The Emperor's Head

32. Unprepared

Bolin expanded his sight to its limit. Tian stretched out before him from where he perched on the bow of an ancient tree. The walled city remained one of the largest in the empire, and its wall expanded and extended several times since it had been named the capital of Jiali.

As the empire had grown, so had Tian until the current dynasty. Tian had not increased in size or glory under the Choa emperors. Where once, the space was congested enough to need to expand the walls to accommodate, the ancient city possessed gaps where the occupants had not rebuilt houses after fires along the edges of the wall. The wealthy continued to prosper in the city's center near the palace, but on the edges, the common folk felt the Emperor's extravagance. To live in Tian meant a family had to support Emperor Wei's pleasures, either by paying heavy taxes or sacrificing their children to serve the Emperor or both.

The main road into Tian was congested with carts as they brought goods to and from the city. They planned to ride in one of those carts to enter. Qiaohui had sent several of her clan to gather the cart and clothing they would need to enter. They could not hide their cores completely, but they could hide their clans. The Green Clan had arrangements with other clans to wear their colors when needed; Bolin did not pry into the specifics.

With a sigh, he refocused his attention on the city. No fires raged that day. The wooden city sat along a river, but the water was not enough to keep the old houses safe from flames. The night held the most danger when those without magic lit their lanterns to help see. But it was morning now, and the black roofs blended in the first light of the day. Bolin's eyes found the palace in the middle of the circular city with spoke-like roads that led from it to the city's edges. There were once open gates at the end of every street, but those had been long closed. The only way in and out of Tian was to ride through the ghoulish gallery of the executed. The City Guard would hold every caravan at the main gate for just long enough for the bodies to be noted by all.

That is where Jun must be. They would have taken him directly to the palace.

The palace was a complex of buildings surrounding a central court. The most prominent structure was the Emperor's residence, which loomed over the entire compound from the rear. The palace had a wall of its own to keep out those from the city who might think to enter. In front of the residence, closer to the palace gates, stood the council hall built by the last Emperor of the Chi dynasty. Emperor Siu wanted all the clan and city councilors to help run the empire. Emperor Wei used them as prisoners and examples. Their presence was a facade, no longer decentralizing the empire's control. Oyun had lived during the last dynasty and had spoken of their glory. The Chi emperors were not without flaws, else the Choa would never have defeated them, but Emperor Siu had hoped to strengthen his empire by giving more power to the individual clans and cities. Emperor Wei and his predecessors of the Choa dynasty had worked to reverse all that effort and consolidate their rule centrally.

"The carts are ready," Qiaohui's powerful voice announced from beneath his tree. Bolin unclenched his hands and pulled back his power.

"It is a good time. The guards will be too busy to notice any fine details," Bolin commented as he leaped down from the top of the tree with minimal use of his core. He would have to block as much of his strength as possible so that the gate watchers did not detect his power level. He could not be anything less than a master, but a weak master would not draw any unwanted attention.

"Yes. Your horses have been housed in the farmstead with the rest of my clansmen," Qiaohui answered as Bolin automatically looked for Suifeng and Tianchi. Bolin could have found it alarming how easily the clan leader read his actions, but the same teacher had raised her. Those from the same school often had overlapping mannerisms, and Qiaohui's intelligence helped her use those habits to identify underlying thoughts. Bolin did much the same when he was hunting prey. He had learned all about Jun before meeting him, just by observing him before he put his plan into action. Perhaps this knowledge made him feel so close to Jun so quickly.