Karr sighed heavily. He was a soldier, a fighter - bred from the cradle to be a fighter - yet these past ten years had given him a taste for peace. He had seen his family grow and had been glad not to be away from them any more than was necessary. In the past he had spent months, often years at a stretch, away from them, fighting for his T'ang. When he thought of doing that again . . .
"Achh," he said quietly, speaking to himself. "What is the madwoman doing! Why can't she leave things be?"
But he knew the reasons why. It was because what she had was no longer enough for her. She had grown tired of ruling such a tiny piece of land. Like endless kings and queens before her, she wanted more, as much as she could grab, and to hell with the consequences. It was of no concern to her how many died in the achievement.
Power, it seemed, was an addiction. It ate one from within. And Pei K'ung had been hollowed. One had only to look at her.
He heard footfalls in the corridor outside and looked up.
"Daddy?"
"But I thought . . ." He sat forward, then laughed and clapped his hands in delight as the four of them trooped into the room, their silk and satin dresses swishing against the walls and the polished wooden floor. "Why, they're beautiful, my darlings! I'll be the proudest father ever when I lead you out between the pillars in the T'ang's Great Hall tomorrow night."
He stood, admiring them. It was true. They looked quite stunning. And though their powder-blue satin dresses reminded him a little of the groups of officials he saw waiting in the T'ang's reception rooms from time to time, no official had ever looked so radiant, so beautiful as the four of them looked at that moment.
"Hannah, Lily . . . what have you done to your hair, you two?"
"You like it?" Hannah, the second eldest answered, rushing across to him. "Lily did it for me. It's the latest fashion at Court," she said. "All the great ladies wear their hair like this."
He smiled and reached out to touch it. "It's very nice. Very adult."
"Why thank you, kind sir," she said, and bobbed a curtsey. Behind her, the other three did the same.
He laughed again, enjoying himself. "And you know what to say when I present you, I hope."
Marie, standing just behind them, laughed. "They've practised it endlessly, Gregor. Why, if I hear it one more time!"
Little Beth made to open her mouth, but Hannah, seeing it, placed a hand over it.
"Hey!" Beth said, struggling, then gave her elder sister a thump.
"Now, you two!" Marie said, moving between them to break it up. "Best behaviour, or the T'ang will be cross with you!"
"Well, she started it," Beth said, glowering up at her sister.
Karr sighed. Even their squabbles were a delight to him. "Here," he said, putting out an arm to Beth once more. Yet even as he did, the door chime sounded.
"Are you expecting anyone?" he asked, looking to Marie.
She shook her head. "You want me to get it?"
"No, I'll go." He stood and, patting Beth's head, moved between them. "You look wonderful," he said, smiling at each in turn. "You really do."
The front door to their apartment was half wood, half glass, in the new style. Through the coloured glass panels he could see the shadow of a figure. Upright, soldierly.
What now? he wondered, slipping the latch and pulling the door open wide.
"Marshal!" The soldier - a Captain of I Ye's elite force, his uniform the bottle green of the West Palace - snapped to attention and bowed his head smartly.
He looked out past the man, noting at a glance that his own guards were still at their positions in the hallway, then looked back at the waiting officer.
"Well, Captain? This had better be good. If your Colonel wanted me, he should have sent you to my office, not my home."
"Forgive me, Marshal," the Captain said, keeping his head bowed, daunted as much by Karfs sheer size as by his rank. "I... I..."
Unexpectedly, Karr laughed. "Damn it, man. Spit it out! I've four young women in there want my attention!"
The Captain's head came up, surprised.
"My daughters," Karr explained, and noted how the man's face changed. He had clearly misunderstood what his Marshal had meant. "Now get on with it."
"Sir!" The Captain fumbled in his tunic, then produced a sealed letter. Coming to attention again, he presented it stiffly, a colour now at his neck. Despite himself, Karr found he rather liked the man. At least he wasn't the usual arrogant arsehole one found doing I Ye's bidding. Karr took the letter and, breaking the seal with his thumbnail, flipped it open.
It was from Pei K'ung. He was to go to her at once. Karr looked up at the young officer.
"Have I time to dress?"
"I. . ." The colour at his neck deepened. "Of course, Marshal. I am instructed by Colonel I to accompany you."
"Very well. Wait there. I'll be but a minute."
Karr returned inside, closing the door behind him. Marie was standing at the end of the hall, staring at him.
"What is it?" she asked, as if she already understood.
"I have been summoned," he said quietly, knowing that there could be only one reason why Pei K'ung would summon him so urgently. "I am to see the Empress straight away."
Pei K'ung came directly to the point.
"I have a job for you, Marshal Karr - a very important job. I want you to be my envoy."
"Mistress?" His eyes went to I Ye and Ming Ai who stood to the right just behind the Empress, but there was no sign in either of their faces. If anything, both looked a touch unhappy.
"It has been decided that there is to be a campaign," she continued. "A campaign to reunify the hereditary lands. You, as Marshal, shall of course be given the command of that campaign. However, in the present circumstances, matters are far from simple. We cannot simply send out an army. There must be careful planning. Yes, and negotiations."
"Negotiations, Mistress?"
The smile she gave him was not because she liked him -Karr knew better than to think she had changed overnight in that regard - but for some intellectual puzzle she had solved. "Negotiations," she repeated. "With Hu Wang-chih and Mao Tun."
He stared at her, astonished. "But Mistress, those men are bandits!"
"Warlords," she said, giving the word a degree of dignity she did not normally accord it. "And two of the most important Warlords in West Asia. If we can convince them to become our allies . . ."
She stopped, staring at him harshly. "Have you a problem, Marshal Karr?"
He lowered his head, then, steeling himself to speak, nodded. "I have indeed, Mistress. For several years I have been instructed to undermine these men, to weaken them and take every opportunity to strike at them. Now, overnight, it seems, we are to embrace them and call them our friends. May I ask why?"
She spoke to him as she might to a small child who did not understand a simple truth. "Because, Marshal Karr, it will make things easier for us. Word is that there is a defensive alliance between the nine Western Warlords - that should we attack any single Warlord, the rest would come to his aid. If that is so - and there is no reason to doubt that it is so - then we might find ourselves getting bogged down in a long and expensive campaign. Any short-term benefits would dissolve. There would be trouble here in the City - discontent, maybe even revolution - and we cannot afford to risk that, can we, Marshal Karr?"
"Maybe not," he admitted grudgingly. "Yet why should Hu Wang-chih and Mao Tun join us? I would say they had every possible incentive not to ally with us. We killed Hu's son, burned down Mao's palace."
Pei K'ung stepped closer, looking up into Karr's face, her own as hard as iron. "Because, Marshal Karr, you will offer Hu Wang-chih and Mao-tun the rank of Minor Prince. The Twenty-Nine will be extended to include their families, and they will be allowed to rule their present territories as vassals of the T'ang. In return they will help us against their neighbours."