Lady Earthquake

Lady Earthquake Chapter 10

Three weeks later, T'ien Sun-Sin received orders to meet Calvary-Colonel Hsia on his return from his bi-annual purchase of fine horses. The Third Prince still on his religious retreat, orders had come from somewhere high up that the Fourth Prince would take on the duty, being otherwise underemployed. Sun-Sin greeted the order with a smile of pure pleasure. He had been cooped up in the capital for far too long.

"Another week and I will forget how to ride," he said to Lieutenant Luyo.

"A pity when you have just moved in here, though, sir."

He had taken the house in the Northeast quarter, a few minutes' walk from the city gate. Neither grand nor inadequate, the house had a peaceful air for it was set in the center of a large walled lot that backed onto a warehouse district. On either side were family-residences of respectable older officials. The gardens were a bit neglected, though the house itself had been kept in good repair by a pair of caretakers, now taken on as servants. The new majordomo had confessed loftily that he had an interest in gardening and would be more than pleased to take on the task of planning a new appearance for the grounds. Meanwhile, the work of the decorators had been delayed. Sun-Sin was not uncomfortable in his still-mostly empty rooms; he was a soldier, after all.

"The house will keep until I come back. All the better for my absence, perhaps. You met my majordomo, Dongru?"

"Yes. He seems quite the stuffed shirt."

"He comes highly recommended by my step-mother, the Grand Consort."

"I meant no disrespect, sir!"

Sun-Sin patted his friend and subordinate on the arm. "Do not worry; I think he is a stuffed shirt, too. My step-mother thinks I will run riot once she is not present to keep an eye on me. But Dongru has a bit of a gleam in his eye, or so I thought."

"If you say so...."

"Get the troop together. We will ride out at first light. A little light training before we return to the frontier."

Luyo looked eager. "Have the orders come through?"

"Not yet. But they told me when they gave me this assignment that it will not be much longer."

"Good! I hate to think what our playful Khitan friends will get up to if we are not up there to persuade them into good behavior."

Dongru did have quite a knack for turning last year's robes into smart attire. His master's folds were crisp, his underclothes white as clouds, and his armor bore a polish even richer than the military-code demanded. However, Sun-Sin did not bother his servant when he went out later that night. He needed no assistance in dabbling his fingers in charcoal dust and wiping it over the white streak in his hair, making it vanish. For the rest, simple black trousers, gathered close to his calves, and a black shirt with a black kerchief over his face required no valeting.

Sun-Sin waited on the rooftop of the Crown Prince's palace until the guards below had walked on. The moon had not yet risen so he did not even cast a shadow. He walked cautiously over the rounded tiles and then flipped himself with deceptively casual ease into the inner court. He knew the place well, yet at night distances were easily mistaken. The trickling water in the center of the courtyard would mask any noises he might make, though it would also hide any noise made by anyone else.

Slipping from pillar to pillar, he became one with the night. He had an apology to make before he left the capital and he did not want to wait until he returned in a few days. Pei-Fei had turned a scornful shoulder when he had tried to make her smile after their little quarrel. Best to beg her forgiveness before time could harden her resentment.