This time the noise was deafening. But as it faded the great doors behind Chung Hu-yan swung back and the T'ang himself entered, a troop of his elite guards behind him.
A hush fell upon the crowd.
Li Yuan came forward until he stood beside his Chancellor, looking back sternly at the big man, unintimidated by his size.
"Take him away," he said, speaking over his shoulder to the captain of the guard. "What he has said is in defiance of my written order. Is treason. Take him outside at once and execute him."
There was a hiss of disbelief. Tarrant stepped back, his face a picture of astonishment, but four of the guards were on him at once, pinning his arms behind his back. Shouting loudly, he was frog-marched past the T'ang and out through the doors.
Li Yuan turned his head slowly, looking out across the sea of faces in the hall, seeing their anger and astonishment, their fear and surprise.
"Who else will defy me?" he demanded. "Who else?"
He paused, looking about him, seeing how quiet, how docile they had become. "No. I thought not."
"This is a new age," he said, lifting his chin commandingly. "And a new age demands new rules, new ways of behaving. So do not mistake me for my father, ch'un tzu. I am Li Yuan, T'ang of City Europe. Now bow your heads."
HE WAS LIKE the sun, stepping down from the Tien Tan, the Temple of Heaven. His arms were two bright flashes of gold as he raised the imperial crown and placed it on his brow. Sunlight beat from his chest in waves as he moved from side to side, looking out across the vast mass of his subjects, who were stretched out prone before him in the temple grounds.
No one looked. Only the cameras took this in. All other eyes were cast into the dust, unworthy of the sight.
"This is a new age," Li Yuan said softly to himself. "A new time. But old are the ways of power. As old as Man himself."
One by one his servants came to him, stretched out on the steps beneath him, their heads turned to one side, the neck exposed. And on each preferred neck he trod, placing his weight there for the briefest moment before releasing them. His vassals. This time they'd learn their lesson. This time they would know whose beasts they were.
Officers and Administrators, Representatives and Company Executives, Ministers and Family Heads—all bowed before him and exposed their necks, each one acknowledging him as their Lord and Master.
Last was Tolonen. Only here did Li Yuan's reluctance take a shape, his naked sole touching the old man's neck as if he kissed it, no pressure behind the touch.
Then it was done. The brute thing made manifest to all. He was an Emperor, like the emperors of old, powerful and deadly. And afterward he saw how changed they were by this; how absolute he'd made them think his power. He almost smiled, wondering what his father would have made of this. So powerful was this ritual, so naked its meaning.
You are mine, it said, to crush beneath my heel, or raise to prominence.
The ceremony over, he dismissed all but those closest to him, holding audience in the great throne room. First to greet him there were his fellow T'ang. They climbed the marble steps to bow their heads and kiss his ring, welcoming him to their number. Last of these was Wei Feng, wearing the white of mourning. Wei's eyes were filled with tears, and when he had kissed the ring, he leaned forward to hold Li Yuan to him a moment, whispering in his ear.
Li Yuan nodded and held the old man's hands a moment, then relinquished them. "I shall," he said softly, moved deeply by the words his father's friend had uttered.
Others came, pledging loyalty in a more traditional way. And last of all his officers, led by General Tolonen.
The General knelt, unsheathing his ceremonial dagger and offering it up to his T'ang, hilt first, his eyes averted. Li Yuan took it from him and laid it across his lap.
"You served my father well, Knut. I hope you'll serve me just as well in future. But new lords need new servants. I must have a General to match my youth."
The words were a formality, for it was Tolonen who had pushed to have Ebert appointed. The old man nodded and lifted his head. "1 wish him well, Chieh Hsia. He is as a son to me. I have felt honored to have served, but now my time is done. Let another serve you as I tried to serve your father."
Li Yuan smiled, then summoned the young man forward.
Hans Ebert came toward the throne, his head bowed, his shoulders stooped, and knelt beside Tolonen. "I am yours," he said ritually, lowering his forehead to touch the step beneath the throne, once, twice, and then a third time. The sheath at his belt was empty. No mark of rank lay on his powder-blue uniform. He waited, abased and "naked" before his Lord.
"Let it begin here," said Li Yuan, speaking loudly over the heads of the kneeling officers to the gathered eminences. "My trust goes out from me and into the hands of others. So it is. So it must be. This is the chain we forge, the chain that links us all."
He looked down at the young man, speaking more softly, personally now. "Raise your head, Hans Ebert. Look up at your Lord, who is as the sun to you and from whom you have your life. Look up and take from me my trust."
Ebert raised his head. "I am ready, Chieh Hsia," he said, his voice steady, his eyes meeting those of Li Yuan unflinchingly.
"Good." Li Yuan nodded, smiling. "Then take the badge of your office."
He lifted the dagger from his lap and held it out. Ebert took it carefully, then sheathed it, curtly lowering his head once more. Then both he and Tolonen backed down the steps, their eyes averted, their heads bowed low.
THAT SAME evening they met in a room in the Purple Forbidden City—the Seven who ruled Chung Kuo. One thing remained before they went from there, one final task to set things right.
Tsu Ma stood before Li Yuan, grasping his hands firmly, meeting him eye to eye. "You're sure you want this?"
"The genotyping is conclusive. It must be done now, before the child is born. Afterward is too late."
Tsu Ma held him a moment longer, then released his hands. "So be it then. Let us all sign the special Edict."
Each signed his name and sealed it with his ring, in the old manner. Later it would be confirmed with retinal prints and ECG patterning, but for now this was sufficient.
Wei Feng was last to sign and seal the document. He turned, looking back at the new T'ang. "Good sits with ill this day, Li Yuan. I would not have thought it of her."
"Nor I," said Li Yuan, staring down at the completed Edict. And so it was done. Fei Yen was no longer his wife. The child would not inherit.
"When is the marriage to be?" Tsu Ma stood close. His voice was gentle, sympathetic.
"Tomorrow," Yuan answered, grateful for Tsu Ma's presence. "How strange that is. Tonight I lose a wife. And tomorrow ..."
"Tomorrow you gain three." Tsu Ma shook his head. "Do you know who it was, Yuan? Whose son Fei Yen is carrying?"
Li Yuan looked at him, then looked away. "That does not concern me," he said stiffly. Then, relenting, he laid his hand on Tsu Ma's arm. "It was a mistake ever to have begun with her. My father was right. I know that now. Only my blindness kept it from me."
"Then you are content?"
Li Yuan shook his head. "Content? No. But it is done."
TOLONEN turned from the screen and the image of the boy and faced the Architect.
"From what I've seen, the experience seems not to have done Ward too much harm, but what's your opinion? Is he ready for this yet, or should we delay?"
The Architect hesitated, remembering the last time, years before, when he had been questioned about the boys condition. Then it had been Berdichev, but the questions were much the same. How is the boy? Is he ready to be used? He smiled tightly, then answered Tolonen.