The Wise King of the Left reread the letter he had received. Who was this Nikola of Troy to offer him his state? And why should Bartu accept when he was the crown prince?

To say he hadn’t heard of Nikola of Troy would be a lie. The man commanded beasts taken straight of legend. Some whispered that the man was the Emerald Emperor of Atlantis, enthralled to the Emperor of China somehow.

Whatever the truth was, the man had taken Longcheng with vile magic, forcing its population to abandon it. And he heard of people refusing to eat or sleep, for in their dreams three beautiful foreign ladies waited to judge their sins.

Bartu was unaffected and so Chanyu Sagra, his father, accused him of being the source of the magic. Bartu didn’t know any magic. It was too unruly a weapon, something even the Emerald Emperor hadn’t been able to tame completely. Should this Nikola be the Emerald Emperor, then Bartu would bow his head.

He had heard of the massacres the Emerald Emperor partook in during wartime. Bartu was not a craven, he merely wanted to survive. It was said that Nikola of Troy travelled with a sizable army and that he executed General Lao for treason. The General wasn’t one of Bartu’s spies, and he very much doubted that he had been a spy at all.

Rereading the letter again, Bartu wondered what else the potential Emerald Emperor could give him. It was said he was married to a Chinese noble named Wei Caihong and a lady who went by the name of Pen. If this Nikola was the Emerald Emperor, then Pen could only be the angel Penemue. The three had many children. But also, two daughters and a sort of adopted one.

One of the daughters was spoken for by the Chinese Emperor’s son. The adopted one was to be married to Nikola’s firstborn. That left one eligible toddler. The girl was five years old, too young for Bartu.

However, Bartu had a son about her age. A boy of six years by the name of Nayan. If the Emerald Emperor wanted for Bartu to bow down, then Bartu wanted to become a part of the man’s family. For the only people who were spared during the Emerald Emperor’s reign even when they made a mistake were his family members.

A Scythian princeling, someone by the name of Thos, had been trying to get pass the mountain passes in secret and get to China. Bartu had him captured, but he had treated the eight-year-old like a guest.

Scythia was neither as big nor as rich in population as Xiongnu, but it’s many wars with Persia had made its armies formidable.

Motioning to a servant, he told the woman to bring the boy to him. It was time he found out why the child was traveling the mountain passes by himself.

Thos fidgeted in his wool clothing. He had been told that the Chinese wore either hemp, cotton or silk and thought wool unclean, but Scythia was rich in animal herds and so wool was plentiful.

Surely, Wei Liling wouldn’t think less of him for his clothes. That is, if that darn Bartu let him keep them. He kept sending Thos leather clothing for him to fit in more with the people of Xiongnu.

If only Thos’ father was still alive, he would have raised the army and freed him. But he was dead, and that left Thos’ uncle as a regent. The man despised his nephew and when the letter of the marriage in faraway China had come and the promise of five thousand golden coins as a bride price, Thos’ uncle had sent him with a token escort.

Now the men he had come here with were dead, and he was alone, awaiting the same fate. Maybe if he died here, his uncle would throw a celebration? Thos wouldn’t put it pass him. A woman came and bowed before him. They were weird, these people of Xiongnu. Even their captives enjoyed their masks.

“The Wise King of the Left calls you to him, so you can confirm a couple of things for him, prince Thos.” Thos stood up and followed the woman out of the yurt. Scythia was a nomadic nation and Thos had spent his days in yurts back home too, but here they were more oppressive to him.

They entered the yurt of Bartu and both princes bowed to each other. Bartu offered some rice wine to Thos, who refused as usual. He was too young to drink, and the smirking prince of Xiongnu knew it.

“You came here on the word of one Nikola of Troy, did you not?” Asked Bartu, and Thos nodded. He reached out a hand towards a medallion around his neck, where the picture of Wei Liling was safe and hidden. Bartu noticed this and extended his hand towards Thos.

“Give me what you are holding, boy.”

Thos looked at Bartu through his eyelashes, trying to plead with him silently to not take this gift from him. But Bartu just repeated the gesture impatiently.

Thos gave him the medallion and Bartu opened it. He stared at the little girl inside, and then he smiled wolfishly at Thos.

“You were going there to get married. Is this one of the Emperor’s many relatives?”

Thos shook his head.

“No, this is lady Wei Liling. Daughter of Nikola of Troy. We are to be married when we reach majority.”

Bartu’s mind was working a mile a minute. Why, this was wonderful news! He could use this boy to stop Nikola of Troy. His far-reaching nature would be his undoing. If the nobles of Scythia found out that the boy hadn’t been protected by the father of his intended, then they would join Xiongnu against China.

But this was also worrying. Xiongnu couldn’t afford a war with a fellow nomadic nation. And if the marriage between the boy and this Wei Liling happened, then Bartu would have to fight with Scythia.

