Part 4, Chapter 19

Catching up

Ch 19

Xun, Shun, Xiaomin, and the child were walking up to the cabin as Renping returned from the river, a dripping giggling toddler under each arm. When Renping saw Shun and Xioamin she thrust the children into their mother’s arms and embraced her old friends, drenching them in the process. Soaked and laughing the group entered the bamboo house where Xun and Renping lived.

As they dried themselves at the fire Xiaomin looked around. “Everyone in the village has stone houses, why is this one still bamboo?” she asked.

Renping smiled, “Xun says the wood reminds her of the way the Emperor’s room was decorated.”

Xun blushed. “Why are you here?” She asked, eager to change the subject. “What’s been happening back in the Heavenly Realm? The twins leave me notes about our family, but they don’t like the Emperor very much, so they won’t give me information about him.”

“There isn’t much to give,” Shun said quietly. “No one has seen him since you left… the Sea Witch intervened in the battle between the High Gods and the Merfolk and after that the Emperor, the King of the Merifolk, and the Sea Witch disappeared. The Dowager Empress has been running the Heavenly Realm since, but she fears that the Lord of Storms will attempt to overthrow her and finish what his mother was trying to do.”

Renping snorted, “Jiangou wants the throne as badly as a farmer wants a drought. He hated being in power.”

Shun shrugged. The little girl, who had been sitting quietly on her lap struggled free of her hold and went to watch the twins, who were rolling a ball back and forth. A few minutes later all three children were playing happily. Shun continued. “Whether he wants the throne or not the Dowager Empress is afraid of him. He spends most of his time now at the encampment at the Western Sea. Most of the Merfolk have returned home under the agreement that Prince Xidi brokered with the Emperor before he left for the battle, but there are a few fanatics waiting for the return of their King to make another stand. The Heavenly forces are there to keep them in check, although the High Gods have mostly returned to their duties.”

“That doesn’t explain why you two are here.”

“As the Dowager Empress has become more and more suspicious of Jiangou she had been eyeing Beibei more suspiciously as well. When she was small and we could keep her out of sight it was safe enough, but now she is older and always underfoot. I’m afraid the Dowager Empress will try to kill her or use her against Jiangou. Your cousins told us you had a safe place here, so we came to join you,” Shun finished.

Xun frowned a little, “How did you get her out? The Dowager Empress isn’t a person who would let a tool like Jiangou’s daughter out of her sight.”

Xiaomin smiled at Shun, “Shun is very good at escaping. It’s part of her Ghost Tribe heritage.”

Xun stared at her friend. “You’re part of the Ghost Tribe? I thought the entire clan was executed a millennia ago.”

Shun ducked her head, “A few of the women were hidden by the families they had married into and sometimes the line breeds true. The Emperors have kept track of us to make sure we didn’t cause trouble in the realms, but he didn’t have the heart to kill women and children.”

“Exactly how many of the powers from the legends do you have?” Xun asked.

Shun shrugged and moved closer to Xiaomin, who put an arm around her. “Enough, Xun. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

Xun immediately changed the subject, she loved her friend and it was too easy to push Shun too hard and not realize it. She was grateful that Xiaomin had stopped her. “What about the God of War?” She asked.

Xiaomin shook her head, “We haven’t heard much, just that they are still fighting. The Red Desert Tribes are clever and hard to pin down.”

The conversation wandered from there about Xun and Renping’s adventures, the birth of the twins (Xun had written her mother about them and of course her mother had told Shun and Xiaomin), and how Xun and Renping had used their medical knowledge and magic to grow herbs and dyes in the fields around the village that her cousins sold for her.

“With the money and more people finding their way here we were able to improve the village from bamboo huts to stone homes. We even hit an iron vein when we were digging the overflow escapes for the stream so the village doesn’t flood anymore,” Xun said enthusiastically.

The night wore on and the children fell asleep in the corner, piled up like tired puppies and eventually the four women took them into bed and then found their own rest.