The Wolf of Oren-yaro (Annals of the Bitch Queen Book 1) Read online

  I didn’t know how to refuse him without further infuriating him. I agreed, though I did manage to wrench my hands back to myself. The servants folded the parasols and scattered like a flock of birds as we got up. We left the rooftop, going all the way back to the courtyard where I had come in the day before. This time, he led me through a small gap in the eastern wall, which led to a short maze of hedges. I found myself in another part of the courtyard, surrounded by a dazzling array of plants and flowers. On all sides were walls taller than I could see over, covered with vines and running water.

  I touched one of the walls, watching the water spread over my hand. The wall itself had flecks of gold imbedded into the stone. “Why are your garden walls so high?” I asked. “You can’t gaze at the city like this.”

  “Questions, so many questions,” Yuebek said, but I think he looked amused. “Although I suppose it’s to be expected, coming from a native of a backward nation as Jin-Sayeng. Do you want to know where the water comes from, too?”

  “I’m guessing the Eanhe,” I said. I instantly regretted speaking; his face assumed a dark expression. It was more unsettling than his usual, mad merriment. I found myself bowing. “My apologies, Esteemed Prince. I suppose someone so backward wouldn’t know the intricacies of such a system. If I had insulted you…”

  “You already have, more times than I can count,” he said. He placed his hands on my shoulders. “Do you not see me as a man? Is that why you flaunt your rejection to my face? I could have changed your mind last night. I would have had you mewling on the sheets like a cat, begging for more. You would have wanted to be wed within the hour.” His nails dug through the thin dress and into my skin. If he assaulted me and the guards came running, would they kill me before I get the chance to kill him? I watched his darting eyes and the rapid rise and fall of his chest.

  “I just don’t see what you have to gain from the alliance, Esteemed Prince,” I said in a low voice. “I have no intention of insulting your…manhood.”

  “I am Fifth Son of Emperor Yunan,” he said. “If I had not married Governor Ong’s daughter, I wouldn’t even have Zorheng.”

  “I beg your pardon. My impression is that cities like Anzhao and Zorheng are city-states. The governors that rule them and the surrounding regions are elected by Emperor Yunan himself.”

  His eyes flashed, and he pushed me away, as if suddenly disgusted. “Don’t dare lecture me what my father does and doesn’t do,” he murmured. He pointed at me. “If you do not see what good our marriage can do for both of us, then you are a lot less intelligent than I gave you credit for. An army of thirty thousand will go uncontested.”

  “You want to rule Jin-Sayeng with me,” I said, answering my question for him. “That’s…my lord, as flattering as that sounds, do you even know anything about my nation?” It was becoming more and more difficult to balance my courtesies with the outrage I was feeling. Sooner or later, I was going to snap and do something I would regret.

  “People bend to power,” he laughed. “That’s all you need to know. Or perhaps your father failed to teach you such a basic thing? Is that why you’re here, begging me to help your pauper of a husband? Is his cock that big?”

  I found myself unable to reply properly. I realized that my father’s upbringing had made it difficult for me to relate to people who didn’t understand the concept of honour or duty. And while I had heard enough crude language from my soldiers and in the few days I had spent in Shang Azi to last me a lifetime, hearing it from the mouth of an emperor’s son was more than I knew how to deal with.

  To my relief, I heard footsteps. I turned to see Zhu approaching us with the tentativeness of a mouse crossing a kitchen floor while the cat was still about. The distaste became plain on Yuebek’s face. Why did he hate her and was so willing to set her aside without a moment’s thought? She was beautiful enough to write poetry about. She reminded me of Chiha Baraji, only without the sly smiles and furtive glances. There had been a time when I envied such women and their graces. I used to think that if I had such elegance and refinement, Rayyel would’ve respected me more.

  “My father requires your counsel, Esteemed Prince,” she said. “The officials are arguing. Deputy Wanhe is creating a scene.”

