Chasing the Phoenix, page 33
* * *
NOT COUNTING the Dog Pack and Prince First-Born Splendor’s men, fewer than a hundred soldiers had deserted overnight—and most of those had swum the river or slunk off into the surrounding countryside rather than face the despising looks of those guarding access to the portable bridge.
The morale of the Immortals was clearly far better than that of their leaders.
“How is the emperor?” Surplus asked when Darger returned from the final prebattle council.
“Chipper. Convinced that we will win easily. Full of plans for the celebratory banquet and the honors that will be assigned at it. You are looking at the recipient of more honorary titles than I can properly remember.”
“Did he say anything of the battle itself?”
“No.”
“Sometimes,” Surplus said, “I fear that Capable Servant but incompletely understands the nature of warfare.”
Darger was about to respond when a messenger appeared and, with a formal bow, said, “Ceo Perfect Strategist, the Hidden Emperor summons you to lead his armies.”
With a curt nod, Darger said, “Tell him I have received his summons.”
Surplus took a deep breath. “I will confess that I am not looking forward to this. Today’s odds are a little too democratic for my liking.”
“Indeed, I myself feel like a man with the worst hangover of his life—and not so much as the memory of an unexpected sexual misadventure to show for it. Nevertheless, we have done all that we could to prepare,” Darger said. “Now it’s time to learn how we are in action. Let’s make this good.”
In the far distance, the city gates of North swung open and soldiers emerged carrying a flag of parley.
20.
The Long River flows to the east,
Surge upon surge,
Whitecapping waves sweeping all heroes onward
As right and wrong, triumph and defeat, turn to dreams.
But the green hills are eternal,
Blushing in the sunset.
—ROMANCE OF THE THREE KINGDOMS
THE CONFRONTATION, which had looked from a distance to be formidably desperate, was in the end merely a matter of enduring an endless string of ceremonies. For the chief executive officer of North had brought his armies out of the hills and the city not to fight but to surrender. First, Ceo Noble Tiger relinquished his sword. Then his rifle. He presented a box containing the heads of the seven highest-ranking administrators in the Oligarchy of North and then drank tea with the commanders of the Abundant Kingdom forces—who now, Darger supposed, were simply the Chinese army. After which, Noble Tiger prostrated himself before the Hidden Emperor and swore eternal fealty to both the man and the reunited nation he represented. The ceo’s sword and rifle were then ritually returned to him, and he was elevated to the rank of Field Marshal of Northern China and Defender of the Emperor. Whiskey was poured all around and drunk. The glasses were smashed, so that the toasts offered with them could never be unmade. Hands were shaken. Declarations were signed, and the pens used were given away as souvenirs for various subordinates to cherish forever.
It was wearisome, but in all ways superior to combat.
At last, it was time to enter the city.
The armies swirled, mingled, formed up, and became a procession: First, the Hidden Emperor’s Guard, followed by all his generals. Then, resplendent in his yellow robes, the Hidden Emperor—hidden no more—in an open palanquin carried by four officers who had won particular distinction in the war. Only a pace or three behind him were Field Marshal Noble Tiger to one side and Darger and Surplus to the other, all mounted on jade green horses. Then came wave upon wave of soldiers, backs straight and faces proud, and in those waves a hundred banners of as many military units from conquered lands across the length and breadth of the new empire.
All along the curving road to North, people came out of hiding to gawk and to cheer, their numbers growing as the army came closer to the city. Flowers were strewn before the soldiers and baskets of butterflies (first red! then orange! then yellow! then green! then blue! then purple!) were released in their honor.
The city gates had been not only torn down but smashed to flinders and used to create a bonfire to one side of the gaping gatehouse. No welcome could have been more emphatic. Through the opening could be seen bright masses of people, the citizens of North.
Above the gatehouse flew not the black flag of North but the red and yellow one of China.
Lining the avenue inside were more soldiers, at parade rest, who snapped to attention at the army’s approach. As the Chinese flag neared them, they saluted it smartly. Shortly thereafter, they did the same for the emperor. For a heartbeat, fear rose up in Darger that he had fallen into exactly such a trap as he had laid for Shrewd Fox in Crossroads. But then the excited cheers of the populace grew so loud that he knew this could be no ruse. All the world roared at the top of its lungs. The city walls took that shout and echoed it back. Bells rang from every tower. White ravens were released by the thousands and jeweled dragonflies by the millions.
“Is it not brave to be a conqueror, my friend? Is it not brave to be a conqueror and ride in triumph through Beijing?” Darger found he was grinning so widely that his face hurt. He could barely hear himself over the cheers of the people.
“That’s a paraphrase of Marlowe, isn’t it?” Surplus leaned close to shout back at him. “Yes, this is sweet. But what will follow—as much of the wealth of the richest nation on earth as we can bring ourselves to shovel into our own coffers—will come to dwarf this day in our memories.”
