The Pirate Empress (63 page)

Li forced herself to keep her handhold or she’d fall back in. She threw her head back and howled with joy. In the years that she had been aboard Madam Choi’s junk, she had only once called upon the living manifestation of the pirate’s water god. “Tell him,” she said to the head that was cupped in her hands.

“I am Xiang Gong.”

“We must return to Beijing,” Quan said.

“Can you take us there?” Li asked.

“The laws of Heaven forbid me to interfere on your behalf. I came because your life was at stake. I must warn you now because it appears you do not understand the rules of god-calling. Think carefully before you make any more requests. Every time you call upon the aid of the gods and one of us chooses to respond, you forfeit a memory. Already you have lost two.”

The rain stopped and, all around them, towers of rock emerged. The nine-headed, snake-bodied god sailed to the prow of her junk leaving Li wondering what memories she had lost.

CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

The Crosshairs of the Four Winds

Quan’s mind could not fathom what had just happened. With his own eyes he had witnessed the flesh of the nine-headed snake creature, and with his own ears he had heard it speak. Now it sat statue-like, no more than a piece of carved and painted wood beneath the furled bamboo sails of the junk.

“I want you gone,” Li said.

Wind blew to starboard, cascading her hair in a sweep of tangled, black silk. Green-blue water and tall pillars of rock surrounded the pirate ship.

“Where would you have me go?”

“Anywhere. But I cannot stand the sight of you.”

“I am the father of your son.”

“Are you?” She spat. “Then where were you when he was abducted? Why are you not searching for him?”

“He is safe,” Quan said. “Last I learned, he was with He Zhu, your brother.” Li’s eyes flashed wide. Quan nodded. “Of course, you don’t know. Zhu is your brother, just as Master Yun is your grandfather.”

“Zhu is the son of the Emperor? I don’t understand. The Emperor would never disinherit a son.”

“He has not disinherited him. He Zhu is not His Majesty’s son but the son of your mother, Ling She. He is Wu’s uncle, so rest easy, Lotus Lily. Our boy is safe.”

“Don’t call me that. I have not heard that name in years. The last time I was called that, it was by a man I despise.” Li quivered with emotion as Quan stiffened. “It is
I
who should be outraged, not
you
,” she said. “What did you expect me to do? You promised to come for us and you failed. Wu was taken and I had no other recourse except to use what opportunity presented itself—we were waylaid by the Imperial Navy. They weren’t about to set us free to go about our business. And
I
would not abandon Madam Choi.”

“I did
not
abandon you. I had a wall to build and an empire to defend. I knew you were safe. Master Yun assured me you were in good hands.”

“If you cared so much about my safety, why did you join the ranks of the White Tiger? Why did you ask me to turn myself in to that monster! You saw what he did—” She ripped up the sleeve of her tunic to display the whiplash across her arm. “You felt his rancour yourself!”

“He would have killed you then and there.”

“Like you did Po, my pirate brother?”

“I did not kill him. Can you say you saw me wield the knife that stabbed him?”

“Who, then?” she asked. “Give me his name so that I can avenge my brother.”

“It was the White Tiger himself who cast that blade.” He grabbed her hand as she turned to go. “You can’t go back. We’re needed at the capital. All hell has broken loose. The palace is besieged by barbarians and His Majesty is dead.”

“My father is dead?”

“Master Yun and I saw the body before it was whisked away to the hellfires of Feng Du. And even now he has gone to barter with the Hell Master for release of your father’s soul.”

“He can do that?”

Quan shrugged. Master Yun could do almost anything, but that? Surely, even he could not survive that terrible place. Li dropped her face into her hands. Quan’s only goal was to win back her trust. A flicker of sunlight escaped a bank of cloud glancing off the figurehead of Xiang Gong. Quan looked up. “How did you do that?” he asked. “How did you get that thing to come alive and rescue us?”

“Do not call him a thing. It’s disrespectful. And to answer your question, I do not know. And while we’re on the subject of miracles, how did you slip your bonds? Did you have a hidden knife?”

Quan shook his head. “I had no blade, only my will and the training that Master Yun bestowed upon me. He taught me how to play dead and to shrink my muscles. It also helped that you were in danger of being shot, so nothing crowded my mind except the need to be free.”

