Lands of the Lotus 6: The Mother's Tear

“Step into the blow, slave. This cut requires your upper body strength if you intend to cut through armor instead of scratching the paint. I want to see precision from you, boy. No more sloppiness.

“Unless you like the feeling of the Mistress’ toy in your hole,” he added with a smirk. “Again!”

As a matter of fact I did. It was an ingenious little device. Anasi had placed a simple charm on me that would not allow me to remove the plug unless I had to relieve myself. It would give me a minute to clean up and then I would have to have it back in me. Still, I couldn’t stand losing to that prick.

Anasi approached the chamber fifteen minutes after that encounter. She was dressed in the black cheongsam I first saw her in, with the two crimson dragons whose heads began at her breasts. Black heels and long gloves completed the outfit she chose for the Empress’ eminent arrival. We both knelt facing her chair as the click clack of her heels brought her closer. She sat down, crossed her legs, and gave us a simple “Begin.”

I was making great strides in my training, but the prick was still my better. A couple of minutes of testing each other’s defenses quickly erupted into a flurry of strikes. The clangs of our swords rang through the chamber. The curved sword was new to me, but Anasi thought it best to indoctrinate me in its use. I did manage a glancing blow to his leg, but it didn’t penetrate deep enough. I was turned around and facing Anasi. We were less than ten feet from her. She looked me in the eyes, on purpose I think, and uncrossed those legs. Her hand slid down her cleavage, over her stomach, and onto her womanhood. I couldn’t help but look.

I composed myself enough to try the move Kiyatora just demonstrated to me, but the son of a bitch conveniently kept the counter-move to himself. He held his sword at a downward angle at brushed my blow aside, spun around, and sliced me through the gut. My face turned a shade of green as I held in my breakfast. Anasi simply rose from her seat, shook her head, gave me a pat on the rear and a peck on the cheek as if to say, “You’ll do better next time.” I knew she had a lot on her mind that day, and was stunned that she bothered to show up here at all.

“Focus, slave,” was Kiyatora’s pearl of wisdom. “She means for you to fight someday, and that means she needs you to be dependable. If you fail her, so help me…” He actually grabbed me by the throat at that point. He was in my face; what could I do? The head butt broke his nose, and a stream of blood flowed down as he stumbled backward. I put everything into a hard punch to his gut, and then spun around in a leg sweep that took him down. I was sure that there would be consequences as I walked away, but they would be worth that moment. Besides, I doubted that he would admit to being roughed up by a slave.

----------------------------ANASI--------------------------

Kingae Vela looked as perfect as it could be, but still I worried. The Empress’ convoy would be here very soon. The long banners streamed over the main walkway to the keep, forming a tunnel with decorated shrubs to the side. The black and crimson colors of the dynasty were flying proudly. The cheongsam I wore was made to match the family crest. The camp was spotless and my women and men were standing at attention, the eunuchs kneeling close to the ground to form a human carpet for Chiasa.

The women of the camp stood by me. All hundred of them. I wish I could say that we all got along well, but petty rivalries hung over any fun we may have had together. Misaka loathed me for depriving her of Yousheng’s cock. She didn’t like me much to begin with, but now I could feel the hatred whenever we spoke.

I had to mentally stop myself from fidgeting as the Empress’ carriage stopped at the gate. Her entourage was actually rather small, composed of about a hundred men and twice as many servants. One of them, a large, burly fellow who was missing his pole, knelt down in front of the carriage door. A eunuch held Kaora’s hand as she placed one heeled foot on the man’s back, then the other on the ground. My cousin was dressed in the same fashion as I. We actually did look quite the same, also. Our height was average for the women of this land at about five feet and four inches, with long faces and longer legs. I always let my hair flow down to my shoulders, but she had always kept it in a ponytail. Tomboy.

The eunuch musicians began to play the Empress’ Dance, a formal march written by our grandmother, as she stepped on the first among the human carpet. The band would have been in perfect form, had the silk strings on the guzheng not come loose. I quickly glanced to my side and caught Misaka giggling. I suspected she meant for this to happen, but I had no choice but to make that poor slave suffer. I decided on the Sizzling Nail. It was a smart invention, which heated itself while in the slave’s hole, but knew when it was doing irreparable damage.

