The Dragon and the Pearl
Auntie nodded toward the first corridor that wound its way down the main bay. ‘In his chamber.’
‘His chamber?’
Li Tao usually emerged from his apartments before dawn. The curiosity in the front hall had grown thick. She couldn’t help but imagine there was some hidden power in the box she held in her hands. It was wrapped in the style of wedding gifts and festival offerings. It made her heart beat faster, holding that little box that had the entire household in awe.
‘I’ll bring it to him,’ she said.
The servants nodded, co-conspirators in this adventure. Auntie took a couple of steps alongside her before stepping away at the mouth of the corridor. From what she had seen, no one ever went down this corridor but Li Tao.
Ru Shan made no protest and let her take the lead. Day by day, he was relinquishing control to her. The changes were so small he couldn’t notice, but she paid very close attention.
At the end of the walkway, a Taoist mirror hung over a set of double doors to ward off evil. This must have been Auntie’s doing. Li Tao didn’t appear to be a believer in mystic symbols.
She knocked against the door. ‘Governor Li?’
‘Guifei?’ His deep voice sounded from inside, raised in surprise.
Why did he insist on calling her that? That title didn’t mean anything anymore.
‘A delivery has arrived for you.’
There was silence, followed by a furtive shifting within.
‘Enter,’ he said finally.
She pushed the door open with two fingers. Li Tao sat with his chair propped against the opposite wall, dressed in his usual dark robe. Light filtered through the waxed panes of the window behind him, casting his face in shadow. To one side, set within an alcove, was his bed.
When she had first thought of it, there was something wickedly bold about approaching Li Tao in his private chambers. She suddenly regretted her recklessness.
‘I have something for you.’
He stared at the parcel in her hands. ‘Come inside and close the door.’
She hovered in the doorway, too astonished to comply. Ru Shan tensed beside her in the hall. His growing protectiveness could be of use, but a direct confrontation with Li Tao would prove deadly. Hastily, she slipped into the room and shut the door behind her.
Once again, she was alone with the warlord. The mystery of the box was suddenly overpowered by a more primal instinct. She edged along the wall, keeping her distance.
‘It’s been days since I’ve seen you,’ he said.
‘You know exactly where I am, Governor. I can hardly hide from you,’ she teased in an attempt to conceal her growing unease. He still hadn’t moved from his seat.
‘You’ve been busy,’ she continued.
‘Yes.’
‘This … this was left at the house last night.’
She hated the desperation of her one-sided conversation. Every time they engaged one another, she seemed to have lost any ground she’d gained previously. The last time they had spoken, he’d kissed her—though it was more a challenge than a lover’s kiss.
He had scandalously proposed she spend one night in his bed. Her thoughts wandered back to it every night while she slept far away from his chamber, but now that she was here, the proposal came back to her with a sharpness that stole her breath.
Swallowing past the sudden knot in her throat, she held out the box. ‘Is this a gift?’
‘Open it.’
The ribbon pulled free easily and she let the tail of it run from her fingers as she unwound the silk wrapping to reveal a rosewood box inlaid with a circle of jade on the lid.
‘Look inside.’ His voice pulled tight around each word.
Slowly, she lifted the brass clasp and nearly dropped the box when she caught the gleam of the blade. It was a dagger, the triangular blade thick and wickedly tapered. She set the case on to the table with trembling hands and backed away quickly.
‘Flattering that the old man should send such a pretty weapon,’ he said.
His attention focused singularly on to her, his icy demeanour vastly different from the man who had pressed his lips to hers so seductively. A thin, shadowed object lay across his palm.
‘I always knew he had people hidden close to the heart of the empire.’
Her stomach lurched. It was a knife in his hand. He twirled the weapon carelessly between his fingers.
She backed away from the box one step at a time. ‘You’re mistaken. I had nothing to do with this.’
It was useless to beg. That was his reputation, wasn’t it? When Li Tao came for you, your pleas fell upon deaf ears. The blood drained from her face while her mind fumbled for an escape.
‘Did he also find you in Luoyang?’ he asked.
His question caught her off guard. He rose to his feet and she stumbled back, her shoulders coming up against the alcove of the bed.
