Story: The Porcelain Prince
May. 21st, 2013 11:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
frogs_of_warI had something to say, but then I forgot it.
Title: The Porcelain Prince
Status: Complete
Genre: Along the Silk Road, m/m, fairy tales
Length: about 3,000 words
Summary: Sukhbataar Khan is a man who knows what he wants and what he wants is the snow white prince.
Sukhbataar strode down the fancy, silk-lined hallway like the horde khan he was and pointed out a fragile vase. He joked to Chuluun, his second, that it would break if he looked at it too hard. His men laughed. The servants and dignitaries leading them to the emperor shuddered and hurried them on. Sukhbataar grinned. Teasing these weak little men was so much fun and was only fair as Sukhbataar had been taken though this same hall intersection twice already, once going the other direction.
He let them have their little deceit. If the emperor needed guests to think his palace was as extensive as Sukhbataar’s caves, Sukhbataar could live with that. Not every man was as tall and strong and brave and handsome as Sukhbataar. Some men, like the emperor and his flunkies, had to fake it.
At long last, Sukhbataar was show into the room where the emperor sat. Sukhbataar hoped the emperor had been interrupted during a meal or lovemaking. He liked his enemies unbalanced.
A bamboo curtain hung behind the emperor and behind that sat the young crown prince all dolled up fancy like. Xue Déshí was as pale and pretty as ever with his long black hair piled on his head and his lips as red as the blood Sukhbataar had spilled to become khan. Maybe the prince had worn that pretty getup just for Sukhbataar. He nodded to the boy, who didn’t respond in any way. The curtain took the place of a wall and people were expected to ignore whatever happened on the other side.
But Sukhbataar didn’t like to obey silly rules. “You have your son with you today, I see.”
The emperor inclined his head.
“He’s as pretty as ever.”
Color drifted across Xue Déshí’s snow white cheeks and the boy met his gaze for the first time. Sukhbataar grinned. “His mother must have been a real beauty.”
The emperor nodded again. Did he realize Sukhbataar had just insulted him? How could an ugly old fart like that have fathered such a pretty little gem?
The Chief Minister straightened from his groveling bow. “Your Imperial Majesty, if this one is allowed.”
The emperor nodded again. One of these days Sukhbataar would manage to drag whole words out of him.
The Chief Minister turned to Sukhbataar. “Surely my lord did not come all this way to speak of the late Empress’s beauty.”
Sukhbataar laughed. The Empress had died long before this little price was born. “Of course not. I’ve come to talk about young Xue Déshí’s beauty which is far superior to any woman’s.”
Xue Déshí blushed deeper. A servant fanned his face.
The Minister’s eyes narrowed. Sukhbataar grinned wider. He didn’t mind his enemies knowing he was pleased.
The Minister bowed. “My lord has other concerns with the Son of Heaven.”
Sukhbataar didn’t really. He’d come, like every time since his first visit, to lay eyes on the sweet, fragile crown prince. If Sukhbataar got his hands on that beauty, he’d be very careful not to break him. He wanted his prince in one piece no matter how much he had to hold back. Only the emperor and his men were dunces and he couldn’t get them to understand that his jokes about taking Xue Déshí off with him as a bride weren’t jokes.
He let the Minister lead the conversation to borders and treaties and raids, but he promised nothing. When a second curtain fell, blocking his view of the porcelain white skin, he turned and left. The servants rushed to their feet and tried to lead him out, but he knew the way, so he left by the most direct route.
Chuluun sighed as they mounted up. “The long ride for scant moments.”
Sukhbataar agreed. Maybe he should just conquer the country instead. And he would, if he was sure his delicate little prince wouldn’t be hurt.
—
Sukhbataar glared down at the little man. “You did what?”
The man shook as he bowed his face to the dirt over and over.
“Tell me!”
“My… my lord… please...”
Sukhbataar turned to Chuluun. “He is not talking. And I might kill him before I get anything out of him.”
