“So you’re the one who will be babysitting me.”
“Who else would it be? Didn’t you know, Lei, I’m at the top of the class?”
“Is that so?” Glancing round to make sure the other girls are out of earshot, I add, “Top of what class? Thievery?”
Her eyes glint, but she keeps her voice casual. “Yes, I heard about some food going missing from the kitchens. A real mystery. Do you have any idea where it went?”
I grin. “Into someone’s belly, I expect.”
“Well, I hope that person enjoyed them.”
“I’m certain they did.”
Wren smiles, a warm, honeyed curl of her lips that draws my eyes. Before we can say anything more, the door behind her opens.
“Lei!” Aoki calls, bustling out of her room and linking her arm through mine. “Come on, you can’t be late on your first day back.” And although she shoots a curious look at Wren, she doesn’t say anything, just lifts her brows at me as if to say, Well, all right, then.
Lips cocked in amusement, Wren falls into step beside me, and together the three of us make our way down the corridor. Though we don’t mention it again, I can sense the secret of what passed between Wren and me three nights ago like a cord, an invisible strand running from her body to mine. Whenever she makes a movement—even something as small as brushing a speck of dust from her hair or adjusting her sash—my eyes instinctively cut her way, and I wonder if she’s noticing it, too, this tether, this pull between us.
During the first days of my confinement, I’d tried the breathing technique Mama taught me over and over again to no avail, unable to find comfort in it. Light in, darkness out. Trapped in that tiny room, there only seemed to be darkness, and though I wanted to be set free, I also knew that the moment I was, it would be straight back to my Paper Girl life.
And to the King.
But then Wren came along with her stolen food and warm hands, and a spark of something—the barest quiver of light—entered the room. And after that, my breaths came a little easier, a little brighter. Not quite golden, but… sun-touched.
Now I shoot Wren a look out of the corner of my eye, Aoki’s chatter wrapping around us. She offers me a brief half smile in return.
“All right?” she mouths.
I nod.
And while it’s not exactly the truth, it isn’t a lie, either.
The pavilion where our qi lessons take place is an ornate, two-tiered building with red beams and a magenta-tiled roof, their colors vivid against the faded green of the surrounding gardens. It sits in the center of a shallow, circular lake. Sunlight glitters on its surface. Birds dart low over the water, on the hunt for small fish and insects, their wingbeats casting ripples in the blue.
We step under the rustle of prayer sheets fluttering from the eaves of the pavilion. As usual, Master Tekoa is waiting for us on the floor. He’s wearing loose wrap trousers, thighs crossed, his lean torso bare despite the chill. A monkey’s tail protrudes from the top of his trousers—along with the wiry copper fur sheathing his legs, the only indication of his Steel status.
“Take your places,” he says without rising.
Aoki, Wren, and I are the last to arrive. I haven’t yet had to face the others this morning, and as I cross to the back of the pavilion, they’re all staring at me. I keep my head low. The boost of energy from this morning’s meal has been spent on the walk over here, and though I try to kneel down slowly when I get to my usual spot, it’s more of an ungraceful drop. Although Madam Himura sent a shaman on my second day in confinement to clean my skin of any marks left by her or the King, she asked him to leave my pain as a reminder of my failings. Some of it has settled, a dull ache in the pits of my muscles. I roll my shoulders, trying to ease the rigidness in my back.
In front of me, Zhen and Zhin look over their shoulders.
“We were worried about you, Lei,” Zhen murmurs, her short forehead furrowed.
Her sister nods. “How are you feeling?”
“Not too bad,” I reply. “Thanks for asking. Did I miss anything important?”
The corner of Zhin’s lip quirks. “Only if you count Mariko getting drunk at a dinner one night and almost setting herself on fire by falling into a row of lanterns.”
I smother a laugh. “Definitely. Did she set anything else aflame, by chance?”
“Sadly not,” Zhin sighs. “Though my maid told me she threw up in a bush outside Madam Himura’s bedroom, and the whole of the next day Madam Himura was in such a mood because she didn’t know where the bad smell was coming from.”
This time I can’t help a snort. The twins flash me matching smiles before turning back round.
We begin the lesson with breathing exercises to channel the flow of our internal energy. Qi arts is a meditative movement that blends internal and external manipulation of life energy. Master Tekoa’s voice is light but commanding. I focus on his words to tune out the noises around us—chirruping birds, the rustle of wind as it combs the grasses. This is one of the only classes I enjoy, and I’m grateful to have its calming effect this morning. Unlike most of our other lessons, the skills Master Tekoa teaches us aren’t about precision or performing to a certain standard, but about how to connect to ourselves, to find peace and strength within. It brings back distant memories of my parents practicing taoyin on the porch, limned in predawn light and set in perfect synchrony, their movements a smooth, underwater flow.
While we repeat the sequence of movements he’s been teaching us, Master Tekoa walks around to observe. He usually prefers to hang back, demonstrating adjustments in silence, but when he gets to me, he stops. He stares for a moment before suddenly speaking.
“Fire. So much fire.”
I falter midflow.
“Fire so hot it burns even ice to ashes. Fire like a wave to swallow the world whole.”
The twins turn around, frowning. Master Tekoa’s voice has taken on a rough, grating edge I’ve never heard before. As he stares unblinkingly in my direction, his eyes glaze over, and my stomach gives a kick as I notice that his pupils are expanding, creeping across his eyes to fill them with black, like dark blood spilling from a wound. A chill emanates from his body—and shivers through mine.
“S-something’s wrong,” I say as the other girls turn to look. “I think Master Tekoa’s having some kind of fit.…”
There’s a trill of laughter. “What have you done to him, Nine?” Blue crows from the front of the pavilion. “You just can’t allow men near you, can you? What’s the problem? Don’t tell me you prefer girls.”
Wren is at my side at once. “Shut up, Blue,” she snaps.
Blue blinks. “When did you two become friends?”
“Fire from within her,” Master Tekoa rasps before Wren can retort. The air around him is frozen, and I want to move away from his horrible black stare, but my feet are rooted to the spot. His voice grows louder, gathering pace, his blank expression at odds with the intensity with which he is speaking. “Fire that sears her skin and all she touches. Fire bright enough to blind those who look at her.”
With a dismissive flick of her wrist, Blue laughs. “Well, he can’t be talking about you, then, Nine. You’re not—”