19 Return of the Hometown Girl

~TIEN LYN~

Tien Lyn had made the journey from Sutao to Xichon once before, back when she was six, and the Celebrated Emperor Wo Jia had moved the capital of the Evershining Empire to the landlocked Xichon. Her parents were guarded about their true feelings in front of her, but she knew they were unhappy.

For her part, it was a wonderful adventure. She drank in new vistas and gawked at the new people at every inn. She dreamed by the carriage's windows about her new city.

Now, when journeying the other way, she tried to remember Sutao and their house there. Her memories were like strips torn out of a large silk screen. A cobbled street going to a huge gate, and the green sea beyond it she remembered in every pointless detail but why it meant so much eluded her now. The miniature sea monsters at the market, with googly eyes and moving claws, made her giggle once, and then cry because she wanted to keep one in the pond, not eat it. She remembered shame and dread of getting scolded for playing in muddy water after the rain. How could she have forgotten herself so completely to get this dirty? The offending puddle could have been in Xichon, not Sutao, but she wanted it to be in Sutao. It was not her heart's home, and the little girl was not her.

As the carriage put both hours and miles between her and Xichon, the finality of her losses became inescapable. There were no diversions in the carriage, no magic mist, no mages with their strange ways, no new chores to occupy her mind. She was truly left alone in the world, save for her mother.

Lady Chen Guang sat frighteningly still at the beginning of their journey, but their run-in with the bandits changed that. Unlocking the chest for Zha Yao also unsealed her mother's tightly-pressed lips. She now had the Uncle's letters in hand, not in the chest, and endlessly read them to Tien Lyn, and Tien Lyn poked the seat-cushions with her finger without a word.

"Tien Lyn, are you listening?"

"Brooding on the past is not going to change anything."

"What was the Uncle thinking?!"

"Chong Ho, 'that' merchant..."

"...misalliance..."

"...misalliance..."

"...misalliance..."

After a week of this barrage, her prospective groom, 'that merchant', started to resemble Thirty Claws in Tien Lyn's imagination. She pictured him garishly dressed, old, uncouth, constantly wiping his mouth on his sleeve... in short, the very definition of 'misalliance'.

She thought bitterly of the moments in the Pagoda when she thought that her life might turn out very differently.

But no, she was going to become exactly what she'd always been destined to become, a wife. But to a far less glorious husband than she'd anticipated. To think that she believed that marriage to an Imperial Family was within her grasp! Or that she believed she was a mage!

Tien Lyn poked the hole she dug in the cushion's silk again. Ancestors! If I catch myself dreaming again, I'll toss myself into the Jade Sea. Stupid, stupid, stupid dreams.

***

With Sutao almost in sight, Lady Chen Guang commanded to stop early for the night.

"But Mother, look, we're on the outskirts. We can make it before the nightfall," Tien Lyn objected and cringed. I sounded less petulant when I was five.

"We must rest and refresh before meeting 'that merchant'."

Lady Chen Guang's tone brooked no argument, so she looked surprised when Tien Lyn mustered a half-hearted objection, "What difference does it make?"

She wanted to be done with this journey, dive into the misalliance like a stone sinking underwater.

"I will not have you looking tired, dusty and worn. We are not the beggars here, Tien Lyn. Remember that." Lady Chen Guang said.

"Oh, but we are! Exiled beggars, with nothing left. Nothing, not even our pride!" she blurted out.

"Pride cannot be taken away, only given away," her mother did not relent, "Go wash your face, and stop hunching."

Being robbed of dreams made her bolder, but not by much. Tien Lyn bathed her hands in the basin of cool water, but she closed her eyes, refusing to see her own reflection. Instead, the visions of the Zha Yao's band crowded in front of her third, her mind's eye. They had a miserable girl with them too, and she was ready to slit her throat for the 'nothing' they had left. Must you always be right, Mother?

