“I am honoured to meet you, Kylan,” he said and he looked up. “He looks like a lion.”
“Yes,” she purred. “No spots.”
“But the eyes, is he—”
“An Oracle?” and she grinned, a grin both wicked and wise. “Of course.”
He removed one glove, flexed his clawless fingers and with great care, as one would touch an eggshell, he touched his son’s night black hair. It was soft and wavy like his mother’s, shone blue in the early morning light. He ran one finger along the kitten’s cheek and smiled as it grabbed it with one tiny fist.
“He is strong.”
“Like his father.”
He took a deep breath.
“I will arrange an escort for you both back to DharamShallah. One thousand warriors will accompany you and the Scholar. You both will stay in the House Wynegarde-Grey. There are many rooms and our mother is blind.”
She laughed, lowered her golden eyes.
“I am not returning to Pol’Lhasa, Kirin-san.”
He stared at her.
“But, where?”
She looked down, took a long breath, then looked back up, chin high and proud.
“Swift Sumalbayar has asked me to be his wife.”
“Swift?”
“Yes.”
“Khan Sumalbaykhan? You are to be his wife?”
“It is an advantageous position, good for both our Kingdoms. It will unite us.”
“But he’s a, he’s …” He let his words trail off as he wrestled with the thought of this.
“He is a good man, Kirin-san,” she said. “Almost as good as you.”
He nodded, setting and resetting his jaw.
“And the baby?”
“Will be with me.”
“Does Swift know I am the father?”
“I have not told him. But he knows.”
She lowered her eyes and smiled. It played about on her lips a moment and he wondered at that.
“He calls me the Lover of Lions.”
He breathed out again.
“You may tell him that you are not only the Lover of a Lion, but the beloved.”
He did see the tears now and she looked down at her son. He passed the baby back.
“That is a good plan,” he said finally. “I am happy for you. Both of you.”
And he made a move to leave but she laid a hand on his glove.
“You are happy with her?”
“Her?”
She said nothing. She didn’t need to.
He lowered his eyes now.
“I have loved her since I was in my fourth summer.” He shrugged. “It is the way of things.”
“It is a good way.”
He sat back, for the first time finding comfort in her presence.
“You will be the wife of a Khan.”
“Khanil.”
“Khanil Sherhannah.”
“Rah,” she said. “He calls me Rah. The sun-god of the Aegypshans. They worship the moon.”
“Khanil Rah,” and he smiled. “It suits you.”
And he leaned forward and kissed her forehead, allowing his lips to linger a moment on her pelt, breathing in one last time the scent of her, the incense in her hair, the smoke, the magic.
He rose to his feet.
“When he is old enough, send our son to Pol’Lhasa. I will train him myself.”
“Of course.”
And he left her to the candles and the baby to take his place at the head of the army.
***
It was a strange ship that they were given, not a sailing ship but a different kind of ship. A Griffen, Solomon had said, some sort of flying heliship, but Kerris thought it looked like a dragon. It would take Kerris and Fallon to the Eastern Kingdom and then continue on to take Solomon and three others on to SleepLab 3 in Kalgoolie, Australia. Damaris Ward was accompanying him as Head of Security, along with zoologist Armand Dell and linguist Persis Sengupta. They had been asked to leave CD Shenandoah as they were all deemed a threat to security of the base. The cats for obvious reasons, Solomon for his irreparable dismantling of the MAIDEN fence and the other three for removing the young tigress from quarantine and thwarting Medicore’s plans for the twins. It seemed to be an acceptable solution to all of them.
The inside of the flying ship was old and smelled of mildew and rust but it did fly under the skillful hand of Damaris Ward. And so they sat as stars glittered outside the small windows, drinking tea and studying maps.
“The Capuchin Council meets twice a year,” said Fallon. “They are from all over the Eastern Kingdom and they journey to and from Lha’Lhasa, gathering the thoughts and wishes of the people.”
“The Council won’t be strong enough,” said Kerris. “We’ll need to speak to the Emperor himself and he’s in Bai’Zhin. They won’t give us troops unless we speak directly to him.”
“But will he listen?” asked Solomon. “I mean, it’s a good plan but it falls apart if he doesn’t listen.”
