The Third Myth seemed alive and well here, too.
I hadn’t yet figured out how that fit into the whole mindset of the humans and even the seers living in the City itself, but everyone seemed to know who I was. That appeared to be true no matter where they sat on the food chain of the palace...or what racial affiliation they claimed.
Humans and seers alike stared at me as I walked by.
Many of the humans bowed, and appeared awed, if not outright frightened when they saw me in the flesh. Seers bowed as well...the less intimidated of these doing so with their hands at their chest, their eyes lowered below the level of mine, as was the law for intermediary beings.
I knew most of the humans living there adopted a monk-like existence. They saw themselves as cultural guardians as well...and almost the servants of the seers, rather than the reverse.
Walking through all this, it was difficult not to imagine growing up there as a seer. It had to beat anything I’d seen in India or Eastern Europe...much less in the States, where seers were tranked, tagged and collared practically at birth, and usually stuck in pens like cattle to be “trained” before being sold as quasi-prostitutes (if not actual prostitutes)...mainly to rich humans and corporations. Those training sessions usually involved whips, sleep and food deprivation, along with various types of psychological torture.
It also included repeated and systematic rape of the females.
Here, it was beautiful. Serene.
A kind of silence lay over everything, as if talking too loudly might hurt the pristine vibrations within the City’s walls. No matter how far I wandered through the maze of carefully maintained grounds, I found something new each time, and usually that new thing fascinated or charmed me in some way. And no matter how often I walked, or how far, I always ended up in the Imperial Gardens at some point in my stroll.
Funnily enough, it was the one place I had often wondered if I was supposed to be.
No one tried to stop me from going there, however...or even gave me so much as a disapproving look. But I’d seen guards following me at a discreet distance as soon as I entered its boundaries. They would watch me from between the trees, almost as if they just wanted to know where I was.
Since the Imperial Garden lay at the northernmost edge of the City’s walls, it’s possible they simply worried I might try to escape. But behind the wall to the garden stood an even higher red brick wall that stretched so tall it seemed to block half of the sky when I looked in that direction. To think I might be attempting escape from that was semi-flattering I guess...if more than a little paranoid. In any case, I highly suspected at least one of the Lao Hu followed me wherever I went anyway. It could have been a sign of my status as Bridge...or, based on my impressions of Voi Pai so far, it could be something else entirely.
Hell, for all I knew, they were adding Chinese death berries to my noodles every morning.
On this day, though, I decided to go to a different garden Jon had told me about, by the east wall of the City and not far from the Imperial residence. He said some of the humans hosted garden parties there sometimes, but if it wasn’t in use, it was really peaceful inside.
It took me a few turns and blind alleys to find it.
When I finally stumbled upon the narrow, walled corridor Jon had described and that I had imprinted from his light, I paused. Looking up, I studied the high arches leading to the garden’s entrance, taking another snapshot with my light so I would be able to find it easier the next time I looked for it. I paused again on a view of trees behind the ornate wall, with a structure in front that matched one of the secondary images I’d memorized with my light as Jon spoke.
Or, as well as I could see it, anyway...given the collar.
Wandering through an opening in the nearest wall, I entered through a side gate, then relaxed when I couldn’t hear anyone. Water flowed up ahead somewhere, and I heard sparrows, and some other bird with a long, high call. I peered inside the structure that sat in the middle of the gardens, and saw chairs around a table, along with a bamboo wall with a round opening in the center of it, like the one in my room.
Walking around to the other side, I eventually found the odd maze carved in stone that Jon had told me about, where they floated drinks in some game the Emperor’s family used to play back when they had garden parties there, maybe even prior to the time of the seers. Rubbing my hands over the carved stone, I looked around the small covered area, then headed further back, deeper into the wooded area itself.
Rounding a corner by one of those oddly tall rock sculptures, I came up short when I saw Balidor and Voi Pai sitting on a stone bench.
They sat with legs touching, their heads close together.
Around them flowed another of those reconstructed landscapes with a waterfall, a stream, grass, trees surrounding strategically-placed lanterns and painted vases. I found myself studying Balidor’s face as he frowned, lips pursed, at something Voi Pai said.
I saw him nod then, meeting her gaze.
When she smiled, he smiled faintly in return, but the serious look never left his eyes, nor did the even fainter layer of scrutiny he trained at her.
But she was talking again, and he, listening.
He touched her arm a second later, leaning closer to murmur something in her ear. I found myself flinching a little, in spite of myself.
Unsure if I should approach, I finally decided against it and backed up, thinking I would just go back the way I’d come...visit the garden a different day, now that I’d located it in my mental map. At that precise moment, Balidor turned, and his gray eyes locked on mine.
Studying my expression briefly, he made a hand gesture that I took to be reassuring. At the end of it, he pointed at his throat, indicating he’d speak to me later. I nodded, then realized Voi Pai stared at me, too, those cat-like eyes holding a faint hostility. Still watching my face, she laid a hand on Balidor’s thigh, massaging it deliberately up to his groin.
