by JC Kang
She went to the window and looked to the east wing. Tian was emerging, now dressed in the brown livery of Jinjing Province. It was a little too large, but the way the steward looked at him wasn’t much different from the way Hummingbirds ogled Blossoms in the Floating World.
She’d been derelict in her duty to protect him. Even in death, Lilian was still Jie’s blind spot. Skin crawling, she let out a peacock caw, a clan signal.
Tian himself might sound like a dying crow when trying to make the sound, but he’d still recognize it. He looked up.
Jie darted her hands out of the window and signed, Wrong key. Right key glows blue in moonlight. Hopefully he’d see and understand.
“Let me bring the lord’s clothes to the guard, so he can take them to Lord Shi.” If the steward’s voice were any sweeter, they could use it in desert recipes. “I’ll be right back.”
Tian took the clothes with a deft swipe of his hand. “I will take them to Lord Shi,” Tian said. “I will be faster on the horse.”
Smart boy. It might leave her here with the steward still in the compound, but it would get him away faster.
“But…” The steward’s mouth opened and closed, until he finally bowed his hand. “Very well. But do come back. You went to all the trouble, and we have extra sweets.”
Jie cringed again. She really should’ve ensured Tian was safe around the steward earlier, instead of pursuing her own selfish goals. She flashed hand signals. Don’t come back, unless you happen to find the key on Lord Shi.
Hopefully, Wen, Yangyang, and Meisha were still working that angle.
Chapter 15
With their mission accomplished, Wen was no longer in the mood for using feminine wiles on these pathetic lords. Acting usually came easy, but Yuna’s death was still too fresh, too raw. She let out a sigh. Her Seedling. Her responsibility.
Leaning over the railing of the aft upper deck, she looked up at the moons. The fully-open Eye of Guanyin only coincided with the full White Moon once every eleven years. Separated by about ten degrees, they stared back at her. At this moment, they formed a triangle with the Iridescent Moon, now waxing to its third gibbous. Three more hours until it reached full.
The barges had set off a phase earlier, and were now anchored about a li offshore, at the mouth of Sun-Moon Lake. Had Yuna lived just one more day, she could’ve enjoyed this view as well. Wen’s heart squeezed tight.
Meisha’s long fingers intertwined with hers on the rail. “You’re thinking about Yuna, aren’t you?”
With a nod, Wen rested her head on Meisha’s shoulder. “I should’ve protested. Never have let her go into the Trench.”
“You couldn’t know what would happen.” Meisha tilted her head on Wen’s. “She was already a full-fledged Fist. She went in with all the skills she needed. She was close to the No-Shadow Cut, which neither of us can do. It was her choice to sacrifice herself.”
It was true, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. Wen would miss Yuna’s sharp tongue and playful giggles. She would’ve eventually become leader of the clan’s Floating World cell; and with her exceptional intelligence and talent, she could’ve become as storied as the Steel Orchids or the Beauty.
“Ladies!” Lord Shi called out from behind. “I wondered where you’d disappeared to.”
Wen’s heart squeezed. Of course, being stuck on this boat for the next two hours or more meant having to entertain this wolf if he came calling. She and Meisha turned around. Meisha’s arm draped over her shoulder, and she wrapped her own around Meisha’s waist.
“Lord Shi.” She set her smile to look blatantly uninterested. There was no way out of this, except to make herself as unattractive as possible. If she resisted his advances and he complained to Lord Wu, they’d find out she hadn’t been invited. A commoner might be executed for deigning to stowaway on a lord’s ship and attend his party; as a Blossom, she might still face some consequence.
His eyes shifted from her to Meisha. “I was beginning to think you used Yangyang’s departure as an excuse to avoid me.”
“Of course not,” Wen said a tone that conveyed, Of course.
“My, my seeing the two of you like this is so…enticing.” The way he closed the distance between them, it didn’t look as if he cared how uninterested she was. Of course he wouldn’t.
She pressed her hand against his chest to stall.
And found something cylindrical and hard.
