‘Who are?’ Hudan queried.
‘I cannot see,’ Dan replied, eyes shut tight, ‘it’s too dark.’
‘What is it around your neck?’
‘A dark stone,’ Dan shivered. ‘Ah —’ He sounded repulsed. ‘It’s cold and sickening.’ Dan felt very woozy and stood to escape the hold the vision had upon him.
‘That is how they are blocking us from finding him,’ Hudan concluded and stood also. ‘Very well done, brother.’
‘I’m sure I shall be thrilled by my development, as soon as I stop feeling ill,’ Dan replied, drawing deep breaths to steady his stomach.
‘Poor Fen,’ Hudan said in sympathy … if this was the reaction Dan had from briefly sensing the dark amulet, what must her little brother be feeling. He had been wearing it for hours!
‘Indeed,’ Dan was in complete agreement. ‘But I don’t think any of those impressions are going to help us find him.’
‘Oi! Come back here!’ a guard was heard to yell from the closed garden gate.
Within moments Ling Hu was trudging all over their crime scene.
‘No girl,’ Dan complained and then changed his tune. ‘Hold on, Ling Hu can find Fen anywhere!’
Hudan felt the tigress’s regular method would not help them track Fen in this instance. ‘A tiger’s sense of smell is not as acute as its other senses …’ Then she noted the tigress move further afield, where she started taking deep inhales through her mouth. ‘The one scent they can detect efficiently is urine. That’s how they track their mates.’
The tigress took off, back past them, toward the river. Dan and Hudan gave chase until the tigress vanished into thin air.
‘Whoa?’ Dan wondered if he was seeing things, and ran forth to discover that her tracks just ended some distance from the river bank, and they had heard no splash. ‘Good heavens!’
‘Ling Hu is a shifter,’ Hudan concluded, amazed. ‘Just not the same variety as her kin.’
‘She can shift straight from animal to spirit.’ Dan followed Hudan’s thinking.
‘Quickly,’ Hudan urged Dan to take her hand, ‘let’s not lose her. If she finds Fen before we are with her, Ling Hu may be blocked by the dark magic that is hiding him.’
As Dan took her hand, Hudan blew out the flame in the lantern and invoked a desire to find Ling Hu.
Why is it so cold? Fen awoke, trembling. A vast heaviness hung over his being, worse than any morning he’d experienced after a sacred rite. His eyelids felt like they were cemented and, along with the rest of his body, did not want to budge. The cold stone beneath his face compelled Fen to raise himself. His bound hands brought his current plight flooding back and the shock got his eyes open rather efficiently.
He was in the ruins of an old river fort. In front of him, a large portion of a major defensive wall was missing and he could see the river bumping up against it by the light of the waning moon. This dungeon area probably flooded during high tide.
The queen! At that thought, the healer struggled to release himself from his leather bonds.
‘The pretty boy is awake,’ came the voice of one of his captors, sending a chill down his spine. They were seated right behind him.
Shoved by a foot, Fen was rolled over so he faced them, but unfortunately it was too dark to see them.
‘Your king and queen are dying, pretty boy, and you cannot get back there in time to save them.’
‘Who are you working for?’ Fen asked, trying to contain his angst. If he gave in to fear and the urge to hate these men, then he would lose any chance of swaying them to his cause. He must remain caring and compassionate, and wait for them to get close enough to influence.
‘Who could possibly despise your king for deposing the true emperor?’ his captor teased, but Fen figured just about anyone still loyal to the Shang was the answer.
‘Why would anyone prefer to live under the yoke of tyranny?’ Fen said reasonably. ‘Ji Fa is a good and fair ruler —’
Three simultaneous lashes across Fen’s upper arm turned his appeal into a cry of pain when the triple whip tore through his jacket and the hooked ends stung his skin as they dragged across it.
‘Ouch, that has got to hurt,’ jeered the kidnapper. ‘Do you hate me?’
‘We each have our own path to take,’ Fen replied, sucking back the pain.
‘You got that right, sweet cheeks.’ Fen sensed his stalker leering close, and then withdrawing. ‘Strip him down, boys!’
