Winged: A Novella (Of Two Girls) (19 page)

The two guards barked in mocking laughter.

“
You are deluded, miss,” the one
with ginger hair and a jutting square jaw spat, exchanging glances
with his partner.
Not another lunatic
, his look said contemptuously.

“
No, Guards Edward
and
Malik,” she said coolly. “Let me
through. Do you not know that my Imperial Mother and my father are
both worried about my disappearance?”

The ginger-haired one called Edward squinted at her.
“How do you know my name?”

Min Feng had to slap down a surge
in her phoenix flame.
How did her father manage to
recruit such nincompoops?

Javen Windwalker shifted uneasily behind her.

“I am Princess Min Feng,” she said finally, coming
to a final solution for this meaningless charade in her mind. “You
may let me and my friends through. If not, prepare to be
surprised.”

Lunatic
, Edward’s eyes were
accusing her. Daggers. Malik was not so sure though, his movements
uncertain.

I am a phoenix with a purpose
, Min Feng sighed and let the phoenix out. Everything in the
immediate surroundings flickered with white light as a phoenix, as
brilliant as lightning, took the place of the girl. There was the
smell of burning ozone and the sound of crackling.

With some effort, the phoenix shifted back to human
female.

Edward and Malik had eyes as round as jade plates.
Their hair stood on end from the static. She glanced back at her
two companions. Javen was nodding his head. Aunt Betta’s mouth was
arranged in an O.

Without any word, the two guards activated the gate
controls. As the huge doors groaned open, Min Feng stepped through.
In front of her, the long road beckoned. This would be the real
test.

***

“Your Majesty!” Mei Hu, one of the youngest
maids-in-waiting, ran up the stairs leading to Ze Tian’s private
audience chamber. “The princess… Her Highness… She is back!”

It was a somber morning that day. Ze Tian’s mood had
been growing increasingly bleak. For a week now, her emotions
roller-coastered, from impossible highs to dismal lows. There had
been reports, usually from eyewitnesses, of a girl resembling Min
Feng. In fact, some daring people brought in their own “Min Fengs”,
only to be rejected most violently and angrily. She loathed people
who jested with her feelings. These foolish people did not know
that the only thing that differentiated the real Min Feng from all
the impersonators was her phoenix flame, her powerful nei huo. It
would have blazed out as bright as a beacon. She had held onto the
hope that somewhere, Min Feng’s fire was burning fiercely.

“Not another impersonator, I hope,” Empress Ze Tian
said drily.

Mei Hu curtsied and shook her head. “No, Your
Majesty. It is truly the princess. The guards said that she turned
phoenix.”

That would explain the unexpected spark inside her,
before Mei Hu came running. Hope rose with flaming wings. She set
forth immediately, forcing the maid-in-waiting to scramble after
her.

***

Min Feng waited in the Main Audience chambers,
noticing that the guards and servants were behaving oddly. Shock,
aghast, disgust, relief, elation. To her credit, Aunt Betta and
Javen remained cool and collected.

Two of her maidservants were beside themselves with
indecision. On one hand, they wanted to bring her directly to the
Imperial Physician. On the other, they were not too sure if she was
the real Princess Min Feng and they dithered in the wings, wringing
their hands.

There was a hush, a sudden attentiveness and the
roll of drums. Then her mother appeared. Empress Ze Tian in her
normal-day finery, her face thickly made-up with white powder,
rouge and lip-paint. Her black hair was stringed with pearls and
emeralds, her favorite semi-precious stones. They glittered in the
light.

“Min Feng?” Ze Tian’s voice was throaty, thick with
emotion, words lodged in-between.

“Mother…” Words left her and she knelt down,
contrition filling her being.

Perfume, the fragrance of orange
blossoms
. A gentle cool hand caressed her
face. “What happened to your face, my daughter?”
Worry,
concern and fear
.