‘He would see how your beauty could be used.’
‘Gao?’ Had he somehow guessed her connection to the old warlord?
She flinched when he took hold of her chin and forced her to meet his eyes. ‘The rulers of this empire are so drawn to beauty.’
There was no compliment in his words. The knife remained poised lightly in his free hand. The threat of it brought her to another time and place. The same haze of fear had choked her then. The men who had come for her had looked at her with cold eyes as they’d held out two choices, a knife or poison.
‘Gao doesn’t own me.’ Whatever ploy this was, she knew nothing about it. She’d been snared in it somehow and she had to convince him.
‘No, not Gao.’
Faster than a serpent’s strike, he had her arms pinned against the bed frame. He still held the knife. She gasped as the bone handle dug into her wrist.
‘Did Lao Sou send you?’ he demanded.
‘Who?’
‘Did the old man send you?’
‘I don’t know any old man. No one sent me.’
‘Someone wanted you here. With me.’
His face was a rigid mask above her, jaw taut, his mouth a harsh line. If she called for help, Ru Shan would come storming in, but then Li Tao would kill them both. He held her pinned and there was nothing she could offer, nothing she could bargain with. She had never felt so helpless.
She was only alive at his whim. Nothing could sway him. Not vulnerability or tears or lies. Her desperate plea came out in a flood of words.
‘You think anyone would send me to kill you? That I would walk in and do it while you were watching? You took me from my home. All I want is to go back.’
He had her caged against the bed, overpowered by his size and strength. A glimmer alighted in his eyes, a spark of passion amidst the blind anger. His hold loosened enough for her to slip her arms free.
She thought he would kiss her again. He was so close, the heat of his body enveloping her. Wildly, she realised she wanted him to. It would be no gentle caress this time. Not with the tension that vibrated through him. She needed something to penetrate this terrifying coldness.
‘You know who sent that box.’ Her breath came in shallow pulls. ‘Someone who sends it every year.’
‘I have powerful enemies.’
He was still watching her, a sharp line etched between his brows. She was afraid to move, afraid to invoke the demon caged inside him. His chest rose and fell, the pulse in his throat jumping beneath the tanned skin as the tension transformed to desire. There was an answering call within her. It was always this way between them, though she couldn’t understand why.
‘What does it mean?’ she asked.
Her mention of the dagger broke the thrall over him. He glanced once at the open box.
‘Leave.’
Chapter Five
As soon as Li Tao freed her, she fled from the room and stumbled through the corridor. She could still feel the bruising pressure of his hands pinning her, holding her captive.
Auntie waited at the end of the corridor, her expression twisted with worry.
‘Lady Ling?’
Suyin tore past the old woman and left the servants in the entrance hall.
‘My lady, what happened?’
Auntie insisted on following her into the garden. Struggling for breath, Suyin sank on to one of the flattened boulders lying in the soft grass. She needed to escape from here. Her captor was not only ruthless, he was likely mad.
‘Unfavourable day, indeed,’ Suyin snapped. ‘You knew what would happen, didn’t you?’
The old woman stood several steps away, her hands clasped before her demurely. Suyin clutched at the smooth stone below her, trying to steady the pounding of her heart. It always came to this, a knife at her throat, men coming to silence her. When she’d left the palace, she had vowed that she would no longer be used in the schemes of powerful men. She had been brought here by someone’s design, she was certain of it.
‘Auntie was hoping the lady could convince Master Li.’
‘Convince him of what?’
The old woman shrank back at her anger, but Suyin couldn’t find it within her to feel any remorse. Li Tao had held a blade to her. He had never directly threatened her with it, but that didn’t matter. What frightened her even more was what had happened afterwards. She had fought to keep herself safe from men like him all her life, only to be drawn to Li Tao despite every survival instinct within her. They called it the seduction of power. She hadn’t fully believed in it until now.
‘What could I possibly convince him to do?’ She raised herself to her feet. ‘I am a prisoner, brought here against my will.’
A commotion rose from the depths of the front hall. The sound of Li Tao’s strident voice resonated against the walls followed by the stamp of his footsteps. She was relieved to have some distance between them as he left.
