The Phoenix Bells by Kathryn Ptacek

Author:Kathryn Ptacek [Ptacek, Kathryn]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: dragons, fantasy, paranormal, urban
Amazon: B00MKNXLUG
Publisher: Crossroad Press
Published: 2014-08-09T00:00:00+00:00

“Well, now you’ve done it,” Soong grumbled as he watched the boy disappear into the distance. “That boy’s gone and run off scared witless. You should have let me handle it.” He glared at the young emperor, as if he could be trusted to do nothing right.

“Nonsense, General,” Ty-Sun replied frostily. “I know perfectly well what I am doing. That boy is obeying my bidding and has simply gone to inform his monarch of my desire for a meeting.”

“You hope.”

“I know.”

“Gentlemen, gentlemen,” said Fray Villadiego easily. He smiled.

Soong glared at the priest. After the storm and subsequent attack by pirates, the two remaining vessels had put into a French port for repairs. Those had taken far longer than Soong had anticipated, and with each passing day he chafed at the delay. He knew though, too, that no one aboard The Water Dragon or The Phoenix was prepared to sail yet and so they had rested and taken on fresh stores, and in that time Soong had begun teaching English to Ty-Sun. The latter was fairly good at learning new languages, but the lessons had not gone well.

Ty-Sun, who seemed to recover quickly from his exhausting ordeal, had continually complained about the illogic of the language’s construction, as well as its spelling, while both Soong and Fray Villadiego, who spoke English fluently, explained that this was simply the way the language had developed. Ty-Sun threw up his hands in disgust, but was finally persuaded by Spring Rain to sit and learn. She had sat with them, too, so that she also might learn English, and Soong had been grateful for her presence because it quieted Ty-Sun.

A small barge sailed by, and the English sailors stared. Soong’s scowl deepened.

Minutes passed, and the sun rose higher in the sky. The fog was fast burning off. The bear yawned wide, showing his long teeth, then lay down to take a nap. Soong glared at him.

“Now what?” Soong demanded when still more minutes had elapsed and the boy hadn’t returned. People were gathering on the riverbanks and gaping at them. Soong supposed these Londoners had probably never seen anything like the two junks.

Ty-Sun spared his general an imperial glance. “Now, we wait for a messenger from the king—or perhaps even the king to arrive himself.”

“I wouldn’t hold my breath on that—I don’t think the king will come. The English aren’t ones to bow and scrape before others.”

“He should. He should be impressed that the emperor of the Land of Ten Thousand Willows has graced his uncouth land with his presence.”

Where was the reasonable emperor of the past month? It was as if by resting, Ty-Sun had regained all the conceit and bad temper he’d had back home. Soong sighed to himself.

“I’m sure he doesn’t see it that way, Your Majesty. In fact, I’m quite sure he won’t even have heard of the Garden.”

“Barbarian,” Ty-Sun said genially, and raised his hand to wave at a ship of grinning Englishmen as it passed The Water Dragon.

“Indeed,” Soong said neutrally, and they settled down to wait.

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