The Shadow Doctor Ch. 05

Su Wen smiled. "It seems he is in so much pain from the burns that he cannot gather his chi. I heard that the doctor tried dosing him with poppy milk; while that deadened his pain, it similarly left him unable to gather enough focus to heal himself."

"I have heard of such cases before. In such a situation, I would likely increase the dose of poppy milk until the man can pass to the afterlife quietly and without suffering."

"Only Second Tiger himself could make that choice; or in his incapacitated state, the Tong Master could make the choice for him. But he continues to look for a healer. I fear Second Tiger will suffer for quite some time before his body finally gives out. The Tong Master has offered a reward for anyone who can heal him, but after he executed the healer who failed, no one has been willing to make the attempt." Su Wen flashed that cold smile again.

"A wise course of action."

She laughed softly. "Don't worry, I'm not here to request you make the attempt. As you said, some cases are beyond a healer's skill, and you'd be of no use to me if you were executed for failure."

"I appreciate your consideration." Tam relaxed slightly; he'd been worried about that possibility.

"It's the aftermath of the attacks that concerns me now. The foreign magician who burned Second Tiger and the foreign lieutenant who escaped with her haven't been seen since; none of their followers who surrendered seem to know where they are hiding. The Tong Master has announced that Fifth Tiger's territory will be awarded to whoever captures them. Since Fifth Tiger was due to gain a significant portion of the foreign quarter business, this is a rich prize. The Tong Master is even willing to make that person a Silver Tiger whether or not they can wield chi."

Tam raised an eyebrow. "Of course, if it was a woman who avenged Fifth Tiger, perhaps one who was already a Silver Tiger, there would be no need to appoint a new Tiger."

"Consolidating Fifth Tiger's men with my own, adding his businesses to mine, his share of the foreign quarter to the section I have already inherited . . . I would be in a stronger position than even First Tiger. I would still respect First and Second Tiger in the hierarchy assuming Second somehow recovers, but with that wealth and the ability to gain information you have provided me, I would be second only to the Tong Master himself in this city."

"I wish you good fortune in your hunt then, Third Tiger. I assume the questions you have for Yelena are in regard to that hunt?"

"Indeed. May I begin?"

"My slave is at your disposal, my patron." Tam tapped Yelena on the shoulder, and she shuffled forward slightly on her knees, her eyes still on the floor.

"Stand up and come over here, girl. I want to take a good look at you."

Yelena rose to her feet and took a few small steps forward, clearly reluctant to approach the woman who had ordered her capture and enslavement.

"Hmm. You're a pretty little bird in your silks and chains. A shame your feathers will take so long to grow back. Turn around, little bird, let me see your back."

Yelena blushed but obeyed, shuffling around slowly in her chains.

"Ah, that's a nice mark on your back there. I see your owner has chosen to stake a claim." Su Wen reached out and traced Yelena's tattoo with one of her lacquered nails. Yelena shivered slightly and closed her eyes but held still.

Tam watched curiously. Su Wen seemed like a cat toying with her food, amusing herself at Yelena's obvious discomfort.

Su Wen smirked and trailed her finger down across Yelena's hip. "You're much better behaved than when we last met, little bird. I thought you might have more marks on you, though. Has your master not needed a firm hand to control you?"

"Master has been very firm with me, ma'am. He is also a skilled healer, as I have had the chance to learn repeatedly." Yelena answered immediately, as she was compelled to do. Tam noted that while nothing she had said was a lie, the answer left some details about her healing process out. It seemed Yelena had decided that the portion of her rule which allowed her to be deceptive extended to her new ability to use chi.

It was an intriguing development that required multiple steps of logic. Yelena first had to assume that learning chi so rapidly implied that the enchantment did more than compel truth. Then she must have decided that this meant that she had to conceal her new abilities to preserve the larger secret. Tam knew the spell itself was not complex enough to prompt that. He had always known that the spell would rely on the subject's mind to understand and implement the verbal instructions, but he hadn't been sure if something this complex would work.

