by JC Kang
Kai-Long turned and gazed at his well-rested armies. Only he was fit to rule, the sole descendant of the Wang Dynasty Founder with enough political and military acumen to bring greater prosperity to Hua. Once he left no doubt who held the Mandate of Heaven, the provincial and imperial holdouts would surely choose him over a baby too small to sit on the Jade Throne.
A soldier raced up to the command post and dropped to a knee. “Jue-ye, we have intercepted a message bound to Madura from Prince Dhananad.”
“Report,” Kai-Long said.
“He has asked his father for an additional ten thousand men.”
Kai-Long laughed. The Maduran fool had already received ten thousand reinforcements and lost them in several ill-advised charges into the imperial center. In the future, after losing forty thousand of their men in a foreign land, Madura’s own capital would be too weak to repel an attack. For now, however, Kai-Long’s campaign to liberate the Madurans would have to wait until he consolidated his hold over Hua. “The Madurans have outlived their use. We don’t want them depleting our supplies.”
“Jue-ye, we cannot possibly take the pass without help,” General Zhang said. Others nodded in assent.
Kai-Long favored them with a mirthless smile. He had not shared all his plans: the Aksumi Mystic he’d hired to summon the Guardian Dragon of Hua, nor the Black Fist spies who carried correspondence with the former empress Wu Yanli’s father in Zhenjing Province. The first would remain secret. “Tai-Ming Lord Wu’s army holds the western pass into Fenggu, behind the imperial lines. He is amenable to switching sides. When he does, we will attack.”
Or rather, once everyone saw the Guardian Dragon of Hua answer Kai-Long’s call, perhaps not a single musket need be fired.
In the meantime, he needed to cut off the Madurans. He turned to the messenger. “Send word back home. Detonate the firepowder at the South Gate to seal it off.”
A clap of thunder followed a flash of light at the open doors to the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The roar rumbled in from the north, rattling Kaiya in the regent’s chair beside the Jade Throne. The military advisors and ministers all looked up, their murmurs mingling with the sound.
“What was that?” she asked.
Chief Minister Song bowed. “I would guess lighting struck somewhere to the east.”
It certainly didn’t sound like thunder to her trained ears. She gestured with an open hand toward the main entrance, which opened up onto the cityscape. The thunderstorm from the night before had given way to morning sun. It now burned off the fog, leaving the sky a pale blue. “There are no storm clouds.”
More chatter among the assembled men.
She sighed. If there were a lightning strike, then fires would follow. Alarm bells would be ringing any moment now. “General Shan, send a messenger to find out—”
A low drone bellowed out from a bell in the east. Several others followed. Fires? Certainly the Teleri, entrenched beyond cannon range outside the north gate for three days, had no way of striking inside the city, certainly not in the east.
Could they? Kaiya scanned her advisors, searching for any sign of treachery. Geros had sent a demand to parley. Her sharpshooters had used warning shots to rebuff him. In the ensuing three days of tortuous waiting, the remaining handful of Black Lotus Moquan hadn’t reported any incursions across the river.
A page raced through the door and down the center of the hall between the rows of men. He dropped to a knee, fist to the ground. “Jie-xia, our firepowder magazine in the east exploded.”
Kaiya’s brow furrowed. That magazine wasn’t far from the walls, but it couldn’t be coincidental, not with a Teleri army at their doorstep. Though why the east? She turned to Chief Minister Song. “Find out about fires and damage to the walls. I entrust all civilian response to you.”
She then faced the military officers. “How would the enemy strike within the city? And why in the east?”
“Perhaps the insurgents are in league with the Teleri,” a general said. “Sowing chaos before they strike.”
“The magazine is well guarded.” General Shan pointed to a map of the city. “We have eliminated most of Peng’s rebels inside the city.”
Kaiya wondered. She found Weiyong in the crowd, and he looked down. Unbeknownst to her other advisors, Golden Fu manipulated the remaining insurgents, who wouldn’t help the Teleri. From what Weiyong had said, Fu was willing to support her, and even take on covert tasks. Then again, despite his proclaimed patriotism, he had an unpredictable streak. “General Shan,” she said, “where are the firepowder stores?”
