The Marriage of the Living Dark - 8

Chalker came smartly to attention, then turned and went

Kuei Jen, at Egan’s side, was quiet a moment, then leaned towards his husband.

“You called him Alan. Why? I’ve never known you use his name before.” Egan smiled. Nothing escaped Kuei Jen. He leaned towards him, whispering into his ear. “If s something you said, Jenny. We need every friend we can get right now, and who better to have on our side than Chalker. Gods, I’d hate to think of him in Horton’s pay! But I knew he wanted to set about torturing our friend Horton at once, and as I’d have to disappoint him there, I thought I’d give him something.”

“A name.”

“Yes. Even the coldest fish likes to think he has friends.” Kuei Jen nodded, then put his hand over Egan’s. “You are wise, Mark. Now, make the announcement. And don’t fuck it up. Bad news first, good news second. Knock them down, then stand them up again. Take away something big ...” “... and give back something small. I get the idea, Kuei Jen. Now quiet while your Lord and Master speaks.”

Egan rose to his feet At once there was the clashing of a gong. Silence fell once more over the long rows of tables in the hall. All eyes were on the king. “Friends... citizens of the great state of America. Today we celebrate. Today we share in the joy of a great success. But the job is only haif done. We have other enemies, other great battles to fight And that is why I have decided to declare martial law ...”

There was a shocked gasp, then uproar, but Egan simply raised his voice - a microphone at his lapel switching in, channelling his voice to the speakers all about the hall, so that his voice suddenly boomed above the rest of the noise.”However, I make a solemn promise. That this situation will exist only so long as it needs to exist, and not a day longer.” “And how long is that?” called a voice from Egan’s right. “A year. Maybe less. Until we have subdued the southern barbarians and made a lasting peace.”

“And DeVore?”

Egan looked to Harding, who had spoken.

“Nothing has changed,” Egan said. “We shall continue to contain DeVore.”

“But the expense...”

Kuei Jen could see the flush at his husband’s neck and knew he was inwardly furious that Harding should choose this public moment to question him about policy. But Egan kept his temper. He answered Harding calmly, keeping all irritation from his voice.

“We must bear the expense. Or see that bastard sitting on the throne of America.

Is that what you want, Chancellor?”

“No. But might we not come to some arrangement with the man?”

Egan smiled sourly. “One does not deal with DeVore. One fights or one rolls over like a whipped dog.”

There was moment’s silence, then Egan turned again, looking out over the main body of the hall, raising his arms.

“Friends, do not be afraid. I take these measures only for your good. To protect you. For you, as much as I, are the State. And you, I’m sure, once you’ve had time to reflect, will see how sensible this measure is in the light of what lies ahead.”

Egan paused. “Great sacrifices must be made in the struggle to come. We will be stretched... stretched almost to breaking point, yet we shall prevail, if we stay strong. And that is why I ask for your support in this measure. For if you are behind me then we must prevail.”

Maybe, Kuei Jen thought, looking up at his husband, immensely proud of him at that moment, but first we must survive the next two days.

They took him to a cave below the lip of the great rock and sat him on a rock ledge. There they removed his blindfold and unbound him, then left him. It was a long, low-ceilinged cave. A single lamp burned in a cresset to his left. It was cool and dry and smelled of cinnamon and spice. Alone in the half dark, Li Yuan sat and waited, listening to the slow drip of water from the far end of the cave. The very sound of stillness. Outside it was night. A pitch black, moonless night Even so, he could make out the outline of the entrance, above him and to his right, shaped like an inverted shield, jagged on one side, smooth on the other. Li Yuan looked down, staring at his hands, remembering the heavy ring of iron he had once worn on the index finger of his left hand; a ring of power, symbol of the authority of the Seven who had once ruled Chung Kuo. His father’s ring, and his father’s before that. The same ring that now lay at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, where his son had thrown it.

Li Yuan frowned, recalling Kuei Jen’s words that day when they had left City Europe. “Chung Kuo is gone. We must learn to be ordinary people now.” So it was. But though he had not been happy when he had worn the ring, he still could not understand how Kuei Jen had thrown it away so casually. “Oh, it was far from casual.”

Li Yuan turned, startled. He had heard no one come into the cave. The voice - the same voice as earlier - came from the shadows behind him. He turned to face them, unable to discern a figure there.