Even collared, I felt him react, just before he glanced at her.
Smiling a little tensely at both of them, I nodded to Balidor, then stumbled backwards, leaving a little quicker than I probably should have.
I would visit this particular garden some other time, I told myself, loudly enough that they would hear it too, well past the collar and whatever else might be going on in my light.
It wasn’t until I’d left through the gated opening that I let myself wonder what the hell Balidor was doing.
18
NEGOTIATION
REVIK APPROACHED TIAN’ANMEN Gate, the Gate of Heavenly Peace, walking slow.
Strolling casually across the street from the tree-studded stripe of land separating the gates from the rest of the city, he glanced up at the towers to either side of the main entrance without turning his head. The road made a slow curve in front of the main gate, where a large portrait of Mao hung from the highest part of the wall, a sort of proprietary statement about the contents of the City beyond.
The road itself was gated, however, and the newer walls curved out in a protective crescent moon, flanked on either side by the older stone columns known as huablao. As if to emphasize the point, armored military vehicles flanked the wings of those walls and the metal gates closing off the surrounding roads on either side.
Revik glanced at the line of human soldiers in the same pass of his eyes, and then returned his focus to the gate itself.
White metal fencing had been put up to block passage by the curious. The size and height of the walls themselves sent message enough, rising to almost absurd heights on either side of the much older gate hinging them in front.
Revik could feel seers up there, as well as humans.
He knew they had high-powered rifles, possibly a few modified Gat-guns along with organic explosives in the event of any threats to the outer gate itself. The real protection, however, remained the dense construct he already felt himself touching with exploring tendrils of his light. Within seconds, his light could be surrounded by
a few dozen Lao Hu infiltrators, immobilized and drained to the point where he’d barely be conscious.
He didn’t know their reaction times exactly, of course...but he wouldn’t bet on it being very long. Maybe long enough for him to kill a handful of them, and possibly destroy the two armored vehicles guarding the gates.
He felt ripples of attention on him from the seers above.
They must have some kind of field in place, to pick up seers once they got within a certain proximity to the gate itself. He knew they’d already ID’d him as being not one of theirs. They must put some kind of key or structure in the aleimi of affiliated seers, too; not uncommon in any group of isolationists.
Still, he couldn’t tell yet, if they knew who he was.
He kept his steps slow, almost casual, his hands free, and visible.
He kept his light respectful, too...not testing the boundaries or even the security features of the construct itself. Or, more accurately, only doing it overtly, to avoid appearing like he was doing anything but assessing for his own safety.
According to seer etiquette, if it was overt...it was polite.
A few dozen human tourists stood around those same white-painted fences, pointing up at the high-walled gates, although none got too close to the guarded opening before the center bridge. Revik saw them being shepherded past by white-gloved, green-uniformed soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), who only allowed them to look for so long before pointing at the “No Loitering” and “No Pictures” signs in multiple languages on the shrub-dotted lawn.
Above, the portrait of Mao hung from the lowest, and therefore the oldest, of the gate’s high walls.
Since the soldiers concentrated their attention more on covering the areas to either side of the main walkway, Revik made his way right up through the center of the small crowd between the main road and the stone foot bridges. He walked casually through the thickest part of the crowd, handing a device to a human and pushing him gently to use it.
Eyes wide in surprise, the tourist smiled at him gratefully, then pointed the image capturing device up at the main gate.
The sensors went off...then the alarm...causing a flurry of shouted Mandarin and waving white gloves as the soldiers descended on the hapless tourist. Two of them grabbed his arms, handcuffing him roughly as a third confiscated the device he likely hadn’t had time to do more than point at the high gates. One of the soldiers smashed it under a booted foot as the others led the human away towards the nearer of the two sets of armored vehicles standing on either side of the bridges.
The alarms cut off in mid-wail. The signal went through the human network that the threat had been neutralized.
Revik continued walking, aiming his feet for the center foot bridge leading to the main gate. Surprisingly, no one noticed for a few seconds.
Then he heard more shouts in Mandarin...calls to halt.
He kept walking, his pace casual.
A human guard ran around in front of him. He shoved the muzzle of his rifle into Revik’s chest.
“Stop!” the man broke out, in heavily accented English. “Stop now!”
Revik pushed the human easily with his mind, a blown kiss.
Confusion softened the man’s features. Revik extended the push to the soldiers on either side, as well as those holding rifles on him from the wall above, and those in the armored vehicle. Using the mobile construct he’d woven with his infiltrators prior to his arrival, he extended his influence over most of the small army guarding the fortress gates...his eyes still focused on the one in front of him.
Still, he did it overtly. Politely.
Symbols all over his mobile construct flashed at the construct walls of the Lao Hu in the same breath. They proclaimed him harmless. Peaceful.
He didn’t want to give the Lao Hu the wrong idea.
The human lowered his gun.
“Apologies, sir,” he said in Mandarin.
The human saluted him then, clicking his heels. He rejoined the others guarding the entrance from tourists. Revik felt the seers up on the wall reacting to what he’d done.
