A Game of Kings and Paupers 1 by Young Song

Author:Young Song [Song, Young]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-04-05T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Yim-Chun sniffed herself. Subtly, though, as she knew that the soldiers who guarded the Emperor’s antechamber watched her every movement. Even now, she could sense their tension by the way their fingers lightly tapped on the hilts of their swords, by the way they breathed and shifted from one foot onto another.

The musk of spices mixed with a garden’s worth of flowers wafted upward from the xiangbao strung onto her belt. The jade green silk pouch embroidered with gold lettering that spelled out the words “heavenly juice” stood out from the plain-off white linen of her dress. It was meant to intoxicate any and all men who happened to inhale its fragrance.

She clenched her toes, trying her best to massage them as they were squeezed in dark leather coverings two sizes too small. The powders and paint that covered her face felt like mud, clinging and drying on her. And though it had been a few years since she had experienced these… feminine delights… it felt all too familiar.

I must return to the pig-mind. To wallow. To bow. To squeal when commanded. I must return to who I am. She sighed. I have missed it.

She counted the passing of time by the pulses of pain that streaked upward from her feet and through her spine as she waited to be summoned. By the time the sound of machinery filled the antechamber and the metal door slid open, the pain had dulled from flickering flames to glowing embers. This allowed her to walk into the throne room with poise and grace. There would be no show of pain. Not now. Not before Emperor Bataar. Not if she were to regain her title and reclaim her destiny.

“Emperor Bataar, LONG MAY YOU REIGN, I present myself, Yim-Chun without Title, to you. As you have decreed,” she said as she half-curtsied and half-bowed.

Muscles, long unused, strained. However, they quickly became acclimated to her posture.

“Yim-Chun, rise and sit,” Emperor Bataar said, gesturing to a nearby chair.

“THE EMPEROR’S COMMAND. THE EMPEROR’S COMMAND. THE EMPEROR’S COMMAND,” the administrators chanted.

“LONG MAY HE REIGN,” she said, moving with flair and flourish to the chair.

She spun, waving the loose fabric of her sleeves and dress in a dance before sitting down.

“It has been a little over three years since we last spoke,” he said.

“Yes, Emperor Bataar.”

“And all this time, you were without title.”

“It is as you have commanded that fateful day, Emperor Bataar.”

“Tell me, Yim-Chun. What have you done during this time?”

“I have honed my skills in combat, defeating both Ming and Altians in unsanctioned fights, Emperor Bataar.”

“It has been reported to me that you remain undefeated, even when facing two or three opponents, even when facing two or three Altians.”

Yim-Chun spun off her seat and bowed on one knee. “It is as you have said, Emperor Bataar. I have done this in the hopes of being noticed. Of gaining enough attention to be restored to my former title.”

“You have been noticed. In fact, it is on the topic of your title that you have been summoned.

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