The Dragon Star (Realms of Shadow and Grace: Episodes 1-3 of 7)

THE THRONE - TIN-TSU

CRISP WHITE satin swished against a polished marble floor. Thin brown hands clasped before a slender waist.

"My condolences for your great sorrow, my tahn."

Tin-Tsu nodded to the young woman bowing before him.

"We both share the same sorrow, Tahneff Rin-Lahee," Tin-Tsu said. "I have lost a brother, and you a future husband. May we each find peace knowing he basks in the glorious love of Ni-Kam-Djen in the Pure Lands."

"Yes, my tahn." Rin-Lahee glanced to where Tin-Tsu's mother stood to the far side of the tahn's dressing room. The elder woman nodded nearly imperceptibly to the young woman. "You are very busy and I do not wish to abuse your precious time. I shall leave. May your ascendance be long and glorious." She paused and turned to Tin-Tsu's mother. "Thank you, Tahneff Pai-Nakee."

Rin-Lahee bowed again to Tin-Tsu and his mother and departed the room. She had come to extend her grief at his brother's passing. At the death of her intended husband. Or, just as probably, his mother wanted her to do so. He suspected the two desires to be inseparable on that point. Tin-Tsu watched her go, feeling sorry for the woman. Only twenty years old, she had been engaged to marry his brother for the past half year. The wedding had been postponed the prior month so Fan-Mutig could attend to the battle in the south. An engagement he did not return from, ending with finality his engagement to Rin-Lahee. Her father had intended to marry her off to the zhan to gain status within the palace hierarchy and to firm up support among the northern peoples for an endless war that so rarely affected them directly. Now she would likely be married off to the new zhan. Tin-Tsu assumed that to be his mother's intention in bringing Rin-Lahee to see him minutes before his coronation. She had always possessed intentions for him as a child, even if he could not discern what they might be. He did not doubt she now had intentions for him as an adult and future ruler. He assumed his former mentor, High Priest Toyan-Wen, to have been correct in predicting her desires in this particular matter.

"A beautiful girl," his mother said. She crossed the room and stood before him, adjusting the embroidered collar of his jacket.

"Yes, she will make some man a lovely wife." Tin-Tsu could not resist letting his mother know he saw through her plans.

"No need to be obvious in your disdain," his mother said.

"That is why you invited her here." Tin-Tsu grimaced as his mother adjusted his hair.

"Stop fidgeting," his mother said.

"I'm not a child." Tin-Tsu pulled away as his mother lowered her hands.

"Not in appearance, only in action." His mother crossed her arms, a gesture he recognized from childhood as being reserved for her displeasure.

"I am a priest, Mother." Tin-Tsu did not feel prepared, emotionally or logically, to defend himself against his mother's plans.

"You are a priest now. In a few hours, you will be the zhan of the Daeshen Dominion," his mother said. "The first may not wed. The second must."

"The swearing of new vows does not negate the old." Tin-Tsu sensed heat rising in his cheeks and chided himself.

His mother walked to the window, looking away from him.

"You have not seen me in many years, and you were young when you left," his mother said. "You may feel that you do not know me. That you cannot trust me."

"You are my mother." Tin-Tsu stared at the back of his mother's blue silk dress. "I trust you without question, even if I question you."

"Do you remember your grandmother?" his mother asked.