“
Hot oil,” Min Feng gazed right
into her mother’s eyes. Liquid glimmered.
Tears
. “I will explain to you in due
time.”

“Min Feng,” the Empress said softly. “Min Feng.” She
stiffened, seeing Aunt Betta and Javen as if for the first time.
“Who are they?” Curiosity warred with uncertainty and suspicion in
the Empress’s voice.

“They are my friends, Mother,” the princess replied
truthfully and Javen straightened, bowed politely. Betta followed
suit. “They have been helping me. Do not worry, Mother. They mean
no harm.”

“I see,” Ze Tian muttered, relaxing a little. She
motioned curtly to her guards. “Call off the search. The princess
has returned.” She cupped Min Feng’s cheek tenderly, the one
unblemished by the burns. “We will have your burns looked into
immediately. As for your friends… Mei Hu and Mei Hua, please show
our guests their quarters.” She bowed slightly to Javen and his
aunt. “I apologize for my abrupt behavior. We will talk once more,
after you have sufficient rest.”

Min Feng’s maids - their indecision having suddenly
evaporated - breathed a sigh of relief and quickly bundled her out
of the Main Audience chambers, leaving Javen and his aunt in the
Main Audience.

***

“
I would like to congratulate
whoever did the initial treatment of your burns,” the acerbic tone
of Imperial Physician Yee broke Min Feng’s reverie. She had
submitted herself to his thorough administration. The Imperial
Physician was detached, clinical and efficient: the very model of
Imperial medicine. He prided himself on that. While he examined
her, she retreated back into herself, observing her surroundings as
a third person. would After the twins Mei Hu and Mei Hua had
escorted back into her chambers, numbness washed over. Back to the
Phoenix Court.
Back to her old life
.

“The burns are healing very well,” Yee continued,
washing his hands in a basin of clean water. “Rudimentary. But good
enough to stave off infection.”

Min Feng stirred, shook her head, feeling the
crinkly gauze on her face. It would be there for a while. “His name
is Javen Windwalker.”

“Oh?” Physician Yee’s eyebrow bobbed up.
“Interesting. Now, you need rest. No touching of your burns. Common
sense talking here, Your Highness. I will return to change your
gauze.”

He did an elaborate bow, bending low from his waist:
protocol for senior court officials. With a whisper of his
embroidered court sandals, he exited, barking something at the two
waiting maids who timorously approached their mistress and bade her
follow them to the hot bath they had prepared for her. The water
was deliciously warm, filled with the essence of rose of attar and
liberally covered with jasmine and rose petals, freshly picked from
the gardens. Min Feng slipped into the bath, groaning with pleasure
in spite of her own inner mental turmoil. Mei Hu and Mei Hua took
extra care not to wet the gauze while they sponged the princess
with luffa scrubs and rubbed moisturizing oil on her skin.

I need to speak with my mother
, Min Feng thought, restlessly, as the twin maids washed her
hair with nimble practiced fingers.
I need to speak my
mind
.

Mei Hu and Mei Hua brought a large towel and a silk
robe, wrapping the towel around Min Feng’s body. The silk robe was
later draped about her shoulders as she stepped away from the warm
bath. The two sisters worked quietly, their actions mirroring each
other. They were mirror twins and the daughters of one of the
Empress’s many distant relatives. It was an honor for them and
their family to serve their illustrious cousins.

Satisfied that the princess was finally dried, the
two began to dress her in embroidered brocade robes, sky blue with
cherry blossom patterns. They styled her hair deftly, working in
tandem, pinning the long gold-streaked hair with ornate clips and
weaving mother-of-pearl in. When they were done, they cooed and
showed their mistress her reflection with a burnished bronze
mirror.

No more Earnestine Thorne in her dark clothes and
identity-hiding veil. The two girls had already removed and
disposed of those garments. Min Feng was now a proper princess of
the Phoenix Court, in state finery, glittering with jewelry. The
only thing that the twin sister-maids did not do was to put make-up
on her face, further putting barriers between her and the
world.

