The Peasant (23 page)

Flying Arrow fell on his buttocks.

W
hen nobles become unable to administer their properties or incur the Imperial disfavor, they or appointed executors can place all assets into receivership. This institution protects a prefecture from all plaintiffs, including the Emperor. While in receivership, all governmental offices and services continue to function, all positions are frozen, and the lives of all those affected by the noble's indisposition remain much the same. For this protection, half of all profit goes directly into the Imperial treasury, and none to the noble. After regaining Imperial favor or recovering the ability to govern, the noble may negotiate the end of receivership. The purpose of the institution is to prevent an Emperor's arbitrary confiscation of property.—
Collected Essays on Government
, by Guarding Bear.

Our bodies are our power. We must each strive to breed children more intelligent and talented. Traditionally, men make their eldest sons their heirs—not sons with the most ability. If women don't improve the race, men obsessed with primogeniture would breed humanity into extinction.—
Matriarchal Law: Precepts and Canons
, by the Matriarch Rippling Water.

* * *

Bubbling Water sighed, telling herself she'd reared Flying Arrow as well as anyone could, given the circumstances.

“When you can, please continue your story, Lady Water.” Snarling Jaguar gently rubbed her back. Suddenly, he stuck his finger in the air and lifted the edge of a tapestry. Behind it was a decanter and two tumblers on a platter. He filled the tumblers with an amber liquid and handed her one. “You might find this a help,” he said, sipping. Coughing, he shuddered, his eyes watering.

Grinning at his gagging, Bubbling Water slurped her drink down without even a grimace. “Thank you, Lord. I prefer a larger glass, but…” Smiling, she picked up the untouched goblet of goat's milk, drained it, and handed it to him. “This is the right size.” Five tumblers would fill the goblet. Snarling Jaguar laughed and filled their glasses.

“Where was I?” she asked. “Oh, that's right. The Heir Sword was missing and Flying Arrow killed every Northerner but one to force the information from Lofty Lion. The Imperial Ruling Council debated what to do with the empty lands. Scowling Tiger advocated for colonization, and Guarding Bear opposed him. Eventually, the Council deadlocked. Flying Arrow used their indecision as a pretext to dissolve the Council, then decided not to colonize. Didn't your brother leave the Craggy Mountains and go north about that time?”

“Yes!” Snarling Jaguar exclaimed. “I can't tell you how relieved I felt to have rid myself of the bastard! I pursued him more times than I want to count. He always escaped, being a better strategist and tactician than I.”

The invective in his voice surprised her. Knowing the dislike between the brothers, Bubbling Water hadn't realized he felt such hatred. “Flowing Mind died suspiciously soon afterward,” she continued. “To the alarm of the Empire, Flying Arrow appointed Lurking Hawk the Sorcerer. Melding Mind, fully trained and more than competent for the position, left Imperial service and became Scowling Tiger's retainer.

“Scowling Tiger continued to advocate for colonization, arguing that the lands would become a haven for bandits. Flying Arrow quickly tired of the Prefect's criticism. Remember, Lord, Flying Arrow had already taken two positions from Scowling Tiger—command of the Eastern Armed Forces and control of the Imperial Ruling Council. One doesn't remove someone from a position lightly, even a peasant. Infinite knows why Scowling Tiger suffered from impotence, eh? Despite Flying Arrow's decision, Scowling Tiger sent two of his younger brothers across the border to begin farming the empty northern lands. That was the excuse Flying Arrow needed.

“The Emperor produced evidence that Scowling Tiger had concocted Brazen Bear's plot to assassinate Smoking Arrow—without clearing Brazen Bear of his involvement with the Broken Arrows. Then Flying Arrow declared Scowling Tiger and his allies outlaw, ordering them to give up their lands and possessions and ordering the Commanding General Guarding Bear to war against the Tiger Patriarchy.

“During the civil war, all Scowling Tiger's brothers and their sons died. Only Scowling Tiger, his minions Raging River, Melding Mind, and Easing Comfort survived. After Guarding Bear trapped them in that musty mothballed castle just north of the border, Flying Arrow ordered Guarding Bear to retreat. Scowling Tiger became what he most feared about leaving the northern lands uncolonized: A bandit.”

“ 'Whatever thy will, thou shalt become what thou fear most,' ” Snarling Jaguar said, quoting from the Book of the Infinite.