“He’ll listen,” grinned Kerris. “He loves me. I spent many months in his Forbidden City. It’s a perfect place for Fallon to have the kittens. Chi’Chen women are marvelous midwives.”
His wife beamed at him.
Solomon shook his head. “That’s great, but don’t believe for a minute that Cece will leave it alone, not if there’s any chance that there are more ‘monsters’ who can do what you did in such a short span of time. You trashed the entire Compound.”
“CanShield North is furious,” said Persis. Her hair was beginning to grow back and it looked like the fuzz of a new peach. “My director said Paolini wanted all animals in the compounds exterminated.”
Dell shook his fuzzy head. “I’m glad I’m not there for that.”
“Well, if you meet the dogs, you might reconsider,” grumbled Kerris. “That will be the trickiest bit of diplomacy ever. I’m not sure even Kaidan can do that.”
A lean shape in black fatigues crossed into the cabin and Jeffery Solomon brightened at the sight of her.
“Hey, want some tea?” asked Fallon.
She shook her head. Like the others, her hair was growing back under her goggled cap, but the tattooed eyebrows were still remarkable. She had given up the most by helping them and her conflict was evident. Still, she was there and had piloted the Griffen without complaint and Solomon realized he owed his life to her as well as the cats.
“The Forbidden City is a walled city,” she said. “With a courtyard wide enough for an army. We can land the Griffen in the middle, no problem.”
Solomon looked at all the faces.
“We’re making history, people. These Empires have never seen a human. We are the creatures here, creatures of myth and legend and they might not want us back. Any thoughts before we take ‘er down? Yes? No?”
He smiled at Kerris and Fallon, before looking up at Ward.
“Take ‘er down.”
***
The snow had not stopped since the night of the battle and the Field of One Hundred Stones was thick and white. They filled the plain and Kirin wished the Ancestors could see this dragon of a very different kind. They spread out from horizon to horizon, as far as the eyes could see. Of the Khargan’s Ten Thousand and the Army of Blood’s six thousand men, only nine thousand survived. Of the seven thousand horses, six thousand survived. Six thousand horses, and one mountain pony.
He looked at the sight, Kerris on Quiz, Fallon on yet another horse, a grey this time. He shook his head. He’d given up counting. She was carrying a wrap of linen and a banner pole, smiled at him once she’d caught him looking.
“So, um, I was thinking…”
“Yes, sister?”
“I was thinking that we really can’t use the same banners and flags we did before, right? I mean, not if we’re one big united army riding under three Allied Kingdoms. It doesn’t really speak ‘Alliance’ if one guy carries a dragon banner and another guy carries a sun banner and the other guy, well, he doesn’t carry a banner at al
l ‘cause he and his people don’t really have banners, right? I mean, most of them can’t even read or write but they certainly could paint if they had the inkling…”
He opened his mouth, realized his mistake, closed it again.
“So anyway, I took the liberty – oh I do love that word, Liberty. It just rolls off your tongue. Liibbeeeerrtteeee… Liberty, Liberrrttee…”
“Luv?” said Kerris, looking up at her. “The banner?”
“Oh, yes, right! Well, so I took the…Liberty,” and she winked at him. “To design a new one, one with all symbols of the Three Kingdoms combined. I mean, it’s just an idea and I’ve shown it to the new Khan and he likes it and I showed it to a bunch of Chi’Chen soldiers and they liked it and well, I’m certainly no artisan but I hear the monkeys are really good at that. If Bo were here, he could do it but he’s not and well, we’re weeks away from Lha’Lhasa so I thought, well, until we get there, we could use this new banner. So, what do you think?”
And she blinked at him, the tip of her tongue poking out of the side of her mouth.
“May I see it?”
“Oh! Oh, hah hah! Yes, yes of course! Um, here…” It was a long sheet of linen and she unfurled it for him to see.
“See? The sun is the symbol for the Eastern Kingdom and the Moon is sort of, kind of the symbol for the Lower Kingdom so I sort of combined them here, like this…”
And she made motions with her hands.
“It looks like a Tao wheel,” he said quietly.
“Yes, that’s what I thought too. The red is the Yang, the white is the Yin, and here…are the twin dragons of Pol’Lhasa, wrapped around them both…”
She swallowed, looked up at him, emerald eyes earnest.
“So? What do you think?”
“It’s exquisite,” he said.