***

Javen peered out of the window, seeing only the
jasmine-laden shrubs and manicured green lawns, unlike the
wilderness of his home world. He had found the attention of the
servants a little unsettling. On Mesa, everyone was independent and
had no servants to help them clean messes up or prepare bathwater
for them. One of the maids-in-waiting had to literally push him
into the bath. He could have protested, but for Min Feng’s sake, he
kept his mouth shut and took a quick bath, splashing the scented
water onto his body. An obligatory show, to prove to the hovering
anxious servants that he was indeed taking a bath.

They had even prepared new navy-blue robes and pants
for him. Neatly folded, still perfumed from the Imperial laundry,
the clothes were placed on the bed, another pieces of extravagant
furniture, covered with exquisite silk sheets.

Another world
, he eyed the
robes with a certain degree of distaste.
No wonder Min
Feng acted the way she did. I would do the same thing too.

It also brought home how
different
their worlds were.

He heard exclamations in Navajo. Aunt Betta was in
the adjoining chamber. He placed the robes and pants back onto the
bed and went to look for her. She was standing in her own chambers,
dressed in a simple but expensive pao – a dark jade-green with a
black hem. The maids must have done some searching of their own,
for the pao fit perfectly.

“
Pure
silk, nephew!” Aunt
Betta said breathlessly the moment he walked in. “Imperial-bred
silkworms fed on organic mulberry leaves. And look at this - how
soft and smooth it feels!” She was already imagining how lucrative
Imperial silk would be on the joint-world markets. His aunt. The
perennial merchant.

He chuckled, amused by his aunt’s
reaction. All these riches were strange and uncommon to
them.
It is the Phoenix Court, you silly! It is the home
of the Empress, the ruler of the Alliance Planets! A place you
shouldn’t be at in the first place!
He told
himself and these thoughts immediately sobered him up.

And the fresh memory of Min Feng…
turning into the white phoenix. Thunderbird. Bird-girl. His initial
impressions were uncannily intuitive and spot-on. That much…
power
contained in one slender girl
frightened him. It was said that only women born of the Phoenix
Court could turn into phoenixes. Min Feng was one of
them
. One of the phoenix-women.

A lordly retainer, in severe Imperial uniform,
stepped in and bowed courteously. “Her Imperial Highness, the
Empress of the Phoenix Court, has requested for your presence in
her private audience chamber. Please follow me.”

Javen looked at his aunt who inclined her head
politely. His head spun with the images of phoenixes who were women
who were phoenixes.

***

The Empress Ze Tian, having refreshed and recomposed
herself, settled regally on her throne-chair in her private
audience chamber. Imperial Physician Yee had reported to her that
the burns were not life threatening and were healing rapidly,
thanks to the phoenix flame gene. The scars would remain, a
lingering reminder of a moment of folly. Min Feng being alive and
well… and standing before her was a huge relief. She thanked her
ancestors immensely.

Retainers announced the
simultaneous arrivals of both Princess Min Feng and her two guests,
the Najavo traders. Ze Tian had done some reading and research on
the two, delving into the bio databases fed into her work-computer.
They were clean, honest folk. Merchants from Mesa, selling food at
the Left Quadrant. She had to smile. She used to sneak out too for
some of the delectable street food being sold at the
Quadrant.
My daughter is too much like me
, she mused watching her child emerge from one wing, the two
merchants from another.
Too much like me
.

Min Feng’s maids-in-waiting had
evidently pampered and bathed her. She was now out of the dusty
“common” garb and back in her finery, looking slim and royal
and
restless
. She was still wearing
gauze over her burns. The young man accompanying the plumb jovial
woman – his aunt – was looking at Min Feng with open eyes.
Disbelief, awe and appreciation. Ze Tian did not require a manual
on love to inform her that the lad was
fond
of Min Feng. The same went for Min
Feng.