IMPORTANT NOTE: This chapter contains a scene that will probably spark controversy. I do not mean to use the concept lightly, but I am trying to paint a picture of an older world where killing is sometimes necessary. So regardless of my actual feelings on the topic, I have decided to leave the scene in and let you make your own impression of the character's actions.
"Ming Yue? Darling?"
Gnarled hands pawed blindly, dribbling acid over the veranda. The dark liquid pooled into tiny puddles and cut grooves into the earth, making it look like the stones themselves were weeping.
Perhaps they were.
"No, Father," Mei Lai sighed, catching his forearms. He stared at her blankly. "Mother is gone."
"Grandmother?" One scarlet eye rolled and focused on a butterfly; the other tried frantically to find her.
"No, Father…" she replied dutifully, handing him a new towel. The acid immediately seared into it, melting the threads into wide-mouthed holes. It was bad this night, almost beyond believing, and although several hours had passed Father was still hallucinating. Mei Lai stretched out her own hands again, forcing more neutralizing poison into them, and once again clasped her Father's hands with her own.
His illness was settling into the hands, so the doctors said, but cutting them off was also suicide…he would no more be able to control his internal poisons than a newborn would be able to stop drooling. The poisons come from the intestine and spleen, her mother had told her once and they travel through the Six Major Organs before the kidneys filter them for dispensing. But the doctors thought that a Thunder Worm had destroyed his kidneys, and so the only things keeping his natural toxins from escaping were the organs in his foreclaws. They appeared during every storm to petition the Thunder Dragons, asking for forgiveness and new organs for their master; so far the kidneys had stubbornly refused to appear, lightning or no lightning. Another healer, the shaman Yan Hsu, said only sacrifice would appease the angered Sky Gods…two thousand goats and three fruits barbarians called a pomegranate, to be exact. Mei Lai herself believed none of it, but she did know that the poison must be eating at his already weakened mind, twisting his thoughts into strange, hidden fantasies.
He sighed again and leaned into her, whispering her mother's pet name, and Mei Lai squeezed his hands tighter.
After what seemed like an eternity her counter-poison took, hissing loudly as it connected with the acids dripping from her father's once-elegant fingers. Slowly, painfully slowly, she could feel her poisons oozing into his fragile skin, turning his acids in on themselves. Finally…she sighed gratefully. If the treatment hadn't taken this time….
"There you go…" Mei Lai whispered gently as his expression eased, the lines on his face smoothing out almost instantly.
"Mei…" he mumbled wonderingly before slipping into exhausted sleep. Mei Lai eased him gently out of his lounge chair and back onto his sleeping cushions; the heat radiating out from his thin form told her his body was already hard at work consuming its own rebellion. So much more acid this time than the last...one of these days, he's actually going to melt himself.
He stirred briefly, flipping to his side, and she found herself captivated by the soft grace of him.
With concern, Mei Lai brushed the very tips of her claws through his graying hair. Her father had always had a pure black mane, the color of obsidian; now entire stretches of those gossamer threads had turned gray.
The sign of his increasing mortality.
Mei Lai looked down at her sleeping father, and stretched her small hands out to cover his. The claws were so similar that the very thought made her shudder. To end up like Father…I don't know that I could stand it.
There was a scratch at the door, and suddenly Mei Lai was standing face to face with the young servant she knew only as Little Ping.
"What is it?" she snapped, irritated. "I asked not to be disturbed!"
"Forgive me, lady…" the little girl quailed. "But there is a messenger…"
It wasn't a raven, as she had feared, but a stark white wading bird—a kind of heron, if memory served. Herons meant the south, Lord Tsing's domain, but something was strange about the seal upon the message. The two proud herons were there, certainly, but the wax was runny and unclear. Applied too hastily she noted grimly. A serious breach of etiquette for those with enough free time to care, but Mei Lai simply noted the error and slid one elegant needle-claw under the flap. If Lord Tsing was that eager to reach her that the pompous old bastard would forget his manners, something was direly wrong.
Purple eyes scrutinized the calligraphy carefully. Not Lord Tsing, despite her initial impressions…the language was feminine and held no official signature. An under-the-table deal then, yet this woman had gotten a hold of the Lord's sealing stamp…Mei Lai idly wondered who had died for that particular breach of conduct. The writer was obviously educated given the overall style, but the characters before her were less than ideal. Rushed, with strokes flying helter-skelter over the parchment.
