CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Two hundred and fourteen vessels comprised the Jade Empire's great armada. The majority of these vessels of war were aerial frigates. They served as a picket line, warding off most any potential assault with a single deck of daepo. A third of the armada were true battleships; three gun decks, steel hull plating, and upwards of a hundred trained aviators. The frigates and battleships centered their formations around the true backbone of the armada. Dreadnoughts were massive vessels, truly enormous in the scope of the materials and engineering required to take such a behemoth into the sky. Each was the size of a small keep and carried enough aviators and soldiers to challenge a legion. Entire cities could fall to the fusillade of cannon fire they could unleash with a single salvo.

And lastly, there was the greatest vessel constructed in the history of the world. It was over two hundred paces in length, seven decks with five of those reserved for the fifty-eight daepo cannons on each broadside, and possessed a total mass greater than most villages. The Hammer of Glory was the single greatest weapon constructed in this age by mortal hands.

A beast of the apocalypse.

At the prow of the Hammer, looking out towards the far east through spellwrought glass on the bottommost deck, Ku Ji Min was fearful of what the Jade Empire was about to unleash on the east.

She stood tall within her enshrouding white robes. Her headdress and veil concealed her entire face. With sleeves that covered the whole of her hands, Ji Min appeared less as a woman and more like a white wraith. This was fitting, for she was no longer truly a mortal woman. Ku Ji Min, eldest daughter of the previous incarnation of the emperor, was the Glorious Executor and the personified will of the current Glorious Emperor.

Her task was to end the ancient antagonists, the barbarians of Althandor. She was commanded by the Font of Glory to lay low the citadels of the east, claim its land and people, and ensure an eternal peace for the entire Continent. After a lifetime of pacifistic isolation, Ji Min mourned the fact that she was now no more than just another warlord.

"This shall not stand," she whispered.

Ji Min startled to hear herself speak out of turn, even while she was alone in her quarters aboard the Hammer. Terribly unseemly of her.

Oh dear, she thought. If myself from a year ago could see me now, I would have a fit.

Ji Min startled once again when a loud knock sounded against her door. She chastised herself over it. An executor of the Glorious Emperor and the commander of his divine wrath against the eastern barbarians really shouldn't be so jumpy.

Turning from the viewport and the eastern horizon, Ji Min walked through her spacious quarters towards the door. She passed an extravagant bed covered in the finest silks of the west, shelves of scrolls, her oak table and writing desk, and over the lush carpeting. Arriving before the entryway into her personal domain aboard the armada's flagship, Ji Min raised her chin to speak.

"Permission to enter is granted."

She heard the door unlatch from the other side, and two towering figures entered. Like her, they wore enshrouding white silk, their faces covered by veils. Her assigned attendants were from a new society that Ji Min herself had ordered the creation of. They were called the Devoted, and as the Glorious Executor, theirs was a position that transcended the sexes. Neither male nor female, but Ji Min could only assume most thought both to be men underneath their shrouds.

Ji Min's Devoted were both taller than her. They wore padded silk and leather cuirasses beneath their robes, and they were armed. Swords hung at their hips in leather sheaths, and they held flintlock rifles across their chests as they stood at attention. The rifles bore engraved silver accents, spellwrought, and among the first prototypes of an arcane enhancement to the design.

The Devoted guards bowed their heads as they came into the room and stepped aside to flank the doorway. Their parting revealed a small figure dressed in large and bulky clothing, a young boy of ten. He was old enough to now be acknowledged as a man of Jade, and normally, him appearing unannounced to the quarters of a woman would be highly improper. However, Ji Min was no longer truly a woman. The segregation of the sexes didn't apply.

But, she would always be Ku Ji Soo's sister, no matter what infallible words were spoken.

"Honored Prince Admiral," Ji Min said. She clasped her fist and bowed over it.

"Glorious Executor," Ji Soo said, matching her tone and gesture perfectly. "I come to hear of the armada's progress."

Ji Min smiled behind her veil. There were dozens of servants and officers who could provide him with that information, yet her little brother always came to hear it from her directly. He was ostensibly in command of the armada, the position bestowed by the current incarnation of the Glorious Emperor and his adoptive father. However, it was something of an open secret that the appointment was entirely ceremonial. Ji Min commanded the armada, in truth if not in name.

Ji Min backed up a step and gestured for him to enter. "As I am willed by Glory, so I shall obey. Come, and be welcome here."

Ji Soo raised his chin and walked proudly through the door. The Devoted waited for Ji Min's gesture before taking position just inside the door where they could watch over things. Ji Min had no qualms about keeping them near. The Devoted wouldn't speak of anything they witnessed. There was no doubt on that point.

