will you obey my request?”
His eyes widened and searched hers, his pupils darting back and forth as if debating each other. He dropped to his knee. “As you…request.”
Allie chuckled. “You have him well-trained.”
Heat flared in Kaiya’s cheeks. She caught sight of Tian in the corner of her eye.
He was blushing, too.
Pretending to ignore the comment, she sat down and laid Ma Jun’s head in her lap. “It is settled then. We will meet you in a few hours.”
Tian thought it foolish to leave the princess and an invalid guard behind. Still, she made no threats of punishment. No use of the power of her voice. Only a request—one which he now regretted acquiescing to.
The rangers marched quickly to try to catch the ogres, until the snow started falling harder and began covering the tracks. But as Allie had pointed out, there was only one direction they could possibly be heading at this point.
After another two hours, they stumbled upon the ogres and their prisoners.
They must’ve settled down for the day earlier than Allie expected.
Clad in deerskin clothes and furs, the prisoners sat in a square. Each side was formed by a pole, to which all their wrists were bound. A dozen ogres were laid out wherever they could find space. Two stood watch.
The rangers nocked arrows and shot. One of the ogre sentries yelled out. Screaming captives awkwardly jostled each other on their poles. Some, including the doctor, kicked at their captors. Thielas danced into the fray with his thin elven sword.
Tian gaped. The elf moved with a blurring speed, not unlike the Paladin Sameer. Recovering his sense of the present, Tian dashed to a groggy ogre and slashed his throat before he could stagger to his feet.
With most of the ogres bleary-eyed from sleep and slowed by the daylight, the fight ended quickly. None of the rangers or prisoners suffered injuries.
Tian picked his way through the captives, cutting bindings while searching for the doctor. Many patted him on his back, speaking words that he assumed were thanks. There were so many twins! One dignified-looking man hurried north up the trail without saying a word or waiting for company.
Young Doctor Fang’s eye was swollen shut. Blood flecked his lips and chin. His words came out hysterically. “The ogres kept the princess at their camp! We have to rescue her before they do horrible things. Ma Jun, too, was dying somewhere back there.” He gesticulated wildly to the north.
Tian rested a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “We already rescued her. And Ma Jun. Both are at a village. Back the way we came.”
Doctor Fang glared at him through his good eye. “You left her alone?”
“She ordered me to.”
The doctor’s eyebrow shot up. “Since when did you start obeying her orders?”
Tian waved the comment off. “Are you well enough to travel? We’ll race back. To rejoin them.” Tian looked around for Allie.
The other rangers were busy binding wounds. Markel spoke some halting Kanin language and found out that the prisoners were all part of the same Maki tribe, though they came from three different villages. Ogres lived much farther north, and historically had not bothered humans this far south.
Tian nodded. It explained why Fleet had not known about the danger. The ogres had come to this region just six months before and started raiding smaller villages. Survivors sought refuge with cousins and distant relatives in other communities. Some of the larger villages now burst at the seams, stretching resources thin. Though these were relatively safer, the fear of capture generally kept people from venturing out in small groups, further straining the food supply of these hunter-gatherers.
More concerning to Tian was the news of the Teleri. Rumors from other tribes to the south and east told of a race of Metal Men, using the natives as slave labor to build new fortresses. Although there had been talk in the Kanin Tribal Council of allying to fight back, generations-old blood feuds and the upcoming winter season—predicted by their shamans to be the coldest and snowiest in years—had put those plans on hold.
At last, Tian found Allie, distributing what food they could spare. Other rangers were using their metal blades to sharpen crude spears from long, straight branches, so that the refugees could defend themselves on their return journey.
Tian placed a hand on her shoulder. “We should head back. To the burned-out village. The princess awaits us. Undefended.”
She pointed to the blue circle on the ogre’s map. “No, we’re going to continue south, to find out where the ogres were heading. You escort the natives back north, at least until you meet up with your princess.”
Undernourished and injured, the locals would slow him. Tian bowed his head in acquiescence nonetheless. “Thank you for your help. I have learned so much. From your example. About playing our role in the world. Thank you again.”
Allie wrapped him in a tight embrace.
So strange, so uninhibited, these Northerners. Tian tentatively returned the hug.
Then she brought her lips to his. All he could do was freeze in shock, while bystanders pointed and whispered. The doctor grunted.
Releasing him, Allie flashed a feral grin. “I would like to say that is how you could repay me, but you aren’t particularly good at it.”
From the heat in his head, he must have been glowing an interesting shade of red.
Her coy tone turned serious. “So instead, remember that our nations share a common enemy, and that we may one day have the honor of fighting side by side. In these woods, I am Allie, but know that my true name is Princess Alaena of Serikoth, heir to the Kingdom of Korynth.”
Royalty! She was royalty. Tian kept his face blank and nodded.
She continued, “The fate of my people, your people, and these people, may very well rely on the bridges we build today.”
Tian nodded.
She winked. “Be sure to practice your kissing, and you may win your princess’ heart yet.”
The doctor gaped at him, his good eye wide and his mouth wider.