"Well, I'll be damned…" she breathed, as her eyes caught the main point of the message. I was wrong she grinned happily. They're afterme.
"My lady?" Little Ping asked in confusion.
"Come, little one" Mei Lai chortled with glee. "We're going to pay Tsing's new concubine a visit." And I could use the distraction.
It was nearing dusk by the time Mei Lai alighted upon the spires of Lord Tsing's mountain fortress. The soldiers scowled, but they would not interfere…no one in their right mind would get in the way of the ladies of the House. One of them, a hog-beast, grunted in her direction and extended a spear toward a high-arched doorway. Mei Lai nodded, and dutifully walked to the entrance.
Little Ping moaned and for a minute Mei Lai wondered if she was going to throw up again, but the girl finally took hold of her senses long enough to slide to the ground. Mei Lai twitched her wings once in disgust, but said nothing…she supposed she could not blame the poor creature, who had probably never flown in her life.
"A-aren't you g-going to Change, my lady?" the servant quavered. Mei Lai was highly amused to see the girl turning green just looking at her lady's wings.
Not bothering to reply, Mei Lai immediately wheeled and glared at the nearest guard before squeezing self-importantly through the stone doorway. They might not have orders to harm her, but she was not here officially…and it would not do for Lord Tsing to learn that Fou Hsu's daughter was traipsing about on his rafters.
It took her a moment, but Little Ping finally figured out what was happening and came running after her mistress, carrying a heavy pack of supplies. Mei Lai ignored her, swiveling her wedge-shaped head left to right in the narrow stone hallway. Luminous purple eyes flipped into high gear, widening to a nearly impossible degree and absorbing every detail.
Finally content that no one was watching, Mei Lai drew in on herself and began the Change. Translucent wings twisted and sunk into a rapidly shrinking body, and long, venomous nails dissolved into tiny needle-claws. Little Ping gasped, but did not falter—although she was not privileged to Change often, she had seen it all before. Still, seeing her mistress's momentary weakness…
The second her strength returned to her, Mei Lai snatched the pack from her startled servant and began rummaging around for her robes. "Dammit girl, make yourself useful!" she barked, fishing out her silver over-robes. "Find my cowl!" she commanded, and Little Ping fished around for a while before locating a simple, brown hood with a round hole in the top.
"That's better!" Mei Lai sighed, pulling the slippery robes of office on over her head. The cloth molded to her body like a second skin, and as usual she could feel the instinctive urge to spin in them. Maybe as a girl she might have, but she was a woman now…right? Somehow, the mischievous cloth didn't seem to agree. Even in the low torchlight it shimmered playfully, urging her to twirl in a circle following its flashes.
"My lady?" Little Ping interrupted, and Mei Lai shook her head firmly before reaching out to take her sacred cowl. It never failed to annoy her that the creators of such exquisite silver robes had come up with such a homely, scratchy hood to match; the fabric was hot and as unyielding as burlap. Perhaps it was burlap; Mei Lai wouldn't know. Swallowing her distaste, she positioned the infernal thing correctly and pulled it sharply over her face. She didn't need to ask Little Ping to know the effect—an unearthly creature, shimmering silver and moonlight, unknown save for the moon-mark visible through the cowl's circular cut out. Her own mother had been exceptionally impressive, she recalled fondly…that perfect, full moon-mark filling the cowl's center cut-out completely. And her dances…gods, how she could dance…Mei Lai stopped herself before she could even get started. Sentiment was useful, but not when it was wasting the Lady's time.
Her robes secured and face shrouded, the shamanka of the Moon entered the concubine's chamber.
"Thank the gods you're here!" a breathy voice squealed, and a diminutive stork-demon bounded toward her. "The Lady has been up all day and all night with her illness, but no one can catch the damned stomach worm!" She paused in her rant to bob up and down in a quick, girlish bow. "You'll help her, won't you?" The stork girl grinned hopefully.
Disgustingly cute, Mei Lai determined with a sniff, peering into the girl's round, trusting face. She had probably been trained since birth to act this adorable, and those natural, sparkling green eyes didn't help either. Somebody's sweet little pet.
"Why have you sent for me?" Mei Lai asked, frowning. "Stomach worms are beneath me."