At Ji Min's request, one of the Devoted used somatics to place a privacy ward over her quarters. The other murmured incantations of the Aeldenn Tones to locate any divinations already in place. With both a weaver's and a whisperer's magic securing the room, Ji Min could speak openly. Still, she didn't dare.

"Take a seat, Ji Soo," she said, gesturing towards her table.

Her brother practically wilted underneath the weight of his ceremonial hanbok. He let out a heavy breath as he doffed his outermost layer and sank to his knees beside the table.

Ji Min bent to pick up the discarded clothing as she walked around the table. She clucked her tongue in annoyance. "Is it not enough you toss things carelessly about your own quarters?" she said in rebuke. "Must you clutter up mine as well?"

"I intend to pick it back up when I leave," Ji Soo replied in a haughty tone.

He kept to formal speech even in private nowadays. Ji Min wasn't overly fond of that, but she supposed she needed to accept that the baby boy she once knew was growing up. She folded his clothes neatly and set them down beside him before taking her place at the table. "Did you really come to hear of our progress, or was it because you wanted a moment out from under the eyes of your father?"

It was perhaps the wrong thing to say, but Ji Min was curious about what his reaction would be. There had been a great many changes over the past three months, and she was concerned about how he was adjusting to them.

"He is my father," Ji Soo said while averting his eyes, "but only because the law says it is so."

Ji Min allowed a touch of coldness into her tone. "He is your father because it was spoken as his infallible word. It has been recorded in the newest Canticle of Glory and is therefore beyond refutation."

"I refute nothing," Ji Soo grumbled. "I said nothing contrary to his word."

"See that you do not," Ji Min said firmly. "The Gray Lotus does not tolerate so much as a whisper of disloyalty."

Ji Soo's spine went rigid. "Disloyalty?" he demanded. "That is ridiculous, Big Sister!"

She softened her tone. "I know. I only wish for you to have more care with the words you choose, even when it is only us."

He glanced surreptitiously behind him towards the Devoted guards. Once he looked back, Ji Soo gave a curt nod. "It does not need to be said."

Ji Min was pleased to hear it.

A new incarnation adopting the marked children of the previous was a time-honored tradition of the Ku Dynasty. It bequeathed unity, it fostered stability, and above all, it strengthened the divine bloodline most favored by the Great Sage. However, few had ever made the adoption with such... glee... as the Glorious Emperor who now ruled the empire.

Ku Garret Merovech, a foreigner, wielded supreme power and spoke with the infallible words of Jade and Glory. His commands were absolute. His will was undeniable. And thus far, for the months since his incarnation upon the death of Ji Soo and Ji Min's beloved father, Garret used his power to transform the Ku Dynasty into a regime of terror and paranoia.

Whispers had become deadly. Neighbors had become enemies of the state. There could never be a word of dissent, because disloyalty was tantamount to the most heinous of blasphemies. Arcanists labored until the brink of death— oftentimes beyond— to satisfy divine whim. The beautiful and fertile land sheltered within the Li Lung Mountains was swiftly transformed into an unassailable fortress. New Canticles of Glory were written, and old ones were burned once infallible words were spoken of how what lay within had been improperly transcribed by fallible hands. But most troubling of all, a people dedicated to peace and unacclimated to the concepts of war were now setting forth with the most deadly weapons in history. Pacifists marched to slaughter, and it was as likely to be their own as their enemies'.

Ji Min was unsure of which would be more ruinous to a heart of Jade.

Above all else, above everything, her little brother's safety was her main concern. As had become abundantly, horrifically clear since the latest incarnation of the emperor assumed power, no one in the Jade Empire was safe anymore.

Ji Min was afraid, yet the Glorious Executor had no choice but to obey.

Looking into Ji Soo's face, determined and still far too young to be part of such things, Ji Min reasserted the promises she made to herself. Whatever had to be done would be done. Even that which she once thought of as unthinkable.

"You came to hear the updates," Ji Min said, trying to take Ji Soo's mind away from other things. "I can give them, if you wish."

Ji Soo swallowed and gave a tiny nod. "I want to... but..."

"Yes?" Ji Min asked.

"You will only tell me the same thing as yesterday. We will soon arrive. The first and final war will begin."

"As has been spoken," Ji Min agreed softly. "Our Glorious Emperor commands a swift reprisal against the Dragon Empress. He wishes her to understand the depths of his displeasure. She has despoiled lands that were to be ours. Her people trespass within our birthright, and her forces have committed violence against the brave soldiers we sent to claim our territory from interlopers."

"Settlers," Ji Soo whispered. "From farmers."