  “It’s like the old man can’t function without me,” Yuebek replied. But he seemed pleased at the notion that the governor of Zorheng City deferred to him. What did the emperor think of their strange arrangement? Or maybe it wasn’t so strange at all—corruption was a thread that ran everywhere, and I shouldn’t be so surprised it existed here. “Take her back to her room,” he said, before turning with a sweep of his robes.

  Zhu waited until he had disappeared around the corner before walking towards me. There was a calm, almost serene expression on her face, a stark contrast to how I think I would look if I had to spend my life with that man. “Do you want to marry him? Is that why you came here?”

  “No,” I blurted out, resisting the urge to outright laugh at the notion. “I had no intention of making him think such a thing. I apologize if my presence has caused strain to your relationship.”

  “Oh,” she said. “That’s not…he does this.” She gave the sort of smile I had seen people give when they don’t want to talk ill of someone. It deepened the dimples on her cheeks and the lines along her eyes. No, not just beautiful enough for poetry—I could imagine she was the sort of woman kingdoms would clash for. “And will you consider his proposal? It is impressive, is it not?”

  “It is. How much truth is there to it?”

  “The army was indeed his father’s wedding gift to us. The truth is a little more complex than that. The troops have been assigned to various outreach programs near Kyan Jang, helping the common people during the typhoon season and other calamities. The Esteemed Emperor calls it Yuebek’s Boon, which was his way of keeping the Esteemed Prince from entertaining other…thoughts.”

  “Like taking over the empire, you mean?”

  “He couldn’t do that with twenty thousand men,” she said with a smile. “But he could try to seize control of one his brothers’ provinces, which would create a very bad situation all around. We don’t like civil war in the Zarojo Empire, not like in your nation.”

  I gave her my own, practiced smile in return. “Believe it or not, we don’t like it, either. I’ve spent most of my rule trying very hard to avert it.”

  “I didn’t mean it that way.”

  “I know.” I took a seat on a stone bench near one of the waterfalls. “Indulge me, Lady Zhu. This proposal—does it provide a way for Prince Yuebek to extract his army from Kyan Jang? He seems convinced it will, but I would like to hear your opinion on the matter.”

  Zhu dipped her head forward. “I shouldn’t speak of my husband that way.”

  “We are not doing that at all. I need to know what he wants so I can present him with a different proposal. One that, perhaps, doesn’t involve marriage at all. If he wants power, I’m sure we can come to a reasonable agreement. We can always open trade between our countries again. Something exclusive to Zorheng City, perhaps? Such a thing could do much for your city and uplift him in his father’s eyes.”

  “You don’t understand how his mind works,” Zhu said. “When it comes to getting what he wants, he is relentless.”

  “I think I can relate.”

  “No. No, you can’t.” She looked troubled as she sat down beside me.

  “Lady Zhu, please understand. I need to get help for my husband, who is in Governor Zheshan’s dungeons as we speak. If I can invoke the pact that Zorheng made with my home city of Oren-yaro, we need not even look at marriage.”

  “My father told me of that pact. It was made hundreds of years ago. Your city has a pact with Zorheng, not Yuebek.” She pressed her hands together. “You think you can talk him out of it—make him see reason—but it doesn’t work that way. Prince Yuebek may be like a child, but his mind works like a sharp knife. Sometimes I believe he acts the way he does to throw people off gua
rd, to make him think he is less than what he appears. He may seem unhinged, but he is also extremely focused, Queen Talyien, and this is the important part you have to remember: he always gets what he wants. It is ever the only thing that mattered to him.” She took my hands, pressing a key into my palm.

  I felt the weight of the cold brass and turned to her. “What are you saying?”

  “Go,” she said, pointing at the wall beside the waterfall. I saw a keyhole etched into the stone. “Leave now, before it’s too late.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Zorheng City, Reprised

  “I’m tempted,” I said. “But…”

  “But not as tempted as you are with the Esteemed Prince’s promise of twenty thousand men?”