“What? Really? You mean that? You like it?”
“Yes, sister. I like it.”
She sat back on her horse. “Wow.”
Kerris grinned at him.
“That looks like the scribblings of the Alchemist’s baby,” growled Major Ursa Laenskaya as she and her husband rode up on their desert horses. Shar Ma’uul and Jalair Naransetseg followed, riding together on aSiffh’s sturdy young back.
Kirin grinned.
“So?” he said. “Back to Sha’Hadin?”
“I’m afraid so,” said Sireth. “As much as I would love to see Lha’Lhasa and the artistry of the Chi’Chen, I believe we need, now more than ever, to be training our people in the Gifts and the Arts.”
“People are stupid,” said Ursa. “They need to be trained.”
“And Ursa will train them,” added the Seer.
“With a stick.”
“When we’ve returned, we will send a falcon,” said Kirin. “You will make it to Pol’Lhasa one day.”
“Promises,” grunted the Major.
Kirin looked over at the yellow cat with the white hair and eyes like the moon and the blue wolf riding behind him, hands wrapped around his waist. The owl rode on his shoulder, head turned almost upside down. Kirin shook his head.
“And you, sidi? Are you taking your Oracle back to Sha’Hadin as well for training?”
“No,” he said. It was difficult to know where he was looking because of his eyes. “But we are leaving.”
“Leaving? Where? Why?”
“Ulaan Baator, you have saved my people,” said Setse. “But my people must learn to save themselves. The Chanyu do not train Oracles. They fear them, they shun them, they make them live apart as beasts. This must change if we are to help defeat the Ancestors.”
“Defeat the Ancestors,” repeated Shar, his voice a heartbeat behind hers.
“With the blessing of the Khan, we are going to cross the Land of the People, searching out Oracles and those with the Gifts to help make us strong. Then we will find a good place, a safe place, a place high in the mountains and we will call on the Last Seer of Sha’Hadin and he will come and train us all.”
He looked at Sireth. The mongrel shrugged.
“It’s a good plan,” the Seer said.
Kirin looked back at the jaguar, sighed.
“Then I wish you success, sidi, sidala. I look forward to working with you soon.”
“I’m sorry,” said Shar.
“No, sidi. You must do what your Khan asks and your heart demands.”
“No, I’m sorry for, for what I did.”
Kirin said nothing.
“Actually, I didn’t do anything and that was the problem. I didn’t do anything. I knew what they were doing and I didn’t stop them. I didn’t say anything. It was Jet barraDunne and Chancellor Ho, two of the most powerful men in the Kingdom and I was afraid. I hated myself but I was a coward. And for that, I am terribly, terribly sorry.”
Kirin looked down, released a cleansing breath.
“In Shaharabic, aSiffh means forgiveness.”
Shar stared at him.
“You are riding a horse named Forgiveness.”
The jaguar smiled as tears spilled from his white eyes.
“Bayartai, Rani,” said Setse and she gazed down at her brother. “You protect me all my life. I love you so much.”
He smiled up at her and Kirin could see tears there as well.
“Bi camd khairtai, Setse.” And to Shar Ma’uul. “Take care Setse. She my life.”
Shar grinned. “Have you seen her fight?”
Naranbataar laughed. Setse looked up at the Shogun-General.
“Bayartai, Ulaan Baator. Il bayarliaa.”
The owl lit from his shoulder as the desert horse wheeled and loped out of the crowd, her dark hair and his white flowing together like the tao wheel. Soon, they were little more than specks on the horizon.
Strange, he thought to himself. Yin and Yang were in all things. Perhaps, in a small way, so were Blue Wolf and Yellow Cat.
“A wife and a noble purpose,” said the Seer, watching them. “Now, he can be happy.”
Kirin smiled.
“And so, we go,” said Sireth. “Have you read your letter from the Empress?”
“I have not. No. Why?”
“No reason,” but he grinned and turned his horse, digging his heels into its side and flying like the wind. Cats, dogs and monkeys bolted out of his way.
“He thinks he can beat me,” Ursa snorted. “He is an idiot.”
And she bowed, fist to cupped palm. He returned it and she spun Xiao on his back legs, leapt off in pursuit. They two were little more than specks in no time, the party of Imperial escorts struggling to catch up.