"They are one in and the same, as was spoken." Ji Min swallowed her gorge. "The armada will arrive at the capital of Shan Alee tomorrow at midday. I am to deliver the Glorious Emperor's demands and grant the Aleesh one night to consider them. Should his demands be refused, nothing they have built will be left standing by sunrise. This is divine will, and it is our sacred duty to carry it out with unwavering purpose."

A low, rhythmic tapping of a cane against the floor sounded in the air. It arrived suddenly as Ji Min spoke. It was heard as the source passed through the boundary of the Devoted's privacy ward. At the first sound of it, a look of utter terror struck across Ji Soo's face. He scrambled to his feet, and Ji Min rose to hers with as much calm collectedness as she was able.

"Well spoken, dove," the Glorious Emperor said. He entered Ji Min's quarters, alone and unaccompanied. He required no guards, not here where his power was absolute. His beautifully made and sigil-engraved cane tapped questingly in front of him as he walked.

The Devoted prostrated themselves beside the door, Ji Soo trembled as he tried to hold himself as still as he could, and Ji Min strode calmly around the table to stand beside her brother. She clasped her fist and bowed over it. A moment later, Ji Soo followed suit.

"I do so love the way you word things, my dear," Emperor Garret crooned. "I will admit to some trouble learning this language, but I've come to appreciate its rigid formality. Particularly as it comes from your beautiful tongue." He laughed to himself as he came closer. "At least, I assume it's beautiful. If only I had availed myself of the chance to see for myself. I imagine I would've found myself enchanted."

He was a thin and slender man. Lanky, with a practiced grace to his every movement. He wore a golden hanbok, elaborate and adorned with every kind of precious stone. His fingers each bore a silver ring fashioned into a claw, an accessory he enjoyed showcasing with slow and languid movements of his hands as he spoke. Those gestures would often turn to the somatics of his spellcasting, often without warning or even provocation. He was a weaver, what he still often referred to as a wizard, and in possession of the Ku Dynasty's ancestral power.

He had short cut hair, black as midnight. His fair skin had yet to show significant signs of age, though he was not especially old as he neared his fortieth year. There was an angular, even handsome, aspect to his face, but it was belied by the cruelty it so readily commanded. There was malice in his charming smile. But with the casual malfeasance of his demeanor, his eyes were empty.

Clouded, useless, and blind. Once black and sharp, Ku Garret Merovech could now see nothing. It was the cost of his elder bloodline, the ransom exacted upon the marked children of Ku which even Ji Soo would one day have to endure. However, it had come so quickly. One day, he had vision as sharp as any man in the Jade Empire. The next, nothing. Ji Min could only imagine why that was.

Fortunately, Ji Min had a very good imagination.

"I was looking for you, my boy," Garret chuckled. "I was worried you'd gone to your studies again. I would so hate to put another tutor overboard, but I can't have them distracting my own son from his duties as admiral."

Ji Soo maintained his bow, and Ji Min saw how his knees shook.

Garret seemed to stop caring of if Ji Soo was present or not anymore. His eyes no longer focused on things, but Ji Min believed she could feel his attention. It fell upon her, fully.

"It warms my heart to hear you speak so ardently on my behalf, dove. I hope you realize, I never enjoyed such heartfelt devotion until meeting you. Why, did you know I would be necessitated to use my spellcraft to allow a woman to be so free with her love for me that she could express it honestly? For that, my dearest and assumedly most beautiful executor, I find you positively..." He reached forward, and his claws caressed her cheek through her veil. "...irresistible."

Ji Min suppressed her shudder. "All I am is an extension of Our Glorious Emperor's will."

Garret bit his lip. "Finally, someone said it," he whispered. "Winds take me, but you are a precious thing. I spent my whole life looking for someone like you, someone free to love me without needing help to do so." He brought his face closer. "Is this what love is? I certainly think so."

"Then it must be," Ji Min said. "Our Glorious Emperor's words are beyond refutation and can never be denied."

Garret swooned. "Ohh, you are driving me mad," he chortled. He legitimately chortled. "If only I did not have such need for your competency elsewhere, I could at last partake of your competency for myself."

Ji Min was only marginally convinced he was speaking the same word he intended to speak.

"Unfortunately, I am here for business and not pleasure." He leaned back from her, and there came a change to his voice.

His malicious joviality vanished and was replaced by an absolute and commanding presence. His voice became of Jade and Glory, and Ji Min undoubtedly preferred him as this, because at least this aspect of the Glorious Emperor remained of her father.

"The demands of Jade have been prepared," The Glorious Emperor said. "My scribes will deliver them unto my executor for her review. She will make adjustments as necessary, for it shall be her task to coerce the compliance of Shan Alee and its empress."

