Page 62 of The Cinders
Another giggle.‘I didn’t defile your precious prince, shoemaker.In fact I came out of the encounter less benefited than he.I spent too much time with him and not enough taking my fill of nightly pleasures.’He glanced over Lim’s shoulder, down the alleyway.‘Fucking in broad daylight is infinitely easier in the servants’ quarters.They are fond of a stab in the stables, or a tussle behind the tavern.I don’t suppose you’d be up for a dalliance?Fine man like yourself would make a decent feed, I’m sure.’
Lim shook his head in wide, certain sweeps, wondering if this entire area was filled with strange madmen.Between his encounter with Master Ren and now this, Lim had to consider that he might still be asleep upon his horse.
‘I am not, as you suggest, up for a dalliance.’
‘Pity.Working men always have decent arses.’The Englishman fell into a subdued silence, his shift in mood as heavy as summer’s humidity.‘I thought China would be far more amusing, Margaret promised me delights in these lands, but even the panlong was rather dry, not what I expected at all.I may as well have eaten burned chicken.’
Lim blinked.‘Panlong?’This strange man had just spoken of eating a legendary dragon.
‘Yes, have you tried it?’
Lim shook his head.‘No one has.The creature does not exist.’
One slim eyebrow raised.‘Is that what you really think?You have a lot to learn about the truth of the world around you.But I’m sure your prince shall be a decent teacher of the ways of the Naturals, once he’s found his own place among them.’
Shouts and cries filled the air behind Lim, and he jumped, certain he’d been spied in a place where he clearly should not be.But at the far end of the narrow passage, life swept on; the to and fro of merchants and workers bringing the festivities to life.
‘You have truly met with Xian?’he whispered.
The Englishman leaned in again.‘Yes, I truly have.’
Swallowing against the urge to give the patronising fellow a black eye, Lim asked, ‘Did you find him well?’He hesitated.‘Were you kind to him?’
The Englishman’s head lifted, and Lim startled to see the flicker of flame; somehow obvious in the green of his eyes.He blinked, and the hint of orange was gone.
‘Kind?’he repeated the word oddly, as though it did not fit in his mouth well.‘I’m not sure you’d call what I’ve done for him kindness.I hope not, it would not be like me at all to do such things, and I have a reputation to uphold.’He raised his finger, one of the lotus seeds impaled on his nail.Lim had not seen him reach for the bucket.‘Do you know, these would make a wonderful suppository once rolled in opium.’
All at once, Lim’s temper overcame him.He snatched the seed from the man’s fingertip.
‘Tell me of Xian,’ he demanded, glancing up at the window where there remained no sign of the prince.‘What did you do to him?’
Another deep sigh, another twirl of the parasol.
‘I made his life a damned sight more complicated I dare say.’The Englishman’s grin was entirely wolfish.‘But he knows more now than he did before, so that can’t be all bad, can it?’He gave Lim no chance to answer.‘But what he does with his new knowledge is entirely up to him.And you, likely.If you ever get to him.Are you going to hide in the shadows here all day or do you intend to make your way to his rooms at some point?’
‘I cannot just walk through the Mandarin’s palace at will.’
The pale-faced stranger cocked his head.‘A resourceful man like you, with a pouch full of enchantment hanging from your trousers, will find a way I’m sure.Give me another of those now.I’ve told you plenty.’
Wordlessly, Lim offered the bucket.The man stabbed at a seed with the long nail of his forefinger.
‘Why would you say that…about the pouch?’
The Englishman made a dismissive sound.‘I’m sure you know.You’re not the stupid egg you pretend to be.’He sniffed the lotus seed and popped it into his mouth.All at once his eyes widened, his head fell back and his groan was lewd and utterly unrestrained.Lim cringed to hear it; disturbed by the stirring it brought down low.
‘Fuck.’The Englishman ran his fingers up and down his alabaster throat.‘Why have we wasted so much time with boring chatter?Give me those.’He grabbed the bucket, scraping it over the stone towards him.‘You’ve been denying me, Mister Shoemaker.I don’t like to be denied.’
He clasped the bucket against his fine clothes, cradling it with one arm like a mother with her child.
‘William!’A woman approached from across the courtyard, her gown clearly in the Western style; wide in the skirt and tight at the waist, with her breasts barely covered by a thin slip of lace.‘I’ve been searching forever for you.’
She spoke in her own tongue, English, which Lim had not used since his days in Shanghai, but found it surprisingly well remembered here.
‘Hardly true, Lady Margaret,’ William returned, digging into the lotus once more and turning his back on Lim.‘You’ve likely only been off your knees a moment or two.’
The woman laughed, her high cackle drawing a wince from the attendant who held her parasol; a young woman who shuffled along on dreadful wooden clogs that threatened to twist the ankle at any moment.
‘I expected to find you in the same position,’ Lady Margaret said.‘What on Earth are you doing out here in this beastly sun?’