by J C Kang
They set off down the street. No matter how much Tian sniffed, listened, and looked, there was no sign of the mean half-elf.
“Do we have to walk so close to him?” Yuna asked Wen. “He looks like a dog trying to find its fleas.”
Tian froze and looked.
Passersby were pointing and staring. So focused he’d been on finding Jie, he hadn’t noticed everyone else around. Heat flooded into his cheeks.
Wen patted him on the head. “Wait until we get to the silk market, and I’ll teach you a trick.”
A trick! His heart picked up a beat. With a nod, Tian forced himself not to search for Jie.
Yuna tilted her head and brought the back of her wrist to her brow. “Now he looks like a corpse!”
“Just relax,” Wen said, voice still gentle. “Imagine you’re walking with Princess Kaiya.”
Tian swallowed hard. How did Wen know about that? Neither she nor Yuna had been in the room when he let his secret slip.
“Elder Sister told me,” Wen said, as if reading his mind.
“When? How?”
She took his hand and tapped on his wrist.
There was a clear pattern. Forehead tightening, he looked back at her.
Yuna sidled closer. “We have many ways of communicating. Tactile, visual.”
Whatever tactile meant. Though this eight-year-old girl knew!
“I just used my finger to tell you that Jie told me by sign language.”
Tian gawked. “How? When?”
“Just now. She’s over there. Don’t look.”
He did, but saw only two elderly men arguing over the value of ginseng.
It was so overwhelming, the things these Black Lotus clan members did. And, Master Yan expected him to learn it all. All Tian wanted was to see Kaiya again. Well… and to find the assassin. And learn sign language. And—
“All right, here’s the silk market.”
They’d already walked two thousand, four hundred, seventy-one steps. Up ahead, an enormous red tent covered what looked to be an entire city block. He followed Yuna and Wen in. If the streets had been noisy and crowded, the silk market was deafening and stifling. People jostled each other in the narrow alleys formed by lines of stalls. Cloth, tailors, shoes, jewelry… anything and everything fashion related was for sale.
“Put this in your pocket.” Wen handed him a yuan, the gold sparkling off the interior lamps. “And see if you still have it by the time we reach the other side.”
Of course he would. Stashing the coin into his sash instead of his pocket, Tian snorted.
Yuna cupped a hand to his ear. Her breath tickled. “In a crowded place like this, a tail will get lazy. This is our best chance of making them.”
Making tails? It was as if Yuna were speaking a different language.
Wen patted him on the head. “It means identifying someone trying to follow you. Oh, Yuna, give him back the coin.”
Patting his sash, Tian gawked. “How…”
Yuna smirked as she stuffed the coin into his pocket. “I distracted you when I whispered in your ear.”
“Oh.” Tian stuffed his hand into his pocket and palmed the coin.
Wen shook her head. “You’re just going to signal to any pickpockets that you have something worth taking.”
Tian stuffed the coin into the lining of his undergarment.
Yuna’s pretty nose scrunched up. “Well, you don’t have to worry about me taking it now.”
“Now, see all the reflective surfaces?” Wen pointed her delicate chin to a basin of water on a table, then mirrors in several stalls. “You won’t catch a glimpse of Elder Sister though, not unless she lets you.”
“Pretend like you are looking at wares,” Yuna said. “But check the mirrors when you do.”
It was fascinating really, and Tian did as instructed as they slipped through the crowds. Still, Jie never appeared.
At the far end, three hundred and twenty-one paces in total, they came out from under the tent. The chatter subsided to a low din. Up ahead lay a bridge over a moat. Large red lanterns hung from an arched gate on the other side. Smaller lanterns hung from rope all up and down the moat.
“Is this—?”
“The Floating World,” Wen said.
He’d heard of it, of course. Father always went when they visited the capital, oftentimes with other lords. What they did there was never clear. “I had always imagined boats.”
“Why?” Yuna gave him a curious stare.
Tian shrugged. “Why else would it be called the Floating World?”
“It’s where men’s dreams take flight.” Wen’s tone sounded not bitter, but more… what was the word? Mocking?
