Ice and Fire: Chung Kuo Series (25 page)

The bigger of the two guards – the one Pavel had identified as Teng – strode out towards
them. He stopped and, hands on his hips, ordered a number of them over to the water
wagon.

Chen felt sick. This was his fault. But he could do nothing.

Pavel did not look at him. It was clear he had chosen not to say why he had gone to
the wagon. Without being told, the
ku
– the field workers – formed a circle about the youth
and the two guards. There was an awful silence. Chen looked around the circle and
saw how most of them looked down or away, anything but look at what was happening
at the circle’s heart.

Teng’s voice barked out again. ‘This man was disobedient. He knew the rules and yet
he broke them.’ He laughed; a curt, brutal laughter. ‘He was stupid. Now he will be
punished for his stupidity.’

Teng drew the long club from his belt and turned to face Pavel. Chang smiled and thrust
the young man forward at his fellow.

Without warning, Teng lashed out, the club hitting Pavel on the back of the legs,
making him fall down. The sound the boy made was awful; a frightened whimper.

Chen shuddered and gritted his teeth.

Teng stood over the youth now, smiling down at him. ‘Get up, Pavel. It’s not over
yet.’

Slowly, his eyes never leaving Teng’s face, Pavel got to his feet again. Teng’s smile
never wavered, but seemed to burn fiercely. It was clear he was enjoying himself hugely.
He
looked down at the club, then let fly again, this time catching Pavel across the side
of the head.

The boy went down with a groan of pain. Chen could feel the indignation ripple about
the circle. But still they were all silent. No one moved. No one did a thing.

Teng put the tip of the club against the young man’s head and pushed gently, making
him fall backwards. Then he looked across at his fellow guard.

‘Chang! Pass me the rod!’

This time there was a low murmur from the circle. Teng turned, looking from face to
face, then laughed. ‘If there’s anyone else who’d like a taste of this, just say.’

Chang went across and took the club from him, handing him a long, thin pole that was
attached by a wire to a small box. Teng clipped the box to one of his jacket pockets,
then pressed a button
on the side of the rod. It hissed wickedly.

Teng looked across at Pavel. ‘Drop your trousers, boy!’

Chen saw Pavel swallow awkwardly. The youth was petrified. His fingers fumbled at
the strings that held up his trousers, then managed to untie the knot. Then he stood,
his head drooping, letting
his trousers fall around his ankles.

Under the trousers he was quite naked. He trembled uncontrollably. His penis had shrivelled
up with fear.

Teng looked at him and laughed. ‘We’re a fine big boy, aren’t we, Pavel? No wonder
we’ve no girlfriend yet!’ Again his brutal laugh rang out. Then, cruelly, he
touched the rod against the tip of the boy’s penis.

Pavel jerked back, but Teng had not activated the rod.

Teng looked across at Chang and both men laughed loudly at the joke. Then Teng pressed
the button and thrust the rod into the young man’s groin. Pavel doubled up convulsively,
then lay
there as if dead. Teng must have had the rod set high, for the smell of burnt flesh
was suddenly sharp in the warm, still air.

‘You dirty bastard!’

The words came from Chen’s left. He turned and saw it was the old man who had spoken
to him earlier.

Teng had also turned and was looking at the man. ‘What is it, Fang Hui? You want to
join the fun?’

Chang’s voice sounded urgently from behind Teng. ‘Use the club, Teng Fu. The rod will
kill the old fool.’

But Teng wasn’t listening. He walked slowly across to the old man and stood there,
facing him, head and shoulders bigger than him.

‘What did you say, old man? What did you call me?’

Fang Hui smiled bleakly. ‘You heard me, Teng.’

Teng laughed. ‘Yes, I heard you, Fang.’ He reached forward and grabbed the man’s face
in one hand, forcing his mouth open, then thrust the rod inside, closing Fang Hui’s
teeth upon it. Then he moved his hand away. One finger hovered above the button of
the box.

‘You’d like a taste of this, Fang Hui?’

Fang’s eyes were wide with terror. Slowly Teng withdrew the rod from the old man’s
mouth, a sadistic smile of enjoyment lighting his big, ugly features.

‘A good peasant is a quiet peasant, eh, Fang?’

The old man nodded exaggeratedly.

‘Good,’ Teng said quietly, then kicked out, sending Fang sprawling.

