The Emperor's Seal by Amanda Roberts - Book Tour + Giveaway
The Emperor's Seal
Touching Time Book 1
by Amanda Roberts
Genre:
Paranormal Fantasy Mystery
Paranormal Fantasy Mystery
Peking, 1902
The Emperor’s Seal – the divine symbol of the Emperor on earth – is
missing. The Empress will do whatever it takes to get it back.
missing. The Empress will do whatever it takes to get it back.
Jiayi has a gift – she can travel through time just by touching
historical artifacts. More than anything, she wants to escape the
clutches of the Empress and run away to a foreign land. Finding the
Emperor’s Seal could be her only chance at freedom, but is she
willing to risk the wrath of the Empress?
historical artifacts. More than anything, she wants to escape the
clutches of the Empress and run away to a foreign land. Finding the
Emperor’s Seal could be her only chance at freedom, but is she
willing to risk the wrath of the Empress?
Historian and wannabe archaeologist Zhihao has no love for the Empress or the
Qing Dynasty, but when the Empress orders him to find the Emperor’s
Seal in exchange for funding China’s first history museum, he
cannot refuse. It is only after he accepts the assignment that he
realizes the key to finding the seal lies in the hands of a palace slave.
Qing Dynasty, but when the Empress orders him to find the Emperor’s
Seal in exchange for funding China’s first history museum, he
cannot refuse. It is only after he accepts the assignment that he
realizes the key to finding the seal lies in the hands of a palace slave.
Civil unrest and encroaching foreign powers threaten Jiayi and Zhihao's
mission and lives as they hunt for The Emperor's Seal.
mission and lives as they hunt for The Emperor's Seal.
**Only .99 cents!**
Do it,” the empress commanded.
Carefully, as if it contained a snake
that could bite her, Jiayi pulled up the long sleeves of her robe
and took the box in her hands. She
inhaled slow deep breaths as she closed her eyes. She never knew what to
expect, so she had to be prepared for anything.
When she opened her eyes again, she was
surrounded by running horses. People screamed as they ran for cover. The men
riding the horses brandished weapons and they slashed and hacked at the people
around them. Jiayi turned left and right, searching for a way out before she
too was trampled. She had never died during one of her visions before, but she
didn’t know what would happen to her in real life if she did. She didn’t want
to take the chance. One of the riders stopped to skewer a man not far from her.
He
screamed as blood shot from his body like
a fountain. Jiayi was terrified, but there was nothing she could do for him.
She had to take care of herself. The
stopped horse caused a break in the sea of galloping beasts. Jiayi had to run
while she had the chance. She had no idea where she was going, why the box the
empress handed her sent her to this place, this time, but she had to find it,
the emperor’s seal.
Somehow this body, this woman she was
inhabiting had a connection to it. She had to trust that this woman would lead
her to the answer.
She ran as far as she could, away from
the battle. Up on a hill, she saw a large tent and many men on horseback watching
the fray below. Why they were only watching, she did not know. She looked down
at her clothing and saw she was dressed in the clothing of a Manchu noblewoman.
The men who were watching were also dressed as Manchu. At least she wasn’t
running toward the enemy. She scurried up
the hill as quickly as she could.
“Please! Help me!” she screamed when she
was within earshot.
The men looked down at her in utter
surprise, as if they only just now saw her. It was possible. Jiayi had no idea
what her manifestations in the visions looked like to other people.
“Lady Caigiya!” one of the men dressed as
a general called out. He pointed to her and two of his men ran down to her side
and helped her up. “What happened? How did you get down there?” the general
asked when she finally made it to him.
“I…I don’t know,” she mumbled. “I must
have been lost…”
The answer seemed to satisfy the general.
He nodded again to his men. “Take her to the emperor. He must be worried about
her.”
Jiayi doubted that very much. She had never
known an emperor to worry over a woman, but she allowed herself to be led
along. She was taken to a large tent, one big and grand enough to be an
imperial residence at the Forbidden City. When the heavy curtains were drawn
back, it was so dark inside she could see nothing. She was ungraciously ushered
inside and the curtains were dropped closed behind her. The room was shockingly
quiet. She could hear low voices of men talking but could hardly hear the
sounds
of the battle raging just below so thick
were the walls of the tent. After a moment, her eyes began to adjust to the low
light of the braziers scattered throughout the room.
On the far side was a large table, and
several men stood around it in heated discussion. Around the tent, along the
walls were fashionably dressed ladies and many children. If the emperor was
here, these must be his ladies—his wives and concubines—and his children, the
princes and princesses. Why were they here, in the midst of a dangerous battle?