What was wrong with dreams? Tian could only ponder it as he followed them across the stone bridge and under the arch.
On the other side, the two-story wood buildings looked like any other street in the wealthy parts of the capital, save for all the red. Red lamps hung on lines over the streets, suspended between restaurants and fortune tellers. Red banners emblazoned with flower emblems fluttered at entrances to mansions. Most of the very few people wandering the streets were girls a little older than Yuna, all dressed in simple, but pretty dresses. All bowed their heads as he passed.
Yuna bowed, and he started to return the greeting.
Wen shot her hand out, stopping him. “Don’t bow back.”
It seemed impolite. “Why not?”
Yuna bowed to a passing girl, who didn’t bow back. “Florets. They are trained to be polite to all visitors and seniors. If you bow back, they’ll bow again.”
“But she didn’t bow back to you.”
Yuna shrugged. “I’m a Seedling.”
“What about you?” Tian asked Wen.
“A Blossom.”
Why the comparison to plants? It was all so confusing. Tian shook his head. “What does any of the Floating World have to do with Flowers?”
Wen exchanged glances with Yuna, before patting him on the head, again. She must’ve thought him a puppy. “Oh, my sweet, little boy. Don’t you think Yuna is pretty? Like a flower?”
Tapping his chin, Tian studied the younger girl. She had an oval face with symmetrical features. Both of her eyes sat at pleasing angles, and her nose was high and thin. Her forehead—
“Stop.” She glared back. “You’re like a country bumpkin, evaluating his prize pig.”
For someone younger than him, she used such big words. “But Wen asked—”
Wen squeezed his hand. “You need to learn subtlety.”
Subtlety? He cocked his head. “What does that mean?”
“To see without looking. To notice without anyone realizing what you’re doing. That is our way.” Wen smiled. “So? Is Yuna pretty?”
“Yes, but not as pretty as Princess Kaiya.”
Yuna’s lips pursed.
Wen laughed. “Little Tian, you shouldn’t be so blunt.”
Everyone always said that, but she’d asked. Was he supposed to lie? “You are beautiful, Miss Wen.” And she was, made even more so by every graceful motion.
She covered her lips with delicate fingers. “Like a flower?”
“It is a different kind of beautiful. And not all flowers are pretty.”
She laughed again. “In the Floating World, the girls, from Yuna’s age all the way to middle age, are supposed to be beautiful and elegant like flowers. Now, tell Yuna she is beautiful.”
“But—”
Yuna frowned. “Next time we duel, I’m going to hit you harder.”
Wen snorted, a cute sound. “What about Elder Sister?”
That title! Jie couldn’t be much older than him, and certainly younger than Wen. “Why does everyone listen to Jie?”
She covered a melodious laugh. “She’s our senior.”
Obvious… “But—”
Wen leaned in and whispered, “You should never ask a lady’s age!”
How did she know he was going to ask? He frowned.
Yuna rolled h
er eyes.“Her elf blood makes her look younger than she really is. And, she’s Master Yan’s adopted daughter.”
With a chuckle, Wen turned into an alley between the walls of two shrines. Just wide enough for two of them to walk abreast, it didn’t allow any sunlight in.
They were getting ready to test him. Tian clenched his fists, every muscle ready to fire.
Wen stepped back and gave him a curious glance. “What are you doing?”
“You’re going to attack me, aren’t you?” Tian held up his fists.
“Of course not. But look behind you.”
A trick, no doubt. Tian held his ground, glaring.
The tap on his shoulder just about caused his soul to jump out of his body. He spun around.
The evil half-elf stood there, smirking. “Do you still have the coin?”
“Of course.” He’d paid attention this time. Tian reached into his pants. His fingers closed around the now-warm metal, and withdrew the coin. Maybe they’d be nicer to him now. With a triumphant smile, he held it up for all to see. “Here it is!”
On the other side, Yuna pinched her nose and backed up three steps, her face twisted into horror.
Wen laughed. “Did you do that, Elder Sister?”
