The Masked City

Thank god, I haven’t done anything too far wrong - yet. ‘Your majesty,’ she answered, her voice as firm as she could make it, ‘I am grateful for your kindness. I apologize that I have no suitable gift.’ She felt a stab of apprehension. After all, gifts were expected on State visits.

Ao Shun inclined his head. ‘I understand that you have come in haste, and I place concern for my nephew’s wellbeing above any number of gifts.’

Irene could take a hint to get to the point. ‘I have already told - ‘ What honorific should she use? Well, he was a king’s personal assistant. ‘ - Lord Tsuuran what I know. I may be entirely wrong, your majesty, and if so I apologize humbly. But I could not risk the possibility that the note was a fake, and that I was leaving Kai in danger.’

Ao Shun gestured for her to continue, and Irene quickly ran through the day’s events.

He nodded as she drew to a close. ‘I see. And your own connection with my nephew is a discreet one, perhaps?’

Irene blinked, and the floor seemed a wonderful thing to examine at this precise moment. Discussing her ‘relationship’ with Kai, with his terrifying and inhuman uncle, was going to be very difficult. But he’s surely not going to have me thrown out for debauching Kai - is he? Especially since I haven’t debauched him. I have gone to great effort not to debauch him. But her cheeks had flushed red, and she could guess how that would look. She had to say something. ‘We do share lodgings, your majesty, but, as you say, we are discreet.’

‘Mnh.’ The noise was non-committal. It wasn’t aggressive, though. Irene tentatively relaxed for a moment, and hoped she hadn’t committed herself to a lifelong relationship.

‘Might I ask the names and family lines of your parents?’ Ao Shun enquired.

‘My parents are both Librarians, your majesty,’ she answered. Ao Shun’s eyes abruptly slitted, and she felt something go cold in her stomach. Had she said the wrong thing? ‘My mother’s chosen name is Raziel, and my father is Liu Xiang.’ A mythical name for the Angel of Mysteries taken from one alternate, and a historical name from another alternate, chosen after the first cataloguer of Han China’s Imperial Library; Librarians couldn’t resist a meaningful pseudonym. ‘They have never told me what their names were before they joined the Library.’

‘You must forgive my surprise,’ Ao Shun said. It hadn’t looked like surprise so much as cold alertness, but Irene definitely preferred it to have been surprise. ‘I had not been aware that those sworn to the Library took partners and sired children. I had been told your devotion to your duty came above all other things.’

Irene could feel a blush crawling over her face again. ‘Your majesty, it’s because of them that I became a Librarian myself. I have always admired their work.’

Ao Shun nodded slowly. She still couldn’t read his expressions, and she wished that he was in fully human form like Kai. ‘In that case, you follow a proper course of action in continuing to serve your Library.’

She heard the door whisper open and close again behind her, and Ao Shun addressed Tsuuran. ‘You have the pictures, Li Ming?’

‘Yes,’ Tsuuran - or should that be Li Ming? - said. Irene turned slightly, enough to see him standing to one side. He was holding a thin tablet whose screen glowed faintly in the dark room.

‘Irene,’ Ao Shun said, addressing her once again. It seemed strange to hear her personal name from him. Perhaps it was because his voice reminded her of Kai, and that made her uncomfortable. ‘Two individuals have been seen observing my territory in this world. It would ease my mind if you could tell me that you had not seen them.’ There was something patronizing about his attitude now, even considering his regal aloofness. Does he really believe me that Kai is in danger? She felt a spike of impatience twinned with dread - Kai could be in so much danger right now, while she chatted with his family.

The tablet showed two separate photographs. On the right, a woman, standing. Her long dark hair was clipped back at the base of her neck, and fell over one shoulder in loose waves. She had a pleasant smile, with just the faintest touch of reserve in her eyes that made the smile look genuine rather than forced. A navy blazer was slung over one shoulder. Under it she wore a white sleeveless top and a pair of navy cropped trousers. The backdrop was the dock of an old port or fishing village. Thin white cotton gloves covered her hands, going up her arms to her elbows.

On the left she saw a man, seated, a cigar in one gloved hand. He sat at a table in a restaurant - and a very expensive restaurant, by the look of the decor. He was neatly bearded, with a moustache that framed his mouth. Iron-grey hair receded from his forehead in a widow’s peak, and well-defined eyebrows hooded his eyes. His clothing seemed as expensive as the setting: a business suit and silk tie.

Irene frowned. ‘I don’t recognize either of them,’ she said. ‘And I’m sure that I’d remember them, if I’d seen them. But the reports of Kai’s kidnapping mentioned a bearded man …’

‘Are you sure?’ Ao Shun asked, leaning forward. ‘They might have been disguised in some way.’

Irene shook her head. ‘I’m sorry, but they’re not familiar. But wait, please.’ She hesitated. ‘There was an attack on myself and Kai a couple of nights ago, a petty brawl when we were returning home, late.’ She paused, and Ao Shun nodded for her to continue. ‘They were just thugs, not a serious threat at all. They said that they had been hired by a woman in a local pub. At the time I thought there might have been someone watching from the roof above - but then I supposed it had merely been my imagination …’ She realized that she was in danger of babbling nervously, and shut her mouth.