‘No,’ Dan agreed, his mind ticking over. ‘Would I be right in assuming you are the healer among us?’
‘Yes, captain,’ he beamed. ‘I grow things and heal things, just as Fen Gong does.’
The duke’s smile broadened, and the lord was quick to add: ‘But without a body, I cannot employ my craft. Nor can I heal my host body from within against his will.’
‘I have a body,’ Dan proffered.
Hudan gasped and stood, having caught the gist of the conversation. ‘You have never acted as a channel before,’ she warned. ‘I have seen women channel, and it will exhaust you.’
‘Then you must ensure Fen heals the king once I am done. Will you do that?’ Dan asked, pangs of shock reverberating through his person at the notion of letting a completely foreign entity inhabit his form. Still, if that being was akin to Fen, the duke resonated with him as well as anyone and that was a promising sign.
‘Of course I will,’ Hudan replied, but that was not her worry. ‘Can you trust this spirit to leave your form when requested?’
Dan glanced back to the lad and his fair hair drifted over his face as he nodded to convince Dan of his sincerity. ‘I owe you both so much … my only desire is to continue to serve your cause and see it through to its completion.’
‘He is Fen,’ Dan said to assure Hudan no harm would ensue.
The Wu looked back to her ailing sibling and then nodded to lend her full support.
The duke knelt alongside Fen and looked to the spirit. ‘I am at your disposal. Please do what must be done.’
‘Well, I have never tried this on anyone else before,’ Ringbalin advised, as cautious and wary as Dan himself felt, ‘but, here goes.’
As the spirit moved into alignment with his body, Dan felt his own perception shift out of his form and into an observation position. It was amazing to watch himself summon up a ball of pure chi between his hands and distribute it into his ailing colleague’s body, whereupon Fen’s injuries healed at once.
When the lad opened his eyes, he did so with a gasp that left a smile on his face. ‘The pain is gone.’ Fen held his heart rather than his head, and looked at Dan curiously.
‘You don’t have to grieve for your lover; she awaits in the next life and every life,’ the lord told Fen, before withdrawing from Dan’s form. As the spirit did so, Dan’s consciousness was rushed back into control so quickly he fumbled the transfer and collapsed backward onto the bed.
‘My lord!’ Fen sat up, concerned.
‘He just needs to rest,’ Hudan told Fen, leaning over to check Dan’s vital signs.
Her touch and the sight of her smiling down at him, took Dan back to their one night of bliss. ‘I would give anything to wake up beside you again,’ he mumbled, feeling euphoric and in a daze.
‘What did he say?’ Fen queried, certain he had heard wrong.
‘He is delirious,’ Dan heard Hudan say, as he struggled to stay conscious and see his plan carried out.
‘Dress yourself, quickly, Fen. We must revive the king.’
With Hudan’s call to arms, Dan was content to give in to his struggling faculties and sleep.
A pleasant, damp coolness against the skin on his face encouraged Dan to wake, and he was moved to find Jiang Hudan tending him and not one of the servants. She was wringing out the cloth in a large bowl, looking somewhat exhausted and a little dishevelled from the night’s events, but content. When she turned back to find the duke awake, she smiled.
‘I got my wish,’ he noted.
She raised her brow, pleased to oblige and yet annoyed at him. ‘Yes, but if you would not voice your secret desires in front of the children, it would be preferable. Fen nearly had a fit.’
‘He’s not one of ours, too, is he?’ Dan was alarmed.
‘You are the one who converses with spirits,’ she pointed out. ‘I was just speaking figuratively.’
‘We are alone then, I gather?’ Dan hadn’t taken his eyes off Hudan to ascertain if anyone else was present, but her openness suggested to him that they were.
‘Do not get any ideas, or I shall be forced to knock you out again,’ she jested, placing her cloth aside.
‘The king —’
‘Is recovered and, along with Fen, is visiting the new prince.’ Hudan brought the duke up to speed. ‘Fen felt the king needed to remember what he had to live for, as brother Fa was none too happy to be dragged back from the brink of death yet again.’
