-1XI

The Chon Siblings

Solitary confinement they called it. A cold, square room with gray walls and a tiny barred window to the outside world. Not that the view of London was any more enticing than the view of the floor. Lin pulled herself to the window by a grip upon the bars. Brick walls and chimney smoked skies… an occasional passerby in the distance was probably the only excitement she could find after her few days in the jail cell.

Sighing heavily, she dropped quietly back to her feet. It was quiet there. Too quiet… her thoughts seemed louder than the distant clinking of metal down the hall.

He'd lied to her while asking for her trust. He was truly responsible for her father's death, and yet she had considered helping him. Lin frowned, feeling her stomach churn as she realized how foolish she had been. She needed an escape if she was going to avenge her father and take back the seal he had lost his life defending.

A door banged against the barren halls, bringing her to jump out of her thoughts. Skirmish and shouts echoed past the large heavy door of her cell. Another cell door creaked open and slammed closed, the lock loudly clicking. Things were quiet again.

Lin crept to the door and pressed her ear to it, listening for any sounds, praying for an opportunity of escape.

Suddenly a voice rang out, "This isn't a yard! It's a jail!"

Rathbone gazed out the window, watching the countryside of Edinburgh rush past, feeling the gnawing in his gut. An elbow rested against the window frame, he rubbed thoughtfully at his chin… His thoughts delved against his will to the promise he had given Wu Chow. Stabbing an old man was nothing to forgive, and stealing the Chinese Imperial Seal was no less excusable. But that was past tense, and Wu Chow still had plans to return the favor and earn the seal, which Rathbone kept hidden and safe. It ate at his insides, the thought of what Wu Chow would do… The feeling was anything but unfamiliar. It was fear. It was guilt. It was uncertainty.

The muffled rippling of the tracks seemed to grow louder, drawing his attention to the door of the private cabin. His back straightened at the face that grinned down to him. It was not Doyle.

Rathbone frowned, leaning forward with a hiss, "Are you completely mad?"

Wu Chow shrugged, closing the door casually behind him as he took a seat without an invitation. "I've heard you were attacked by the Imperial Keeper's daughter."

"Where did you hear that?" Rathbone asked with curiosity.

Wu Chow removed a folded newspaper from his traveling coat and dropped it on Rathbone's lap. "You should keep a better eye on your servants. It's in almost every paper."

Rathbone snatched up the paper and unfolded it to the front page. His nose wrinkled at the sight, "Damn. I've knocked Jack the Ripper off the front page."

He slipped off his blue gray hat, setting it on the bench seat beside himself. Dark eyes looked to Rathbone, "Pray tell, why you didn't kill her when you had the chance."

He lowered the paper at Wu Chow's hectoring. "You cannot seriously think I would compromise my reputation by murdering a woman within my own house."

Wu Chow frowned. "And have you thought about what compromises this might mean to our agenda if she escapes?"

Folding his arms, Rathbone sat back in his seat. "Lin is locked away in the most respected police force in the world. She cannot escape unscathed."

"I think you should be aware that she is not an only child. There is a brother. Chon Wang was an imperial guard in the Forbidden City. He's hopelessly loyal to the Emperor, regardless of his new residence in America."

"If he's so loyal, why is he on the other side of the world?"

"He abandoned his mission over there because he was a failure as a guardsman."

"I think you concern yourself with pointless details. I see no relevance to matters at hand."

Wu Chow's frown deepened with annoyance. He snatched his hat from the seat and clutched it tightly in his gloved hand. "Do not underestimate this one. He's his father's son. Relentless and resourceful… if Lin has any thought of honoring her father's death she would have notified Chon Wang immediately. Make no mistake, Lin is the least of your problems if he arrives."

Remaining silent, Rathbone watched as the Chinaman stood and moved to the cabin door. When the door was closed and he found himself alone again, he let out a long breath. Wu Chow made him edgy. But if Chon Wang made Wu Chow nervous… Rathbone let out a stifled curse. The odds were unforgiving as they piled higher against him… But if Chon Wang was relentless and resourceful then Rathbone vowed to be more so. England was his home, his element…

Beneath a wool blanket lay the pillows, placed and packed just right in an attempt to resemble someone sleeping beneath. Lin finished tugging the blanket over the edge, giving it one last look. Many times she and Wang had used the trick to play on the rooftops of their home in Peking as children… She prayed it would work now.

Steps scrapped down the hall, mingled with the jangle of the prison keys she had come to familiarize herself with. Springing from the ground, she grabbed hold of the light fixture above and pulled herself up. Pinned between two beams with her limbs extended out, she waited.

The large door opened beneath her feet. Three men stepped inside. The first man to step inside was Inspector Doyle, who held onto the door as he rambled on about who occupied the cell. The second stepped in with the third, a dark haired, stout man in a duster and hat Lin had only seen once before. She recognized her brother immediately, eyeing him as he moved to the bed where her decoy of pillows lay. The blonde man who accompanied him lingered close by, curiously looking about.

Chon Wang, the brother who ignored his duties and left her father alone without a son to pass his work to, had finally arrived. Angry, Lin dropped from the ceiling, whirling a sharp kick at the Inspector. Her foot flew to her brother's companion next, only for Wang to grab her ankle inches from the man's stupefied face.

He stared past her slipper, gaping brainlessly for a long moment while she returned a glare.

"Lin!" Wang said with surprise.

Her anger subsided hearing her name from him, and her foot lowered. A smile grew as she finally looked to her brother. "Wang!" Wang hugged her, and she him.

"I'll just…" Doyle said with a wince as he got to his feet, rubbing at the bruise upon his jaw. Closing the door behind himself, he allowed them their privacy.

"Chon." The blonde man hissed with excitement. "Chon, introduce me…"

"Roy, this is my baby sister, Lin." A rugged hand set to her hair as he grinned proudly to his friend.

Annoyed, she pushed his hand away, replying in Chinese, "I'm not a baby."

"Chon, you never told me that your sister was such a beautiful lotus blossom."

Lin felt an amused grin upon her face to the compliment. Glancing to Chon, she would purposely comment in Chinese, "You're friend is very charming."

"Hey, hey. No speaking in your native tongue about me while I'm around."

Chon frowned this time with annoyance. Lin hid her triumphant. "Lin, why are you here?" He asked sternly.

Lin's smile faded. Averting her eyes, she quickly reasoned she could not tell Chon the entire truth. She would be shamed and dishonored for even thinking about siding with their father's murderer. She needed a lie. "I followed the murderer to here. I broke into his house… and tried to kill him." The only lie already supplied had been from Rathbone's own two lips.

"Lin, that duty is mine."

"No – it is mine!" She snapped. Her hands grew to shaken fists at her sides. "I promised father."

"You should have left it to me. I'm his son!"

Lin's eyes glittered with tears, "Yes, well you abandoned us for America. Father said he had no son." Her face washed red as she stifled a breath and looked away.

Chon stared dumbfounded, wounded.