“My… my lord… please… my lord…”
Chuluun grabbed the man by his neck and dragged him to his feet. “This man was ordered to kill your pretty prince.”
The man covered his face, his palms out. “I didn’t. I didn’t do it. I let him go.”
Chuluun set the man on his feet, but he fell to the floor like so many rags. “I was to take the prince hunting and there was to be an accident.” He looked up, his face contorted and his eyes filled with tears. “I was to bring back his heart as proof.”
“Where is he now?”
The man rubbed his face in the dirt. “I know not.”
“Chuluun.”
“Are you going to bring him here?”
Sukhbataar wanted to waste hours in bed with the fine boy. “Not yet. I will bring him here when his father’s gold is mine and our storerooms are full of his crops.”
Chuluun grinned. “I will ready the men. And keep this one from blabbing.”
The man whimpered, but Chuluun wasn’t going to kill him. Sukhbataar would if anything happen to Xue Déshí before he got to him.
—
Sukhbataar rode out with a dozen good men. While he’d packed, Chuluun had wrung much information from the emperor’s huntsman. The man had faked the accident and then told his fellows about the tragedy before faking his suicide, so he wouldn’t have to die for real when Emperor heard his only son was dead. He spilled his guts to prevent Chuluun from spilling them, so Sukhbataar knew where to start looking. Of course the soldiers scouring the woods were also a dead giveaway.
Sukhbataar didn’t want to be spotted, so he waited to look himself until the useless soldiers found a different place to smoke and drink and joke around whenever their officers weren’t watching. He found the trail immediately and followed it to tree which had probably fallen before he was born. Among moss hanging from the old roots, Sukhbataar found his little prince, soaked through from the rain the night before.
Xue Déshí looked up, his eyes wide. Sukhbataar rested his large hand on Xue Déshí’s small shoulder. “I am not one of your father’s men.”
The boy nodded and his teeth chattered. Sukhbataar wanted to hear his little nightingale sing, but some things came first. He stripped Xue Déshí then and there and dressed him in boy’s clothing. If he let his eyes linger over the snow white flesh, well he was only a man.
Xue Déshí tensed at ever sound. Sukhbataar needed get him somewhere safe and warm. Nowhere was more of each that Sukhbataar’s arms. He left his men to cover evidence of their presence and took Xue Déshí back to camp where Xue Déshí drank an incredible amount of warm soup and fell asleep against him. Sukhbataar could get used to that. And he would, but Xue Déshí safety came before his pleasure.
He and his men rode toward the hills before the sun. In late morning, they stopped for food and Sukhbataar sat beside his small lover. “My pretty prince.”
Xue Déshí smiled and looked down.
“My pretty bird has no voice.”
Xue Déshí jerked his head up. “What?”
So he could talk. Good, although the boy being mute wouldn’t have changed a thing, except how much noise they made in bed.
“You have a pretty voice to match your face.”
Xue Déshí looked down. “That’s why I nearly lost my life.”
“How could your beauty be deadly?” Sukhbataar was going to meet out justice just as soon as he knew who to meet that justice out on.
“The emperor met my mother while looking for a wife for his youngest son. She was so beautiful that he took her as his own bride.”
Sukhbataar touched Xue Déshí’s cheek. “If she looked like you, I can understand.”
Xue Déshí looked up at Sukhbataar through his long eyelashes and then back at his meal. “He then fell ill. His sons fought over who would succeed him. My mother was sent far away from the chaos. My father rose from his deathbed to find I was his only son.”
Sukhbataar remembered his father’s joy at the abundance that chaos had brought them. People fighting each other weren’t prepared against raids by third parties. “And so now you are the crown prince.”
“The only son of the emperor, but not the last male descendant. Some of my brothers’ sons survived. They are strong and manly and wise. I am only pretty.”
“You are very manly.” Sukhbataar ran his finger down Xue Déshí’s jaw. “I find you beautiful, but not with the beauty of a woman.”
Xue Déshí grinned.