  “I don’t need twenty thousand. Fifty or so should be enough to ensure my husband’s safety. It is all I came here for.” I looked down and realized I was gripping the key so hard with my fingers that my knuckles were turning white.

  “Fifty or twenty thousand, it doesn’t matter. What he wants from you won’t change. There is no talking yourself out of this, Queen Talyien. I’m trying to save you.”

  “I know.” I still didn’t move. She yanked the key out of my hand and without another word stepped towards the keyhole. She slid the key in and turned. There was the sound of shifting gears inside the wall before it retracted, revealing a narrow path between two walls.

  “If you change your mind—no, but you will see for yourself soon enough.” She took my hand and led me down the path. The gate shut behind us as soon as we crossed the threshold.

  We reached the end of the path, which opened up into a dank, dirty alley with a gutter running right through it. The contrast to the pristine surroundings of the palace caught me by surprise. The alley led, abruptly, to the beginning of a tight street, blocked by a rail on one side. Zorheng City unfolded in front of my eyes in a choking grey light.

  I could see an enormous wall, lined with windows. It took me two breaths to realize that it was actually a building, and that this building was the city. I could see clotheslines hanging from the guard rails, which were built so high in front of the windows that they looked like cages. Sunlight streamed down onto a street below, but everything was so crowded and covered in shadows that I couldn’t see exactly what was down there.

  I felt Zhu pull me to the side to let a man through. He was carrying a pole with two baskets hanging from each side, calling out, “Cat meat! Cat for sale!” I felt bile in the back of my throat and wondered how it was possible that I could still find air to breathe. Whatever was streaming into my lungs was so muggy and thick I could have scooped it with a spoon.

  “Welcome to Zorheng City,” Zhu told me. “The true Yuebek’s Boon.”

  I could barely make out her words from the buzz of people around me. I caught sight of a mud-covered child crying in the middle of the street. He had a rotund belly and was naked from the waist down. People passed by him without a second glance.

  “This isn’t in the guidebooks,” Zhu continued. “The Emperor forbade scribes to record what is happening here, even as he does nothing and continues to turn a blind eye to what both my father and his son has done.”

  “I don’t understand,” I said. “You have all that land around the city. Can you not make it bigger? Move the people further out so it’s not so crowded?”

  “The river lands are too soft to build on,” Zhu said. “The surrounding hills are too rocky.”

  “But surely the empire would have foreseen a way to stop a city from turning into this.”

  “Zorheng was never meant to hold so many people. It was originally built to defend the mountain pass from invaders seeking to march against the empire. Those days, of course, are long gone, but when my father was assigned to his post, Zorheng was still an important outpost, the last great city before the weeks of treacherous journey ahead. And then I married Yuebek.” She leaned over the railing, a wistful look on her face.

  “How old were you?”

  She seemed surprised that out of all the things I had reason to wonder about, I would choose to ask such a thing. “Twelve,” she replied. “The Esteemed Prince was twenty. Why? You think it is too young? I already had my moon’s blood by then, a woman in every way. I heard you were eighteen when you married your prince. We thought it was too old. Why wait so long when you had been betrothed since birth? He is very close in age to you, too, from what I understand.”

  “We see marriage as the final step. Until we can be fully committed ourselves to our duties, we don’t marry. I had to finish my studies in Shirrokaru. Others who do not have such concerns might marry younger.”

  “You Jinseins are a strange people,” Zhu said, trailing her fingers over my arm. Her nails were painted with a bright, colourless sheen. “We marry young so we can carry children, as many as we can give our husbands. It has always been this way.”

  “How many do you have?” I asked.

  She shook her head. I suddenly understood.

  “I turn thirty this year,” she continued, gazing out into the distance. “This—this is Yuebek’s only child. His legacy, he likes to say. Our marriage was an opportunity for the Esteemed Emperor to send him away. He was to be the Esteemed Emperor’s arm, far out into the west. I think he secretly hoped that governance would set Yuebek on the right path. Only…”

  “He seized control of the city instead.”

