The Sudarshana
565 Words
The Sudarshana
Feng Zhudai paced the length of his room, his lean body stiff with barely-controlled anger as he stalked back and forth. The aura of his fury filled the small, stark space. The servant who had sought him out knelt on the floor and dared to clear his throat to remind the sorcerer of his presence. Zhudai stopped, sliding slender hands into the long sleeves of his black silk robe. Staring out a window, he ignored the exquisitely trimmed and tamed garden outside.
Surrounded by the opulence and extravagance of the Emperor’s Palace in Xijing, Zhudai chose to decorate his suite with nothing more than a large calligraphy painted on red silk, a low, black table and a sleeping mat. The walls were bare and the floors just well-scrubbed wood. He did it deliberately, knowing that his severity made the fat, overindulged servants of Emperor Han Zhangdi uncomfortable. They were frightened of him. Even the military men, lead by General Ban Chao, hesitated to come into the presence of the Emperor’s Advisor.
He spun to face his cowering manservant, scowling. “And you say that after he arrived from Luoyang, the Emperor met with Ban Chao for two hours this morning?”
The servant nodded, bowing until his nose touched the floor.
Zhudai paced again. “That man is getting above himself,” he muttered. “It might be time for a change of scenery for the General.” Annoyed he had spoken unwisely in front of a servant, he waved an impatient hand at the cringing man. “I want you to track the General at all times. I want to know everything he says and does. You will be rewarded handsomely. Present yourself to my secretary at once and tell him so. Do you understand?”
Visibly relieved, the servant nodded and bowed himself out backwards.
Zhudai frowned again, tapping long-nailed fingers on the sleeve of his robe. Perhaps it was time to have another chat with Baiyu. His childhood friend had once been close to the General and had been a Royal Tutor to the young Emperor. Perhaps he could be persuaded to give some insight into what Ban Chao was planning with the Emperor.
He had been away too long. Trying to prevent the otherworld travellers from reaching this land had delayed his plans. His absence from the Emperor’s capital in Luoyang gave Ban Chao a chance to worm his way into the Emperor’s affections. Zhang was only twenty-four years old: a mere boy besotted with his Consort, the new Empress Dou; still mourning the death of his mother, the Empress Dowager Ma; and not wise enough to choose his advisors carefully. He needed to be reminded to whose words he should be listening. General Ban Chao, and possibly the young Empress, might just have to be removed before the ri shi.
Smiling, Zhudai let the thought of that day calm him. Yes. On the day of the ri shi, all would be finished. The outworlders lured here by Baiyu’s pathetic attempt at magic would be too late and too weak to rescue Baiyu. By now they were stuck somewhere in India – where he had personally supervised the beginnings of a war between two kingdoms in their path. His agents were well paid to ensure the four interlopers would never make it through another portal. So, with Baiyu safely locked away and the General and Empress removed, there would be no-one to oppose Zhudai’s ascendancy into immortality…
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