Volume 2 Chapter 20
Lightning struck the Zang compound, and with it a flood of Qi. Kora, who was exercising in the yard under the guidance of master Rukas, gasped in surprise and shouted in glee, for she recognized the Qi and the movement technique of Renton Shen, whom she knew to be a servant of the empire.
She shouted to the servants to gather her family to formally greet this impressive personage, even as Renton continued to kneel on the ground, one hand on the dirt, and his face lowered. It was only then, after she had given the instructions, that she realized that the man she recognized as Renton Shen was wearing a mask of the imperial justicars.
She felt her blood run cold.
The imperial justicars were empowered to speak with the emperor’s voice, to act as the emperor’s hands, to hear with the emperor’s ears, and to see with the emperor’s eyes. She had known that Renton was an important man, but she had not realized how important he truly was.
“You have done well to announce me, Kora Zang. We shall wait until your family has gathered.”
“I apologize, Justicar, for using the name Renton Shen to identify you. I did not mean—”
“Renton Shen is not my name, Kora,” The justicar said. “Not while I wear this mask. While I wear this mask, I have no name. I am the nameless will of the emperor while I wear this mask. Do you understand?”
“I-I am uncertain whether I do or not. May this humble servant of the empire inquire how to address you?”
“You may call me Justicar,” the justicar answered.
“Yes. I must instruct the servants to correct my earlier statement as to your identity, Justicar. May I be permitted to do so?”
“You may, Kora,” the justicar said.
She ran to her mother, using all of her speed as a cultivator to bypass the mortal servants. She burst through the door and announced in a hoarse whisper “An Imperial Justicar has come! It is Renton, he’s a justicar, but he is here in an official capacity today.”
Toh Shen, her mother, felt her blood run cold. As an ice cultivator, this was nothing new, but she seldom felt the fear that she felt with those words.
“Thank you for informing me. I shall gather the rest of the family. Return to the Justicar and make him welcome in our house, as the daughter of this house.”
“Yes,” Kora agreed, and she ran back to bow before the Justicar. “My mother bids you welcome and instructed me, as the daughter of the house, to bid you welcome into the house in her name.”
“Very good, Kora. Has your mother any other statements?”
“We are gathering the entire household to bid you welcome as well, unless that is not your wish?”
“It is my wish for the emperor’s words to be witnessed. You there, the man who wears a sword in my presence, who are you?” the justicar demanded.
Kora gasped and dropped her swordbelt and the training sword she had been holding all this time.
But it was Rukas to whom the justicar spoke.
“I am but a humble servant of the emperor,” Rukas answered. “I was permitted by the emperor to wear a sword even in his presence. In your presence, I am permitted to wear a sword.”
“Is that so?” the justicar asked.
“Yes.”
But even though he spoke with conviction, Rukas remained on the ground, kowtowing to the imperial justicar. Kora realized that she should do the same, and as the rest of the Zang family appeared, they too kowtowed before the imperial justicar.
“Let it be known that Kora of the Family Zang has gained the attention of the emperor, and the imperial heir. Has she received the invitation to attend the celebration in the tenth month of this year?”
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“She has,” Kora said nervously.
“Does she plan to attend?”
“She does. She is looking forward to it,” Kora answered. “Unless the invitation was revoked?”
“It has not been. You there, who wears a sword in my presence. You say that you are a servant of the emperor.”
“A servant of the empire and the emperor, justicar,” Rukas corrected.
“I recognize your face. The emperor himself bade you leave his presence. He confiscated all of your worldly possessions but a single bag of silver, a horse, a change of clothes, and the sword, and bade you not return before him until you completed the task set before you. Am I mistaken?” the justicar asked.
“You are not, Justicar,” Rukas answered.
“Have you completed this task?”
“Not to the thoroughness that I would have wished to complete before returning to the emperor, but if he has sent a justicar after me then time has run out. I have completed my tasks to the best of my ability in the time that was allowed.”
“What was your task?”
“I had two tasks. I was to evaluate the Zang family and their compound, and to train their daughter Kora Zang in the use of the sword,” Rukas answered.
“I am the emperor’s ears. Provide your report of the Zang family and their compound.”
“The Zang family is a weak family of cultivators that shows little promise compared to imperial standards, with the exception of their daughter Kora. Their clan is unimpressive and unimportant, but they obey imperial law and follow imperial custom. I found no evidence of treason, nor any indication that their daughter might harbor ill will to the emperor, his heir, or the imperial family. I will submit a more detailed report in writing for the emperor’s eyes at his convenience.”
“Yes, you are instructed to do so at your convenience. You shall deliver the written report to the emperor’s hands yourself. Before you left, you were ordered to seal your cultivation, were you not?”
“That is so,” Rukas said.
“Prove to me that you have obeyed this command,” the justicar said.
Rukas stood and took off his shirt. Upon his chest was a complicated tattoo. Kora gasped as she suddenly recognized it, it was similar to the painted formations that the Shen family used during spars to alert the children when they were using too much Qi for the rules of a spar.
“I see that your Qi-sealing formation is intact. I release you from the order to seal your cultivation, loyal servant of the empire.”
“I hate this part,” Rukas grumbled, and abruptly his skin blackened and blistered as the tattoo was burned away. Then, once it was gone, the air suddenly changed and Kora gasped as she realized that what she was feeling was Rukas absorbing vast amounts of air Qi.
The wind in the courtyard swirled and roiled, with the wind kicking up leaves and dancing through the hair of the attendees. Kora tried to gauge the man’s strength and realized that he was stronger than Tan.
“It feels good to breathe again,” Rukas said. “Thank you, Justicar.”
“Have you any requests for the empire for your meritorious service?” the justicar demanded.
“I wish permission to take a wife, for I have fathered a child without his permission.”
“The emperor’s ears have heard your request. With the emperor’s voice I grant you permission. Would it perhaps be suitable for a justicar to preside over the wedding?” the man in the mask asked.
“If that is the emperor’s will, then may it be so,” Rukas answered.
“Then before this humble justicar leaves tomorrow, presuming that he is welcome to spend the night at the Zang compound, he perform a wedding ceremony,” the justicar said.
He took off his mask. “Now then, I believe that’s enough formality for the day. It is a pleasure to return to this place. You may call me by my alias, Renton, while I am not wearing the mask. Kora, would you take a walk with me?”
“It would be my honor, Renton,” Kora said, and she stood on shaking legs to follow her mentor as they strolled through the compound.
The rest of the Zang family stared in dumbfounded horror at the hidden master who had been posing as a servant for the last several months. Rukas ignored the stares, simply replacing his shirt and sitting in the lotus position. The wind began to scream as he cultivated to the limits of his potential.
The Zangs had been visited by not one, but two imperial cultivators.
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