He pointed to eight locations on the map—one in each cardinal directions. His eyes rounded. “They might be trying to neutralize the advantage our guns provide.”
Kaiya sighed. With so few troops, the capital’s defense relied on their ability to concentrate musket and cannon barrage on the last remaining bridge over the river. It, too, was laden with enough firepowder kegs to destroy it. “Move some of our firepowder reserves to different locations.”
Another flash flared at the entrance. Kaiya gripped her chair’s armrests, just as another rumble erupted from the northwest. Significantly louder than the previous explosion, the aftershock shook the hall.
She looked to General Shan. “Another magazine?”
“I will find out.” The general stood and marched to the doors with several aides in tow.
Kaiya frowned. The northwest magazine was very close to the north gate. If the blast had damaged the walls, they would have to blow the bridge, cutting the northern fifth of the country off from the rest.
Deep horns blared in the distance. A series of poofs burst somewhere to the northwest. Cannons.
Another page appeared at the entrance and bowed low. “The northwest firepowder magazine exploded.”
Kaiya rose. “Did it damage the walls?”
“Not that we know of yet, Jie-xia.”
She pointed. “Those are our cannons firing.”
As if to contradict her, the deep bursts stopped, followed by the staccato of a thousand rasping pops. Musket fire? Another series answered, and then another. Twice as fast as the typical Hua volleys. That couldn’t be humanly possible. She rose to her feet.
A panting soldier arrived next, dropping to his knee at the threshold. “Jie-xia, General Shan sent me to report. The Teleri are attacking.”
She held a finger up. “Listen.” The volleys prattled on in the distance, the initial frequency falling into perpetual shooting. “We do not fire so fast, do we?”
The soldier met her gaze and shook his head.
Kaiya gritted her teeth. “Then they have guns.” But how? Likely taken from the embassy in Iksuvius, and Ming’s defeated soldiers. “Our guns.”
The military men set their jaws and exchanged glances. Many of the ministers moaned and wailed. So pathetic. Even without the Tiger’s Eye, she wouldn’t have devolved into such blubbering. She’d survived assassination attempts, stared down a dragon, been chased by orcs and ogres. No matter how afraid or hopeless, she’d always put on a brave face.
Except when Geros had raped her. Kaiya’s heart pounded in her chest. Images of him marching into the capital roiled her stomach. Or perhaps that was just the morning sickness. The Tiger’s Eye certainly found inopportune times to weaken. She bit her lip and composed her expression into regal aloofness. “Send word to the gate. They must blow the bridge now.”
“Yes, Jie-xia.” Bowing, the soldier stood and ran off.
She sighed. Rebellion and invasion whittled away at the realm. Now, her own decision would cut away the North from the rest.
Geros watched as his men in the trenches fumbled with the Cathayi muskets. They had gotten better with practice, especially after his ingenious idea of specialization. Unlike the locals, who loaded, fired, and backed off to reload, he had several men reload and pass the guns to shooters. Thanks to the Eye of Geros, their shots traced yellow lines across his vision.
Once they conquered Cathay and learne
d the secret of firepowder, the musket might be worth integrating into their own armies.
For now, he just needed the enemy to waste their own firepowder as they shot blindly into the fog. A cannonball pounded harmlessly into the earthworks not far away, sending dirt flying. The three days of preparation and the wait for the right weather had been worth it.
The first explosion in the east had been the signal to deploy, the second in the north to start shooting. Now, a third explosion roared from the gatehouse, followed by screams and shouts. Enemy cannon and musket fire stuttered to a trickle. Feiying had worked hard in the rain and dark, cutting the barrels of firepowder from the bottom of the bridge so that his men could collect them downstream. He also jury-rigged some explosive device connected to the Cathayi’s fuses. They apparently assumed the Teleri didn’t know much about firepowder, since as expected, they had just destroyed their own gates instead of the bridge.
“The gates are open!” one of his men yelled.
Geros straightened out his uniform and turned to his signaler. “Order the assault.”
