SKY OF PAPER: AN ASIAN STEAMPUNK FANTASY

CHAPTER 59

The crowd grew still, taken with disbelief and astonished by what they were hearing. His words sounded true, but did they command respect? Would such words be followed? Oaths were tested. Many had pledged their lives to the Imperial Family, even into exile, and all had sacrificed so much. 

The Imperials, the guards, all remained where they were. None budged an inch. Many looked defiant, refusing to follow the his command. At the time, I did not understand. How could the very words from the Young Emperor himself be treated with such ignorance? As a boy, their reasons were obscure to me, but looking back as an adult it was finally clear. Their oaths, their pledges, their very loyalties extended far beyond that of a single child. They were the protectors of not just the Young Emperor, but of an entire dynasty. Seeing such resolute passion in their eyes, it became evident to me that they would not leave, even if it meant contradicting the child emperor’s order.   

The princess's men, however, were not bound by such a pledge, for within their ranks, one of her soldiers took advantage of the moment. He let loose a well-aimed shot from his rifle. Piercing the silence, the sudden crack of the rifle shot echoed across the deck. The guard captain looked up at the Young Emperor with wide, pleading eyes and then fell into a lifeless slump. Ren Tzu immediately spotted the shooter, and with quick precision, darted effortlessly through the crowd and struck him down with his sword. 

Before the princess could react; before the Young Emperor could utter a single word, battle cries, screams of vengeance were shouted among both sides and like two opposing waves upon the sea they clashed. They swarmed around the crashed sky boat meeting each other with rifles, swords and even fists. Both Ren Tzu and Kosh dove back into the boat and fended off those that tried to clamor aboard while Kassashimei reached up and grabbed me by the waist, pulling me down. We huddled for cover. It wasn’t long before the Young Emperor joined us, his face pale with dread. 

"I thought if I told everyone to leave," he said, his voice in a trance, "all of this would come to an end, that I would be free from all of this." When he looked at me, I saw again, the same face I first met that day when he set fire to the cargo hold. "Maybe I could have lived the life you once had, the one you’ve told me about so many times before, a quieter life in some small village." 

"Jiro!" I said his true name, his forbidden name. I said it so loudly he shook with surprise, as if I’d snatched him from his despair. "I sometimes regret leaving that life behind me, and even more so I regret the death of my sister. There's so much I wish I could have back. But I do not regret becoming who I am and I do not regret meeting you." 

"And what about me?" Even amidst the cruel carnage surrounding us, Kassashimei's sarcastic tone still rang out with a egotistical smile that defied even the bleakness of our fates. "Don't tell me you regret meeting me."

I tried my best to return her smile. "You're one strange girl, you know that?"

I took a deep breath, then summoned the will to move as I slowly propped myself to my feet.

"What are you doing?" The Young Emperor asked.

"I'm going to fly us out of here." 

I climbed towards the bow, glimpsing at the chaos that teetered amongst the writhing waves of angry, shouting bodies. Just a few paces away, men lashed at each other with steel and flesh. The senseless fighting, the very ferocity of it all was so great, I nearly froze. Like a man agonized by his wounds, I crawled up the bow steps towards the pedestal. Ren Tzu, ever sensitive to my plight, bounded across the length of the boat and picked me up, shielding me with his body. 

He ushered me on. "You’d better hurry. I see a terrible lust in the faces of these warriors. They fight out of rage, without restraint. If we don’t leave soon, we’ll be caught up in their insanity."