Sukhbataar would do everything to keep that impish expression on Xue Déshí face.
—
Sukhbataar rode into the monastery with his men. His mother set her basket down and put her hands on her hips. “What have you done this time?”
“Mother!” Sukhbataar slid off his horse. He stepped up to her like he was going to hug her.
She put up an arm to ward his off. “Don’t you ‘mother’ me!”
She was such a great woman.
Sukhbataar plucked Xue Déshí off his horse. “Mother, I need you to take care of my little prince for a bit.”
Mother looked Xue Déshí over and shook her head. “My poor son, following in your mother’s footsteps.” She turned to Sukhbataar. “Are you going to cause chaos?”
He grinned. “Chaos is good for business.”
She shook her head. “Your father’s son. Well, bring him in. I haven’t got all day.”
She picked up her basket and turned away. Sukhbataar tossed the bag of clothes he’d scrounged up for Xue Déshí over his shoulder. “Come on.”
Xue Déshí followed him in, but at the doorway he looked back outside. “Is she really your mother?”
Sukhbataar nodded. No one had a stronger mother than he did.
Xue Déshí frowned. Sukhbataar laughed and ran a finger through his golden locks. “I got my looks from my father.”
Xue Déshí’s eyes opened wide. “Really?”
He was so cute.
“My mother spotted my father on her way to become a nun. She was charmed by his pretty face and that night she took control over who entered his bedchamber. I have brothers and sisters by other women, and my parents never formally married, but if someone talks about Naranbataar’s wife, they mean Mother.”
“Of course they do.” Mother plopped a vegetable basket in front of Sukhbataar. “Cook if you are going to eat.”
Sukhbataar pulled out his knife. He knew better than to argue with Mother. “And when my father died, Mother kissed my cheeks and wished me well and continued her long delayed journey.”
Mother slapped Sukhbataar’s shoulder. “You make me sound like a bad mother. You were nearly grown.”
He had been, but he still liked to tease her about it. “And by the time I came to visit her, she was already in charge here.”
He couldn’t have imagined her any other way.
“And what of your mother, my little finch?” Mother moved a pot over the fire. “Where is she in my son’s scheme?”
Xue Déshí frowned. “My mother was poisoned when I was small. The other women of the harem were jealous that she’d given the emperor a son.”
“Oh, you sweet thing.” Mother sat down by Xue Déshí and hugged him fiercely.
Sukhbataar had known this was the right place for Xue Déshí.
—
Getting to the throne room was much easier with a sword on one hand and a knife in the other. Two of his men walked beside him, putting arrows into anyone who crossed their path. On his way out he’d need to see if the silk of that one minister’s robe could be saved. The vivid blue would look terrific on Xue Déshí.
The emperor sat on his throne, his eyes wide. The only reason he wasn’t dead was because Sukhbataar’s men were giving their khan the right of the kill. The guards and dignitaries surrounding the emperor wouldn’t do more than delay the inevitable.
Sukhbataar grinned at the frightened throng. “I have come.”
“Why?” The Chief Minister held his sword as if he’s never used one before.
“It was time.”
“By why now? You were so peaceful before.”
Sukhbataar showed off his teeth. “Your pretty little prince is missing. He was the only thing keeping you safe.”
And now that they knew, they could die. Sukhbataar gave the order. A few people got away, but they didn’t matter. All the wealth of the empire was his.
—
Sukhbataar tossed the letter to the ground.
“Bad news?” Chuluun chucked a bone into the fire.
“My mother.” Sukhbataar sighed. “She says I may not have Xue Déshí back because she is still teaching him to take care of himself and I will undo all her hard work by having him waited on.”
Chuluun grinned. “She’s right.”
Of course she was, like always. But Sukhbataar had two large caves full of gifts for Xue Déshí, including stuff that he’d been assured had belonged to the boy’s mother. He wanted Xue Déshí to see it and know his love. He also wanted Xue Déshí to feel his worship in more immediate ways.
