I yawned, too tired to care. Zairena had been making threats all winter. She was like a snake with no venom. Her bites couldn’t kill.
They would hurt, though.
The next morning when I arrived in the kitchen, ready for work as usual, Rai and Kenton blocked me at the door. They huddled together like a pair of catfish, their whiskers long and uneven, and their minds too empty to think for themselves.
These few weeks we’d built a civil, if not warm, way of working together in the kitchen. Rai had even started letting me dip into his stash of sugar, and Kenton had finally admitted that my fish soup was better than his. Why did they glare at me now?
“We have no need of you today, Lina,” they said harshly. “Go home.”
They started to close the door, but I ducked between them and dashed to the back, where Chiruan was steaming eggs.
He acknowledged me with one of his usual grunts. “You should leave,” he said without looking up. “Come back in a week, when things have settled.”
When what has settled?My confusion multiplied, and I expressed it with my hands.
Another grunt, and his nostrils flared. “Of course you wouldn’t know what’s happened.” He lowered his voice. “The young mistress was ill yesterday. Zairena blames it on those cakes you baked. You aren’t to enter the kitchen, not until Megari recovers.”
She thought I poisoned Megari? I shook my head violently.That’s ridiculous.
Chiruan turned to the lacquer box at his side, the one where he kept his spices and recipes, and sprinkled a pinch of peppercorns into the dish simmering by the eggs. “Don’t look so crestfallen, Lina. Lady Bushian and Lord Takkan both ate the cakes. I’m certain the young lord at least will vouch foryou.”
Chiruan gestured for me to leave, but I wouldn’t budge. I wasn’t crestfallen, I was furious! And worried.How is she?I asked, tugging at my hair to indicate Megari’s pigtails.
“She’ll be well. Her stomach is weak, and this sort of thing comes and goes. Lady Bushian will understand that you had nothing to do with it.”
I was boiling with rage. All this simply because Zairena thought I had stolen into her room?
“It’ll pass in a few days, Lina,” Chiruan said, misreading my anger for fear. “Go apologize to Zairena for whatever you’ve done to offend her.”
Apologize?Had all his spices gone to his head?
“Yes, apologize. These nobles need their toes tickled and their egos stroked, Lady Zairena most of all.”
I pursed my lips tight.Absolutely not.
In an unusual act of sympathy, he said, “You’re a hard worker, Fishgirl. I’ll make sure no one takes your spot washing the rice when you’re gone. Now heed what I say and hurry on. Don’t make an enemy of Zairena.”
I threw off my apron and hurried away, but not to apologize.
Chiruan was wrong—I had enemies aplenty. One more wouldn’t hurt.
Talismans hung from the latticework on Megari’s doors, little charms that chimed and tinkled when I slipped inside.
Takkan was already there, sketching in one of his books. He looked up to acknowledge me, raising a finger to his lips. Megari was asleep.
I tiptoed toward her, biting my lip as I took in her small, pale face. Her fingers were splayed over the folds of her blanket, her breathing slow and soft. Under her arm, peeking out of her blanket, was a round-eyed doll with silk flowers in its hair. It seemed to smile at me no matter where I moved, like its owner.
“She’s resting,” Takkan whispered. “Her stomach made her ill, but she’s convalescing now.”
I nodded, but my shoulders were still heavy. I started for the door.
Takkan followed. “You look upset, Lina,” he said once we were outside. “Is it the rumors?”
I looked up at him, surprise parting my lips. He had heard?
“I know they are not true. So does my mother.” He tucked his sketchbook under his arm. “Come with me. I want to show you something.”
Pao was guarding the doors we approached, two sliding screens decorated with a gilded full moon and Rabbit Mountain in ivory. The sentinel’s head tipped with curiosity when he saw me, and a beat later I understood why.
