Descendant of the Crane(80)

“Then I’ll be there. I’ll be at the very front.”

“Promise me you’ll keep your brother from going.”

“I promise.” She’d have to lock Sanjing up, perhaps employ his own soldiers as guards. He’d hate her, but no more than he already did.

“He’ll forgive you,” said Mei. “One day, you’ll forgive yourself too.”

One day could be a century away.

“Listen to me, Hesina. In the times ahead, you may not know whom to trust. So trust in yourself, and trust in your beliefs.”

Hesina choked on a wet laugh. “I don’t know what I believe in anymore.”

“The things you search for. The truth. You will find it,” insisted Mei when Hesina shook her head. “And when you do, you’ll have to make a decision.”

“On what?”

“On whether—” Mei broke off. “Leave!”

Not so loud, Hesina would have said, if the edge to Mei’s voice hadn’t startled her.

“Leave! You have to go now!”

“Why?”

“Just go! Hurry,” Mei urged as Hesina pushed to her feet, her body heavy, as if in the throes of a dream. “Leave the lantern and run.”

“Where?” Only the arcade of gateways waited beyond this cell.

“Into the crypt—” Again Mei broke off. “It’s too late,” she whispered, almost to herself. The next thing Hesina knew, the two sleeping guards disappeared under a pall of shadow. “Come back. Come close,” Mei said as Hesina crouched again. “Make yourself smaller.”

Hesina tucked into a ball. The cell’s shadow expanded, swallowing her knees. With Mei’s next breath, the rest of her disappeared as well.

“Mei, what’s—”

“Quiet. Stay still.”

Why? What’s happening?

Two thumps sounded in answer from the direction of the archway. Someone gurgled and choked, then fell silent. Moments later, feet whispered across the ground behind Hesina. Two pairs…maybe three.

“What are you doing here?” demanded Mei. “With them?”

“We’re getting you out.”

Hesina nearly groaned. Sanjing. Of course. Who else would have had the audacity?

“What did you do to the guards?” asked Mei.

“It’s funny how so many people have love in their futures,” piped a new yet eerily familiar voice. “And how stupid it makes them when it’s Reeled into the present. All we had to do was ask for the way, and they led us right here. As for the unlucky ones…” Something swished through the air, and droplets rained onto Hesina’s back. “…Consider it merciful that we saved them from their loveless futures.”

Hesina’s pulse spiked with urgency. Where had she heard this voice?

“Sanjing, take these people away.”

“Mei—”

“Leave, or else I’ll never forgive you, not even after I die.”

“But you won’t die. Don’t you see?” Her brother sounded so hopeful that it hurt. “You don’t have to die. I won’t let you.” The volume of his voice dipped as he turned to someone else. “Unlock her.”

“Can’t,” replied the person, voice gruffer than the first stranger’s.

“I saw you split that rock in the cavern.”

Cavern?

“Oh, no, no,” said the first voice, and Hesina smothered a gasp. She remembered. His face, pockmarked, scarred, and one-eyed.

One-Eye.

“What Tong means,” he said, voice creeping closer, “is that he can’t unlock the cell without a price.”

“I’ve already paid it,” said Sanjing.

“And I was hoping for a bonus. I thought we might find a queen down here, but sometimes you mis-See things.”

Hesina’s heartbeat thundered, as if to announce her presence. She envisioned Sanjing tightening his jaw. “What do you want with my sister?”

“Well, if there’s no queen, we’ll have to settle for second best.” A pause. “Huh. You’re a tragic one. Nothing but heartbreak ahead of you. Guess we’ll have to fight this fair and square.”

Something struck the stone above Hesina’s head and rung metallic. A blade. A blade that’d missed her brother. A silent scream skinned her throat, and she uncurled before she could help herself.

“Don’t.” Mei’s shadows rippled before Hesina could protest, and darkness engulfed the space.

“Darling,” sang One-Eye. “You know I can see still him. How he’s going to feint. How he’s going to attack. And I think, if I’m not wrong, in the next moment—”

A knife whistled through the air.

“—how he’s going to die.”

Hesina moved without thinking, scrabbling for the lantern pole. She stood, swinging.

Bamboo, reed, and paper smashed with a crackling pop.

The shadows shattered. One-Eye stumbled. Sanjing knocked out the other soothsayer and spun, covering his back. “Sina?”

“I knew it!” crowed One-Eye in glee, with a dozen splinters in his face and a hand cupped over his nose. “I knew I could trust my Sight.”

It took all of Hesina’s willpower to drop the broken lantern and spread her empty palms. “Here I am. Fight me, but don’t touch…”