—
Sukhbataar took the road to the monastery at a walk. Old women and young women and children and babies, all in dirty clothing and carrying equally dirty packs and baskets, cluttered the road. A child struggled against a tired young woman. He tossed his little head back and she wasn’t fast enough to keep him from falling. The child screamed and his mother wailed and those around them stopped. Sukhbataar wasn’t getting anywhere.
He called a halt and dismounted. When he took the child, the woman sobbed, but the little one fell silent. Sukhbataar rubbed the child’s head. He could feel no soft spots, but a bump was growing. He looked down the long road to his destination. The mother and her son would not make it by nightfall. Probably not even nightfall tomorrow.
Sukhbataar carried the child back to his horse and instructed his men to bring the woman and her stuff. Now he had an excuse to tell people to step aside. He got to the crowded monastery as the sun set. Six nuns were easy to spot in their clean, bright robes, but Mother wasn’t in sight. He passed the baby to one of the nuns and told her about the accident and then went in search of Mother. He found her in a back room standing between his pretty little prince and a dirty man in filthy ministerial robes.
The minister drew in a deep breath. “You should never have been born. Despite your name you are neither virtuous nor a scholar. All this is your fault.” The man waved the sleeves of his tattered, discolored robes. “I was second to the emperor!”
“And now you are nothing.” Mother crossed her arms. She glanced at Sukhbataar and then turned her attention fully to the crazed Chief Minister.
Sukhbataar stayed where he was. Was the Chief Minister acting alone? Did anyone else need to die before Sukhbataar could safely keep Xue Déshí by his side? Anyone who stood between Sukhbataar and happiness was going to pay with his life.
Xue Déshí sniffled and wiped his cheek with the back of his hand. The Chief Minister was going to pay for every tear. No one made Sukhbataar’s prince cry!
“You don’t understand. Without him,” he pointed his broken fingernail at Xue Déshí, “my grandson would be heir. I married my daughter to a prince and urged rebellion so my son-in-law would rise to the top and he did. And even when he died, I didn’t lose hope. My grandson was the oldest of the living boys, but then the emperor showed off his little peacock of a son. The boy thwarted me at every turn.”
The minister took a step forward. “The emperor’s pretty little bride was throwing impediments in my way in the form of sons, so I sent her that pretty red apple.”
Xue Déshí gasped. “You…”
“You are worse than a pig.” Mother stood her ground. “Worse than an eater of spoiled meat.”
The minister laughed. “I will do worse than that. I already tried to have him killed once, but I think I might have to do it myself.”
He pushed Mother out of the way and drew a knife from his sleeve.
Sukhbataar would have preferred the man see who killed him, but Xue Déshí’s safety was too important. After he yanked his knife out of the dead man’s back, he set it on the table, so he could take his darling, snow white peacock into his arms. “Are you all right, my sweet?”
Xue Déshí buried his face against Sukhbataar’s chest. “I…”
“Hush, hush. You are safe now.”
Xue Déshí let out a huge sob. Sukhbataar turned to Mother. She shook her head as she cleaned his knife. “And I was so close to teaching in the clean his own laundry.”
“He doesn’t need to clean his own laundry.”
“I know.” She handed Sukhbataar back the knife. “Now take him up those stairs and comfort him thoroughly.” She nudged the body with her toe. “I’ll deal with this.”
She really was the best mother ever.
—
The room at the top of the stairs had several bedrolls on the floor. Xue Déshí headed for the one with Sukhbataar’s saddle blanket on it. The boy was agile and quick and clever and Sukhbataar didn’t notice how small the bedroll was until he attempted to curl up with Xue Déshí on it as they caught their breath. “Our bed at home is bigger.”
Xue Déshí cuddled close. “One would hope.”
“And I have many pretties to show you.”
Xue Déshí smiled and closed his eyes. “Very nice.”
“I have told my people I was coming for my bride.”
Xue Déshí’s smile widened. “When people say Sukhbataar’s wife, they will mean me.”