"But the chamberlain would have no other…" the girl protested, fidgeting with her tunic. Drawing closer to Mei Lai's pointed ears, the young stork whispered, "And the head lady thinks it could still be a, you know, woman thing." She blushed prettily and leapt backwards, chewing on her sleeve nervously. A concubine in training, Mei Lai decided…that silk was too fine for any mere servant. And the mark of the heron embroidered into the cuffs was pure ownership. The girl was too young to bed with yet, but the lord had clearly picked his new favorite. I certainly hope she knows it…Mei Lai winced, thinking of all the elegant lady's daggers soon to be aimed at that lovely, porcelain throat.
"This way, this way!" the girl sang in an irritating but adorable child-voice, skipping down a passage to the right, and Mei Lai sighed but followed suit. "Come, Ping!" she called, and the servant heaved the pack to her shoulders.
She could hear the moans long before she could see the lady, and Mei Lai was not surprised to see the concubine surrounded by dozens of concerned handmaidens.
"Oh, my throat…how it aches…" the girl moaned, thrashing about on her cushioned pallet. Ladies went flying left and right, diving for water jugs, but the concubine merely knocked them away. "Do not insult me…my insides are burning too much for drink…"
"My lady!" the head attendant screeched, splitting from the throng to prostrate herself before Mei Lai. "Deliver us!"
"Leave us." Mei Lai commanded, eyes narrowing to slits. "Now."
"But—"
"I said go! And take this menagerie with you."
The handmaiden stared for a minute, then shook herself and clapped her hands sharply. "Girls, follow me!"
Within seconds, the chamber was empty.
"My lady…?" Little Ping whispered uncertainly.
"Silence!" she retorted, striding up to survey her patient. The stork woman's ivory face was flushed a brilliant crimson, and the heat of her fever rolled off in waves—so much so that Mei Lai considered rolling up the sleeves of her robes. Her white hair was wild and disheveled, spilling all over the pillow. Mei Lai wrinkled her nose. Not washed in a while either…
"Oh, my insides…how they ache…"
"Hush…" Mei Lai soothed, prodding the lady's sides. The woman winced and shied away, groaning. "Don't touch me…how it hurts…"
"Quiet!" Mei Lai growled, staring closer at the concubine's crazed, unfocused eyes. "Ping, get me a candle."
Little Ping quickly yanked one out of its base and handed it to her lady. Pulling off her cowl and using it to shield her own face, Mei Lai pushed closer to the concubine. The effect was dramatic—the woman immediately shrieked and twisted away.
"My eyes! Can you not see how it burns!? Oh, whoa is--"
"Oh, bloody hell!"
Having reached the end of her patience, Mei Lai grabbed the stork by the collar.
"Won't—you—shut—up!" Each word was punctuated by a slap, and gradually the concubine's pinched features twisted into an expression of abject horror.
"Why! I never—"
"No, you didn't, you spoiled wretch—you just kept whining so they couldn't figure it out. Didn't you?"
"What are you—"
"Ping, fetch me her tea cup."
The servant fumbled around the sick bed for a minute before seizing a half-full porcelain glass. Mei Lai snatched it unceremoniously and dumped the remaining contents out on the bed.
"Hey, that's my—"
"Silence!" Mei Lai snarled, fishing around in the leafy contents. "There!" She delicately snatched a small, spiky frond and shoved it in the concubine's face. "Devil's Frock, am I right?"
The concubine gasped, then diverted her eyes. "…how did you know?" she asked in a tiny voice.
"Any idiot who calls herself a birth-mother knows the effects of Devil's Frock." Mei Lai snorted, tossing the offending plant to the floor. "Severe stomach pain, unchanging pupils, fear of the sun…I'm surprised no one figured it out already. What kind of morons do you have for physicians? Dogs?" The shaman's robes quivered and Mei Lai folded her arms. "It is a powerful child-prevention drug, but it's also extremely dangerous," she stated more softly. "If you wanted to use it, you should have consulted a birth-mother first."
"But my lord would never—" the concubine paused, then sighed. "He would kill me for the insult."
"And anyways, it seems you're too late." Mei Lai replied, placing her hand to the woman's belly. Concentrating slightly, she pressed a tiny tendril of energy forward into the unsuspecting stork's center. As she suspected, two flows of qi came echoing back…one powerful, rushing stream and one minute trickle.
"You are with child, my lady."
"No…" the concubine breathed, and her eyes widened.