‘Master Li is a good man.’ Auntie ventured forwards to grasp her sleeve. ‘You are the only one he will listen to.’
‘He listens to no one.’
‘That is not true! Master spends more time here now. He enquires about your welfare constantly.’
He had asked Auntie about her? Most likely he was trying to discover her secrets.
Suyin pulled away in agitation. ‘If he didn’t make everyone out to be an enemy, he wouldn’t need to live in constant fear.’
She didn’t realise the truth of it until she spoke the words aloud. Li Tao had been afraid, as she was afraid. It was apparent that Auntie worried for him as well. Auntie trusted her and she needed to find a way to use that to her advantage. It was her best chance for escape.
‘Auntie, the governor speaks constantly of defiance and rebellion.’ She lowered her tone cautiously. ‘I’m afraid it will destroy him.’
‘Master is not a traitor. He’s a good man.’
Suyin watched guiltily as tears gathered in the old woman’s eyes.
‘The box is a warning, isn’t it?’ Suyin asked.
Auntie started to respond, but then clamped her mouth shut and glanced furtively towards the house.
‘Governor Li is gone,’ Suyin assured. ‘What does the box mean? Has your master ever mentioned an old man?’
Li Tao had interrogated her about an old man, Lao Sou, when he’d had her pinned.
‘Old man? Cook is old …’
Suyin sighed impatiently. ‘Not Cook.’
‘The box is a reminder.’ Auntie whispered even though the others were too far away to hear. ‘Master doesn’t think I know, but Auntie remembers everything. Once it was a sign of favour. Now it is a warning.’
‘Favour?’
‘From the August Emperor.’
‘The August Emperor is dead. He has been dead for two years.’
‘I know that!’ Auntie snapped. The old woman wasn’t completely intimidated. ‘The Emperor would send Master Li a gift every year in honour of his service. Since his death, someone else must be sending the gift to remind him of his loyalty to the empire.’
Suyin bit back her cynical response. It was either Gao or some other rival who was sending the dagger to provoke Li Tao, but Auntie would think the best of him no matter what the circumstances.
She needed to bend Auntie’s fear and loyalty to her advantage. She took hold of Auntie’s thinning shoulders and spoke in a grave tone.
‘Li Tao has refused to swear loyalty to the throne. How long before Emperor Shen publicly denounces him?’
Auntie paled, but she could only nod in agreement. If Auntie knew about the armies and the barricades, then she must know that Li Tao’s days were numbered.
‘The lady must convince him to reconsider. He hangs on your every word. He is so taken with you that he is afraid to blink when you are near for fear of losing sight of you.’
If only some measure of her reputation were true. Men didn’t fall at her feet in adoration as the stories claimed. It was all careful observation and planning. And Li Tao was endlessly unpredictable, more so than anyone she had ever met. He wanted nothing from her but one night. A conquest. Very far from being in her thrall.
‘Your master’s pride will not allow it,’ Suyin argued. ‘But I may have some sway with Emperor Shen.’
Auntie’s eyes brightened with hope, never questioning the lie. Former consorts had no power at all, especially after the scandals and rebellions that had followed the August Emperor’s death. She had been fortunate that Emperor Shen had allowed her to leave the palace with her freedom and her life.
‘If I can send a letter to Changan, I will speak on your master’s behalf,’ she pressed.
‘But who will deliver the message?’
Her gaze shifted to Ru Shan at the other end of the garden. Li Tao had chosen an honourable man to guard her, but such honour could be adapted to her advantage. Auntie would go along, as well. The dear old woman cared for Li Tao. No one had ever fought so hard to save her. She had always been on her own, even while supposedly under the August Emperor’s protection.
The imperial court had forgotten she had ever existed. But the Emperor Shen was a just ruler. When he found out that Li Tao had taken her, he would demand her return. She would be gone from this house before Li Tao’s many enemies closed in on him.
When they returned to the house, the plan was already in place. Auntie herded the servants away before beckoning Suyin down the corridor. Ru Shan followed silently behind. He was easy to turn to their cause. Protecting a defenceless woman against a warlord appealed to his warrior’s code.