What could Tian say? The heat from his flushing reached his ears. All he could was stare as Allie—Alaena—disappeared south down the trail with Thielas and her rangers. He turned to the Kanin people and motioned them to follow him north.
CHAPTER 41:
Opportunities
From her spot at the edge of the western marketplace, dressed as a street urchin, Jie eyed a dark-haired man with a cutlass concealed under his cloak. In a nation of farmers, occupied by a land army which confiscated anything longer than a knife, the typical sailor’s weapon stood out to her trained eyes.
The bulge should have been obvious to Teleri patrols, and the man was a fool to be packing in the mid-afternoon sun. Maybe the Bovyans had grown lazy since Emperor Geros departed the city a month before with his concubines, leaving General Marius as governor.
When the stranger stopped by a nearby fruit vendor, Jie sidled up to him and began testing the apples. She’d learned—by some trial and plenty of error—that late-harvest apples this far north tasted better soft. Yet the man selected several hard ones with his worn, calloused hands. His face, from what she could tell from his profile in her peripheral vision, was tanned and weathered, punctuated by a stubbly dark beard.
“Don’t go touching every last one and not buy anything
.” The vendor favored the two of them with a suspicious eye, though he wouldn’t be running down any thieves with his clubfoot.
Poor man. His pretty daughter, who enticed customers with her flirting, had been taken by the Teleri not long after the occupation began. The thought of the poor girl saddened Jie, reminding her of her ambitious—and perhaps foolhardy—plan.
“Looks like a cold rain,” the stranger commented in Arkothi. His voice was deep, his accent perfect.
Jie stole a glance up. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
The vendor nodded, almost imperceptibly. “Oh, not for some time now.”
Even more curious. A code, even. Perhaps an underground resistance forming? There hadn’t been any acts of sabotage or attacks on Bovyan patrols.
Jie’s instinct to find out more drove her to a hasty decision. A quick glance around the market revealed no Teleri patrols. Taking a deep breath, she tugged at the stranger’s coin purse, yanking it free with enough force to let him know. She bolted off.
“Hey! Stop! Thief! Help!” The stranger ran after her.
Obviously a stranger. Though vendors might try to stop a petty thief, most of the locals left the street children alone.
Jie looked back to gauge his distance before turning into an alleyway between houses on a lazy street. With a pop-vault, she suspended herself a dozen feet up with outstretched arms and legs.
The man turned the corner.
She pounced, grabbing his cloak and wrapping him in it as they rolled on the ground.
She whipped a knife out and pressed it at his throat. “Quiet. Understand?”
Anger burned in his eyes, but he nodded.
“Now, who—” Jie cut herself short. She recognized the man. He was one of the marines aboard Tarkothi Prince Aelward’s ship, when he had transported Princess Kaiya to Ayudra Island, many months ago. “Never mind. I know you’re a Tarkothi marine.” Easing the knife back to prevent him from trying to attack her, she pulled her hat off, revealing her ears. “I am Princess Kaiya’s handmaiden. I’m going to let you get up, but do so slowly.”
When a look of recognition bloomed in his expression, she sprung back out of cutlass reach, just in case he tried to attack.
He rose slowly, rubbing his lower back, where the cutlass had probably dug in during his tumble.
“Sorry about that.” She grinned meekly. “Now I know who you are…or at least what you are. Is there a name to go with the beard?”
“Ciro.” An Arkothi name. The marine glared at her, sizing her up as he extended his palm.
“Oh, yeah.” She tossed his purse, which he caught with a quick snatch. “What are you doing here?”
His eyes remained narrowed. “I would ask you what you are doing here. Where is your princess?”
Jie looked him over. It wouldn’t hurt to tell him generalizations. “She fled the attack on the city. I am stranded here.”
“Well, maybe we can help each other.”
Jie’s ears perked up. “Go on.”
“We are here—”
“We? Who is we?”
Ciro scratched his beard. “The TRS Invincible, captained by Prince Aelward, is off the coast. We are here looking for a band of rangers, led by a red-headed woman. Have you seen them around the city?”
Jie shook her head. Tian had mentioned something about a red-haired Eldaeri, had a strand of the hair dangling in his cobweb, but they hadn’t uncovered the mystery before the Teleri invasion. More exciting was a friendly ship, somewhere off the coast. Perhaps it was a way home. After she’d personally saved Prince Aelward from an assassin’s arrow, he owed her a favor. “I would like to meet with the prince.”
He scratched his beard some more. “On what business?”
“Mutual benefit, just like in the past.” Jie imitated the princess’ best smile.
Ciro looked at her for a few seconds. “Meet me on the coastal road, at the first cove outside the walls, when the Iridescent Moon waxes to half.”
About three hours. Jie nodded. “Until then.”
With little time to continue reconnaissance of the rape center as she had originally intended, Jie worked her way towards the coastal road. Well before the appointed time, she arrived at the meeting spot and descended on a path down the rocky embankment to a gravel beach. The waves roared as they came ashore, drowning out all other sound.
She hid herself among the boulders as the sky darkened, the setting sun giving way to the feeble light of the nearly-new White Moon. Her elf vision would surely give her an advantage if this meeting turned out to be a trap.
