“Thank you for keeping this lowly one in mind,” Peng Xinyi said. “Will you be needing any more assistance this morning?”
“I’ll be fine,” Mi Fei said, and the spy maid excused herself. Xiao Bai was long gone, so Mi Fei left her residence to bask in the sunshine. It was nice today, especially given all the rain that had been falling. No wonder she’d been having nightmares.
Mi Fei took her time walking through the family manor. It was a gateway of sorts, with a single large path leading through it and into the rest of the Mi Clan’s inner estate. She picked up hints of conversation as she walked through the well-decorated halls, careful not to get roped in by anyone.
“Young Miss, might you have some free time?” a voice called.
“I’m afraid not,” she replied politely.
“Mi Fei, it’s simply been ages,” a cousin called out.
“I know, but we’ll have to talk some other day,” Mi Fei said. Invitations like this were getting more common. Their about-turn left a sour taste in her mouth, however, so she’d been slow to take them up on their offers.
“Young Miss, your mother was wondering if you’d care to have tea this morning,” another voice called out. That was new. This one, she answered more politely, making all the necessary assurances to maintain a façade of politeness.
“I’d normally be happy to, but I need to be off for an appointment,” Mi Fei said. “Perhaps another time would work better?”
“Madame Mi will hold you to it,” her mother’s assistant replied.
I wonder what she wants? Her mother didn’t often want to speak with her. No matter. She neither had the time nor did she want to find out.
A small six-passenger ship pulled up as she walked out of the family manor. No one moved to stop or intercept her as they once might have. She hopped into the ship without any complaints, and the driver shot off immediately and without any interruptions. Wei Longshen smiled as she sat down next to him.
“You’re looking happy today,” he said.
“And you’re looking rather smug and satisfied,” Mi Fei replied.
“I confess, it’s been a good day so far,” Wei Longshen said. “It’s barely lunch, and I’ve not only secured a clan alliance, but I also get to spend the rest of my day with the most beautiful lady in the prefecture. Not many can claim the same.”
“I would say that by definition no one could legitimately claim the same,” Mi Fei said. “Given that there can only be one most beautiful woman in the prefecture.”
“Then I am most lucky indeed,” Wei Longshen said. “And with any luck, my family’s spy will remain quiet, and so will yours.”
“My family doesn’t send any spies,” Mi Fei said.
To which Wei Longshen raised an eyebrow, summoned two small jade chips, and flicked them both to different seats in the mostly empty ship. Both chips froze in the air just before colliding into what could only be said spies.
“I stand corrected,” she said.
“Let us hope that they aren’t feeling particularly vindictive,” Wei Longshen said.
“I don’t believe they need to do anything, given the terrible date ideas you’ve been having,” Mi Fei said. “What will it be this time? A sporting event? Or perhaps a musical whose intended audience is a gaggle of five-hundred-year-old ladies?”
“That musical was a classic,” Wei Longshen said. “And my ideas are usually fun. Climbing trees, for example, was more fun than any of us expected, and the apples were particularly delicious.”
Mi Fei smiled. “Yes, it’s been a good year for apples.” Then she shuddered as she briefly remembered tasting one in her dream from the night before. How good it had tasted. The moment lasted a fraction of a second and faded away soon after.
“To answer your question, we’re headed to the mirror house,” Wei Longshen said. He hadn’t noticed her moment of panic.
“The mirror house?” Mi Fei said. “I can’t say I’ve ever been there.”
“That’s kind of the point,” Wei Longshen said. “It’s difficult, given our current roles, to step out of the prefecture for more than half a day. But we can go for daylong experiences within the city. This place is new, and the owner is a wonderful illusionist. She gets rave reviews, and it’s almost impossible to find tickets without booking weeks in advance.”
“Unless you’re you,” Mi Fei said.
“Unless you’re me,” Wei Longshen admitted. “A benefit of my current position. Though I’m sure the most beautiful lady in the prefecture would have no problem procuring one if she so desired it.”