“Indeed,” she replied, looking into the amber liquid. “Ah, this latest chapter in the Bear-Tiger feud, if indeed it is part of the continuing saga, might prove interesting.”

“What about Fleeting Snow? You left her out.”

“So I did. For most the civil war, no one remembered her. After Scowling Tiger holed up in the fortress, she went north. She knew Flying Arrow might reverse the stay of execution and throw her into the dungeons again. She went anyway. Like all women, Fleeting Snow knew who truly loved her.”

“Who?” Snarling Jaguar asked, gingerly sipping liquid.

“Brazen Bear, of course,” Bubbling Water replied.

“No! I don't believe it!”

“Everyone underestimates her, Lord. Her love for Brazen Bear is as deep as her hatred for Scowling Tiger. She joined the bandit general in the Windy Mountains to exact her revenge. Fleeting Snow has made his life miserable all these years. Part of her revenge was never giving him an heir. I must admit that her giving birth to the girl Purring Tiger mystifies me.”

“Why would Fleeting Snow conceive for a man she denied children for so long, eh? Women!” Snarling Jaguar smiled. She sensed he knew something he ached to reveal. “I'm incredulous you know Fleeting Snow's true motivation for staying with Scowling Tiger,” he said. “I only just learned of it.” He gestured at the decanter. She poured them both another glass, hers much larger. “I learned something else, though. Didn't the Lord General formally retire from the Eastern Armed Forces eighteen months ago?” Imitating her, Snarling Jaguar drank the alcohol quickly, then gagged, sputtered and nearly choked.

Bubbling Water giggled at him. “Yes, Lord, about that—why do you ask?” She let it sit in her mouth before swallowing, enjoying the taste.

“Not long after that, he went somewhere,” Snarling Jaguar said hoarsely, shuddering. “I'll wager you weren't sure he'd ever return, so you conceived your daughter Rippling Water.”

“Who told you that!? Ridiculous!”

He smiled at her. “Not ridiculous at all. Guarding Bear went north.”

“No one knew that, not even
one
servant in the House of Bear.”

“Someone I know saw him north of the border. Since Scowling Tiger or Guarding Bear didn't die afterward, I suspect someone convinced Guarding Bear that a final vengeance was futile or unnecessary. Then I remembered one small coincidence, and I think I know what happened. This daughter of Fleeting Snow's, the girl Purring Tiger, do you know when she was born?”

“How couldn't I know? She was born the same day as Rippling Water.”

“You have named the coincidence, Lady Water. I commend you on your shrewd induction.”

“ 'Deduction,' Lord. The word is 'deduction',” she said, feeling the effects of the drink. “What deduction?”

“Didn't the Traitress vow never to bear Scowling Tiger's child?”

“She did. For twelve years, was it? Not even a late menstrual flow! I bet you'd pay a pretty tael to know how I learned
that
!”

“Yet you said everyone underestimates her. How could she keep her vow and still bear a child?”

Bubbling Water looked at him, astonished. Then she guffawed, pounding his large, knobby knee with her small, dainty fist. “
That's
why Guarding Bear came back alive and without Scowling Tiger's head! I thought he'd given up on his revenge—but he didn't, did he? Do you think Scowling Tiger will ever learn the truth?”

“As of now only four people know who fathered Purring Tiger, and
I'm
not telling!” Snarling Jaguar protested. Squinting an eye, he frowned at her, looking bewildered. Then he shrugged. “That's also the reason the Lord General attacked me.”

“You think so?” she asked dubiously, remembering how Lurking Hawk had implanted Guarding Bear just before the negotiations. “Is
that
why you and Guarding Bear consider the Traitress valuable?”

“Ah, yes, the original question.” He pulled her closer and ran a forefinger down her nose. “Spies are useful, to a point. No spy can get
some
types of information. The Traitress guessed she'd have to know something valuable to find herself a sanctuary. My hunch is she knows more about the Tiger Fortress than Scowling Tiger himself. Tell me, Lady Water, have your spies become intimately familiar with the management of the fortress? Do they know the strengths and weaknesses of its defenses? Can they tell you how often Scowling Tiger's bowels move?”

“Yes—before he traded her away.”

Snarling Jaguar guffawed, shaking his head. “Oh, Lady Water, I find you so amusing.” Snarling Jaguar poured them each another glass, emptying the decanter. “You didn't order her to follow him north, did you?”

“No, Lord. I wouldn't have ordered
any
daughter into that cesspool!” Bubbling Water tried not to grin.