A key.
Similar in size and shape to the one worn by Shi Han.
She brushed signals along Meisha’s waist. Another key.
Meisha turned to her, eyes wide.
If it was one of the real keys, that meant the one Shi Han had was a fake. And that would make total sense, to both make the son feel important and to trick potential thieves. Wen tapped out more signs. Find Shi Han. Get the fake key.
Bowing, Meisha twisted away. “I’ll give you some privacy.”
“Oh?” Lord Shi snorted like a pig. “I’d hoped to be like a barbecued pork bun, enveloped by two beauties.”
Wen conjured up an obligatory giggle. Whereas she’d wanted to make herself as unappealing as possible just a moment ago, she needed to get that key now. Nothing better to make an entitled lord feel desirable than to laugh at his bad jokes.
Meisha hurried off before he could say anything more. He turned back to her and grinned. “No matter, you’re the one I wanted to talk to. So tell me, what did my son do with that pocked cock of his that was so toe-curling?”
He was dwelling on that, was he? Of course he was. He was a man, after all, not to be shown up by his own son.
Loosening his collar, she leaned in and whispered, “He was gentle.” A chain link necklace, like Shi Han’s, ran along the back of his neck.
He pulled back and laughed. “Was it his first time, or yours?”
She giggled, and this time it wasn’t completely fabricated. She took two steps back, crossing one foot behind the other to let her hips sway, until she was up against the rail. “A little variety sets the mood. Young Shi Han was perfect for that moment.”
He followed, like a predator stalking prey, not knowing that he was the real quarry. “What do you crave right now?”
“Your bare chest against mine.” They might not be the most believable words she’d ever made up, but selling lies was the heart of being a Blossom. She raked a glance over the upper deck and what she could see of the lower. Neither Meisha nor Shi Han were around. No doubt a lord wouldn’t want to bare himself in front of his peers, so wherever they went, she needed to leave a trail for Meisha to follow.
His expression soured for a split second as he looked over his shoulder. He pressed up against her again, gripping the rail on either side, and ground his arousal against her.
It certainly wasn’t the first, or the hundredth time that had happened. Easy enough to escape, if need be. It wouldn’t be hard to send him for a swim if he presented any real danger. Feigning urgency, she unhooked the knot buttons that ran the left breast of his brown gentleman’s robe.
He caught her hand. “Not here.”
What was it about the Shis and their need to keep covered? She ran her palm over the rail. “I wonder what it would be like to have my wrist chained to this.”
His eyes lit up, and he swallowed hard. He took her hand. “Come with me.”
He took long, fast strides as he just about yanked her to the stairs down to the main deck. At times, she scuffed her shoe against the fresh varnish to leave a trail for Meisha. He opened the door to the sterncastle and guided her in.
The spacious room spanned a third of the barge’s deck, with a few cabins to both the port and starboard. Servants lounging at a makeshift bar with food and drink snapped to attention.
“How can we help you, my Lord?” A middle-aged man in Zhenjing blue livery bowed.
“See that I’m not disturbed.” Snarling, he took her to the open door to one of the small cabins.
A porthole across from the door il
luminated the room in soft moonlight. Four cushioned bunks were built into the bow and stern walls, the rumpled covers looking as if they’d been recently used. Some servants’ livery hung from hooks.
It would be harder to pull off a switch here. Wen shook her head and, taking the lead, pulled him to the next room.
It had a porthole overlooking the waters, but was otherwise empty save for what looked to be two barrels of wine. Coils of ropes hung from hooks on the walls, while bars hung from the ceiling. They would have to do.
She kicked the door shut. Lavishing kisses on his neck, she pulled him toward one of the hooks, until her back was against an interior wall.
He pulled her outer gown off, baring her shoulders, while she finished unbuttoning the front flap of his robe. His fingers worked swiftly. Her inner gown dropped and pooled at her ankles, leaving her only in lace underwear.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Now you, my Lord.”