The benefit was that he could potentially use more complex orders and see them carried out without needing to spell out every detail; the danger was that if he was careless with the wording of the commands, Yelena might be able to find a loophole by convincing herself that she was following an acceptable interpretation of the command. Tam wasn't sure if Yelena herself had realized what her simple obfuscation implied; he could find out with a simple question to her once Su Wen left, but if she was ignorant, it would be foolish to let her know about the potential to misinterpret his orders.

"It sounds like you are describing my adoptive father, ma'am." Yelena had turned around again to face Su Wen as she answered.

Tam blinked and refocused on the conversation. He'd let himself become distracted thinking about the spell, and missed whatever question Su Wen had just asked. He set aside thoughts of magic theory and focused on the next question.

"That would be 'Alexander Mikhailovich', if I remember correctly from our first session?" Su Wen frowned in distaste as she pronounced the foreign name.

"Yes ma'am."

"It seems he is a skilled fighter, as you said. You're sure he can't use magic?"

"I've known him since I was seven years old, ma'am. I'm sure he can't use magic."

"And you still maintain that none of the other members of your cartel who are in this city are magicians?"

"Yes ma'am. You asked about that the first night and you know that I can't lie."

"You can't lie, but perhaps you can omit details. You never spoke of a red haired woman when you were discussing the principal members. Hair like fire, a scar on her eyebrow, that's the description of the magician who burned Second Tiger."

Yelena smiled very slightly. "A scar on her right eyebrow? Placed about here?" She touched her own eyebrow to indicate the spot.

"Yes, that's what I was told. Why didn't you mention her before?"

"Because she wasn't in the city. You only asked about our fighters and leaders who were in the city, and how we communicated with our leadership back in Rus. You never asked about people who were traveling here. And I wasn't sure when she would arrive -- it's a long journey, full of unpredictability."

Su Wen laughed. "So, you aren't completely broken then, little bird. A point to you. I'd be more angry with you, if it wasn't good fortune for me that Second Tiger ran into her."

"I hope he wasn't the only one of your men that she killed or maimed."

There was a resounding crack and Yelena's head snapped to the side, a red handprint on her cheek. Tam had barely even seen Su Wen's hand move.

"Be respectful, little bird. I'll allow you to feel some pleasure at the point you scored, but don't forget who I am."

"Ah, ow. Yes ma'am." Yelena flinched back slightly from the smaller woman.

"Who is the red haired woman, and what are her abilities?"

"Her name is Irina Romanovna. She's my father's half-sister, and she's a witch. I honestly don't know too much about her. She's ten years younger than my father, and has a different father. Witches and wizards in my homeland keep themselves shrouded in mystery, but I've heard that she specializes in fire and air magic. She's a powerful woman who is easily slighted and carries grudges for years."

"So, you suspect neither she nor your father will be willing to surrender to us then."

"No, ma'am."

"How do you think they will respond to our victory?"

"They'll both be out for revenge. If they're laying low now, it's probably only so that they can gather intelligence. They'll either attack you where you're weak, or retreat home to gather an army and return. The cartel won't allow an attack like this to happen without a response, it would make them look weak."

"Hmm. Tell me about your father again, the places he frequents, where he might be hiding from us."

Yelena answered, and Su Wen followed up with more questions. She clearly intended to avoid leaving any gaps in her questions this time, and repeated her questions again and again with slightly different wording, pulling out everything Yelena knew about her adoptive aunt and father. By the time she finished, the tea had long since been finished and Yelena was hoarse from talking.

Eventually Su Wen seemed satisfied, and thanked Tam again for the use of his slave. Tam assured it her that no thanks were needed and escorted her to her sedan chair, leaving Yelena behind in the sitting room. As he offered Su Wen his hand to help her into the chair, he felt her slip something into his hand. Tam palmed the object discretely and bowed, wishing her and her bodyguards a polite farewell.

Once the Tong had departed, Tam left Ho Tien behind to close the gate and strolled back inside. As soon as he was out of the courtyard, he glanced around to make sure the hallway was clear then opened his hand to see what Su Wen had passed him. It was a small piece of paper, tightly folded into the shape of a seven pointed star. He carefully unfolded it and smoothed it out. On the paper, the name of a tea house was written, along with a date and time. Beneath that was simply the character 'Wen'. The date and time were an evening during the coming week.

