Dragonkeeper 2: Garden of the Purple Dragon (16 page)

Ping pinched the lamp wick between her finger and thumb. The room was black as an ink block. She crouched in a corner, holding Kai close to her, with her hand clamped around his mouth in case he made a noise. She heard the swish of the curtain as it was pulled back, and the slap of slippers across the floor. There was the smell of sweat and stale wine, the sound of fingernails scratching dry skin. Fingers fumbled with a catch. A shutter opened. A flash of lightning lit the room for a second. In the brief silver light, Ping saw the back of a man’s head as he stood at the window. Thunder cracked the silence, booming and rumbling. There was another flash. The man spat out of the window and then turned towards Ping. She gasped, but the sound was drowned
by another peel of thunder. She only saw his face for a moment, but the image burned in her mind. The man had a dark mark on one side of his face and a patch over his right eye. She would have known that face anywhere. It was the necromancer.

Ping covered her mouth with her hand to stop herself from crying out. The thunder died away and the high-pitched shriek of a tin whistle took its place. She had let go of the dragon’s jaws.

“Bad man!” Kai screeched.

Ping felt the necromancer turn towards her in the darkness. The feeling of dread forced her to her knees. The foreboding had been diluted before, like watery soup. It hadn’t reached its full strength until the necromancer was almost breathing in her face.

Lightning lit the room again. Ping tried to move, but couldn’t.

“You thought you’d seen the last of me, didn’t you?” He smiled. “I believed you’d drowned, but then I heard villagers talking about a sorceress who’d been arrested. There were rumours about a devilish rat. I knew it was you.” His hands reached out towards Kai. “That dragon whelp is mine.” The tips of his long black fingernails scraped the little dragon’s scales.

Hua leapt at him. Then the room was black again. The necromancer cried out in pain. Ping’s legs finally obeyed her. She was out of the door, Kai clutched to her, before the necromancer had time to draw another
breath. She ran up the passageway. There were no lamps but it didn’t matter. Her feet retraced her steps as surely as if the corridor was lit by ten-and-two torches.

“Guards!” Ping yelled.

Ping burst out of the door at the end of the passageway and into the dark and wet. There were no guards at the door. As she opened her mouth to shout for help, the sky lit up as if it were daylight. A heartbeat later there was a clap of thunder.

“Guards!” she yelled. “Quick, there’s an intruder.”

No guards came. Kai was strangely silent in her arms. He was terrified. Ping stood in the pouring rain wondering what she should do. She had to get Kai to safety, but the lodge no longer seemed secure. Kai suddenly came to life. He thrust out with his strong paws. Ping couldn’t hold him. He jumped down and ran off into the darkness. The lightning was now so frequent that the garden was more often lit than in darkness. The thunder was a constant rumble. The Hall of Peaceful Retreat loomed black behind her, crouched on the hillside like an animal ready to attack. The garden seemed safer. This time her second sight didn’t fail her. Even though she couldn’t see him, Ping knew that Kai was running up the hill towards the Garden of Secluded Harmony. She ran after him.

Ping could hear the sound of the bells on the Touching Heaven Tower jangling frantically in the strong wind. Kai finally came to a halt at the foot of
the tower. A bolt of brilliant light zigzagged across the sky and hit the finger of one of the gold statue’s up-stretched hands with a shower of sparks. At the exact same time there was a deafening crack as if Heaven itself had been split in half. The upper part of the tower burst into flames. The statue of the Immortal glowed in the light of the fire and then tilted to one side. It fell end over end. Ping was halfway across the bridge that led to the tower. She felt it shake beneath her as the statue hit the bridge. Then one of the cornerstones splashed into the surrounding lake.

“Kai!” she called out, her heart gripped with fear. “Where are you?”

Lightning pulsed across the sky again and again. The thunder was a continual roar. Rain poured from the sky like a waterfall. A stone block fell from the tower, then another, crushing the bridge in front of her. Ping was frozen in indecision. She couldn’t turn and save herself until she had found Kai. She tried to focus her second sight to find the invisible thread that led to the little dragon. She felt the rush of air as another stone fell just in front of her. Sharp claws dug into her skin as the dragon leapt into her arms. Ping held him close then turned and ran.

