Page 41 of The Wind Dancer
Silence fell. Mei Lin’s eyes flashed like lightning. If looks could kill, I would have been dead already.
“The price...”
CHAPTER 12
“Would be your life,” Mei Lin interrupted. “Concealing such information is punishable by death under torture. Trust me, we have excellent executioners, and even with your training, you’d tell them everything even before they were done.”
There was something in her matter-of-fact tone that made me shiver. How did a woman like her become an agent of the Secret Chancellery?
“Life is a good price,” I nodded and took a long sip. “But I don’t think you can grab these bastards by the throat without my help.” I deliberately switched to the more crude way of speaking. “I propose a deal.”
“Speak.” The way she said it made me think of a whip crack.
“I’d tell you who killed Li Yanjin, the elder of the Yanmong House, and how they did it.” Her gaze showed great interest. It wouldn’t be hard to learn the dragonblood’s name and which house he was from. Knowing that he was an elder was information that only a small circle of people knew, one that Icouldn’t get into even in theory. “And I’d also help you find and punish those bastards.”
“It seems you’re personally invested in this.” Her full lips curled into a smile.
I suppressed a curse. Of course she’d realize it was personal if I called them bastards.
“Yes, I am.” There was no point denying it. “I can’t avoid serving the Secret Chancellery, can I?”
She smiled kindly and nodded.
“Exactly. But service to the Empire can take many forms.”
I might be able to get something out of this. If so, I’d have to ask for the impossible.
“Then I want a guarantee.”
“Of what?”
“My life. I want complete freedom of action. No local supervision. I report only to you, and only you give me orders.”
She seemed to consider it for a moment, and I chose to show I was ready to cooperate. “Judging by your accent, you’re from the capital, which means you have access to more opportunities.”
“That depends on how useful you are. Who killed Elder Yanjin?”
“I will answer that as a down payment.” Our eyes met. “I killed him. Stabbed him in the heart and the left temple.”
Her eyes widened, and I pressed on, trying to throw her off balance. But she recovered before I could say another word.The only sign of her shock was the tension in her hands. She expected me to continue. If I hesitated, she would have slit my throat.
Despite the tension, my voice remained cold.
“We made a deal. He asked me to put him to rest... So, Agent Mei Lin, do we have a deal?”
“Claw Lord Mei Lin makes a deal with Feng Lao, the Shadow.” Her words fell like a verdict.
My grip tightened, and the cup shattered in my hand with a sharp crack.
I could almost hear my mentor’s voice again. The military structure of the Sunset Empire was built on the Dragon Legion system. The Secret Chancellery followed the same model.
Each legion was led by a True Dragon, the supreme commander. Under him were ten Dragon Lords, each controlling five wings.
Each wing had a Wing Lord who commanded two Claw Lords who led the advance units into battle. In turn, each Claw Lord had two Scale Lords at their disposal, who were lower-level commanders that led strike teams.
Those teams were called Fangs, which consisted of five to ten people.
Given how young Mei Lin was, her rank suggested that she came from a very influential family. No one would let a commoner get such a high position without support. Along with her manner of speech, her flawless control over her emotions, and, of course, her commanding voice, it made it clear she was a noblewoman.
