Anshi: The Lost Eagle of the Steppes

The High Minister Tends To Business

High Minister Han read the message sent to him by Anshi twice. It only took once for him to analyze it and formulate his response. The second time was because he simply wanted to hold the scroll in his hand and imagine it being held by the man with green eyes who haunted his dreams. He knew that the Singer wanted nothing to do with him on any level except professionally. He also knew that he stood no chance at all of changing Anshi's mind. He was used to being thought of as an automaton when inside of his scarred and mutilated body, there beat the heart of a normal man who had long ago accepted that he was hated by the object of his affections. His fate was to never be happy in this lifetime. So he was now devoted to gaining a peaceful succession for the young King and his mother, whom he served unstintingly, and to try in any possible way to keep Anshi safe from afar. As long as the Singer lived and thrived on his own terms, then he felt somewhat happy and fulfilled. Anshi, breathing and sharing this planet was the only thing that made this hell on earth bearable. Even if he was despised by his Emerald forever.

He took the scroll to the lady he served, and the Dowager Queen read it carefully several times.

She looked at the man, bent rigidly at the waist and sighed. "Han. Please stand upright. I refuse to answer this until you straighten up. You are the High Minister and not the Grand Eunuch any longer. I will have you stand as erect and proud as the rest of those clowns that call themselves Ministers. No more ubiquitous posturing from you from now on."

"I am sorry, Your Highness, but a lifetime's habits are hard to break."

"Try harder, please. It distresses me."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"I want you to offer a battalion to escort Envoy Anshi's caravan safely to Qian. Make certain that all of them fought in the Meng conflict alongside his Lan escort. I want them to feel a sense of trust. Do not accept no for an answer. You will wait until they enter the Qian territories and ride with the battalion to them. Carry a royal edict of gratitude and press that I am concerned for his well-being and the well-being of his people while they are under my watch. Lead them back and shelter the group withing the palace grounds. Nothing will happen to them when they are under my protection. If he is already being watched the watcher must be identified."

"I agree your Highness. There are any number of factors that could be involved. The treaty of course. People in either of our lands may disagree with an alliance.

Secondly, old enemies from the Meng Conflict.

There could still be older animosity left from the Wen Upheavals. We were not directly involved there but some of Lan's enemies would not want them gaining stronger allies on a permanent basis.

And there are ancient threats. Nobody has found out who the traitor that collaborated in the destruction of The Great Eagle Tribe was when Anshi was abducted and brought here.

All of these factors must be explored. If I know the Lan, they are already looking at these aspects. Lan XiChen is an old hand at espionage and will protect his brother at all costs, especially when those costs are tied to the safety of Cloud Recesses. And Lan Zhan is ferociously devoted to him as well. The presence of the younger Lans at the Caravan will be a huge factor in their security measures there as well."

"Then get on it right away. Send messages to Lan XiChen then to Chieftain Anshi."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"I am so looking forward to meeting this legend. I know it might be painful, him singing here. I wish, just once to hear that voice though! But he must not do so unless he decides to gift a song to me. I can relate to his pain in some ways and he should never be pressured."

"Your Highness is most kind."

"On your way. Take time with the message, then bring it to me to sign when it is finished."

"Yes, Your Highness." He turned to leave, and he heard her patient voice once more. "Straighten your back, High Minister!"

He went straight to his study and drafted the message to Lan XiChen outlining their awareness of the situation and insisting on the escort when it was time.

He then looked over his blank scrolls. He wanted a flawless one, with perfectly fashioned wooden slips. Carved delicately and smoothly from a fine white bamboo, gently grained. Anshi would be receiving this one personally and it must be well-made and woven together with a fine dark blue, silk cording. He worked at his inkstone for some time, grinding a fine India ink made for him personally in dark blue, rare and expensive. Most of the inks were jet black but he had requisitioned the blue hue specially and he used it only for his personal correspondence. It flowed, lovely and opaque from the tip of his brushes onto the pale slips and each character was thought out carefully and written in ornate yet firm calligraphy. When he finished and proofread it, he wrapped it in dark blue silk and tied it snuggly with a pristine white silk cord and slid it into a leather tube. He called for another messenger, ready to send it on its way.

He envied these small things, insignificant to all others but himself. This scroll would soon be read by Anshi himself and afterward, possibly burned. But for a few moments, it would be held in those strong, beautiful hands. That voice might read them aloud. Those green eyes would look at them and possibly see him for just a few minutes. Then the contact, that meant the world to the High Minister, would become ash in a brazier and thought of as irritating business that reluctantly had to be done.