Her sallow cheeks are awash with a pink, dewy complexion. The deep, dark circles beneath her eyes fade completely. Her hair now looks thick and shiny. My mother’s trembling hands finally still, her posture straightening as strength returns to her muscles and bones. In mere minutes, she looks twenty years younger.
“I thought I taught you that it’s rude to stare,” A-Ma teases lightly.
Picking my jaw up off the floor, I blink away my astonishment. “How are you feeling?”
“Famished. Is there enough for seconds?”
“You can have mine,” I say, willing my heart to remain calm as I slide my breakfast across the table.
Triumph rises in my chest.Could it be? Could it really, truly be?
My silent celebration does not last long, however, because the front doors to the teahouse slide violently open. The force is hardenough to rattle the rickety walls and knock the few framed calligraphy pieces we have askew.
A group of five heavily armored men step in—the very same ones I had the misfortune of running into not even an hour ago at the markets.
“You there,” the closest man snaps. I recognize him by the blooming purple bruise that my knuckles bestowed upon his jaw. Captain Tian. He points an accusatory finger at me, a vicious snarl exposing his crooked front teeth. “In the name of His Imperial Highness, I am placing you under arrest.”
My mother gawks, quickly moving to her feet. “Under arrest? On what charges?”
“Dodging the draft, and the assault of a ranking officer this very morning.”
“What in the nine suns are you talking about? My son would never do such things!”
“Stand down,” a second soldier declares, roughly pushing her away. His hand hovers over the hilt of his sword, his threat unspoken.
Before I have a chance to protest, three of the men surround me, forcing me to my knees as they bind my arms behind my back. One of them searches my pockets and pulls out the small glass vial that Doctor Qi gave me, the remaining scale clinking around at the bottom.
“Looks like we can add the purchase and possession of an illegal substance to your list of crimes,” the guard says with a dark look in his eyes. “We might get to see a hanging tonight.”
My mother cries frantically as they drag me off, swearing that this whole thing must be a misunderstanding. I consider fighting back, but I’m not a betting man, and a five-on-one fight isn’t the fairest of odds.
Tears streak A-Ma’s cheeks as I’m thrown into the back of a waiting wagon. It’s designed with tall metal bars to keep prisonerslocked in. There are people out and about now, some of them gathering in wide-eyed shock and sharing scandalized whispers.
“Isn’t that the—”
“Probably swindled the wrong person.”
“To the ice fields with him, says I.”
My mother grasps desperately at me through the bars, tugging at my outer robe. “Sai! Sai, what’s going on?”
“Please, don’t worry, A-Ma,” I reply, keeping my voice as calm and gentle as possible despite my rabbit heart. “Go back inside where it’s warm. I’ll have this whole affair sorted and be back by evening.”
“But Sai—”
With a startling crack of a whip, the two horses up front lurch forward with disgruntled whinnies. The wagon’s wheels squeak in protest as it is dragged over the uneven dirt streets.
My gut tells me to try to escape, knowing something terrible is coming. But between my bound hands, the iron bars, and the sword-wielding soldiers now following on foot, I know that would be a guaranteed death sentence. The only thing I can do for now is let them take me.
And pray I can talk my way out of this mess.
4
The prison smells of sweat,piss, and shit.
They drag me through the winding labyrinth of stone, nothing but flickering torchlight to illuminate the way forward. The prison sits at the very edge of Jiaoshan, well hidden from the general public’s view. I can’t tell how deep we are underground, but there’s a stale dampness in the air that clings to my skin, chilling me to the bone.
The anguished groans and whimpers of prisoners, along with the haunting rattle of their chains, echo loudly off the walls. My eyes have not yet adjusted to the darkness, though I can still make out the bloodshot whites of their eyes as they grip the bars of their cells, desperately begging for water or food—or a merciful death.