Needles of guilt pricked at her heart. It had been too easy for her to manipulate an old woman’s trust and a soldier’s loyalty to her advantage. She was nothing but lies wrapped upon lies and she always had been. She had no choice. No one could save Li Tao. He had already declared his fate by defying the throne. Still, she hoped she would be released without bloodshed. Li Tao wouldn’t risk his position to keep her captive. And when she was free, perhaps she would be able to speak on his behalf.
What did she care what became of Li Tao. Already she was losing her sense of purpose. She needed to concentrate.
Auntie padded hurriedly down the hall, stopping before a set of doors opposite the bed chamber. Even while Li Tao was gone, his foreboding presence lingered.
‘No one is allowed inside the master’s study,’ Auntie told her as she slipped a key into the door.
‘Be quick!’
Li Tao trusted Auntie and no one else. It made her wonder about the true relationship between the two of them.
Auntie pushed the door open, but would not enter. She poked her head inside to search about as if fearing Li Tao might have returned. When she was satisfied, she waved Suyin in.
‘Master remembers where he puts everything,’ Auntie warned before shutting her inside.
The wooden desk was arranged below an aperture in the roof to allow for light. Suyin hurried to the desk and peeled a blank sheet of paper free from the stack and folded it into her sleeve. She hoped he didn’t go so far as to count them. A spare ink stick and brush quickly followed. They would need to return these items to their exact locations. She couldn’t resist a quick scan of the desk, but Li Tao had left no communications in sight.
She turned to go, but curiosity overwhelmed her like an insistent itch. The study was as simple and austere as the rest of the house, the walls were bare. How could Li Tao stand to stare at blank walls day after day? Did he do nothing but plan his battles?
A single cabinet spanned the far wall next to a shelf of books. There had to be something inside that would give her a hint of who Li Tao was. Even though she would soon be gone, she needed to know.
In case there was some way to use the information, she told herself.
Like Auntie, she looked once more over her shoulder, searching the corners of the room with unreasonable caution. She imagined Li Tao sitting alone in the dark at his desk with a single lamp burning beside him.
Be assured of your success and you cannot fail. Madame from the pleasure quarters used to say that. Suyin said it to herself now.
She pulled on the handle and found the cabinet unlocked. The oiled hinges swung wide to reveal a set of identical daggers to the one in the box. The blades were crafted from blackened steel and they fanned out against the inner wall in a grand display. She held her breath as she counted them. There were fifteen.
By the next morning, Suyin feared that Auntie would worry her fingers to the bone with how often she wrung them together. Suyin sat her down and poured the tea for both of them.
‘Auntie does not look well,’ she suggested mildly.
‘The lady is kind, but Auntie is fine—’
‘Perhaps Auntie should stay in bed for the day,’ she interrupted pointedly. ‘Let someone else tend to the governor.’
Li Tao would hear Auntie’s nervous rambling and know immediately that something was out of place. Suyin’s plan was already in motion and all she had to do was wait. Hopefully Auntie’s ability to present a good face would strengthen with time.
Auntie spilled her tea over the table when a knock sounded on the door. Suyin left Auntie to answer it herself.
Jun stood in the hallway, averting his eyes from her face. Her heart went out to the boy when she saw how he tried to hide his withered arm, angling his left side away.
‘Master Li wishes to see you. He is in the garden,’ Jun said shyly.
She breathed with relief. They would be outside in full view of the servants. After the way Li Tao had threatened her, she couldn’t risk being trapped alone with him. Auntie stood back in the sitting area, her forehead creased in a nest of lines. This was how honest people reacted to deception. She gave Auntie a reassuring nod before stepping outside.
Jun fell into step behind her. He was tall with the lanky awkwardness of youth. From what she could see, Li Tao provided for his servants, yet Jun retained a lean wiriness that came from a childhood of scarcity. She had seen it in her village and in the streets of Luoyang.
‘How long have you served the governor?’ she asked.
She strained to hear his mumbled answer.
‘Eight years, Lady Ling.’
Li Tao presented a confusing picture. He was an efficient military governor. His men were disciplined and loyal, and he was known for promoting men through the ranks based on skill rather than social standing, much like the August Emperor. Yet the warlord surrounded himself with such an incongruous crew of servants.