  “I wouldn’t call it that way. On paper, my father is still the Governor. But he leaves people little choice except to indulge his strange ideas. Preventing citizens of Zorheng from leaving, for example, unless they pay an exorbitant tax, one which most poor families can’t afford. When people complained that Zorheng was running out of room and threatened to walk out, he petitioned for builders and mages from Kyan Jang to build the buildings up high. But he also got them to set up those massive walls, to keep people inside. Anyone caught trying to escape will be publicly executed.”

  I tried to see how high the city went. I counted fifteen levels before giving up. There were streets on every level, and even from afar, the filth was unmistakable. I turned to see that the crying child was gone. I hoped his mother had picked him up, but the hostile, sideway glances from every soul around us gave me little hope of that. Was that vendor from earlier just selling cat, or was there anything else less appetizing on the menu? I had heard that cannibalism could be rampant under such conditions.

  “You tell me this,” I said, “while trying to convince me to escape.”

  “I am telling you,” she said, patiently, “that there are other options you can consider. Find your way to Deputy Wanhe’s home. It is in the middle of the market district. People should be able to point you out.”

  “Deputy Wanhe—this is the one you said was creating a scene?”

  “He dislikes Prince Yuebek. Resents him, even. He will assist you, if only to stop the Esteemed Prince from coming into more power. But also, he is obligated to, because he is a government official and you do have a pact with Zorheng.” She pulled me into an embrace. “If Yuebek finds you anyway,” she whispered into my ear, “kill yourself first.” She drew back and handed me the sword she had taken from me earlier.

  “Come with me,” I said.

  She shook her head. “I will not leave my father with him.”

  “Then get him. I’ll wait. When we get to my people, I can give you whatever help you need.”

  She shook her head. “I cannot. I am not a fighter, Queen Talyien, not like you. And Yuebek…for all his faults…” She looked up at me. “Would you abandon your husband, given a way out?”

  “That,” I breathed, “is completely different.”

  “Is it?” She drew away and returned to the alley, her robes fluttering behind her. The stark contrast of her faded, yellow garments to the looming shadows made me think of a canary in an iron cage.

  ~~~

  Me, on the other hand? I slunk through the bustling city like a rat in a maze. Hunched, I tried to blend in as be
st as I could, which was difficult when I was still dressed like I was going to a dinner party. People stared at me as I walked right past their front doors; some stared a little too hard.

  I had learned over the years that the best way to find the market district is to follow your nose. This was not as easy in Zorheng as I thought it would be—I could barely detect anything beyond the smell of the urine-soaked alleys and walls. I reached the end of the street, which turned into a winding stairway. Down I went, past a beggar with stumps for legs, rattling his coin cup, past two filthy boys sitting on the edge of the railing, who whistled at me, and onto a ledge where several men and a woman with a child on her hip were playing cards. Eventually, I dropped to the bottom floor, which was lined with cracked stone. Here, I caught the unmistakable sight of market stalls in the distance.

  The smell didn’t improve when I got closer to the vendors. The smell of roasted meat did not mix well with that of feces and dead rotten things, and it didn’t help that I could distinguish what sort of meat I could see the vendors chopping before me. A pile looked like rat hindquarters, hairless tails hanging out like noodles in a row. The vendor dipped these in a bright orange batter before frying them in a vat of oil. They were served on sticks, drizzled with plum sauce. At least, it looked like plum sauce. Chances were equally good that it was something else.

  I elbowed my way through the crowd and eventually found a man who appeared to be a city guard. He was standing beside a decrepit fountain, which struggled with a trickle of brown water like an old man attempting to hack out phlegm. I hoped that my disappearance had not yet been noted in the palace. “I’m looking for Deputy Wanhe’s house,” I said.

  The guard blinked at me.

  I crossed my arms. “I don’t want to stay out here a moment longer than I have to, so if you don’t know, at least show me someone who can.”