“Each and every time, my love, each and every time.”
Title: The Porcelain Prince
Status: Complete
Genre: Along the Silk Road, m/m, fairy tales
Length: about 3,000 words
Summary: Sukhbataar Khan is a man who knows what he wants and what he wants is the snow white prince.
Sukhbataar strode down the fancy, silk-lined hallway like the horde khan he was and pointed out a fragile vase. He joked to Chuluun, his second, that it would break if he looked at it too hard. His men laughed. The servants and dignitaries leading them to the emperor shuddered and hurried them on. Sukhbataar grinned. Teasing these weak little men was so much fun and was only fair as Sukhbataar had been taken though this same hall intersection twice already, once going the other direction.
He let them have their little deceit. If the emperor needed guests to think his palace was as extensive as Sukhbataar’s caves, Sukhbataar could live with that. Not every man was as tall and strong and brave and handsome as Sukhbataar. Some men, like the emperor and his flunkies, had to fake it.
At long last, Sukhbataar was show into the room where the emperor sat. Sukhbataar hoped the emperor had been interrupted during a meal or lovemaking. He liked his enemies unbalanced.
A bamboo curtain hung behind the emperor and behind that sat the young crown prince all dolled up fancy like. Xue Déshí was as pale and pretty as ever with his long black hair piled on his head and his lips as red as the blood Sukhbataar had spilled to become khan. Maybe the prince had worn that pretty getup just for Sukhbataar. He nodded to the boy, who didn’t respond in any way. The curtain took the place of a wall and people were expected to ignore whatever happened on the other side.
But Sukhbataar didn’t like to obey silly rules. “You have your son with you today, I see.”
The emperor inclined his head.
“He’s as pretty as ever.”
Color drifted across Xue Déshí’s snow white cheeks and the boy met his gaze for the first time. Sukhbataar grinned. “His mother must have been a real beauty.”
The emperor nodded again. Did he realize Sukhbataar had just insulted him? How could an ugly old fart like that have fathered such a pretty little gem?
The Chief Minister straightened from his groveling bow. “Your Imperial Majesty, if this one is allowed.”
The emperor nodded again. One of these days Sukhbataar would manage to drag whole words out of him.
The Chief Minister turned to Sukhbataar. “Surely my lord did not come all this way to speak of the late Empress’s beauty.”
Sukhbataar laughed. The Empress had died long before this little price was born. “Of course not. I’ve come to talk about young Xue Déshí’s beauty which is far superior to any woman’s.”
Xue Déshí blushed deeper. A servant fanned his face.
The Minister’s eyes narrowed. Sukhbataar grinned wider. He didn’t mind his enemies knowing he was pleased.
The Minister bowed. “My lord has other concerns with the Son of Heaven.”
Sukhbataar didn’t really. He’d come, like every time since his first visit, to lay eyes on the sweet, fragile crown prince. If Sukhbataar got his hands on that beauty, he’d be very careful not to break him. He wanted his prince in one piece no matter how much he had to hold back. Only the emperor and his men were dunces and he couldn’t get them to understand that his jokes about taking Xue Déshí off with him as a bride weren’t jokes.
He let the Minister lead the conversation to borders and treaties and raids, but he promised nothing. When a second curtain fell, blocking his view of the porcelain white skin, he turned and left. The servants rushed to their feet and tried to lead him out, but he knew the way, so he left by the most direct route.
Chuluun sighed as they mounted up. “The long ride for scant moments.”
Sukhbataar agreed. Maybe he should just conquer the country instead. And he would, if he was sure his delicate little prince wouldn’t be hurt.
—
Sukhbataar glared down at the little man. “You did what?”
The man shook as he bowed his face to the dirt over and over.
“Tell me!”
“My… my lord… please...”
Sukhbataar turned to Chuluun. “He is not talking. And I might kill him before I get anything out of him.”
“My… my lord… please… my lord…”
Chuluun grabbed the man by his neck and dragged him to his feet. “This man was ordered to kill your pretty prince.”
