Chapter 12
The Art of Seduction
Royal Precinct, Tianjing
While her assassination of Lady Limei didn't earn Yasuko any praise, her success meant that she was moving on to the next phase of her training. She had no idea what it would entail. She didn't think it would mean a rematch with Prince Sturla, though. It was probably just as well. The less she had to interact with him, the better.
She stood in the dojo, waiting for her new trainer. What was it going to be? Hand-to-hand combat? Short-range weapons?
One of the mirrors on the wall slid open to reveal a secret passageway and a woman walked into the dojo. She wore her robes in that improbable style that left the shoulders bare without falling off entirely and had the sash tied in the front, something Yasuko had never seen before. The robes fit so loosely that you could catch glimpses of leg as she walked, which seemed to be something of a taboo among Celestials, at least in public. She held a long silver pipe in one hand and a folding fan in the other. You couldn't be a much more stereotypical courtesan.
She had a cunning look to her. Maybe the Empress looked something like her when she was younger. This was the siren that would lead men to their doom. Danger and allure rolled into one package. Yasuko had a bad feeling about what was coming.
"So you are Yasuko," she said, taking a long drag on her pipe. "We meet at last."
She blew the smoke in Yasuko's face. Yasuko had to suppress the urge to cough. She wasn't going to give this woman the satisfaction.
"I am called Hongxia," the courtesan said. "My specialty... well, you can imagine my specialty. I hear you managed to catch the eye of our dearly departed Emperor and that was how you were able to kill him. There is no accounting for taste, it would seem."
Yasuko was used to being insulted by just about every Celestial she had met, so if Hongxia thought that was going to get a rise out of her that easily, she was wrong.
"I hear it was rather clumsy work," she continued, sounding almost bored. "My job is to improve your technique. When I am done with you, you will be able to use your charms—such as they are—to bend most any man, or woman, to your will, make them vulnerable, then do your job."
Hongxia waved her fan impatiently and said, "Come, take off your clothes and let me see what I have to work with."
Yasuko balked at this.
"What? No. If Sturla thinks he's gonna turn me into some whore, he's got another thing coming."
Yasuko started to leave the room, but no sooner had she turned than Hongxia was on her, taking one of her arms and pinning it behind her back while holding an ornamental claw to her neck.
"You see this?" the courtesan asked. "It is coated with a poison that will make your muscles seize up and paralyze you without affecting any of the nerve endings. You will be completely helpless. I could do whatever I wanted to you and you would feel everything.
"Prince Sturla has given me permission to do what I please with you so long as there is no permanent damage. You should know that I enjoy breaking haughty girls who think they are better than me. Do you want to test me or will you do as I say?"
There was a good chance Mithridates' Gift would nullify the poison, but not right away. There was a lot Hongxia could do in the meantime. Also, Yasuko didn't want Prince Sturla to know of her poison immunity if she could avoid it. It was better to play along for now.
"Alright," Yasuko said, grudgingly. "Let go."
Hongxia released her and folded her arms as she waited for Yasuko to undress. She thought she could get by keeping her suit on with it in stealth mode, but somehow the courtesan saw right through it, as it were.
"You are wearing a muscle suit," she said. "Take it off."
Yasuko didn't know exactly how Hongxia could tell, but there was no point in denying it. She unzipped the muscle suit and peeled it off. Given how fast Hongxia was, Yasuko didn't like being at a further disadvantage, but she reminded herself that no matter how sadistic Prince Sturla was, there were certain boundaries so long as she played her part.
By now, Yasuko had grown fairly accustomed to being naked around other women. She didn't particularly enjoy it, but she had come to adapt. What she hadn't gotten used to was people looking at her like she was a piece of meat.
Hongxia slowly walked around her a few times, looking the way you would at a vase while browsing the potter's wares.
"I see they have been working on you, but there is only so much they can do," she said. "Tits are too small, but the ass is decent enough. Too much muscle. Not many men are interested in that sort. Nice enough face when you are not looking insolent."
Yasuko would've liked to slap her, but that wouldn't be particularly helpful. Hongxia was clearly the sort who'd get revenge ten times over.
