I nodded approvingly.

We pa.s.sed through the vast hallways, strangely devoid of guards. I admired the statues, the tapestries depicting great moments in the history of Chinpan. Mitsu walked beside me, head held high. She didn't seem to walk so much as glide across the floor, as if she had runners strapped to her feet and was moving across ice.

We reached the doors of the Imperior's quarters, and it was nice to see they weren't made of paper.

That would afford more privacy. The doors instead were large, lacquered wood with carvings of birds and snakes upon them. The snakes had their mouths open and were moving toward birds who were desperately trying to get out of their way... and did not seem, by the looks of things, to be destined to succeed. I found the imagery rather disturbing.

I knocked, and heard the Imperior's voice from within. "Enter," he said. I gestured in an "after you"

manner and Mitsu, with a quick nod, entered the room.

Her father was seated on an elevated chair at the far end, his hands resting lightly on the carved armrest, which also had the heads of snakes on either one. He was smiling gently, one eyebrow c.o.c.ked when he saw that Mitsu had come in with me. "This is unexpected. Greetings, my child."

"h.e.l.lo, Father," said Mitsu neutrally. I eased the large doors shut behind me. "It has been a little while since we chatted." "Much has happened," replied the Imperior. "Po here has said many interesting things. He--"

"We're here to kill you," I interrupted.

The Imperior did not appear surprised. "I see. With that?" He nodded toward the sword on my hip.

"Yes."

"You said you would make a gift of it."

"And so I shall. I'll deliver it point-first."

For someone who was about to die, the Imperior seemed quite calm. "Indeed. And may I ask why you are about to take this murderous action?"

I turned to Mitsu. "Tell him."

She looked from him to me and back again. Her face hardened. "Because of all you've done, Father.

Because of what you did to the boy in the marketplace--"

"Oh, Mitsu, not that again," sighed the Imperior. "When will you grow up? When will--"

She strode toward him, her voice growing harsher, angrier. "I have grown up, Father. I've made powerful allies. Allies who are enemies of yours. It's about time you realized it. It's about time you came to understand what it is you've done, and what it is you've brought upon yourself."

"Allies? Enemies? What are you going on about...?"

"The Anais Ninjas, Father. The Forked Tong. They are my family now," she said heatedly. "They support me. They love me in a way that you never did."

"I don't believe you," the Imperior replied, but there was clearly building anger in his face. "A princess would not a.s.sociate with such as they. You could not be--"

Abruptly Mitsu reached up and ripped open the front of her kimono. Beneath it was the distinctive black outfit of the sisterhood of the Anais Ninjas. She tossed aside the kimono, lifted up the cowl, and tied it tightly across her face in one smooth move. She did not have a sword strapped across her back, but she did have a knife tucked in her belt.

"Return to your room and dispose of that costume at once," the Imperior ordered her. He was standing now, clearly irked. "This is intolerable behavior, and I--"

"I would not speak in such a condescending tone if I were you, Father," said Mitsu. "For at this moment, I am the only thing standing between you and certain death."

"Standing between?" I looked at her in puzzlement.

"Actually," replied the Imperior, "I am the only thing standing between you and certain death. And to be honest, my daughter, my stance is not especially firm."

With that, he clapped his hands briskly. The Hamunri came in from everywhere. Hidden doors opened from everywhere. Even the chair slid aside with a rough, scratching noise to reveal a hole in the floor from which more of the Hamunri appeared. All of them had their swords out, and all of them were focused upon Mitsu.

She looked around desperately, and then shouted, "Apropos! Now!"

And she waited.

And nothing happened.

I simply stood there, looking at her sadly.

It took her about two seconds to figure it out.

"You lying b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" howled Mitsu, and she yanked the knife from her belt and came at me. I wasn't standing all that far away. Had we been alone in the room, there was every chance she would have been able to gut me before I could make a move.

