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The concubine continued smiling, but her eyes were burning metal. Whatever hatred she had felt, making Xifeng clean up after her dog, had gone far beyond that. “You’re new here, so I’ll tell you. Unmarried girls in the city of women areneverto associate with men without permission. It makes my head spin to think how quickly your precious Empress will throw you into the streets when she finds out.”
The hum grew louder in Xifeng’s ears, pulsating to the speeding rhythm of her heart.
“You’re a good liar.” The concubine put her head to one side, shining waves of hair tumbling over her shoulder. “I commend you for that. I enjoyed your little story about the dwarf being your guardian. Imagine that tiny man protecting anyone fromanything.” She tipped her long, elegant throat back and laughed.
The blood rushed to Xifeng’s face. “Donotspeak about my friends. You have no right.”
Lady Sun’s eyes widened as though an idea had occurred to her. “You know, Wei is quite handsome. Didn’t I tell you I met him the other day?” she asked, twirling her hair around her slim fingers. “He looked at me like I was a delicacy he’d very much like to try. But he had to restrain himself, as the Emperor was with me. It wouldn’t do to covet something belonging to His Majesty, now, would it?”
The hum intensified. Flashes of red sparked into Xifeng’s vision—the beginning of that familiar anger, slow burning and steady.It’s a lie,she told herself, struggling to stay calm.She’s trying to make me jealous of her the way she is of me.But she could easily imagine Lady Sun flickering her tilting eyes at Wei—imagine her escaping His Majestyand pulling Wei into the gardens where he’d been with Xifeng...
“I’m sure the Empress would love to know what you’ve been up to with that gallant soldier.” The concubine’s playful tone hardened. “You didn’t think you could play the daughter always, did you? If by some miracle she carries that parasite to birth and it’s a princess, she won’t even remember you exist.”
Kang had given her the same warning, but from Lady Sun, it was a flaming arrow aimed at her heart. Xifeng reeled at the harsh truth in her statement, the splinters of the woman’s hatred embedding themselves under her skin.
“You may be clever,” Lady Sun said softly. “You may know how to win them over, including the Emperor, who can’t seem to see you’re nothing but a little drudge. But I’ve given my life to them. I’ve given them a prince. They’ll remember that when tomorrow comes.”
Xifeng wanted to cut the smug, knowing expression right off her face. “Tomorrow?”
“You and your lover will be thrown out of the gates. Your time at court has come to an end.”
It was Xifeng’s turn to laugh. “I’m sure that’s what you hope...”
“Oh, it’s more than a hope.” The concubine rose and crossed her arms, the yards of peony satin catching the light. “I’ve written to the General, you see. My eunuch left to deliver the letter just minutes ago. Wei will be dismissed for consorting with a lady-in-waiting, and the Empress will denounceyou.”
Xifeng’s stomach dropped. “You can’t prove anything.”
“My dear girl, you underestimate me. I knoweverything. When you went to see him, what you said, what youdid. My eyes and ears are everywhere. Soon, the General will know... and Their Majesties will too. Don’t worry,” Lady Sun added. “My letter was very...poetic.”
The anger built and turned to ice, and Xifeng shivered as though someone had upturned a bucket of water over her. The sensation tingled down from her head to her toes, freezing her blood. This woman—theFool—had succeeded in her mission to single-handedly destroy Xifeng’s destiny. She had outwitted, outmaneuvered Xifeng at every turn.
Wei would lose his position, and Xifeng would never see the Empress again, never hear her gentle words or earn her loving smile. And the Emperor, with his warm, handsome eyes and the unspoken promise within them, would never be hers. The Fool had won.
The taut strings of her fury had been strummed, and there was no stopping her anger now. Images flashed before Xifeng’s eyes: Kang and his raised white scars, Empress Lihua weeping over her belly, Master Yu lifting the whip. She pictured Wei, with his brutal beauty and savage pride, turned away from court. Both of them, exiled in shame to return home to Guma’s wrath.
She saw it so clearly, it was almost like it had happened: the point of her dagger biting into the concubine’s chest, her moon-white skin vomiting a crimson river. It spilled down her breasts as her heart was laid bare, ready for the taking. Xifeng wrapped her lips around the muscle, slippery with gore, and the woman’s essence filled her like air. Lady Sun’s lifeblood was as intoxicating as wine, heady and powerful, and Xifeng felt herself stand taller—she saw the eyes of the Emperor’s court on her, adoring and worshipful...
Lady Sun suddenly fell backward in one swift movement, tripping over the leg of the chair in her hurry to get away from Xifeng. Her sneer had vanished, and in its place was horror at whatever she had seen on Xifeng’s face. “Wh-what are you?” she choked out.
The beautiful vision of the concubine’s heartless corpse had disappeared, but Xifeng didn’t mind. “What’s the matter, my lady?” she askedsoftly, relishing the tang of the woman’s fear. It was almost as delicious as slick heart muscle, sliding down her throat smooth as silk. She took a step forward, taunting her, burning with exhilaration as the concubine pressed herself against a mother-of-pearl folding screen, shoulders shaking.
“Stay where you are,” Lady Sun cried. “Don’t come any closer.”
Xifeng pressed her fists beneath her breast, where the creature slithered and basked. It fed on the woman’s terror and grew stronger.She is nothing, and you are everything.And then it opened Xifeng’s mouth and poured its voice from her throat. “Do not threaten me, girl,” she rasped in a harsh, guttural voice. “You don’t know who you’re dealing with.”
Lady Sun fell to her knees, her confident, seductive demeanor forgotten. “What are you?” she repeated.
“I am the moon and the darkness around it,” Xifeng hissed in that ancient, ageless voice. “I am the wind and the rain and the ceaseless sea. I am time itself, and yours is running out.” Her chest felt like it would explode from the sheer immensity of her power. She never knew it could feel like this, the creature’s shifting like a mother’s touch.
This woman and her petty lies were nothing more than beetles she would crush beneath her feet. Everything would come to pass as she had hoped—astheyhad planned.
Lady Sun fixed her eyes on Xifeng’s face and screamed and screamed, clawing at the folding screen. It toppled and collapsed to the floor with a crash.
The door flew open and eunuch guards appeared, bringing a rush of wind with them. Xifeng came back to herself, feeling the tension release like trapped air. She let out a great gasp as she clutched her raw, aching throat. Everything was still—the guards, the room, thecreature in her chest. Lady Sun sobbed and curled up against the wall.
“She’s not human,” the woman howled. “She’s not normal! Get her out this instant.”
Two of them grasped Xifeng’s arms and steered her out like a limp rag doll. She felt weak and bone tired, as though the open air were leaching away the strength she had experienced. Several of Lady Sun’s maids, who had been scrubbing the railing, turned to stare as she leaned heavily against the wall, closing her eyes against the light of the lantern dangling nearby. She couldn’t go anywhere without seeing those wretched lanterns.