“Indeed, it will,” Darger said. “Perhaps. I think.” He felt a touch of doubt within him, and he did not know if it was a premonition or simply his inherent lack of optimism. For the least fraction of a second—no more!—he felt as though he had gotten a glimpse of some bleak truth lurking at the heart of the human condition. Then his spirits rose again. He forgot whatever it was he had intuited and cried, “Oh, dear Lord, the loot that lies before us! All the treasures of an empire lie at our feet with nobody ranking higher than we save a scarecrow emperor who is completely loyal to us, and whom we ourselves set upon the throne. It is as good as owning every bank and business in all of China.”
Looking at the faces in the street, he recognized not only hysteria and the willingness to applaud whatever spectacle was set before them but relief. These were the common people who were inevitably the first to be ground between the millstones of history. Though they did not know it, they were applauding not him, or the conquering army, or even the Hidden Emperor, but the long-overdue end of an age of war.
White flowers were flung by the double handfuls from the rooftops and danced in the air, creating storms of petals so thick that, occasionally, nothing could be seen through them. It was like forging one’s way through a warm and fragrant snow squall.
So intense was the experience that Darger could not have said whether it took them hours or mere minutes to arrive at the Forbidden City. All he knew was that one moment he was riding down Eternal Peace Street and the next he was in Heavenly Peace Square, surrounded by more people than it seemed possible for the entire world to contain—an ocean of humanity so turbulent that the soldiers linking arms to hold open a pathway through them were forced back and forth, as if battered by great waves. Meridian Gate, the entrance to the palace, slowly loomed up before him, like an island being approached by a ship.
Now the four heroic officers carrying the Hidden Emperor’s palanquin ascended the steps to either side of the central ramp, on which was carved a dragon over which only he could pass directly. Behind him, all those on horseback dismounted, and ostlers appeared to lead their steeds away. At the top of the steps the emperor dismissed his palanquin so he could show himself to his subjects. His three chief subordinates climbed after him in a group.
Standing above them, the emperor said in his high, girlish voice, “Noble Tiger, stop three steps below me and face the crowd. Aubrey, Sir Plus, do likewise two steps from the top.” Then, when Darger and Surplus did so, Capable Servant placed his hands atop their heads, as if bestowing a blessing. Darger had thought the cheers could not possibly grow any louder, but the response then proved him wrong.
Leaning close so they could hear, Capable Servant said in his own cheerful voice, “Oh, sirs! This is a memory you may carry with you always.”
* * *
A GREAT many dignitaries awaited inside the Forbidden City, arranged in rows. The Hidden Emperor advanced through them, recognizing one here by a glance and another there with a nod. On very rare occasions, the emperor reached out, as if he would actually touch an individual were he not far too exalted to actually do so. Decades hence, old women and wrinkled men would retell these fleeting connections with self-deprecating pride: “… close enough to touch, if I’d been willing to die for it … eyes met mine and while I could see he had no idea who I was, I felt like…” It was marvelous how deft a political touch Capable Servant displayed, how surely he intuited which of the Northern courtiers needed special recognition and which would be satisfied with a simple glance.
Or perhaps it was his new advisors who were to be praised.
No matter, for now the Hidden Emperor’s majordomo, looking prosperous in anticipation of the new and surely profitable reign, appeared and in a loud voice announced, “There will be a pause in the festivities at this point, while all the major participants for the ceremony of enthronement refresh themselves.”
Servants materialized out of nowhere. “You must retire to your rooms, noble sirs,” one said. “So that you may be properly dressed for the ceremony.”
“Do you have a name?” Surplus asked him.
“Yes, sir, but it’s not necessary for you to know it. I am one of the Twelve Flawless Servants of North. This is an exalted title, and to be served by one of us is a very great honor. As one of the Twelve, I am able to anticipate my master’s needs before they are stated. When I am wanted, I will be there. When something is desired, I will present it to you. If you wish something were so, you will find that it has already been done.”
The servant standing nearest Darger added, “I am another of the Twelve. Just as my sister assures that all is done to your satisfaction, my job is to exceed your expectations.”
“I had a servant of no particular distinction once,” Darger said. “Yet, meaning no insult, I would trade you both and all ten of your cousins for him any day.”
“Indeed, sir? How very pleasant for you. May I ask what became of him?”
“He went on to better things.”
* * *
DEEPER THEY were led into the Forbidden City, and deeper. Servants bowed low, opening doors before them, closing them in their wake. The sound of cheering dwindled, faded, became no more.
The quiet of the Forbidden City wrapped itself about them.
Darger and Surplus were first taken to a bathhouse, where maidens with heliotrope eyes removed their clothes, gently rubbed soap on their bodies, and washed away soap and stains with hot water, thus cleansing them from the memory of months of warfare and hard traveling. When they were clean, these same young women poured buckets of first warm, then cold, and then warm again water on them, dried them with fluffy towels, and led them to tables, where they were massaged so expertly it was hard for either to stay awake.
“I must arrange for such ablutions every day of my life,” Surplus murmured.
“Amen, my brother. Amen.”
When their exquisitely proportioned handmaidens had dressed them both in fresh clothes and then retired, the two Flawless Servants reappeared with glasses of cold nectarine juice. With a deferential gesture, one said, “The principals are gathering for the enthronement ceremony. Please follow us.”