The man blew the sequence on his horn. His riflemen continued shooting as they cleared a space for his heavy infantry to pass through. With shields angled up at the walls, the staggered column marched quadruple-time in perfect precision, as only trained Bovyans could.
A runner approached and thumped a fist on his chest. “Your Eminence, a message from Viceroy Zheng in Dongmen Province.”
Geros hazarded a glance at the bridge. The enemy had resumed its volley fire, albeit at a slower pace. Lines of yellow streaked across his visual field. He needed to join his men now. “Report.”
“An army of two thousand soldiers from Linshan Province have crossed the Jade River and plan to sabotage our supply lines.” He pointed to a map on the table. “The Viceroy has mobilized ten thousand of his provincial soldiers to combat this threat.”
Geros frowned. With that blank expression, Viceroy Zheng Han could bluff Fortuna herself in a game of mahjong. All reports spoke of his staunch sense of honor and loyalty; but then again, he had betrayed the Tianzi. Geros motioned for one of his aides. “Leave five hundred men at the north gate once we take it. Make sure that the Viceroy’s son leads them.” Ready to take the first arrow.
“Yes, Your Eminence.” The aide thumped his chest.
Geros’ heart soared. Grabbing a Teleri flag, he jogged toward the bridge. The head of his column had already entered. “To me, men. The capital of Cathay is ours!”
Soon, very soon, he would be reunited with Kaiya, who according to his spies now ruled as regent of her crumbling homeland. This time, he would prove his love by bringing peace and stability to her nation.
After the third explosion, Kaiya shuffled in the regent’s chair. The sound of cannon fire trailed off to intermittent bursts, though musket volleys continued in diminishing numbers and frequency. Perhaps Geros had withdrawn out of range.
The military officers all met her eyes, many smiling and nodding. Of course, with the bridge destroyed, the threat on the capital had ended for now. The Teleri would have to build bridges, and they were no engineers. Their only other choice was to head far upstream and wait for the spring melt to end, before fording the Jade River and fighting through forested Linshan Province. A victory, for now.
At what cost? The great bridge, a marvel designed by the Founder’s consort herself, perhaps irreparably damaged. Her people in the north, now under Geros’ boot. Her stomach roiled again, the pent-up emotions pushing up against the Tiger’s Eye dam. It might burst any time now, reducing her into a quivering sack of feelings and doubts.
She leaned back in her chair. No, she had made the logical decision. Leave the bridge in place, and the Teleri would soon occupy the North and the capital. “General Tang,” she said, “send someone to check on our firepowder stores. We must maintain vigilant watch along the banks to make sure the Teleri do not find some other way to cross.”
“Yes, Jie-xia.” General Tang bowed and started to stand.
A pale, sweating foot soldier rushed into the hall and dropped to a knee. “Jie-xia, the enemy has breached the gates. General Shan—”
Kaiya leaped to her feet and raised a hand. “The bridge?”
“Intact. When we went to blow it, the gates exploded instead. General Shan holds the gate tower, while General Sun defends the northwest quadrant.”
Chest tightening, Kaiya sunk into the chair and gripped the armrests with sweaty palms. Because the Founder mandated that nothing above one story could be built north of the palace, much of that area was parks and temples. Very little defensible terrain. Outnumbered and apparently outgunned, they didn’t stand a chance. Emperor Geros would be there soon, ready to take her again.
Several times a day, for the rest of his curse-shortened life. Those hands, the anger…
Kaiya took a deep breath. Hold it together, she had to hold it together. This wasn’t about her, but the nation. Twenty million young women alive today, and untold girls yet to be born, would share her fate. Reduced to playthings and breeders for a depraved race of rapists.
She loosened her fists and stood. “General Tang, what is our contingency plan now that the Teleri have gained a foothold in the city?”
From where he knelt, General Tang bowed. “We will fall back and defend the palace. We have enough munitions and food stores here to last a year.”
Kaiya clenched her jaw again. Such a strategy would mean leaving a million souls in the city to predation by the Bovyans. After a year, the Teleri would be thoroughly ensconced, with more and more reinforcements streaming through the Wilds.