Mi Fei chuckled. “Unfortunately, I think it would come attached with a second ticket not of my choosing. So we’ll have to rely on your dashing good looks instead.” Heavens, it was good to laugh again. She’d almost forgotten that feeling since her return to the Mi Clan. “Let’s hope this mirror house is as good as you say. I’ve been to a lot more places than you have, believe it or not. I set the bar quite high.”
“Nothing but the best for my lady dearest,” Wei Longshen. “Will Lady White be joining us?”
“She’s busy,” Mi Fei said. “As she always appears to be whenever we meet.”
“She doesn’t hate me, does she?” Wei Longshen asked.
“No more than anyone else,” Mi Fei assured.
You’re talking about me again, aren’t you? Xiao Bai sent.
Quiet, you, Mi Fei said. She drank in the bright city view as they sped off. Today was a good day, just as the last two months had been.
As long as she ignored the nightmares.
Chapter 5: The House of Mirrors
She’s been having nightmares again, Wei Longshen guessed. Whether it was the bags under her eyes or the slight paleness in her skin he noticed every other day, there was no hiding it. Still, if she wanted to pretend it wasn’t happening, Wei Longshen was willing to pretend too, and try to make her day a little brighter. That was the entire goal of this outing—to make her smile, if just one more time.
They were walking on Spring Street, the Burning Lake Prefecture’s premium entertainment district. Sit-down restaurants were eschewed in favor of wine houses and teahouses serving snacks, or more commonly, entertainment venues that served food inside them.
There were acrobatics shows and mock fights and singing performances. Musicians played, and Daoists and demons displayed runes and ice and fire. There was gambling as well as sports, and any game you could imagine. All in a single street that took up a good forty city blocks.
It wasn’t long before they reached the House of Mirrors, which had tastefully set up shop in a tall skyscraper covered in reflective panels. They skipped the long queues and bypassed scalpers, whose tickets were far inferior and much cheaper than those he’d purchased.
“This really isn’t what I expected,” Mi Fei said as they walked onto the seventh floor. The House of Mirrors occupied ten stories in the thirty-story building. The rest was taken up by all manner of restaurants and bars and teahouses. “We’ve been here for three minutes, yet I’ve only seen two mirrors. One here, and one at a corner when we were rounding it.”
“That was a safety mirror,” Wei Longshen said. “Nothing to do with the performance. Ah, here she is. The main attraction.” A short childlike woman walked up to them. She came halfway up to Wei Longshen’s chest and had hair sporting all colors of the rainbow. It was an odd style in these parts, and Mi Fei would have questioned her sanity, if not for the telltale feathers protruding from her hair. The woman was a demon, and a strong one.
“Well, then,” the woman said, staring up at him. “Aren’t you a tall one.” Then she bowed in an exaggerated manner. “Lady Iridescent Weave at your service.”
“Isn’t she the one you were talking about?” Mi Fei said.
“The owner, yes,” Wei Longshen said. “From what I understand, each floor requires an illusionist to operate. I made a special request, and it was happily granted.”
“I’m not an illusionist per se, Lord Wei,” Lady I
ridescent Weave said. “For that, I’d need to either be a light cultivator or a soul cultivator. I am neither.” She walked off, urging them to follow, and as they made their way, she rambled off safety instructions. Things not to do—like breaking the mirrors—and things to definitely do—like walking around and touching things.
She opened a door, and when they walked inside it, the room came alive. Sheets of reflective metal suddenly lit up with beautiful scenery. They covered the floor and the ceiling and the walls with a very vivid rendering of crashing waves that one might see just outside the harbor during a storm.
“Amazing,” Mi Fei said, looking around with wide-eyed wonder. “This looks so real.” She held her arm out and pulled it back when illusory water splashed down on it. “It’s actually cold. It feels wet.”
“And this is all your doing?” Wei Longshen asked Lady Iridescent Weave. “I ask as a businessman. I’ve always been interested in professions and their applications.”