Refreshed and alert, the two friends did so.
At the door, a crowd of servitors awaited to accompany them on their way. The two Flawless Servants of North went first, to open doors, followed by twin girls swinging censers in the shape of flying birds, from which arose wisps of frankincense. Then came flute and suona players, a drummer, and several women in bright silk robes.
Through the building they went, out and across a garden, and to another building even more ornate and imposing than all they had seen before. The two Flawless Servants of North opened large bronze doors, and the censer swingers stepped to either side. As did the musicians and the ornamental women. The Flawless Servants smiled and bowed them inward, and so Darger and Surplus stepped through. The room within was large and suitable for an emperor.
The doors slammed shut behind them, and they realized that they were alone in the room. For an instant, the two of them stood stunned and unbelieving.
A small door opened to one side then and a woman entered.
* * *
“MY NAME,” the woman said, “is Undying Phoenix.” At first glance, her face seemed beautiful beyond compare; at second, too full of character to be conventionally glamorous; at third, ravishing again. “My husband is the man you know as Capable Servant. He has had many other names as well, most of which would mean nothing to you. In Brocade, decades ago, he was the original Infallible Physician. I imagine you have many questions. Ask and I will answer.”
Darger and Surplus traded glances.
“I’ll be the one to say it,” Surplus said. “Eh?”
“Our story is too long and complicated for me to do more than summarize. In Late Utopian times, a government-funded research project was launched to determine the causes of human mortality and undo them. Before the project was destroyed, along with so much else in the fall of Utopia, eight immortals were created. Three of them have since died, three have not been heard from for a very long time and may possibly be dead as well, and my husband and I are the last two. Like all good citizens, we fought in the war against the machines. Then, when it was won, we tried to live quiet lives of peace. In those chaotic and superstitious times, however, we quickly learned that if we stayed in any one place for more than twenty years, rumors would arise that we were witches or monsters. So we became nomads, and nomads we have been ever since.”
“That sounds like a very difficult life,” Darger said sympathetically.
“No more difficult than many another. No immortal should feel entitled to complain about such minor inconveniences when the common allotment of life is, by contrast, so brief.”
“Much as I know how you appreciate such narratives, Aubrey,” Surplus interjected, “I must interrupt to pose our lovely hostess a practical question: Why are we here when the Hidden Emperor—”
“Capable Servant,” Undying Phoenix said, smiling.
“—Capable Servant is at this very moment being prepared to be seated upon the Dragon Throne? We belong at his side.”
“So you might think. However, look on this situation from my and my husband’s point of view. There is a larger perspective here that, being caught up in the flow of events, you have not yet grasped.”
“Then tell us, please,” Surplus said.
“No Westerner has ever conquered China—not even you,” Undying Phoenix said. “This is the first thing you must know.”
“I beg your pardon, but I was there,” Darger said.
“Did you not wonder at the ease with which the nations fell before you one by one? When you flew the flag of ancient China in Peace, why did the Council of Seven immediately pledge their loyalty? They had been prepared. In Fragrant Tree, why did the local authorities not detain and question so colorful a group of invaders as you led into the city? They had been corrupted. In Crossroads, when you sent for the Infallible Physician, why did my granddaughter show up so promptly? Because my husband had already sent for her. At the Battle of Three Armies, why did Twin Cities and the Republic of Central Plains turn on each other with such rapacity? Their mutual distrust had been watched over and nurtured for generations. Why, when you came to the Yellow Sea Alliance, did you find three of the nations anxious to make common cause with you? In all modesty, that was my doing. The eastern states’ appetite for war had been sapped over the past several decades. Finally, when you arrived at the gates of North, ready for battle, why did your ultimate—and strongest—enemies simply surrender to you? Because I had so arranged matters that the rulers were sick of ruling and the citizens were weary of their tyranny. My husband and I have been working for a very long time to make events fall together exactly thus.”
“Was it Capable Servant who killed the emperor?” Surplus asked.
Undying Phoenix nodded. “Only someone immune to the emperor’s toxins could have done so.”
“So everything that has happened to us since we came down out of Mongolia was but shadow play?” Darger asked. “With us as the puppets?”
“In essence, yes. It is possible that your involvement caused matters to occur more quickly than they would have otherwise. But even so, you were catalysts and nothing more.”
“I am flabbergasted, thunderstruck, and flat-out goggle-eyed,” Surplus said.
“As am I, though in less colorful idiom,” Darger agreed. “But what was all this about? What was it all for?”
“China is happiest when it is whole and prosperous and at peace with the world and least happy when it is divided into warring fractions,” Undying Phoenix said. “My husband and I have restored China to itself. Now our nation can be happy again. That’s all.”
“Your husband, I note, now holds the title of emperor of the largest nation in existence,” Surplus said dryly.
“For a time. It will take a decade or so to make sure the new government is stable and then hand control of it back to the people. But I predict an early death and lasting fame for the new—and, I trust, the last—emperor. It has been a long time since he and I were free to lead ordinary lives, and I am certain he yearns for that freedom as much as do I.”
“If so, then I am not sure he will ever get it,” Darger said.