But the Hamunri, the cream of the crop, were far faster and more fleet of foot than I. Barely had she taken three steps before five of the soldiers had piled upon her, bearing her to the ground. Two grabbed her arms, two her legs, and one threw himself directly across her torso. She struggled and howled and cursed my name, but it did her no good as the Hamunri tossed her knife aside and hauled her to her feet.

"I'll kill you, Apropos! I swear, I'll kill you myself, you betraying piece of slime!" Mitsu shrieked at me.

"Mitsu, he knew."

"You promised the Forked Tong! You--"

I was upon her then, grabbing her face with my hands so I could look straight in her eyes. "Mitsu, he knew! Listen to me! He knew what you were up to! He knew--or at least very much suspected--your alliance with the Anais Ninjas! He confronted me with his suspicions, as a concerned father! What was I supposed to do?"

She spit in my face. I stepped back, trying to wipe the liquid from my eyes.

"What were you supposed to do?" she demanded with venom.

"Lie! It's what you do! It's what you're best at! It's what you did to me, and to Veruh w.a.n.g Ho! To all of us! You swore fealty--"

"To murderers, Mitsu!" I snapped back at her. "To murderers and thugs and criminals, who would eventually turn against each other. Believe me, I know. Such alliances never last. I had to get you out."

"Get me out? You mean get me killed!"

"No," and I shook my head fervently. "No, your father doesn't want that for you. And I don't..."

"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" she said again. I rolled my eyes. "Considering I am a b.a.s.t.a.r.d, you might want to give up on the idea of trying to wound me with that 'insult.' Mitsu... it's a cult. These women... it's a cult movement that's dragged you in.

And you'll come to a bad end because of it. I couldn't just stand by--"

"So you betrayed me!"

"I didn't betray you. I told you, he already knew..."

"How? How could he?"

And a low voice said, "I told him."

It took a moment to register upon me who had spoken even as I turned and looked in disbelief.

Go Nogo, the deceased head of security, swaggered toward me. His face bore that same scowl as always, and he barely looked at me. Apparently he was reserving his contempt for the princess. "May the G.o.ds save us from pretty young women who are not remotely as clever as they think they are."

"You said he was dead," Mitsu snapped at me. "Another lie..."

I was shaking my head in disbelief. "No. No, I saw him die. I saw him..."

"A sword wielded by a woman, kill me?" Go Nogo's voice was filled with contempt. "Stun me. Send me into shock, so that I had to withdraw deep into myself, into meditation, to heal myself." He scratched at his chest. "It still itches, I'll give that to the black-clad b.i.t.c.h who did this. But kill me? No."

"You..." My lips were suddenly dry as I felt matters beginning to spiral out of control. "Imperior, you said nothing to me about his being alive..."

"You did not ask," the Imperior pointed out. Which, I had to admit, was true enough.

Mitsu struggled to break free once more, but their grip upon her was too strong. "So what did you think was going to happen here, Apropos?" she demanded. "My father was going to embrace me?

Forgive me the error of my ways? Don't you understand? He's going to try and use me to destroy the Forked Tong. To bring down the alliance..."

"I already told you, Mitsu. An alliance of thieves and murderers..."

"And still better than he is! A tyrant! A dark sorcerer, enforcing his reign of terror..."

"That," said the Imperior with surprising softness, "is enough. Go Nogo," and he nodded.

Go Nogo immediately stepped behind her, pulling out a cloth sash and drawing it across her mouth.

Her protests were reduced to m.u.f.fled, unintelligible grunts.

"Imperior, is that really necessary?" I asked.

"Yes. Yes, I believe it is," he said after seeming to give the matter a moment's thought. "So... we apparently have in our hands a sister of the dreaded Anais Ninjas, and a close ally of the legendary Veruh w.a.n.g Ho as well. Go Nogo... what do you suggest we do with her? Bait, perhaps?" "There is a slight possibility that would work... but only slight, and truly, not very likely," said Go Nogo. "Despite her importance to their cause in terms of her connections, I doubt they would risk themselves to save her."

