by J C Kang
“What is it?” Jie pointed her dagger at the doors.
“The clan sisters.”
Jie closed her eyes and listened. Though their feet padded lightly, she could hear the daughters of the Black Lotus fanning out around the mansion. She opened her eyes. “They are spreading out to block every route of escape. You can’t beat us all. Just tell me who hired you to kill Lord Ting, so the clan won’t torture it out of you.”
Lilian walked over, shaking her head. “Oh, Jie. I don’t know. Whoever it was knew that Lord Ting was my patron, and left a message offering me enough money to buy out my contract. I went to the meeting place, only to find another message with a vial and instructions to poison Ting. It was a crude mixture, one which he would’ve noticed before he drank enough to kill him. I left a message saying as much, and told my new employer to leave it to me. We’ve been corresponding ever since.”
“And you did all this? Not knowing who your employer was?” Jie looked around, gauging how close the other sisters were. They’d reach the common room in moments. “It could’ve been the clan, testing you!”
Lilian shrugged. “I decided months ago that I was through with the clan, one way or the other.”
“Where are you exchanging messages?”
“I drop my messages off under the lucky cat figurine at the Jade Teahouse, and pick up messages from the same grove of trees the clan uses.”
These clues might help in uncovering Lilian’s employer, though no doubt he’d go to ground.
Black Lotus Sisters appeared on the mezzanine and archways in perfect synchronization. Jie would have felt pride if it weren’t for the heaviness in her heart.
“What’s happening?” Wen asked, expression contorted into confusion.
Yuna started to climb over the handrail.
Holding up a hand, Jie signaled them to hold back.
Lilian looked up at them and gave a wry smile. “Let this be our last dance.”
Tears threatened to blur Jie’s vision, but she blinked them away. “There has to be another way. The Viper’s Rest, maybe.” The dangerous technique would make someone appear dead, though it ran the risk of making them forget who they were.
Shaking her head, Lilian lunged with her knife. Their blades flashed as Jie backed up, ceding ground. It couldn’t end. Not this way. There had to be some way to disarm and capture Lilian, and convince the clan to give her a second chance. Though practical, Master Yan wasn’t coldhearted. Surely he’d understand the toll the Floating World took on the girls.
“Come on!” Lilian slashed in a zigzag, with deadly precision. No matter the affection between them, she gave no quarter. Around them, the girls all murmured.
“Jie!” Little Wen threw a shortsword over.
Lilian caught the scabbard, but Jie seized the hilt. She pulled the weapon free. With a blade in either hand, Jie renewed her half-hearted attacks.
“Dead.” Lilian jabbed her in the chest with the scabbard, then bludgeoned her side with the backstroke. “Dead. Come on, honor me with a good fight. I’m not going to hold back anymore.” Her eyes glinted with a deadly focus. She unleashed an onslaught of stabs with the knife and swings with the scabbard like never before, this time with intent to kill.
Jie’s automatic reflexes kicked in. Slipping through the barrage, she cut Lilian’s forearm, sending the knife clattering from her limp fingers, then sliced through the scabbard. The other end spun back, slashing Lilian across the cheek.
Blood flowed from the open wounds. Lilian staggered into Jie, knocking her down. The weight bore down on her.
Lilian lifted herself up. Her tear-filled eyes met Jie’s before sweeping over the room. “They’re all watching.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Jie shook her head. If only she’d realized before she’d come to the Peony House. “These aren’t fatal wounds.” She started to throw the knife away.
Lilian caught her wrist. Blood flecked her lips. “Set me free.”
Master Yan wasn’t coldhearted, but he was practical. The clan could never truly set Lilian free, not after this betrayal. Tears blurred Jie’s vision. If only she’d let her go before. Now, there really was no choice. She drove the knife through Lilian’s neck.
The light went out of her eyes, and her body slumped. Jie scuttled up to her knees and rested Lilian’s head in her lap.
Jie had done this. If her chest squeezed any harder, her heart would burst. She fought to take in a breath.
Around them, some clan sisters sniffled, while others openly sobbed.
Gaze dropping to her lap, Jie brushed matted hair out of Lilian’s face. Her expression looked so…peaceful. If only things had turned out differently. Any number of decisions would have led to a different outcome. She could’ve broken off pursuit after killing the last two men. Or even before that, not returned to the Chrysanthemum House in a futile attempt to save Lord Ting.
Or even over the years, when her own blind spot had kept her from recognizing Lilian’s skills, maybe trapping her in the Floating World.
One of Jie’s tears plopped onto Lilian’s cheek. She could have killed Jie on multiple occasions tonight, but had held back. In the end, it had been her decision to return here to punish the members of the Peony Garden, and her choice to sacrifice herself for Jie.
