“Why didn’t you tell me? I could have helped you,” I said to River over a steaming cup of tea in a strange new manor in the city.
“I didn’t need your help.” Her dark eyes flashed over her own teacup.
The manor appeared to have been newly built, or at least extensively renovated at someone’s great expense. I had to assume that it was River herself who had purchased and furnished it, but I knew for a fact that Imperial concubines didn’t earn this kind of salary. Something like this would have taken an Imperial Protector of a Province’s salary. Or at least a Commander of a Commandery. Then again, I didn’t have any idea what situation River came from, or if she retained any familial holdings when she entered the palace as a girl. I realized just how little I knew about this strange lady whom I had allowed to capture my heart. And my sanity.
“But you did feel the need to get out of the palace, so clearly there was some danger! But you managed to guess. How?”
“Oh there is always danger for a dead Emperor’s concubines. It was hardly worth mentioning. As for my anticipation of the coup… I never guess. I prepare.”
“But… how?” Was I talking in circles? I was so tired I wasn’t sure. I might not have even been able to sit upright had the tea not bolstered me somewhat. River for her part looked perfectly composed, well-rested even, though I know she was not.
“Ten dead eunuchs, a boy Emperor who’s never met his own concubines, and a few coins in the right hands. Suddenly, I never existed.”
“But… you’d be rankless.”
“I feel as if I’ve hitched my wagon to the right horse.”
In my state, it took me far too long to realize who she was talking about. When I did, I almost exploded. “M-Me?”
She smiled, sickly sweet.
“I-I’m only a Knight. I’m still basically part of the peasantry. I can’t afford any of this.” I looked at the tea accusingly. It was damned good tea. Probably damned expensive too.
“Don’t worry about the tea. We’re extensively provisioned. And I didn’t exactly leave the Emperor’s service empty-handed.”
I thought about that for a moment, and eventually convinced myself to nod along with her and accept it. River was no fool. She wasn’t expecting me to support her on 350 dan per year. But…
“And the manor?” I asked, reaching for the tea again.
“It came cheap. There was a slaughter in here if you remember.”
My teacup paused halfway to my lips. “So that’s why it all looks so new. This was the Gray Dowager’s city estate? Are you sure it's safe?”
“Much safer than the palace at the moment,” she said. “No good ever comes of a brute like that in the Emperor’s bedchamber.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Wait… you already know about Dreadwolf?”
“You don’t grow up in a harem without learning how to keep secrets… or how to find them out. I have eyes everywhere, Sparrow.” She smiled and then rose to depart. “You’re welcome by the way.” She bent to give me a peck on the cheek as she brushed by. The scent of her so close, the softness of her lips. They haunted me for hours more before I finally found sleep in my new bedchamber, in what was to be my new home for the time being.
***NEW BASE OF OPERATIONS***
NAME: Gray Moon-Moth Manor, City of Lanterns
DESCRIPTION: A lavish residence that once belonged to the Gray Dowager. While the many hidden entrances and exits provide its occupants some level of secrecy in their comings and goings, its proper upkeep requires a small fortune and it is no impregnable castle, as its former owners would attest to... if they could.
INFORMATION ACCESS: +5
SPLENDOR: +15
INCOME: -30
SECURITY: -5
DISCRETION: +20
***
For the span of a few days, I was blissfully unaware of anything River’s “eyes” might be seeing in the palace. I explored my new home, marshaled my own finances, now that the palace was no longer providing for me, and eventually went out into the City of Lanterns.
The city was much changed from that first foray that River had led me on, when we had witnessed the end of the Gray Moon-Moth clan. Thugs in gray armor prowled the streets, much as their master prowled the palace. They took what they wanted from whom they wanted, much as Dreadwolf now did with the Emperor.
When villagers finally spoke out against their new oppressors, the wolves put down a “rebellion” and hung the heads from their spears as they went out drinking. Dreadwolf, for his part, was a bit more subtle. At least at first.
By the time I settled into my new home with River, Windstopper, and a handful of servants River said we could trust (and that she could afford), Dreadwolf had well and truly settled into the Imperial palace. And while I was fairly sure that no one in the Land Under Heaven knew where I had gone, Black River was not so surprised when an invitation from the Emperor arrived at our door, inviting me to a feast to celebrate the Son of Heaven’s safe return to the palace, thanks to his “Uncle Dong Zhuo.”
Dreadwolf may have actually been some distant relation to Emperor Shining Light, by virtue of the boy’s... grandfather’s... Empress? Or some such convoluted line. The wolf might have been a tangential member of the Gray Moon-Moth clan. But clearly the Gray Dowager had not had a high enough opinion of her distant relation to grant him a position of import in the court, nor a place within her home, nor even claim him as one of her clan.
Dreadwolf had forged out on his own, created a new clan out in the far reaches of the Land Under Heaven, and risen to considerable provincial importance. Now, he was “Uncle Dong Zhuo,” capable of sending out invitations with the Emperor’s name on them.
“I have to go,” I said to River. “I have as much a hand as anyone in allowing that beast to take hold of the Emperor. If there’s a chance I can mitigate the damage…”
“I’ve told you this once, Sparrow,” she said. “You’re a soldier without an army. And you still are.”
“It hasn’t gotten to that yet. Dreadwolf has taken the capital by force, but inside those walls, it isn’t a tavern brawl, it's a game of chess.”
“My, my! You’ve figured out how the palace works so quickly.”
“Is there something you know that says otherwise?”
“Only that he’s a brute, and he’s as liable to flip the chessboard as move any pieces.”
“I must try. If there’s a chance to avoid the chaos of the last six years...”
“Well… if you must. Then it’s not my place to say otherwise.”
I was dressed for the mid-day banquet, alone except for my dogged bodyguard, and halfway through the streets of the City of Lanterns when I realized the barb that River had cast in my direction. ‘It’s not for me to say, my lord.’
“Well,” I thought aloud, adjusting my saber in my sash, “If it turns into a brawl, then at least I have you, Windstopper.”
“Yes. You Do.”