Not for the first time Jiayi wished she knew something of history. Even names
and dates would help her understand her visions so much more.
She took a few steps closer to the men in
the middle of the room. The general had said she should be taken to the
emperor, but did he just mean here, in this room, or to his side?
One of the men looked up at her and his
face brightened.
“Cai!” he called out as he ran to her.
“My beloved,” he cooed as he held her hand. “What happened to you?” he asked.
Cai! Of course. Caigiya was her full
name, but she was more commonly known as Lady Cai, the most loved—and the most
scandalous—of Emperor Daoguang’s women. She did not need a formal history
lesson to know who she was now. Any woman who lived in the palace would know
the infamous Lady Cai, the one who stole an emperor’s heart.
But there was no time for her to recite
the legend of their love now. She needed to find the seal. If she failed again, the empress would
be highly displeased…and no one wanted to be in the empress’s bad graces.
“I…I was lost. There were horses running
and men were screaming…” she said.
“I am so sorry you got caught up in that.
The rebels, they came upon us so swiftly. I was a fool to try to take my family
to Jehol during such a time…” the emperor lamented.
Jiayi was putting a few pieces together.
The emperor and his family must have been traveling from Peking to the Mountain
Palace north of Peking in Jehol when they were sat upon by a rebel army. What
rebels, she had no idea, but it did not seem important right now.
“I am fine,” Jiayi said as she tried to
smile. “I am here with you now.”
The emperor smiled back and kissed her
tenderly. She nearly pulled away. Such moments always shocked her. She had
never been kissed in real life. She was an innocent maiden who had spent most
of her life sequestered in the empress’s palace. But this was not the first
time a man in one of her visions kissed her. Some had done more…She had learned
to suppress her real feelings and let the body of her host take over. She
needed to remain calm and pretend everything was normal. She needed the emperor
to lead her
to the seal. It had to be here!
The emperor stepped back and smiled at
her. “You are sure everything is fine?” he asked.
She nodded. “Of course. I was only
worried for you. Is there any way I can help you?” she asked.
He reached up and playfully touched her
nose. “It is as if you can read my thoughts,” he said. “Follow me.”
She did as she was told. The emperor took
her hand and led her to the table surrounded by the other men. They looked anything but happy
to have her in their presence, scowling and crossing their arms. They were not
used to discussing important matters in the presence of a woman.
Jiayi could not help but smile to herself
at that. In her time, only a couple of decades later, China was ruled by a
woman.
“Your Majesty,” one of the men said.
“Surely there is another way…”
“We must protect the seal,” the emperor
said firmly.
“The seal represents the emperor—myself
and every emperor who had come before me and who will come after until the end
of time—and the Mandate of Heaven. We are under attack here! If the barbarians
get their hands on it, they could use it to overthrow the Qing Dynasty! If I
die today, they could find the seal and use it to claim the empire for
themselves. It must be hidden, just for now.”
“But to trust a woman?” another of the
ministers piped up.
The emperor laughed. “Women are the best
at hiding things! Every chance they get they will spirit away a bit of money or
a jewel or even a piece of fine clothing and you will never see it again. Why
do you think you must always buy them new things?”
The other men joined in the laughter, but
Jiayi blushed.
It was partly true. Most women could not
earn their own money, so they often had to hide small amounts away for an
emergency. A woman never knew when she might lose the favor of her husband or
mother-in-law or other benefactor and have nowhere to go and no food to eat.
Even in the service of the empress, Jiayi feared the day she would no longer be
useful to her and find herself back on the street.
The emperor snapped his fingers. A eunuch
ran up and placed a large box on the table. It was the same box that Jiayi was
holding in her real hands—the box that contained the seal. The box was red
lacquered with golden dragons painted on it. It was much larger than it needed
to be, but the box’s interior had many layers of protective red silk to cushion
the seal.
The emperor opened the box and reverently
lifted the seal. The seal had been forged from pure gold hundreds of years ago.
The base of the seal was square, but on the top there was an ornately carved
dragon—the symbol of the emperor. The dragon’s eyes were set with rubies that
glistened in the fire from the braziers. Each of the four sides of the seal had
cloisonné images that were blue in the background
with two dragons—eight in all—reaching
for a flaming pearl. The pearl symbolized wisdom, prosperity,
power, and immortality—all qualities the
emperor possessed.
The beauty of the seal and the weight of
its meaning took Jiayi’s breath away. She was so close. Her
hands started to tremble and sweat beaded
on her forehead.
The whole room started to blur. As the
emperor turned to her, it was as though the world had slowed
down. Jiayi realized what was
happening—she was waking up! She was losing her grip on the vision and
would soon be back in the presence of the
empress. She had to find out what happened to the seal before it was too late.