Not long after, Ciro arrived alone. Once he reached the beach, he looked around before peering out to sea and holding aloft a shuttered light bauble. He fiddled with it, sending flashes in long and short bursts.
A code. Jie tried to memorize it. She looked back towards the city walls and scanned the area. No threats.
Ciro paced, also squinting towards the walls. Before long, he took his cutlass scabbard in hand. He must have been quite nervous, but she would keep him waiting.
After a while, the dark shape of a boat came to shore, rowed by two men.
One of the men spoke. “Any word from the princess?”
Ciro shook his head. “No, our eyes and ears inside the city have not spotted her or her rangers.”
“Then why did you call us ashore?”
Ciro sighed. “The Cathayi princess’ handmaiden wanted to meet with Prince Aelward. However, she hasn’t turned up.”
Their conversation was reassuring enough. Jie used a Ghost Echo technique to throw her voice from a boulder. “I am here.”
Ciro and both men jumped, startled.
Jie grinned. She emerged from her hiding place and approached.
“Hands up,” Ciro commanded. When she complied, he patted her down, politely, finding two knives but missing her throwing spikes. He gestured toward the boat.
She turned to him. “Are you coming?”
He shook his head. “No, but you are in good hands with these sailors.”
Jie saw the other men also had cutlasses at their side. She sucked her lower lip. On firm ground, she could dispatch a pair of armed men. In a boat, on the other hand…
She took one last look at them. Deciding they looked familiar, she boarded. One pushed the boat out into the water before jumping in himself. Ciro and the shore disappeared into the distance, the rhythmic sloshing of oars mixing with the roar of the surf.
Caiyue, never moving from its heavenly seat in the south, waxed to its first gibbous as the Invincible’s shadow ballooned. Before long, it loomed above them, even larger than Hua’s own trade ships. Jie looked back to see the tiny dots of light in Iksuvius.
Climbing to the deck, Jie remembered how much she detested the rocking. All of the sailors looked wide-eyed at her. Prince Aelward approached, his long dark hair becalmed on the peaceful seas. His slim build and sharp features betrayed the hint of elf blood that flowed in Eldaeri humans’ veins. She was about to extend a greeting, when he walked past her to the returning sailors.
“Where is Alaena?” Aelward’s voice seeped with a longing that didn’t take Moquan training to notice.
One of the sailors crossed his arms in an X over his chest. “Your Highness, there is still no news of her.” He then nodded towards Jie. “Ciro bade us to bring this one aboard.”
Jie removed her hat and attempted her best curtsey. “Your Highness.”
“Handmaiden Jie?” Aelward cocked his head, favoring her with a raised eyebrow.
“The same.” Jie held her clumsy curtsey, waiting to be released.
He clapped her on the back, nearly knocking her to the deck. “I barely recognized ye through all the grime. I thought ye were some boy the men recruited.”
Jie channeled her Princess Smile, even as she stewed inside at the blunt reference to her curveless figure. “That’s not the nicest way to greet someone who saved your life.”
He laughed again. “True enough. So, handmaiden, wha
t brings you aboard?”
“A favor. I need you to take urgent news to Cathay.”
The prince’s smile melted. “I can’t do that, I must stay in these waters to retrieve…a friend. But fear not, we spotted a veritable armada from your homeland not one week ago on our way here. I would gauge from the prevailing winds that they will be here soon.”
Jie sucked on her lower lip. Of course the Tianzi would retaliate for the assault on his daughter. However, what could warships realistically do that would affect the Bovyans? And with the princess escaping into the Kanin Wilds, the ships here did her no good.
At the very least, Hua ships offered Jie a means of getting home to deliver the news. And perhaps she could get Meiling to safety as well.
Meiling. The girl suffered in the throes of morning sickness. From what she said, Emperor Geros had kept her to himself, and hadn’t allowed any other Bovyan to take her. Which meant she carried Geros’ child.
The Teleri prophecy came to mind: a Bovyan who knew his true mother and father would bring an end to the Teleri Empire. If Jie could get Meiling home, they might have something to bargain with.
CHAPTER 42:
Little Friends
In the devastated village, Kaiya waited patiently as Ma Jun slept. With nothing else to do, she listened to the laughing of the river, the twittering of birds, and other sounds around her. The tall greywoods towered high above the forest floor, devoid of leaves. Across the river, cliffs rose some twenty feet above the banks, their white-colored faces crisscrossed by tangles of green vines. Prickly-leaved shrubs with large, bright-colored berries grew along the banks. Birds and squirrels chattered at one another as they ate the juicy treasures.
Kaiya’s stomach rumbled. Laying Ma Jun’s head on her pack, she rose and walked over to the shrub to try the bite-sized berries. Their pleasant aroma was reminiscent of cinnamon. She washed them off in the river before taking a bite. A sweet flavor exploded in her mouth, followed by pleasant warmth percolating through her.
A sniffling sound carried almost imperceptibly over the rustling of the river. Children’s cries? Kaiya followed her ears, walking down the river, though occasionally looking back to see that Ma Jun rested undisturbed. The sobs grew louder.
