Tuo Jie slapped the stone table.
"Someone, come!"
He shouted at the top of his voice.
Outside the side hall, another aquatic attendant crept in, trembling. Scrambling forward, he dropped to his knees with a thud, not even daring to lift his head:
"Y-Your Majesty! What are your orders?"
"Bring paper and a brush!"
The attendant obeyed, fetched paper and a brush with shaking hands, set them on the table, then scrambled back out the door.
Tuo Jie sat down at the table and picked up the brush.
The tip hovered over the paper for a moment, then descended, slowly tracing its way across the page.
He wrote unhurriedly. One line, then two. He paused and gave a soft laugh.
"Uncle."
He spoke quietly, a careless chill in his voice.
"You always hide behind everyone else. Will you still escape unscathed this time?"
When he finished, he blew the ink dry and folded the letter. Pressing his fingers against the crease, he slowly smoothed it twice, until the fold lay perfectly flat.
"Where are you?"
The attendant who had just left hurried back in:
"Your Majesty!"
Tuo Jie pushed the letter toward him:
"Choose the fastest runner and have this letter delivered to the North Sea Dragon Palace with all haste. He must hand it to my uncle in person!"
"Tell him I've obtained a rare and wondrous treasure here at the bottom of the Blackwater River! His nephew wouldn't dare enjoy it himself, and begs him to come to a feast and admire it!"
He leaned forward slightly, fixing the attendant with a venomous, snakelike stare. "Do you remember?"
"Yes! Yes!"
The attendant accepted the letter with both hands, kowtowed repeatedly, then scrambled out.
Tuo Jie leaned back in his chair, crossed one leg over the other, and tapped