Little Inklings 2022

The calm, cool night is interrupted by the yelling of the Palace Guards. “Get under shelter! This is not a drill! The Jade Palace is being attacked! Protect the Empress!” I shoot upwards in my bed, seeing men with torches run through the lush and expansive gardens the Jade Palace is built around through the lace window shades. I stumble out of bed and move to the windows, the bamboo plank floor pressing imprints against my tightly bound lotus feet. I thrust the window shade open, and look outside. “Your Highness! Get downstairs! It’s not safe out-” the soldier’s instructions are cut off by an arrow piercing his chest. I scream out of terror, and I hear shouting not too far off. “I can hear the Empress! She’s at the top of the East Tower!” “Kill her!” Hundreds of war cries erupt around the Palace gardens, and I turn and run to my bedroom door. I sprint down the stairwell, snatching a crystal sword and shield off a royal suit of armor along the way. Preparing myself for battle, I breathe and rip the East Tower doors open. “Drop the sword.” Sharp, ice cold metal presses against my throat and I immediately drop the sword and shield, the latter which makes a loud sound against the stone tiles. “You, Empress Wu Chusi of Xiayang, are to be killed as punishment for the array of crimes that you have commited, from arson to murder.” The man holding the sword steps into the light cast down by an overhead torch. I gasp silently. I recognize this gray beard, these emerald green eyes, this scar. A moment passes before I reply. “And on what authority do you base these claims, Teng Xie’ao?” THE DRAGONS OF IRON PATRICK KEEDY BROWN ❜ 26 72