‘Where did you live before?’ she asked to distract herself as they descended the stairs to the second courtyard.
‘At a monastery … an orphanage,’ Jun corrected himself. ‘Auntie asked for Master Li to take me in.’
‘That was generous of him.’ So he was capable of kindness. He also seemed to be obliging and respectful of Auntie.
Jun stopped abruptly at the edge of the courtyard. ‘Lady Ling?’
‘Yes?’
He bowed his head. ‘You are very beautiful.’
Despite her jaded nature, his sincerity warmed her. This unassuming boy, innocent and hopeful, expected nothing in return for his flattery.
‘Thank you for your kind words, Master Jun,’ she said with a smile.
He blushed furiously at that and couldn’t look at her for the rest of the walk to the garden.
They emerged through the circled archway and her attention centred on to Li Tao. He stood beneath the shade of the cedarwood pavilion. Stood rather than sat. He never paced, never made any unnecessary movements. He turned and studied her as she approached. His feral side was held in restraint; at least she hoped so. Her pulse quickened.
‘Lady Ling.’
He invited her to sit with an outstretched hand, but she stopped short of the pavilion and refused to come any closer. Jun stood by her side, looking confused.
‘It is difficult to be gracious when you held a knife to me the last time we met.’
Li Tao’s steely expression transformed into a frown. He dismissed Jun with a wave of his hand and the boy backed away, kneeling to some task behind the shrubbery.
‘I frightened you,’ Li Tao said. ‘I apologise. Please sit.’
His façade of civility didn’t reassure her. She ascended the wooden steps into the pavilion and noticed the faint shadow over his jaw as she glanced up at him. He looked unkempt, as if he’d just come from the road. She moved past him to take her seat on the stone bench.
It wasn’t only fear that caused her heart to race. His nearness stirred her blood, urging her to tempt fate. That made him more dangerous than Gao and all of the other interlopers who had ever plotted against her. When he seated himself across the table, she was grateful for the barrier between them.
‘Ru Shan is away,’ he said. ‘I will need to assign another guardsman to your care.’
She smoothed out her sleeves and folded her hands together on the surface of the table, using the casual gesture to mask her nervousness. She knew exactly why Ru Shan was away. He had used the ruse of visiting his ailing father.
‘Are you afraid I’ll escape, Governor Li? I would lose myself in this bamboo sea before I found the road.’
‘You shouldn’t be left alone. Not after what happened.’
What happened? ‘I wasn’t in any danger from anyone besides you.’
He didn’t answer for a long stretch; she was afraid she’d been too bold.
‘Accept a peace offering, then,’ he said finally.
He lifted a bundle wrapped in canvas on to the table. She stared at him in surprise as he beckoned for her to open it. Theirs was the oddest of acquaintances. She couldn’t decipher what Li Tao was to her. Adversary, protector, companion. Madman.
Perhaps she was mad as well. Why else would she be tempted to accept the tainted protection he offered? She could hide away in the cover of the bamboo forest.
Her message to the Emperor was already travelling toward the capital. Even if Li Tao wasn’t so unpredictable, she couldn’t stay. When Emperor Shen came for him, she could be implicated as a co-conspirator even though she had been brought there against her will. Or worse, they would come with swords and arrows with no pause to sort out who was who.
She reached for the bindings, but hesitated, remembering another package she’d opened in his presence.
‘It’s not a trap,’ he replied when she looked to him.
The image of the fifteen daggers haunted her. She was afraid to ask about the strange delivery, as if the mystery would hold her captive if she uncovered it.
She untied the knots while Li Tao leaned back to watch her. His offering was somewhat awkward given the circumstances, yet oddly earnest because of it. The canvas peeled away to reveal a lacquered case inlaid with abalone shell. She gasped when she lifted the lid and saw the musical instrument inside. The arrangement of the silk strings over wooden bridges sent a flutter of delight through her. She’d left her qin by the river with the rest of her abandoned belongings.
‘It’s beautiful.’
‘The instrument maker told me this was his finest work,’ Li Tao said. ‘But I have no eye for such things.’
She ran her fingers over the polished surface board, teasing the strings. The clear notes rose in the air with a sense of freedom.