The eunuchs cleared the ground as she passed, allowing the entourage to follow through without trampling the slaves. My women and I offered a deep bow in unison as Kaora reached the steps of the keep.

“Greetings, Empress Kaora Chiasa, and welcome to Kingae Vela. We shall do all that we can to make your stay a pleasant one. I trust your journey was uneventful.” I rose from my bow to see her giving me a smirk and standing there with her hands on her hips, shaking her head. That smirk turned into a smile soon enough, though.

“Don’t talk like that to me, cousin.” She leapt at me for a hug, which I warmly returned. “I’ve missed you so much. It’s been over two years, Anasi.” I could hear her stifling back tears. I was too. We quickly composed ourselves as we broke the embrace. “Since you mentioned it, my journey was horrendous. Two nights ago our camp was host to a herd of Mongorbeasts. I lost three men and chaos reigned for a whole hour. My seer insists that she felt hateful man-spirits egging them on, but I only keep the crone with me as a favor to her daughter. Let’s get this inspection over with. I want to spend as little time doing this as possible.”

I smiled into her eyes and kissed her on the cheek. “Same here, cousin. Perhaps we should start with the Chained Spiders…”

We walked off into the camp. Her dickless barbarian slave was lead by a small chain attached to his sack. He smiled a lot, and the Empress would often steal a glance behind her to give him a grin. I hadn’t seen my cousin so happy since we were little girls.

The great hall of the keep was packed that night. There were about one hundred and twenty ladies present in all, and the room was filled with banter and laughing. Eunuch acrobats struggled to keep our attention, but all they amounted to was background noise. Mistress Sunji, a young lady of only sixteen, approached me with the gift I had chosen for the Empress. She was always a cheerful young gal.

“Would you like to take this now, High Mistress? I think this would be the perfect time.”

“No, not now, Sunji. I’ll do it tomorrow, in private. Now put that back where you found it before she sees.”

She bowed apologetically. “I beg your pardon. I’m shocked at how light it is, Ma’am. May I ask what it is?

“A dagger, if you must know. And you’re stronger than you look if you think it’s light. It is a very heavy, highly ornamented ceremonial dagger. Put it back now and don’t even think of taking a peek. Scoot!” The girl ran off in a hurry to put the box back in my chambers. Mother knows why I bothered showing it to the little gossip queen in the first place. I took my seat at the curved table at Kaora’s right hand.

I whispered in her ear, “How long do you think you can keep this a secret?” and patted her belly. She gave a shocked, innocent little look.

“Who told you?” she wondered. “That little Xiang, I’ll get her!” Xiang was not coincidentally sitting right to my side. She began to giggle uncontrollably and looked around for a diversion. Eight of the eunuchs were now in the process of assembling a human pyramid. Xiang fired off a spell of hurling at the slaves and pushed them all down to the ground. Kaora forgot her indignation as a wave of laughter surged through the room. The men were on their knees pleading for forgiveness, thinking that it was all their fault.

Kaora clapped her hands loudly and silenced the ladies for a moment. She rose and walked around the table, approaching the prostrated eunuchs. “My cousin told me that you were among the most coordinated acrobats in the province. What just happened?”

The chief of the little troupe looked up at her with tears streaming down his face. “Please, Empress, I beg you, it was an honest mistake… I think perhaps one of the slaves got a little oil on his back and when the one on top of him put his hand on his…” This rambling continued for the next minute and a half, and we all covered our faces in order to conceal our smiles, even Kaora.

“[b[Silence!” she screamed. “Someone must be punished for this outrage!” She stumbled a bit on the word outrage as she almost slipped into laughter. “And I think it most fitting that you choose. Shall I have the High Mistress flogged for failing to find a competent troupe? Or perhaps you eight should be sentenced to the barracks for a week to help keep the troops satisfied?”