The wind carried the sound of anxious, frightened voices. Guttering torches were making their way up the hill. The light of the flames revealed spears, shields and red leather tunics. The lightning strike had roused
the guards at last. Captains shouted orders. Their words were sharp and harsh, but with tremors of fear and confusion.

Liu Che appeared on the edge of the lake, his hair hanging in wet strings, a padded coat thrown roughly over his shoulders. He was still in his nightshirt. Servants tried to shelter him from the rain with a silk umbrella, but the wind tore the fragile fabric to tatters. Ping tried to go to him but the guards pushed her back. Dong Fang Suo came puffing up behind the Emperor. It was the first time Ping had seen him without his ministerial cap. He had a round bald patch on the top of his head.

The stones had stopped falling. The lightning was becoming less frequent. The thunderclaps lagged behind. Finally the lightning stopped and the angry roar of the thunder faded to an irritable rumble.

The Touching Heaven Tower no longer reached up to Heaven. Where the lofty tower had stood, there was nothing but a pile of stones and smouldering rafters. The golden statue of the Immortal lay face down in the rubble. The jade dish was smashed to pieces.

A pale light beneath the heavy clouds faintly outlined the eastern horizon. It was almost dawn. There would be no star dew for the Emperor to drink that morning.

Ping waited outside the door of the Chamber of Spreading Clouds. At last she had been summoned by the Emperor and could tell him about the necromancer. Guards stood stiff and stern-faced on either side of the door. Inside the chamber, the Emperor was meeting with his shaman and seers. They had been shut in there for hours. As far as Ping could see, Liu Che didn’t need seers to explain the fall of the tower. There was only one way to account for it. Heaven was not happy with the Emperor. He had built a tower to reach up to the
dwelling place of the Immortals and they had used their heavenly power to smash it down. How could it be anything but a bad omen?

To make matters worse, Kai was unwell. Ping thought this was the result of eating ten-and-four roast swallows at the banquet the night before, but she didn’t trust her second sight anymore. It had let her down. Perhaps the storm had weakened it, but she couldn’t be sure. The fact remained that for the first time Kai hadn’t eaten his breakfast and he had refused to get out of bed. A sick dragon was another bad omen for the Emperor.

Eventually the shaman and seers filed out of the chamber with grim faces. The guards led Ping in. Liu Che sat with his arms folded across his chest and a scowl on his face. His hair was now arranged in a neat knot and he was wearing a yellow gown with a pattern of black spirals embroidered around the hem and cuffs. He didn’t smile when Ping knelt before him.

“How is Kai?” he asked.

“He has an upset stomach.” Ping tried to sound confident. “I’m sure there’s nothing to be worried about.”

Her reassurances didn’t remove the creases from the Emperor’s brow.

“I will send for the imperial physician at Chang’an,” he said. “He may have suggestions for how to treat Kai.”

“I don’t think that will be necessary,” Ping said. “I’m
more concerned about his safety than his health.”

“What do you mean? Kai is safe here at Ming Yang Lodge.”

“That’s what I believed.” She paused before she continued. “Last night I saw the necromancer.”

The Emperor looked surprised. Ping wasn’t sure he understood who she was talking about.

“The man who tried to kill me on Tai Shan. He tried to take Kai.”

“You saw him?” the Emperor stammered. “Where?”

Ping didn’t answer immediately. No one had seen her creeping around the night before. She could easily have lied and said she’d seen him in a different part of the lodge. But she didn’t think it wise to risk offending Heaven any further by lying.

“He was in the Hall of Peaceful Retreat.”

Liu Che glared at her.

“When was this?”

Ping couldn’t look him in the eye.

“Perhaps three hours past midnight.”

The Emperor drew his mouth into a thin line.

“You have exceptional freedom here at Ming Yang Lodge, Ping. But it seems you are determined to try my patience by sneaking into the few places you are forbidden to enter.”

“I’m sorry.” Ping bowed her head to the floor. “I didn’t mean to disobey Your Imperial Majesty.”

