Chapter 317 - Lines

Char Char traveled quickly down the path that headed back to the garden. The bamboo forest swayed softly in the wind on either side of the path which was lined on both sides by a small grey stone wall.

The calm swish of the leaves and the soft crunch of her boots on the dirt path weren’t enough to drown out the sound of her heart beating in her chest.

She was headed for the servant’s quarters. Something in her gut told her it was the way to go.

There were two ways down to the quarters, from her understanding of the estate’s layout. The main complex, garden and servants’ quarters formed a triangle, with the complex at the top on the western side, the gardens on the south east and the quarters on the northeast.

The fastest path was to go back to the complex and take a set of stairs that went directly down the hill to the servants’ quarters, however Char Char didn’t have that option — She felt an aversion to even passing by the complex again, and she’d have to get by Corbin as well. Therefore she had to take the more roundabout path through the gardens first.

As she walked her thoughts buzzed with self doubt. Stealing away like this, wasn’t she just making another rash decision? Was she just barreling head first into danger the same way she had done in Plunes? Was that more or less foolish than leaving a clueless idiot like Corbin in charge, who was following the directions of a potential spy of the enemy?

Thinking about it, Master Reza wanted them to go back to the main complex to look for his father. Was that just a diversion to keep them away from the quarters? Or worse yet, put them back into danger?

But what if she was wrong about Master Reza? After all, she only had her gut feelings to go by. What if he was really innocent? Would she be making things worse by splitting up instead of banding together to solve the situation?

As frustrated as she was with Corbin, she knew that she could trust that he was on her side. In the worst case scenario he would protect her, just like she would protect him. As much as she hated him at this moment for treating her like a useless child, she felt guilty for leaving him behind.

In a way, Corbin must feel the same— having to put up with her, who he viewed as the stupid grandchild of his boss, but still doing his job in the end.

Am I actually sympathizing with Corbin now? Is this called growing up? She wondered self-deprecatingly.

If it is, I hate it!

She picked up her pace as if she were trying to leave these thoughts physically behind her on the path, but doubt clouded her mind.

The bamboo forest finally broke, widening out to a gorgeous view of the eastern terraces. The garden wound down the hill with its beautiful flowers and fountains sparkling in the afternoon sun.

The valley beyond the estate though was obscured in a grey fog, as if they were floating on a bed of clouds.

Despite this entrance being above the servants quarters, the quarters were not visible from above. Tall manicured hedges, bamboo copses and decorative stone walls blocked the view of much of the garden.

Char Char hadn’t thought much of it in her original visit. In fact, she thought that it made sense— Walking through the garden had been a pleasant experience with each new turn in the path surprising the visitor. She hadn’t even given the hedges a second thought at the time.

But now looking down at the garden a thought occurred to her.

They’re all made of lines.

The hedges, the arches and stone tiling, even the paths themselves. They were all lines that had been very deliberately placed on the terrain. She thought about the invisible line that she had crossed inside the estate and Master Reza’s comment about how it was only after he had passed under the main garden gate that the servants had attacked.

Even the path leading up to the garden had lines drawn by the low stone walls.

The Hasan Walled City is an ancient city… The inner walls are over a thousand years old… Char Char came to an epiphany as she realized the deeper nature of this place.

The tall stone gate loomed ominously before her, marking the entrance to the garden. Beyond the gate the three servants’ bodies were lying motionlessly next to the path.

If I cross through the gate, will they come to life again? Char Char hesitated, her hand gripping the hilt of her sword. There are three of them… If they do attack me I need to strike each of them down in one hit...

She didn’t have the confidence to deal with the servants in non-lethal ways. It seemed almost silly to consider fighting the corpses when they had were already dead, but the memory of the servant girl’s bisected body twitching as she escaped the complex was still fresh in her mind.

The chimes above the gate rung quietly in the wind, playing a gentle melody amidst the silence.

The sound reminded Char Char of their initial welcoming at the complex’s eastern entrance the day before. The servants had rung the chimes three times to signify their arrival at the manor. Char Char had understood that it was a sign of respect to the spirits, but what if…

Her eyes fell upon a braided cord tucked away on the side of one of the gate’s pillars. It led up to the string of charms and bells that hung from the arch.

She walked over to it, hesitating for a moment before tugging on it three times. The charms danced above, swaying to the music of the chimes.

She glanced back and forth between the chimes, the garden and the bodies, not sure if her action had accomplished anything. Nothing changed in her surroundings, nothing piqued her spiritual intuition. When she stepped through the gate the bodies remained still.

She passed the bodies with quick strides, making it to the next section of the garden without any problems. She passed over the decorative stone tiles that linked the hedges on either side of the exit, acutely aware of how they preserved the continuity of the walls.

Standing on the other side of the line Char Char looked back at the motionless bodies, finally breathing a soft sigh of relief.

Bodies notwithstanding, the peaceful air of the garden was undisturbed. Ringing the chimes hadn’t produced any direct reaction in her surroundings, except perhaps to let people nearby know that she was around. Char Char almost thought that the whole exercise had been pointlessly reckless.

But… Come to think of it… When we were walking around the garden yesterday both Firuzeh and I felt that something was off about the garden… Today I don’t have that uneasy feeling. We blamed it on the lack of visitors in the garden, but what if it was something more spiritual? By ringing the chimes three times, have I signified to the garden that I’m to be welcomed?

It’s all too suspicious…

Char Char walked quickly as she contemplated, making her way as best she could toward the servants’ quarters to the north. With the agility that her Exalted powers granted her she could have taken a straight line, vaulting over the hedges, but given the significance of the lines she felt like it would violate some hidden rules in the space.

There was no map for the garden, and the layout of the paths didn’t seem to have been made with efficient travel in mind. At several points Char Char made a turn and found that the path ended in a dead end, requiring her to turn around.

The third time Char Char reached a dead end she found herself in a circular section. The path wound in a lazy spiral before ending at a large statue on a pedestal. Char Char was about to turn around, but something nagged at her subconscious causing her to pause and look a little longer.

After a moment she realized the problem— The statue wasn’t centred in the space. There were flower beds and a few benches that had been arranged to bring balance to the decor, but the path itself ended at the back of the statue.

Char Char found herself wondering why the path had been built in such an asymmetrical way. She followed it around the circle until it reached the statue. A clay planter had been tastefully placed at the back of the statue, filled with a large assortment of blooming flowers.

Acting on her hunch Char Char pulled the planter out of the way, revealing a rectangular panel inset into the back of the pedestal.

It’s a door… Char Char realized. Corbin said that they had been transported to a mausoleum beneath the garden and had to dig their way out… Could the path continue underground?

This whole garden, no— This whole estate… It’s been built for a very specific purpose. She stepped back, taking in the revelation for a moment.

Cecil had mentioned that a trial was taking place here for the Sun God’s inheritance, and this estate had been here for over a thousand years…

Char Char felt an excited curiousity well up inside her. She wanted to see what was behind that door, wanted to find out how everything connected.

But that’s not what I’m after. I don’t have time to sight see… I need to find Firuzeh and the others, so we can get out of this mess.

I need to get to those servant’s quarters.

With a great deal of hesitation Char Char turned to head back to the main path.

However she stopped as soon as she turned.

In the middle of an entrance to the section a red fox sat with its head tilted at her, its intelligent eyes sparkling with interest.