Ji Min at last raised her head. She couldn't believe what she just heard and nearly gasped for how much it shocked her. Not for the emperor desiring Shan Alee's surrender above its destruction. No, for something far more blasphemous than that.

"I beg the forgiveness of Our Glorious Emperor. I fear I misunderstand his will."

He frowned, all but imperceptibly. A dangerous frown. "Clarify your error," he demanded.

"I am to... edit... your will?"

He loomed over her. "In this matter, you are my will. Do not disappoint me."

Ji Min bowed almost doubled over. "As it was spoken, so it shall be."

Jade and Glory departed. "Bah, I do wish he could give an ounce more warning before cutting in. Terribly unsettling, but a small price, I suppose, for all I've received in return. Carinae is most generous, wouldn't you agree, dove?"

Ji Min remained bowed, and she fought to keep her teeth from chattering. Tears stained the inside of her veil. It was never easy, learning that all you ever believed was a lie and having no power to do anything about it.

"I asked, 'Wouldn't you agree?' I would appreciate an answer."

"There are none so generous as the old masters," Ji Min said, and it was paramount she not weep as she said it. "There is none among the old masters so generous to the People of Jade and Our Glorious Emperor as Carinae, the Great Sage."

A silver claw touched against her chin and guided her to stand straight. The claw hooked beneath her veil and swept it back away from her face. "I do so enjoy hearing that beautiful tongue of yours." He bent to whisper. "How much more would I enjoy to feel it?"

Beside her, Ji Soo remained frozen in his bow. His lips were curled back over his teeth, and his jaw clenched. Eyes wide, Ji Soo was gripped by both impotent rage and crippling fear.

"Show me," Garret whispered.

Ji Min leaned forward and accepted Garret's finger into her mouth. She ran her tongue slowly across it. All the while, her eyes clamped shut to hold back further tears. Ji Min didn't startle as Garret's other hand wrapped around her to dig his claws painfully into her lower back.

"Well, my lovely dove, until your task is complete, you must restrain yourself a little while longer."

Garret pulled away, and Ji Min heard his cane tap against the deck as he blindly sauntered out of her quarters.

"Boy!" he called over his shoulder. "Do stop sniveling. Ghastly unseemly for a grown man. Come along. We're passing over one of those filthy Aleesh hamlets, and I'd rather like to see if our cannoneers have gotten any better with their aim. I'll even let you give the order to fire."

Ji Soo scrambled to collect his hanbok. Before he could scurry after his adoptive father, Ji Min snatched him by the shoulder to embrace him tight.

"Stay strong, Little Brother," she whispered. "As was spoken in lives past, all darkness must fade when confronted with light."

Ji Soo pulled sharply away. He sniffed back his tears. "You burned those words," he said in accusation. "They were appa's, and you burned them."

She had done as was commanded, yes, but Ji Min would never apologize for doing what had to be done. "So long as they are remembered," she said. "I will never forget them, and neither will you."

His lip trembled. He touched her cheek to wipe it clean of tears, then pulled her veil back down over her face. Without another word, he walked in his father's wake with the dignity of a prince.

Once both Ji Soo and the emperor were gone and their footsteps vanished beyond the privacy ward, the Devoted rose to their feet. Both were a bit stiff from prostrating themselves for so long. One shut the door. A moment later, the other considered that wasn't enough and threw the latch to the locked position.

They remained silent behind their shrouds, but Ji Min took comfort from their presence.

"There is little time," she said.

The Devoted both nodded.

"When we reach Shan Alee, I will need you to locate the first minister. Can you do this quickly? It must happen before there is any assault on New Sandharbor."

Again, the Devoted both nodded.

Ji Min drew in a breath and grimaced against the flavor of Garret's finger. "If Minister Reyn could blind a god, perhaps she can tell us how to kill him."

"Shades see it so," the Devoted on the left said. A feminine voice.

"Waves willing," grumbled the other. Masculine.

A shudder vibrated through the deck as the Hammer's cannons opened fire.

"I know little of your land's spirits," Ji Min said, switching to the Althandi tongue for her friends' benefit, "but I can only imagine they are more merciful than the demon ruling mine."

She turned to look out through the viewport once again. The city only now appearing on the horizon was a long way off, but the Jade Empire would reach it soon enough. Ji Min only hoped that when they did, the Dragon Empress would resist with everything she had.

She would not stand alone.

The Devoted removed their shrouds and came to stand alongside her.

"Lord Haldi, Lady Huunaa," Ji Min said, "I apologize for the manner in which I return you to your home."