The man covered his face, his palms out. “I didn’t. I didn’t do it. I let him go.”
Chuluun set the man on his feet, but he fell to the floor like so many rags. “I was to take the prince hunting and there was to be an accident.” He looked up, his face contorted and his eyes filled with tears. “I was to bring back his heart as proof.”
“Where is he now?”
The man rubbed his face in the dirt. “I know not.”
“Chuluun.”
“Are you going to bring him here?”
Sukhbataar wanted to waste hours in bed with the fine boy. “Not yet. I will bring him here when his father’s gold is mine and our storerooms are full of his crops.”
Chuluun grinned. “I will ready the men. And keep this one from blabbing.”
The man whimpered, but Chuluun wasn’t going to kill him. Sukhbataar would if anything happen to Xue Déshí before he got to him.
—
Sukhbataar rode out with a dozen good men. While he’d packed, Chuluun had wrung much information from the emperor’s huntsman. The man had faked the accident and then told his fellows about the tragedy before faking his suicide, so he wouldn’t have to die for real when Emperor heard his only son was dead. He spilled his guts to prevent Chuluun from spilling them, so Sukhbataar knew where to start looking. Of course the soldiers scouring the woods were also a dead giveaway.
Sukhbataar didn’t want to be spotted, so he waited to look himself until the useless soldiers found a different place to smoke and drink and joke around whenever their officers weren’t watching. He found the trail immediately and followed it to tree which had probably fallen before he was born. Among moss hanging from the old roots, Sukhbataar found his little prince, soaked through from the rain the night before.
Xue Déshí looked up, his eyes wide. Sukhbataar rested his large hand on Xue Déshí’s small shoulder. “I am not one of your father’s men.”
The boy nodded and his teeth chattered. Sukhbataar wanted to hear his little nightingale sing, but some things came first. He stripped Xue Déshí then and there and dressed him in boy’s clothing. If he let his eyes linger over the snow white flesh, well he was only a man.
Xue Déshí tensed at ever sound. Sukhbataar needed get him somewhere safe and warm. Nowhere was more of each that Sukhbataar’s arms. He left his men to cover evidence of their presence and took Xue Déshí back to camp where Xue Déshí drank an incredible amount of warm soup and fell asleep against him. Sukhbataar could get used to that. And he would, but Xue Déshí safety came before his pleasure.
He and his men rode toward the hills before the sun. In late morning, they stopped for food and Sukhbataar sat beside his small lover. “My pretty prince.”
Xue Déshí smiled and looked down.
“My pretty bird has no voice.”
Xue Déshí jerked his head up. “What?”
So he could talk. Good, although the boy being mute wouldn’t have changed a thing, except how much noise they made in bed.
“You have a pretty voice to match your face.”
Xue Déshí looked down. “That’s why I nearly lost my life.”
“How could your beauty be deadly?” Sukhbataar was going to meet out justice just as soon as he knew who to meet that justice out on.
“The emperor met my mother while looking for a wife for his youngest son. She was so beautiful that he took her as his own bride.”
Sukhbataar touched Xue Déshí’s cheek. “If she looked like you, I can understand.”
Xue Déshí looked up at Sukhbataar through his long eyelashes and then back at his meal. “He then fell ill. His sons fought over who would succeed him. My mother was sent far away from the chaos. My father rose from his deathbed to find I was his only son.”
Sukhbataar remembered his father’s joy at the abundance that chaos had brought them. People fighting each other weren’t prepared against raids by third parties. “And so now you are the crown prince.”
“The only son of the emperor, but not the last male descendant. Some of my brothers’ sons survived. They are strong and manly and wise. I am only pretty.”
“You are very manly.” Sukhbataar ran his finger down Xue Déshí’s jaw. “I find you beautiful, but not with the beauty of a woman.”
Xue Déshí grinned.
Sukhbataar would do everything to keep that impish expression on Xue Déshí face.
