Beatriss and Tetsukishi return to Khanbaliq

After their victory, Beatriss and Tetsukishi left Tempat Larang and settled with their companions for several weeks in a good-sized village nearby. 

They traded a ruby for a pair of huts and hired local servants, enjoying a few weeks of rest. Plans were underway for the journey back to Pasar—chief among their concerns: how to avoid the vampire swamp.

One morning, their servants roused them with news. Imperial soldiers had arrived in the village, asking about them—and it seemed likely someone would talk.

Instead of fleeing, the company sought out the soldiers, who were still asleep when they arrived. The soldiers—only three in number—were stunned by their good fortune and tried to reassert control by summoning Tetsukichi to return to Khanbaliq and answer to the Empire. But the party’s eager reply—“Can we leave today?”—deflated their authority. After some blustering questions about Gwinch, Goyat, and Kawabi, and about needing proof of Goyat’s defeat, the soldiers admitted they had enough to justify a formal report.

The journey back was slow. The party’s maps were poor and their memories were foggy. Everything was green and there was no horizon. 

The return was slow. Their maps were vague, their memories fogged, and the endless greenery offered little sense of direction. But it was peaceful. In one village, the companions earned their keep by helping on a construction project. There, a worker pulled Beatriss aside to relay a secret: she could meet “the others” in a field beyond the swamp. He gave her careful directions and emphasized that she bring her traveling companions. Then, curiously, he challenged Tetsukichi to a no-weapons sparring match. Tetsukichi accepted—and was soundly beaten by the man’s strange techniques. The man ended the fight with a wink toward Beatriss and disappeared.

Thanks to the worker’s instructions, the party avoided the vampire, the leeches, and the deadly plague that had ravaged many soldiers. Weeks later, nearing Pasar, Beatriss suggested a detour toward the field the worker had described.

There, snakes slithered through tall grass—and led them to a hole in the earth. The party descended, encountering ghostly, translucent serpents that floated through the air. Tetsukichi hesitated. “Maybe we don’t want to meet the others,” he said. Beatriss, unsettled, agreed.

In Pasar, the soldiers filed their report. Their commanders questioned the party but seemed content—if cautious—with their story.

There, to their great surprise, Beatriss and Tetsukichi were reunited with their families, who had traveled from the Empire to meet them. It was a joyful and overwhelming reunion. Tetsukichi’s wife, Su-Laing, had demanded an escort to cross the mountains and find her long-absent husband, bringing both her own children and Betriss's.  The Sansar clan had been fored to leave their grazing lands, squeezed between lizardfolk raids and harassment from Imperial soldiers. Kreppu-san and Sukh,two brave warriors, and Shoji, a shaman had assisted them in their journey over the mountains. The journey had taken a toll: Su-Laing’s maidservant had been slain by a guardian statue, and the nurses who had cared for Beatriss’s fox-children perished in the bitter cold.

Amid the relief was growing concern. The road ahead would be long and unpredictable. And now they traveled not just as warriors, but as guardians of their families.

 

After a week of preparation, the now-expanded imperial escort—more than a hundred soldiers strong—departed Pasar with the heroes. They passed through Quitokai, now occupied by imperial forces, and Menkan, where the garrison had grown even stronger.

Weeks later, they reached Khanbaliq.

The Emperor’s ministers were skeptical, but His Imperial Majesty greeted the party with unexpected joy. He announced—without explanation—the precise date of their victory over Goyat. The party confirmed it. The ministers fell silent.

Lavish rewards were bestowed upon Tetsukichi, Golfo, and Beatriss. Tetsukichi and Golfo were told that they would be called upon again, and more honors would come to the Sansar clan. Then the Emperor turned to Beatriss.

He offered her a rare post: Supreme Guardian of the Women’s Palace. It was a sensitive and powerful role, reserved for a woman of unshakable discipline. No man was permitted in the harem, but Beatriss’s leadership and martial prowess, the Emperor noted, surpassed that of most men in his empire. When she hesitated, the Emperor did not withdraw the offer. Instead, he granted her a private apartment within the Imperial City—“so that you may think it over.”

Beatriss bowed and accepted the offer of accommodation but made no promises.

The heroes were dismissed. Tetsukichi and Golfo were given a walled compound in the Green Zone. Beatriss took up residence within the city walls, where she was introduced to Bayan—a bold, sharp-eyed former servant of a princess. The princess had labeled her impudent. Beatriss saw something else: the spirit of Madarua, wild and unshaped. She looked forward to testing her—and training her.