“Yes,” Jie said, chuckling.
What was so funny? “Do what?”
Squinting, Yuna broke out into a girlish giggle.
Tian followed her gaze. In his fingers, he held not a gold yuan, but a silver jiao. “How?”
“I was hiding under the table of one of the stalls, and switched them out.” Jie looked up to the others.
Wen patted him yet again. “Don’t worry, you’ll learn how not to get your pockets picked.”
“And how to pick them,” Yuna said.
With a smile, Wen opened her palm, revealing a coin. She picked it up with her other hand to show him. “See this?”
He nodded.
Beaming at him more warmly than anyone but Princess Kaiya ever did, she returned it to her hand and closed her fingers around it. “Is it still in my hand?”
Where else could it be? Tian smirked. “Of course.”
She opened her hand, and it was gone.
Tian’s jaw dropped. “Where is it?”
Reaching over, she pulled it from behind his ear.
Amazing! Tian clapped his hands.
“Easiest trick in the book.” Snorting, Yuna showed how Wen had never returned the coin to her hand, and how she’d used her smile to distract him.
Tian’s heart sunk. Had Wen’s kindness up to now all been an act?
The mean half-elf’s eyes shifted to Yuna. “Now that you’ve taught Tian a trick, recite the list.”
“Six, two, zero, nine. Slippery, green wheel. Cloudy, sun.” The girl wetted her lips. “Dagger, stab, finger. Red, sword, crossbow, bludgeon.”
“Good job.” Jie turned to Tian. “We teach you to create images in your head to remember details. What did you think of, Yuna?”
The girl beamed. “On a day when the sun peeks through the clouds, six thousand two hundred and nine slippery green wheels are arranged in a circle. Inside, there’s a duel, one man with a dagger who stabs the other, who has a red sword in the finger. He retaliates by bludgeoning the first with a crossbow.”
Jie gave a sharp nod and turned to Tian. “Yuna has exceptional experiential and visual memory, but average verbal memory. We use those strengths and limitations as a base, starting with small lists, and making them longer as an initiate’s memory improves. I want you to practice that, starting with—”
“But she forgot the word, spicy.”
Jie started to speak, but then closed her mouth and sucked on her lower lip.
“Your list,” Tian said, “was Red, sword, wheel, dagger, green, stab, cloudy, spicy, crossbow, opera, bludgeon, slippery, sun, finger, six, two, zero, nine.”
Yuna’s lips rounded into a red circle. “In that order.”
“How did you do that?” Wen’s smile broadened.
How could he not? Tian shrugged. “I don’t know. I just remembered.”
The girls exchanged glances. Maybe they’d like him more now?
Jie let her lip go with a pop. “So…How much did you make?”
“Two golds, five silvers.” Wen splayed two fingers with one hand, three with the other.
Yuna opened her hands, revealing a gold coin and seven silvers.
“That should be just enough.” Jie sucked on her lower lip, a sign she was thinking, then locked her eyes on Tian.
“Enough for what?” Tian’s stomach knotted. This couldn’t be good.
Chapter 3
Tian might have an amazing memory, but he would be an old man before he gained a minimal proficiency in all the skills a Black Fist needed. At least, that’s what Jie concluded after following the other clan members from the safe house to the Floating World. It would take more than memory and observation to succeed in their line of work. Now, with Yuna and Wen headed back to the Peony Garden, she took Tian to a theater.
At least he was practicing the coin trick in his pudgy fingers. Even more impressive, the boy’s head turned left and right, drinking everything in while he practiced. If only he could do it more subtly, he might become a decent lookout during secret operations.
“The buildings are all made of wood. And so close together.” He tapped his chin. “If a fire started…”
Jie nodded. “There was a fire twenty years ago, which burned the entire district down.”
“They did not learn from it?”
She shook her head. “They made it worse. Nothing motivates men more than greed and uh, holding hands with women. Lots of wealthy investors bought up the land, and built connected buildings on narrower streets to take up less space.”
He looked up and searched her eyes. “Did the clan buy land?”
