“You know, Shun, when you told us that you spoke personally to the Empress during your imprisonment, I assumed that meant that you’d exchanged a few words—not that you were a close enough confidant to be invited for a personal audience.”
Shun Song scratched the back of his head and chuckled nervously as he led his brothers up the steps towards the Flowing Purewater sect.
“I’m as surprised as you are, Wen. I did speak with her regularly, but she did the same with anyone willing to meet her. I hardly expected her to remember me after the battle, much less seek me out.”
“And she’s really as friendly as you say? I simply cannot match the Furious Storm with your descriptions.”
“Trust me, I know. You’re not the one who got struck by one of her lightning bolts. She’s a completely different person on the battlefield.”
That didn’t surprise Gao, who nodded quietly as he followed behind his chatty junior brothers. The Empress of Jiaguo was doubtless a veteran of many battles, and people often divorced their daily selves from their behavior on the battlefield. The other option was to never leave the battlefield—like the grizzled veterans who carried it with them wherever they went. Gao hoped his brothers would never discover which side of that coin they landed on.
“Do you know what this might be about, brother? I confess that I’m not entirely at peace with clandestine meetings with enemy leaders.”
Shun shrugged at Gao’s question.
“The message didn’t say. And it’s hardly clandestine, Gao—I doubt Empress Yoshika can sneeze without every grandmaster on this mountain knowing about it. If she wanted to meet in secret, she’d come to us.”
Gao thought about the grand illusion that she had cast over the battlefield at Kucheon and silently agreed with Shun. With that kind of power, she probably could have appeared in their dreams rather than calling them for a face to face meeting. Still, it felt odd. Yoshika was like the grandmaster of a great sect, or even beyond—equivalent to the first prince of Qin or even...he didn’t want to finish that thought.
She was too lofty a presence for mere footsoldiers to be meeting. Which meant that she wanted something from them, and Gao was very worried about what someone so grand could want from someone as low as himself.
Wen had other concerns.
“Which aspect will she be meeting us in, do you think? I hope it’s not the Fox Princess—we’re in enough trouble already. To be honest, I’m still not sure I understand how it all works.”
Shun pursed his lips.
“Eh, I only really met Lee Jia—the er, ‘Furious Storm’ as you call her—and Seong Eunae. I’m no expert, but I don’t think it really matters which we meet, but think of them as separate people who are all linked. Like if the three of us could see from each other’s eyes and share our thoughts.”
“Not bad! I give it a passing grade.”
An unexpected voice cut in, and Gao turned to see none other than Grandmistress Yan Yue of the Great Awakening Dragon sect walking alongside them. He hadn’t even sensed her approach.
“Most people assume Yoshika is some kind of shapeshifter or mind controller if they don’t know her. Which she is, but not in the ways you might imagine. Lee Jia is the one here, and the rest are busy elsewhere, but you can meet them if you like—she’s perfectly capable of channeling them through illusions or simulacra if necessary.”
Gao and his brothers were already bowing before she finished speaking.
“Grandmistress Yan Yue! You honor us with your presence! Please forgive my brothers and I for gossiping.”
She regarded them archly and waved him off.
“It’s nothing. Pondering Yoshika’s nature as a gestalt being is a favorite pastime of her people in Jiaguo City. Most fall victim to the assumption that she must be only one thing, which is quite specifically not her nature. Come along, gentlemen, you have an appointment, but the empress does not have unlimited time.”
The three men followed her in silence as she led them to a guest house built into the side of the mountain. Gao had seen Yan Yue during the confrontation with her father in Yoshika’s grand illusion, but it felt surreal to be meeting her face to face. She spoke so casually as she ushered them inside.
“Conduct yourselves well. Yoshika may be forgiving, but I am not. If you act out of line, it’s not her wrath you should fear, but mine. If you think she’s a powerful illusionist, then just remember that she learned most of that from me and pray I never have cause to give you a demonstration, understood?”
Her smile was as sharp as a dagger, and Gao bowed anxiously as he nodded.
