-1XIX
'She's Gonna Fight My Battles for Me.'
Lin watched as her brother activated the passageway. She stepped down from the portrait, intending to meet her brother, when she heard echo the clamoring of many steps. Stepping back to the portrait, she watched from behind a statue of gold as a trio of royal guards moved into the room from the very entrance she had taken earlier. The wall closed up behind them, and they soon engaged in a battle with her brother.
Undoubtedly the guards had followed her there. Lin moved to assist, only to pause when she realize her brother could take care of himself. It was Roy, she suddenly realized, who probably had little or no training for such predicaments… particularly if the stories Wang wrote about their Western World escapades were true.
Back up to the portrait, she pulled herself and peered into the room. Roy stood up before her, hands on his hips as he glared about the room for his missing friend… looking near ready to give up his search.
She looked toward the hearth, hoping Wang would reappear to help his friend…not wanting her brother to know she was even there. He would never approve of her participation.
Naturally, his eyes would turn upward to the portrait. He looked twice, and she looked to him. He jumped dramatically and screamed. "Ah! Ah! Ah! Chon! Demons!"
The double oak doors slammed open, as more guards flooded into the room. Roy panicked, screaming again and throwing random books at the armed men and their rapiers. Wang was late, and Lin could no longer hide. Gripping the handles upon the wall, she yanked herself through, tearing through the canvas over Roy's head as she flew straight at the men. Sharp kicks knocked them down, and when she landed gracefully enough, she made an extra effort to make sure they would not be getting up anytime soon.
When all three of the men lay groaning upon the floor, she whirled around to face Roy.
He saw her in slow motion, her hair whipping the air to settle softly around her face. With envy, respect and sudden devotion to stick by her side, he said out loud, "She's gonna fight my battles for me."
"Come on! This way!" She said, pulling him by the wrist to the hearth. Without giving it much thought, she ran her hands over the life-sized statues.
"What're you doin'…?" He watched with fascination. "I like that."
She pressed upon the breasts and watched as the hearth turned again. The treasure room was empty, and Lin instinctively stepped toward the golden dragon box… only to realize she already knew it was empty.
Roy almost drooled at the wealth lying around him. "Wow, look at this…"
Without bothering, she turned back to Roy and stepped back to the hearth. She activated the hearth again and they turned back to the library. Lin frowned at the mess. Books, furniture, ladders and rapiers all mingled and mangled with several unconscious bodies of royal British guards.
Roy blinked at the change of scenery. "Wait. There's something different about this room."
Back to the treasury room, Lin sighed heavily, exasperated already by everything. As they turned again to the golden glow of the secret room, she sighed with relief. "Wang…"
"Chon! For God's sakes…"
"Lin!" He whirled around and moved to embrace her.
"Now he shows up."
Wang looked to Lin, his face most serious. "I found it."
Lin's heart winced as he turned around to the golden box upon the table. Her insides flooded with the weight of regret.
"Wait," Roy said behind them, anxious about his little adventure. "Don't you wanna hear about…"?
"It's gone." Lin told Wang, feeling the lump in her throat. She could not look at him.
Wang froze at her words for a beat before he lifted the lid to see for himself. Empty. He slowly closed it…his face riddled with unspoken words of 'what now…?'
Lin nibbled on her lip. She wanted desperately to volunteer what she knew… that Wu Chow was somewhere close by, that the seal was within reach, that they could probably be lent a hand by Lord Rathbone him self … Father's murderer, she thought. Her eyes dropped with shame. Wang could never see it the same. Black was black, and white was white. Even if she had told them Wu Chow was nearby, she did not know where Rathbone had left to, or how to follow him.
Suddenly Wang moved. He looked to his left and stood up. Lin blinked with wonder. She watched as he moved toward a large gold statue of Shiva against the wall beside a wall torch. Wang lifted his cuff beside the billowing flame of the torch. His cuff billowed as well. A draft… Wang gently pushed against the statue, and it slid on its own the rest of the way, silently, smoothly… A squared passageway stood before them.
Lin's eyes lit up with hope… Wang waved for them to follow, and without hesitation, Lin obeyed, stepping into the damp corridor behind him, and Roy at the end.
