Page 29 of The Cinders

Xian did not realise he’d dipped his fingers again into the comforting waters until Mercy touched at their tips; cold lips upon equally cool skin.That simple touch brought a peace he could not account for, but had always relied upon.

This was his haven, and he’d not let Yu Ming steal it from him.He glanced down at the carp and smiled.Mercy blew tiny bubbles onto the water’s surface.Their soft pop like the chimes of the tiny bells rung at the end of prayers.

‘I’ll be back to say farewell, I promise,’ he whispered.

She bobbed her head, great black eyes ever watchful.

Xian straightened and adjusted his hold on the overcoat with its precious wrapped slipper.‘I must leave now, Lady Tian.As you know, I have much to do, and cannot spare any more time here with you.’

A splash came as Mercy leapt from the water to dive into the depths of the pond; going, he was sure, to watch over the slipper until he could return to retrieve it.He worried his clumsiness might have ruined it beyond repair, but then warmed at realising that would mean seeking Song Lim’s company once more before he departed.

Xian stepped away from the pond and took the stairs up to where Yu Ming sneered at his approach.

‘You are ridiculous,’ she said, snatching the hair ornament from the proffered hold of her attendant.

Perhaps he was.He did, after all, prefer the company of a carp to that of most other living beings.

‘Careful on these steps, my lady.There are many droppings from the swans, and the foxes who chase them.’Xian pressed the shoe tighter to his body.‘I hear you have a most remarkable shoemaker.He’d not be pleased to know you have traipsed his shoes about in filth, like a careless pig in its sty.’

Xian turned away, fighting the urge to run, half expecting to feel the bùyáo stag at him.But he travelled a good way up the path with not so much as a shouted insult following him.

Xian stopped by the first of the white-bark pines and looked back.

Yu Ming and her attendant were making their way down the steps, the servant staggering a little with holding her mistress’s weight.Xian’s quiet satisfaction at having insulted the lady evaporated.He took a step back the way he’d come.

‘Your highness.’The call came from one of the marchioness’s maidens, further a ways down the path, her eyes averted.‘You are to come with me at once, Marchioness Shen requests your presence.’

Xian sent a fleeting glance back towards Mercy’s pond.He bit his lip, toying with refusing the summons, and returning to his friend.But what could a drunken woman do to a fish who was a master at hiding amongst her lilies and water lettuce and hornwort?

He’d return later, when Yu Ming was sleeping herself back to sobriety, retrieve the slipper, and say his farewells to Mercy as he’d promised.

CHAPTER TEN

THE DAYhad been stolen from him.Xian sat now, at his place beside the Lady Tian, at the table in the marquess’s private banquet chamber.His yumu wood chair was spectacular in appearance, with its yoke back, carved splat and fretwork motifs, but the rattan seat was already making his backside ache, and they had been seated for less than half an hour.

He’d been kept busy by the marchioness; overseeing the floral arrangements for the banquet, ensuring the right lanterns were brought from storage and hung over the table for the occasion, polishing the table to her exacting standards, and instigating many changes to the paintings that decorated the room, as well as two of the dividers with their gloriously painted mountain scenes, before she was satisfied with the banqueting chamber’s decor.

The cold day had become stifling for Xian, with so much activity, and he was grateful to arrive at the banquet and find that the panels of the room had been opened on the garden side, so that diners had a view of the small courtyard, enclosed by a stark white wall.Near the pavilion said to be a replica of the one gracing the emperor’s favourite garden — and set at the foot of one of the towering rockeries — was a pond.It was half the size of Mercy’s, and filled with goldfish; not half as impressive as the much larger golden carp.

Xian had to look right past one of Manhao’s envoy, the plain-faced magistrate who’d said only two words the entire visit, but whose scrutinising gaze made Xian horribly self-conscious as he negotiated the trials of eating a meal whilst wearing a veil.With every lift of the silk, favouring the right side so the damaged left remained covered, Xian felt the eyes of all in the envoy upon him.It did not make for pleasant eating.

Declining another serve of sea cucumber, Xian stared out at the pond as the intimate dining party was regaled by Marquess Tian about the new eagle he had brought from Annam.Xian did not involve himself in the conversation, even if he’d wished to; he’d have received a swift kick from the Lady Tian and a customary glare from the marchioness.

But Lady Tian supported her father most enthusiastically, her hair ornaments jingling as she leaned forward.Her hair had been oiled and shaped into an enormous bow, giving her a height she’d normally lack, and so heavily adorned with ornaments of jade and tortoiseshell and wood she must have felt the weight in her neck.

‘The most beautiful bird, in all of Yunnan, likely all of the Middle Kingdom.’

Official Park nodded, uttering approving noises.‘Mandarin Feng is a wondrous collector, and we have many unusual creatures brought to us by foreign travellers looking for his favour.’Captain Duan chuckled at that, a sinister sound.‘My master has two fine eagles, a mating pair.He works to breed the finest specimens, and one day, he shall gift his greatest bird to the Daoguang Emperor himself.’He paused there, letting the skill and prestige of the Mandarin impress itself upon everyone present.‘Now that we are united in our goals for Yunnan, perhaps he might send one of the offspring to Kunming to join with your bird, your grace?’

The marquess, either choosing to ignore the subtle play of superiority, or not noticing it at all, as Xian suspected, grabbed his cup, demanding they toast the notion with more serves of huangjiu.

The conversation flowed, as did the rice wine, which Xian also declined.He’d meant it when he’d told Song Lim he rarely drank.Even now, it still surprised him that the shoemaker had managed to convince him to partake.

Xian frowned beneath his dark blue veil; the same shade as his ruqun.The gown, with its white cuffs and collar, honoured the ocean that brought foreign trade to Manhao.

His mind had hardly left the slipper in the pond, worrying that his carelessness had ruined it.But he contented himself with imagining Mercy lifting it with her nose, raising it from the depths, perhaps even setting it upon one of the rocky ledges on the interior of the pond wall.She was talented enough.For once, Xian was grateful he’d be dismissed from the dining table long before anyone else considered leaving.Marchioness Shen had instructed him to oversee the fireboxes for the kangs in each of the rooms the envoy occupied.

He’d be back at Mercy’s pond before long.