The Emperor's Dream - Chapter Ten
The late afternoon sun of early summer warmed Wanyi as he walked. The streets in the Owl District were somewhat busy at that time—which meant he still had plenty of space to himself.
**Chapter One**
**Welcome to chapter ten of The Emperor’s Dream, an epic fantasy novella from the wider world of The Mhong Chronicles. I’ll be publishing chapters each week, but remember, these are some of the very first drafts, which means you’re in on this at the very beginning. Thank you for being here, friend. I hope you enjoy it.**
63 Days Until the Vote
The late afternoon sun of early summer warmed Wanyi as he walked. The streets in the Owl District were somewhat busy at that time—which meant he still had plenty of space to himself. Ordinarily, noticing the lack of people in Shanshia would have set him down the path to melancholy, but today was different. A week had passed since his conversation with Chengroh, and since then, he had found his spirit had lightened considerably. Having a new, powerful ally on the Council had given him a renewed determination to fight back against Ramreunya, Tukharen, and the rest. And after a few straight days of clear skies, his walk from his manor to The Enchanted Shanty was pleasant and refreshing.
There, he planned to meet with Meisun for her second report—and to give her her second payment. Yishan had finally been able to work some of his network into Ramreunya’s camp and confirm the remaining information from her first report. The Mon woman’s information was good, which had slightly irritated the spymaster. Wanyi, however, was more impressed than anything else. It excited him that he had potentially found two capable allies in a week. Hope had been hard to come by, so every bit was precious.
As he rounded the last corner on his way to the shop, something caught his ears. Singing. Though slightly muffled, a woman’s voice rang out down the street. It rose and fell, telling some kind of tale about love and loss. Wanyi stopped for a moment, enraptured. A few other passersby looked about for the source of the singing, but otherwise kept walking around him. One, a younger Hukan man, grumbled as he made his way around Wanyi, apparently frustrated at the inconvenience.
Wanyi didn’t care. It was perhaps the single sweetest voice he had ever heard, singing a song that stirred his heart until his carefully guarded emotions threatened to spill up and out of him. He sighed, content to simply stand there and wait until the song was over. He wasn’t really in a hurry.
A small flame mhonglun popped into existence just next to his face. Wanyi jerked away, the song’s spell broken by surprise and the sudden song of the mhonglun in his ears. He gave the little Sentient-shaped collection of flames a bit more space. Though they were typically harmless—most disappeared or burnt out shortly after they appeared—flame mhonglun could still give a nasty burn when startled. Wanyi continued on, shaking his head to clear his mind.
What is happening to me? he thought. Letting a bit of music dull me until I’m dumb as a tuk bird. He shook his head again. Focus.
The song grew louder as he approached The Enchanted Shanty. Of course. It had to be a Montililun singing with such skill and passion. One of Meisun’s Band was likely weaving some kind of enchantment over some person or some thing. A business transaction. But a beautiful one at that. Wanyi reached up to knock, the hand of his shadow moving smoothly up the door to meet its fleshly counterpart.
The singing stopped. A moment later, Meisun opened the door, her eyes a light pink. Two spots of color on her cheeks—fading already, but still visible—matched them.