Seven Sorcerers(106)
As the Almighty had mentioned, this new Emperor of Uurz was obviously not a warrior. His arms and legs were thin, his young face dominated by the squinted eyes of a sage or scholar. Yet Sungui sensed his power as she approached. She bowed from the waist, not too deeply, but enough to convey courtesy and respect. This many sorcerers might pounce on her and refuse her return to Zyung. They might salt and devour her easily if they chose to do so. She was overmatched and not a little afraid of the powers assembled here.
A herald announced her presence, dubbing her “The Emissary of the Invaders” as he presented her to “Lyrilan, Son of Dairon, Lord of the Sacred Waters, Scholar King of Uurz, and Emperor of the Stormlands.”
“What is your message?” asked the Emperor without formality. His eyes were cold as onyx, deep with mysteries. He seemed to know Sungui. He looked through her as if she were a wraith gliding into his throne room from beyond the living world.
Sungui raised the bone tube and offered it to the herald. “This parchment is for the Emperor’s eyes only,” she said. The herald took it from her hand with some caution. He walked up the carpeted steps to stand beside the throne. Lyrilan nodded. The herald uncapped the tube, pulled out the rolled parchment, and began to unroll it.
As he did this, Sungui spoke directly to Lyrilan.
“Great Emperor,” she began. “Zyung the High Lord Celestial asks for your submission to his rule, your allegiance to his Living Empire, and your complete surrender in his name. In exchange, he promises an end to the bloodshed and a peaceful transition of power. Your losses are already great, while his are miniscule. His power is untold, as is the power of those who serve him. Yet he would rather rule in peace than conquer in war. Accept these terms without condition, and your city will prosper as part of his domain. If you should decline, Uurz will fall into the flames of Celestial Light. The Almighty’s Holy Armada will be at your gates before sunset. I am to return at once with your answer.”
Lyrilan took the scroll from the herald’s hands. His eyes scanned the parchment carefully while he listened to the words of Sungui. When she fell silent, he continued reading the scroll. Sungui stood wrapped in calm, the eyes of the Emperor’s curious retinue upon her. At any second a burst of sorcery might accost her, yet she must not respond to violence. Each of the messages she now delivered was of utmost importance–both the spoken and the written. To negate them with open hostility would serve neither Zyung nor herself. She endured the burning stares in silence.
Eventually the Emperor finished reading, rolled up the scroll, and dropped it into his lap. His eyes fell once more upon Sungui. Lyrilan’s gaze carried more weight than all the other stares combined. The balance of the future lay in this very moment. How would the Scholar King respond? She hoped that a lust to avenge the death of his brother would not cloud his wisdom. Yet perhaps there had been no love between the two monarchs. Provincial Kings had often murdered their siblings for power in the Outer Provinces of the Living Empire. The Kings of the Five Cities could not be wholly different.
“Tell your God-King that I reject his offer,” Lyrilan said. “Tell him also that I know him for what he truly is. Tell him that soon he will taste the bitter end that has been denied him for ages. You may go.”
Sungui bowed, turned, and once again walked the interminable length of the Grand Hall. Rows of spears gleamed between the columns of white marble on either side. At any second she expected the bite of a blade, or the searing touch of sorcery on her back. Yet she exited the hall unmolested and stood again upon the polished steps. She breathed deeply of the citrus fragrance wafting from the gardens, then rose into the sky of gray and gold.
She flew northeast to intercept the Holy Armada.
Once more dreadnoughts filled the sky. Their shadows fell across the emerald plain like rolling thunderheads. The cloudbanks were ever-present here, yet the morning rains were long gone. The sun came and went above the beating canvas wings of two thousand sky-ships.
Sungui found the Almighty in his chamber, planning battle strategies with Eshad and three others. Eshad’s concerned face betrayed nothing of his secret alliance with Ianthe. Possibly he did not even remember that alliance. Possibly none of them did besides Sungui. Ianthe would return that memory when the moment was ripe. The moment for revolution was not far away.
“What is the answer?” Zyung asked her.
Sungui shook her head. “The Emperor of Uurz follows the Jade King’s path, and vows to end the reign of His Holiness.”
Zyung sat silent for a moment in his great chair. He tossed back his head and laughed. “He will end my reign? I thought this Emperor would speak with more wisdom. Yet I did not expect him to submit gracefully. They never do.”