—
Sukhbataar rode into the monastery with his men. His mother set her basket down and put her hands on her hips. “What have you done this time?”
“Mother!” Sukhbataar slid off his horse. He stepped up to her like he was going to hug her.
She put up an arm to ward his off. “Don’t you ‘mother’ me!”
She was such a great woman.
Sukhbataar plucked Xue Déshí off his horse. “Mother, I need you to take care of my little prince for a bit.”
Mother looked Xue Déshí over and shook her head. “My poor son, following in your mother’s footsteps.” She turned to Sukhbataar. “Are you going to cause chaos?”
He grinned. “Chaos is good for business.”
She shook her head. “Your father’s son. Well, bring him in. I haven’t got all day.”
She picked up her basket and turned away. Sukhbataar tossed the bag of clothes he’d scrounged up for Xue Déshí over his shoulder. “Come on.”
Xue Déshí followed him in, but at the doorway he looked back outside. “Is she really your mother?”
Sukhbataar nodded. No one had a stronger mother than he did.
Xue Déshí frowned. Sukhbataar laughed and ran a finger through his golden locks. “I got my looks from my father.”
Xue Déshí’s eyes opened wide. “Really?”
He was so cute.
“My mother spotted my father on her way to become a nun. She was charmed by his pretty face and that night she took control over who entered his bedchamber. I have brothers and sisters by other women, and my parents never formally married, but if someone talks about Naranbataar’s wife, they mean Mother.”
“Of course they do.” Mother plopped a vegetable basket in front of Sukhbataar. “Cook if you are going to eat.”
Sukhbataar pulled out his knife. He knew better than to argue with Mother. “And when my father died, Mother kissed my cheeks and wished me well and continued her long delayed journey.”
Mother slapped Sukhbataar’s shoulder. “You make me sound like a bad mother. You were nearly grown.”
He had been, but he still liked to tease her about it. “And by the time I came to visit her, she was already in charge here.”
He couldn’t have imagined her any other way.
“And what of your mother, my little finch?” Mother moved a pot over the fire. “Where is she in my son’s scheme?”
Xue Déshí frowned. “My mother was poisoned when I was small. The other women of the harem were jealous that she’d given the emperor a son.”
“Oh, you sweet thing.” Mother sat down by Xue Déshí and hugged him fiercely.
Sukhbataar had known this was the right place for Xue Déshí.
—
Getting to the throne room was much easier with a sword on one hand and a knife in the other. Two of his men walked beside him, putting arrows into anyone who crossed their path. On his way out he’d need to see if the silk of that one minister’s robe could be saved. The vivid blue would look terrific on Xue Déshí.
The emperor sat on his throne, his eyes wide. The only reason he wasn’t dead was because Sukhbataar’s men were giving their khan the right of the kill. The guards and dignitaries surrounding the emperor wouldn’t do more than delay the inevitable.
Sukhbataar grinned at the frightened throng. “I have come.”
“Why?” The Chief Minister held his sword as if he’s never used one before.
“It was time.”
“By why now? You were so peaceful before.”
Sukhbataar showed off his teeth. “Your pretty little prince is missing. He was the only thing keeping you safe.”
And now that they knew, they could die. Sukhbataar gave the order. A few people got away, but they didn’t matter. All the wealth of the empire was his.
—
Sukhbataar tossed the letter to the ground.
“Bad news?” Chuluun chucked a bone into the fire.
“My mother.” Sukhbataar sighed. “She says I may not have Xue Déshí back because she is still teaching him to take care of himself and I will undo all her hard work by having him waited on.”
Chuluun grinned. “She’s right.”
Of course she was, like always. But Sukhbataar had two large caves full of gifts for Xue Déshí, including stuff that he’d been assured had belonged to the boy’s mother. He wanted Xue Déshí to see it and know his love. He also wanted Xue Déshí to feel his worship in more immediate ways.