“I am here, Li Yuan. But you cannot see me. Not yet. Not until you are ready to see me.”

“What is this?” Li Yuan asked. But he felt shaken. How had his interrogator known what he was thinking?

“Oh, I know many things, my friend. All manner of things that you would rather have kept hidden.”

Li Yuan took a long breath, then, “How do you do that?””Tell what1 s on your mind?” There was gentle laughter. “It is not hard, Li Yuan. You are a simple man when it comes down to it Oh, maybe not as simple as these Americans, but certainly no wiser.”

“You seem to take great pleasure in insulting me.” There was a brief silence then. “No. No pleasure. And I meant no insult Yet we are not here to flatter each other.”

“Then what are we here for?”

“To find out what manner of man you are, and why you have wasted your life.” “Wasted?” Li Yuan stood and took a step toward the voice. Still he could not see the figure of his interrogator. “How do you mean, wasted?” “You wish to argue otherwise?”

“I...” He paused, then backtracked. “I heard your voice... out in the desert, coming here.”

“That is so.”

Li Yuan nodded to himself, then smiled, as if he suddenly understood. “Speakers.

You are using hidden speakers, aren’t you? It is all tricks. Illusions.”

“If that explanation makes you happy.”

“But it is the truth, neh?”

The same gentle laughter spilled out into the darkness, making Li Yuan go rigid with anger. He did not like being patronised.

“Too tense,” the voice said, more familiar by the moment “You were always too tense. Except with your maids. And there you had nothing to prove, neh?” Li Yuan jutted out his jaw, an ugly expression on his face. “What do you mean, loo jen?”

“Only that a poor horseman always blames his animal...”

Li Yuan closed his eyes, anger burning in him. Insults. Nothing but insults.

“... or kills it”

His eyes flicked open, surprised that the old man knew so much about him. He had indeed killed his horses, but only to stop his pregnant wife from riding. “Rather drastic, wouldn’t you say?”

Li Yuan shook himself, as if to wake himself from a dream. “How ...?” “... do I know your thoughts?” There was the rustle of silks, then, “It is a power I have. To see clearly into the minds of others. For a long time I had forgotten how, but now my powers have returned. The time is almost upon us, and the way must be prepared.”

“The way?”

“Of that I cannot speak. Not yet. But you are part of it, Li Yuan, and must be prepared for what lies ahead. You must be purged. Then, and only then, can you be reborn.”

“It sounds ...” he sought for the word Zelic had used for some of the Han beliefs they had talked about, “... cranky.”

“Irrational, you mean?”

“That also.”

“And you were ever one for rational explanations, weren’t you, Li Yuan?”

“The world is what it is,” he answered, “subject to fixed laws.” “That is true,” the voice answered from the darkness, “but what if you do not understand those laws, Li Yuan? What if those laws make the universe quite other than you think it is. Your senses, after all, are limited.” “Even so...”

“Go to the pool, Li Yuan.”

The voice was commanding. Li Yuan stood.

“Behind you,” the voice said. “Can you not hear the water dripping?” Li Yuan turned, then slowly walked across, stopping before what looked like a large, shallow bowl. The surface of it was black like ink. Staring down into it, Li Yuan shivered, the memory returning to him of all the times he had stood beside the carp pond in Tongjiang, watching the dark shapes of the fish move slowly in the depths like circling thoughts. A drop of water fell. The dark surface rippled, then settled again. It was like looking into the pupil of an eye.

“Well, Li Yuan? What would you like to see?”He looked up, turning his head. It was as if the voice was at his shoulder now. More trickery, he guessed. Like this. This too, he suspected, was an elaborate trick. “My mother,” he said. “I’d like to see my mother.” A drop of water fell, the surface rippled. As it cleared, the pool began to glow. Slowly an image formed.

Two naked, sweat-wreathed bodies in the throes of passion, the man pressing down, the tendons in his arms strained and rigid beside the woman’s head, his powerful buttocks thrusting like a blacksmith hammering iron, the woman’s limbs embracing his flanks, her pert breasts moulded to his chest as she pushed up to receive each penetrating stroke.

And their faces ...

Li Yuan gasped, realising what he was witnessing. He fell onto his knees, horrified, but unable now to look away.