“Weaving light is a complicated mater, my lord,” Lady Iridescent Weave said. “Moreover, it’s sort of a rare school. You see, most illusionists would prefer to make you imagine things in your mind. As for me, I don’t even use light directly. I use flames to create light. By using it, I imitate real things in the outside world. There are limitations to this, of course, but it’s a hell of a lot better than digging into someone’s brain.”
“It’s also legal,” Wei Longshen pointed out.
“That too,” Lady Iridescent Weave said with a grin. “It’s hard, though. You need to use good light sources and mirrors. Then you need a good-enough domain and some practice. Actually, you also need good artifices and a custodian who knows what they’re doing. Sparky, come out.”
“Hey!” said a young boy as he appeared. “I’m Sparky! Bet you can’t catch me!” Then he flashed off and hid within the scenery.
Iridescent Weave sighed. “He’s a naughty kid, but he knows what he’s doing. Now, how can I help you both on this fine day? How can I keep you entertained?”
“We’re here for an adventure, of course,” Wei Longshen said. “Though I still wanted to clarify, you said a domain was required, but surely you don’t have one. Is that a feather I see in your hair?”
Lady Iridescent Weave grinned. “You caught me. In my humble opinion, an Iridescent Phoenix dominion works best. The colors aren’t right without it. Now, how frightening would you like your adventure?”
“Not at all,” Mi Fei said immediately.
Yes, Wei Longshen thought. Definitely nightmares.
“You’re no fun,” Lady Iridescent Weave grumbled. “All right, I’ll figure something out. This way.” She led them down the twisting maze and intersecting hallways into the center of the room. There were thousands of mirrors there. Wei Longshen could have easily gotten lost if not for the arrows clearly pointing toward the exit. “You’ll both start here. And don’t you worry—you’ll enjoy this show, guaranteed.”
“I see how this works,” Mi Fei said. “We’ll be walking around in the illusion, but we have plenty of room to walk in circles. That way, we’ll be able to move around as we wish.”
“Exactly,” Lady Iridescent Weave said. “But before we begin, I just want to confirm you know the rules. The first rule is…”
“No breaking mirrors,” Mi Fei and Wei Longshen said together.
“Good. Not everyone listens,” Lady Iridescent Weave said. “These mirrors are expensive and difficult to replace. If you want out of the maze at any point in time, holler the words ‘light show end,’ and the custodian will guide you to an exit.”
“And this will show us something we’ve never seen before?” Mi Fei asked.
“Not exactly,” Lady Iridescent Weave replied. “It relies on something called surface skimming. It will build something that looks new from your thoughts. We can control much of what happens, but most of this journey is about you and what you expect.” She cleared her throat. “Though we have certain parameters we can adjust.”
“I think we’ll be all right,” Wei Longshen said. He took Mi Fei’s hand and squeezed. Iridescent Weave retreated, leaving them alone in the mirror maze. The room went dark, and a full minute passed before suddenly, they were surrounded by five-colored lights. They were on a mountaintop now. Shooting stars rained down from the sky, lighting up the land with fire. The scents of smoke and cinder lingered in the air.
“It looks so real,” Mi Fei said.
“That’s the idea,” Wei Longshen said. “They say that no two adventures are ever the same.” He pulled her closer to the cliff, and when they looked down, they saw a tower glowing in the distance. It was well-lit, and like the stars in the sky, it shone with all colors of the rainbow. “Is that a demon city?”
“I think I recognize it,” Mi Fei said excitedly. She led the way, taking them straight down, despite the fact that they were walking in circles in reality. Everything felt so real, without a hint of falsehood. They entered the tower, and the first floor was a bazaar. Both humans and demons filled it, haggling, laughing, and jeering. Colored feathers were common here, as were colored clothes and pretentious attitudes. They were in the tower city of Shimmerwing, also called the City of Lights. “I’ve always wanted to come here.”
“Perhaps the illusion sensed this,” Wei Longshen said. “Surface thoughts, remember?”
She nodded, and they wandered about, shopping and enjoying imaginary snacks and drinks. They passed by entertainers and funny displays of phoenix pride, and in the center of the city, they saw a light show unlike any other. Wei Longshen wondered if this was an accurate depiction of Shimmerwing or just their expectation of it.