There was one thing he could do, however. How was Thos going to get married to Wei Liling if he was already married? Bartu had a daughter. A woman already flowered and eighteen years of age. If Thos refused the marriage, then Bartu would simply have the brat executed and negotiate with his uncle.

“Boy, you ate at my table and drank with me. I say you have to repay me. My daughter is yet unmarried. You will make her an honest woman.”

Thos paled, and he looked at the medallion which Bartu was pocketing. Thos didn’t want to marry Bartu’s daughter! He had seen her. She had been smug that he was captured and very rude, not to mention as ugly as a toad. He needed to escape somehow!

“Wise King, you honor me with this proposition, but I am too young and promised to another. Perhaps if you speak with my uncle and discuss the bride price, then it could happen.”

“Bride price? How much did Nikola of Troy offer you to prance to his daughter undefended?” Asked Bartu amused. The only bride price he was willing to give this boy was his life.

“Five thousand golden coins, Wise King,” said the boy smugly, knowing full well that the Wise King of the Left wouldn’t offer more. Unknown to him now, Bartu was certain that Nikola of Troy was the Emerald Emperor in truth.

As the saying goes: Give him air, and he will show you gold. 

No other would have become so rich in such a short time as to offer a princess’ bride price for a lower ranked noble lady. Now, Bartu really wanted to marry his Nayan to this Wei Liling. Five thousand golden coins! He could buy twenty thousand horses with this much money!

“You can forget this number, boy. I will give you something more precious: your life. Now go back to your yurt.”

Thos was quick to get out of there. He would rather not marry the darn toad. Wei Liling was as pretty as a picture and was said to know basic medicine. At her age she could write and read, dance and sing and even paint and play the flute. She was a true princess.

When Thos got back to his yurt, he sat down and prayed to Tangra to deliver him from Bartu’s clutches. The nomads were survivors of Atlantis, even Xiongnu was founded by the Emerald Emperor’s grandson. So, the island’s God was their God as well.

As he prayed, Thos began to think. There were so many parallels between his future father-in-law and the Emerald Emperor that it wasn’t even funny. Maybe they were one and the same person? The bride price was being paid with the Wei family’s money, not from the Chinese treasury. There was no way they had become this rich without magic!

As his prayers weren’t answered, Thos decided to pray to someone else. Namely, the angel Penemue. If he was right, then the angel was the lady Pen. Even their names sounded similar!

“Penemue, eternal scholar. Please listen to me. I am Thos of Scythia, and I am in dire need of your assistance. I am captured and need to escape.”

Thos, huh? My Wei Liling was supposed to marry a Thos. Are you him, boy?

Came a woman’s voice. Thos jumped up in joy and clapped in joy. Then, as the guard stationed by his yurt caught, he grew quitter.

“Noble angel, I am this Thos. I have been captured by the Wise King of the Left, and he wants me to marry his ugly daughter. But I rather marry your Wei Liling. I pledge the armies of Scythia to your husband’s war if you assist me.”

There is little I can do, dear Thos. I can put the entire camp to sleep. I am too far away for anything else. However, you will have to get to Nikola by yourself.

“I can do that!” Exclaimed Thos. “I just require a good horse and to know where the Emerald Emperor is headed. By the way, could you…um…maybe tell Wei Liling I shot down one of my attackers when I was captured? It was in the shoulder, and he managed to take out the arrow, but I did my best!”

The woman chuckled and Thos heard a thumb from outside his yurt. He peeked outside and found his guard sleeping. Careful as to not wake him, the boy went back inside the yurt and gathered as much food as he could carry, which wasn’t much. A loaf of bread, some apples, and a chunk of horse meat. He couldn’t risk raiding the other yurts for more food.

Placing the food into the bag, he went to where he remembered the horses were kept. With great satisfaction, Thos picked the favored horse of Bartu and got on. There was already a bow tied to the saddle and a quiver with arrows. With a swift kick to the mount, the boy was off, getting as far away as he could before the alarm was raised.

Thos travelled without direction. Lady Penemue hadn’t told him where the Emerald Emperor was, and Thos had to stay off the roads. He didn’t dare to stop at any village, and he hunted for his food. Soon his arrows ran out, and he was forced to near an army camp.

“Lady Penemue, could you make the people here go to sleep too?” He whispered. The angel had ignored him for quite some time, but surely, she wouldn’t abandon him now that he needed her the most.

I can, but you have to search through the camp for any information on the movements of Xiongnu. It is quite the big camp, and it is near Zhao Xin Town, where Nikola is headed. Don’t worry about making too much noise. I will keep them asleep for a whole day.

“I thank you, lady Penemue,” said Thos, and he waited for the men to fall asleep. When they did so, the Scythian prince searched for the command yurt and when he found it, he found the copy of a letter that froze the blood in his veins.

Bartu had proclaimed him dead and had married the ugly toad to Thos’ uncle. Scythia’s cavalry was on the way. But on Xiongnu’s side.