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

THE THRONE - TIN-TSU

They walked in silence for a time. With each step along the stone-lined path through manicured trees, trimmed lawns, and geometrically arranged rows of flowers competing in color, he noticed her mood shift, her body tense, her palm upon the top of his hand dampen.

"It is a strange time to live such strange lives." Rin-Lahee watched a hummingbird buzz around the flowers of a rose bush.

"A monastery priest made zhan in the span of weeks. A young tahneff from the provinces set to marry one zhan suddenly marrying his brother. Strange times indeed." Tin-Tsu observed one of the dragonflies alight upon the shoulder of Rin-Lahee's embroidered silk robe, apparently mistaking the flowery curves of red and yellow for some natural bloom. Unsatisfied with what it found, the insect departed in a blur of tiny wings.

"I meant more the events beyond our own personal lives." Rin-Lahee frowned, seeming uncertain how to proceed. "I mean that we have seen, as you say, the protection of our god, The True God, Ni-Kam-Djen, but we have also seen things that openly contradict his power throughout the dominion and the realm. The dreams. The star. This prophet and her pilgrims. It is confusing to try and understand what it all means. Do not you find this? Or does your faith shield you from uncertainty?"

"My faith guides me while Ni-Kam-Djen shields me." Tin-Tsu sighed, feeling the hidden weight of her question settle around his shoulders. "But I appreciate your concerns. Beyond the war, there is little else my advisers of the council discuss. They insist that I take a firmer hand with the pilgrims. That I reauthorize the militias."

"And will you?" Rin-Lahee turned to look up at him, her large eyes filled with curiosity and what he took to be supportive concern.

"I do not think it wise to command the slaughter of my own people for the loss of their faith in the face of extraordinary events." Tin-Tsu frowned. "During the First Great Dominion of the Iron Realm, zhan after zhan struggled to bring the whole population under the bough of the great tree of our faith, to have the entire realm worship The True God, Ni-Kam-Djen. In frustration, Zhan Lin Zu-Gi issued a proclamation outlawing all other faiths, imposing the worship of Ni-Kam-Djen on all people. A rebellion formed within a year, and within ten years, the First Great Dominion fell to sectarian wars. During the Second Great Dominion, Zhan Wan Tan-Wu issued a similar proclamation, giving the added enforcement of public whippings and imprisonment for those who failed to comply or who were caught with contraband texts and objects of worship. Rebellion began in months, and within five years, the Second Great Dominion had fallen to sectarian wars. Zhan Vay To-Zhee of the Third Great Dominion went further than his predecessors, fielding armed militias to search homes, destroy temples, and kill in the street those who refused to convert. His rule lasted a further nine months before the collapse of the Third Great Dominion. Each time we try to force our faith upon the various believers of the realm, it dooms our rule. Were there only two faiths to contend for dominance, it might be possible. But we see how the war with the Tanshen Dominion drags on over a schism within a single faith."

"What then will you do?" Rin-Lahee asked.

"End this war and preserve our faith in the face of an unknown force." Tin-Tsu hoped that his best efforts proved sufficient to the task. He had begun to doubt his ability to reconcile the religious and political aspects of the situation.

"Do you believe, as the priests tell us, that the dreams and the star and all the rest are products of dark seers with unholy intentions?" Rin-Lahee brushed back a fallen strand of hair, setting it expertly in place among its companions.

"I do not know." Tin-Tsu considered the question again as he had every day since the arrival of the new star weeks ago. "It is easy to proclaim your god to be The True God and all others false when no explicit action of any god announces their existence. It becomes more difficult when people across the realm share the same dream of a star that one night shines suddenly in the sky. Ni-Kam-Djen granted us a miracle at my coronation. I do not know what to make of the other events."

"If there were more than one god, what might happen if they made themselves known all at once?" Rin-Lahee blushed as she glanced away from him. "I do not intend blasphemy, but who else has a priest as her future husband to pester with theological concerns?"

"It is no blasphemy, at least not to my ears." Tin-Tsu managed a thin smile. "However, it might be best if you reserved such queries for me rather than the temple priests. As to what will happen, we must put our faith in Ni-Kam-Djen and wait to see."

"A sensible suggestion." Rin-Lahee smiled up at him.

Staring into her eyes, he wished he could feel for her what he knew a prospective husband should. What he had felt once for another. A passion that had driven him into exile and the cold walls of a mountain temple. Different walls confined him now, not as easily seen, but more constricting than ever.

Twin dragonflies darted to hover before Rin-Lahee as they walked, keeping pace with their steps. Tin-Tsu welcomed the distraction from his thoughts as they stopped to watch the multihued insects dance in the air. Rin-Lahee raised a finger toward them, and the more daring of the two lit atop her long, red, lacquered nail. She smiled at the little beast, giggling as two more dragonflies joined the first to float effortlessly around her hand.

Tin-Tsu stared in wonder and growing amazement as more dragonflies arrived — called by some unheard sound, some unseen beacon, creating a gently undulating swarm around Rin-Lahee's head. The cloud of dragonflies began to churn in a single direction, gradually aligning themselves in a pattern that Tin-Tsu recognized, a symbol that chilled his skin and quickened his breath. The dragonflies held their positions, spacing themselves out in a curving line from the one atop her finger in three spiraled arcs. Tin-Tsu had seen that spiral image before in another form in a different place — in the heretic dream that came to him each night.

"It's beautiful." Rin-Lahee marveled at the dragonfly spiral looming above her.

"Yes." Tin-Tsu reached his hand slowly toward the insects.

As Tin-Tsu held his hand near Rin-Lahee's, a cloud of black wings descended from the sky, shattering the spiral in a frenzy of motion. A small flock of hummingbirds attacked the dragonflies, jabbing at them with tiny beaks. The dragonflies darted off for the safety of the trees, the hummingbirds in urgent pursuit.

"What can it mean?" Rin-Lahee held her hand to her mouth in shock.

Tin-Tsu looked behind to see that only Tonken-Wu had noticed the aerial battle above their heads. The look on his face spoke of even greater concern than usual. Dragonflies did not fly in spirals of their own accord. Hummingbirds did not flock to attack. Invisible forces exerted their will around him. Again. A portent of something. But what?

"It is a sign," he said finally. "Of what, Icannot fathom."