They were calm though, unthreatened by him. They thought him an idiot, most likely, for exposing himself like he had. The thought didn’t bother him; on the contrary, he hoped he amused them. He intended his approach to come across as playful. He intended to charm his way in...not cause offense.
He felt them make a decision to leave the humans under his control, at least briefly, to see what he would do when he reached the main gate.
Revik scanned the human who stood there in ceremonial garb.
He hadn’t bothered to push him; the man was unarmed, there more for show, a ritualistic tie between the old culture of the City and its newer trappings. Revik felt others behind this human though...more than the two who watched him from where they stood in similar clothes, guarding each of the round portals that led to the interior walls.
He also felt the seer paired with the human guard begin to scan him in earnest, working from the other side of the stone wall that formed part of the doorway.
“I’d like to request an audience,” Revik told the human in Mandarin.
The human looked up at him, his eyes showing confusion.
Then he glanced back at the seer Revik still felt scanning him. Getting nothing from them, the human looked hopefully at the soldiers who had gone back to guarding the three stone bridges.
“Your partner will know who I am in a minute,” Revik added. “While she double checks that with her pals up on the wall...” Revik glanced up at the red-painted expanse of wall stretching over where he stood. “...I’d like to request an opportunity to negotiate with a representative of the Lao Hu.”
The guard’s mouth fell open, then snapped shut.
“You cannot come here!” he said, his voice nearly a stutter. Surprise colored his voice, covered over in brusque outrage. “There are no requests here...you must petition!” He pointed at the soldiers. “Go back! Go back now!”
He gestured for Revik to leave, using seer sign language.
When it didn’t work the first time, he gestured more emphatically.
Revik just looked at him, waiting for the seer behind him to complete her scan.
“I think your mistress will make an exception,” he said.
Just then, the seer herself stepped out from around the stone wall. Dressed in a silk dress that fell to embroidered and beaded shoes that covered her feet, she bowed deeply to Revik, lowering her face so that her eyes were symbolically (and in actuality) below his. A black sash cinched her waist, with the gold mark of the Lao Hu on one draping end of dark cloth.
Revik nodded to her. “Hello, sister.”
“Please wait one moment, sir,” she said politely.
Revik returned the bow with the appropriate countersign. He watched as the seer gave the human blunt instructions in Mandarin.
“...be polite,” he heard her hiss. “It is the Sword...Syrimne d’Gaos...”
The human turned, staring up at Revik. The fear in his eyes grew swiftly palpable. Revik smiled at him faintly, then folded his arms, glancing down the length of the gate while he waited for the female seer to finish relaying his message.
It didn’t take long.
Within minutes, he heard someone running in shoes across the stone courtyard on the other side of the gate.
Seconds later, two seers stood there, in addition to the female who first greeted him. One, a male wearing the same black sash, looked at him in some curiosity, his head lowered so that his eyes remained below Revik’s.
The other wore ceremonial dress, sweating somewhat under the elaborate headgear, his face and eyes bright with exertion. Revik couldn’t help but find his speed impressive, considering that he’d clearly had to dress prior to running across some not-insignificant portion of the grounds to reach the front gate. The man in the ceremonial garb bowed so low that his fingers swept the ground.
“Illustrious Sword,” the Chinese seer said in acce
nted Prexci. “We are very honored to welcome you here, to our humble home.”
“Thank you, brother.” Revik bowed in return. “The ceremony is appreciated, but entirely unnecessary. I come as a friend. I would like to speak to your mistress...”
“Of course, sir. She is quite pleased that you have honored us with a visit.”
Revik’s lips quirked a little at this.
“Thank you,” was all he said. “I confess, I have always wished to visit your City...since I was a boy. This is a very great honor for me, so the hospitality is warmly received.”
“She wishes me to express some distress that she hasn’t time to prepare for your visit adequately...”
Revik waved this off also. “I would prefer an informal discussion, if that is pleasing to her.”
“Of course. She indicates that she would like you to accompany me inside...if you are agreeable to that, Illustrious Sword.”
Revik bowed again, gesturing his assent.
“Most agreeable,” he said.
The seer slid to one side in painted leather shoes so that Revik could pass through the gate in front of him. His guide’s head remained low, his eyes looking up from only a few feet above the cobblestones as he walked rapidly just behind him.
Revik bowed again at the courtesy, but felt his patience ebbing somewhat, even as his eyes once more scanned the high wall above.
This was going to take a really long time, if they followed every one of the ceremonial forms outlined in the Myth’s commentaries.
He kept his thoughts to himself, however.
“Thank you, brother,” he murmured.
Folding his arms in front of him, he walked through the gate and into the inner sanctum of the Forbidden City itself.
His escort continued to walk swiftly behind him, head low, moving smoothly so that Revik wouldn’t have to adjust his pace.
“Brother,” Revik said finally, motioning with two fingers. “...This bowing, it’s not necessary.” When the man smiled at him, raising his head from its awkward angle, he added, “I would prefer it much more if you simply told me where we are going...”
Allie's War Season Two Page 27