Tam frowned -- an invitation of some sort? If Su Wen wanted to see him, she had just demonstrated that she could drop by his home at any time. Why such a discreet invitation, hidden even from her own men? His instincts told him to ignore it, but it would be dangerous to displease Su Wen. At least he had a few days before he needed to decide on his response.

Tam tried to fold the small piece of paper back into the star shape, but origami was a craft he'd never learned. Even with the creases to guide him, he couldn't get the paper back to its original shape. With an annoyed grunt he simply folded it in half twice and slipped it into his pocket.

He returned to the sitting room to collect Yelena. She was curled up on one of the chairs, her knees pulled up in front of her chest, her arms locked tight around them. She looked rattled. Tam paused a moment to gather his thoughts. He had been focused on Su Wen throughout the interview, trying to read her mood and watch for signs of danger. Yelena had held together well, but it was obvious as he looked at her now that the news of the Tong victory over her friends had hit the young girl hard. Tam took a seat across from her and waited quietly.

Yelena finally looked up at him. "Did you even send that letter I wrote?"

"Yes, I did. I sent it first thing the next morning. I heard rumors later that day that the attacks had already been launched the night before, while you were earning the letter."

"And you didn't tell me?" Her eyes flashed with anger.

Tam shrugged. "There wasn't anything to be done about it at that point. I didn't want to upset you."

"They're my friends, my family! I deserved to know."

"Perhaps you did. Still, there's nothing we could have done about it. And that part of your life is gone now. Effectively, the old you died when the Tong captured you. There is no more Yelena Alexovna, criminal translator. There is only my slave. Focusing on your past won't help you adapt to your current reality."

"I hate you. If I could, I would slice your throat and let you bleed out on this floor that I had to polish yesterday. Your damned Tong friend too, I'd stab her in the heart and feel nothing but joy."

Tam shrugged again. "I expect no less. It's a natural human reaction."

"I can't even slap you; your stupid spell will make me pull the blow."

"I feel no need to change things; I enjoy not being slapped. I'd advise you to stop holding on to that hate. It won't do you any good."

"You're wrong. I'll treasure my hate; it will help me survive this hell you've trapped me in." Yelena spat on the floor, her face set in a defiant scowl.

"As you wish. As long as it doesn't affect your ability to serve me, you can feel however you like. I warn you though, Yelena -- the promise to let you keep your mind intact is conditional on your continued good behavior. If your hate poisons you, the next experiment we conduct will be seeing how your mind copes with a rule that forbids you from hating me. Do you understand me?"

Yelena shuddered. "Yes Master, I understand. You can snap me a like a twig whenever you want to. I will do my best to be obedient."

"That's all I ask. Start by cleaning the floor where you spat on it."

Yelena glared at him. "I don't have anything to clean it with."

"Lick it clean, slave." Tam didn't make it a magical command; he wanted Yelena to have to choose to humiliate herself in obedience.

She glowered at him for a moment, but the threat of altering her mind was too much in the end. Yelena slid off the chair and crouched on the floor, carefully licking the small globule of spit off the polished wood. Once she was done, she leaned forward without a command and rubbed her breasts against the wet spot, drying the wood with her silk top. Finished, she sat back on her heels and glared up at Tam.

"Nicely done, slave. Now, let's see what that sharp mind of yours took from the conversation. What can you guess about Su Wen's actions and motivations based on what she said and how she acted?"

Yelena's eyes narrowed in thought. The compulsion to answer forced her mind to focus on the question, instead of dwelling on her hatred and fear. "She seemed genuinely surprised by Irina's presence, as I had hoped, but I think she betrayed the Tiger who died, Fifth Tiger. She probably lied about our strength to make him underestimate the force he was going up against. She's a snake, with no loyalty to anyone but herself. It's a shame she wasn't the one Irina burned."

"I agree with your assessment of her character. Since she's my patron, I'll disagree with your desire for her to be burned; I'm glad she's still alive and in a strong position. What about the discussion of the injuries to Second Tiger?"

"I'm not sure why she told you all those details. I thought maybe she had some plan to have you try and heal him, or possibly have you kill him while pretending to heal him. If that was the case though, she wouldn't have told you about the Tong Master killing the healer who failed."

