I slipped the stone into my pocket. “And you just carried them around with you?”
Ren left the tree and resumed the search for his next marker.“I brought a small pouch with me when I left the palace, as a keepsake. But the stones turned out to be more useful than that.”
We moved quickly against the darkening sky. Anshi eventually lit a lantern to illuminate our path. The ground started to slant as we moved farther up the incline. Within the next half hour, Ren found the remaining seven stones he’d left in the wood, each painted with a different kind of blossom or greenery.
As he pocketed the final marker, Ren balanced on a thick root and surveyed the area. He smiled triumphantly as he pinpointed the hiding place of his father’s token—a camphor tree bearing clouds of gold-flecked leaves.
I stared at the tree, feeling a sense of familiarity. A heartbeat later, I realized it was the same tree I’d gotten stuck in saving Lilan’s stupid cat. The same tree from which I’d crawled down a sheet into my father’s safe arms.
An ache bruised my chest as I thought again of Baba—his kind smile and gentle manner. His good-humored disapproval at my work ethic. His calming aura, which permeated every room he walked into. And the possibility that I’d never see those things again should I fail my mission.
I shoved the worrying thoughts aside and trailed behind Ren as he stopped at the base of the tree. I expected him to stretch toward another branch. Instead, he slowly circled the trunk, running his hands across the gnarled bark.
“What are you doing?” I asked as he slipped from view.
“Just a moment,” he called from the other side of the wide trunk. “I’m looking for the face of an old man.”
Anshi frowned. “The face of an old man?”
“Ah-ha!” Ren crowed.
Anshi and I stepped gingerly over the bumpy forest floor and joined him on the opposite side of the tree. He gestured at a knot in the wood. “Doesn’t it look like a surprised laoye?”
I peered at the shape. Indeed, it resembled a grandfather with drooping eyes and a sweeping beard. And there was his mouth, a shallow hole in the tree.
“Is that where you hid the royal seal?” I asked.
“A clever spot, yes?”
“Not if this forest were ever to catch fire.”
Anshi let out a quiet snort, surprising me.
“One should never tempt heaven.” Ren slid his fingers into the groove, feeling for the heirloom. When he drew back his arm, his fist didn’t fully cover the object in his hand. “Here.”
Anshi and I moved nearer to examine the coveted seal, which resembled a jade dragon nesting atop a rectangular base. A pearl rested on the dragon’s tongue, and beneath the base was a series of carved characters blessing the king’s reign. I stared at the seal, wondering how such a small trinket could bear so much power.
“This seal belongs to the governor of Wen,” Anshi said, the light of her lantern warming the smooth green tones of the jade. “He’ll use it to ensure peace between our states.”
“No,” said Ren, closing his fingers around the seal and pulling back his hand. “This is a family heirloom. I won’t betray my family by handing it over to just anyone.”
Anshi glared at him. “But you said—”
“I said I’d take you to it,” he said. “Not that I’d give it to you. At least, not yet.”
At that, her eyes narrowed into slits. “What do you mean, not yet?”
“I want you to come to the palace with me. You can returnthe seal to my father as a sign of good faith and work out an agreement with him on behalf of Wen.”
“Are you insane?” she snapped. “Priestess, you’d better talk some sense into this boy before I kill you both for lying.”
I stepped forward, thrown by this turn of events. “I didn’t—”
Just then, a fat droplet hit my cheek. We all looked up to see rain falling from the swollen clouds. Even with the canopy overhead, the shower sliced through the leaves and quickly soaked our group.
I turned to Ren, fearful the cold would kindle another fever.
“We must find shelter,” I said, my attention centralizing on that one basic need.
