Yes, he had a great deal farther to fall, but he had done it anyway. Ji Yue was the first to step forward, lifting the ugly ornament from his hand. “Thank you, Master of the Festival,” she said, her heart in her eyes.
One by one, the tainted virgins stepped forward, taking her ribbon and secreting it away. “Thank you, Master of the Festival,” each murmured and then disappeared from the main room, their voices raised with renewed excitement.
“You have given them hope for tomorrow,” Ji Yue said when it was only him and her left. There wasn’t even a eunuch to guard them, so far had they fallen from grace.
“I would give more,” he said as he crossed to stand before her. “I would give you–”
She pressed her hand to his mouth. She did not want to hear his words. She did not want to allow herself to hope. “Tell me truthfully, Sun Bo Tao,” she said. “For this shame, what is your punishment?”
He frowned and slowly pulled her hand from his mouth. But he did not release her fingers. “Men are never to blame,” he said softly, “even when it is completely our fault.” His eyes told her that he blamed himself for everything. For not knowing about the party, for seducing her when she had been all too willing, for everything that had passed. “I am commanded to wear this silly token, and another will speak in my stead at the marriage festival.”
So no real punishment. “And afterwards?”
He looked down at their intertwined hands. “The positionof my choice. I told him I must have an official place of power in his government or I will leave.”
She looked up at him, truly pleased. “That is excellent news! Then you can have your own home and take a wife and...” Her voice trailed away. She did not like to think of him taking a wife who wasn’t her.
“I would still give it up for you,” he said. “We can still run.”
She closed her eyes, fighting the urge to rush into his arms. “How would we live?” she asked. “What would you do?”
There were no jobs in China for a disgraced man. And that assumed that they were not caught and killed for their audacity.
Bo Tao shrugged. “I could learn something new. Ji Yue, it is not impossible to begin again. There is a very large world outside of China.”
“But your whole life has been here. You were born to stand by the Emperor’s side.” Then before he could dismiss her objection, she rushed ahead to the next. “Have you ever lived poor?”
“My family is not wealthy, Ji Yue.”
“But you grew up here, running with the future Son of Heaven. Have you ever wanted for rice in your bowl?”
“I do not care.”
“You will,” she returned.
“No, Ji Yue, I won’t. Not if you are by my side.”
She wanted to believe him. She did believe him. But he belonged in the Forbidden City helping the Emperor direct China. She would not let him throw his entire life away for her. “I care,” she said. “I will not run.”
He grimaced and released a puff of disgust. “You women are taught sacrifice from the cradle. You are here to serve men, to devote yourself to honor and our well-being.” He abruptly gripped her arms and hauled her roughly forward. His eyesburned like fire, and she gasped in stunned shock. “Even you,” he rasped, “with all your intelligence and your strong qi, you do not think that I need you, Ji Yue. That without you, I will...” He swallowed. “I will be hollow.” Then he crushed her mouth to his, kissing her as boldly and as passionately as she had ever experienced.
She melted against him. How she ached for the dream that he offered!
Then he released her. The separation was as abrupt as the kiss, and she swayed on her feet. She wished he would steady her. She wanted to be in his arms again. But he held himself apart, and she was forced to balance herself while his attitude shifted from passionate to bitterly cold.
“Bo Tao–”
“Take this, Ji Yue,” he said.
She looked down and saw that he held out two carved jade combs. The one was a dragon coiling in exquisite majesty. The other was a tigress, regal and fierce. Male dragon, female tigress–symbols as old as China–and he was giving them to her.
“Why?”
“They were my aunt’s. She wore them when she was selected by the last Emperor, so she believed them to be lucky. According to her, when the two are separate like this, then the wearer still searches for her true heart. If a man were to steal the dragon from you–” He plucked the dragon comb away from her fingers. “Then he has taken your heart, and you belong to him.”
Her eyes watered at the sight of him holding the dragon comb tucked against his chest.
“But if you wear them linked like this,” he continued. “Then you have already found your heart.” He reached out and carefully joined the two combs. The mechanism was subtle and intricate, but when he was done, she saw a dragon and tigress locked together in...
