As the pounding came closer, General Shao ordered, “Open the doors.”
A couple of soldiers hurried to do his bidding. Next moment a runner rushed down the corridor that led to the Great Hall, and dropped to his knees before the General’s feet.
“General Shao,” he gasped, clearly trying to retain his composure. “Signals from the smoke towers. We are under attack!”
Though the news was not entirely unexpected, Lin Mae sensed a collective intake of breath among those present, a suggestion of increased tension, of hushed anxiety. The only person who did not seem to be affected was General Shao himself. Calmly he said, “Take the prisoners to the North Tower stockade. Get them under lock and key. We have no time for this now.”
Lin Mae nodded, whereupon the General turned and bellowed, “All stations on full alert!”
As the runner raced out, continually repeating the General’s order at the top of his voice, the room suddenly burst into swift and efficient motion, everybody rushing to their posts. Although those currently manning the Wall had never faced a real attack, they had planned and trained for this moment for many years, and now that the reality was upon them, Lin Mae had no doubt that the operation would be carried out with the utmost precision and efficiency.
First, though, she had to ensure that the prisoners were put under lock and key, as the General had ordered.
“You two!” she barked. “Come with me!”
The more talkative of the two men, the insolent one, was watching the flurry of activity around him with bemusement. “What’s going on?”
“Never mind! With me! Now!” she yelled.
In the shadows of the walkway above, the man who had been avidly watching proceedings in the Great Hall glanced up fretfully, his blade-thin nose twitching, like an animal sensing danger on the air. Then, muttering darkly to himself, he slunk away, silent as a ghost.
4
The pounding of drums echoed through the vast interior complex of the Great Wall. Smoke rose in precisely controlled signals from engraved copper vats on every turret, conveying messages far and wide. The corridors rang with shouted orders, and troops rushed in all directions, heading for their stations. In the midst of this manic but rigorously rehearsed pandemonium, William and Pero, hands bound behind their backs, were being hustled towards an unknown fate.
In front of them the blue-armored woman—Lin?—was leading the way, flanked by her two captains, or lieutenants, or whatever they were. Behind them, just in front of William and Pero, was the small, neat figure of the scholarly man who had been examining their possessions, moving with such economical steps that he seemed almost to be gliding along. Behind William and Pero, at the back of the group, cutting off all hope of escape, were eight huge, heavily armed soldiers in black bear armour, their faces set like stone.
A little breathlessly, Pero called out, “Are you about to kill us, sister?” His voice was all innocence. “Two lost travellers?”
The blue-armored woman didn’t reply, didn’t even glance back at them.
Turning to William, Pero said in Spanish, “What are we doing here, my friend? Is this cold bitch walking us to the gallows?”
“I think she’d like to,” William replied, eyeing her sweep of raven-black hair, the way she moved, nimble and quick as a bird, despite her armour.
Raising his voice, Pero said sweetly, this time speaking in English, “If it’s death we’re heading for, my dear, then I need time to pray. I’m a very religious man.”
But still his words met with no response.
They turned to their left, passed through a wooden gate, and began to climb a set of steep stone steps. The steps were divided into groups of twelve, at the top of each of which was a stone landing. Gaps to their left offered them brief glimpses of different levels of the Wall, and of soldiers preparing weapons and taking up positions, readying themselves for battle.
“I know this, sister,” Pero said. “I know siege preparations when I see them. Who comes at you so hard that you need a wall like this?”
The blue-armored woman continued to lead them resolutely upward, acting as if Pero hadn’t spoken.
The ominous pounding of the drums went on and on. William was starting to lose patience with the woman’s silence. Angrily he said, “If we’re to die, what’s the harm in telling us why?” When she still failed to respond, he bellowed, “What the hell did we kill out there?”
The scholarly man turned to regard him. He had the air of a man of science examining a new and interesting species of insect. “Tao Tei,” he said. “You killed a Tao Tei scout.”
William and Pero both gaped. Until this moment they had had no idea that the man could speak English. William opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, the man spoke again. Raising his eyebrows a notch—his only concession to incredulity—he said, “You killed it. You killed it alone.”
William and Pero looked at one another. What William had done was obviously significant. But when it came down to it, the beast, though big and fearsome and full of green blood, had been nothing but a wild animal. And he had been armed. So why all the fuss?
“What is a… Tao Tei?” Pero asked.
Up ahead the blue-armored woman finally responded—but only to bark an order at the scholar in Mandarin. The little man looked affronted, and responded coldly. William didn’t need a translator to tell him that the woman had told the man not to speak to the prisoners, whereas he had clearly said something to the effect that she wasn’t his boss, and that he would do as he saw fit.
Sure enough the little man turned back to them and said, “You are correct. We are under siege. But we did not expect the attack for another nine days. Many things about your story have importance.” He puffed out his chest a little, and as though the choice was his, declared importantly, “You are not to die today!”
If he expected gratitude, he was to be disappointed. William, for one, didn’t like his use of the word “today”. If he and Pero were to be killed, he’d rather get it done quickly than live under the shadow of death for however long it might be until he was no longer considered useful.
“That’s great,” Pero said with more than a hint of sarcasm, “but can we go back to the Tao Tei? Or did I miss something?” He enunciated his words carefully. “What is a Tao Tei?”
Before the little man could respond, the blue-armored woman raised an arm and barked an order. Immediately the soldiers both at the front and back of the group came to a halt, forcing William and Pero to do the same. William looked up to see they had arrived at a large solid-looking door with a circular handle below an oversized keyhole.
“Must be the stockade,” he murmured to Pero.
From behind them, one of the Bear warriors detached himself from their eight-strong escort and marched forward, carrying a huge dusty ring of keys. William glanced at him as he strode past, and was surprised to see that beneath the fearsome black helmet molded to resemble a snarling bear’s head was the face of a young and nervous boy. In fact, now that he looked more closely, it was clear that the boy’s armour, which was snug on his muscle-bound comrades, was a little too large for him. Despite the circumstances, William almost smiled.
The young bear warrior reached the blue-armored woman and nervously pushed a key into the lock. He tried to turn it, but it didn’t turn. As he withdrew the key and began to search for the right one with trembling hands, William saw his eyes widen in panic, saw sweat begin to trickle down his face. The blue-armored woman stood motionless, glaring at him. With the din of battle preparations audible from the nearby Wall, it was clear she was eager to get this job done and enter the fray. The young bear warrior muttered what could only have been an apology, and the woman released a gasp of exasperation. She said something to her two lieutenants, and they hurried away—clearly she had been giving them leave to join the oncoming battle.