Jade Fire Gold(56)

“Did my father send you here to ply me with sweet nothings, little priest?”

Leiye winces.

“Did Linxi get into trouble?” I ask. He shakes his head. “How about Tai Shun?”

“Oblivious to everything but himself, as usual.”

“How could you say that?” The crown prince hasn’t come to see me, which means either he doesn’t know I’m here or isn’t allowed to come. Or maybe Leiye’s right and Tai Shun is too self-absorbed to notice my absence. I brush that possibility aside, longing to believe the best of him.

“You care about him,” Leiye observes.

I look away.

“It’s his gift. Everyone who meets him wants to protect him, for better or worse.”

“Do you want to protect him? He cares about you,” I say, trying to gauge how Leiye himself feels without divulging Tai Shun’s secret.

There’s no change in Leiye’s expression or demeanor. Even his eyes remain cloaked.

“You need to find the sword of light,” is all he says.

“That’s your response?” I guess he doesn’t give a damn about Tai Shun. “I just told you something important.”

“That piece of information is more important to you than it is to me.”

“I forgot. You only care about your duty.” I wield the last word like a knife. I hope he feels its cut.

“You forget that my duty is also to the prince. Your duty is to find the sword of light.”

I laugh. A hoarse cackle that echoes through the cell.

“The premier only wants the best for our country, and he will do what it takes to save it,” says Leiye. “I think you should reconsider your position. Find the sword, save our country.”

“He really did send you here to persuade me.” I say nothing else, choosing to lie down again. I keep my eyes on the ceiling, signaling the end of our conversation. He doesn’t leave. Instead, I hear him nudging the bowl of rice toward me.

“You don’t have to give the sword to him.” Leiye’s voice is so soft that I have to strain to listen. “He hasn’t sent anyone out west yet, I managed to stall. There is time. Eat your rice and chew slowly.”

With a sweep of his robes, Leiye stands and leaves. Moments later, the guards return.

Expression schooled to one of extreme boredom, I pick up the chopsticks and bowl of rice, trying to keep my hands steady.

He hasn’t sent anyone out west yet.

Ama is still safe—for now. I eat the rice bit by bit, chewing carefully until I feel a different texture. Something disguised as a grain of rice. I tuck it carefully under my tongue and return to my corner in the shadows, away from the prying eyes of the guards. I fake a cough and remove that grain. It’s parchment, sealed with something that prevents it from disintegrating in my saliva. I unfurl it with my fingers. Two words stamped in ink.

Stay awake.

Heart bashing against my rib cage, I crush the paper and stuff it between the cracks of the stone floor. For some reason, Leiye wants to help me. Is he going to rescue me? It makes no sense. He’s a priest under my father’s command. Opposing the head priest is a death sentence. Opposing the premier is a death sentence. What if it’s a ploy from my father? He trusts Leiye, and from what I’ve seen, Leiye defers to him. Why would Leiye be helping me?

Be careful who you trust.

When I think back on Leiye’s actions ever since he saved me from the Tiensai who was trying to kill me, I can’t help but wonder if I’ve read him wrong. I thought him a stooge of the priesthood, a loyal lapdog of my father’s, but maybe he is something more. But still, I can’t figure out why he would betray my father.

You don’t have to give the sword to him.

Does Leiye mean that I should give it to someone else? To him instead? Or does he mean that I should keep it? Or hide it?

Question after question springs up in my mind, but I tell myself there’s no point speculating until I’m out of this prison and free. Reluctantly, I finish all the rice, and then I eat the vegetables and meat, forcing everything down. Whatever Leiye has planned for tonight, I’ll need my strength. My stomach starts to feel queasy. Whether it’s from the sudden intrusion of food or my nerves, I don’t know. When I’m done eating, I retreat to my usual spot so the guards won’t suspect anything.

I wait, trying my best not to fall asleep.

Time stretches endlessly.

Stay awake.

For what? For whom? Just when I start to think Leiye is pulling some elaborate joke on me, the fire from the torches flickers and I jerk up. Nothing happens. I lie back down, heart beating so loud the guards must hear it.

More time passes and my eyelids start to droop. I pinch myself, but the pain doesn’t seem to keep me awake. The torches flicker again, but I don’t think anything of it.

Then—a guard’s shout is cut off.

Light vanishes.

I blink rapidly, adjusting to the darkness. I hear muffled sounds of more bodies falling to the ground as I feel my way toward the bars of my cell. A few long seconds drag by in silence.

Something sparks. A flame from a finger appears in front of me beyond the iron bars.

“Leiye? What’s happening?” I whisper to the masked figure in black that takes shape.

The mask comes off.

And I find myself staring at the beautiful sharp face of the boy from the desert.