I fall still. “What—what are you doing here?”
She gives a little sigh. “I’m part of the plan, aren’t I? Anyway, Mistress Azami always sends a few of the Night House girls to events like this. Good for trade.” At my confused look, she says, “Oh. Kenzo didn’t tell you.”
I gape at her. “You’re working for them, too?”
“Well,” she replies with a sniff, “I prefer to think of it as working with them. But yes. I am.”
Her words from the other week come back to me: Love will only make it harder.
“That’s why you were like that in our last lesson,” I say slowly, finally understanding. “You knew about Wren and me. And you knew I’d get hurt when Wren left the palace, or she—” I cut off. With a lick of my lips, I go on, “Was that why you covered for me when you found me in Mistress Azami’s rooms?”
Zelle shakes her head. “I didn’t know then. But I could tell you were telling the truth about looking for your mother, and I felt sorry for you. You have a good heart, Lei.” Her voice hardens. “But you wear your emotions on your sleeve. You’ve got to keep yourself together, at least for a few more hours.”
“He was talking to my father!” I burst out, splaying my arms. “And Tien! Blue told him about Wren and me, and he’s going to use me as an example tonight. Punish me in front of everyone.” My breath hitches. “He wants my family to see me die.”
Zelle grips my shoulders. “We won’t let that happen, I promise. Anyway, you’ll get to him first, right?” She winks, shifting back, but her voice is serious and I look away.
“I wish Wren were here,” I murmur.
“We all do.”
“Do you think the King had her mother murdered to get her out of the palace because he suspects the Hannos?”
“I’m not sure about that,” Zelle says with a frown. “The King is definitely suspicious of them—but he’s suspicious of everyone right now after what happened at the theater. I don’t think he’d attack some of his most prominent supporters without being certain they’re working against him. It’s different from acting out against the Cat Clan, for example. They’ve always been enemies. He’ll want to maintain a good relationship with the Hannos. I think it’s more likely that what happened to Wren’s mother was a bad stroke of luck on our part.” Gaze fixed on me, she asks, softer, “So. Are you ready?”
I swallow. “Yes.”
“You have to be confident, Nine. Do it cleanly and quietly. This way, we take control from within, with the least amount of bloodshed.”
“And if I fail? If the King discovers the Hannos’ plans?”
“There will be another war.”
War. It’s a word in our kingdom that carries power, even though none of us have lived through one. The memories have been handed down to us, heavy handfuls of violence and slaughter, and the decades of rebuilding afterward, which, directed by the Demon King, inscribed prejudice into the landscape as deeply as if it were grooves of water in bedrock.
A group of female demons stroll by in a cloud of perfume and giggles. Once they’ve passed, Zelle moves to my side, elbows hooked over the top of the railing as she leans against it, gazing over the gardens. Something about the expression on her face makes me sure of who she’s thinking about.
“Your lover,” I ask. “Did the King…？”
She jerks her chin. “Not himself. But… on his orders. There was a rift in the court a few years ago after the way the King handled an uprising in Noei. The soldiers who spoke out against him were executed. Mistress Azami told Kenzo what happened—yes, she’s working with us, too,” she adds at my sideways glance. “He’d been looking to recruit one of us for a while. Courtesans have access to the court’s most powerful members. With a glass of plum wine and the slip of a dress they can be easily persuaded to give their secrets away.”
“It seems everyone’s had someone they love taken from them by the King,” I say bitterly.
Zelle’s fingers lift to the base of her neck. “Well, not after tonight.”
The cerise ruqun she’s wearing is slung low, collar wide and hanging off her shoulders to expose the shadow of her cleavage and the gold choker sitting above it. The choker is emblazoned with the character ye, marking her as one of the palace’s concubines. Her fist tightens around it, as though she wants nothing more than to rip it off and fling it out over the treetops. Then, pushing back from the railing, she shoots me a crooked smile.
“We’re all behind you, Nine.” Her fingers brush my arm before she glides back into the party.
I wait a bit more on the balcony, taking in the cool night air. I’m just about to leave when the tread of approaching hooves makes me freeze.
“My, my. Can this really be the same shopkeeper’s daughter I met in Xienzo six months ago?”
Lights hanging overhead catch on the scar that snakes down the left side of General Yu’s face, that familiar, scar-wrenched grin. Our paths haven’t crossed, even after all this time in the palace, but I’ve felt him with me every step of the way; in the memory of his threat to Baba and Tien, everything he represents as the beginning of all this, the demon who tore me from my home.
But General Yu is right. I have changed.
When he reaches for my cheek, I step back before he can touch me.
“General,” I say smoothly. I flash him a sweet smile, though my tone is acid. “You should be careful. I doubt the King would take kindly to seeing you touching one of his Paper Girls.” My smile sharpens. “Actually, I don’t take kindly to it, either. Touch me again, and I will cut your fingers off.”
Biting back a grim laugh at the look on his face, I head back into the ball.
My heart beats quickly as I locate the King, this time keeping my distance as I wait for Kenzo’s cue. The informal style of the Moon Ball is one of the reasons why they chose tonight for the assassination—chaos provides cover. But it’s also the only time in the whole year when the royal shamans stop working. At the turn of the New Year, for one hour only, their protective enchantment on the palace lifts as they perform the customary rites of giving thanks to the heavens. This magic-free hour is our only chance at escape.
As the minutes tick by, the King keeps Baba and Tien close to his side. A few times I catch a glimpse of their faces, and the happiness that lights them—the hope—aches deep in my gut. It’s all I can do not to run across the hall and throw my arms around them. To distract myself from my nerves, I plot ways in which to get them alone. So when a chance actually opens up, it takes me a while to realize it’s more than just a fanciful daydream.
The King has stepped aside to discuss something with a group of intimidating-looking demons I take to be clan lords. Naja has joined General Ndeze to attend to some important business outside the hall. Before she goes, she leaves a couple of guards with my father and Tien, but I don’t pay them any attention as I push my way across.
I stride right up to Baba and throw my arms around him. He bursts into tears at the same moment I do. Our bodies shudder against each other. Then Tien is joining us, her bony arms clutching me so tightly I’m amazed they don’t snap.