Perhaps that wasn’t the best move, I thought. The leader, pori, had been a barracks slave long ago. He had been brutally abused by the men he serviced night after night and his Mistress had given his plight little notice. I heard this story when I first purchased their services from their mistress, but was told that it motivated him to develop this skill in order to gain his release.

The chief dropped his head for a few moments and then brought it back up. “Punish her, please, punish her,” and his head went back down as he sobbed. There was dissent among the eunuchs as we ladies looked on in shock. I never would have imagined that a slave would give an answer like that. Three of slaves actually began to beg the Empress to give them my torment, while the others stayed silent and followed the chief’s lead. Kaora’s mouth stayed open as she tried to digest what had just happened. She looked at me with uncertainty in her face.

I walked over to her and whispered in her ear. Her decision was far more merciful than it would had been without the knowledge of this eunuch’s history. I offered Kaora my advice.

“You five,” she said while pointing at the chief and his followers, “you will bend over for the men of this camp. It will last much longer than a week. Do you realize what you have done? You filth actually suggested that I should flog the skin from my own cousin. This was all a little joke, and had you chosen to be punished, we would have treated you all like brave little pets tonight.” She strode over to the others and ran her fingers through the red hair of a nineteen-year-old man. He had been made a eunuch three years ago. The raiding party to which he belonged sailed far from home, only to be captured at sea.

“These three shall have their bottoms spared. They’ll have fun tonight.” I followed her back around the table and we sat back down. She motioned towards a soldier. “Guard. Take these cowards away.” While returning to my meal I made it a point to remember to reward the chefs. The grilled huna fish was excellent.

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We split off after dinner into groups and indulged in some entertainment. Some ladies played games, while others danced the night away. Many more passed out from the night’s activities and fell asleep. I stood on the roof of my keep with a simple telescope that Mistress Todo made for me many years before. She was a brilliant inventor and scholar, and I would often study the night sky with her gift. The moon did not rise that evening, giving me an unobstructed view of the heavens. A comet sped down the cheek of the Mother’s constellation as I watched, but I didn’t think much of it at the time. I promised myself to make a painting of that image soon.

Kaora came up the steps to my little sanctuary an hour after midnight. She had traded in her cheongsam for a simple unadorned robe. The day’s events had drained her, and there was a chill in the air.

“I suggest you allow toku to wash the weight from your mind, cousin. In fact, I won’t take no for an answer. He is simply the best, and I insist you allow him to attend you as much as possible.”

“I’m pregnant, not dying, cousin. No need to pamper me. But I will take you up on your offer tonight. May I?” she asked, gesturing to the telescope.

“Of course your highness.” I smiled and bowed and she walked to the device. Stargazing was another passion we shared. We passed many hours on top of the palace staring through this instrument, pointing out constellations, planets, and comets to each other. It was almost like a race. Unfortunately the real world had forced itself between us.

She stared pensively at the Mother in the sky for minutes. The thought that she would soon be one weighed heavily on her. She still thought of herself as a little girl in many ways, I think, and that would come to crashing halt much too soon.

“I’m more tired than I thought, Anasi. I think I should excuse myself. Where might I find toku?”

“I instructed him to start a bath for you a while ago. It should still be warm, I think. You’ll be using my personal pool, of course.”

“Thank you cousin.” She pulled me close into a long hug, complete with a kiss on the cheek. “I love you Anasi.”

“I love you too. Good night, Kaora.”

She slowly crept down the stairs. I was feeling tired as well, but the heavens beckoned to me that night. The Phoenix Nebula was quite visible. It’s fiery red plumes streamed from its bottom while a yellow beak protruded to the west. Those magnificent wings were its most dazzling feature as they sported many colors that one wasn’t used to seeing in the sky. I looked for this heavenly object every chance I could just in case it began to flap. I know it’s silly, but childhood habits die hard.

In my weary state, an hour after the Empress left, I imagined I could see them shift a bit. That revelry ended with an abrupt scream that tore through the night.