‘No!’ Fen protested as he was grabbed by many hands and knives began to shred the clothes from his body. There was no point in telling himself to remain calm when he wanted to kill every one of them, but his struggles only served to get him cut several times. Finally, Fen was hauled, naked, to his feet and all he could feel was the icy-cold charm against his chest sucking the life right out of him — he had no fight, no influence left in him. His willing himself to be released had no effect on his captors at all. He was at the mercy of heaven now.
‘I’m going to make you hate like you have never hated before, boy,’ his assailant threatened. ‘Up against the wall!’
Fen tried once more to pull free, his heart thumping with fear, as he was turned about and thrown face first against the stone wall. The pain in one side of his head knocked all care from his mind for a moment and he would have dropped like a rock had he not been so firmly supported in his stance.
‘The queen’s favourite. I can see why!’ A hand slapped against his sore butt cheek, and Fen winced … his already grazed face scraping against the sandstone was smarting as much as the penetrating reminder of where the dart had hit his rump. ‘What a pretty little arse.’
‘You will rot in diyu,’ Fen mumbled, furious at the suggestion that there might be rumours circulating about his relationship with the queen.
His tormentor came in close to say, ‘I hear her bastard is yours, and now it will kill her.’
‘Ah!’ As Fen let loose a howl of protest, a commotion erupted behind him and his attackers let him go. Fen lowered himself down the wall, and managed to turn around to see Ling Hu almost sparkling in the moonlight as she mauled his tormentor. Close by, the men who had been holding him, took aim at her with arrows. ‘Hide!’ Fen yelled. It was the order that usually aroused the fastest response from her, and Fen expected that she would bound away to the closest cover.
As the arrows flew, the tigress vanished, leaving the men visibly shocked.
‘That’s how she does it.’ Fen realised she’d been cheating in their games.
When she reappeared in front of Fen, she scared her attackers into backing further away from him, exactly to where Hudan and Dan silently appeared. The duke drew the sword from the bandit’s scabbard before the man even knew someone was behind him, and he turned around in time to lose his head.
Hudan gripped the neck of the last man, who he dropped his weapon. ‘Who sent you?’
The man chose to defy her and remain silent. ‘Tell me, or the king’s guard will torture the truth from you. Your choice.’
He attempted to spit in her face, but the spittle rebounded onto his own, and he recoiled in disgust. As he had lost control of his limbs, he tried to shake it off his face.
‘Have it your way. Sit.’ She directed him to the ground, where he dropped straight onto his behind.
Next Hudan rushed to Fen, removing her white cloak to place around him. ‘Thank Tian you are alive.’ She cut his bonds then embraced him. ‘Argh!’ she cried, repelled and rapidly backing up.
‘It’s this thing,’ Fen explained, removing the amulet.
‘It’s absolutely repulsive.’ Hudan could not bring herself to touch it. ‘Are you otherwise unharmed?’ She brushed his hair aside to try and view the graze on his face.
‘Do not fuss.’ Fen was still reeling in his mind from the close call. ‘Your timing was impeccable, as always.’
‘It was Ling Hu’s timing, really,’ Hudan said, giving credit to the tigress.
Fen set aside the offensive amul
et and left Hudan to go and hug his saviour.
‘You should take Fen directly to the king,’ Dan suggested. ‘I’ll keep a watch on our friend here.’
‘Stay with Zhou Gong, Ling Hu,’ Fen instructed the tigress, as he took hold of his sister’s hand. ‘Stay.’
Fen vanished with Hudan, and for the first time in her life, Ling Hu complied with Fen’s request.
The Wu joined the king in his public council chamber, where he sat on his throne in an almost catatonic state. What was more disheartening was that the king’s spirits did not lift upon sighting them; he barely reacted.
‘Majesty,’ Fen fell to his knees, for clearly they had come too late. ‘I have failed you.’ His heart welled with sorrow, and tears of remorse tumbled from his eyes.
Fa shook his head. ‘You warned us, Fen Gong, but we did not listen.’
‘Your son?’ Hudan asked, as Fen had his head down and was silently choking on his emotion.
‘Ji Yu,’ Fa forced a smile, ‘he lives and is well. Ah —’ The king gripped his wounded thigh.
