Queen of the Eight Banners

Part 3, Scene 5 - Past

Thick rain was pouring from the sky, obscuring her vision and slowing their progress by the time they arrived at the Inner City's gates. The rain pinged and leaked through her hauberk, each drop a chilly prick that made her armor as heavy and cold as her heart.  Ilha shivered and wiped water out of her eyes. She squinted against the rain and gloom, grateful at least the wet weather would hinder the Gui's matchlock muskets and give her people the advantage.

A cluster of men wearing Gui armor with white cloth pinned to their backs huddled around the gates. They surged forward. A heavy thud and the creaking of wood mingled with their shouts.  Two more clusters of men on horseback stood arrayed behind them, loosing arrows at the musketmen and archers perched on the top of the wall.  Strange how the Bannermen and Imperial forces had not yet managed to break through the Inner City's gates. Hours had passed since they'd entered the city, yet they were only now battering down the doors? 

Two scouts posted halfway down the street raised a warning cry as she approached. Behind her, Jumara returned it with the spoken signal for peace.

Ilha spared them barely a glance, searching the shops lining the street instead for any loitering rebels, but it seemed the street was clear. Fire flickered in the shops closest to the Inner City's gates. Soot stained other storefronts black, though the soaking spring rain kept it from spreading too far down the line.   Still, she ordered one company to stand fast and guard their flank as she'd ordered at every other intersection they'd crossed. Then she returned her attention to what lay ahead.

A handful of men were approaching on horseback. The foremost silhouette was definitely Hu, and as he passed the flickering firelight she saw his hauberk was the same sky-blue as hers.  Dorgon.  She lifted her hand in greeting then reined in at a respectful distance, gesturing for her horsewomen to halt behind her.

For a moment her grief swelled into resentment. Why couldn't it have been Dorgon instead of Dorgide? But she shoved the thought, the fear and frustration down into the cold pit at the heart of her chest. Now was not the time to think such thoughts. He might read them in her eyes, and they had work to do.

Dorgon surged forward the moment he recognized her armor, bringing up his horse sharply alongside hers with a snarl of displeasure that rumbled barely above the tinny sound of pattering rain and the cry of his horse. "Khatun, why are you here? We didn't request your help."

Ilha ignored his question, bracing herself against his anger and letting it slough off her like another sheet of cold rain.  She nodded as General Sangui approached at a more sedate pace. His fine white stallion's legs were mud-splattered, but he looked as elegant in his saddle as any of the Bannermen.  She found herself respecting the man, even before she caught his fierce, yet collected expression as she bowed a greeting.  "Khatun," he greeted her, with a slight bow in return.

"Report," she said simply, ignoring the scowl Dorgon tossed her way. 

If General Sangui saw, he gave no sign. Did he wonder at Dorgon's motives as she did, at this sign of outright hostility now that Dorgide was dead?  Did General Sangui prefer her leadership to Dorgon's, or was he too desperate to care?

Another chill rippled through her, but she braced herself against it.

"We were ambushed at the Imperial Gates," General Sangui began with a slight gesture behind him. It took her a moment to realize he meant what she called the Inner City. "Rebels were lying in wait for us inside. They barred the gates, then another group of rebels flanked and surrounded us.Your husband fell in the first few minutes, shot down by musketmen on the wall."

Dorgon bristled, but at what exactly she couldn't tell. Then he said, "We set some men to trap them inside and keep them busy here since General Sangui assured me there was no other way out of the Inner--Imperial City. We concentrated our forces on clearing the city streets behind us. You seem to have arrived just in time to attack the Imperial City itself."