“So you accidentally stumbled into the Hall of Peaceful Retreat in the middle of the night?”

“No, but I didn’t set out to go there. That’s where my feet led me. I didn’t realise it then, but my second sight was drawing me there.”

The Emperor stood up. Ping could feel him towering over her.

“I know I deserve punishment, but the necromancer was here in the lodge. He tried to take Kai. He must have been spying on us. It would be easy for him, he’s a shape-changer.”

She expected the Emperor to call for the captain of the guards immediately. But he didn’t.

“Why were you at the tower last night, Ping?” he asked in a calm, cold voice.

“I … I don’t know. I wanted to get as far away from the necromancer as possible. Kai ran up to the Garden of Secluded Harmony. I followed him.” The Emperor didn’t seem to understand the urgency of the situation. “The necromancer thinks Kai belongs to him,” Ping persisted. “He must be captured.”

Ping could see Liu Che’s thoughts were going in a different direction.

“You were there when the tower fell?”

“Yes. I saw the lightning strike the tower as surely as if it was aimed straight at it.”

The Emperor was silent.

“It’s unfortunate about the tower,” Ping said. “But
you must think about Kai. He has to be protected. The necromancer could still be in the gardens.”

The Emperor nodded slowly. Ping didn’t see him make a sign, but the captain stepped forward none the less.

Ping was expecting Liu Che to order the captain to set guards outside the Dragon Quarters or to conduct a search of the grounds. He didn’t do either.

“Bring me the guard who was supposed to be on duty outside the Hall of Peaceful Retreat last night,” he said.

The captain hurried out.

“What did you do in the Longevity Council’s chambers, Ping?”

“I looked at the dragon-keeping books,” Ping said, fiddling nervously with her purple ribbon of office.

“I suppose your hands just happened to rest on them.”

“I want to know all there is to know about dragon-keeping,” Ping replied. “So that I can properly fulfil the role Your Imperial Majesty has given me.”

“Books are to be read by scholars, not just anyone.”

Ping sat back on her heels and looked the Emperor in the eye. “I am not just anyone. I am the Imperial Dragonkeeper.”

Ping saw anger flash in his eyes, but his mouth remained clamped tight.

“I am not trying to keep the contents of the books
from you, Ping.” His tone changed. He was trying to sound friendly, but his anger was still there, like soup simmering in a lidded pot. “You haven’t learned enough characters to be able to read a book yet.”

“I thought I might be able to gain a little knowledge from them.”

“A little knowledge is dangerous,” the Emperor said. “I planned to give them to you when you were able to read them. I thought that Princess Yangxin would go through the books with you. But you offended my sister.”

“I didn’t mean to upset the Princess.”

“You don’t mean to do a lot of things, Ping, but somehow you end up doing them.”

“I’m truly sorry I’ve added to your worries, but I was concerned about Kai. I wanted to learn more about raising a young dragon.”

The young Emperor was silent for a while. Then he nodded. “I will send the books to the Dragon Quarters, Ping, and I will ask Dong Fang Suo if there is someone we can spare to help you read them.”

“You are most kind, Your Imperial Majesty.”

“I have more urgent concerns than a disobedient Dragonkeeper,” he said. “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how the seers interpreted the collapse of the tower. The harmony of the universe has been disrupted. I have to meet with my ministers to work out what has offended Heaven so.”

Kai was asleep when Ping returned to their chambers. He still wasn’t well. His scales were dull, his spines were drooping. Three servants were hovering about the bed.

“You can go,” she said. “I’ll take care of him.”

They left willingly. No one wanted to be associated with a sick dragon. If his condition worsened, they would be to blame. Kai looked small and helpless in the big bed. She hoped she was right and he had nothing more than a case of overeating.

He woke around midday, but though the Dragon Cook had brought an enticing platter of roasted cicadas, stewed worms and sparrow soup, the dragon ate little. He lay on his back with his feet in the air so that Ping could rub his stomach.

There was a knock at the door and a servant let in one of the junior imperial ministers who had been taking turns to teach Ping her characters. He was carrying the box of bamboo books.

“The ministers have finished with them,” he said. “They say you are permitted to read them.”