Li walked to the rail and Quan followed. She stared out to sea, looking now more like a small girl than a notorious pirate chief. “So, what do we do now? I am weary, Quan. I feel like I am fighting a losing battle. It is as though I am constantly sweeping water uphill.”

“Do you forgive me?” Quan asked.

Li managed a tight smile. “Apparently, you have nothing to be forgiven for.”

Quan placed his hand on Li’s and she allowed it to stay there, her eyes fixed to the battered skin of his knuckles. She gazed up at him, a tremor of helplessness in the look. “Do you forgive
me
, my dearest one? I thought I would never see you again.”

“I only wish that I could kill him for you myself.”

“You must not kill him,” a voice said from behind them.

%%%

Li threw herself into Master Yun’s arms as he left the shadows of the cabin bulkhead. He had to step back to avoid being knocked down. “You are grown into a fine, strong woman, indeed, Lotus Lily.”

Li could no longer contain her emotion. After the shock of finding Quan among Fong’s crew and now the sudden appearance of her grandfather, tears of gratitude, exhaustion and joy, spilled. She was no longer the young girl they had left with the water people, but to her, each of them looked the same. Master Yun’s silvery topknot with its loose strands whipping out any which way over his grey robe had not whitened any more than at their last meeting. His arms were just as strong and his chest as lean; only his eyes had a desperation in them that was formerly absent. He brushed away the tears and held her at arms length to view her properly, and smiled with approval. “You are well?”

“You need to ask? Look at me. I’m a mess.” She turned to Quan and noted the sorry state of his flesh and the rags they both wore, and laughed hysterically.

“All right, Li,” Master Yun said. He shook her gently to break her of the spell. “I see that you have been through an ordeal and when I saw Xiang Gong return with the both of you aboard his back, I knew all was not well, but at least you had survived and reunited.”

Li sniffed away her last laugh, which threatened to return to tears. “I am so, so, happy to see you.”

“As am I,” Quan said. “I have told Li as much as I know. Now, can
you
tell us: were you successful?”

Master Yun nodded, but his nod was solemn. He glanced at the sky. Sunlight winked again, and Li supposed it to be caused by a cloud, but this time a dark shade with wings fell over the pale planks of the junk. Overhead, an enormous bird circled, and perched upon its back was a strange figure.

“Quickly, step back into the shadows.”

Li and Quan followed Master Yun. They could still see the winged creature with its odd rider, but now Li knew that this was no bird. Her mouth formed a soundless O. “A dragon?” she whispered.

“Not a dragon,” Master Yun said. “Look at the body. What does it look like?”

“Its torso resembles that of a horse,” Quan said. “But its head—”

A spray of fire shot from out of its mouth and Li knew what she was seeing.

A
dragon-horse
.

She had learned of dragon-horses in her lessons. Legend said that the beasts terrorized the world when the earth was young, and that they were older than time itself. When the population of men grew in uncontrollable numbers, they all but wiped out the beasts. And so ended the days of the monsters: the New Years Day Nian, the dragons who once served the emperors of old, and the terrors of nightmare like the evil Jian, the seven-headed bird, the Ba She, snake-like monsters that swallowed elephants, Tao Tie the gargoyle, and the invisible Yeren.

“Qilin, the dragon-horse,” Quan gasped, for he had learned the faery-tales, too, as a boy.

“And it carries a passenger of destruction. Step back,” Master Yun warned as Li inched forward to spot the rider of the circling steed. “She searches for you. She mustn’t find you. She knows you will do anything to save your son.”

“Why are all these evil people after my boy?”

Master Yun pulled Li tight to his side before replying. “Because your boy plays a more important role in the coming events than even I had formerly thought. Come inside!”

He led them into Li’s cabin where bright light shone in through a porthole to land on the naked floorboards, and took a piece of charcoal from the cooking hearth and drew a plain cross. At the top he marked the character for North, at the bottom South. To his left he marked the character for West and to his right East. It was the Crosshairs of the Four Winds.

Master Yun briefed Li and Quan on his suspicions, on the theft of the Bloodstone and what it meant. Their only chance he told them was to create the Crosshairs that would counteract the destruction of the Emblem of Balance—the Taijitu. For with the sighting of the dragon-horse and its queen, he was certain that all that was happening now could be attributed to the destruction of the Emblem.