"So I advise you to throw that damned herb away before it proves the death of you both…Devil's Frock won't get rid of a child you're already carrying, but it could warp its life-energy. I'm sure your lord would be even less pleased to know you're damaging his child."
"But you don't—it can't be HIS child!" the lady gasped, seizing Mei Lai's sleeve. Mei Lai sighed and carefully pried the woman's icy fingers from her clothing.
"I was afraid it would be something like that. Let me guess—fated since childhood? Star-crossed lovers? Or just some handsome face you met at a festival?"
The concubine sputtered indignantly. "You don't understand—it's not like that!"
"No, YOU don't!" Mei Lai snapped, wheeling on the girl. "Lord Tsing is extremely possessive, and I doubt he takes kindly to his ladies playing Clouds and Mist with anybody else. How long have you been with him anyway?"
"T-three months…"
"Which means he's still enamoured with you. Just great. Well, what of the father?"
"He's a fox."
"Ah." Mei Lai grunted noncommittally. Yes, the lord would definitely kill the both of them for that…how many fox demons could be attending the court of a heron? Most likely an ambassador from the south, and that would be even stickier: with that social standing, she couldn't even claim he took her by force. Concubine's word versus government official…Mei Lai winced. Why couldn't she have picked a servant boy? At least he'd be a heron, and the baby wouldn't have a tail…or worse, red fur.
"Gods woman, you could start a war over this!"
"But Xi and I never meant—"
"No, that's the problem with foxes, they never mean anything. Are you even sure he's coming back for you?"
"Of course!" the concubine drew her face up into a particularly sappy smile. "He loves me, and he promised to take me away when he returns to his home country!"
"—a home den filled with foxes? Honey, put your head on straight. What happens the minute your husband leaves you alone with all his hungry relatives?"
The stork's face froze. "But Xi would never let them hurt me! He promised!" she whimpered, fiddling with the edges of her sheets.
"But what if he's not always there to protect you? All it would take is one border skirmish, and you're as good as dinner."
Little Ping had been as silent as stone until that point, and then she had to interject. "That's horrible!"
"That's life!" Mei Lai snapped. "You think I like to see idiots kill themselves? But there's nothing else we can do about it, so you'd be best to forget it."
Mei Lai turned brusquely and began wiping her hands on the lady's ruined sheets.
"Well, I suggest you pack your things and start running at daylight…it would be better if you could fake your death but I doubt they'd believe it without a body. Or you can stay and keep taking that Devil's Frock until it actually kills you, but I doubt you care for the honorable way out. Come on, Little Ping—we're leaving."
"Wait." The stork's desperate voice echoed ominously throughout her chambers. "Can't you…do something about this?"
Mei Lai stiffened, and paused.
"I mean, surely you could…with your powers, that is…"
Snarling, Mei Lai wheeled so fast that Little Ping nearly fell over trying to follow her. "Idiot! Do you know what you ask of me?"
"I—"
"No, you don't!" Mei Lai finished her own question, storming toward the quivering stork. "I am a servant of the Moon, and what you ask of me is a sin against my Lady!"
"I thought a buck rabbit lived in the moon…"
"Ignorant fool!" Mei Lai hissed. "Child's tales. I suppose you'll be insulting me with bedtime stories next?" The concubine shrunk deeper into her pillows, trying desperately to get away from the purple eyes bearing down on her. "The Moon herself rain curses down on you if I ever hear such blasphemy from your lips again!"
The stork was sobbing now, fat tears running down the curves of her ivory cheeks. Mei Lai was pure shaman now, every purplish hair standing on end to complement the lightning in her eyes.
"But…"
The concubine looked up fearfully, hanging on Mei Lai's every word.
"I could be persuaded, if you are willing to agree to the terms. And perhaps the Moon Mother will be kind and grant your poor soul some forgiveness for your insolence."
"Y-yes my lady!" the woman sobbed, twisting her hands together.
"First, you agree to lose the protection of the Moon, although I question if you ever held it—the Lady does not take kindly to the ignorant. Am I correct in assuming you have never performed the Three Obesiences? The Seven Rites of Child Bearing?"
The concubine shook her head slightly, mesmerized.
"By the heavens!" Mei Lai exclaimed. "Is no one educated these days? Better then, that you lose this child—lest it be born under an inauspicious star!"