The old man lay there, gasping. Chen looked across at him, relieved he had come to
no greater harm, then turned and looked back at Teng.

It had been hard. Hard not to add his voice to Fang Hui’s. Harder still just to stand
there in the circle and do nothing. Pavel was stirring now. He lifted his head from
the ground and
looked up, his eyes unfocused, then let it fall back again.

Chang stepped up behind him, a cup of water in one hand, and poured it over the youth’s
head. ‘Is this what you came for, Pavel?’ His action brought guffaws of laughter from
the watching Teng.

Yes
, thought Chen.
I may have done nothing here today, but watch me, Teng. Be careful how you treat me.
For I’ve every reason to kill you now for what you’ve done.

He thought of what Pavel had told him of the murders and knew now it was more than
rumour. It was what had happened. He was sure of it.

Yes. Every reason.

The sound of laughter carried from the garden into the house through the wide, open
doorway. Outside the morning was bright and warm; inside, where Li Yuan sat with his
eight-year-old nephew, Tsu Tao Chu, it was cooler and in shadow.

They were playing
wei chi,
practising openings and corner plays, but Li Yuan seemed distracted. He kept looking
out into the garden where the maids were playing ball.

The younger boy’s high, sing-song voice broke the silence that had lain between them
for some time. ‘Your heart’s not in this, is it Yuan? It’s a lovely morning. Why
don’t we go riding instead?’

Li Yuan turned and looked at him. ‘I’m sorry, Tao Chu. What did you say?’

‘I said…’ He laughed sweetly, then leaned forward conspiratorially. ‘Tell me, Yuan.
Which one is it?’

Li Yuan blushed and set a white stone down. ‘I don’t know what you mean, Tao Chu.’

Tao Chu raised his eyebrows, then placed a black stone on the board, removing the
six white captives he had surrounded.

‘I thought Fei Yen was your sweetheart, Yuan. It’s clear, though, that some other
maiden has won your heart. Or if not your heart…’

‘Tao Chu!’ Li Yuan looked down at the board and saw the position was lost, his forces
disrupted. He laughed. ‘Is it so obvious?’

Tao Chu busied himself removing the stones and returning them to the bowls, then set
the situation up anew. He looked up. ‘Again?’

Li Yuan shook his head. Then he stood up and went over to the open doorway. The maids
were out beyond the ornamental pool, playing catch with a ball of stitched silk. He
watched them for a
while, his eyes going time and again to Pearl Heart. At first he didn’t think she’d
seen him, but then he saw her pick up the ball and turn, looking directly at him;
her smile holding a
special meaning, for him alone.

He lifted his head slightly, smiling back at her, and saw her pause, then throw the
ball to one of the other maids, saying something that he couldn’t catch. Then he saw
her go, between the
magnolia and out down the pathway, heading towards his room.

He caught up with her in the corridor outside his room, and turned her, pulling her
against him.

‘Not here,’ she said, laughing. ‘Inside, Li Yuan. Let’s get inside.’

He could barely wait for her. As she undressed he ran his hands across her skin, and
pressed his face against her hair, which smelled of ginger and cinnamon. He would
have taken her then, while
he was still fully clothed, but she stopped him and began to undress him, her hands
lingering against his painfully stiff penis. In daylight her body seemed different;
harder, firmer, less melting
than it had seemed in the darkness, but no less desirable. He let her draw him down
onto the bed, then he was inside her, spilling his seed at once.

She laughed tenderly, no trace of mockery in her laughter. ‘I see I’ll have to teach
you tricks, Li Yuan. Ways of holding back.’

‘What do you mean?’ He lay there against her, his eyes closed, letting her caress
his neck, his shoulders, the top of his back.

‘There are books we can get.
Chun hua
. And devices.’

He shivered. The light touch of her fingers on his flesh was delicious, making him
want to purr like a cat. ‘
Chun hua?
’ He had not heard of such things. ‘Spring
pictures? What kind of spring pictures?’

She laughed again, then whispered in his ear. ‘Pictures of men and women doing things
to each other. All kind of things. You’d not believe the number of ways it can be
done, Li Yuan.
And not just with two.’

She saw his interest and laughed. ‘Ah, yes, I thought as much. There’s no man living
who has not desired two girls in bed with him.’

