Chapter 6 — The Oath

Before she joined the pantheon of gods and goddesses in Heaven, people say that the Sea Goddess, Mazu, was a regular young woman. Filled with a deep love for her family and a strong spiritual connection with the sea. So great were here talents in the supernatural that her parents raised her in the teachings of the Tao. Like the ancestors and descendants of Zhang, she, too, grew up in a house near the ocean, and her brothers and father were sailors and fishermen. 

It is said that, one night, when the sea was especially violent, her brothers and father were out fishing and their boats were thrashed by the waves. Safe in her room, Mazu sat and entered a deep trance, in which she entered the spirit realm and stretched herself out to the sea. Deep in this trance, she reached out and saved her brothers from a treacherous death. But just as her spirit was slouching toward her father’s boat, back in the house, her mother entered the room and roused Mazu. The trance broken, she lost her father to the storm. 

Torn apart by her grief, she ran straight to the beach and jumped into the water. She swam and swam until her arms ached, crying out to her lost father. Until she could swim no more and she, too, was lost to the sea. Touched by the girl’s filial love and impressed by her supernatural ability, the gods saw it only fit that she join them in Heaven, to keep watch over the Southern Seas. 

Yixing had heard the story before. Many versions of it existed. Some say that she had saved her father after all, and then one day, she ascended the hill where the Palace was situated, where she met a Tao monk who showed her the way to Heaven. Others say that she never married, though she was courted by two demons who became her friends and guardians, instead. Yixing had never cared much which of the stories was the most true because he didn’t believe in Mazu. 

He was taking dinner in the captain’s cabin with Old Bi Yu when he noticed the goddess’ likeness painted on a scroll that hung on the wall. It was similar to the many likenesses of Mazu he had see on temple walls. It depicted the goddess as a great lady; immense, dressed in the lavish robes and opulent jewels of an empress. She was standing — firm and steadfast — on the tempest-rocked waters of the Southern Sea. Her arm stretched out in blessing toward the fleet of ships painted in the corner of the composition. Two demons, painted slightly smaller, one red and one blue, hovered on either side, dancing with twisted grimaces on their faces. There was a look of meditative calm on the goddess’ white face.

“Many Imperial ships have such a painting hanging in the wall of the captain’s cabin,” the old woman said, seeing the young prince looking curiously at the scroll. “To bless the ship, its captain, the crew. For a safe journey.”

Yixing tilted his head, not quite sure how to respond. He had wanted to say something witty, some snide comment about why—if the goddess had so bountifully blessed this ship and its journey—they had been caught in the throes of a storm nevertheless. The prince and the Diviner had to hold their plates and cups steady. Outside, the wind was incessant in its howling. The Chimera fell to the mercy of the writhing, rolling, undulating waters. Waves thrashed against her side, making her lurch back and forth, exposing her belly to the air and her crew to the unforgiving elements. 

Up on the deck, the men scurried about, tying down cargo and cannons. The captain shouted for the sails to be furled, to spare them from the wrath of the wind. Rain pelted their faces, the salt water spray stung their eyes and nostrils. The Sailing Master grappled with the wheel as the First Officer climbed aboard the helm.

“Captain!” the First Officer shouted. “The storm is too strong! We have to make port!”

“I’m aware of that, First Officer!” the captain shouted. “As soon as you sight a port, please, tell someone!”

“Captain!” shouted another voice. It came from above, the voice of a rigger. The bridge staff looked up at attention. The rigger pointed behind them. “There’s a ship, sir! A ship following us!”

When the crew collectively turned and looked past the stern of the ship, they saw that the rigger was right. Out beyond the haze of furious rain and mist, the fin-shaped white sails of an Imperial ship rose up above the crests of waves, close enough for them to see the faces of the men aboard. And coming closer still. The revolution was upon them.

Xiaohe ran to the port side of the vessel once again, looking at the ship that was quickly gaining on them. Out of the captain’s cabin, the prince, the Diviner, and the Captain of the Guard emerged and joined the Sailing Master on the bridge. Yixing shielded his eyes from the torrent of rain and bent his knees against the shove of the wind. The loose parts of his clothing whipped and whirled about his limbs. When he looked into the eye of the storm and saw the white sails of the ship, he was struck dumb when he realized that he recognized it.

“Captain Huang!” Yixing shouted above the roar of the storm. “It’s the Relentless!”

“What?” the captain shouted back.

“It’s the ship my father commissioned for his voyage!” Yixing said. “It’s the ship he was going to use for his journey! “

“She’s been commandeered, Your Highness!” the captain of the Chimera bellowed. “There are rebels at the helm!”

“They’ll try to board the ship!” Captain Huang shouted. “Damn it, isn’t there anything we can do to make this thing go faster?!”

“We are doing everything we can!”

The crew rushed about the ship. Men stood by their cannons, grabbed their swords from below. They worried over the wet gunpowder. On the stern of the ship, a sailor beat the drums. Battle stations, all. Yixing stood struck at the tail end of the ship, staring at the Relentless, as immobile and overcome as though paralyzed in a nightmare. At the bow of the Relentless, a figure stood, eyes locked on the prince.

—

The leader of the People’s Army stood on the bow of the Relentless. While the storm swirled in the sea and sky, the woman kept her eyes on the prize ahead. Her men struggled to keep the ship steady in he rocky waters. Her fortitude in the face of adversity inspired them. She turned to the man standing beside her, who held onto the railing of the ship and looked to her for further instruction. 

“Make her go faster,” Cheng said to her right-hand man. 

“Aye!” he shouted. He turned to the men and barked orders for the ship to go faster. They had to catch up to the Chimera in order to board it. 

“Your orders, Chancellor?” the man asked. She turned to him with narrow eyes. 

“We board the ship! Bring me those oracle bones and the Diviner,” she said. “Kill the rest of them. And find Luo Zhixiang, he’ll still be onboard.”

The rain and wind was joined by the rumbled of thunder. The Relentless, true to her name, sailed onward, gaining on the Chimera. 

—

The ship was catching up to them. Captain Huang frantically looked around the deck at the crew. The Chimera may have been a large ship, but it was a trading vessel. Built to carry large amounts of cargo and to be crewed by as few men as possible. Twenty or thirty men in all, most of them ordinary seamen and merchants. And he with only six soldiers and a general in his company. If the rebels boarded, they would be doomed. And the last of the Zhang family line would be lost.

“Yixing!” Captain Huang shouted. He grabbed Yixing and the Diviner by the arm and shoved them toward the stairs that led back to the cabin area. 

“Barricade yourselves in the cabins!” the captain shouted, leading them back down he steps. Both Yixing and the Diviner stumbled down the steps and were pushed into the hallway back to the captain’s cabin. Huang Lei racked his brain for a plan. No matter what happened, the rebels must not get to the prince of the Diviner. That much he knew. But he was running out of ideas.

Yixing stumbled over a chair as Captain Huang