Looking suspicious, he shrugged to himself. “Anyway, because of her knowledge, I want to make a bargain with you, subject to the Lord General's approval, of course.”

“My mate's a little indisposed to be giving his approval, wouldn't you say?” Bubbling Water reminded herself to place the Bear holdings into receivership. If Flying Arrow wanted to confiscate the Caven Hills, receivership would only delay the inevitable. She wondered how to insure Flying Arrow didn't take everything Guarding Bear owned. Bubbling Water sighed, loving her mate. This is one of those times I wished I didn't, she thought. Infinite grant me patience, she prayed, the fortunes and misfortunes of the Bear Patriarchy and the Water Matriarchy inextricable. What a mess he caused! she thought, but I've been through worse. “What did you say?” Bubbling Water asked, hoping he hadn't seen her anxiety and lapse of attention.

“I said, 'What she knows is as important to me as to you,' ” Snarling Jaguar repeated, frowning.

“If you wanted her knowledge, why did you trade her away?”

“Of least importance to me, Lady, is Swan Valley. It's a piece of land I'll lose in the next battle and regain in another. What the woman knows—well, the bandits are a long way away. Since the Lord General continues to divert their attention, he's still valuable in this delicate balance of power. Of next importance to me is my life, which you, bless your golden soul, extended a short while. Beyond everything I value the safety of my Empire. How do I preserve that safety? Consider what I actually traded for the woman.”

“The Lord Bear?” Bubbling Water asked, the alcohol befuddling her mind.

“Of course. If Flying Arrow captures Guarding Bear, he'll execute him for assaulting me and endangering the Empire. We both know the Emperor's ignorant of the uprising you plan if he arranges the General's death, eh? During that insurrection, the bandits will invade the Empire and besiege Emparia Castle to get the Northern Imperial Sword. You'll have anarchy. I don't fool myself, Lady. I know the Lord General doesn't have enough allies to usurp the throne completely. Topple Flying Arrow, yes,
that
he can do. The result of a war to usurp will be anarchy, though. Afterward, the threat facing the Southern Empire will be the same that faces the Eastern Empire now—bandits along its northern border.”

Surprised at the breadth and depth of his knowledge, Bubbling Water knew Snarling Jaguar had saved the Eastern Empire from its own internecine forces. “So Flying Arrow will renege on his bargain and demand I give him Fleeting Snow.”

“Indeed, he will, Lady. Ironic, isn't it? First you have to smuggle someone
out
of Emparia City, then smuggle someone
into
the city, eh?”

“I doubt I'll have to. The Caven Hills Prefecture abuts the Southern Empire, Lord. Smuggling her across the border into the Caven Hills would be easier than from here into Emparia City.”

“So it might, Lady. What reward might I get for this service?”

“I know the perfect reward!” Bubbling Water took his large curly head in her hands and kissed him passionately.

“I thought we already agreed on that!”

“Yes, I guess we did, but you don't want another virgin, not if you're
giving
them away! Besides, you want to know what she knows, right?”

“Yes, I do, but I don't know if it's important enough to transport Imperial criminals. Of course, without my help, she might not live long enough to divulge all she knows.”

“You'll want her back eventually, won't you?”

“Eh? Why should I?”

“An animal for your menagerie—the original reason for the trade, Lord. You said so yourself!”

“I lied. I'd no more imprison a human being blameless of any crime than a wild animal. No, Lady Water, despite the rarity of albinos and the beauty of Fleeting Snow, I couldn't treat her as I do the menagerie animals.”

“I thought you too good a person to imprison her. I'm suggesting, Lord, that you give her a home somewhere in the Southern Empire. She's unwelcome among bandits and reviled here. Where's Fleeting Snow to go except south?”

“In fact, I'd planned to ask if that's what she wants. All right, I'll bring her to the border. Arrange a detachment to meet me at Swan Valley in two weeks. Blast, I guess I've given away a menagerie animal, haven't I? Why did I do that?”

“Yes, Lord,” she replied, giggling. “Now, about Sparkling Stream.”

“Yes, the virgin I gave away.” Snarling Jaguar chuckled. “For each month the Lord General remains in my protection, I propose that the Lady Stream remain concubine to Stalking Jaguar for one year.”

“Ridiculous!” Bubbling Water said immediately, objecting merely to find out how flexible he was. “Six months of her service for every month Guarding Bear remains in the Southern Empire.”