A frown twitched across his lips for a second, but his eyes roved over her. It was so different from when Tian had studied her with a clinical eye, or even Shi Han, when he’d gazed at her with wonder. This was the stare of a lecherous wolf, pure and simple.
“I just want to feel your bare chest on mine.” It didn’t sound any more genuine in her own ears the second time around, but lust filled his eyes. Of course a lord would believe in his own virility. She reached for the flap of his robe, and his eyes locked on her now-exposed breasts. She pulled his robe open, revealing a splotchy birthmark that stretched across his sagging pectorals, from nipple to nipple.
And right between them, the dwarf key.
Ignoring both it and the birthmark, she wiggled the robe down over his arms. It reached to around his elbows now. How easy it would be to bind him up in his own robe and just take the key! No, the job was to swap his key, without him ever knowing. If only she had musk toxin to knock him out and make him forget about the night. She continued until his robe dropped to the deck, leaving him only in his pants.
Now he crossed his arms over his chest, his expression sheepish. Had she lingered too long on the key, making him think she was staring at his birthmark?
The poor man! Then again, he’d bullied his own son, making him want to cover up as well.
A light series of taps rapped across the door. Here, it said.
Meisha. Hopefully with the key.
“The lord doesn’t want to be disturbed,” said a muffled voice out in the central cabin.
Meisha was smart; she’d find a way in. There was nothing Wen could do about it right now. She brushed both index fingers from his shoulders down his arms, and to his hands. She intertwined their fingers. Gently, she pried his arms open, then lifted them up above her head. She looked up at their joined hands, then released his as she crossed her wrists over the hook. “Chain me.”
Grinning, he reached for the rope.
She shook her head. “Chain. I want to feel the metal bite into my wrists.” Heavens, had those words just come out of her mouth? Would he really believe that?
His head raked back and forth around the room.
“There are no others.” With a giggle, she raised her leg, stretching up to pinch the key between her toes. “This.”
“You are flexible.” His hand shot to her ankle, keeping her from lifting the chain over his head. Then his eyes strayed to the apex of her thighs, bared, vulnerable, and tantalizing as planned. Licking his lips, he took the necklace, key and all, and wrapped it around her wrists above the hook. It wasn’t even tangled or tied.
Which made it easy to steal. Now, she needed Meisha to sneak in and swap the keys while Lord Shi was otherwise occupied.
And occupied he was. He clawed at the ribbons holding her lace underwear up, then the drawstrings of his own pants. They dropped to his knees. “Oh, I’ve been waiting all night for this.”
So had she, though not for the same reasons. Taking hold of the hook, she lifted her other leg and would’ve draped it over his hip, if his paunch hadn’t made it impossible. Instead, with the control of a dancer, she held it there. He hooked his arms under her knees and pushed in.
Hopefully he’d last longer than his son. Although the way he was grunting, it was doubtful. She let out a stuttered moan, imitating the taps of their code. Now.
Meisha’s head appeared inverted in the porthole. Her eyes scanned the room, then met Wen’s. Exchanging nods, she slipped in. Gone was the makeshift skirt, leaving her lower body covered only with her plain white loincloth, her upper body in the bust binder. The shawl, too, was missing.
Both articles of Wen’s clothing, maybe lost, or claimed by some depraved lord as a trophy. Wen’s lips twisted of their own accord.
Lord Shi didn’t appear to notice her frown as he continued thrusting. Her poor back would be rubbed raw against the wall if this kept up much longer. With the deliberate pace of a contortionist, Meisha swung bar to bar, lean muscle cording up on her thin frame. She ended up right behind him, and looped her knees through the bar.
He started to lean back. Without the pressure between him and the wall holding Wen up, she started to slip. Meisha froze.
Clamping the hook between her wrists and locking her ankles together behind the small of his back, she reeled him in. His body pressed her against the wall again.
Meisha resumed, unwrapping the key in silent but tortuously slow circles.
If only she’d hurry. Lord Shi’s hips bucked and his body went rigid. Wen wrapped her arms behind his head and pulled his face to her neck as she let out scream after manufactured scream, again in code. Hurry.