Wiping the tears from her eyes, Jie took a deep breath and cleared her throat. She straightened and fought to keep her voice steady. “Lilian was a traitor and deserved her fate.”
They each sank to a knee, fist to the ground, head bowed. “Yes, Eldest Sister.”
Jie nodded. “Little Wen, go to the safehouse and bring a Cleaner. The rest of you, start removing evidence. The Gardener is dead in her room, and the Corsage and her Hummingbird are witnesses on the third floor.”
And there was still the matter of who’d turned Lilian. Jie would hunt him down and exact vengeance.
Epilogue
In the Peony Garden, the expert work of the Black Lotus Cleaners left no evidence of Lilian’s rampage. Bound and drugged, Lusha and Shixian had been taken, along with the Gardener’s body, to a Triad-infested neighborhood outside the city walls. Salacious rumors about unpaid debts circulated throughout the Floating World.
The fire at the Chrysanthemum Garden had been spun as an unfortunate kitchen accident. With it being a burnt-out husk of its former glory, its Blossoms, Seedlings, and Florets all found new homes at the other great houses of the Floating World.
All except Jie. After burying Lilian at the Black Lotus Temple’s cemetery for adepts, she returned to the safehouse just outside of the Floating World. Evidence from that fateful night lay on the floor of one of the rooms: the murder weapon, crossbow bolts, ledgers and records from the Peony Garden, and everything recovered from the Chrysanthemum Pavilion. She spent sleepless days and nights poring through it all, and retracing the steps of Lilian’s accomplices.
That was how her adopted father, Master Yan, found her a week after that fateful night. Though he usually managed to evade even her keen senses, he’d brought someone with him. A child, from the sound of the footsteps. Maybe some new girl, about to enter the Floating World as a Seedling.
The door opened, and she turned.
Even at middle age, Master Yan did not look young or old. His face was so plain, he could mingle into almost any crowd and never be remembered. So unlike her, the half-elf with exotic features.
“Greetings, my daughter.”
She bowed her head. “Father.”
“I’m sorry about everything that happened. Lilian was a kind girl. She was never meant for the life of a Black Fist.”
Jie shook her head. “She hid so much from us. Her last plan was worthy of the Architect, the manipulation worthy of the Beauty, and the execution worthy of the Surgeon. It was only her affection for me that kept her from escaping after her successful assassination.”
“Then you did the right thing in killing her. A renegade to the clan would be a dangerous asset for an ambitious lord.”
&nb
sp; The truth of his words didn’t make it hurt less. Jie sucked on her lower lip.
“Speaking of which,” he said, “have you made any headway into finding her employer?”
Jie’s gaze raked over all the evidence. “I’ve tracked the men’s families and pored through the records. My working theory is that it was one of the lords of the North.”
“I’ve brought someone for you to train,” Master Yan said, his face betraying no emotion.
“Another?” Jie glared at him for the first time in her life. Who was it this time? Little Fei? Little Mai? They’d all be reaching the age when they’d enter the Floating World as embedded Black Lotus sisters. “Father, we need to rethink our approach to the Floating World. How many girls are another Lilian, waiting to happen?”
“I will allow you to speak to the Elders.” He gave her the same inscrutable look as always. “For now, though, I brought you an initiate with a preternatural ability to draw connections.”
She cocked her head.
He stepped aside, revealing a quivering boy of no older than ten years. “This is Zheng Tian.”
The boy’s lips trembled, and he ducked behind Master Yan.
“He’s a little shy.” Master Yan gave a rare smile, then nudged the boy forward and pointed at the open ledgers. “Little Tian, what do you make of that?”
The boy’s eyes darted to Jie before roving over the figures. He stammered as he said, in a tremulous voice, “These companies paid for the party for Lord Peng, who is from the South. They all operate in the North.”
“How can you tell they operate in the North?” Master Yan asked.
“Jinjing Lumber Company—Jinjing is a county in the North. Luo Trading—it imports from the foreigners in the North.”
Jie gawked. In just three seconds, the boy had deduced what had taken her days to research. He might not have all the answers now, but with more training, maybe he would.
And she could find out who had turned Lilian.
***
Find out who was behind the assassination in White Sheep of the Family, available June 27, 2019.
***
White Sheep of the Family: Excerpt
Chapter 1
Before yesterday, ten-year-old Zheng Tian had always believed Black Fists to be a fairy tale: mythical villains meant to scare children into good behavior.
Now bruised and panting, he backed up and lowered his sword. He couldn’t say he’d never been bested by a girl two years younger and head shorter—only twenty-seven days had passed since the last instance— but this was the first time an opponent had worn a blindfold and a dress, and made such short work of him.
“You won.” He hung his head and saluted with a fist in an open palm.
