“Do as I say, mei. Please.” I turned to Anshi. “You return to the temple and keep an eye on Prince Liqin. I’ll check on Ren.”
Anshi nodded, for once keen to obey.
I watched the governor’s assistant trail after my sister, hoping Anshi wouldn’t do anything reckless, like threaten the prince or engage with him at all. The repercussions of her revealing her identity would be too terrible to imagine.
Focusing on a different set of worries, I spun in the opposite direction to find Ren. He was stepping out of the guest room when I arrived. Changing into fresh clothes already made him look more revived.
“Wait,” I said, taking his hand and tugging him back inside. I locked the door and lit two candles in addition to the one already warming the chamber. Then I retrieved a quilt from the corner basket.
Ren glanced between me and the locked door. Playfully, he said, “I know we’ve gotten rather close, but is now really the time for a tryst?”
I fixed him with an unamused look, throwing the folded quilt at his chest. “Stop making jokes and sit down. I need to prepare you a new talisman since that one is soaked through.”
He knelt across from me, the blanket’s corners pinched around his throat.
“What’s worrying you?” he asked as I removed the talisman from his forehead and withdrew a new one from my pocket.
“Why do you think I’m worried?” I said, placing the yellow slip over his brow. My fingers brushed his skin as I checked for signs of fever. Fortunately, it was cool to the touch. His bout of dizziness also seemed to have receded for the moment.
“You keep biting your lip,” he said. “And tugging on your hair.”
I dropped my braid, not even realizing I’d grasped it. How observant of him. I reached for my staff and chimed the bells, murmuring the incantation to avoid responding immediately. When it was done, I placed my hands on my lap and looked squarely back at Ren.
“I have to tell you something,” I said. “It—”
“I have to tell you something too,” he cut in. I noticed then that it was his turn to chew on his lip, his eyes flicking nervously between me and the door. In the candlelight, his neck appeared flushed. Or maybe it was the way he was rubbing it with his hand.
“What is it?” I asked, momentarily forgetting my own nerves. When he continued to fidget, I reached out and rested my fingers on his knee. He finally stilled and looked at me with a determined tightness in his jaw.
“We don’t have much time left,” he started.
“I promised I’d help you recover the rest of your qi,” I insisted.
He shook his head, the corner of his mouth twitching. “No, I don’t mean that. I meant you and I—we’ll part ways soon, especially now that my brother’s here.”
“About that—”
“Please, Siying. I’ll be quick.” He covered my hand with his,the heat of his palm noticeably warmer than usual. I tried not to dwell on it as he continued, “I wanted to say thank you for all you’ve done for me.”
“You’ve done more for me, it seems,” I said, then caught his look and mumbled a quiet “sorry” before motioning for him to finish speaking.
The ghost of a smile touched his lips. “Regardless of who’s done what for whom, I’m grateful to you. And I wanted to ask if I could write you once I’m back at the palace and”—he hesitated, cheeks blooming pink—“possibly even visit you from time to time?”
“Visit me?” I blinked. “Why?”
“To see you, of course. To spend time together.”
“Why?” I repeated, even as the thought of him coming to see me kindled a fire between my ribs, the flames flickering against my bones.
He lifted my hand and gently turned it. Then he pressed his lips to my wrist, over the splint that still supported it, the pressure petal-soft. Even so, I swore I felt my pulse thump. The heat of my blood shot up my arm like a streak of lightning, igniting the fire already smoldering in my chest. When I caught Ren’s eyes, he smiled, knowing I understood.
“I’m falling in love with you, Kang Siying,” he said, his voice unusually quiet and void of mischief. “Is that a good enough reason?”
This boy—thisprince—was falling in love with me? How was that possible? Of course I’d considered finding a love match when I was younger. My father had married my mother, after all; it wasn’t uncommon for ganshi priests and priestesses to wed.
But regardless of how well-mannered and comely I mademyself, no one wanted their child to associate closely with a future priestess of death. I’d figured I’d eventually find another priest when I was older—after my father retired and Lilan was settled with a respectable match of her own.
Yet here was Ren, a boy from a different world, telling me he cared for me. Asking if he could write to and visitme, of all people.
