THE DRAGON'S RETURN

The Merchant's Gate

A single guard stood between them and the path to the Emperor's palace.

The rain fell in thin, icy needles, washing the soot from the cobblestones of the capital city. Chen Lan pulled his heavy hood low, trying to hide the shock of white hair that now framed his face. His left arm was wrapped tight in a plain cotton sling, but beneath the cloth, the scales were cold as winter stones. Beside him, Ruo Xi was pushing a wooden cart piled high with rotting cabbages, her head down and her face smeared with black grease.

"Keep your head down and do not look him in the eye," Ruo Xi whispered, her voice barely carrying over the rattle of the wooden wheels. "If he asks for your papers, let me do the talking."

"My bones feel like glass, Ruo Xi," Chen Lan muttered back, his breath coming in shallow, ragged gasps. "The cold is getting into my chest."

"Just five more yards," she hissed, her hands gripping the wooden handles of the cart. "Do not fall apart on me now."

"Hold it right there," the guard called out, stepping from his dry wooden shack. He held a long iron spear, the tip glittering in the wet lanterns of the gate. "The lower market closed an hour ago. No more deliveries to the palace kitchens."

Ruo Xi stopped the cart, offering a wide, toothy smile that looked completely out of place on her grease-stained face. "Oh, please, generous sir. We had a broken axle on the south road. If we do not deliver these greens tonight, the head chef will have our skins."

"The kitchens do not take rotten food," the guard said, using his spear to poke at a soft, brown cabbage. "These belong in the ditch, not the royal pots."

"They are for the hogs, sir," Ruo Xi lied smoothly, leaning closer and lowering her voice. "And we have a small token for the keeper of the gate who helps us speed our journey."

She slid her hand into her pocket, bringing out a single, heavy silver coin. She let it catch the lantern light before sliding it toward the guard's wet glove.

The guard looked at the silver, his eyes narrowing. "You have a lot of coin for a cabbage girl."

"My father was a merchant before the soldiers burned our barn," Ruo Xi said, her voice dropping into a sad, quiet tone. "This is the last piece we have. We just want to finish our work and find a dry place to sleep."

The guard looked at her, then turned his eyes to Chen Lan. "And what is wrong with him? Why is he shivering like a wet dog?"

"He has the shaking fever, sir," Ruo Xi said quickly, stepping between them. "It is not the coughing kind, I promise. Just the cold in his joints. He is my uncle. He is a bit slow in the head, but he can still push a cart."

"He looks like he is about to drop dead," the guard said, reaching out with his hand to pull Chen Lan's hood back. "Let me see his face."

Chen Lan felt a jolt of pure panic. If the guard saw his golden eye, or the white hair on such a young face, they were finished. He squeezed his eyes shut, pretending to cough violently, leaning his weight against the wooden cart.

"Please, sir, do not get too close," Ruo Xi warned, grabbing the guard's sleeve with a look of fake terror. "The doctor said the fever can jump if you touch his skin. We only want to pass."

The guard pulled his hand back quickly, wiping his glove on his trousers. "Get him out of here. If he dies on the palace path, I will find you and throw you in the river."

"Thank you, kind sir," Ruo Xi said, bowing low. "Bless your household."

She grabbed the handles of the cart and pushed hard, her boots slipping on the wet stones. Chen Lan leaned his weight against the back of the wooden frame, his boots dragging as they passed beneath the heavy iron portcullis. The air inside the palace walls felt different. It was warm, thick with the smell of burning pine wood and sweet incense.

"That was too close," Chen Lan whispered, his teeth chattering.

"It is going to get worse," Ruo Xi said, guiding the cart into a dark alleyway between two high stone buildings. "The lower guard is easy to buy. The inner circle answers only to the Inquisitors. We cannot use silver there."

"Then how do we get inside the vault?" Chen Lan asked, sinking down against a wet brick wall.

"We use the service drains," Ruo Xi said, pulling the glowing brass sphere from her satchel. "The map says the water from the royal baths flows directly past the treasury doors. It is hot, dirty, and it smells like old soap, but it has no guards."

"And the keys?" Chen Lan asked, pointing to the sphere. "We only have one."

"The vault has three locks," Ruo Xi said, her face grim. "But they are all linked. If we place this sphere in the central slot, the other two locks will release for three minutes. We have to be fast."

"Three minutes to get the blade and get out," Chen Lan said, looking at his hand. The skin was so thin he could see the blue veins pulsing beneath. "I do not think I can run, Ruo Xi."

"You do not have to run," she said, kneeling in front of him and taking his hand. "You just have to stand. When we find the blade, the magic will stabilize your bond. You will get your strength back."

"And if the myth is wrong?" Chen Lan asked, his golden eye flickering in the dark. "If the blade is just a piece of cold metal?"

"Then we die in the dark," Ruo Xi said, her voice unusually soft. "But we die together. That is better than waiting for the fever to take you."

Chen Lan looked at her dirty, determined face. "You are a very strange thief, Ruo Xi."

"I told you, I am a recovery specialist," she said with a faint smile. "Now, help me lift this iron grate. The drain is right below us."

They worked together, their fingers slipping on the wet iron bar. With a dull groan, the heavy circular lid came free, revealing a black, steaming hole that roared with the sound of rushing water.

"After you, uncle," Ruo Xi said, gesturing into the dark.

Chen Lan took a deep breath, tasting the hot, soapy steam, and let himself slide down into the blackness below.