“I thought most phoenixes had fire-based dominions,” Mi Fei said, still shivering from a display of frost arts one of the Phoenix clansmen had displayed.”
“Indeed, they do,” Wei Longshen said. “All of them do, in fact. They weren’t just frost—they were frost flames. As for Iridescent Weave, I believe she can manipulate light to this extent because she is a fully iridescent phoenix—a phoenix with five colors.”
“That doesn’t sound like light at all,” Mi Fei said.
“I’ve never fully understood it,” Wei Longshen said. “Nor will I ever. Well, what do you think? Was coming here worth it? The way I see it, it’s possible to have a great adventure all the while staying right here in the city.”
“Not just one adventure, but several,” Mi Fei agreed. “This is definitely one of your better ideas. Well? You next.” Their surroundings shimmered, and now they were deep beneath the earth. They were at the center of a golden city lost time to time and space. A song hung thick in the air. The replica wasn’t perfect, but it was close enough.
“Is this what I think it is?” Mi Fei asked. She looked around in wonder.
“Yes, it’s a recreation of the pocket realm we visited,” Wei Longshen said. “Though it seems that here, the vision extrapolates. We are seeing the place as it might have been.”
Not only were there wondrous buildings here but wondrous people. Most of them, but not all of them, were golden dragons. Everyone here was a demon, and there were no humans. Still, they interacted with Wei Longshen and Mi Fei like it was the most normal thing in the world. The shopkeepers had no problem showing off the wonderful artifices that they’d once created when they’d been known as the ancient Clockwork Clan.
There were gears here, and music aplenty. Artisans molded metal not with tools but with their fingers. And at the center of the square were children who danced about under the watchful yet protective eye of their ancestor.
For a moment, it seemed so real. The sights. The feelings. The taste. And then Wei Longshen remembered where they were, and from then on, everything was tinged with an aftertaste of disappointment and regret. If only we were really here, Wei Longshen thought as he guided Mi Fei through the crowd.
“Everything is so beautiful,” Mi Fei said, feeling smooth golden patterns etched onto the sides of a simple doorframe. Every business or dwellin
g had them, and every one was unique and handmade. The Clockwork Clan were artists. Craftsmen among craftsmen. The dragon-wrought weapons brought back by Serrendil were only poor imitations.
“I wanted to show you this place, but I forgot to take pictures,” Wei Longshen said. “Now, it’s possible. Tell me, most beautiful lady in the city—what place would you like to visit next? We needn’t have been there. Our mind will make it up. We could go somewhere no one has ever seen or will ever see again.”
Mi Fei thought for a moment, then smiled wickedly. “I’d like to see a world where people walk upside down.”
Their surroundings changed, and suddenly, Wei Longshen felt like he was falling. He adjusted quickly but found that he was standing on flat plate of silver. Mi Fei was there, upside down as he was, and their perspective refused to shift. They were walking toward a beautiful archway.
“I wonder where this is?” she asked.
“It’s probably not real,” Wei Longshen said. “My turn. I wonder if there’s anywhere with a green sky? Why must all skies be purple?” Their surroundings shifted, and now they were surrounded by trees on all sides. It wasn’t that the sky was green; it was that the trees were so tall it was impossible to see a sky without them. Even the ground was so far below they could only see the dense foliage.
“This is just boring,” Mi Fei said. “Let’s try something trickier. I wonder… is there a place that makes Wei Longshen nervous?” Their surroundings flashed, and soon, they were surrounded by a crowd. It was an audience, and they were mocking him.
Wei Longshen felt a faint heat in his face as his ears lit up. “That’s rude. Would you like it if I dug skeletons out of your closet?” He regretted his words instantly, as suddenly, they were in a ceremonial chamber with all the Mi Clan. They were overjoyed at all the new cultivators the ceremony had brought them. Mi Fei was not one of them. “Sorry.”
Claddings of Light : Book 12 of Painting the Mists Page 8