The following morning their carriage approached Sutao by the High Imperial Road and her breath caught at the sight of the glowing Jade Sea. Her world was too small before this moment as if she lived in a closet. Then she saw Sutao.

The city was far, far more than the stink of rotting seaweed and a dirty puddle. The walls taller than anything in Xichon started from the city's heart, its harbour and ran in two great concentric circles. Above them the multilayered roofs rose even higher, thrusting upwards from a dozen hills paralleling the shoreline. The tallest of them was crowned by goldleaf-clad stupas. They were so many and so ornate, that she knew right away it was the most sacred faery Temple in the Empire, the Temple of the Serene Joy on the Hill of the Five Seasons.

The glittering silver-and-green water of the bay was filled with sails protected by the guard towers. Even one of Wo Jia's legendary castle-ships was moored there dwarfing all other ships.

Something akin to happiness swelled in Tien Lyn's chest again and for once, her tears were of joy.

I was born here! This is my city! Mine! And it's beautiful!

Sutao was so used to being a capital of the known world, that it paid no heed to the Imperial whims. I will outlast Wo Jia, it seemed to whisper to Tien Lyn on the warm salty breeze, 'I will outlast Xichon, I will outlast every Dynasty. And you could outlast your little problems, Daughter.'

"How could Wo Jia leave all this behind?!" Tien Lyn exclaimed and was surprised when her mother replied.

"It's a place of unhappy memories for him. His mother was strangled in the Imperial gardens, his own revolt failed, his friends were hanged from these walls. Here he was tried and nearly executed by his father."

Tien Lyn swallowed. If the Emperor suffered through it, how could he be so cruel to her?

Her mother went on with fervour. "We shall make Xichon even worse! And every other city, every village, every hamlet in the land, until he has nowhere to run from his nightmares!"

'If the Emperor does feel anything,' Tien Lyn thought, 'he should be afraid. Maybe he is? Maybe those who rule are always afraid?'

"Tien Lyn!" Her mother called, "Are you listening? Remember to keep your eyes down before 'that merchant'."

"Yes, Mother, I understand. We do not want curiosity misconstrued as eagerness." But secretly, after taking in the glorious sight of Sutao, Tien Lyn hoped that Chong Ho, her unsuspecting groom, would be more refined than she'd pictured.

Maybe he will become my ally in this empty world. And if he won't, I am still Chen Tien Lyn, even in exile, even if my name is taken away from me. I am not a beggar here.

I would---

I would obey my mother.

She sulked a little upon realizing that.

***

On their arrival at a sizable town estate overlooking the sea, the Uncle's letters sent Chong Ho's staff scurrying. They ran back and forth to bring the carriage in, to set up the guest rooms, to bring in their scanty luggage, and to organize the best possible reception on such short notice. A messenger was sent for Chong Ho to his offices.

After all the ado, when Tien Lyn finally met the man she was to marry, she could not lift her eyes from the food they were served.

Well, not the food, really. The sight of it made her nauseous. She looked at the spoon instead, and the longer she did, the more her ire was rising. She started to hate the unfortunate piece of porcelain as if it was its fault that she was obeying her mother.

Keep my eyes down. Say polite things. Watch the blessed spoon!

Chong Ho was not uncouth. He was younger than any man she would have ended up marrying if... if...no matter. There was no 'if'. She was going to marry Chong Ho.

If Chong Ho will have me. Ancestors! Can a man be more prickly?

She probably acted just like that when Lady Chen Guang told her that she'd wed 'that merchant'. He did not break into tears, but just like her, he attempted a battle of wills with her mother.

That poor, clueless merchant...

Deep down, Tien Lyn felt that maybe her duty was to clear the way, to melt his misgivings, but she was prepared for marriage after a prolonged courtship, chaperoned and approved of by both families. One thing that normal marriages did not include was an element of surprise, or at least not since the times of the Dynasty of Purifying Glory.

