by Amber Argyle
Chen clenched his fist. “If you had seen the things I have seen, knew the things I know, you would be afraid too.”
Jolin glanced at his fist. “Touch me and you’ll regret it.”
“Your song isn’t strong enough to do any real damage.”
Her hand flashed out as she slapped him. “It’s not just my song that can hurt you!” The eunuchs lunged forward and restrained her.
Chen pressed his fingertips against his reddened cheek. “The law for striking the heir is death. As reward for saving Lilette, I’ll spare your life. But you will have a lashing to teach you better manners. After all, I can’t have another concubine with so little respect for her heir.”
Jolin gaped at him. “You wouldn’t dare.” He tipped his head to the side and gave her a crooked smile before she said, “My keepers would never allow it!”
He shrugged. “You caught whatever plague my concubine had. It causes boils all over the face. Very disfiguring to the body.”
Jolin struggled against the eunuchs holding her. “You have no idea the viper’s nest you’re poking.”
“Don’t I?” Chen laughed, but there was no humor in it. “Five lashes,” he said to the eunuchs, and then he turned and left without a backward glance.
The eunuchs began dragging Jolin away. “Please—” Lilette said as she reached toward them.
Ko rested a hand on her shoulder. “They don’t have a choice.”
Jolin kicked and squirmed. “You will pay for this. I swear it! The witches will bring down a curse on your heads.”
“Don’t fight them,” Lilette said weakly. “Save it for when it will do some good.” But Jolin was screaming and fighting so hard, Lilette doubted she heard.
When they were out of earshot, Ko whispered, “Jolin should be grateful it’s only a lashing.”
“He can’t force her to be his concubine. It’s not right,” Lilette said.
“He can do whatever he wants.”
Lilette knew that better than anyone. “Will the witches believe him?”
Ko’s gaze was fixed on the floor. “I don’t know.”
A eunuch brought Lilette another bowl of rich broth. Though Ko had to help her sit up, she was able to grip the bowl and sip it herself. It was such a relief when her body welcomed the food instead of promptly rejecting it.
“How long have I been asleep?” she asked.
Ko refilled her cup of tea. “Almost a whole day.”
Lilette passed a hand over her face in frustration. A whole day wasted. “Did Jolin say anything about my sister?” She set the empty bowl down. “I saw her with the other witches.”
Ko shook her head. “I’m sorry.”
Lilette finished a few cups of the tea the eunuchs had made according to Jolin’s instructions. Then Ko dismissed all of the eunuchs.
Despite her worry for Jolin and her distress for her sister and the others, Lilette fell asleep. She woke in the late afternoon, feeling as if she was no longer hand in hand with death.
A eunuch who’d been kneeling in the corner kowtowed and backed from the room. Ko came in moments later with more broth, this time with noodles. Lilette pushed herself into a sitting position for the first time in two days. Such a small thing, but it felt like a victory. Though she trembled, she was able to slurp the food on her own. Ko left for a time while the eunuchs bathed Lilette. Then she slept again.
When she opened her eyes next, it was cooler and the light was soft—it was morning. That made it three days since Laosh had poisoned her. Five days since Lilette had left Calden. A pang of homesickness shot through her.
A breeze flowed through the open windows. Another eunuch brought Lilette some plain rice, fruit, and tea. Then Ko knelt beside the sleeping mat and dismissed all the eunuchs.
Lilette slipped a piece of mango into her mouth. Sweet and tart, with a metallic aftertaste. “How’s Jolin?”
Ko sighed. “She’s been fighting, so they gave her the sleeping tincture. She hasn’t woken yet.”
Lilette steeled herself. She would have to be patient, but patience had never come easily to her.
“You need to be very careful how you address the heir. Only the emperor is more powerful,” Ko said bitterly.
Lilette stared into the distance and hoped her song made her stronger than Chen. Her fingers felt big and clumsy as she gripped the chopsticks.