Upon noting this, Fen suppressed his remorse and crawled toward the king. He thought of his gratitude that Ling Hu had not been harmed by his abductors and focussing on that happiness, Fen reached out and placed a hand on the king’s leg.
The tension from the pain left Ji Fa and, given relief, he fell to pieces. ‘She was my all, Fen … and I had to give the nod to butcher her, again. But she did not survive this time.’ Fa keeled forward, unable to endure his torment. ‘I thank you for your service,’ he said as he removed the lad’s healing hand from his person, ‘but I want you to let me die.’
‘That would be treason,’ Fen appealed. ‘I cannot deprive the land of your supreme guidance. Heaven chose you, majesty.’
The king shook his head, not wanting to hear it. ‘When Yi passed, I had to hope they would not find you, Fen, because I knew you would keep me living. Yet if you had not spared me at Yin, Yi Jiang would still be alive.’
‘Ji Song is too young to rule.’ Hudan’s voice of reason interrupted the sympathy party. ‘Yi Jiang died to secure your dynasty! If you give up now, my brother, you will lose everything we fought for.’
The king raised his eyes to view Hudan, his ire evident. ‘Who did this?’
‘Someone very patient, clever and skilled in the dark arts,’ Hudan replied.
‘In other words, that accursed dragon.’ Fa stood, angered, but collapsed back on his throne as his leg began to ail once again. ‘Damn it all!’ He gripped the wounded area.
‘Even you, mighty Fa, are having trouble dealing with this curse,’ she pointed out. ‘Are you really prepared to abandon Ji Song to contend with it?’
‘No.’ He gritted his teeth and gave Fen the nod to heal him.
‘I regret I am now part of your curse, majesty.’ Fen reluctantly reached out and placed his hand on the king’s leg to force his wound into remission.
‘Ahhh …’ Fa relaxed once again, exhausted from the stress. ‘Fen.’
‘Yes, majesty.’
‘Of all my subjects it is you I cherish most. Above Dan, above Jiang Taigong —’
The claim made Fen catch his breath and he shook his head. ‘It is only the glamour of my art, majesty. These men are far greater than I could —’
‘Despite what has become of our folly,’ Fa spoke up over the lad, ‘your healing gave me the best year of my life … and now I face the worst.’
‘I shall be here by your side, majesty,’ Fen swore.
‘I fear you will have little choice in the matter,’ because as long as the king maintained his grief his wound would ail him.
‘I should return to Zhou Gong who is guarding the captive. We plan to give him to you for questioning,’ Hudan informed Fa, and he was pleased by the news.
‘I want that creature dead!’ The king’s resolve hardened, and Hudan nodded in support of his determination and she vanished from their midst. The king turned to Fen. ‘I would ask you to prepare my wife’s body for burial.’
‘You do me incalculable honour, majesty.’
‘You did such a beautiful job with He Nuan’s casket —’ Fa choked and fell silent.
‘I shall do my best to do our queen honour, majesty.’
‘You might want to heal yourself, first.’ The king referred to Fen’s arm, which was bleeding long, red stains through the white cloak. ‘Forgive me, brother … I have not even asked how you fare?’ Ji Fa stood and, raising the lad, he placed him on the throne.
‘It is nothing, majesty. I am fine, truly.’ Fen quickly stood, uncomfortable with the situation, causing the room to spin and, with a painful crack to the head, Fen passed out cold.
It was darker than before in the ruins. The moon had passed over the site and as the tide was beginning to rise, Hudan found herself ankle deep in water.
‘I was hoping you would arrive soon.’ Dan tapped her shoulder to let her know where he was. ‘I still have the lantern here, if you would be so kind.’
She imaged the lantern burning, and it lit up the cavern as the inner flame roared back into life.
‘You do not need the staff any longer?’ Dan noted, impressed.
She shook her head, not really in the mood for light banter, and it showed.
‘We were too late,’ the duke concluded. ‘The prince?’
‘Lives,’ Hudan said, pleased to have some happy news.
‘Fa?’ he asked more warily.
‘Fen is with him.’ Hudan gave the best news on that front that she could.