The emperor stepped toward her so slowly
it was as if he was moving through thick mud. Jiayi tried to walk to him, but
was nearly frozen in place. “My love,” she called out, willing him to hurry
without causing suspicion.
“My dear Lady Cai,” he said as he held
out the seal. “I need you to hide this for me. Do you promise to keep it safe
and reveal it to no one but me when it is once again safe todo so?” It sounded
as though he was calling to her through water.
“Yes, yes, my love. Of course,” she said.
The world blurred further. She could no longer see the table, the
braziers, or the angry faces of the men
nearby.
“Into your hands, I entrust all of
China.”
She tried to hold out her hands, but she
could not move quickly enough. The emperor released the seal and it slipped
through her fingers, crashing to the ground.
“Jiayi…” she thought she heard the emperor say,
but his voice sounded far away even though he was right in front of her.
“What?” she asked.
“Jiayi…” His voice was little more than a
whisper as the world went black.
As Jiayi woke, she heard her name being
called louder and louder.
“Jiayi! Jiayi, answer me! Did you find
it? Do you know where the seal is?”
Jiayi opened her eyes and the empress was
right in front of her. She started as the hard eyes looked deep into hers.
“Jiayi! Answer me! What did you see?”
“Lady Cai…” Jiayi said as she tried to
recall the details of the vision. “The emperor gave the seal to Lady Cai.”
She heard other women in the room gasp.
She looked around and saw the empress’s other ladies, her attendants and maids,
all looking at her. While the empress kept Jiayi’s powers secret from her
ministers and male counselors, she did not bother hiding Jiayi from her friends
and ladies— her real advisors.
“You mean the Lady Cai? The one the
emperor nearly
gave up the throne for?” one of the
ladies asked. “He truly trusted her that much?”
Jiayi nodded. “He loved her,” she said.
“But what about the seal?” the empress
snapped, grabbing Jiayi’s arm and shaking her.
She knew the empress would be angry when
she found out Jiayi did not know where it was. But maybe she could give her
enough information to temper her anger.
“There was a battle, on the road to
Jehol. Some barbarians. I don’t know who…” she explained. “The emperor feared
that they would kill him and steal the seal. He wanted Lady Cai to hide it, to
protect it.”
“And?” The empress was shaking. She held her
hands out as if Jiayi was in possession of the seal and could simply hand it
over to her.
“And…I…I dropped it,” Jiayi said, tears
forming in her eyes. “I’m sorry, but the vision ended before he could hand it
to me. I don’t know where it is. But he certainly gave it to Lady Cai! If we
know where the battle took place, she must have hidden it nearby and…”
The empress slapped her so hard across
the face she thought her neck snapped. She held her breath, afraid to make the
slightest noise and possibly invite more of the empress’s wrath. The room was
completely silent. None of the other women dared to go to Jiayi’s aid. After a
moment that seemed like much longer, the empress stumbled back.
Jiayi finally sucked in a breath as
everyone else in the room audibly exhaled. She slowly straightened her neck,
but kept her moist eyes downturned.
“So close…so close…” the empress
muttered.
“We can try again,” one of the other
women suggested.
She picked up the box and shoved it into
Jiayi’s hands, but nothing happened.
“You know it doesn’t work that way,”
another of the other women angrily whispered, slapping her hands away.
“But Jiayi was right,” Princess Der Ling
said. “If Lady Cai had the box on the way to Jehol, that narrows the search
considerably.”
The empress sat down in her chair,
looking as worn and exhausted as Jiayi felt. She sat for a moment, as if
considering her options. Finally, she nodded her head.
“Yes, it is time. Bring him to me…”
Amanda Roberts is a writer and editor who has been living in China since
2010. Amanda has an MA in English from the University of Central
Missouri. She has been published in magazines, newspapers, and
anthologies around the world and she regularly contributes to
numerous blogs. Amanda can be found all over the Internet, but her
home is TwoAmericansinChina.com.
2010. Amanda has an MA in English from the University of Central
Missouri. She has been published in magazines, newspapers, and
anthologies around the world and she regularly contributes to
numerous blogs. Amanda can be found all over the Internet, but her
home is TwoAmericansinChina.com.
2 Comments
I enjoyed getting to know your book; congrats on the tour, I hope it is a fun one for you, and thanks for the chance to win :)
ReplyDeleteI liked the excerpt. Sounds like a good book.
ReplyDeletePlease try not to spam posts with the same comments over and over again. Authors like seeing thoughtful comments about their books, not the same old, "I like the cover" or "sounds good" comments. While that is nice, putting some real thought and effort in is appreciated. Thank you.