Dan sympathised, but they needed the time with Fa on the throne. ‘And now Fa has written his will of succession, naming me as his appointed one.’
‘That is insane!’ Hudan was horrified.
‘If you read on in the Jade Book and know who is to succeed, please tell me, as I do not believe it should be me, despite the good arguments put forward by my king and prime minister in support of their decision.’ Dan struggled to raise himself and Hudan gave him a hand, placing pillows behind his back to support him.
‘I did not read on, I swear it. And I cannot believe Jiang Taigong is in favour of this,’ Hudan said, baffled, as she sat down once more, but beside him on the bed this time and not on her chair.
Dan nodded, solemnly. ‘The only up-side I can see is that I would do Ji Song out of his chance with you.’
Hudan was insulted by his reasoning. ‘If you dare even take that into consideration, I will personally kill you myself. My virtue is a trivial matter compared to the fate of this dynasty!’
‘I have already told you where I stand on the issue of succession,’ Dan said, appealing for her to think better of him.
‘Your feelings for me must not affect your devotion to your next Zhou. Even if Ji Song has no clue about it, he could not ask for a better Shifu than you. Only you can mould him into a leader greater than Ji Fa … if you set your mind and heart to it.’
‘I am sure you are right,’ Dan said, forcing a smile, and pinched the skin between his eyes to ease the tension.
Hudan shook her head and continued to give him further encouragement. ‘It was truly inspiring to watch you turn today’s sad events around. You’ve obviously been training and studying very hard, and I commend you.’
Dan was shy in accepting praise. ‘And yet, I find myself looking forward to the next disaster that will bring us together … however, since I know that it will be Song’s goddess rite, I am now dreading our next reunion.’
Hudan frowned in sympathy. ‘You must convince Ji Fa to change his will before the year is out.’
‘I am painfully aware of that,’ Dan assured her, and she allowed him to take hold of her hand. ‘We are agreed then, that Song as Ji Fa’s successor would be the proper course.’
Hudan nodded. ‘I feel sure it is.’
Dan winced, pained that the decision sat so well with his brain, but not with his heart.
‘Even if you were to have a goddess rite, it would only be a one in eleven chance that I would be chosen for you,’ she revealed, and Dan felt slightly mollified to learn this. ‘And I would have to send you home to your wife.’ Her voice cracked over the notion, and she looked ashamed. ‘Honestly … I would rather be given to Ji Song.’
Dan’s heart jolted in his chest, as the statement both elated and enraged him at once. ‘I will pray every day that that does not come to pass.’ He squeezed her hand tighter and Hudan forced a smile.
‘Regardless … it is the right path to take,’ she confirmed.
So their one chance for the divine to bless their physical union dissolved into the ether, and that smarted on the inside something terrible. But the duke felt he would rather wait until the end of time to be with the woman he loved, than to spend his lifetime with several that he did not — he had been there once before; never again.
It took several weeks for the city to settle down in the wake of the queen’s death, and the king’s illness fuelled rumours that his rule had been cursed. Then again, the fact that heaven had granted Fa another son ran contrary to that rumour and quashed it. Women often
died giving birth, so the queen’s death was not seen as a bad omen but rather as an honorable martyrdom for the Zhou kingdom.
Whoever had masterminded the kidnap of Fen Gong had directly contributed to the queen’s death, hence Ji Song had taken it upon himself to question the prisoner whom Zhou Gong and Jiang Hudan had captured. Either the prisoner truly didn’t know who had paid for his services, or he remained loyal to them to his death. Zhou Gong sent word to his brothers in the East regarding the treachery that had led to the queen’s death, and urged them to be diligent in keeping a close eye on Wu Geng and anyone still loyal to the Shang.
Once Haojing was again settled, Dan informed the king of the Great Mother’s desire for Ji Song to study Wu doctrine and discipline along with himself and Fen Gong.
‘A splendid suggestion,’ Ji Fa said, in agreement that such training could only be to Song’s benefit.
‘If I vow to you to mould the prince into a ruler that all chieftains will respect, will you alter your will of succession?’ Dan asked.