A drop fell, rippling the surface, but still it went on. Slowly their movements grew more urgent, like two riders urging their mounts on, each matching thrust more brutal and more desperate until, the muscles of their faces locking in mutual agony, their two bodies tensed and seemed to quiver against each other, their groins pressed as close as flesh permitted. And then a great spasm passed through them, making them shudder, as if an electric shock had been administered.

Their mouths groaned silently as they strained to break down the natural barriers of flesh, he into her, she into him. And then, when it seemed relief would never come, she fell back, he expiring upon her. And there they lay, her hand about his neck, caressing him.

Li Yuan shivered, astonished by the sight, amazed both by the brutality of the act and the tenderness that followed.

‘Thus were you conceived, Li Yuan.”

Yes, and thus had his father worshipped.his mother, and she him.

“You understand, then, Li Yuan?”

He nodded, numbed by the knowledge. Oh, he had guessed how much his father had missed his mother, if only from his own feelings of loneliness, but never - until this moment - hadhe known just how finally his father’s world had ended that evening in the floating palace, high above Chung Kuo. Yes, ended, even as his own had begun.

Beside that single loss, his own losses - all of them, piled high, one atop another - were as nothing, for he had never loved like that No, not even Fei Yen.

“Ah, then, you do understand.”

Li Yuan felt a hand gently touch his shoulder. There was the rustle of silk and then the old man stood beside him. He turned, his eyes widening with surprise. “Tuan Ti Fo!”

The old Master smiled. “So I am known to men. But I too have had to remember much that I had forgotten.”

“Forgotten?”

“Look,” Tuan Ti Fo said, pointing down into the darkness of the pool once more.

“Look and tell me what you see.”

There was a commotion at the main door to the hall. A group of stewards were blocking the way of three men who seemed keen to gain admittance. Excusing himself, Li Han Ch’in got up and went across to see to the matter. After the initial shock of the announcement, things had gone well, particularly when it became apparent that martial law would affect none of those present in the hall. For them it would be business as usual, but without the risk of late night harassment by surly and dissatisfied citizenry. Kuei Jen’s idea of “special passes” for the privileged few had gone down well, taking the edge off a measure that might otherwise have provoked bitter opposition. And when Egan had gone on to speak of the planned campaign in the south, Kuei Jen had felt the mood in the hall change dramatically, becoming bullish once more - unrealistically optimistic.

And that was the trouble in the first place.

Over by the doorway voices had been raised. Han Ch’in’s voice sounded loudly. “I don’t give a shit what that says! You are not coming in, and thaf s that!”Kuei Jen smiled at the person to whom he’d been talking, then turned, looking across.

Han Ch’in stood just in front of the line of stewards, arguing with one of the newcomers, a Senior Advocate whom Kuei Jen recognised from court He sometimes worked for Chancellor Harding and others of the older generation. Egan leaned across and gestured toward the group. “Thaf s going on over there?

Are we expecting anyone else?”

“Not that I know of,” Kuei Jen answered, dabbing at his lips with the cloth.

“I’ll go and see.”

“What is it?” he asked his half-brother, as he stepped up to the group, his long dress trailing on the floor behind him.

Han Ch’in glared, then shook his head, handing Kuei Jen the document he had been holding. It was a lawyer’s affidavit Kuei Jen read through it quickly, then glanced up, shocked, looking past the Advocate to meet the young man’s eyes.

“It is true,” the young man said, a strange depth to his voice. “I am Josiah Egan, and I demand to be admitted.”

Kuei Jen studied him a moment, noting the absence of wrinkling of the skin, the pure, almost infant freshness of its flesh tone. It was a perfect body, more like a sculpture than something genuinely human, and the face, if anything, seemed not handsome in itself, but a mask of handsomeness. All this was evidence. Yet it was the eyes that convinced Kuei Jea They were clear and bright, a young man’s eyes, and yet something ancient stared out through them. Looking at them, Kuei Jen shivered, knowing that at last it had been done Lifting his dress slightly, Kuei Jen curtsied low. “Mister Egan,” he said, straightening up and smiling, raising his voice so all nearby could hear. “Welcome to our humble gathering. May I have the honour of escorting you to the top table. Your grandson will be delighted to see you again.”