I dropped my hand; water sprayed everywhere. Sweat dripped down my temples, but Consort Caihong did not seem to notice.
“That was—incredible,” she said, peering into the trickling stream below. “Could you offer me the same power?”
The question flustered me; not for a second had I expected it.
“The things I could create,” she went on, “if I were not constrained by mere brush and ink.”
What had I created with my power? I knew there must be some good, but in that moment, all I could remember was the fear. The way my victims looked at me with horror in their eyes.
“Caihong,” I said, dropping honorifics. “You said beauty was a curse. I will tell you…power is one too.”
Her shoulders sagged with disappointment, but she nodded in quiet understanding. I could almost see her mind racing as she looked from me to the stream to the paintings around us, austere and solemn in their black-and-white depictions.
A decision took shape in her eyes. “I want to leave the Forbidden City,” she whispered. “Do you know—in all my life, in twenty-eight years, I’ve never left even once?” She laughed, a hint of embarrassment in her voice, as if she expected judgment on my part. But I could not judge her.
I had once harbored the same dream.
“I can promise it,” I said. “If you help me, I will do everything in my power to ensure you go free.”
“Is it wondrous out there?” she asked, a shy vulnerability entering her voice. “Is it as wondrous as they say?”
“It is,” I agreed, after some hesitation. “Wondrous, and terrible.”
Lotus and I were walkingback through the palace when I overheard a familiar voice drifting through the bamboo leaves.
“She won’t talk to me,” Sky was saying. “Brother, I don’t know what to do. She’s clearly sick but refuses to see a physician—”
“I thought you said she agreed to see one before the Spring Festival,” said Winter. I peered through the leaves, spotting Sky and Winter in the rock garden.
“That’s still a week away!” said Sky. “She’s overexerting herself, and she won’t listen to reason—”
I was seconds away from barging in when Winter said, “Why don’t you let her do what she wants?”
Sky stopped pacing, turning toward his brother. I felt my lip curl; Sky had always listened to his older brother in a way he never did to me.
“Maybe she’s afraid of confiding in you because she knows you’ll derail her plans—and prescribe her bed rest.”
“Yes, but if that’s what she needs—”
My irritation curdled and I turned away, knowing if I remained, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from picking a fight.
Sky would thank me later, I told myself—after I had carried out the dirty work for both of us. As always, I would have to act alone. Since he was so unwilling to get his hands dirty.
As for me, my hands were already stained black.
Sixteen
During the Yong Dynasty, lixia masters scoured the land in search of children with strong spirit affinity. Those found worthy were taken to an elite academy in the capital, where they underwent rigorous training in the art of summoning, their talents honed to serve the empire.
—A History of Lixia, 762
In my dreams, the earthcried out in suffering. Qi was depleted from the birds, the sky, the very air itself. Hungry spirits lurked at the edges of my vision, hiding just beyond the thinning veil. Slowly, a crack began to form.
Thunder echoed across the land. Always, my dreams ended right before the lightning struck, before the crack cleaved the veil in two. I woke panting, my undergarments soaked with sweat, my palms streaked with dirt that had not been there the night before. Whatever was happening, it did not concern me, I told myself. The Spring Festival was fast approaching, and my plans were nearly complete.
“They’ve enacted a curfew onthe city,” Lily announced. As the reports of people succumbing to madness increased, security around the palace tightened. “They’ve closed the gates leading out of Chuang Ning, so that no one can enter or leave the city. Still, nothing seems to slow the spreading corruption.”
Just that week, a scullery maid had allegedly begun behaving erratically. Another maid had noticed and reported her to the guards. But when they’d come for her, she’d somehow convinced them to kill themselves. Finally, a maid had struck her from behind with a frying pan, subduing her.
