A Magic Steeped in Poison (The Book of Tea #1) (47)

There’s a sour taste in my mouth. I swallow. This is about Kang. Threads tying me to him, and him to her. The threads of fate, pulsing between us.

The princess approaches, her shadow falling over me. “Tell me, Ning. Are you working with him? What is he planning?”

“I don’t know.” I shake my head. “I met him in the market, the day of the start of the competition.”

She grabs my chin, twisting it until my neck is bent back, forcing me to look up at her. “If you are lying to me,” she says calmly, “I will have your family killed.”

The only threat that will undo me. “He … he told me he knows the emperor is dead.”

The princess regards me without emotion, as if considering all the splendid ways in which she could silence me.

I force myself to hold her gaze, to speak slowly and carefully. “You know I am telling you the truth.”

She lets me go, and I close my eyes.

“Tell no one of his lies,” she says quietly. “You will get close to him, discover what he has planned and report back to me. If you provide me with useful information, then I will reward you after the competition and provide what you need for your family. If you provide me with nothing useful, then…”

The threat is clear. She wants me to be her spy. She wants me to use Kang in order to find out his father’s plans. I have little choice but to agree.

I have everything to gain, and everything to lose.

I nod. “I’ll do it.”

“Then you should leave soon. The Hour of the Ghost approaches.” The princess reaches up and breaks a branch from the plum tree. Some of the blossoms are already wilting. Nothing beautiful lasts forever.

“How will I find you if I have information to share?” I ask.

“Ruyi will show you how to reach me.” She waves her hand, dismissing me.

Ruyi approaches me again and gestures for me to follow. A woman of few words. She leads me to a gate on the other side of the garden. Another stone tunnel, but considerably shorter than the previous one.

We emerge in a back corridor, and I recognize from the white walls that we are behind the palace library. There is a shaded path, stone pebbles forming a walkway for scholars to shed their shoes and walk upon for mental clarity and acuity, following the patterns of the gods. Stone lions border the path, wearing the same fierce snarl as the one previous.

“Count two from the southern end,” Ruyi says, pointing at the lion in question. She gives me an embroidered pendant made of yellow string, a similar design to my mother’s mourning knot. Easy to spot from a distance. “Tie this to its paw before the first gong of the evening. I will meet you here at the Hour of the Thief. If the princess needs to speak with you, I will put the same pendant on the lion in front of your courtyard. Meet me at the same time.”

Ruyi bows to me then, touching her hand to her shoulder. “Good hunting, Ning of Sù.”

With barely a rustle, she departs into the shadows, leaving me to find my way back to the residences alone.





CHAPTER TWENTY


I fall asleep sometime after the fourth gong, after realizing that Kang is not going to appear tonight. I suppose that makes me already a failure at spy work, but I am thankful for this reprieve. My nerves are frayed after my meeting with the princess, and I am not sure I could manage the pretense it would require to face him tonight.

In the morning, Lian and I tuck into a breakfast of fluffy baozi, fresh from the bamboo steamers of Small Wu’s kitchen. We pull the dough apart to reveal the filling within—ground pork mixed with chopped chives and drizzled with sesame oil—and blow to cool the steaming insides. I should be grateful to even be here, but the unease continues to crawl up the back of my throat, until I lose my appetite.

I wonder how long the princess hopes to keep up her lie about the emperor’s health. How furious the people will be if they realize they have been deceived. The many facets of her mask I have glimpsed—on the stage, through Kang’s eyes, and witnessed firsthand. The look of someone slowly being forced to the edge.

“Ning!” Lian waves her hand in front of my face. “You’ve been so quiet!”

“I’m…” I turn back to her, take a large bite out of the bun, and almost choke. “I’m … I’m only worried about the next round.” I’ll need to get better at lying, and fast, or else all my secrets will unravel around me.

She nods. “Understandable. It will only get harder from here. Especially if we need two days to prepare for this next challenge.”

Lian tries to offer a distraction by regaling me with stories of last night’s banquet. How she had to sit next to some of the lower officials, who have a penchant for talking too much when the wine flows freely. How everyone was abuzz with speculation about whether the emperor would grace them with his presence, even a glimpse. But he did not appear.

How did the Banished Prince manage to find out about the emperor’s death even while the princess has been able to keep it from the court? The rumors worm their way back into my thoughts again, how his spies have ears and eyes everywhere … snatching children to become residents of his dark kingdom …

“Can you tell me more about the princess?” I ask. If I can use Lian as a resource, perhaps she can help me navigate all I have seen in the past few days.