"Where does this lead?" Lin asked aloud.
"I don't know." Wang whispered back to her.
"This is an invasion route. In the old days, they use to use this when the fortress was bein' raided. Or, sometimes they would let their enemies inside, trap them inside the fortress, set it on fire and escape this way while the entire place burned down. It usually leads to an outside structure like a cottage or a farm house, or sometimes the old family crypt."
Wang and Lin both stopped from their crouched walking to look back to Roy.
Roy stopped and then shrugged. "What? I read fairy tales too…once upon a time. What do you think got Sage McCallister to write those stories about me?"
Surprised, Wang and Lin shrugged to one another and pressed onward, coming to a narrow stairwell. Lin and Roy stayed back as Wang climbed the stairs and carefully pushed against the ceiling. It moved upward on hinges. Small strands of hay and dirt fell downward upon their heads as the three of them peered up through the floor hatch.
Voices echoed and horses huffed in their stalls.
After lighting the lanterns on the beams, Rathbone pulled open the stable doors and waited. The air was not as chilled as he anticipated for a late spring night… in fact it almost felt too warm for the cloak draped over his shoulders. On the other hand, perhaps Wu Chow's tardiness was bringing him to sweat in his wait.
Slipping out his pocket watch, he unclasped it to read the face. Roman numerals read it was two minutes past midnight. Before he could give it a thought, a twig snapped from behind. He whirled around with a startled breath caught in his throat.
A silver grin gleamed from the shadows. Wu Chow stepped casually around the beam, his usual silver handled cane in hand.
"Must you keep doing that?" He was peeved to say the least.
However, he continued to grin, "I was taught not to be seen or heard."
Rathbone scowled inwardly, loathing the man before him with every fiber of his being. Biting his tongue with all his willpower, he eyed the man's approach with caution.
Wu Chow stopped before him. His grin dissipated, and a skeptic tone replaced his polite disposition. "The seal."
Half offended, Rathbone reached into his pocket. "I am a man of my word." After all the dirty jobs he had committed for this man, Wu Chow did not appear to trust him. Something leaped in his chest as the notion of Lin's presence having been spied on within his own dwelling.
The weight of the seal lay cold in his palm, the soft brush of the red tassels against his fingers as he handed it to Wu Chow's outstretched and greedy hand.
The devil grinned, turning the diamond in the light, unable to remove his beady black eyes from the prize. A prize not yet in his possession, but a prize he felt he had already won.
Although Rathbone knew it was not wise, he was unable to hold the glare and the sarcastic smile as he watched the man…any moment, he knew, Wu Chow would begin reminiscing.
"I remember my brother playing with this like it was a baby rattle…"
Rathbone wanted desperately to begin tapping his foot. He had heard it all before. Nevertheless, he decided to let Wu Chow have his bitter words and to let him hold the seal for a while. Like a spoiled child, he hoped Wu Chow would quit his whinnying for a while if he got his fix on gazing upon the Imperial Seal's artisanship.
Wu Chow looked past the seal, setting his eyes to Rathbone. "When I tried to look at it, the Dowager Empress would beat me."
Bored, but pretending to understand or care, he replied, "No doubt your depraved childhood made you the man you are today." Perhaps spoiled, unthankful, vengeful and cold, he thought to himself...ignoring his own likeness to it all. Wanting a change of meaningful conversation, he added. "Everything's been arranged as discussed?"
Wu Chow nodded, keeping a tight grip on the seal as he began a list of the preparations. "The barges are loaded and ready. Ammunition is full, we have stocked up on three times the amount necessary. There'll be no time for training or practice without unnecessary risk of being seen…"
Nodding with compliance, Rathbone bided his time until Wu Chow reached the end of his reassuring. Extending a hand, he offered Wu Chow a conclusive smile. "Than our business here is completed."
Giving the seal one last, longing glance, he grinned sheepishly at Rathbone and reluctantly placed it into his hand. Muttering a farewell, Wu Chow offered a respectful nod to Rathbone and turned to step from the stables and into the black of night.
He glared, wishing he could burn holes into the back of the man's head as Wu Chow walked away.
"Wu who?" a voice whispered.
Rathbone whirled around…he was no longer alone.