sword in one hand and reached for his knife with the other. He was close. Within paces of striking distance. The Emperor’s gaze fixed on to him in recognition. He would deliver his death blow face to face. A warrior, a leader of men who fought alongside his men deserved more than a knife in the back.
All that was left to do was deliver the blow. At that moment, the Emperor’s eyes widened. He called a warning as his focus fixed on a point just beyond Li Tao’s shoulder. The Emperor lunged forwards as Li Tao turned to address the new threat.
The Emperor cut down the first attacker, but the second got through. Tibetan steel plunged into him and he doubled over with the impact.
Before he could think, Li Tao buried his blade in the enemy soldier’s throat. His hands were not his own.
The Emperor fell, clutching his wound, and Li Tao whirled to face the next attack. All he remembered from that point on was the dull, tight exhaustion of his shoulders from swinging his sword as the Son of Heaven lay bleeding into the earth behind him. All other thought had been swallowed into the cold pit of shame in his stomach.
759 AD—Present day
Lady Ling glided along the bookshelves, trailing a careless finger over the spines. Every move was meant for him and he knew it. He thought of their nights and those endless hours, the sweet clench of her flesh around him, the perfume of her hair on his pillow. He set down his ink brush to savour the memories. Their nights proved that her sorcery over him was in no danger of fading.
‘Sun Tzu, Tai Gung… War and flowery metaphors for war.’ She cast out the exalted names with an air of dismissiveness as she slid the books out and back into the shelves. Suyin had a way of moving about a space as if she owned it and owned him as well. The insinuation alone excited him, even if it was an act.
‘You know the military texts,’ he noted.
‘I was favoured concubine to the warrior Emperor,’ she replied, slanting a glance at him over her shoulder.
‘In name only.’
He thought he caught the satisfied curve of her lips as she turned back to his books. The extent of his possessiveness surprised him. Li Ming was in his grave and had gone there without ever enjoying the gifts of his infamous mistress.
‘There is an interesting story about General Sun Tzu.’ Still not finding anything she liked, she moved on. ‘General Sun was challenged by the King of Wu to make an army out of his harem of concubines.’
Her voice flowed over him like soothing fingers. He found himself relaxing into her presence. His armies were in a holding pattern after all until he received more reports about Gao.
‘He divided them into two companies, appointing the two favourite concubines as the commanders, but when he tried to instruct them, the girls merely giggled. He warned them that if the soldiers did not understand their assignments, it was the fault of the leaders.’
‘The poor general. I know from experience even one imperial concubine can be a challenge.’
‘Scoundrel.’ She didn’t even face him to fling the accusation.
‘Go on,’ he said, entertained.
Apparently she deemed the rest of the books uninteresting as well. She turned to him to finish her tale.
‘When the harem continued to be uncooperative, Sun Tzu promptly executed the two favourites in front of the others. The king protested in anger, but the general replied, “When a general receives his orders, it is his duty to carry them out to perfection, even if the king protests.”’
‘And of course, the remaining women executed their tasks like trained soldiers,’ he finished. ‘I would not have been so exacting in my punishment.’
‘Because they were defenceless women?’
‘Because war is war and a general should know the difference.’
He looked up expectantly as she reached the end of the bookshelf. At the edge of the sealed cabinet, she seemed to lose interest and wandered back to where he was seated.
‘Your tea is getting cold.’ She lifted the teapot, her sleeve pulled back gracefully, balancing a finger over the lid to steady it. ‘Do you know that there is an art to doing this? In Luoyang, rich noblemen would pay to sit and have tea poured for them.’
His fingers brushed momentarily against hers as he took the cup from her. The touch should have been insignificant after all they’d done together, but the sensuality of it