Ko watched her. “Do you remember me finding you wandering the compound, lost and disoriented? My helping you here?” There was a tension about Ko, a tightness to her face, and she looked exhausted.
Lilette swallowed her mouthful. “Han brought me here.”
Not meeting her gaze, Ko stirred the rice. “You were very sick. You must have imagined that.”
“Why are you so afraid that I’ll remember?”
Ko bowed her head. “They kill any whole man who enters the harem, besides the emperor or the heir—and even he must be escorted by the chief eunuch. No man may lay eyes upon the imperial concubines if the emperor does not wish it—even if that man is my son.” Ko finally looked up, pleading plain on her face. “Please.”
Lilette could not deny her. Not after everything she’d done. “Your secret—his secret—will become my secret.”
Ko let out a deep breath. “After you and your family escaped, they took him from me and locked down the harem so even the children could not leave. The night he brought you here was the first I’ve seen him in eight years.” There were tears in her voice, though her face remained a tight mask. “I barely recognized him—my own son.”
“Chief Wang told me they took the children at twelve,” Lilette said. Han had only been ten when she left, while Chen had been days from twelve.
“They wouldn’t tell me why they took him early,” Ko said softly.
Lilette’s determination to escape hardened within her. She would not bear children only to give them up and never see them again.
Gazing out the window, she studied the guards patrolling the ramparts. How had Han gotten inside? How had he found her? “Is there a way out?”
Ko stared at the mat she knelt on. “We are the best-guarded treasure in the whole empire. To leave the compound without permission is to die.”
If Han had managed it, so could Lilette. She wasn’t afraid of death. Not anymore. In fact, a part of her longed for it. Though not eating for the last few days had caused her stomach to shrink, she forced herself to finish her food.
Ko gathered up the dishes and left just before Jolin came stiffly inside and slid the screen shut. Her eyes were bleary, her hair a limp. There were tight lines of pain on her face.
With a groan, she eased down and pressed her ear to Lilette’s chest. “It’s stronger.” Leaning back on her haunches, she pursed her lips. “I could have sworn it stopped beating. I’m not usually wrong—about anything.” She seemed to be trying to convince herself.
Afraid her face would reveal the truth about what really happened the night she had died, Lilette looked away.
“Are you truly Lilette?” Jolin finally asked. Lilette nodded.
“I remember you. Before you disappeared,” Jolin went on. “I went to see you sing once—I had never heard anything like it. You were bound to become the next Head of Light, as I am to be the next Head of Plants. After your ship sank, you became a legend. The only body never found.”
Lilette winced. She suddenly remembered singing for crowds—thousands of them. “Head of what?”
Jolin didn’t seem to notice Lilette’s distress. “The Head of Light is always chosen because she has the strongest song. I should be Head of Plants, a position chosen for proficiency with potions. But Garen is fighting me.”
Lilette didn’t understand half of that. Jolin tipped her head to the side and asked, “What happened to you?”
“I survived.”
“Here?”
Lilette glanced in the direction of her island. “No. They only found me a few days ago.”
Jolin sucked on her teeth in thought. �
�They couldn’t have followed the same trail we did.”
Lilette shot her a quizzical look. “Trail?”
“Witches, called listeners, are always on the lookout for stray witch song. When they hear it, they send a ship to find them and bring them back. In this case, they heard a very strong song and sent our company to find you.”
So that’s how the Witches had known to come looking for her. If Fa hadn’t forbidden her from singing, they would have found her years ago, and she could have gone home. But then she would have never known the man who raised her—his quiet kindness and iron determination. “So how did Chen find me?”
Jolin’s fingers gently prodded her back, and she grimaced. “Keepers have listeners. Emperors have spies.”
Lilette mulled that over silently, wondering who from her island had betrayed her. “I’m sorry he beat you.”
Jolin’s jaw clenched. “The chances of Chen’s success in this endeavor are diminutive. As soon as the listeners realize we’re here, they’ll come for us. And then the Keepers will force him from his throne and behead him.”
Lilette blinked at her. “You’re certain.”