With a shaking voice, the chamberlain announced a visitor at the door. How strange that anyone would come at such a desperate time. “Lady Lin Ziqiu brings a message from her father, Tai-Ming Lord Lin of Linshan.”
Kaiya lifted her gaze from the generals to the seventeen-year-old who had deceived her for so long. She walked with a purposeful stride between the rows of men, her serious expression so different from the carefree flightiness that had defined her for years.
“Jie-xia.” Brushing her brown travelling skirts to her knees in typical court fashion, she pressed her forehead to the ground. She looked up and grinned, her capricious mask showing for a split second before returning to dignified serenity. “My father sends his greetings. He is mobilizing twenty thousand of his men to help repel the invaders.”
“Thank you for coming,” Kaiya said, though Linshan was five days away. By the time they arrived, Geros would occupy the city and could repel them at the east gate. In front of her, the military officers’ dire expressions confirmed her worries. There had to be some way to spare the capital from the ravages of Bovyan indiscretion.
What would Father have done? Nothing, perhaps—he had never gone to war. No Tianzi from her bloodline had, except the Founder himself. What would he have done? She had no way knowing, but… She turned to the military advisors. “What did the Founder say about facing more powerful enemies?”
An officer bowed. “Create the illusion of weakness where you are strong, enticing the enemy to attack.”
Kaiya nodded. But still, with nothing save for weakness, there was little need to create any illusion of it. She beckoned another general to speak.
“If the enemy is on the march, dangle out bait and keep him moving. He will tire.”
Not likely for Bovyans, but it gave her a thought. Kaiya rose. The imperial armies remained strong in the central valley. There was one piece of bait which Geros had thrown caution to the wind in order to pursue, but it would mean the regent fleeing the capital. “Emperor Geros will pursue me to the Eldaeri Isles and back. I would be the bait to lure him into Fenggu, where our main army can crush him.”
A soldier cleared his throat. “Or be crushed by him. Our army would be caught between the Teleri and the traitor, Peng.”
Kaiya sighed. Chief Minister Hong’s machinations had drawn so many men away from the capital. It was so clear. Maybe even now, he was
responsible for the sabotage of the armories. He would need to be tracked down and—
“And, forgive me, Jie-xia.” Chief Minister Song pressed his forehead to the floor. “The regent should not abandon the capital.”
“Shed your skin like a cicada,” General Tang said, “and while the enemy is distracted, you can escape in secret.”
Kaiya shook her head. “The point is to make him chase me. There can be no secrecy.”
“If I may, Jie-xia.” General Tang bowed. “It works the other way, too. You have a double.”
A very pregnant double who would have difficulty travelling. However, it appeared they had exhausted all other options, and even this plan carried significant risks. Kaiya nodded to the assembled ministers. “Chief Minister Song, inform Meiling of this task. General Tang, prepare an escort. What else needs to be done to create the illusion?”
“Spread disinformation among the populace,” an officer said, “that the regent has fled Huajing to join up with the remnants of the imperial army in Fenggu. Enough men to get the Teleri to commit the bulk of their own solders to pursuit.”
Lin Ziqiu cleared her throat. “Blow holes in the city’s eastern walls so that my father’s army can reinforce your men here when they arrive.”
Kaiya nodded. It was the logical choice to protect as many people as possible. Even if it meant putting Meiling through more hardship, and risked the utter obliteration of the imperial armies caught between Cousin Peng and the Teleri. Maybe even Peng would put his ambitions aside to save Hua from a foreign invader.
“Jie-xia,” a voice called from the entrance.
Kaiya looked.
Doctor Wu held up a familiar mirror. “Lord Xu wishes to speak.”
Lord Xu! Kaiya’s heart leaped through the Tiger’s Eye. With his formidable magic, perhaps he could find a solution to this problem. She searched the room. “Where is the councilor?”
His image materialized above the mirror, much larger than life, perhaps as large as his ego. He didn’t bother to bow. “Jie-xia, it is you who must personally go to Fenggu and rally the imperial armies. Only you can do it.”