Using Wen’s moans as cover, Meisha wound the fake key around Wen’s wrists in quick circles. Real key between her teeth, she swung from bar to bar to the porthole. The key glinted as it caught the reflection of the Blue Moon, just as she paused by the opening. Are you alright? she signed.
Wen blinked twice, Yes.
With a bob of her head, Meisha dove out.
If Lord Shi heard the splash over Wen’s timed moans, he didn’t show any sign of it. Tension fled his body, and he slumped against her.
Hopefully, Meisha was strong enough a swimmer to make it to shore.
Chapter 16
The ride back to the Songyuan Quays took just a few counts longer than the inbound trip, and nobody bothered to stop a boy in Jinjing livery riding a horse bedecked in Dongmen colors. He dismounted where dozens of others were hitched, and taking care to avoid Father’s servants, led his mare to a groom wearing the livery of Lord Peng’s Nanling Province. After two gallops with little rest, she’d need the care of someone who knew what he was doing.
“This isn’t one of ours.” The groom pointed to where the Dongmen Province horses were hitched. “This one goes over there.”
Ignoring him, Tian put the reins in the boy’s hands. He kept his head low and crept toward the docks. There had to be a way to get back on Lord Wu’s barge and tell Wen about the missing key.
“Are you deaf?” the groom called after him. Grumbling, he stomped off, hopefully to bring the horse to her rightful owners.
Tian reached the docks and scanned the waters.
Both barges were well out in the water, where the river emerged from Sun-Moon Lake. Though lights shone through some of the sterncastle windows, both barges’ decks were shrouded in darkness, the shapes of people barely discernable in the light of the moons. Maybe he could swim out, but how would he get aboard? And then he wouldn’t have the energy to swim back.
Perhaps Yangyang was around, and could come up with a good idea. If not… He searched the docks, looking for a small boat he could uh, borrow. There were several tied to one of the far quays. Coming from an inland province, he’d never rowed before, but how hard could it be?
Out in the water, a rhythmic sloshing grew louder. A boat? Maybe Tian could trade some nice brown robes for a ride out to the barges. He peered through the darkness. In the reflection of the moons’ light on the water, a shape approached.
A swimme
r!
Wen had said something about swimming back, if need be. Staying low, he worked his way to intercept them. He had to pick his way back among the various guards, porters, and servants, but eventually arrived at a narrow strip of sand by the seawall which divided the lake from the river.
The swimmer came ashore close by. He crept over, squinting to try to make them out.
Whoever it was, she was naked. It was definitely a she, and it was the second naked woman he’d seen in his life—both times within four hours. Well, she wasn’t completely naked. She wore a loincloth which sagged with water, but seemed not the least bit concerned about being in a state of undress. Taller and thinner than Wen, her wet hair stuck in tangled knots. Her head turned his way.
“Tian?” It was Meisha’s voice.
Heart soaring, he ran over and threw his arms around her.
She laughed and patted him on the head. “Why so affectionate?”
Because she was family. “I’m glad you’re safe.” Like a proper gentleman, he averted his eyes and proffered Lord Shi’s clean robe.
Laughing again, she took it. “You should know by now that we don’t mind being seen naked. If we act shy, it’s only that: an act.”
He stared at the ground. Maybe one day, he could be so brave as to be naked in front of someone; but not today.
She took his hand and pressed a key in it. “This came from Lord Shi. Please get it to Elder Sister. Once I find Yangyang, we’ll head your way.”
“What about Wen?” he asked. Hopefully, she hadn’t tried to swim too?
“Back on the barge. She’s fine. Now off you go.”
Making it back to Lord Shi’s home was no more difficult than the first time. He borrowed another one of his father’s horses and sped through the city gates, down the main avenues, and eventually turned into the warrens.
He returned to the central pool. Jie would surely see, hear, or smell his arrival, and would think to meet him there. This horse was not as friendly as the last, so while Tian did loosen his cinch, he left the bit and bridle in place.
