I propped my chin in my palm. “Hmm, you’re right. Iwouldlike a bonus, please. What with would-be assassins and Wen soldiers now involved.”
He laughed, the sound melting the last slivers of cold around me. “I’m not opposed to paying you more. You’re certainly worth it. But you can’t deny it—you like me at least a little bit, don’t you?”
“How arrogant.”
He leaned close, his breath warm on my cheek as he whispered, “Ah, but is it arrogance or plain truth? Between the two of us, I don’t think I’m the one being proud here.”
A not-unpleasurable shiver traveled up my arms. I found myself speechless, mind stuttering to a stop, as he pulled back and gazed at me with those playful, tea-black eyes. His breath was now on my lips, and it’d be so easy to tilt up my chin and kiss him.
Maybe he read the thoughts on my face because his smile suddenly softened. He brushed his fingers against the curve of my neck, prompting my pulse to stumble. My body ached for him to draw closer, hungry for his heat to press into my own.
Ren’s voice came out as a husky whisper. “Siying…”
The firewood chose to crack just then, startling us away from each other. I took it as a warning from the gods.
I was a ganshi priestess, and Ren was a prince. There was no world in which something could happen between us. I scooted closer to the fire and brushed invisible dirt from my clothes.Without looking at Ren, I said, “It’s late. You should get some rest before we continue our journey.”
We arrived in Xiatang the following evening, just as the sun was bleeding into the horizon. The town was built like a cross, with two large roads intersecting at the center and houses tucked in neat rows between them. Each building featured timberwork combined with rammed earth, their tiled roofs uniform in their gray coloring and pinched ridges. A low tower had been erected by the outer gate, with a watchman assigned to observe the arrival of visitors.
I glanced at the watchman, whose face was shadowed beneath the eaves, as I led Ren through the gate. Though a smattering of residents milled freely about, there was a strange tension in the air. The people we passed walked with heavy feet, and they were unusually thin despite the cultivated farmland around them.
“We should find someone to speak to,” Ren murmured beside me. Once again, he’d hidden his Fu talisman beneath his hood to avoid provoking fear.
“Yes, but who?” I said, scanning the passersby.
“What about that man?” He nodded at an elder puffing on a long wooden pipe outside his house. The man appeared to be in his eighties, reclining quietly in a wide bamboo chair. With his scrawny frame and shallow breaths, it was startling how much he resembled a corpse.
I started toward him but was distracted by a hand brushing my arm. I turned abruptly, thinking it was Ren. Instead, I met the nervous eyes of a sallow-faced woman not much older than me.
“Yes?” I said, quickly turning my surprised jolt into a polite bow of my head.
The woman’s gaze flitted over my teal robes, wooden beads, and the peach staff in my hand. “Are you a ganshi priestess?”
“Yes. My name is Kang Siying. Who, may I ask, are you?”
“Li Feilin, mistress.” She glanced at Ren. “And is your husband a priest too?”
He smiled, eyes bright with delight. “I’m afraid I don’t have therighttemperament for such work.”
I elbowed him, annoyed that he hadn’t bothered to correct her mistake. “He’s neither my husband nor a priest,” I said, hoping my face wasn’t as red as it felt. “He’s just a fellow traveler; pay him no heed. What can I help you with, Miss Li?”
“I’d like to hire you,” said Feilin, grasping my free hand. I flinched both at the shocking cold of her skin and the twinge in my wrist. “You see, my husband—”
“Feilin!” An older woman dashed out the door of a squat two-story house and raced over to grab the younger woman’s arm. She had the same thin build as Feilin. “What do you think you’re doing? You were supposed to be washing rice.”
“Yes, Mama, I know. But this priestess—”
“Priestess?” Her mother looked over me. “A ganshi priestess?”
“Yes, madam.” I inclined my head. “Your daughter was just inquiring after my services.”
“What?” The woman squeezed Feilin harder, her eyes narrowing. “Corpse-driving services, Feilin? You know it’s forbidden.”
“Mama—”
“Pardon me.” I examined the pair more seriously. “Why is it forbidden?”
Feilin turned to push her mother back. She spoke quickly,insistently, her sunken eyes filling my vision. “Do you know of the grave of traitors?”