“Of course, Grandmistress. We wouldn’t dream of offending you.”
“Good! Then you have my welcome! Please enjoy our hospitality at your leisure.”
Then she closed the door behind them and left to presumably go about her own business. The three exchanged glances, then made their way to a luxurious sitting room, where Empress Yoshika was waiting for them.
The Furious Storm—or rather, Lee Jia smiled so brightly that Gao almost completely forgot the sight of her rampaging through his brothers like a living thunderstorm.
“Song! Welcome, welcome! And you two must be Wen You and Gao Yuanjun. Song has told me all about you!”
Gao gave his junior brother a sidelong glance that Shun avoided.
“He has? Nothing that would give away sect secrets, I hope.”
A flash of irritation crossed Lee Jia’s brows for just an instant—a subtle furrow of her brows that disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared, and Gao felt that she’d let him see it on purpose. Then her smile returned and she gestured for them to sit on the couch across from her.
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“Not at all! He just told me how much of a friend and inspiration you were, taking him and Wen under your wing while they were nervous rookies.”
Gao regretted his suspicion as Shun chuckled and looked away to hide his embarrassment. As the three took their seats, he took in the empress before them. Lee Jia was dressed quite modestly for her station—in a simple blue and white robe that matched well with her piercing golden eyes and short white hair. She wore no jewelry or adornments, and minimal makeup, if any. Either she dressed for social occasions the same way she did for battle, or she was extremely humble—possibly both.
If she noticed his scrutiny, she made no mention of it as she gestured to the spread of snacks and tea on the table between them.
“Please help yourselves! Yue made the tea herself—she wouldn’t let me serve it. As if I don’t know how to make a good cup of tea!”
That was not the issue with her serving them, and judging from the twinkle in her eye as she said it, Lee Jia was well aware. Shun was right—she was surprisingly playful. Wen You, ever the brash one among them, was the first to comment.
“I’m sorry—are you telling me that Yan Yue, the Grandmistress of the Great Awakening Dragon sect, is acting as your secretary?!”
Lee Jia covered her mouth and snorted in a most unladylike manner.
“She doesn't usually, but I think she’s having a bit of fun with it now that we’re—well, never mind about that for now. We’ve been friends for a long time, so we don’t stand on ceremony.”
Shun scoffed.
“I didn’t think you stood on ceremony with anyone, Miss Jia.”
Gao choked, thinking his brother had gone insane until the empress laughed.
“True enough, Song! It’s hard to put myself above others when I can still remember scrounging through garbage for scraps to survive.”
Truly? It was hard to believe, but she said it so earnestly, and without a hint of shame. Gao felt compelled to interrogate it further.
“You came from humble beginnings, Your Majesty?”
“You could say that, yes. Or you could say that I grew up on the streets, abandoned by my parents and raised by gangs, with a prostitute as my only role model.”
Gao flushed, sweating nervously.
“I-I would never, Your—”
Lee Jia’s playful smile remained, clearly enjoying how flustered he was by her frank attitude.
“I know who I am, Sir Gao. Kaede and Eunae were born princesses, and even Eui’s family was rich—though she had her own low points. But me? I’ve always been nobody. The bottom of the barrel. The dregs of society that polite folk try to forget even exist until they have to wipe our filth off their shoes. No matter how far we rise, I’m always here to remember what it’s like at the bottom.”
None of them knew what to say to that, but before the silence could grow awkward, Lee Jia just sat back and clapped her hands once, as if breaking a spell she’d cast over them.
“So don’t debase yourselves by bowing and scraping before me! I’ll let the rulers and grandmasters do that—because it’s funny—but here? I’d like to think we’re all among friends. Don’t worry about Yue’s threats—her bark is worse than her bite.”
Gao and his brothers exchanged uncertain glances. Even Shun was taken aback, but Gao went to bow before stopping himself and simply nodding.
