"How deep is this feeling?"
Tsu Ma considered a moment, then leaned toward Li Yuan. "Deep, Cousin. Deep enough to trouble me." He looked past the younger man, out beyond the window glass, seeing how the space between the bowl of hills was plugged with the white of the City's walls. "They would do away with certain restraints." He stretched his long neck, lifting his chin, then looked directly at Li Yuan. "You'll see. This afternoon. . ."
The early afternoon sunlight fell across Li Yuan's arm and shoulder. "It is the illness of our time. Change and the desire for change. But I had not thought—" Yuan smiled and broke off, seeing Chi Hsing, the T'ang of the Australias, approach.
The two men nodded, acknowledging the newcomer.
"Are you not eating, cousins?" Chi Hsing smiled and turned, summoning the waiters, then turned back. "Before we resume, there is a matter I must raise with you. A change has been proposed to the scheduled itinerary."
"A change?" Li Yuan said, raising his eyebrows slightly, but heavily emphasising the word. Beside him Tsu Ma kept his amusement to himself, staring back masklike at his fellow T'ang.
Chi Hsing was known for neither his intelligence nor his subtlety. In that regard he was much more his mother's child than his father's. He was a father now himself, of course. Two young sons, the eldest barely two years old, had blessed his first marriage, changing him considerably. He was less rash now than he'd been, and though he had secretly applauded Li Yuan's purge of the Ping Tioo, he also had misgivings about such actions. He feared for his sons, remembering what had happened in the War with the Dispersionists. Vengeance was fine, but now he wished only for peace.
Peace. So that he might see his sons grow to be men. Strong, fine men, as his father had been.
"Wang Sau-leyan has made a request," he began, his eyes searching both their faces. "And there are others here who wish to speak on the matter." His eyes grew still, focused on Li Yuan.
"Go on, Cousin."
Chi Hsing bowed his head slightly. "He wishes to discuss the arrests. The action you took in league with Wu Shih against the Young Sons."
It was clear, by the way Chi Hsing stood there, that he expected Li Yuan to refuse. Indeed, it was within Li Yuan's rights to refuse Wang's request, as his father had done once before. But Li Yuan only smiled politely.
"I have no objection to that. Do you, Tsu Ma?"
"Not I."
Li Yuan reached out and touched Chi Hsing's shoulder. "It is best, after all, if these things are aired between us. In the open."
Chi Hsing nodded, still hesitant, as if he expected Li Yuan to change his mind at any moment. Then, realizing he had achieved his end, he smiled.
"Good. That's very good, Li Yuan. As you say, it is best. In the open." He nodded again, this time decisively, then turned and went across to where Wang Sau-leyan and their host, Hou Tung-po, T'ang of South America, were standing. Wang listened a moment, then looked across at Li Yuan, bowing his head slightly.
"In the open," said Tsu Ma beneath his breath. "You're like your father, Yuan. Devious."
Li Yuan turned, surprised, then laughed, seeing the humor beneath the surface of Tsu Ma's words. "Words are words, Tsu Ma. We must bend and shape them to our needs."
Tsu Ma nodded, pleased with that. "So it is in these troubled times, Cousin. But history shall judge us by our actions."
wang sau-leyan was leaning forward in his seat, his hands folded in his lap, his big moon face looking from one to another as he spoke. He seemed calm, relaxed, his voice soft and deep, persuasive in its tones. Thus far he had said little that had not been said before, but now he turned the conversation.
"In this room, as in the rooms of the Twenty-Nine and the mansions of the Supernal, there are those who are questioning recent events. Some with anger, some with sadness and misgivings. Others fearfully, remembering things not long past. But every last one of them is concerned, wondering where it will stop. For myself, I believe it has already gone too far."
Wu Shih made to interrupt, but Wang raised his hand. "You will have your say, Wu Shih, and 1 shall listen. But first hear me out. This must be said, before it is too late for words."
Tsu Ma reached into the pocket of his jacket and took out a slender silver case. "Then talk, Cousin. Let us hear what you have to say."
There was an unconcealed hostility in the words that surprised Li Yuan. He watched Tsu Ma take a cheroot from the case, close it, and slip it back into his pocket.
"Thank you, Cousin," said Wang, watching the older man light the cheroot and draw the first breath from it. He smiled tightly, then let his face fall blank again. "As I said, there is anger and sadness and a great deal of fear. Unhealthy symptoms. Signs of a deep and bitter hostility toward us."
Wu Shih grunted indignantly, but kept his silence. His cheeks burned red and his eyes bored into the side of Wang's softly rounded face.
"We have sown a harvest of discontent," Wang went on. "1 say we, because this affects us all. And yet I hesitate to use that plural, because it suggests consensus on our part. Suggests a commonly agreed-upon set of actions, discussed and debated here, in Council, as has always been our way." He paused and looked about him, shaking his head. "Instead I wake to find the world a different place from when I slept. And myself every bit as surprised as those who came begging audience, saying, 'Why is my son arrested?' "
In the chair beside him, Hou Tung-po nodded his head vigorously. "So it was for me. I was not notified, Li Yuan. Not consulted before you and Wu Shih acted. A poor choice was left to me—to seem a scoundrel or look a fool. Relations are bad between us and the Above. As bad as at any time during the last ten years. We must act to defuse this situation before it gets out of hand. We must make some gesture to placate the Above."
There was a moment's silence, then Li Yuan spoke, his anger at Wang Sau-leyan's criticism barely contained.
"When a man saves his brother's life, does he say first, 'Excuse me, brother, I would save your life, is that all right with you?' No, he acts, pushing his brother aside, out of the way of the falling rock. He acts! I make no apologies for my actions. Nor for the lack of consultation. Surprise was a necessity. I could not risk informing anyone."
He stood, going to the center of their informal circle, looking down at Wang Sau-leyan.
"Perhaps you relish death, Cousin Wang. For myself I would grow old in peace, no dagger to my throat."
Wang laughed; a short, bitter laugh. "Oh yes, Li Yuan, you act like one destined to live long. For while your enemies multiply, your friends diminish."
Li Yuan smiled back at him tightly. "So it is in this world. But it is better to trust one's friends and know one's enemies. Better to act than to prevaricate."
Wang Sau-leyan glared back at Li Yuan, infuriated by his words, all pretense of calm gone from him. "Ai yal—but must we all suffer for your rashness, Cousin? Must vx. reap what you sow? You sound like your dead brother—hotheaded!"
For a moment there was a tense silence, then Li Yuan gave a soft laugh. "Hotheaded, you say?" He shook his head. "Not so, Cousin. Not so. You ask for something to placate the Above, like a woman begging for her son's life. Has it come to that? Are we so weak we must beg for our existence? Are we not to crush what seeks to destroy us? It seems you have changed your tune, Wang Sau-leyan, for once you sought to lecture us ..."
Wang was shaking his head. "Young men, Li Yuan, that's all they are. Young men. Misguided, overenthusiastic, that's all." Wang looked beyond Li Yuan, a faint smile resting on his lips. "It would defuse things if we let them go, and in time this thing would certainly blow over."
"Blow over?" Li Yuan shook his head in disbelief. "What must they do before you see it, Cousin? Must they hold the gun to your head? This is no act of high spirits. This is revolution. Open rebellion. Don't you understand? It begins with ideas and it ends with bloodshed." He paused, then took a step closer, pointing down at'Wang. "They would kill you, Wang Sau-leyan, T'ang of Africa, and set themselves up in your place. Just as they killed your eldest brothers. Or do you forget?"