Tales of the Celestial Kingdom by Sue Lynn Tan

Author:Sue Lynn Tan [Sue Lynn Tan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2024-01-30T17:00:00+00:00

A tale of Heart of the Sun Warrior, in which Shuxiao undertakes a quest to rescue the captive Celestials.

General Mengqi and I flew in silence upon our cloud, the other soldiers following behind us. They were the “demons” I had feared and dreaded from the tales, but they did not seem markedly different from other immortals. Just more arrogant and unpleasant, I decided, my irritation at the general’s earlier condescension unappeased.

“To clear up any doubt, I will be in command of this undertaking,” General Mengqi announced in a lofty tone, without troubling herself to meet my eye.

I pulled myself up, annoyed that she was taller than me. “You are not. I know the Jade Palace, where the hostages are being held. I’ll lead the quest.” My good sense protested that I was fighting for command out of spite when I typically shied from such things. The burdens of prestige were often not worth their weight. Still, I had volunteered for this task, it was my people that we were rescuing, and I would not wholly entrust their fates to those who’d been our bitterest foes.

“Was your position in the Celestial Army one of worth? Why were you discharged?” she demanded. “I’ll not leave my soldiers in the hands of a stranger, much less an incompetent one.”

“You’re a poor judge of character if you rely on titles to be a good measure of competence, General.” I paused, letting my jibe sink in. “It doesn’t matter what you think. Wenzhi instructed that I would lead this. Will you disobey his command?”

“Do not refer to His Majesty so casually, you insolent Celestial,” she hissed.

“Do not attempt to defy His Majesty’s command, you witless Demon,” I flung back.

I had little respect for their king; I had not forgiven his abduction of my friend, even if his recent attempts to make amends had softened—somewhat—my harsh opinion of him. And not just mine. Xingyin might not realize it, but her struggle to hold on to past grudges was apparent, as was her gradual shift of heart toward the newly crowned king of the Cloud Wall. While it hurt Prince Liwei, whom I bore great respect for, my loyalties were first and foremost to her.

General Mengqi’s eyes thinned as she stepped toward me. She moved with a poise and assurance that I would have found attractive in another, except everything about her seemed to rouse my ire. Maybe it was instinct, the wisdom of my inner eye.

“Enough with this childish bickering,” she declared, as if she had not started it with her rudeness. “We will lead this together, but do not get in my way.” She spoke coldly, enunciating each word as though I could not understand.

“My dear general,” I replied with biting sarcasm. “You do not grasp what it means to work together, and you reveal your ignorance with every utterance. We will most definitely get in each other’s way unless you adopt a more collaborative attitude.”

“How dare you question my attitude?” she snapped. “It is my soldiers’ lives at stake, for I couldn’t care less about you Celestials.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.