The ring of steel being pulled from a scabbard cut off the prince’s words. Indeed, it silenced everyone after a gasp ofalarm. Max tensed. He knew the sound, but it took him a moment to figure out who was drawing a weapon in a royal home.
The nearest palanquin bearer had his sword out and pressed it to the Chinese woman’s neck. His arm was extended, and a simple pull would slice her throat open.
Just like everyone else, Max gaped in shock. What had seemed like a fun display of pageantry had abruptly changed in tone. Especially since the two palace guards in the room abruptly lifted their guns and pointed them at the Chinese delegation.
Good God, they couldn’t shoot people in here! Half the servants would be caught in the crossfire, not to mention himself and the poor woman.
And when the hell had they gotten guns?
Meanwhile, Prinny was reacting in the way of all sane people. “What the devil is he doing?” he squeaked. “Put those things away!”
The captain abruptly lost his grin as he turned to the official. He spoke in rapid Chinese and pointed to the sword, but none of the Chinese moved, least of all the woman. Damnation, why wasn’t she having hysterics? She stood there as if insensate.
Again, the official spoke, his tone and expression appeared regretful. He even bowed before the prince, but when he straightened the sword was still at the woman’s throat.
“Well?” the prince demanded.
“He says that she is a gift to you from the great Wong cohong. She is the daughter of the Wong patriarch himself.”
“Then why does he want to kill her?” Prinny demanded, his voice ratcheting higher. “We don’t kill people in England. Not on my marble floor!”
“She is a gift, you see,” the captain said, clearly sweating as he tried to explain. “Her task was to gain your favor. If you rejecther, then she has failed. And failure… Well, you can see they don’t tolerate it very well.”
Prinny stared at the tableau in front of him. “I’m supposed to take her as a mistress or they’ll kill her? Right here?”
“It’s your favor they want, Your Highness. The emperor has issued an edict restricting the cohongs. There’s to be only two merchants, you see, rather than the dozens we have. It’s a bad deal for us. We need more cohongs to keep the prices down. But the emperor issued his edict, and now the Wongs are trying to be named one of the two—”
“Max!”
Max stepped forward, trying to condense a complicated trade situation into as few words as possible. “A merchant family is trying to bribe you into working exclusively with them.”
“By giving me a wife I can’t have.”
“Yes.”
“Are they idiots?”
“They have different customs, Your Royal Highness.”
“But why bribe me?” Prinny pushed forward on his seat, his expression tight with annoyance. “It’s the Chinese side. I don’t get to pick the Wongs or anyone else.”
The captain stepped forward, his expression eager. “Very wise, but you could influence things.” He raised his palms in a supplicating gesture. “You could say that the British will only trade with the Wongs.”
And no doubt the captain would benefit greatly from such a situation. He probably had a favored relationship with the Wongs. He certainly would if he managed this. But Prinny’s snort showed he wasn’t fooled.
“Why would I do that, Captain? We need more people selling to us, not less.”
“They’re called cohongs.”
“Wong, hong, I don’t care.” He sent a glare over the entire room. “They should send their bribe to the East India Company! The Crown doesn’t handle the trade. You lot do!” Presumably, Prinny meant the sea captains who actually managed the cargo. “Tell him that!”
The captain turned to the official and spoke in halting, awkward Chinese. The official didn’t seem to take it well. His skin turned dark, and his mouth tightened in a hard line. When he finally spoke, his words were curt and challenging.
“Um, begging your pardon, but he says, um—”
“What?”
“He said that you’re the king.”
