by T. A. Miles
“The governors of the Five Kingdoms were granted tremendous trust and a heavy responsibility; to begin to share the burden that the Emperor carried every moment of every day. That is a burden that I now carry, and I have trusted in and shared it with those same men, as well as with their sons. They had rebelled, as children do, under my father. They had been reprimanded, as children are, and set back upon a path of correct civil service. Stubbornly, some of these adopted sons continue to speak out against and to act in defiance of the Mandate. My brother scarcely had time to realize the level of disloyalty and ungratefulness that some had arrived at. I have seen now that judgment is a rarer guide than heart. The path to glory and the path to ruin run side-by-side. The wise will attempt to discern the difference; the passionate will take either course. Passion becomes recklessness and defiance when misguided. I will redirect those who are misguided, and I will enlist the aid of all who are loyal, and courageous on behalf of the people.”
The Empress looked directly at Xu Liang. “I believe that is what the gods intended when they bestowed the Celestial Swords upon us. The Empire will put out the fires of rebellion, the progenies and disciples of Chaos will be put down, and order will be restored to the land.”
Xu Liang bowed low in response to her decree. In the corner of his vision, he could see others in the court doing so also. And so it was decided. The Swords would become weapons of the Empire.
The Vulture and the Wolf
Ma Shou’s feet were blistered and burning from too many days spent on them, walking. Rest was something he’d only been able to take when his companions deemed there was time for it. All of them seemed tireless. The necromancer barely seemed a part of the world and his reticent warrior had the stamina of several men. Zhen Yu seemed not to feel things anymore, be it strain, weariness, pain, or hunger. Ma Shou was the only living one among the three, he was decided. And he planned to stay alive, despite this punishment. A punishment that was intended to be final came with death, not life. It was not Ma Shou’s death which interested Lei Kui besides.
The necromancer sat atop a white horse with a brown hex mark upon its forehead while Ma Shou crested the hill on foot. He was the last of the four of them to arrive. Even Zhen Yu, for all his lack of vigor, had the ability and the drive—perhaps inspired by Lei Kui—to move with speed. Guo Sen rode a dark brown horse that tended to lead, identifying him as the necromancer’s bodyguard, Ma Shou believed. The Vulture and the Wolf, Ma Shou had decided; one who toiled over corpses and one who skulked in the shadows waiting for opportunity—the opportunity to take revenge, Ma Shou believed. He had already dealt with one of such low scruples and savage determination, one who—unlike these two—would hold himself more civilized and at no risk of being labeled an outcast.
From the top of the hill—one peak among several in the narrow, golden and green hills of Eastern Ji—Ma Shou looked toward the lower horizon. The etchings of many grand rooftops glistened beneath the moonlight in the distance. He had returned to the Imperial City at last, in the company of the despised.
Continue the adventure in FOUR BARBARIAN GENERALS.
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T. A. Miles fell down a rabbit hole ages ago, and nothing more need be said about it.
T. A. Miles has been writing novels for over twenty years. She finally presented the results of her mental wanderings to readers in 2011 with the gothic-mystery Raventide, and has published five novels, four short stories, and one novella since.
Will curiosity pull you down the rabbit hole? Visit T. A. Miles at her blog, The Immarcescible Word, to experience her exclusive collection of snippets, extracts, and more!
theimmarcescibleword.com
Celestial Empire
Six Celestial Swords
Five Kingdoms
Four Barbarian Generals
The blood Wars Triilogy
Blood Lilies
Blood Song
Blood Reign
Blood Wars Trilogy Omnibus
the dreamer serial
A Bit(e) of Discretion, Please
A Little Night Magic
All the Tea in Chinatown
Four and Twenty Tengu
Man’s Best Fiend
Stand alone stories
Raventide
Masque of Shadow
See More at RaventideBooks.com