—
Sukhbataar took the road to the monastery at a walk. Old women and young women and children and babies, all in dirty clothing and carrying equally dirty packs and baskets, cluttered the road. A child struggled against a tired young woman. He tossed his little head back and she wasn’t fast enough to keep him from falling. The child screamed and his mother wailed and those around them stopped. Sukhbataar wasn’t getting anywhere.
He called a halt and dismounted. When he took the child, the woman sobbed, but the little one fell silent. Sukhbataar rubbed the child’s head. He could feel no soft spots, but a bump was growing. He looked down the long road to his destination. The mother and her son would not make it by nightfall. Probably not even nightfall tomorrow.
Sukhbataar carried the child back to his horse and instructed his men to bring the woman and her stuff. Now he had an excuse to tell people to step aside. He got to the crowded monastery as the sun set. Six nuns were easy to spot in their clean, bright robes, but Mother wasn’t in sight. He passed the baby to one of the nuns and told her about the accident and then went in search of Mother. He found her in a back room standing between his pretty little prince and a dirty man in filthy ministerial robes.
The minister drew in a deep breath. “You should never have been born. Despite your name you are neither virtuous nor a scholar. All this is your fault.” The man waved the sleeves of his tattered, discolored robes. “I was second to the emperor!”
“And now you are nothing.” Mother crossed her arms. She glanced at Sukhbataar and then turned her attention fully to the crazed Chief Minister.
Sukhbataar stayed where he was. Was the Chief Minister acting alone? Did anyone else need to die before Sukhbataar could safely keep Xue Déshí by his side? Anyone who stood between Sukhbataar and happiness was going to pay with his life.
Xue Déshí sniffled and wiped his cheek with the back of his hand. The Chief Minister was going to pay for every tear. No one made Sukhbataar’s prince cry!
“You don’t understand. Without him,” he pointed his broken fingernail at Xue Déshí, “my grandson would be heir. I married my daughter to a prince and urged rebellion so my son-in-law would rise to the top and he did. And even when he died, I didn’t lose hope. My grandson was the oldest of the living boys, but then the emperor showed off his little peacock of a son. The boy thwarted me at every turn.”
The minister took a step forward. “The emperor’s pretty little bride was throwing impediments in my way in the form of sons, so I sent her that pretty red apple.”
Xue Déshí gasped. “You…”
“You are worse than a pig.” Mother stood her ground. “Worse than an eater of spoiled meat.”
The minister laughed. “I will do worse than that. I already tried to have him killed once, but I think I might have to do it myself.”
He pushed Mother out of the way and drew a knife from his sleeve.
Sukhbataar would have preferred the man see who killed him, but Xue Déshí’s safety was too important. After he yanked his knife out of the dead man’s back, he set it on the table, so he could take his darling, snow white peacock into his arms. “Are you all right, my sweet?”
Xue Déshí buried his face against Sukhbataar’s chest. “I…”
“Hush, hush. You are safe now.”
Xue Déshí let out a huge sob. Sukhbataar turned to Mother. She shook her head as she cleaned his knife. “And I was so close to teaching in the clean his own laundry.”
“He doesn’t need to clean his own laundry.”
“I know.” She handed Sukhbataar back the knife. “Now take him up those stairs and comfort him thoroughly.” She nudged the body with her toe. “I’ll deal with this.”
She really was the best mother ever.
—
The room at the top of the stairs had several bedrolls on the floor. Xue Déshí headed for the one with Sukhbataar’s saddle blanket on it. The boy was agile and quick and clever and Sukhbataar didn’t notice how small the bedroll was until he attempted to curl up with Xue Déshí on it as they caught their breath. “Our bed at home is bigger.”
Xue Déshí cuddled close. “One would hope.”
“And I have many pretties to show you.”
Xue Déshí smiled and closed his eyes. “Very nice.”
“I have told my people I was coming for my bride.”
Xue Déshí’s smile widened. “When people say Sukhbataar’s wife, they will mean me.”
“Each and every time, my love, each and every time.”
