The kitchen fell silent. The wash boys stopped slurping their morning porridge, the cooks dropped their knives, and Chiruan wiped his hands on his apron.
Slowly I set down my mop and came forth.
“Get back,” Chiruan said, waving me away. “I don’t need a scapegoat. This is my kitchen.”
I wouldn’t back away. I lifted my chin so Pao would understand I had done it.
Recognition flickered in the sentinel’s deep-set eyes. “You.” He gave me no hint of my fate. “Come with me.”
My heart thumped in my chest. Maybe my soup hadn’t even reached Takkan, or maybe it had given him indigestion. Had he choked on a stray fish bone, and that was why I was being called? Had I killed him?
Terrible scenarios unfolded in my imagination as Pao escorted me into the castle. It didn’t help that the corridors were long, seeming to stretch endlessly. Finally, I heard Lady Bushian’s voice trilling from what had to be the dining chamber, and Pao motioned for me to wait outside the door.
“Will you give up this ridiculous search?” she said, sounding aggrieved. “You were nearly killed. And don’t tell me it was a hunting accident.”
A murmur, too quiet for me to hear. I dared hope it was Takkan.
“If you’d wanted me to be calm, you wouldn’t have gone out without my permission! I was willing to overlook you stealing Hasege’s armor to investigate the Northern Isles, to humor this obsession with finding Princess Shiori. But then you go off again, barely two weeks later, without telling me? All because you found a slipper near Tianyi Village?”
My chest tightened. It was Takkan, and that wasmyslipper.
“I’d rather not discuss this at breakfast, Mother. Please.”
“Do you think A’landan assassins would have been so careless as to leave a slipper in the fields?” Lady Bushian pressed. “They’re trying to draw you out. To kill you—as they nearly succeeded in doing.”
“They would have no reason to want me dead,” Takkan said evenly, “unless they believed I’d found something.”
“Yes, Pao told me about the letter you found. He said that you found it on yetanotherassassin who tried to kill you.”
I stole a glance at Pao, who shifted his balance uneasily.
“I don’t care what was in the letter. Or how important it was for the emperor to read it immediately.”
“Mother…”
“The royal children have perished. Even His Majesty has accepted that.” Lady Bushian slammed something onto the table. “Can you imagine what it was like for me to see you brought home half-dead? You aren’t to search for the princess again—I forbid it. Do I have your word, Takkan?”
Pao knocked, muffling Takkan’s reply. I wouldn’t have chosen this moment to enter the dining chamber, but the sentinel opened the doors, and I had no choice but to follow.
Inside, Takkan sat at the head of the table, his hands wrapped around his bowl. His face was pale, his frame drawn and weary. But he looked better. Far better.
I bowed, addressing Lady Bushian first, then Takkan, who gave me a warm smile. “I thought I recognized that soup.”
Megari tilted her brother’s bowl to show me that it was empty.
“It’s the only thing he’s eaten all week,” she said. She impersonated Takkan’s deeper voice. “Sooouuuup. Fiiisshhh sooouuuppp.” She chuckled as he made a face. “I hope you made a big pot, Lina. He’s going to drink it all at this rate.”
I hadn’t made a big pot. But that could easily be changed. I dipped my head graciously, then twisted toward Pao. Takkan was well again, and my endeavor had been successful, complete with personal thanks from the young lord himself. I assumed Pao would take me back to the kitchen.
Not yet.
“I asked Pao here to send for you,” said Takkan, still smiling, “but he has a habit of taking orders too seriously. I hope he didn’t give you a scare.”
Pao made a half smile. “Sir, if you’d seen the stitches she left on you—Iwas the one in for a scare.” He eyed me. “I take it your cooking is better than your suturing.”
A sniff came from Zairena’s direction, and I lowered my head.
Yes, it is.
