Rain drummed on the roof as I followed him into the temple. Joss sticks burned, incense rising to my nostrils. I glanced at the offerings on the altar, taking in the fluted bottles of wine, the vessels of boiled rice and bowls of persimmons and unripe peaches, the hanging copper coins and embroidered charms to ward off ghosts and lost spirits.
On one of the ceremonial tables was the pink slipper he’d found near Tianyi Village.Myslipper. Beside it, the apology tapestry I’d embroidered.
“It was sewn by Princess Shiori herself,” Takkan intoned. “An apology for missing our betrothal ceremony.”
I knew what it was. I just never thought I would see it again.
Emotion swelled in my throat. I wanted to brush my fingers over the crane eyes I’d struggled to sew. They looked like little black bulbs, some knotted too big, others too small. The red-capped heads were all different sizes, some lopsided and others with crooked necks. I’d never been much of an artist, and it showed.
All I’d thought about while I worked on the tapestry was seeing Seryu again, and when he’d give me my next magic lesson.
What I would do to return to those times. To give Father the embrace he always resisted and ask him about my mother. To hear my brothers laugh so loudly the sound bounced all the way from the other end of our hall to my chambers.
“And this,” Takkan said, picking up the slipper. “This is what she was wearing the last day she was seen. I found it near Tianyi Village, hundreds of miles and a sea away from the imperial palace. Not far from Sparrow Inn, as it were.” His voice had drifted into a low whisper. “Did you ever see her…while you were there?”
My composure faltered. Was this what he’d wanted to ask me? I bit the inside of my cheek. It would have been easy to lie, but I didn’t want to.
I cast my gaze to the ground, played dumb.
“Of course you didn’t. I’m sorry I asked.” Takkan set the slipper down. “It’s just odd that no one knows what happened to her. Whether she and her brothers were killed, or taken from Kiata by our enemies.”
Why did he care so much about what had happened to me? Lady Bushian had called it an obsession, but we’d never spoken. I’d even snubbed him at our betrothal ceremony. Why risk his life to search for me?
Look closer,I wished I could say.I’m here. I’m here, Takkan.
But I knew the power of my stepmother’s curse. Even if he were the most observant man in Kiata, all he would see was a girl with a wooden bowl over half her face.
I reached for my brush, uncovering my hands just enough to write:
Why assassins hurt you? Because search for princess?
He settled his gaze on me, his eyes chillier than I’d ever seen them before. “Do you remember that letter you found in my knapsack?”
How could I forget? He’d nearly slit my throat for it. I tugged the end of my scarf as he explained what I already knew: that he’d found it on an A’landan spy, someone who meant my brothers and me harm.
“I was able to trace it,” Takkan said finally. “To Lord Yuji.”
Lord Yuji! My knees knocked with surprise, and if I hadn’t been leaning against the altar table, I might have stumbled over my own feet.
“I left Iro to send word to His Majesty,” continued Takkan. “That’s when Yuji’s assassins came for me. They’re the ones I encountered in the Zhensa, the ones who nearly killed me. Whowouldhave killed me, if not for you and Pao.”
As the news sank in, anger welled in my chest. Sothatwas why Yuji wanted Takkan dead. The warlord had always reminded me of a fox, the way Raikama was like a snake. Demons take me, if the two were conspiring together against Father…
“Soon all of Kiata will know of Yuji’s treachery,” said Takkan thickly. “And Shiori…”
I lifted my head.What of Shiori?
“The letter I found was only a fragment, but Yuji mentioned that the missing princes and princess were gone. Not dead.Gone.”
Yes, I remembered it too.
“That’s why I think she’s alive,” Takkan said softly, turning to the statues of the seven great gods. “Every day I pray she is. Shiori and her brothers. Their loss has already broken His Majesty. I pray they will be found before it breaks Kiata,too.”
I nodded to show I agreed, but under my bowl, heat prickled my eyes. I pictured Father half racked with grief, half bewitched by my stepmother. Just the thought made my heart ache.
Gods, protect my father,I prayed.Gods, protect Kiata. Keep them safe; keep them whole. If anyone should suffer, let it be me. Not my family. Not my country.
A shroud of darkness had fallen over the temple. There weren’t many hours of light in Iro, and already dusk was upon us.
