This is a mini-prologue of sorts, a tidied-up version of a scene I originally wrote (and posted) years ago. Enjoy!<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
The Vermilion Empire has endured for hundreds of years.<\/em><\/p>\n But now, its neighbours grow restive, its servants corrupt.<\/em><\/p>\n The emperor lies dying. He has no heir.<\/em><\/p>\n There is one man, Governor Kho, acceptable to all.<\/em><\/p>\n If anything should happen to him…<\/em><\/p>\n The Scholar Tian Kizo<\/span><\/p>\n Tian Kizo met the spirit in a phantasmal desert, under a blazing hot sun. Around them lay the ruins of battle: swords and bows and guns, discarded shirts of mail. Kizo reeled: from the heat, from tension and excitement, from the vision he had just seen. Then the spirit spoke, and he focused.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen my story,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the spirit \u00e2\u20ac\u201d Artorius, that was his name \u00e2\u20ac\u201d said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Your turn. What do you want of me?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Justice.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d For all Kizo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s rehearsal, all his careful thought, the words came tumbling out. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153My son is dead. Murdered. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m no warrior \u00e2\u20ac\u201d but you are.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You have no magistrates in your empire?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Hah!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It was a short, bitter laugh. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153None who would arrest the greatest power in the land.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ah.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d That was all Artorius said. He folded one arm across his chest, the fingers of the other tapping on the hilt of his sword.<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Please. Help me.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Kizo could hear the desperation in his voice. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You ended your mortal days when you were betrayed. Murdered. Your wife, too. You must know how I feel. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t you want to deliver justice?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Justice.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Artorius stretched out the word. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153At what price? The world is not a fairy tale.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If it were, my son would be alive!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n Artorius held up a hand. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Listen to me. What will happen if I kill your empire\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s greatest lord?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n Kizo breathed deeply. He had to stay calm, convince the spirit with his logic. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I have a plan. I can summon another spirit \u00e2\u20ac\u201d the Phoenix Prince, the founder of the empire. No matter if this, this man dies \u00e2\u20ac\u201d the people can rally to the Prince.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n Artorius gazed into the distance. Kizo felt sick. He could not tell what Artorius was thinking, not under that hard veteran\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mask. This was his best chance, his only chance. To lose it now\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The world is not a fairy tale,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Artorius repeated. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be damned if I make it worse. All right, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll help you. And the name of this man I should kill?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n Let Kizo never again look forward so much to another man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Governor Kho.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is a mini-prologue of sorts, a tidied-up version of a scene I originally wrote (and posted) years ago. Enjoy! *** The Vermilion Empire has endured for hundreds of years. But now, its neighbours grow restive, its servants corrupt. The emperor lies dying. He has no heir. There is one man, Governor Kho, acceptable to … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"iawp_total_views":2,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-snippets","category-worldbuilding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.petersahui.com\/fiction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.petersahui.com\/fiction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.petersahui.com\/fiction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.petersahui.com\/fiction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.petersahui.com\/fiction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.petersahui.com\/fiction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.petersahui.com\/fiction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.petersahui.com\/fiction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.petersahui.com\/fiction\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}