A memory flickered at the edges of Li’s thought, and a voice whispered in her mind:
The time for me to choose has passed, but you still have a choice.
Wood, fire, metal, water: all the things of the earth can still be yours. Turn to the east and you will see the cool spring and the Azure Dragon behind you. Look south, seek the Vermilion Bird and the hot days of summer. Come autumn, the White Tiger awaits you in the west. But in winter, go north with the water people and find the Black Tortoise
. These were the words of the ancient monk Eng Tong.

Watching her, Master Yun nodded. “You understand,” he said. “Wu is the Black Tortoise.”

“Yes, then the Azure Dragon is my father, the Emperor.”

“The Vermilion bird is Peng, Zhu’s daughter,” Master Yun said.

“Zhu has a daughter?”

“He does, but at the moment it is not she that worries me.”

“The White Tiger,” Li said.

Master Yun’s face became very grim. “We need him to complete the Crosshairs.”

%%%

“He is a Manchurian,” Quan said. “What real loyalty does he have to the Empire? He is no better than a soldier of fortune, in the guise of an emperor’s man. I imagine he would as soon take the throne himself as fight to claim it for someone else.”

The sighting of the dragon-horse had unnerved Master Yun more than he dared show. Dahlia was alive and stirring. When earlier he focused his hawk eyes upon her, he saw that it was she who sat on the dragon-horse, an exquisite woman, breasts bared, clad in a gown of black satin, platinum white hair gleaming like the moon, eyes yellow. She was free and amassing the Nine Armies. He no longer doubted the nature of her forces or her intent. She had slept long enough, and had returned to claim ascendency.

His hope was to convince Esen to surrender the throne. The battle that was to come was no longer a war between men. And he must rally all men of mortal birth to fight for their freedom.

“Will the White Tiger stand with us?” Master Yun asked Li.

“She is not going to his ship to ask him,” Quan stated flatly. “He may be loyal to His Majesty—though I remain sceptical on that point—but he has no such sentiments for Li. He
will
kill her.”

“I think that I am the only one who can ask him,” Li said.

“Then I am going with you,” Quan said.

“No, you must return to help Master Yun convince the Mongol usurper to join the fighting ranks and allow His Majesty to take his place on the Crosshairs. Convince him or kill him, but either way, he cannot hold the throne. When that’s done, go and find Wu and the one you call Peng. It is clear from Master Yun’s design that Wu must hold the northernmost point and Peng the South.”

“If it comes to that,” Quan said.

“It will come to that,” Master Yun replied. “Already, the Fox Queen has positioned her Circle.”

Jasmine had threatened to invoke the Powers of Nine. Nine was a magic number that would sway the course of the war. Nine meant everlasting, and those with the number Nine on their side would endure. Master Yun was quite convinced now of how she and her progenitor plotted to achieve this goal.

Dahlia needed a nine-tailed fox faerie to hold the center of her Magic Circle. She could do the job herself, but the magic was stronger if the nine-tailed one was young and fresh, a foxling. She needed Peng.

“Li must accomplish this task alone,” Master Yun said. She has something to barter with. She is the mother of Admiral Fong’s son.” Quan did not ask how he knew this, and Master Yun did not explain. “I need you, Brigade General. Wu and Peng are critical to the destruction of the Nine Armies. We must fight the Nine, hand and foot with every mortal man, soldier, sailor, Mongol, Manchu, rebel, pirate or peasant who is willing. I want you to lead this mortal army. But even that will only buy us time. We cannot win without magic on our side. The fox faeries will use their greatest power, and mark my words it
will
be this Magic Circle. Our only hope is to build a Magic Crosshairs more powerful than their Circle, and to complete it we will need the children. If Peng stands on our Southernmost point on the Crosshairs of the Four Winds, she cannot hold the Magic Circle of the Fox Queen.”

Master Yun filled Li in on all that had happened in recent months and of Wu’s adventures. “Peng is your niece,” he informed her, “a foxling born to Zhu and Jasmine. The children are in a safe place. The fewer who know the place, the safer they will remain. Although both you and Quan are Wu’s parents, do not ask me to name the place—only trust me.”