Part 19 (1/2)
”Obviously,” I said, ”but why?”
”I don't know. Can you think of anything you might have done to offend them? Or the Forked Tong?”
”Possibly,” I admitted, thinking of the events that had occurred back in Hosbiyu. ”But they'd have to know the village I'd come from, and things that had occurred there that they couldn't possibly know.”
”Never underestimate what the Forked Tong might and might not know,” warned Mordant. ”They have eyes and ears everywhere. You never know who might be feeding them information.”
The thought chilled me. Everyone in the village was well aware of all that had transpired. They knew that Ali had slain the representatives of the Skang Kei. They knew of my altercation with the Anais Ninjas. If one of them had some sort of secret ties to the Forked Tong, then word would have been out about me. And how difficult would it have been to make certain I was found? I could just see the message: ”Look for the man with red hair who bears a resemblance to absolutely no one else in the entire country.”
”Wonderful,” I muttered. I looked at him warily. ”How do I know I can trust you?”
”Because there's no such thing as a talking dragon,” Mordant reminded me. ”Any fool would tell you that. So who would possibly want to ally themselves with something that cannot possibly exist?”
The argument had a pleasantly perverse, twisted logic to it. I liked it.
”So you will be watching my back while I'm in residence here, is that it?” Mordant yawned once more. ”If you'd like,” he said casually. ”But don't let that allow you to get lazy.”
”You needn't worry about that,” I a.s.sured him. ”Trying to keep an eye out for people who might be trying to kill me is something of a full-time occupation for me. In fact, I met a brand-new one just today.
His name is--”
”Go Nogo?”
”Right. You know him?”
”Only that he is one of the deadliest warriors in the city, and one of the most highly decorated and respected captains of the Hamunri there is. If he wants you dead, then you are pretty much dead.”
”Wonderful,” I said. ”Comforting to know that, no matter how far I go in my life, I always seem to wind up exactly in the same place as before. Why is that, Mordant? Why do people take an instant dislike to me?”
”It saves time.”
I frowned at him. ”That is a very old joke, Mordant.”
”The reason jokes become old is because they're true.”
Unfortunately, I couldn't think of a response to that.
Chapter 4.
Pillow Talk
Walking was never my strong suit even under the best of conditions. Considering how relaxed I was by the next morning, however, I was d.a.m.ned lucky to be able to move at all.
I was escorted from my rather sumptuous quarters to the council chamber of the Imperior. There I found the Imperior with half a dozen other men, one of whom was the glowering Go Nogo. They were seated in a semicircle, the Imperior in the middle. They were not on chairs, but rather reclining against oversized pillows.
Feeling it appropriate, I bowed to him and he nodded in acknowledgment. ”Did you sleep well, Po?”
he inquired solicitously.
”Yes, thank you, Your Eminence.” ”And the bath? Was it likewise restful?”
I looked straight at Go Nogo, who said nothing. ”It was... more exciting than I could possibly have antic.i.p.ated, Your Marvelousness.”
”Good,” he said. ”Sit down. You know everyone here?”
”No,” I told him, easing myself down onto an oversized pillow, decorated with strange pictures of long-limbed birds standing upon one leg.
”Good,” he said again. ”Then we can begin.”
Which was the closest I came to getting an introduction to the members of his inner cabinet. Aside from Go Nogo, the only other name I caught was that of his chief advisor, Itso Esi, a squat fellow with a scowl that went even deeper than that of Go Nogo. The others made no effort to introduce themselves. I couldn't blame them. For all I knew, doing so would instantly require sacrificing one's life in order to placate the Imperior.
Such a situation was not conducive to my desiring to stay where I was. Obviously the other members of this court served the Imperior for reasons that were deeply ingrained into their society, into their very being. I was not so inculcated, and was perfectly willing to depart from this curious and off-putting place whenever it seemed necessary. Indeed, I couldn't help but feel that I was risking my life with every pa.s.sing moment that I remained.
Still, I hadn't forgotten those things which had brought me there in the first place. Considering that the Skang Kei family, and this mysterious Ho they served, had targeted me specifically, my simply departing Taikyo without protection from the Imperior might be problematic.
I felt naked without my weapons, but I'd been informed early on that none were to be armed in the presence of the Imperior during closed council, presumably so he didn't have to worry about a.s.sa.s.sination attempts. It seemed a reasonable enough concern. Still, I was glad that Mordant was in my room, keeping an eye on them. I never knew when I might need them, and he'd be there protecting them in case someone tried to relieve me of them. I was particularly concerned about Go Nogo, who might take it upon himself as head of security to make sure that I was as helpless as possible.
”The Forked Tong,” said the Imperior, ”must be done away with. It is bad enough that their criminal activities throughout Chinpan have created an embarra.s.sment and inconvenience for me. But now they have targeted my daughter. The princess Mitsu would be in their hands right now if it had not been for our visitor,” and he indicated me. He turned and glowered at Go Nogo. ”How could you have allowed that to occur, Captain?”
”Personally, I'm shocked you haven't offered to kill yourself just from the sheer disgrace of it,” I said helpfully.
If he could have spit knives at me at that moment, he very likely would have. He spoke to the Imperior while watching me the entire time. ”I had men searching for the princess everywhere, Divine One,” he said slowly. ”There are always challenges involved when it comes to protecting one who desires protection. When the situation involves one who has no desire to be protected, it becomes even more difficult.” The Imperior considered that a moment, and then said to me, ”Would your king accept such an excuse, most honorable Po?”
Part of me wanted to say no, absolutely not. But there was no second-guessing what the Imperior might do with any given reply. Opting for neutrality, I simply said, ”It is not for a humble messenger to speculate on the inner workings of my liege lord's mind. It is possible he might accept it. It is equally possible he might not. He is a man of many moods and many mysteries... as are you yourself.”
”Yes,” said the Imperior. ”I would like to meet this ruler of yours at some point, Po. If and when you depart our land, it will be with the instruction to bring him here so we may talk.”
Those were daunting words from the Imperior. I could not, of course, produce King Runcible, or any other king for that matter. But the most chilling aspect of his statement was the ”if and when” part...
specifically, the ”if.” I didn't take to the notion of my future being that much up in the air.
Fortunately the Imperior seemed incapable of holding a thought in his mind for more than a minute or so. Before I could formulate a reply, he was already back talking about the Forked Tong.
”You have offered reward after reward,” observed Itso Esi, ”and still information about them remains scarce. It might be time to take a new direction in dealing with them.”
”Such as?”
”An all-out a.s.sault,” said Itso Esi. ”Seek them out throughout the countryside. Root them out, wherever they may be hiding. Make that the number-one priority of the Hamunri.”
”With all respect, Divine One,” Go Nogo said carefully, ”the forces of the Hamunri are not endless.
Ours is an elite group. Your first, best line of defense. We have enemies within and without. Devoting too much of the Hamunri to any one opponent can be... difficult.”
Deciding to take the chance of holding Nogo's feet to the fire, I said, ”I am a mere stranger to these sh.o.r.es. But it seems to me that your job would be to accomplish what His Splendidness asked you to do, rather than listing the reasons why you cannot do so.”