Stardeep_ The Dungeons - Bruce R. Cordell [13]
Raidon considered serendipity again-if not for his lodge mate's disagreeable scent, Raidon wouldn't be present to contemplate violence. Raidon would still be worried about his petition to the Nine Golden Swords. As the elders of Xiang Temple taught, "The usefulness of a cup is its emptiness." In other wotds, he hadn't known Chun would be here, but now that he did, Raidon could adapt the moment to his ambition.
Chun had wronged Raidon, though the man of leisure didn't know it. Chun had taken a family heirloom from his father in payment for a debt never incurred. Chun had stolen Raidon's family legacy. His grandfather's sword, his daito, handed down from his own grandfather, who gained the sword from a dragon. In the normal course of things, Raidon's father would have passed the daito down to Raidon's fitstborn child-but Raidon's father was dead, and the daito was gone.
Raidon stood and shook out the sleeves of his decorous silk jacket. They snapped, as if he were initiating the first moves of the Leaping Tiger. He paid his coins on the table, then his hands were empty, open, capable of anything. Like the empty cup.
To restore the honor of his dead father and absent mother, Raidon had pledged the legacy would be restored to the family. He would claim grandfather's daito, even if comity in the tea house had to be sacrificed.
He bowed to the server, then walked toward Chun's table. Chun sat with two other men and a dark-haired woman-Chun's girl of the day? The men were of the Nine Golden Swords, as was Chun. Raidon knew it by the small tattoo each displayed. He had petitioned to join the secret society of vicious criminals. He had petitioned in order to get close to Chun, a mid-level thug in the hierarchy. All those preparations had been unnecessary-chance had dropped into his lap an opportunity to confront Chun.
Raidon reached the table. He stared straight at Chun, ignoring the unspoken rules of civilized behavior among sttangers. Chun was no stranger to him. Raidon flexed his empty hands, hidden as they were in his long sleeves.
Had he known he would one day wield the family sword, perhaps Raidon would have spent less of his life training in the Xiang monastery, achieving mastery of his mind and body. Of course, sword play was one aspect of the training he received in Xiang; no monk of the temple could leave its bounds until he or she demonstrated facility with traditional weapons. But Raidon's best talents did not require such mundane implements as sharpened steel. His body was weapon enough.
"Your presence upsets my bird," said Chun in a bored voice. A dangerous voice.
"And your presence sours tea across Thesk," replied Raidon, his voice as calm as if he'd commented on the chance for rain.
The two men on either side of Chun jumped to their feet. The bird screamed. So did the painted woman.
Raidon observed the scene as if he stood apatt from it. From their sitting positions in relation to each other and the table, Chun and his thugs had only a limited number of actions they might effectively take. Raidon knew what they were, and was prepared.
One thug knocked the table as he rose, spilling tea. The other's hand went to his dirk. Raidon backhanded the second man with his right fist as the thug's hand cleared his scabbard, sending the dirk whirling. Raidon followed with a hook from his left elbow, perfectly sticking the side of the thug's head. As the thug slumped, the monk slipped around the table, taking the fallen man's vacated position. This put Raidon out of reach of the final thug and next to Chun.
Chun drew his sword and expertly grasped its deadly length. His two-handed grip on the wrapped hilt, called the tsuka, bespoke training. The blade was an unwavering diagonal line.
"Raidon Kane," said Chun.
Raidon paused, nonplussed. Chun recognized him? Perhaps the murderer's presence wasn't the coincidence Raidon imagined.
"You have named me."
"Your petition to the Nine Golden Swords is approved," said Chun. "I've been dispatched to tell you." The temaining thug to Chun's right edged around the