The eunuch led me along the right wall and up a step towards the high Dragoneye table, set beside the Imperial dais. The two chairs closest to the royal table were empty; the end one guarded by Ryko, the other alongside Dillon. Lady Dela had kept her promise: I would have a chance to talk to my friend. He sat in stiff-backed terror beside Lord Ido. All of the other apprentices stood behind their Dragoneye lords, ready to serve them. They bowed as I passed, eyes lowered. Their masters were not so polite. I sensed a wave of movement behind me as each Dragoneye turned in his seat to get a better look, and heard their soft words follow me down the row: too young, a danger, too late.
Lady Dela seemed to be the only one in the room at ease. She was standing by a large carved screen that was set at an angle across the corner of the room. In between the closely worked design, glimpses of dark hair, gold pins and shades of blue silk marked the positions of three ladies. The Imperial concubines currently in favour. Lady Dela was obviously bargaining with one of them for she made the sweeping hand gesture from forehead to heart that closed a deal.
She looked up as the eunuch seated me.
'Lord Eon,' she said, hurrying over, the black pearl swinging at her throat. 'How pleasant to see you again.' She dropped to one knee. 'The Prince was asking me about you just before seating, and now I see he has asked you to study with him. A most thoughtful invitation.' She flicked open her fan and, from behind its cover, showed me round eyes and raised brows. Her court smile was back in place as the fan snapped shut. 'And I believe you know Apprentice Dillon,' she continued smoothly, rising and nodding to the eunuch to pull out her chair. As she sat, Ryko
bowed and moved into his position at her shoulder, his face carefully blank.
Beside me, Dillon bent low over his clasped hands. 'Lord Eon.' I lis gaze was fixed on the floor.
'I'm glad we are sitting next to each other,' I said. 'We have a lot to talk about.'
He glanced up, a hesitant smile easing the tight fear on his face. I winked in my old way and his smile widened.
I looked past him to his master. 'Greetings, Lord Ido,' I said with a nod, pleased that my voice did not tremble.
'Lord Eon. You are very resplendent tonight,' he said smoothly 'I am honoured that His Majesty has given you the robe my family presented to him.'
I felt Lady Dela shift beside me in warning. We had rehearsed as many of Lord Ido's reactions as we could imagine before she was called to take her place at the table. I forced a smile as false as his own.
'I am doubly honoured,' I said. A robe with such a fortunate history can only bring luck to the wearer.'
He stared at me for a moment. 'As we Dragoneyes know, luck is a fragile force. It can easily turn bad in the wrong hands. Is it not so, Lord Eon?'
Murmuring my agreement, I arranged the robe to hide my shaking hands. Before me was a plate of translucent blue porcelain flanked by silver chopsticks and a soup spoon cast into the shape of a swan. A perfect frangipani floated in a matching blue fingerbowl. I focused on each piece, finding comfort in their beauty
' You are doing well,' Lady Dela said, touching my arm.
I looked over at the table of ranked courtiers opposite. 'Which one is High Lord Sethon?'
'He is not here,' Lady Dela said softly 'Gone to quell a border dispute in the east.' Her eyes flicked across to Lord Ido. 'But he will not he ignorant of tonight's events.'
A heavy thump brought sudden silence in the room. The Emperor's personal herald was pounding his staff in the middle of the floor, calling for attention.
'His Imperial Majesty will speak,' the man cried.
Immediately, we all bowed over our plates. The Heavenly Master released us with a wave of his hand.
'We are here to honour the changing of the year and with it the ascension of the Rat Dragoneye, Lord Ido, and his new apprentice, Dillon.' Everyone sat forwards to catch the thin threads of his voice. 'But it is also a celebration of a most momentous occasion. The return of the Mirror Dragon and the extraordinary ascension of a young man to Dragoneye status. Lord Eon and his Mirror Dragon are a sign to us that our rule is favoured by the gods.' He lifted a gold bowl. 'We give our thanks for such a gift.'
I stared at the silver bowl in my hand. The Emperor was making me into a sign from the gods.
A drowning man groping for a twig. And his dismissal of Lord Ido's ascension was not going to sit well with the Dragoneye.
'With thanks,' I said, blending my voice into the tail end of the reverence and wetting my lips with the wine. Beside me, Dillon drained his cup noisily, his startled eyes appearing over the rim as he realised his mistake.
'More importantly,' His Majesty continued in a stronger voice, 'the augurs tell me that the Mirror Dragon has come back to us, out of his own year of ascension, for a specific purpose.'
I looked up. His Majesty was staring at me.
'It is not a secret that my health is failing. But eighteen years ago, the land was blessed by the birth of my heir, Prince Kygo. The augurs say that the Mirror Dragon, the Dragon Dragon, has returned and chosen Lord Eon to prepare for my son's reign. Lord Eon and the Mirror Dragon are here to build a stronghold of power and good fortune for the Prince Heir.'
For a moment there was silence, and then in a ragged wave people rose to their feet and turned to me, bowing and clapping.
In shock, I met the Heavenly Master's eyes. They were glazed with the fever of belief. Or was it desperation?
What could I do? Deny the Emperor? It would be immediate death. I stared out into the blur of hands and faces. My master would know what to do. I found him still sitting, his body rigid, his face blanched. He looked up at me, and in his widened eyes I saw the same fevered belief.
Was it true, then? Had I been chosen by the Mirror Dragon to stand behind the Prince Heir?
The Emperor and my master believed it. The Imperial augurs believed it. Who was I to question them?
An empire resting on my shoulders; it was too much weight to bear.
There was one other person who had not jumped to his feet at His Majesty's announcement.
From the corner of my eye, I could see Lord Ido sitting back in his chair, watching me with a grim smile. My elevation to heavenly sign had come as no surprise or joy to him.
'His Majesty makes another bold move,' Lady Dela whispered behind the cover of her clapping hands. 'Bow to him, quickly, or we'll never eat.'
She was right — it was just another move in a game of power. Strangely reassured, I pressed my hands together and lowered my head away from the expectation in the faces in front of me. The din was suddenly stopped by the thump of the herald's staff. All attention was returned to the Emperor.
'Lord Eon will be my guest at the palace until the Mirror Dragon Hall can be rebuilt. And as part of Twelfth Day celebrations, I will be honoured to return to him and his dragon those treasures that were saved from the fire that took the hall live hundred years ago. It has been a sacred duty of this dynasty to protect the treasure of the Mirror Dragon. When my father, the Master of Ten Thousand Years, showed me the vault in our library and passed on the duty to me, he offered these words of
wisdom.' The Emperor paused for effect. 'Remember, my son, a dragon is like a tax collector: one piece of gold short, and he will hunt you for eternity'
Beside him, Prince Kygo threw back his head and laughed. Belatedly, the room broke into polite giggles, the ladies hiding their mouths behind spread fans.