---------------------------yoshi---------------------------

I swore that I would not be beaten again. That was a solemn oath that I made to myself. I hated to admit it, but Kiyatora was right. I had to be better. I spent that whole evening going through the motions in the training hall. I heard the joy that the ladies shared at the feast while practicing the hidari technique. I longed to be a part of the events that took place afterwards as I pushed myself to learn the tsuki maneuver. My place was here for now, in the silence of my own failures.

All was quiet after midnight. The sounds of women laughing and squealing died down and I was left to myself at last. I should have been tired, but Kiyatora’s mocking laughter rang in my ears the whole time. The doors to the hall flew open after I heard running from that corridor, so I was not taken completely by surprise. He was one of the Empress’ men. I could tell by the light formal armor he was wearing. The blood covering his right hand told me something was very wrong.

“Get out of my way, boy. I’m under strict orders.”

I held my sword firmly in front of myself. “What’s going on, guard? What has happened?”

That scream tore through the keep for the longest of seconds, and then it was gone.

“I don’t have time for this.” His sword flew from its scabbard quickly. We both wielded Luvian steel at each other. He didn’t bother to probe my defenses like the Kaichi would. He would not even use his sword with any skill. The curved sword must be drawn across your opponent to inflict the most damage, as its edge is designed for cutting. He just hacked, much like I had before I took my training seriously. He was not an amateur swordsman, unfortunately, and his slashes came quick and precise.

I danced around his blade and parried his horizontal cuts where I had to, but my offense was limited. I was able to make one attack for every three of his. My training paid off in a move where I was conditioned to sidestep a vertical slash from the high guard position, and my sword cut through the armor around his hip. This steel wouldn’t harm flesh, but it could do serious damage to armor when wielded properly. To his credit he resisted the urge to grab his hip, and instead locked his blade with mine as he parried an attack I made on his upper body.

I stared into those light blue eyes for the few seconds our standoff lasted. I hadn’t noticed this before, but I hadn’t seen eyes of that color amongst the soldiers before. He may have come from a different province, I guessed, but I hadn’t the time for any more thought than that.

Commotion began to erupt around the keep. Our fight had only lasted a minute, but it was more intense than any combat I had been a part of since I had been captured. My enemy let off a loud grunt and pushed me off. He feinted low, and I fell for it. His blade sliced right into my throat and I fell to the ground clutching it, not even able to scream in agony.

He left me there and ran out of the keep’s rear entrance. I was still in a fight I could not lose for her. I gave chase as soon as I stumbled to my feet. He had fifty yards on me, and he was gaining. No one in the camp gave notice, as there were many guards and slaves alike running to and fro in complete confusion. I watched him mount a gelding and I began to question myself. What could I do? I could not speak. The steel paralyzed my vocal chords and I was having trouble keeping my head straight. Even if I could speak, would anyone listen to me? What would Anasi think if I let this man get away? I didn’t even know what he had done.

I had kept the sword, thankfully, and was disappointed that none of the guards had paid attention to it. Perhaps they assumed I was fetching it for some warrior. I snatched up a cloak that had been tossed away in front of a nearby tent. I ran to the stables and chose a gelding I knew to be dependable if not quick. That was one advantage I had over the bastard, at least. I took one more glance behind me, one more glance at my home, and slipped off into the darkness of the woods. The skills of the ranger were dormant in me, but I would awaken them again as I began the hunt for my quarry. I really wished that I had won that last match with Kiyatora.

----------------------------ANASI--------------------------

The water of the pool was a dark red, and it tainted the petals of a rose which had once been white. My little toku lay dead in the middle of the floor, the ceremonial dagger in chest with his hand near the hilt. And my cousin… my cousin… Her throat had been sliced open, quickly I hoped.

Sunji found them like this. She had come to return the box late in the night, not knowing that Kaora would be here. A towel lay next to the eunuch, and it had been sprayed with a bit of his blood. The door to my dressing room had been left open, as well as the cupboard where the towel had come from. The towels that should have been here were out on the terrace, I would later discover, and the glass doors to it were also left ajar, even with that chill in the air.

The details didn’t interest anyone but those loyal to me. To everyone else, I had killed the Empress.