Ken Liu - The Grace of Kings

And your note about Puma Yemu made me think about who else might have lost favor with Mata — if you can keep in contact with them, that would be a great help, but do be careful and don’t make Mata suspect you.

But I’m afraid that I also have some horrible news. Cogo Yelu has left me. Excuse me if this letter doesn’t make much sense. I can hardly think straight.

Cogo didn’t show up this morning for our usual meeting. I sent Dafiro Miro, captain of my palace guards (which consist of him and two other soldiers, but I’m not skimping on titles, since titles are all I have to hand out), to retrieve him. He came back and gave me the bad news: Prime Minister Cogo Yelu was last seen leaving his home at night on a horse headed toward the southern coast of Dasu.

Fearing some mishap, I sent riders immediately after him, and I then spent the rest of the morning pacing around my room like an ant running around on a hot stove. They’ve now returned, Cogo-less. No one knows where he’s disappeared to.

I’m devastated. If even Cogo has decided that following me is a lost cause, then I’m doomed, positively doomed. Ever since I became a rebel, Cogo has been like my right hand. I hardly know how to get home on my own after a night of drinking without him. How am I going to manage his new crops? How am I supposed to certify Authentic Dasu Cooks? How am I to collect taxes without making the people unhappy?

I’m going to be trapped on this little rock in the sea forever.

Many other soldiers and even officers have left me in the past few months, but this betrayal by Cogo feels different. I’m too upset to even be mad at him.

— Your Kuni, in Desperate Times

My Beloved Jia,

Disregard that prior letter. Cogo has returned!

It has been a week since he left, and I haven’t been eating or sleeping well. But this morning, just as I was out using the latrine, I saw Cogo ambling up the street, like nothing had happened.

I didn’t even bother doing up my robes properly. I ran out into the streets in bare feet and grabbed his arms. “Why, oh why did you leave me?”

“Decorum, Lord Garu, remember decorum,” he said, and he was smiling as if this was all very amusing. “I didn’t run away. I was trying to chase down someone who you couldn’t afford to lose.”

“Who were you chasing?”

“Gin Mazoti, a corporal.”

I threw his hands down in disgust. “Cogo, now you’re just lying. At least twenty corporals have deserted in the past months, and who knows how many hundred-chiefs and even captains. And you went away for a whole week to chase down this Gin Mazoti? What’s so special about him?”

“Gin Mazoti is the secret to the rise of Dasu.”

I was very skeptical. I had never heard of this man. But just as Than Carucono can always tell when a colt will grow up to be a great horse, Cogo is very good at recognizing talent in obscurity. I knew that he must have had good reasons to chase after this man, and I should see him.

But instead of bringing the man to me, Cogo said I should go visit him at Cogo’s house, where he was staying temporarily.

“Gin doesn’t believe that he’ll be given enough respect here in Dasu. He used to follow Mata Zyndu, but Mata never listened to any of his suggestions or gave him much to do. So when we departed for Dasu, Gin defected and joined us. But now that he’s been here a few months and hasn’t been promoted, he decided to leave even though I told him to be patient and wait for me to present him to you. So I had no time to tell you anything. I had to chase after him by moonlight.”

“By moonlight!”

“Indeed. I was in my slippers, not even having had the chance to put on good walking shoes.”

“And how did you catch him?”

“Ah,” said Cogo, stroking his chin and smiling until his eyes practically disappeared. “It’s quite a stroke of luck. Gin was going to hire a fishing boat and head for Rui before dawn, and had he succeeded in his plan, it would have been impossible for me to catch him — I’d have to put on a disguise or else Marana’s spies would know something was up. But before Gin could get on the boat, a doctor stopped Gin to get his help.”

“What kind of help?”

“Gin told me all about it afterward. The doctor wanted Gin to hold on to a pair of doves while he wrote out a long prescription describing the ingredients and method of preparation for a patient.”

“Doves!”

“Just so. I got to see these doves myself, and they were extraordinary: thrice as big as the pigeons you normally see, and with eyes so intelligent you’d swear they were about to talk. The doctor, a lanky young man in a green traveling cloak, told Gin that the cooing of the doves made it hard to concentrate.

“ ‘Just hold on to my doves and keep them happy and quiet so I can think. When I’m done, they’ll fly the prescription to my patient.’

“So Gin waited and waited, while the doctor took his sweet time. He’d write one zyndari letter, pause, think hard, and then write another. Finally, Gin said, ‘Doctor, I’m in a hurry. How much longer are you going to take?’

“ ‘You’ve already waited this long,’ said the doctor. ‘Why not wait a little longer? You don’t want the patient to get nine-tenths of a prescription, do you? That’s not going to do him any good at all.’ ”

“What kind of doctor is this?” I asked. “He sounds like a fraud.”

“Fake or not, Lord Garu, you and I have much to thank him for. Due to this unexpected delay, Gin remained at the village by the sea until I got there. I immediately begged him to come back.

“At first he was adamant about not coming back. ‘Lord Garu hasn’t seen me after all these months of waiting. It would be madness to continue to wait.’

“But the doctor broke in. ‘Would you stop drinking medicine after a week when it takes ten days to show results?’

“Gin looked at him and narrowed his eyes. ‘Who are you?’

“The doctor put down his brush and paper and smiled at Gin. ‘I think you already know.’

“Because Gin was staring at him, I looked too. And I realized that the doctor was uncommonly good-looking. Otherworldly, almost. Gin asked, ‘What do you want with me?’

“ ‘I’ve always regretted what was done to you in my name,’ the doctor said. ‘So I’ve kept an eye on you, though I’ve tried to stay out of your way because you can take care of yourself, and a doctor’s first rule is to do no harm.’

“ ‘Why are you showing yourself to me now?’ asked Gin.

“ ‘I’m afraid that if you leave Dasu, you’ll never return,’ said the doctor. ‘And that would be a harm.’ ”

“ ‘If that is all true,’ said Gin, ‘then you must know the truth about me. What chances can a person like me have with a lord of great repute like Kuni Garu?’

“ ‘Lord Garu is hungry for talent,’ said the doctor. ‘He is seeking everywhere: among bandits, pickpockets, scholars who never passed the Imperial examinations, deserters, even women.’ ”

“ ‘Is this true?’ asked Gin, turning to me. And I nodded.”

I was so confused, Jia, that I had to interrupt Cogo. “They know each other? Who is this doctor, really?”

Cogo shook his head. “I don’t know. After this speech, the doctor took back his doves from Gin and walked away, and Gin looked very thoughtful. When the doctor disappeared down the beach, he turned to me and agreed to come back.”

“That’s certainly an interesting story. But Cogo, just how did you come to the conclusion that this Gin is so great?”

“He told me of a way to get you off this island.”