I stepped back as the Imperial guard led the horse around to me. The animal's heavy chestnut shoulder was at the same level as my neck, its tossing head a big wedge of unpredictability.
Another guard kneeled beside it, blithely ignoring the fidgeting hooves, waiting to boost me up into the saddle. The Emperor turned his own horse, peering down at me in the torchlight.
'What are you waiting for, Lord Eon?'
'Your Majesty, I don't know how…' I jumped back as the horse blew impatiently.
'I see. You could have told me sooner.' From his high vantage point, the Emperor looked around at the assembled guards. 'I take it your man can ride?'
'Yes.'
He motioned to Ryko. 'Take your master up behind you.'
Ryko strode forwards, his eyes sliding over mine as he approached the horse. When the Emperor and I had emerged prematurely from the Pavilion of the Five Ghosts, I had found Ryko waiting in the square. He'd kept his word and returned to guard me, but we had not spoken beyond orders and his manner
was still cold. Deftly, he unbuckled and removed the elaborate saddle, then nodded to the guard who was waiting to boost him onto the animal's back. I lc was mounted in a moment, the guard calmly staying in position for me. Gingerly, I Stepped on his offered knee. As I balanced, unsure what to do next, Ryko grabbed my arm and pulled me up, dumping me onto the horse-behind him. I caught the flash of teeth as some of the foot guards struggled to hide their smiles.
'Hold me around the waist,' Ryko said shortly. And do not dig your knees too hard into the beast.'
I gripped his shoulder with one hand, trying to arrange the heavy silk of my robe into a workable position. After the days of relentless protocol and sadness, the Emperor had been eager for some action and would not even delay for the change of clothing urged on him by flustered protocol officers. Nor had he offered me a sword from his armourer; already I was less than Lord Eon.
Ryko reached back for my hands and placed them around his middle. I could smell the tang of his sweat and feel the hard muscles of his body tensing to keep us both seated.
'Hold on or you will fall.'
I jerked against him as the horse moved, and tightened the hold of my knees and hands. The only way to manage was to cram myself against Ryko's back. I slid forwards and pressed myself closer, knowing the intimacy was as unwanted for him as it was for me.
As we fell in behind the Emperor's eight-horse elite escort, I could not bear Ryko's hostility or silent reproach any longer.
'I am sorry,' I said. 'I am sorry I did not tell you. I am sorry I am not what you wanted.'
He turned his head, his eyes bright with anger. 'This is not something that can be forgiven with a laugh and a shrug,' he said. 'This land is on a tipping point between enlightenment and the old dark times. You have pushed us back towards that darkness.'
I felit my own anger build. 'Do you think that was my aim? Do you think that one day I decided to take on a dangerous masquerade…' I looked around at the nearby guards, lowering my Voice, '…a dangerous masquerade to plunge this land into ruin?'
'I don't care about your aim. It is the result that is my concern.' He turned away
'The result is not yet decided,' I said. 'What do you think I am doing now? I risked my life to tell the Emperor the truth, and now I risk it again to get the folio back and claim the Mirror Dragon. I am still here and I am doing everything I can. You know 1 have power. I saved your life with it, and maybe I can stop Ido and Sethon with it. At least give me that. At least give me the chance to prove my worth.'
He was silent then I felt the rise and fall of a deep sigh.
'Yes,' he conceded. 'You have power. And you are here. But as to your worth…' His shoulder twitched.
'You think that because I am female, I will fail?' I demanded, close to his ear.
A female dragon,' he said, the words hardly more than a vibration. I leaned even closer to catch them. And a female Dragoneye. Gone for five hundred years and then suddenly returned. Lady Dela and the Emperor are both ready to jump on the small hope you offer.' He looked back at me again and his eyes no longer held anger; they were flat with suspicion. 'I am no scholar, but I am not so sure. I cannot help wondering: does such a strange union bring us good or does it bring us evil?'
'You think me evil? Some kind of demon?' I could not keep the hurt out of my voice.
'I don't know what you are. But you are not truthful, and I don't think you are telling us the whole truth even yet.' He faced the front again. 'Know that I will be watching you, Lord Eon, or whoever you are. And I will not hesitate to protect the interests of the Emperor.'
I sat back, winded by his words.
We were crossing the expanse of the audience courtyard, approaching the huge Gate of Supreme Benevolence. The side Gates of Humility were already cosed to the populace and the night lanterns lit, so only a few lower officials were crossing the large paved area to thcgalleiics on cither side. They fell to their knees and kowtowed as their new Emperor rode past. It would not take long for the news to spread that the Pearl Emperor had abandoned his duties as a son and ridden out with his guards and Lord Eon.
The Way of Heavenly Conduct, the massive centre gateway reserved for His Majesty, was already being opened. To the right, the porters in charge of the Judgement Gate hurried to open the elaborate gilded grilles, while the men keeping the two smaller Gates of Humility were being roused by the cries of the foot soldiers. As the Emperor and his elite guard rode through the central vaulted passageway, Ryko steered our horse through the Judgement Gate in deference to my rank. The horse's hooves clattered on the tiled floor and for a brief moment I caught the magnificence of the painted dragons on the gold stuccoed walls and the etched red lacquered ceiling. Then we were out on the other side, taking our place amongst the columns of horsemen and foot guards behind the Emperor and his elite.
There was no delay Even as the last men were marching through the Gates of Humility, we were riding along the avenue that cut through the Emerald Ring gardens and led to the Dragon Circle and the twelve Dragon Halls. I clung on to Ryko as the horse quickened into a trot, my rump bones thudding into its back in the wrong rhythm. In the absorbed minute or so as I tried to synchronise my movements with the animal's stride, I missed the tiny event that sent a ripple of unease through the company All I knew was that Ryko's back suddenly tensed and, ahead, the captain of the guards halted our progress. Around us the men stopped, hands immediately going to their bows, eyes watching every shadow in the lush gardens to our left and right.
'What is it?' I whispered as Ryko reined in the horse.
He nodded to the horizon. A faint glow brightened the night sky, 'Fire.'
It was close enough to be in the Dragon Circle precinct. A hall?'
The nearest was the Ox Dragon Hall, were Lord Tyron and Hollin all right?
The captain had already turned his horse to come alongside the Emperor. They spoke in voices so low that only the sibilance reached us. Then the captain nodded and motioned us forwards. Ryko manoeuvred our beast past the elite guard who were already surrounding the Emperor in a protective formation.
'Lord Eon,' the captain said, briefly bowing his head. For a Shadow Man he was very lean, his authority and experience etched deeply in the lines around his eyes and mouth. He turned his attention to Ryko. 'You saw?'
Ryko grunted.
'It is in the opposite direction of the Rat Dragon Hall,' the captain said. 'His Majesty has commanded us to continue.'
Ryko stared over at the strange light again. 'I don't like it,' he said. 'It reminds me of the Bano Pass.'
The captain nodded, rubbing his chin. They obviously had some shared history. 'My thoughts exactly. But we cannot gainsay the Emperor on a phantom from the past. I'll send scouts and we will continue, but the first sign of something amiss, we will put the safety strategy in place.'
'Understood,' Ryko said. 'But whatever the case, Lord Eon and I will be going on to the Rat Dragon Hall.'
The captain nodded and urged his horse along the column of silent men. At his signal, four foot guards broke away from the group and headed into the gardens, avoiding a curved walking path lit with white mourning lanterns.
'What do you think it is?' I asked Ryko as we moved off again.