Yuna, his skinny vanquisher, removed the blindfold and returned the gesture. “Thank you for letting me.”
That typical polite response. He’d heard it many times over the years, and it stung more than ever now.
“I’ll need to work out the other shoulder to keep the muscles balanced.” Jie, the cruel half-elf girl judging the match, rolled her left shoulder. She’d raised that arm each time the eight-year-old scored a point, seventeen times in all.
Tian frowned. His arms ached, too, albeit from the weight of the practice sword.
“Yuna, you may go.” Jie saluted. She didn’t look much older than either Yuna or him, yet somehow she was in charge of his new world. “Your list for next time is, red, sword, wheel, dagger, green, stab, cloudy, spicy, crossbow, opera, bludgeon, slippery, sun, finger, six, two, zero, nine.”
Closing her eyes, the girl mouthed the words. Then, she bobbed her head in the cutest way, less like the swordswoman who’d thrashed him, more like Princess Kaiya.
Tian’s stomach twisted. Four days. It’d been four days since he’d last since the love of his life, the girl he’d promised to marry. The girl he’d never see again. Four days since his banishment from the capital.
Once Yuna left the small, sunlit room, Jie turned back to him. There was nothing cute about her, except maybe those pointed ears. Her gaze bore into him. “Zheng Tian, why did you lose?”
Why, indeed? He shouldn’t have, given his opponent’s stance and shorter reach. Maybe if there’d been more space. He stretched his arms out to the side, demonstrating the narrowness of the wood-floored chamber. “There’s no room.”
“If you get attacked in an alley, are you going to ask your assailant to take it out into the street?”
He started to respond, but closed his mouth. There was more than just the amount of space. He pointed to the window. “The sun was in my eyes.”
It also cast Jie’s hair in a unique shade of dark brown, unlike any other in a realm of black-haired people. “She was blindfolded.”
The humiliation still stung, but there was more. His shoes’ smooth soles had slipped more than once. “The floor was too slick.”
The evil half-elf rolled her eyes. “You fought on the same floor.”
“She was barefooted!”
“Nobody said you had to wear shoes.”
All the disadvantages, this one self-imposed. Still, despite him preempting all Yuna’s possible lines of attack and defense, she always landed a quick, decisive blow. His sword, in contrast, might’ve been as sluggish as a water buffalo. “Yuna was holding her sword in stance six. But then, she used pattern two.”
“And?”
“You’re not supposed to mix the two. Every sword master says so.”
“You’re overanalyzing.” Jie threw her hands up—the right higher than the left, proving her muscles were already balanced. “Swordplay isn’t forensic accounting.”
Whatever forensic meant, and what it had to do with counting, had to be better than getting beaten by an eight-year-old, blindfolded girl. He shook his head. “Her moves didn’t match her stance. It’s not fair.”
“Exactly!” The evil half-elf’s lip quirked. “Had we been using real blades, you’d be dead a twenty times over.”
“Seventeen. Fifteen, because two weren’t fatal blows.”
Jie blew out a frustrated breath.
Tian’s shoulders slumped. There was no denying the truth. “Yuna’s better with a sword.”
“I was waiting for that answer.” Jie’s smile looked less kindly, and more like a the God of the Underworld bargaining for souls.
This had all been a lesson. These new teachers had to break him down before building him back—
“But no. You’re the son of a hereditary lord. You’ve learned from great sword masters, and your technique is superior for your age. You have a longer reach and a size advantage. You might even be better than me.” She sucked on her lower lip. “Well, maybe not…”
Tian looked up. “The Founder wrote in the Art of War that knowing your enemy—”
“—will win you half your battles. Yes, yes.” Jie held up a hand. “I’m glad you can recite the Founder. What did he say about choosing your battlefield?”
His mouth formed a circle of its own accord. It all made sense. “The narrow space limited what I could do, and neutralized my reach advantage. The slick floors slowed my reaction. Yuna kept the sunlight in my face to make up for the blindfold—”
Jie shook her head. “We will teach you to fight in the dark, using all your senses. But what you should get out of this is, forget everything you learned about duels. We don’t fight fair. Do you remember how heavy your sword felt?”
“Yes.”
“Yuna gave you the one with a lead core.”
And when she did, she’d hefted it as if it were light. He made several slow nods. Really, he’d only lost his duels to Princess Kaiya because she didn’t fight fair, either, and he let her get away with it. Out of love.
“But most importantly, don’t analyze in the heat of the moment. Turn your brain off, and let your reflexes take over.”
“I will try.”
When Jie smiled instead of smirked, it was like sunlight peeking out through the clouds on a rainy d
ay. “There’s hope for you yet.”
***
White Sheep of the Family, available June 27, 2019.
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