‘The year Song comes of age, and only if he proves himself worthy, shall I rethink my decision,’ the king decreed.
‘But majesty —’
‘No buts, Dan,’ he insisted. ‘I have felt at peace since penning that document, and I will not change my mind until fate presents me with a better alternative, and at present there is none.’
‘But I —’
‘If I nominate Song and die before he comes of age, Xian, as the eldest of my brothers, will expect to be regent. And rather than focussing on maintaining the peace and good relations we have now, Xian will seek war wherever he can find it. No, Dan, I won’t have everything we and our forefathers have worked so hard to achieve cast aside in its infancy.’
Dan understood his reasoning completely, but Fa would not live to see Song reach adulthood. ‘As you wish.’ The duke figured that if Ji Fa could not be talked around by year’s end, then he would take him to the family storehouse and they would read together what the Jade Book had to say on the matter.
So it was that Ji Song was excused from his regular classes and training, and was sent by his father to report to Zhou Gong Dan for tuition instead.
The duke’s head of the interior announced the prince’s arrival, and Song entered the Hall of Records appearing rather put out. ‘Why am I here?’
‘Good morning, highness,’ Fen said chirpily, as Dan was already breathing deeply to endure Song’s presence.
‘Is it?’ the prince queried, as the tigress went bounding up to greet him, and he went down on bended knee, happy to give Ling Hu some affection. ‘I am usually in martial training at this time, not in a library.’
‘I hear you are already better than most with any weapon,’ Dan stated. ‘There is no doubting your warrior capabilities. It is your ethics that require some refinement …’
Song was immediately affronted, and stood from patting the tigress.
‘… so the Great Mother has requested that we tutor you in the way of the Wu,’ Dan concluded, and Song’s suddenly cocky smile indicated that he was pleased.
‘I thought she might,’ the prince said, well chuffed with himself, and Dan just thought it typical behaviour from Song.
‘And why is that?’ the duke challenged, as he had certainly not seen it coming.
‘I told you, Uncle, I have dreams.’ Song rubbed his hands together. ‘So, where do we start?’
‘The first thing you must do is learn the Wu creed,’ Fen informed him, which is when Song’s tune dramatically altered.
‘I am not expected to live by that entire creed, surely?’ He backed up, warily. ‘If I’m expected to be celibate, the deal is off!’
‘Do you have any idea what ethics are?’ Dan was infuriated by his puerile attitude. ‘This is not a deal. It is your duty.’
‘Oh, no!’ Song shook his finger at Dan. ‘It is my responsibility to make heirs and lots of them.’
‘Once you are king,’ Dan corrected. ‘The last thing your heirs need is a bunch of older bastard brothers contesting their throne.’
‘Well, Uncle, if you were a bit more experienced, you’d know there are ways of avoiding the issue,’ Song teased, and was obviously surprised when Dan had trouble suppressing his grin.
‘The point is … and if you behaved ethically, you’d know that —’
‘I should not try, if I do not intend to buy,’ Song concluded for his uncle, and Dan was again frustrated by the young man’s attitude.
‘It is about love, not lust!’
‘I do not think that is what your father told you when you were forced to marry at my age,’ Song posited and Dan could not deny that. ‘Besides, there is only one woman for me, and she is not permitted to marry, so …’ He shrugged, and Dan could feel himself frowning at the suggestion.
‘A crush is not love,’ Dan felt he should point out, ‘love is reciprocal.’
‘Give me time,’ Song challenged. ‘If Uncle Shi can manage it, I can.’
Poor Fen jumped into the middle of the debate before it got out of hand. ‘Lord Shi’s was a special case, for he is a shifter like Jiang Huxin.’
‘Well, what if I were to develop the same skills as Jiang Hudan?’ Song proposed.
Fen’s eyebrows were raised as he stated humbly, ‘Pardon my saying so, highness, but that would be highly unlikely.’
‘Would it?’ Song challenged. ‘Watch this.’ He walked over to Fen’s desk where a pile of bamboo manuals were placed, and holding his hand over them, the scroll on top leapt up into Song’s awaiting grasp.