Maybe the clan would’ve, but… “No. Here’s a secret: the fire started when our members were training with firepowder. It killed all of them. Yuna has told you about the Steel Orchids?”
Tian’s head bobbed. “Clan legends. Identical twins, pretending to be one.”
And the clan had never found another set of identical twins since. “The initial blast killed them, and eighteen other clan sisters, before the ensuing fire claimed even more people. I will tell you more later, because we are here.” She gestured.
Out front of the Red Boat Theater, one of the largest structures in the entertainment district, Old Feng hunched over a signboard, painting the playbill. In all likelihood, the rest of the troupe would be getting their beauty sleep somewhere in the city.
“Old Feng.” Jie bowed, albeit with much less grace than a Blossom.
“Hey, Jie.” Old Feng straightened, perhaps with more grace than her. “It’s been a while. Glad to see you escaped the fire.”
Jie suppressed a shudder. The explosion in the Chrysanthemum House had nearly blasted her to tiny half-elf bits. “I was lucky.” Or skilled.
“I heard no house would take you after the, uh, incident. Incidents.”
Tian looked from her to him and back again.
The clan had already decided to reassign her, but neither Old Feng nor Tian had to know. Jie cleared her throat. “I found work elsewhere. But that’s why I’m here, I need your help.”
“I am always pleased to be of service.”
For the right price. Jie held out two gold coins.
The man’s eyes locked on them. “I’m listening.”
“I need to find out how much the Peony Garden contracts a Young Lord’s First Pollinating.” She gestured to Tian.
Tian’s eyes widened, and he shook his head.
Old Feng’s lips trembled before he broke out into a laugh. “He’s a little young for that, isn’t he?”
“Do you know what a First Pollinating is?” Jie asked.
Face red, Tian gave a slow nod. “My eldest brother Ming had his.”
“What happened?”
“He held a girl’s hand.” He spoke in
such a nervous, conspiratorial whisper, that maybe he knew what really went on during a First Pollinating.
Jie patted him on the head. “It’s okay. We’re just finding out the price, not arranging yours.”
With a blatant expression of relief, Tian blew out a breath.
“You don’t know what you’re missing, kid,” Old Feng said, his eyes straying to Jie’s flat body.
Men. They were varying degrees of disgusting. She cleared her throat again. “I just need you to pose as a lord, or a wealthy merchant, or whatever, to get him in.”
“You will need the best.” Old Feng dipped into a flourishing bow. “You have come to the right place.”
Jie rolled her eyes.
“But for a deception of such magnitude, I will require five yuan.”
“Three,” Jie said. “I will go to the Guardian Dragon Opera, if I need to.”
“Don’t send an acrobat to do an actor’s job.” Old Feng waved his hands back and forth. “There’s also the cost of renting the right clothes for the disguise.”
“You have them here!” Jie threw up her hands.
“Yes, but they will need to be cleaned when we’re done. You know how the Houses smell.”
“Better than your theater.” Jie snorted. “Three yuan, five jiao.”
“Come on, Four and a half. This is a rush job. I still need to set up before tonight’s show.”
Jie held up four fingers.
“Sold.” Old Feng gestured toward Tian. “Come along, let’s get you dressed. I might have something in your uh, larger size.”
Jie pressed two gold coins into his open palm. “Two now. I’ll leave Little Tian in your care, and meet you back here in an hour.”
“An artist cannot be rushed,” Old Feng said. “It’ll take half an hour just to fold the robes at the right angle and apply makeup.”
“An extra two jiao if you finish in half that time.”
“Done.”
With a bow, Jie headed toward the Peony Garden. Her gut twisted. Only six days had passed since she’d killed Lilian there, and the memories still felt like sorghum wine in raw wounds. How different things could have turned out, had Jie seen the signs of betrayal earlier, or had just let Lilian disappear.
The scent of lavender grew. The gates of the Peony Garden’s white outer walls came into sight, along with two guards. The mansion rose three stories up, with red tile eaves pitching at graceful angles. Jie swallowed hard and snuck around to the back.