* * * * *
They were in port no more than an hour before the Adjurian ship sailed in. Its two tall masts gave away its approach long before they could see it move into the bay, but even so, Leisu felt a premonition that something bad was going to occur when he saw them. There were no more than a dozen men aboard her, Leisu figured as he watched the ship, named The Comely Maiden, glide into a berth along an empty pier beside them. Some of them scurried about pulling at the rigging and securing the sails, but most only stood at the railing and watched the docks grow closer. By the look of them they weren’t sailors. Most were well past middle age and a few had graying hair. Only one carried a weapon that Leisu could see; a mighty longsword that was sheathed at the belt of one of the more thick-set ones, muscle turned to fat no doubt. Several of the same men that had taken the ropes of Leisu’s ship now took those of this new visitor. Leisu wondered what a group of Adjurians could possibly be doing in Weiling as he walked down the gangplank of his ship and moved over to have a better look.
One of the Adjurians, a man with a bright black goatee, spoke a few words in Jongurian to one of the men that had assisted with the ropes, and he ran off toward the town. Leisu sidled up to one of the dockworkers to get a better idea of what was happening.
“They want to see the imperial representative,” the man told Leisu after he asked what was said between the two men.
The imperial representative, what could they possibly want with him? Leisu thought. Could these men be more than just some amazingly ignorant sailors who’d lost their way? Were these the very men that he and Grandon were discussing on the ship just an hour earlier, men coming to start up trade between the two nations once again? It was an intriguing thought, and one that would be good for the country, but it couldn’t have come at a worse time. Why did Grandon have to go out to explore the town now? He turned and began walking down the pier toward the large wooden staircase that would take him toward the imperial offices. He needed to find whoever was in charge of the emperor’s interests here and persuade him that these men must be gotten rid of quickly. But perhaps more importantly, he needed to find Grandon and get him back on the ship immediately.
The imperial office was the first large building just above the stairs from the pier. The man that had carried the Adjurian’s message from the pier was just coming down the wooden porch steps when Leisu approached and walked up and in the front door without so much as knocking. He moved through the small entrance room to the main office, coming to stand in front of a large man with oily hair and ash marks all down his shirt from the pipe lodged between his lips. The man looked up from whatever paperwork he was doing and began to raise an arm in protest at Leisu’s sudden intrusion, but was cut off before he’d had the chance.
“There is right now a group of Adjurians on the dock who would seek an audience with you,” Leisu began, staring down at the man in his desk. “These men must be dispatched with immediately.”
“And who are you to be telling me what to do?” the man asked angrily, sitting up as straight in his desk as his large belly would allow.
“My name is Leisu Tsao and I report directly to Zhou Lao.”
The man sank in his chair at the mention of the rebel leader’s name. He stared at the far wall for a moment before answering. “Zhou wishes that these Adjurians be dispatched?”
“Get rid of them,” Leisu replied. “I’m on important business of Zhou’s. I’ll be in port for another hour at the most, and can’t have these Adjurians about.”
“I will send them on their way immediately,” the man replied, rising from his chair.
“Good,” Leisu said and strode back to the door.
He emerged onto the small porch to see the Adjurians coming up the staircase and heading straight toward him. He quickly walked down the steps, across the street, and into a narrow alley between two smaller buildings. He hung back and watched as three of the dockworkers led the Adjurians to the office, taking up positions on the porch when the men went inside. There were eight of them, all grown men and past their fighting years by the look of it, except one, who was just a boy. What could he possibly be doing here? Leisu thought.
Leisu’s thoughts turned back to the man in the office. he had no idea who the man was, but he’d obviously known and feared the name of Zhou Lao. He knew that his master’s reach extended far, even into some of the northwest provinces, and it would seem that he had some influence in Weiling as well. Seeing him react the way he did, Leisu had no doubt that the man would get rid of the Adjurians as quickly as he could.
He straightened and looked around. He had to find Grandon, get back to the ship, then pull out of this port and get to Bindao. He began to walk the wide streets of Weiling in search of the Adjurian. The townsfolk would really have something to talk about now. A ship full of Adjurians in port for the first time in twenty years, word of that would spread quickly. It was just as well, Leisu thought. Now anyone who happened to have seen Grandon earlier wouldn’t remember that he was separate from the others. All Adjurians would look the same to these fishermen, so it was well in a way that the ship had come when it did. Still, Leisu told himself, the sooner they were on their way the better.
The Jongurian Mission Page 2