Khan Swift Sumalbaykhan strode up to the fore. He was wearing nothing to set him apart from any other dog, no mane of lions, no skulls for armour nor claws around his neck. But he was a tall man and he walked with authority and Kirin was glad this was not the man he had to fight on the Field of One Hundred Stones.
“We go now?” he asked as Khanil Rah glided forward on a night-black mare, the baby in a sling across her back. She smiled at him and Kirin waited for his heart to lurch, for his chest to tighten.
It did not.
High on the back of Shenan, the blood-red stallion, he looked out over the army. There was hardly room. They seemed to fill the entire Plateau of Tevd
There was a ripple of movement and soon, a runner broke from the crowd, ran up toward them. Naranbataar pulled his bow, aimed an arrow at the man’s head but the Shogun-General held up a hand as the runner dropped to one knee.
“Asalan Zhu!”
“Tiim?” said Kirin. He needed to begin to speak the language. Of all the things he had needed these last years, he knew this would be the hardest.
The dog held up an object, scraped and dented but recognizable and Kirin smiled as Naranbataar took it from the man, passed it up. It was the kabuto, the hammered bronze helm in the shape of a lion’s mane. The pheasant feather was bent but the tiny hook remained. He took it, tucked it under his arm, looked down at the man, and bowed at the waist, fist to cupped palm.
&nb
sp; The dog did likewise and a roar went up from the nine thousand on the plain. He looked over them all.
“Tell them,” he said to Naranbataar. “That from now on, they are to be known as the Army of Nine Thousand Dragons.”
And he placed the helm on his head, pulling the queue out through the hole at the crown.
The young dog shouted his translation and the Plateau of Tevd thundered with the voices of cats, dogs and monkeys. Kirin looked down at his brother on the mountain pony.
“This is only the beginning, Kirin,” said Kerris. “We have a hell of a lot of work to do.”
“I am beginning to see that,” said Kirin as he nudged Shenan in the side.
“I mean, the monkeys might not even want us in Lha’Lhasa. It’s a pretty bold move.”
“It was my idea,” said Fallon and she grinned to herself. “Boy oh boy, do I have big ideas.”
And as the Nine Thousand Dragons set off into the early morning light of the East, Kirin reached beneath the plates of the doh and into his sash, slid out the tiny slip of parchment. It smelled of orange and lotus and Ling.
He unfolded it, read it once and then again.
His heart skipped a beat and a rush of cold swept from his head down to his toes. He swallowed, slipped the parchment back into his sash.
“I am with child,” was all it said.
***
It was said that a dragon had landed in the central courtyard of the Emperor’s Forbidden City in Bai’Zhin.
The noise itself first awakened the sentries, then the servants then the Royal Family themselves, and it was early morning as Emperor Hiro Watanabe and his four wives and seven children watched from the balcony as the magical creature lowered itself to the ground in a rush of wind and flying leaves. It was immediately surrounded by five thousand of the Emperor’s elite Snow Guard for it was a metal dragon and no one knew if metal dragons were peaceful and good, or capricious and nasty. In fact, no one knew anything at all about metal dragons, for such a thing had never existed. Dragons were fire, water, air and stone but never metal.
It is also said that Kaidan, fabled Kaidan of the Upper Kingdom and his lover the Lightning came out of the dragon, bringing weapons for the Emperor and gifts for his children, and bringing with him Ancestors from the Star of Five Tails. It is also said that while the guards pointed swords and spears and arrows at Kaidan and his friends, the Emperor himself ran on slippered feet from the balcony and through the Hall of Celestial Purity down the steps and many corridors of the residence until he himself raced out into the courtyard. It is also said that the Snow Guard were confused whether to drop to their knees in the presence of their Emperor or to redouble their weapons in order to secure his safety. Regardless, one thing is agreed on and that is the fact that Emperor Hiro Watanabe raced through those soldiers to embrace Kaidan like a brother and for weeks afterwards, all of them dined and danced and discussed matters of great importance. Only then did the dragon take the Ancestors to a new land, leaving Kaidan and his wife the Lightning in the Forbidden City, for she was with child and Chi’Chen midwives are known throughout the world for their skill.
The Way of Things: Upper Kingdom Boxed Set: Books 1, 2 and 3 in the Tails of the Upper Kingdom Page 113