He swallowed. ‘What do you mean, Pearl Heart?’ But he was answered almost at once.
From behind a screen on the far side of the room came the unmistakable sound of suppressed
laughter.

Li Yuan sat up and looked across. ‘Who’s there? I demand to know…’

He fell silent. It was Sweet Rose, the youngest of his maids. She stepped out from
behind the screen, demure but naked, a faint blush on her cheeks and at her neck.
‘May I join you on the
bed, Li Yuan?’

Li Yuan shuddered, then turned and looked mutely at Pearl Heart. She was smiling broadly
at him. ‘That’s what we’re here for. Didn’t you realize it, Li Yuan? For this
time. For when you woke to your manhood.’

Pearl Heart leaned forward and summoned the younger girl, then drew Li Yuan back onto
the bed, making Sweet Rose lie the other side of him. Then, with a shared, sisterly
exchange of laughter,
they began their work, stroking and kissing him, their skin like silk, their breath
like almonds, enflaming his senses until he blossomed and caught fire again.

Nan Ho stood there outside the room, his head bowed, his manner apologetic but firm.
‘I am sorry, Lady Fei, but you cannot go inside.’

She looked at him, astonished. It was the second time he had defied her. ‘What do
you mean,
cannot
? I think you forget yourself, Nan Ho. If I wish to see Li Yuan, I have every right
to call on him. I want to ask him if he will ride with me this afternoon, that’s all.
Now, please, stand out of my way.’

He saw it was hopeless to try to deny her any further and stood to one side, his head
lowered. ‘I beg you, Lady Fei…’ But she brushed past him and opened the door to Li
Yuan’s rooms.

‘Ridiculous man…’ she had started to say, then fell silent, sniffing the air. Then
she noticed the sounds, coming from beyond the screen. Unusual sounds to be coming
from the
bedroom of a twelve-year-old boy. She crept up to the screen, then put her hand to
her mouth to stifle her surprise.

It was Li Yuan! Gods! Li Yuan with two of his maids!

For a moment she stood there, mesmerized by the sight of his firm, almost perfect
bottom jutting and rutting with one of the maids while the other caressed and stroked
the two of them. Then she
saw him stiffen and groan and saw the maid’s legs tighten momentarily about his back,
drawing him down into her.

She shuddered and began to back away, then put her hand to her mouth to stop the laughter
that had come unbidden to her lips. Li Yuan! Of all the cold fishes in the sea of
life, imagine Li Yuan,
rutting with his maids! The dirty little beggar!

Outside she looked at Nan Ho sternly. ‘I was not here, Nan Ho. Do you understand me?’

The servant bowed deeply. ‘I understand you, Lady Fei. And I will leave your message
for the young prince. I am sure he would welcome the chance to ride with you this
afternoon.’

She nodded, then turned, conscious of the blush that had come to her cheeks and neck,
and walked quickly away.

Li Yuan! She gave a brief laugh, then stopped dead, remembering the sight of those
small, perfectly formed buttocks clenching at the moment of his orgasm.

‘And I thought you so cold, so passionless. So above all this.’

She laughed again; a strange, querulous laugh, then walked on, surprised by what she
was thinking.

‘Do you remember this place, Karr?’

Karr smiled and looked out from their private box into the pit with its surrounding
tiers.

‘How could I forget it, General?’

Tolonen leaned back and sighed. ‘Men forget many things they’d do best to remember.
They forget their roots. And when that happens they lose their ability to judge things
true and
clear.’

Karr smiled. ‘This business…’ He pointed to the brilliantly lit combat circle. ‘It
had a way of clearing the mind of everything but truth.’

‘I can see that.’

Karr turned and faced Tolonen. ‘I’m glad you’re back, General. I mean no disrespect
to General Nocenzi, but things haven’t been the same without you at the
helm.’

The old man sniffed and tilted his head slightly. ‘I’ve missed it too, Karr. Missed
it badly. But, listen, I’m not at the helm. Not in the sense that you’re probably
thinking. No. This is something else. Something secret that the T’ang has asked me
to organize.’

He spelled it out quickly, simply, letting Karr understand that he would be briefed
more fully later.

‘This is a contingency plan, you understand. We hope never to have to use it. If the
House votes in favour of the veto on space exploration – as it should – we can put
this
little scheme to the flame – throw it on the fire, so to speak.’

‘But you don’t believe that, do you, General?’