There was a secret she’d been carrying for some time now, which had been preoccupying her mind, and it was begging to be released.
‘This is most unfortunate.’
Hudan glanced around to note their prisoner was unconscious, and Ling Hu was missing. ‘What happened?’
‘Ling Hu and I were just playing a little cat and mouse with him, and he tripped and fell unconscious,’ claimed Dan. ‘He’s still alive.’
‘Uh-huh.’ Hudan was not sure she believed him, and Dan avoided her questioning gaze as he looked about for Ling Hu. ‘She was here just a moment ago.’
‘Clearly, we are alone, and that is well,’ Hudan piped up, gathering her courage. ‘I have something I feel I have to tell you.’
Dan was intrigued and awarded her his full attention. ‘What is on your mind, brother Hudan?’
‘It’s about brother Fa —’
Dan exhaled heavily, clearly finding the subject matter very anticlimactic. ‘What about him?’
She didn’t know how she could put it delicately, so she just said it. ‘He’s going to die within the year.’
Dan was mortified. ‘You have foreseen it?’
Hudan shook her head slowly, preparing to be yelled at. ‘I read it in the Jade Book.’
‘You have known since then?’ The duke was doubly affronted. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’
‘What difference would it have made?’ Hudan appealed. ‘It would have just been another worry to contend with.’
‘You managed!’ Dan confronted her. ‘I am not a child … I am chief advisor to the king! Ji Song will be too young to rule,’ Dan gasped, as he realised their biggest problem.
‘I know.’ Hudan pre-empted his next query. ‘Before you ask, I did not read on, and I do not know what happens next.’
‘The Great Mother must have known this.’ Dan was frustrated. Thinking back over their conversations, he could see now how she’d been priming him for a leadership challenge. ‘Sometimes I just want to kill that woman! Man!’
‘Dan?’ Hudan called for him to calm down when she spotted the discarded amulet her brother had been wearing.
‘What!’ he roared, annoyed.
‘I think we should get away from this thing, before we discuss this any further, as it is bound to make us more unreasonable,’ she advised.
‘This reaction is not unreasonable, considering what you have just told me,’ Dan grumbled, endeavouring to stay civil, but clearly he was
struggling.
‘Please can we deliver the prisoner to the king,’ Hudan suggested, ‘and this amulet to the Great Mother for disposal?’
‘If you promise not to disappear before we finish our conversation this time,’ Dan bartered.
‘Done,’ Hudan agreed, and was chary of asking another favour. ‘Please … could you not mention to the Great Mother that I told you about Ji Fa.’
‘It is nothing I could not have found out by myself,’ Dan said, making it known he would not be silenced on the matter altogether.
‘I would have preferred it were so.’
‘It is not like we have not altered history before.’ Dan shrugged off the white lie.
But the amulet deadened psychic activity, so Hudan was forced to send it to the Great Mother ahead of them, and after delivering the prisoner to the king, they finally arrived at Li Shan to explain the amulet to Yi Wu.
She had the situation under control. ‘I have the stone soaking in salt water, and the morning sunlight will drive out any evil thought form still attached to it,’ she advised them. ‘Our real concern this night is that Ji Fa will not live out the year.’
Hudan and Dan were shocked to have the Great Mother raise the very subject they were here to discuss.
‘It is time for you and Fen to begin Ji Song’s Wu training,’ she said to Dan. The duke was chagrined as he digested that statement, and nodded to confirm her request. ‘Song is not just your next sovereign, but a vital member of your crew, captain.’
‘Why?’ Dan asked, curious, feeling that his cosmic counterpart did not have the same good judgement of character that he did. ‘He is reckless and self-absorbed —’
‘He is a risk taker, yes, and he is a thrill seeker also, but doing what we do those traits come in rather handy,’ Yi Wu advised. ‘He would rather make love than fight,’ she admitted, ‘but he will fight to the death to protect anything he holds dear.’
‘That is what worries me,’ Dan muttered to himself.
‘He is also an excellent pilot,’ she commented.
‘A pilot?’ Dan queried the term.
‘A captain has a ship,’ she explained, ‘the ship has a driver. He’s the driver, the best we have.’