"I-if you think so…"
"Well then," Mei Lai continued, all business. "I will ask the Moon for assistance on this matter, but you must be prepared for her anger. You will likely be sick for several days, and after that I must ask you not to come begging for my services again. If you do conceive your lord's child, it will be your duty to bear it for him. Otherwise, you can continue taking Devil's Frock, but you must have someone prepare it correctly…boil it down and add three parts water for every single frond."
"I'll get someone on it right away." The woman blubbered.
"…and do everyone a favor and give up the fox, will you?" Mei Lai added. "Like as not he'll be gone within the month, and it would save you both some grief."
"How did you know he was leav—"
"Woman's intuition. And finally, I want you to grant me your influence so I can see your lord's Library of Records…there is a matter I may need to discuss with him."
"I can't!" the concubine cried. "He'd have us both dipped in oil if I even ask!"
"Who said anything about asking?" Mei Lai winked. "The House of Concubines is powerful…your brooch alone would sway the guards."
"But…" the stork woman whimpered, fiddling with the golden chain tied around her neck. She tugged once, and pulled the ornate medallion out from under her nightgown. "You have to promise to bring it back."
"Oh, I will…I have little use for such a gaudy thing." Mei Lai sniffed, inspecting the jade-encrusted heron. Not even high-grade gold, by the look of it…then again, the lord's principle wife would be jealous if it were.
"Now then…Little Ping, douse the candles."
One by one, the lights disappeared, and the room plunged into darkness.
Mei Lai drew her attention inward and stretched her right arm over the bed, concentrating on the feel of the baby's energy spiraling up out of the concubine. Poor thing…she lamented briefly, but it really was better…if not now, it still faced death immediately after birth. Probably painful, too…she winced, thinking of the many ways a vengeful demon could destroy a rival's child. Sliced into pieces…skewered on a spit…she shuddered and gathered the appropriate poison into her claws.
It was only rationalization, but it made her feel a little better.
Lady, forgive me for what I am about to do in your name…I beg this child has safe passage into the other world, and I hope above all else that Lord Tsing doesn't find out.
Slowly, Mei Lai inched her claws toward the concubine's throat.
"And remember…the next time you see your lord, put in a good word for the house of Fou."
She didn't even wait for the concubine's answering nod before slipping her claws into the woman's veins.
Little Ping nearly screamed hearing the wet choking noises echoing throughout the darkness, but Mei Lai lashed out with her free hand and knocked her to the floor first. She lay there, trembling, as her mistress continued pumping poison into the concubine's body, lighting her from within with the unnatural yellow of glowing poison. All the while, Mei Lai kept her left hand concentrated on the feel of those two intertwined energy flows.
And then, the tiny stream faltered, and went out.
Satisfied, Mei Lai immediately switched to producing antidote, injecting her patient with just enough to ensure her survival. Were she more sensitive she might have taken the woman's halting wheezes as an excuse to completely eradicate the sickness she had induced, but the whole affair made her too angry to bother. Instead, she withdrew prematurely, leaving the concubine to work out some of the poison on her own. The bitch deserves some punishment, she huffed to herself, making me bother with this.
"Go get a torch and light the candles, Ping."
Little Ping nodded obediently, but gave her mistress a thoughtful look as she slipped into the corridor. She had not been with the household for more than a season, but she did know that the Moon Lady was the protector of birth-mothers, not pregnant women…and Mei Lai had been lying through her teeth for most of that transaction.
"So what are the Seven Rites, my lady?" she finally asked as she was lighting the second-to-last candle.
"Hen's teeth! I made them up," Mei Lai grinned, giving her servant a wink. Little Ping nodded, and used her torch to set the final wick ablaze. "I'm surprised you noticed—how observant of you."
"Thank you, my lady." Little Ping answered dutifully. "Shall I go fetch the attendants now?"
"By all means."
Little Ping bowed respectfully, and cast one last fearful glance at the pale concubine before disappearing to find her handmaidens.
Mei Lai sighed and replaced her cowl, taking care to leave her moon-mark visible through the decorative slit. Hopefully, the Moon could forgive her for her earlier posturing.
It was ridiculous, really, Mei Lai thought as she looked back at the stork woman, remembering how the silly git had pleaded. Of course she could take the small life away with her poisons, and the Moon wouldn't care a bit…what power did a servant of the Lady have if she didn't have the right to work at her own discretion? It grated at her own sensibilities, certainly, but the jade heron swinging lazily from her right hand more than made up for it.
She had come on the Moon's business, but now she had access to Lord Tsing's war correspondences.