My spine tingles. Hugging my arms, I glance over my shoulder with a ridiculous notion that he could even be standing behind me.
The next time steps sound in the corridor, hard clicks accompany the light footfall of Mistress Eira. A strange, hunched shadow appears behind the sliding door. It’s not quite human, too bulky in the shoulders and neck. Instinctively, I back away, readying myself, but I can’t help the curl of fear as the door opens and the woman I assume to be Madam Himura enters the room.
Only she isn’t just a woman—she is a demon.
An eagle demon.
Eagle-forms are one of the rarest kinds of demon. Like a lot of bird forms, many lost their lives fighting in the Night War, and they’ve been mostly recruited since as soldiers for the King’s army. I’ve never seen a bird-form up close before, apart from the quick glimpse of the swan-girl on the road out of the Black Port. The first thing I notice are her eyes: two hooded crescents of yellow. Their piercing gaze cuts straight through me. Pearl-white feathers flow down to a hooked beak that pulls her humanoid jaw out of place, so her face is at once familiar but extremely… not. Graphite robes set off the inky plumage that sheathes her body.
“So,” she says, glaring at me. “This is what all the fuss is about.”
Her voice is hoarse, a croak that seems to come from the back of her throat. She steps closer, revealing the glint of scaled claws from beneath her robes. A taloned hand at the end of one arm—human limbs melded with eagle feathers—clutches the handle of a bone walking stick, but despite the hunched-over way she moves, there’s still power there, brimming energy.
“Your age, girl?” she snaps brusquely, making me jump.
I wet my lips. “S-seventeen.”
“When were you born?”
“The first day of the New Year.”
“An auspicious sign,” she muses. “And the moon would have been golden then.… Perhaps that is what lent you those eyes.”
“Well,” I say, my cheeks hot, “it wasn’t a demon.”
Madam Himura bristles at this. The sleek feathers coating her arms ruffle, seeming to blur her arms into wings as they fan out before settling back against her skin. “Anyone with half a brain can tell your skin is Paper, stupid girl. You even stand like a servant. A demon wouldn’t hold themselves in such a way. Besides, the official inspection tomorrow will reveal if you are not who you say you are. You won’t be able to hide anything from them, no matter how many enchantments you might have used. Turn!” she commands abruptly.
I do as she says, feeling her stare roam over me.
“Mistress Eira tells me you have no experience whatsoever with the court. No connections that you are aware of.”
I shake my head.
In a flash, she jerks forward, clasping my chin in her talons. “You do not answer with crude movements, girl!” Sour breath hits my face. “If I ask you a question, you respond with ‘Yes, Madam Himura’ or ‘No, Madam Himura.’ Is that clear?”
I swallow. “Yes, Madam Himura.”
“Do you even possess any skills aside from being insolent to your superiors?”
Glowering, I mutter, “I’m good with herbs, and cleaning—”
“Herbs?” She lets out a racking laugh. “Cleaning? We are women of the court. Those are jobs for servants and maids. As a Paper Girl, it’s your nu skills—your female skills—you’re to cultivate. Are you telling me you have no such talents?” She clacks her beak. “How worthless.”
I grind my teeth to hold back a retort. Those are the skills my parents and Tien taught me. Skills that are surely more worthwhile than knowing how to entertain a King.
Madam Himura cocks her head, appraising me coolly. She makes a strange, almost purring sound at the back of her throat. “Ah. I see. You think you’re better than this. Well, just wait until your lessons start. You’ll see how hard such skills are to master.” Her eyes narrow. “Despite what you think, I see the hunger in you. The desire to prove yourself. Your qi fire is strong—perhaps too strong. We’ll have to keep careful watch, or it might end up burning all you touch.” With barely a pause, she snaps, “Are you pure?”
“Pure?”
“Sex. Your nu core. Have you allowed a man to enter you?”
My face flushes. Considering what I’m here for, her frank language shouldn’t be a surprise. But Tien has only ever broached the subject with me in a half joking manner, and my father certainly never mentioned it. I’d been working in the shop full time since Mama was taken, so I wasn’t able to keep up with girls my own age. If things had been different, maybe I’d have already spent a few years giggling with friends about love and lust. Instead, those thoughts were secret ones. Feverish dreams in the middle of velvety nights.
I drop my eyes from the eagle-woman’s fierce gaze. “No,” I reply truthfully.
I sense her watching me, perhaps searching for a lie. A glimmer of hope rises in my belly—because maybe if she doesn’t believe me, she’ll order General Yu to take me back. But I shove the idea away, remembering his threat.
Finally, Madam Himura turns to Mistress Eira. “Fetch Lill,” she orders. “Have her bring soap and clean clothes. A plain hanfu set will suffice.”
We wait in silence. I want to ask what’s going on, but from the eagle-woman’s stance I can tell she expects me to stay quiet. Mistress Eira returns a minute later with the same doe-form maid who opened the door to the General and me. The girl gives me a grin—which disappears as soon as Madam Himura rounds on her.
“Clean and dress Lei,” she commands with a jab of her cane, “then bring her to join the rest of the girls.” Without a backward glance, she moves toward the door, taloned feet clicking.
“Wait!” I shout. It’s out before I can help it. Madam Himura swirls round, and I recoil at the cutting glare she gives me. “I mean, Madam Himura… does this mean I’m one of the Paper Girls now?”
The eagle-woman scowls. “You’d better not be so dense in your classes,” she snaps before leaving the room.
But Mistress Eira offers me a smile. “Yes, Lei-zhi. It does.”
She slides the door shut behind her, but I keep staring at the place she had stood. The air is solid in my lungs, my throat filled with rocks. I run my tongue over my dry lips.
The young maid beams at me like this is the best news anyone could receive. “Congratulations, Mistress!” she sings. “You must be so happy!”
Her words pull a rough laugh from my throat. Me, a mistress. And to be congratulated for… this. Whatever this will turn out to be. And then I’m rounding my back on her, hiding my face with my hands to stifle the manic laughter that’s pouring out of me even as tears arrive to accompany them, hot and wet, leaking out of me just as uncontrollably. Everything that’s happened over the past few days seems to drain from my body as it finally hits me.
I’m here. In the royal palace.
And I will be staying here if I want to keep Baba and Tien safe.
If I want to keep them alive.
SIX
A WOODEN TUB IS BROUGHT TO the room and filled with warm, fragranced water. While she bathes me, Lill quizzes me about my life before the palace, questions tumbling from her mouth so quickly I barely finish answering one when the next comes. Which province am I from? Do I have siblings? What’s it like to be Paper caste? Is my mother as beautiful as I am?