Book 8: Chapter 44: Escape!

Book 8: Chapter 44: Escape!

“Lo Meifeng’s right,” said Grandmother Lu. “You should use sects to secure your holdings. It’s efficient.”

Sen nodded and even managed to keep a calm expression while he did it. He’d been getting a lot of practice at those just lately. He’d also been dragging his feet on the decision to use the sects because... He sighed. It was just because he didn’t like it. He knew it was the right move. He’d just been hoping that Grandmother Lu would have some excellent reason that they shouldn’t do it. Accepting the inevitable, he looked over at Lo Meifeng, who was at least making half of an effort not to look smugly satisfied.

“Make the arrangements. Negotiate whatever seems like fair payment.”

“I will,” said Lo Meifeng. “Now that we’ve finally settled that, we should move on to—”

The door opened and Long Jia Wei stuck his head into the room. Sen could hear Pan Shiji making infuriated noises in the other room.

“Yes?” asked Sen, praying that the man had some crisis that needed to be dealt with immediately.

“Lord Lu, there is a woman here to see you.”

“What woman?” demanded Grandmother Lu, Lo Meifeng, and Pan Shiji in perfect, annoyed unison.

Long Jia Wei cast a wary look around before turning to Sen again.

“She introduced herself as Hsiao Jiayi. She claims to be the ambassador from some kingdom called Kanshun.”

“That’s who she really is,” muttered Sen. “The real question is, what the hell is the princess doing here?”

Long Jia Wei took a heartbeat or two before he said, “I didn’t inquire as to the purpose of her visit. I thought it might be indelicate to do so.”

Sen fought down the urge to be annoyed with the man. He probably would have been annoyed if Long Jia Wei had asked what she was doing there. Sen suspected he would have been annoyed if Long Jia Wei had shown up with bags of gold and announced that the heavens had given them a thousand peaches of immortality. Everything was annoying him these days. He’d been in this city for too long. Dealt with too many people he didn’t like and didn’t trust. It was all just getting to him. But it seemed that his prayer had been answered. He rose from his seat, instantly triggering a squawk of protest from Lo Meifeng, and a disapproving glower from Grandmother Lu. He gave them an even look.

“Are you suggesting that I leave a foreign dignitary to cool her heels in the entryway?”

“No,” mumbled Lo Meifeng in a dissatisfied tone.

If nothing else, the softer tone seemed to let the woman relax a hair.

“Lord Lu, our conversation ended,” she seemed to search for a politic word, “abruptly the other evening.”

Sen considered and rejected several possible answers before he settled on something simple.

“True. It did.”

“I was hoping we might continue it. I thought it might go more smoothly if we spoke with less scrutiny on us.”

It seemed obvious that the woman was after something. Sen just couldn’t guess what. She was choosing her words with a lot of care like she was worried he’d discern some evil plot from a slip of the tongue. There was no way around it. If he wanted to find out what she was actually after, he was going to have to indulge her in this conversation she seemed to want so badly. He just wasn’t sure he wanted to bother with it. He already had enough work for six men. Whatever this woman wanted, he didn’t delude himself into thinking it would be anything but more work.

***

He’s going to send me away, thought Hsiao Jiayi. She could see it in his eyes. She could feel it in the air. The distrust. She’d forgotten that he hadn’t started out life as a noble. He’d started as a commoner in this kingdom. He hadn’t been bred to consider every word before uttering them. So, all the care she was taking with her words looked like manipulation. And maybe it is, she admitted to herself. If nothing else, she was aiming to get the best outcome for her. Beyond the distrust, though, she could see his desire to not be bothered. There was a weariness in him that he did a good job of masking, but it was evident for those with the skills to see. She also had the intuition that, should he send her away now, that would be the end of it. She would become someone he might pass a few words with if he ever showed up to another political function, but a wall would go up between them that reached to the heavens. A wall she would never pierce. She needed to shift this dynamic, and she needed to do it now. She took a stab in the dark.

“I don’t particularly enjoy this city,” she said, being utterly honest. “And my trip here was taken at speed. I assume there are things worth seeing beyond the walls. I’ve considered going out to look for them, but it seemed ill-advised to do so without a guide. Perhaps you could show me?”

She knew she’d hit the right note when an almost desperate need crossed the man’s face. He wanted to be away from this city. He clearly didn’t care where, just as long as it was beyond the walls.

“Yes,” he said, reaching out, grabbing her arm, and almost dragging her toward the door. “Let’s go. Right now.”

He cast an almost hunted look over his shoulder as he pulled her outside. The treatment was so abrupt, so base, that she couldn’t help but laugh a little. Anyone who tried something like this back home would find one of her blades buried in their chest. Yet, one look at his face said he wasn’t really trying to drag her toward something, let alone something untoward. He was trying to outpace something.

“Is there a rush?” she asked, still giggling a little.

“Gods, yes,” he muttered. “We need to go before they figure out that I’m escaping.”