Gift of the Fox

Chapter 36: Tamie Beanson Returns

"I need these sealed immediately." 

Shao handed some scrolls to Tao without even raising his head, so engulfed he was in his papers.

"Yes, master!" Tao put the imperial seal on the scrolls. He spotted that one of them was an order to authorize women for high positions like men. He smiled at the emperor: "So, you support gender equality, Your Majesty?"

"I'm a Vidar. I follow the Nordic principles in many ways."

"That is amazing to hear... You truly loved your father, eh?"

Shao heaved a sigh. He put down his ink-brush and turned to Tao:

"He was like an idol to me when I was still a little boy. Everyone was so dark-haired and blackened, while he had pure blond hair, sky blue eyes... Everyone was so short while he was a giant... He was different in all aspects. He was a valiant fighter and a true lover. He respected my mother like no one ever had respected their wives. Not only because he was a slave and my mother was a noblewoman, but because he believed women were equal to men in all terms. He would often retell me how many valiant Vidar women fought alongside men back in his motherland, Nordheim. Those beliefs and principles sounded so foreign and fascinating to me! But, since he would take me along in all of his battles, he taught me the Vidarian principles and raised me according to them, so, I became who I am now."

"Truly remarkable..."

"But, then, Queen Mu ordered to put him to death. She blamed him for her uncle's murder, which was, in truth, her own doing, in order to make her father the clan leader. I could never forgive her that. The only man my mother had ever truly loved was my father, Erik von Thorsten. However, since Emperor Wang Ru loved my mother deeply, after they finally wedded he accepted to take me as his adoptive son, and gave me the clan name Wang."

"Oh, that is truly unfortunate, Your Majesty... I'm sorry for you."

Shao grew quiet, fallen in bitter remembrances. After some moments of silence, he chuckled and looked up at Tao:

"I've told you everything about my past. So, what is your story, now?"

Tao widened his eyes - what should he tell him?!

I can't just say that I... But, if he truly is a man who respects women as they are, then, he will probably not punish me for everything I've done. After all, it is I who helped him ascend the throne, and... I cannot stay a boy forever. Now when everything is sorted out in this wretched palace of Wanglong, I guess my job here is done as a man. I must now start acting as my true self - the valiant warrior woman.

He smiled and cast his eyes down:

"My story... is long and extraordinary, Your Majesty. I doubt you will even believe it if you hear it."

This got the emperor even more intrigued:

"I order you to tell me."

Tao laughed at such a half-joke. He began in a soft tone:

"I am a person born in the tiny country of Qartland, in a loving family of the Beansons. My father was a warrior. My mother was a warrior too, even though it was not a custom in our country. Our countrymen considered women inferior, just like men do here in Wanglong. But, my mother was an energetic and strong woman, so, she made it. 

"My brother Nick was strong and wise, so he became a scholar and a philosopher. However, he often had to go to battles with my father since it was the duty of our countrymen. I, as a girl, was taught weaving and knitting at school, while at home, my mother (and brother and father too when they were at home) trained me in horse-riding and swordsmanship, so that I would become a skilled warrior as I dreamed to."

Hearing "I, as a girl", Wang Shao was about to ask something when his jaw dropped - Xin Tao started morphing and diminishing in size! So, he hushed and continued listening to "his" story, while "his" voice grew ever softer and milder:

"I became a writer and learned to speak eight languages, because, like my brother, I was interested in literature. I always wished to stand on equal ground with men, since, as my mother's daughter, I believed in gender equality. So, I promised myself that I would find a man who respected me and understood me. 

"Since our country was small and had a hard time defending itself from the giant neighbouring enemies, our capital city Tibiru got invaded by Sparsians. I was kidnapped and sold into slavery. I went through bitterness, humiliation, hard work for nothing, pain and suffering... And after years, I found myself in Wanglong. Here, began the most interesting part of my life." The morphing person's body got covered with an orange fog. "I met my two friends Tiegan Brown and Liz Schettner, and... I met my prince charming, whom I washed clothes for. I wished to become a boy, just to be closer to him. My wish was granted by a fox, and my dream for him to achieve his goals has been fulfilled too. So, I guess, I don't need to retain my manly mask anymore." The person, who had already morphed back into a woman, after so many months, gave the dumbfounded emperor a sweet smile. "Please, forgive my bearing the fox mask before you for all this time, even though I promised that I'd show my true self only to you. It is not for bad intentions. It is simply because I love you, Your Majesty, as I always did."

The fox tattoo on the beautiful little woman's arm vanished. She, a too familiar one for the emperor - that exact peasant girl whom he thought to be dead - fell back, unconscious. Shao sprang up and caught her in mid-air, bewildered by such a miracle:

"It... It is you!"