"I don't quite understand it either; maybe she was just gloating at another rival's fall, or perhaps she wasn't sure of my assessment. If I'd said I knew a way to heal the man, she could have turned that into a means to place Second Tiger in her debt. Not understanding it worries me. Can you see any danger to me from this situation?"

"No Master, at least not given what we know. Maybe it's like you said, and she just wasn't sure if you could heal him or not."

Tam frowned and drummed his fingers on his knee. He was still worried, but at least he and Yelena were agreed that there was no obvious danger.

"Master?"

Tam glanced up. "Yes?"

"Can I ask a question about healing?"

"Of course."

"You seemed to imply that chi healing could heal even horrific burns, when you asked why Second Tiger didn't heal himself."

"It can. Given enough chi and enough skill, there are very few limits to what can be done. There are even recorded cases of a supremely skilled chi user reattaching their severed hand or foot in the middle of battle."

Yelena's eyes widened. "That's amazing. Could you do that?"

"I don't know. It takes an incredible strength of will to perform such fine chi manipulation while enduring the trauma of a severe injury. I might be able to do it, but I'd prefer to avoid ever putting myself in the situation where I'd have to find out. It's not the sort of experiment you make if there's a chance of failure." Tam grinned.

Yelena frowned in thought. "There's something I still don't understand. You use your chi sometimes when healing your patients, right?"

Tam nodded. "You're wondering why I can't use my chi to heal him, since he can't use his own?"

"Exactly."

"Chi healing when used on another person is actually a completely different form of medicine than self-healing. When you self-heal like you did this morning, you are using your chi to accelerate and enhance your natural ability to heal. Your chi is a part of you, and your body uses it in natural healing, just as it does in keeping your heart beating, your lungs pumping, your muscles moving. The manipulation simply allows you do things faster and better than your body normally could. When I have to use my chi to heal a patient, it's a foreign presence. It's like a blunt object, or sometimes a scalpel -- I force my chi into the patient's body through spells painted on their skin, then manipulate it to push their body in the direction it needs to go. It's more of a tool of last resort. For most cases, it's actually more effective to simply treat the patient with herbal remedies like pills and poultices. Something like the burns Su Wen described would require draining my chi repeatedly over several days, and the trauma of my chi forcing itself into his system would likely overwhelm his system and kill him before I could finish healing him."

Yelena nodded absently. "That makes sense. There's so much I don't know about this. Thank you for explaining."

Tam studied her face. "I recognize that expression. You've thought of something. What is it?"

Yelena glanced up. "Oh, I don't know if it's anything. I was just thinking that you sort of externally used my chi to heal me this morning when you were teaching me how to heal myself. Not really, of course, since it was my chi you were using. But you were in control of it. So I guess we technically did another new thing that's impossible."

She blinked suddenly. "Oh God, you're going to burn me now or do something else that leaves me in so much pain that I can't reach my chi, aren't you, just to test and see if you can use my chi to heal it. Please, Master, don't do that, please."

Tam grinned. "There's no need for that. I can just dose you with poppy milk until you can't reach your chi then test it that way. Much less painful. Still, it's a great insight. We'll test it this evening so that you can sleep off the drug afterwards."

Yelena rolled her eyes. "I'm not ecstatic about being drugged either, but it's much better than being burned. Thank you Master, I suppose. You prick."

"You're welcome." Tam grinned again. He found that he didn't mind Yelena's insults; in his normal life, he kept a mental ledger of any slights made against him, taking revenge when he could do so safely. But Yelena was so defenseless against him that he was just amused instead -- there was no threat to him in her defiance. He liked that she had enough spirit to rail against him, even knowing that he could destroy her mind if she pushed him too far.

She was watching him carefully, of course. Whenever Tam was in the same room with her, Yelena always seemed to be hyper aware of him, monitoring him to see if she was in any danger.

Seeing that he was amused by her jab, she relaxed slightly, sitting as comfortably as she could in her chains. "If you did send my letter, thank you. If he received it, it means that my father knows that none of his usual haunts are safe, so none of the information I gave that woman today will help her find him. At least, I hope so."