“Very well Your—rather, Miss Lee. I must admit that you are not what I expected, even after being told by Shun. If I may be so bold, why have you called us here?”
Lee Jia’s smile fell away in an instant, giving way to a weary sigh as she sipped delicately at her steaming tea.
“I’m worried about you. I know you don’t believe me, even now, but I consider Shun Song a friend—and if you’re his sworn brothers then I would extend the same to you. I know that my friendship isn’t exactly a credit in the eyes of your masters, and I fear what it means that they’ve brought you all here. I haven’t forgiven Sun Quan for what he did at Kucheon, even if it was under Yan De’s orders.”
Gao bowed respectfully—touched by her concern, but still wary.
“This summit is attended by imperial arbiters—no less than the first prince himself. We are here to be judged for our actions. Wen You and I disobeyed orders and engaged in mutiny.”
“You were right to. Yan De wanted to murder your brothers and sisters in arms. Intentionally played you against each other, just to draw me out and weaken me for his own gain.”
“That is not for us to judge, Miss Lee. If any soldier had the right to question the orders of their superiors, the entire hierarchy would break down.”
The look in her eye suggested that Lee Jia didn’t consider that a problem. It was an odd stance for an empress, but a sensible one for Lee Jia given what she’d said of her childhood. She really was a fascinating paradox of a person.
“Then why did you rebel in the first place?”
Wen and Gao exchanged uneasy glances.
“That’s a difficult question to answer. I believe we each had our own reasons. I felt that I had been trapped into a corner, with no truly good option before me. It was wrong to defy orders, and it was wrong to follow them. I could have chosen selfishly, and taken the side which I would not be punished for—and many of my brethren did. Instead, I chose the option that gave me inner peace. I knew what the consequences for that would be, and I am prepared to meet my fate. What about you, Wen?”
Wen You scratched his head and coughed awkwardly.
“I uh, didn’t put that much thought into it. I couldn’t let them kill Shun.”
Well, there was merit in decisiveness, too, even if Wen could be a bit rash. Lee Jia was pleased, if not satisfied by their answers. She nodded to each of them in turn before glancing at Shun.
“And Shun Song? You’ve done nothing wrong except fall in service to your nation. Why should you be judged for my mercy?”
He grinned mirthlessly and shrugged.
“How should I know? I don’t think my brothers did anything wrong either, even if they disagree.”
Gao sighed. Wen and Shun were young—as was the empress, for that matter. Some things could only be learned by experience.
“I believe that Shun and the other former prisoners will be released, assuming no evidence of mental tampering can be found.”
Lee Jia pursed her lips.
“I can swear to you that I have done nothing to compromise even a single soldier of Qin, but that doesn’t mean they won’t ‘find’ any.”
Ah. Perhaps she wasn’t as naive as Gao thought.
“Nevertheless, Wen and my crimes are inarguable. It is up to the mercy of the imperial clan and the grandmasters.”
“Not if I have any say in it. I want you—and all the other soldiers being judged—to know that you will be able to find sanctuary in Jiaguo or the Awakening Dragon sect. I cannot speak for the Flowing Purewater, as I’ve already asked enough of them, but I hope they will at least not interfere.”
“That is very kind of you, but I would sooner face judgment than live as a pariah.”
She frowned, pushing her tea away as though it had gone sour.
“Then I will make sure that those who forced your hand are judged as well. I swore to Sun Quan that the prisoners he murdered would be avenged. If he tries to add to that number now, on his head be it.”
Gao felt a certainty in his bones that she was serious. He wasn’t sure how she could bring Sun Quan and the other grandmasters to justice—maybe she wasn’t either—but he sensed that she would do everything in her power to see it done. He bowed as they began to say their farewells, and seriously considered her offer of sanctuary.
At the very least, he would relay it to the others. They’d made their decision once, and they could do it again. Sons and daughters of Qin, denied by their nation in service to the petty games of power being played at the top. He struggled to imagine it, but if Qin didn’t want them—perhaps there really would be a place for them in Jiaguo, after all.
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