"Where is Tirseng?" said Curioso.
Bierce -- if it was Bierce -- shrugged and said, "Went on ahead, as far as I can tell."
There was a knock on the doorframe. An ancient Chinese figure, bespectacled, stood there, quiet. Curioso saw him, and went over to him, and bowed.
"SiFu, you have come just as we are going to the palace. Annette --" and he realized that she was off doing her toilette, and he turned back again. "She will be with us in a moment. Let us wait outside. "
They went out into the early morning light, and walked over to a shelf of stone along the roadway leading to the palace. The Chinaman walked very stooped, and occasionally reached down to pluck an herb from the path. They spoke quietly together for a few moments. Then Annette came out, and joined them.
"Annette, this is Dr. Wu-Ch'i, an old teacher of mine, Doctor to the Princess. He is a great scholar in the Tao." Annette bowed, and the Doctor said: "Please, madam, sit with us and enjoy the morning for a few moments." She sat with them, looking out over the beautiful valley, moving out of the blackness into the yellowgreen of daylight.
"The Doctor has been giving me unhappy news," Curioso said. The Doctor bent his head.
"Yes, as I was saying, I do not believe Her Highness will survive, even the magic of this valley cannot truly help her. She was worse last night. The herbs of ching, of ch'i, of shen, do nothing for her. Her yuang-shen, the seed of her spirit, is fading. She was speaking of death."
Curioso looked grimly at the brightening morning. "She was speaking of it to me as well, as we came into the valley."
"Oh," said Dr. Wu-Ch'i," What did she say?"
"She was partly joking. She said that she was looking forward to finding out if the Tibetan or the Taoist afterrealms were the correct ones."
Dr. Wu took off his glasses, much moved. "She is such an adept, she is such a pupil. Her's is the laughter of the knower."
Curioso smiled. "She reminded me that according to the 6 thieves practice she would be reborn as a bird, since she has always been greedy for the sight of beautiful things."
"What are the alternatives, Doctor?" said Annette.
"Ah," he said. "The 6 thieves are eye, ear, nose, tongue, mind, body. Those who are entangled by the sight of beauty, are reborn as birds. Those who hear evil are reborn as animals wearing harnesses of bells. Those who love smell are reborn in the smelly much at the bottom of the sea. Those who love the tongue are reborn as sucking insects, causing harm to others. Those whose mind craves riches, are reborn as beasts of burden, their treasures strapped to their backs."
"And the 6th?" she asked.
He blushed. "I am sorry to say, gentle madam, but those who are obsessed with the bodily are reborn as chickens, turkeys, or ducks who are incessantly mating."
At that precise instant, a flock of chickens, led by a peasant, squawked and sputtered past them on the road. They all laughed for a moment.
A sound of trumpets blared through the air. They were summoned.
Bierce came up with them, and began conversing with the Doctor on issues of rheumatism. Annette and Curioso moved towards the palace.
"What do you think?" he said.
"Duck, almost certainly." she replied.
"And me?"
"It was you I was referring to."
They entered into the antechamber of the Palace, which was bristling with guards. The guards parted, and then closed behind the small party as it advanced. The Palace was draped in purples and blacks, covering as much of the murals and thangkas as possible; but there were ancient Bon figures, dragons and warriors, spiking out from every corner and alcove.
They came into the main chamber, full of silent courtiers, and members of the valley. On a purpleblack dais, seating on his black jade throne, Prince Monotek was speaking to the Princess, seated to one side, looking thin and pale. Curioso held Annette's hand, and chanted to Chenrezig and the 35 Awakened Buddhas for protection as they walked forward. They caught sight of Tirseng, also standing to one side, in the midst of the sherpa contingent. Curioso gripped her hand, and then they stopped before the platform.
The Prince spoke: "A pleasure to see you this morning, our brother. And you, Madamoiselle Annette, who we learn is his Betrothed. Congratulations. Perhaps we can have a double wedding while you are here."
There was a murmur in the audience hall.
"For" continued the Prince, raising his imperious voice, "For I have to announce happy news to all, here and in the neighbouring valley within range of the Great Sacred Mountain, that though our sister community has been devastated with disease and death, and your Princess bereft of her husbands, and strangely unblessed with children, we have, in our wisdom, and charmed by her beauty and courage, prevailed upon the Princess Tashalan to accept our proposal of marriage. The wedding is tomorrow."
The Princess sagged for a moment on her chair, and then forced a smile to her face.
There was a confusion of cheers and shouts and uncertain cries throughout the hall.
"You can be the first to wish us luck, Brother. "
Curioso began to speak, and then looked at the Princess, and forced himself to say: "I wish you the best you deserve."
Shouts of rage from the sherpas around Tirseng. A struggle broke out for a few moments, then was quelled.
Annette stepped forward: "If you will allow me to be your bridesmaid, Princess, I would be honoured to assist. There are no women in your company."
The Princess did not rise. She said, in a quavering voice, "Come to my side, please, Annette. Nothing would please me more." Annette moved up onto the platform, and came up to her, and knelt. The Princess leant forward and as she bid Annette stand, Annette whispered: "Don't do this, don't". And the Princess answered: "It must be, it must be. For my people, it must be. And it will not be for long." And Annette looked up and saw that the Princess was in deadly earnest. And that she was visibly dying.