"The alternative?"

Go Nogo shrugged. "Torture would seem to be the best way to proceed."

This time the Imperior did not hesitate at all. "Very well," he said.

I suddenly couldn't get enough breath into my lungs. "Imperior! That's..."

"Yes?" He stared at me with open curiosity, as if he couldn't imagine what I could possibly say or, even worse, what objection I could put forward.

"Torture? Your own daughter?"

"Why not? She would have killed me."

"No, I... I don't think so. Remember," I said, moving toward him pleadingly, "she said she was the only thing standing between you and death, back when she thought I meant to dispose of you myself.

Didn't that prove her loyalty? Her determination to keep you alive?"

"No. It only proved her selfishness." He nodded once more, obviously coming to a decision. "She will be tortured for information and, if she does not provide it, she will die. It is no more involved than that."

"It b.l.o.o.d.y well is!" I fairly exploded. "Imperior, we talked a long time! Spoke of many things! Of compa.s.sion, and changing the way things were done, and--"

"Honorable Po," said the Imperior, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "I would have said whatever was required to reveal my daughter's duplicity, and to encourage you to help us gain a wedge into the Forked Tong. Why else do you think you were welcomed so willingly?"

The chill settled into me then, and I slowly looked around the room, saw the smirks and smiles of the Hamunri as they readied their swords with great antic.i.p.ation.

"A trick. It was all a trick," I said hollowly.

"Ah! Look who has woken up and smelled the sake!" snapped Mitsu.

"We had about given up on finding you," Go Nogo informed me. "And then what should happen but that you walk right up to the palace, swaggering and big as life. We would have been fools not to exploit the opportunity. Rather than sending men out to attack you... why not welcome you? Praise you? Treat you as a long-lost man of greatness?"

"So... what you told me? About the Great Wall holding back the Mingol hordes..."

"Oh, no, no, that was quite true," the Imperior a.s.sured me. "We know, however, that you did not intend for that to happen. It was simply luck on your part. Still, we benefited from it, so I did wish you to know that I was most appreciative of it." Go Nogo advanced on me then. His face could have been carved out of stone. "One thing you will tell me... and I suspect that torture will not be necessary, for it is my belief that merely the slightest hint of potential pain will be enough to get you to speak freely. A number of my men have not returned. Where are they? Did your Forked Tong allies dispose of them?"

My face was grim and determined as I looked around. "Do you want to know?"

"Yes."

"Do you really want to know?"

"This is not a joke, Po," Go Nogo informed me. "The amount of cooperation you provide me now will determine whether you die quickly and mercifully... or slowly and agonizingly."

"To die quickly or slowly. Hmmm," I murmured, and my hand went to my sword hilt. "Tough choice."

The other Hamunri automatically tensed, ready for a battle, but Go Nogo simply smiled. "Please, yes, by all means. Draw your weapon. I would welcome a fight with you."

Obediently I drew the bird's-head sword. The noiselessness of its departure from the scabbard clearly surprised Go Nogo ever so slightly, but he covered it deftly. "Now... you will tell me what I want to know. And for every minute that pa.s.ses that you do not give me answers I like, I will sever a body part."

"Seems fair. Perhaps you might want to start with your b.a.l.l.s. I'd love to see how you sound as a eunuch."

"Not my body parts!"

"Oh," I said, as if just comprehending it. "You mean my body parts."

"Yes," he said, obviously under the impression he was talking to an idiot. "Perhaps I will start with your tongue."

"If you insist. But you're the one who will have to deal with your wife's complaints when I can't give her oral pleasure anymore."

This actually drew a combination of raucous laughter and startled gasps from the a.s.sembled Hamunri.

The point of Go Nogo's sword trembled a foot away from me. He was clearly doing everything he could to fight an impulse to behead me right then. "Do you not care," he demanded, "that I am about to kill you as slowly as humanly possible?"

"Funny you should ask," I said, and gripped the hilt as hard as I could. "No... I don't care."