Speaking Bones by Ken Liu

Author:Ken Liu [Liu, Ken]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781982148997
Publisher: Gallery / Saga Press
Published: 2022-06-21T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

Jia reviewed her calculations again.

It’s still not enough! Tiphan Huto needs to work faster!

Based on what Wi and Shido had been able to get out of the despicable, greedy man, the goods she was smuggling into Unredeemed Dara were very much in demand, but the Lyucu simply lacked the funds to buy more than they were already buying. Reducing prices too much would arouse suspicion, so she had no choice but to hope that Gori Ruthi and Lady Ragi could negotiate a treaty that would increase the amount of tribute. The food would be helpful to the starving people of Rui and Dasu, and the gold and silver could be used by the Lyucu to buy more—

“Mistress!”

She looked up. Wi was standing in front of her, her face clouded by worry. Behind her, two Dyran Fins held the bound and gagged figure of Zomi Kidosu.

Her heart skipped a beat. But the surprise didn’t show on her face. “What happened?”

“We found her sneaking onto the next Imperial messenger airship, trying to substitute this for your orders to the emperor,” said Wi. She handed the empress a folded scroll.

Jia opened it and read over the dense logograms. Then she put the scroll down and looked at Zomi.

“Ungag her.”

The empress and the Farsight Secretary stared at each other.

“You’re very clever,” began Jia. “Perhaps too clever. You have a habit of jumping—”

“I am a fool!” spat out Zomi. “I’m so naive and blind that I’ve been deceived by you not once, but twice! I should have known, after what happened to the Marshal, that you crave nothing but power, that you would stop at nothing—”

Jia waved at Shido and Zomi was gagged again.

The empress closed her eyes, trying to think.

This is all the fault of that idiot Noda Mi. Because he is a man moved by nothing but selfishness, he thinks everyone else is exactly like him. Because he is a fool with cunning and no sense, he believes himself the smartest person in the room. His little scheme has been useful to me, but to show off his “cleverness” in open court… Ugh!

I should have known that Cogo wouldn’t be the only one astute enough to decipher his clumsy riddles. But whereas Cogo has the good sense to understand that sometimes it is necessary to let people think the worst of you in order to do what must be done, Zomi is just like Phyro: Everything is black and white, with no shades of gray.

But how can I blame her? Cogo trusts that I am working toward mutagé; she does not.

To think that I, of all people, have to depend on trust in the end… How the gods love to play with us.

“What else does she know?” Jia asked Wi.

Wi shook her head. “We didn’t get to interrogate her.”

“Do you know about the secret tribute being paid to the Lyucu via Tiphan Huto?”

Zomi’s eyes widened at this.

“I guess not,” said Jia. How ironic, since the berries share your name here in Dara.

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