Dan’s heart sunk in his chest — he was mortified and somewhat fearful to know such an immature being had so much power at his disposal. ‘Where did you learn how to do that?’
‘Just happened.’ The prince shrugged off the wonder. ‘So you see, I am already Wu, and now I know that the Great Mother knows it too.’ He was smug as he strolled over and took a seat. ‘I haven’t had to stick to any creed to get me this far, and I am not about to start.’
‘This is most unusual,’ Fen said, bemused, and looked to Dan. ‘You know what they say about an untrained psychic?’
‘What do they say?’ Song was curious.
‘It is dangerous,’ Dan summarised, and Song looked affronted again.
‘My lord means to say,’ Fen intervened to explain, ‘that psychic attack is one thing, but psychic defence is quite another.’
‘Well, then, you are compelled to teach me,’ Song told Fen, as he was now a mite concerned that he might have a chink in his personal defences. ‘I will study hard — that is how I got this far — and I promise I shall do my best to behave ethically, although I’m not too sure how good that is, as I never had to attempt it before.’
Fen seemed happier as he looked at Dan, who was still reeling over why Tian would give the prince more power than he himself had ever dreamt of. Dan nodded and forced a smile. ‘That is all anyone can ask, highness. We should get to work.’
‘You make it sound like there is some sort of urgency?’ Song noted.
‘Our king is losing his will to live,’ Dan replied; ‘there is a very great urgency.’
‘But Fen can heal him?’
‘Only as long as he wills it,’ Fen stipulated.
Song was decidedly more concerned to learn this. ‘Then we must find him a new woman —’
Fen was shaking his head. ‘It is a fear of being forced to marry again that is driving the king’s will to die, along with a deire to join your mother in the afterlife.’
‘But surely he realises that I am not old enough to rule?’ Song hit upon the very motivation Dan needed to keep the prince focused, and he applauded the prince’s powers of perception.
‘Thus the urgency,’ Dan concluded.
‘Have the Wu foreseen something?’
Dan thought hard upon whether to answer and, in the end, merely nodded.
There was a lump in Song’s throat that he was finding hard to swallow. ‘How long do we have?’
&
nbsp; In appreciation of Song’s serious reaction Dan decided to do the prince the courtesy of being honest. ‘A year.’
Song slapped his palms against his forehead, unable to believe it, and no doubt devastated by the thought of losing his father in close succession to his mother.
Fen was also horrified to hear the news. ‘The Great Mother told you this?’
‘She did,’ Dan said, sorry to admit it.
‘People change fate,’ Song appealed. ‘I have this power, and I shall figure a way to cheat —’
‘Fate is not something that is so easily swayed. It has history and causality on its side,’ Dan advised, ‘and I am speaking from personal experience.’
‘We cannot just let him die!’ Song was up and in Dan’s face, insistent.
‘We did not plan to allow Yi Jiang to die either, but it happened! There are forces at play in this land that you cannot yet conceive of,’ Dan stressed. ‘So, we can quarrel about the inevitable, or we can prepare.’
‘Then prepare me,’ Song said, accepting the challenge.
Six months back in her cloistered routine and Hudan had almost forgotten the world beyond Li Shan. True, there was little excitement and adventure in her life now, but there wasn’t any torment or distraction either. As her chronicling of the reign of Ji Fa to date was completed, Hudan had returned to teaching and honing her craft. She had missed Huxin and Fen terribly at first, but had come to truly cherish her own company and thoughts, and her own quiet time to work on developing the elemental powers that had been bestowed on her. It was Ji Dan whom she entertained in her thoughts most often, but she had disciplined herself to reserve such musing for the night hours which were her own.
On one such evening, when the sun was low in the sky and she could no longer read her text, Hudan stole a moment in the garden to think back on their night together here on Li Shan, which never failed to bring a smile to her face and incite a sigh from her lips.
‘Who are you thinking about?’
Hudan gasped upon hearing a male voice and sighting the Prince of Zhou in the garden with her, she sprang to her feet. ‘Ji Song! How did you get here?’ Hudan felt sure she would have been summoned to go meet any unexpected visitor.