“Did this belong to the shansen?”
“Yes,” he informed me. “To the twenty-third shansen.”
The current shansen, Lord Makangis, was the twenty-seventh. That would mean this jacket was from the Qingmin dynasty. Little craftsmanship had survived the wars during which the last Qingmin emperor was overthrown. “It mustbe—”
“Priceless?” Longhai said. “Yes, I spent a foolish fortune on it. But it serves as a good reminder to me of what is lost war after war. Art is lost. Art, and our children.”
He lowered his voice. “These are dangerous times, Master Tamarin. There is good reason to believe that Emperor Khanujin’s dynasty is coming to an end and that the shansen will take his throne, but only the gods know what will come to pass.” He leveled his gaze at me. “You are in a precarious position, wanted by both sides. Not many have the ability to help you, and you would not ask for help even if you needed it.”
Edan had observed that about me during the trial.
Well, I did need help. Desperately.
“The storm has passed” was all I could say. “I meant to leave this morning, but…”
“Ah, I heard your friend had a fall.”
My voice came out hoarse. “Yes.”
“You haven’t told her you’re leaving,” Longhai deduced, reading the guilt on my face. “Will you consider staying on?”
After what had happened with Ammi, nothing would change my mind. She couldn’t come with me to Lapzur, or even to the Tura Mountains to find Edan. I couldn’t risk it. “No, I can’t. I must go alone. The soldiers…no one is looking for her.”
Longhai nodded gravely. “She will be safe here. But you…Maia, you can’t expect to get very far on foot.”
I pursed my lips. “I could use a horse. I…I can’t promise I’ll return it. And any maps you can spare.”
“I’ll have my swiftest steed ready for you by this evening. You will stay for dinner, won’t you?”
“I must leave as soon as my work for you is done,” I said, shaking my head. “Before dusk. I fear I’ve already stayed too long.”
Longhai’s face darkened at my words, but bless him, he didn’t ask any more questions. “May the Sages protect you, young Tamarin. And may the gods protect us all.”
I echoed his words, but I didn’t have the heart to believe them.
• • •
Now that the storm was over, the streets outside Longhai’s shop came alive. Carriages scraped along the roads, and I heard Madam Su greeting customers in the front of the store. Not wanting to be seen, I ducked out of the workroom to find Ammi. I’d been trying to muster the courage to speak with her before I left.
I found her in the kitchen, stirring a pot of soup.
“Some soup, Maia? Come, have a bowl before the other seamstresses drink everything up. Longhai’s regular cook has the day off, so it’s just me in the kitchen.”
She was prattling on more than usual, and despite how calm she sounded, I knew she was nervous about being around me. “Ammi, I…I’m sor—”
“You don’t have to lie,” she blurted. “I know it wasn’t you. It was the shadow inside you.”
The shadow inside me.That was one way to put it.
Ammi bit her lip to keep it from trembling. “What’s happening to you, Maia? You didn’t even know me.”
I didn’t even know myself,I thought, but I didn’t say it aloud.
It was time I told her the truth.
I asked, “What do you know of demons?”
She hesitated, setting her spoon back in the pot. “I grew up with stories about demons. Our shaman said they used to roam free in the world, creating mischief and spreading misdeeds before the gods intervened. He said magic was wilder then.”