Back then, every other lady took to a battlefield, and, unbeknownst to her, clashed spears with her fated husband. The fabled ancestors spent their lives fighting for the ownership of every glade, creek or hut. They took mortal offences and swore terrible oaths like it were small talk. And their deadly courtships ended up in spectacular impromptu weddings the very next morn.

If spears weren't involved, it was swords.

The revenge schemes were foiled by the unstoppable onset of love too. Brutal death or unimaginable happiness were equally likely.

In the stories, a few glances and a proud word was all it took.

Maybe it was still like that nowadays, but all Tien Lyn's instincts were against accosting Chong Ho with a sword. It would have scandalized her mother even if he would have been willing. Tien Lyn's own heart surely could never be won in battle, after Han Zheng's ill-fated duel.

Never. And to think that I used to dream about the martial lords and ladies! Stupid, stupid, stupid dreams!

Picturing herself taking a swing at 'that merchant' made her smile way too broadly to her spoon, so her mother immediately gave her a cue to leave. The rigid-shouldered man glared at Lady Chen Guang, and it only fueled Tien Lyn's merriment.

He would look perfect with a battle-axe.

She was still giggling when her mother re-joined her, furious with Chong Ho's 'slippery' ways.

"Oh, Mother... Mother..." Tien Lyn managed to calm down a little before pointing out the obvious. "Are you so affronted by 'that merchant' outright refusing to marry your precious daughter that you do not see it? You are working hard against your own interests! You should make the marriage more unappealing to him, not less! Uncle would have no choice but to blame Chong Ho, not us, and this marriage is off."

"Are you quite done?" Lady Chen Guang asked coldly. "Child, were you fooled into thinking that our Uncle is a kindly old eccentric? There are nine war mages in the Empire, and not one of them is used to being denied."

"Oh." Something about her mother's tone sobered Tien Lyn up. "I understand."

Lady Chen Guang sighed. "I wish I did before it was too late. Wo Jia can order eight of the war mages to do his bidding. Our Uncle is not answerable to the Emperor. It was what saved us, but on the other hand, he spent the last decade nurturing more apprentices than any other mage since antiquity. He now has five. That's a full coven. It is a dangerous force, and it is unchecked."

"Finch seemed nice," Tien Lyn murmured like a child. "Maybe they mean well?"

Lady Chen Guang looked doubtful, but she hugged Tien Lyn and said into her hair: "I am sorry I've made this deal for us, child, but I was at my wits' end. None of us can disobey Uncle, and the sooner I can get it through that merchant's skull, the better."

"Maybe we can give him a bit of time? What if Chong Ho keeps a concubine and we are intruding into his life?" Tien Lyn suggested, blushing.

"I wish it was that!" Lady Chen Guang exclaimed, ignoring the property of discussing that sort of thing with a maiden. "It would have been an easy arrangement, the one that might have spared you the necessity to bed the man. But no, that merchant has been widowed for a long time, well past the proper mourning seclusion. He has not taken a mistress or remarried. His kind has to be pushed, and pushed hard."

"What happened to his first wife?" Tien Lyn asked quietly.

"She died in stillbirth," Lady Chen Guang replied so curtly that Tien Lyn knew that the matter was closed.

Tien Lyn did not doubt her mother's acumen, but she thought that kindness would not go amiss. Of course, taking guesses was the easy part. Talking to a stranger who was to become her husband was hard.

Chong Ho startled Tien Lyn by asking directly what she thought about her circumstances. She was about to tell him that, frankly, the thinking was one thing she did not do nearly enough in the past but intended to take up. That she could not give him an answer right away, that they both needed time.

But looking into his far too clever, far too sharp eyes, she fumbled, and what came out instead were the words that Uncle had taught her. For some reason, the mage's words brought on the desired result, and Chong Ho consented to their marriage. Instead of relief, Tien Lyn felt uneasy mulling over just how dangerous the mages were and if they were done with her.