Ken Liu - The Grace of Kings

Kuni ran around to round up everyone. The messenger airship was small, however, and all the servants would have to be left behind. Kuni’s father, Féso Garu, Kuni, Jia, the children, Risana, Soto, Otho, Mün, Rin, and Than climbed aboard. There was hardly enough room left to turn around in, let alone move.

The airship would not take off.

“There’s too many of us,” Mün said.

“Mata has left me alone all this time, and he’ll probably continue to do so. And if I’m going to die anywhere, I’m going to die here, in my home.” Féso Garu climbed off despite the protests from Kuni. But the ship still refused to lift.

“We must have forgotten to check the lift gas level earlier,” Than said. They heard the clashing of swords and screams from the inhabitants of Zudi in the streets. Mata’s men were not far.

Than, Rin, and Mün all got off. The ship remained stubbornly on the ground.

Soto went next. “Mata would never harm me,” said Soto. “Don’t worry.”

Jia and Otho caught each other’s eyes for a brief moment. Otho smiled at her and stepped off the ship wordlessly. Jia closed her eyes, her heart pounding.

They both knew that such a day would come. It might be true that a heart has room for more than one love, but in this world, a woman still had to make choices that a man did not have to. Jia looked away.

The ship budged, but settled down on the ground again.

Risana and Jia looked at each other. Risana turned and gave Kuni a kiss and began to walk off the ship. Her movements were slow and difficult due to her very pregnant belly.

“No, no,” Jia said. “You go with Kuni and the children. I’ll stay with Soto and Otho. I’m used to dealing with Mata. I’ll be fine.”

Kuni’s face became twisted with anxiety and pain. “No, that is not right. Both of you stay on board. I will stay and speak with Mata myself.”

Everyone protested at this. Mün’s voice rang out the loudest. “There’s no point to any of this if you don’t get out. Lord Garu, you must leave so that you can rescue us or avenge us.”

Kuni looked at Jia, and then at Risana, then at Jia, then at Risana. Suddenly he turned to the children and knelt down. “Timu and Théra,” he said, using their formal names, which he rarely did, “you have to do something brave for me, all right?”

He carried the children to the door of the airship and asked for Soto to come and get them.

“You’re insane,” shouted Jia. “How can you even think of such a thing?”

“Mata won’t harm children,” said Kuni. “But no matter what, I can’t leave you behind again. There won’t be another you, but there can always be more children.”

“Jia is right,” said Rin Coda. “This is madness.” He blocked the door and pushed the children back onto the ship. Kuni continued to shout for Soto and pushed the children out again, and Rin pushed them back in again. Soto stood by and watched expressionlessly.

“Enough of this nonsense,” Jia said. She firmly pushed Kuni back into the ship and bent down to kiss the children. Then she turned to Risana. “Little Sister, please take good care of them.”

Risana nodded, and Jia resolutely stepped off the ship.

“Mama, Mama!” Timu and Théra cried out, and Risana had to hold them back as Kuni, also teary-eyed, closed the door of the airship.

Now that the ship had only the weight of Kuni, Risana, and the two children to deal with, it rose slowly into the sky. Rin Coda had taken care to drape the ship in black cloth. Pursuers both in the sky and on the ground would have a hard time picking it out against the night sky unless they knew exactly where to look. The ship rose until it was a small shadow against the stars, then turned north, heading toward the safety of Géfica.

For a second, Jia wished she did not always appear so strong, so capable of taking care of herself that Kuni actually believed her.

Soto and Jia stood on one side of the group left behind. Soto gave her a meaningful look and said in a low voice, “That was a nice bit of theater by both you and Kuni back there.”

Jia flushed with anger momentarily. “I don’t know what you mean.”

Soto rolled her eyes. “Kuni made a show of loving both of you equally, to the point where he would give up his children. Since few men would pick their wives over their heirs, he was trying to score some points with you. This would also make a nice story among the people of Dara.”

Jia smiled a sad smile. “Kuni was always clever.”

“Not as clever as you. By staying behind with me while leaving the children with her , you put both of them in your debt. She’ll now always think that you saved her life, and Kuni will always feel guilty about your sacrifice. You’ve laid the foundation for future palace intrigue. This investment may well pay off a hundredfold someday.”

“You make both of us sound so calculating and cold,” Jia said. “Can’t you just attribute our actions to love?”

Soto laughed, and after a while, Jia reluctantly joined in. Truth be told, even Jia wasn’t sure why she had done what she did. It wasn’t just about jostling for political position with Risana, but it also wasn’t purely unselfish. Sometimes it was hard to tell where the performance ended and the real self began — but what was this “real” self other than a set of performances?

Love was a complicated thing, she conceded.

“The only fool I pity here is that girl, Risana. She has no idea who she’s dealing with,” Soto said.

Their brief moment of merriment was interrupted by the sound of shouting men and clashing swords in the street. The gates to the mayor’s house flew open, and a blood-soaked Captain Dosa stumbled in, his body pierced by arrows.

Mata was here.

DIMU AND DIMUSHI: THE NINTH MONTH IN THE FOURTH YEAR OF THE PRINCIPATE.

Mata Zyndu’s surprise victory at Zudi soon entered into the realm of myth all over Dara.

“Each of his men fought with the strength of twenty, and that was how the hegemon defeated a force ten times greater than his.”

“Mata Zyndu is Fithowéo incarnate. When he waves his hand, soldiers fall from the sky to fight for him.”

“Kuni Garu may have ridden a cruben, but Mata Zyndu eats cruben steaks for dinner.”

After Kuni safely escaped to Dimushi, he immediately recalled Marshal Mazoti.

“What’s next?” Kuni asked.

“I have to first re-create the army you lost.”

Kuni Garu winced at this, but Marshal Mazoti never bothered to sugarcoat things.

“I think most of the troops escaped back to Géfica after the fall of Zudi, though undoubtedly many deserted. It will take some work to restore morale after the humiliation you suffered, with even Lady Jia taken prisoner. Marquess Yemu’s ‘noble raiders’ are still making trouble for the hegemon in Cocru, though, so he can’t invade Géfica until he secures his supply lines.”

“What about the other Tiro states?”

“Many of them now think it wiser to side with Mata rather than you. However, Duke Théca Kimo remains firmly in your camp. He has now pacified Arulugi, and his fate obviously depends on your success. He has asked for permission to sweep through both Crescent Island and Écofi, which, given the tiny populations on those islands, will be easy.”

“Let him.”

“You are not concerned that he might grow too strong and declare independence, like Mocri did in Wolf’s Paw?”

“Mata’s weakness is that he doesn’t trust people, so of course everyone who follows him eventually betrays him. I don’t intend to make the same mistake.”