I dropped into a crouch, cradling my forehead between my knees and reminding myself to breathe. Doctor Chen would recognize the poison and know the cure. He’d save Baba. He must.
But my father had already been weakened by the fainting fever. Would he truly be able to survive the battering of another poison?
I swallowed the rising panic in my throat.Stop thinking. Stop thinking. Stop—
I was saved from my own mind by Ren’s return. His hand slapped against the doorframe for balance, his tired breaths breaking the silence. Rainwater soaked his shoes and the legs of his trousers. If I weren’t already threaded through with fear, I would’ve been alarmed by his condition.
I shot back into a standing position, speaking tightly. “What is it?”
“My brother,” he gasped. “We can’t find him anywhere on the premises. He’s vanished.”
“What?”
“There’s something else,” he continued, the words tumbling frantically from his lips. “The seal—I hid it in the guest room at the bottom of the bamboo basket. But when I checked it earlier, it was no longer there. I think… I think Liqin found it.”
His last words sounded like the fatal verdict of a condemned man.
But I didn’t have the capacity to worry about Liqin or the royal seal. My father was dying, having drunk the poison intended for another, and there was nothing I could do.
“Jie!”
Lilan and Doctor Chen joined Ren at the door.
“Well?” I searched the doctor’s face. “Did you identify the poison?”
“Yes, Mistress Kang.” He looked over at my father, then back to me. “But…”
But.
The floor tilted beneath me. The heavy pattering of the rain became muted, as if I were trapped underwater. I felt hands grasp my elbow, steadying me. Someone wailed in the distance, the sound reminiscent of my mother’s screams. I stared at the gray sky through the open door, somehow feeling each needle of rain puncturing my skin.
Doctor Chen’s voice finally reached my ears.
“I’m sorry, Mistress Kang. There’s no cure.”
After the doctor left, Lilan and I sat beside Baba’s bed, trying to make him as comfortable as possible.
Anshi never returned, likely gone off to track the first prince. Ren was elsewhere in the residence, giving us our privacy. I didn’t know what was going through his mind—whether he felt guilty or hurt or angry. I didn’t want to know, didn’t want to care.
Lilan wiped Baba’s face and neck with the damp cloth, failing to hide her weeping. I held his hand beneath the blanket and prayed to my mother’s spirit for a miracle.
Please don’t take him, Mama. Not yet.
The minutes burned down too quickly, my father’s breaths growing shallower and shallower. At one point, however, he managed to open his eyes and take in the sight of us mourning over his bed.
“Good evening,” he rasped, smiling weakly. “What happened? Did I accidentally fall asleep again?”
“I’m so sorry, Baba,” I said, my voice just as quiet. “I failed to protect you.”
“Why is that your failure?” He reached up to brush away Lilan’s tears. “It’s the parent’s duty to protect his children, not the other way around.”
“Baba,” Lilan sobbed. “You can’t leave us. You must stay. Please, I beg of you.”
“Ah.” He looked between us. “So I’m dying, is that it? Well, I can’t say I wasn’t expecting it. Although I do love surprises.”
“How can you joke?” Lilan cried.
“Baba.” I squeezed his hand. “There must be a way to save you. Tell me there is.”