"I hear you are a virgin and a silly prude," Hongxia continued. "Part of my job is to break down your inhibitions. As a woman and as an assassin, you cannot hold anything back. This body—such as it is—is your greatest weapon.
"Men are simple. They are easy to manipulate. A woman without limits is unstoppable. Well, mostly, at any rate."
"Mostly?" Yasuko asked curiously.
Hongxia gave her a sly grin.
"There is only one man I have not conquered. I may work for other clients, but I serve him... at least until I find a way to make him my slave."
Yasuko realized she was talking about Prince Sturla. She couldn't even begin to imagine the sort of twisted sexual warfare they'd engage in. Well, some ideas bubbled into her head, making her blush.
Hongxia chuckled.
"You are cute when you do that. I almost hate to take it from you, but Prince Sturla needs a woman, not a girl."
She walked around Yasuko a couple more times, saying mostly to herself, "Where to begin, where to begin..."
Yasuko felt her body tensing up. She didn't know what was coming, but she knew she wasn't looking forward to it.
"Well, I trust you at least know the basics," Hongxia said, "what goes where and all that. Of course, we humans are more than simple beasts who mount and mate and are done with it. We have a much greater variety of expression. Tell me, what do you know of erogenous zones?"
"What?"
Hongxia took another drag on her pipe and exhaled with a sigh.
"I thought so. What would an Infernal halfbreed know of such things? Erogenous zones, the parts of the body that yield sexual pleasure." She looked Yasuko up and down. "It's not just the obvious parts either. In fact, it's especially not the obvious parts."
She tapped her temple and said, "It has been said that the greatest erogenous zone is the mind, but I doubt you have the wits to provide much stimulation there, so we will have to take a more concrete approach."
She moved in close and brushed her fingers up Yasuko's side, saying, "Tickling the ribs, perhaps. Everyone is a little different, you see. The ears have a lot of nerves to them."
She leaned in and started sucking on Yasuko's ear lobe. Perhaps if she wasn't so appalled by the courtesan's actions, it might have been more effective. True to her vast experience, Hongxia quickly realized it wasn't doing much, so she stopped and said, "But what I find more reliable..."
She swept Yasuko's legs out from under her to drop her to the floor and took hold of one of Yasuko's feet before she could get back up again.
"...is feet."
Hongxia began rubbing Yasuko's foot. She started to feel the effect right away.
"Not only are there a lot of nerves in the feet," the courtesan said, "but by some great joke of biology, their connection to brain is very close to that of the genitals. Some people can get their wires crossed."
Yasuko was trying to suppress her reaction, but she wasn't very good at hiding things from Hongxia.
"And it looks like we have a textbook case," she said with a grin as she continued to massage Yasuko's foot. "However, it is as I said, everyone is a little different. Lovers can take their time discovering each other's bodies, but for work, you cannot waste time fumbling about. Some clients are not interested in foreplay and want to get right to the deed and others want to make the experience last. Even in the latter case, you need to be quick about identifying how to pleasure them."
"Why go to all the trouble?" Yasuko asked. "If we're just going to kill them..."
"It is all about making the target vulnerable. Like this."
Yasuko felt something prick her toe. Hongxia's claw was still sticking there and she was giving Yasuko a predatory smile.
"And now the real fun begins."
A sudden panic gripped Yasuko. She kicked Hongxia in the face with her free foot, then got up to make a break for the door. The inherent problem of running through the estate stark naked didn't occur to her. Her only concern was getting out of Hongxia's reach before the poison took effect.
She didn't get far, though, before she felt Hongxia's hand grip her shoulder.
"You little bitch!"
Yasuko took hold of Hongxia's wrist and threw her into the wall, shattering the mirror. She could feel the muscles in her leg twitching and tightening. The poison was already starting to take effect. Before her body could freeze up and before Hongxia could recover from hitting the wall, Yasuko got the courtesan in a chokehold. Hongxia didn't even have the chance to fight back before she went limp and not a moment too soon. As promised, Yasuko's whole body started seizing up and she was left lying on the floor paralyzed next to the unconscious Hongxia.
