Dynasty of Shadows: The gods do not forget. by Vincent Stoia

Author:Vincent Stoia [Stoia, Vincent]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-11T00:00:00+00:00

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Blossom and Toad stood at the edge of the market and watched the chaos. They both wanted to move in for a closer look, but they restrained themselves. Walking among the vendors right now would be unwise. Blossom could imagine them dragging her into an alley and quietly slitting her throat.

Blossom’s gaze drifted over to the Gold Bird Guard with the scarred face. The ugly bastard was standing just twenty paces away. He was also watching the mayhem, the corners of his mouth turned down in disgust.

Blossom tore her gaze from the Guard, but soon she was staring at him again. That man had defied her. She had told him to confiscate Lee’s bag, and he ignored her! He knew full well that he was supposed to follow her every order. That was part of her price for giving the false testimony Zhou wanted. She was to have total authority over this undertaking. She reminded herself to get the Guard’s name before this was all over.

Toad was holding a jug of wine. He had only started on it a few moments ago but it was almost empty. He took another drink and wiped his mouth with the tunic of his sleeve. “Sister, what’re you staring at?”

“The self-righteous Guard over there.”

Toad squinted. “The scarred one? What’d he do?”

“I told him to take Lee’s bag and he refused. He let the old man go!” Even thinking about it was enough to make Blossom’s skin feel hot.

“Some people just don’t have the skill to work with others,” Toad said. Wine always made him philosophical. “What can you do?”

“I’m going to make Zhou dismiss him.”

Toad was tipping his jug back again. He stopped mid-tip and frowned. “We can’t tell him to do anything. He already paid us half the reward and this is the rest of our price.” He looked over the market and grinned. “I think it’s a fair deal. With this deadwood swept away, we’ll have a hundred new people bidding to get into the market.”

“It’s not going to end with this,” Blossom said. “Think about it. Zhou has gotten into bed with a pair of criminals.”

“You mean us.” Toad giggled.

“Yes. Us. We know he is conspiring to get Lin executed, and we can hold that secret over him for the rest of his life. Brother, we’re going to have a mandarin at our beck and call!”

Toad looked up at the sky and hashed it out. Finally his face lit up with understanding. “Right! Because we can sell him out whenever we want to.” Then the smile turned to confusion. “But if we betray him, won’t we be executed too?”

“I don’t think he would risk that kind of disgrace. Either way, you let me handle it.”

“Sure.” Toad threw back the last of his wine.

When Blossom turned back to the market, she saw a tiny figure fighting its way through the mass of bodies. Blossom squinted. Her eyesight was poor, but even at this distance she recognized the figure as Yu Shuan. The old woman was carrying a giant bundle in her arms, and she was coming right toward Blossom.

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