“Oh, yes.” Jolin huffed. “And I’ll make sure they throw in a good lashing before they do.” Her eyes glinted with dark delight.
Lilette stared off into nothing. “And naked. They should make him face the crowd naked.”
Jolin nodded. “Brilliant.”
They were silent, reveling in their own dark fantasies. At almost the same time, their eyes met and they burst into laughter.
“Come on,” Jolin said. “You have to move if you want to get your strength back.”
With Jolin’s help, Lilette rose to stand for the first time in nearly three days. She felt shaky and weak, but the pain was gone. “My sister?”
Jolin threaded her arm through Lilette’s and helped her walk slowly around the room. “She insisted on heading the search. She was under the delusion that the listeners had found you. Obviously it wasn’t such a delusion after all.”
An ache flared in Lilette’s chest. Sash had stayed behind to finish her schooling as a witchling, while Lilette and their parents had come to Harshen. “What did she believe happened to us?” But what Lilette really wanted to ask was why her sister hadn’t come looking for her.
“That your ship caught fire and everyone died,” Jolin answered.
“And no one questioned it?”
Jolin looked away. “They had your mother’s body.”
Lilette took a few more steps, already winded. “And why did you come?”
“For the plants,” Jolin replied. “We have so little contact with Harshen. Their plants are unique to the islands. I couldn’t turn down a chance to study them.” She took a deep breath. “They sent over thirty of us—a bit excessive, but Harshen has a reputation for treating women poorly. We wanted over three full-strength circles.
“We stopped here to request permission from the emperor to search Harshen for you. Not surprisingly, he wasn’t cooperating. Then Heir Chen came to our quarters and offered a trade—heal his concubine and he’d grant our request.” Jolin chuckled dryly. “No wonder he was so eager to agree. He wanted us out of the city and away from you.”
“What were those glass planes you wore over your eyes?”
Jolin pulled them out of her pocket and handed them to Lilette.
“Spectacles. I invented them. They show me the true size of an aura, which directly correlates to how strong a witch is. Most witches have gold or orange auras. Yours is almost white. And you are very, very strong.”
Lilette put the spectacles on and stared at her hand. “I don’t see anything.”
“Not everyone can.” Jolin appraised her. “You’re doing surprisingly well for a woman who basically died two days ago.”
Lilette didn’t feel well. She felt battered and weak, but she was still moving, albeit slowly.
Jolin helped her sit down and glanced at the closed screen. She leaned in closer. “And what of Ko? Do you trust her?”
Ko had stayed by Lilette’s side for days, holding her hand and tending to her. Somehow a bond had formed in that time, but treason was bigger than a newfound friendship. “Only so far.”
“Until we know for certain, we should be careful what we say around her,” Jolin said.
Lying back, Lilette nodded. Then a rare smile overtook her face. “Are you really going to teach me?”
“I can’t. Whether you are willing or not, your song will be used against Haven. I can’t be responsible for that.”
Something sharp twisted inside Lilette. “Please. It’s all there—the creators’ language and the voice lessons—it’s just locked inside me. If I can just remember a little of it, the whole will come flooding out.” It had to.
Jolin closed her eyes. “He will turn you into a weapon.”
Lilette’s mother had called her a warrior. And Jolin could teach her to become one. Lilette was surprised how much she longed for that. “He can’t wield me if we escape.”
Jolin studied her. “And you will come to Grove City for learning?”
Lilette let out all her breath in a rush. “Yes.”
Jolin was silent a moment, her face hard. She glanced at the closed screen. “Very well.” The words seemed to cost her a great deal. “You’re woefully ignorant, so I’m just going to stick to what might be useful. Singing as a choir, we can control nature—the seasons, the storms.”
“I remember that,” Lilette breathed as the warm memory surfaced. Her mother singing in a circle with the other witches, strange colors dancing around them as the world shifted in response.
“Individually,” Jolin went on, “a witch’s song controls plants—singing a seed to a full grown tree you can then manipulate. The stronger the witch, the faster and better the response.”