Now it was just a question of whether Yasuko's body could neutralize the poison before Hongxia woke up. There was also the fact that they were almost certainly being watched. If Yasuko recovered too quickly, it wouldn't take long to put the pieces together. Only she didn't know how long the poison was supposed to work.
She thought back to her training. The poison was probably a neuromuscular block, the most common of which were effective for about thirty minutes, but given how small the dose was and how quickly it took effect, it probably wouldn't last that long. Longer than it would take Hongxia to wake up at any rate.
Could she stand to let Hongxia do what she wanted with her just to hide Mithridates' Gift from Prince Sturla? No, if she were going to do that, she should've let it happen before she kicked the courtesan in the face, threw her into the wall, and choked her out. What she could do was wait until Hongxia was a threat again. She wouldn't expect Yasuko to be free of the poison.
It was probably no more than a minute before Hongxia started stirring. Yasuko could feel her muscles slowly starting to relax but she continued to lie there motionless. Hongxia got up and immediately went for Yasuko, but she was still loopy from coming out of unconsciousness, tripped on her robe and fell down all sprawled out on top of Yasuko. Yasuko wanted to just push her off, but she bided her time a little longer.
Hongxia didn't give herself any time to get her head straight. She was already trying to get back up, her arms shaking like they couldn't handle her weight. The courtesan shot Yasuko an evil look. At the risk of losing her balance and falling over again, she swiped at Yasuko's face. It was a petty, spiteful move and Yasuko could have easily taken it with no great loss, but her body acted more of its own accord and caught Hongxia's wrist before her claws could leave their mark.
Naturally, Hongxia was surprised at first, but she apparently wasn't the sort to let the unexpected stagger her for long. The two of them locked glares and it was just a question of who would make the first mistake.
"Alright, ladies, that's enough," Prince Sturla's voice said over the speaker. "Break it up."
Neither one of them was particularly willing make a move, lest the other one try to exploit the opening.
"I said break it up," Prince Sturla repeated. "Do I need to count to three as if you were children?"
Somehow their thoughts managed to synch up so that they were able to break off and put some distance between them. Yasuko didn't take her eyes off Hongxia and Hongxia didn't look away from her. Both of them were crouched and ready to attack at the slightest provocation.
"I think you two have had enough fun for one day. We can try again when you're willing to be more cooperative. Hongxia, you are dismissed."
"But, Your Highness, I—"
"You're dismissed, Hongxia."
Grudgingly, Hongxia stood up, straightened her robes, then went over to pick up her pipe and fan. She took a pouch from inside her robe, refilled the pipe and lit it, then took a long drag and held the smoke in for a good while before exhaling.
Eyeing Yasuko while rubbing her cheek, she said, "You know, one of the greatest sins is to damage a woman's face. I will not forget this day."
"I'm not likely to forget either."
"I will do as His Highness commands. I will not overstep my bounds, but you would do well to pray you remain in his favor because if you do not, I will pay you back ten thousandfold."
"I'll be keeping an eye out for you."
"You would do well to do so."
And with that, Hongxia left the dojo the way she came. Only once the wall panel closed behind her did Yasuko stand up and get dressed. While she was doing that, Prince Sturla started talking again.
"That didn't quite go as I expected, Yasuko."
"You're a real sick bastard, you know that?"
"Sticks and stones, my dear. You may not like it, but you're a woman and if you want to be an assassin as a woman, this is the most effective way."
"The oldest profession, huh?"
"Your silly Infernal prejudices are going to get you killed, Yasuko. We Celestials don't limit ourselves like the Infernals do. To overcome us, you have to go even farther."
"A hole with no bottom."
"It's like Hongxia said, a woman without limits is unstoppable. If you're going to be useful to me, I need you to be unstoppable."
"I'll see what I can do."
"Be careful, Yasuko. I like that spirit of yours, but if you become a liability to my plans, you know that I'll cut you loose without a moment's hesitation."
"As long as I do the job, right?"
Prince Sturla audibly sighed.
"So simple-minded... You may be nothing more than an Infernal after all..."
Yasuko would take that as a compliment. She didn't have to become one of them to beat the Celestials. She would show Prince Sturla that.