Another, much darker memory assaulted Lilette. Singing with her mother in a dim corridor as men bore down on them with spears. Her song had woken a beast that had crashed down on the men with lightning and wind.
She’d only been child at the time—incapable of understanding that the elements were simply responding to her call, that killing men who threatened her family was justified.
Jolin must have seen the anguish on Lilette’s face. “I’m sorry.”
Lilette wiped the tears from her cheeks. It had been a very long time since she’d cried. “No, I need this—need to remember. It isn’t right to forget people who loved me so much.”
Jolin took a deep breath and winced as if in pain. “Let me hear you sing.”
“I can only remember one song, and I understand little of the creators’ language.”
“Just sing anything,” Jolin said.
Lilette sang a fisherman’s song. Jolin listened, her face screwed up in concentration. As the last note eased to silence, she took a deep breath. “Your voice is very beautiful,” she admitted reluctantly. “And the more beautiful your song, the stronger.”
Jolin began teaching Lilette the Creators’ language, the language of power. The words molded themselves to her tongue before cutting through the air like a bird in flight. The elements came alive around Lilette.
Jolin made her perfect each song before they moved onto the next. The more Lilette sang, the more the memories locked in her mind pressed against the barrier holding them back. By nightfall, her head ached and she was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open.
After dinner, she and Jolin slept in the same room. Lilette’s dreams were full of swimming with her father, mother, and sister playing in the sand on shore.
Her dreams were interrupted when Ko shoved aside the screen, a lit lamp in her hand. Lilette sat up, holding up her hand to shield her from the brightness. A glance out the window revealed that it was sometime in the darkest hours.
“Vorlay’s armada has been sighted,” Ko said breathlessly. “Their king has come to make Harshen pay for killing his daughter.”
Chapter 9
I saved her life. She never tha
nked me. ~Jolin
Jolin shot to her feet. “What?”
“Chen’s wife, Laosh, was the one who poisoned Lilette. She was a Vorlayan princess, and Chen killed her,” Ko explained. “There are over a hundred ships, all of them flying Vorlay’s colors.”
Struggling to make her weak body work properly, Lilette pushed herself to her feet. “That’s impossible. Laosh has only been dead four days! How could they have received word so soon? And Vorlay is over three weeks away with good winds.”
“Laosh had more spies than the emperor, and she was fond of her pigeons.” Ko turned back to face the main room, which the eunuchs were entering. “Light the lamps. Then wait at the gate and do not leave until the emperor sends word.”
“But madame, the harem will be the last to receive word,” said Ko’s eunuch, his head bowed.
“I said go.” Ko looked pointedly between Lilette and her personal eunuch.
“Go with him,” she said to the eunuch. “Hurry.”
The two men exchanged glances and donned their outer robes. Before they left the house, each lit his lamp, a bowl of oil with a bobbing cork and wick in the center.
Lilette began to dress as quickly as her slow fingers would allow. Jolin helped her finish, and they shuffled into the main room. In the dim lamplight, Lilette glanced around. The house was much like the first one—a long rectangle with rooms on both ends of a main living area. The eunuchs slept in the room where food was stored. There was the room Lilette and Jolin had just left, and a fourth room that shared a wall with it. Ko came out of the room and set a lamp in the window.
“They’ll be gone for a while.” She knelt before the brazier and lit it with the cork from another lamp. “Sit down, both of you,” she said. “You’re making me nervous.”
Lilette hesitated before moving to obey. “What do we do now?” Jolin asked.
Ko disappeared into the kitchen and came out with bowls of rice and vegetables. “The only thing any woman can ever do—wait.” She motioned to the bowls. “And while we wait, we can make breakfast.”
As Lilette helped Ko cook, she realized the room where she and Jolin had been sleeping was Han’s. He’d changed so much since he was a boy. His gentle smile used to come easily as he followed Lilette everywhere. What had turned him into such a hard man?