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“I’m sorry,” Bao said, ashamed. “Maybe you can try again and I’ll find a way to—”
“Choke to death? Don’t be ridiculous. You’ll just have to come with me while I bathe,” she said. Despite her matter-of-fact tone, two spots of pink flamed in her cheeks.
“Are you mad? I couldn’tpossibly!” he cried, aghast.
“Oh, come on.” Lan grabbed his arm and started dragging him toward the water. “You’ll turn your back like a gentleman, and we have a dozen chaperones here to supervise your behavior. You might as well bathe, too. The gods know you need it more than I do.” She laughed at his peeved expression, then added, “Do you know, you haven’t faded in over two days now?”
“No, I hadn’t noticed.” It was a lie, for this was the first time in over two days that Lan had touched him; how could Bao not have noticed? “The enchantment must be changing again. Before, it threatened to turn meinto a spirit, and now I can’t...”Be apart from you, he thought, but the words seemed too weighty and meaningful to say aloud.
“I wonder what it will do next, if Iwillbe tied to it like the witch said. Perhaps we’ll get to the Gray City before we have to find out,” Lan said.
“Only seven days left until the full moon.” He forced a smile, but it didn’t lessen the weight of his words. The panic never lingered far from the surface. “The Commander says we’ll be at Lord Nguyen’s estate in three days, and then the city is another day after that.”
“Which means we have two extra days to find the witch. Soon we will find your witch in the Gray City and the spell will be broken,” Lan vowed, and he couldn’t help but be heartened by her optimism. “We will fix this, and then we’ll go back to normal life.”
They reached the riverbank, which was lined with fragrant, shady trees.
Lan bent down and began taking off her shoes, and Bao nearly tripped over his feet in his haste to turn away. “Are you afraid you’ll see my ankles and be seduced?” she joked.
“That’s already happened,” he replied, and then his cheeks flamed when he realized what he had said. “I meant I’ve already seen your ankles!”
Her laugh rippled as Bao looked around desperately. The riverbank was not a straight line, as it had been back home. This one curved and had thick patches of undergrowth, perfect for hiding one’s modesty.If one has any modesty, he thought, ignoring Lan’s smirk. He dashed into the dense shrubbery, just far enough for privacy without tempting the spell’s malicious side.
“Can you still breathe?” Lan called, a grin evident in her voice.
“I’m fine.” Bao waited for her to come charging through the bushes, just to make him panic, which seemed like something she would do. But there was only silence, and then a splash and a contented sigh as she slipped into the water on the other side.
Quickly, he slipped off his own clothes, taking care to place his bundle containing the flute in a safe spot before getting into the water. The river lapped at his hot, blistered skin and he closed his eyes, letting it soothe his aching body. It reminded him of afternoons off from working for Master Huynh, when he would take a dip to find relief from the hot sun.
“Nice, isn’t it?” Lan’s voice was so close that his eyes flew open in horror.
Instinctively, Bao scrunched up his body, a rather difficult feat with his long arms and legs. He heard her laughing, but saw nothing of her through the trees, thank the gods. He shook his head but couldn’t keep from smiling. This was the bold, fearless Lan of years past who had climbed trees and played pranks on her brothers, encouraged by her delighted grandmother. He didn’t know how much he had missed her. “Where are you?” he demanded.
“I’m still on my side, of course,” she said, giggling.
“You are infuriating.”
“No, that won’t work. You can’t make me apologize again.”
Lan’s voice wassoclose. He couldn’t help peering through the undergrowth... to make certain she was at an appropriate distance, of course. He caught sight of a long, pale neck and the slope of a naked shoulder before he turned away, appalled at himself.Think of anything else, he thought, pulse thundering madly.Think of your music.But thinking of music only reminded him of Lan’s silhouette in her bedroom window, and the silk robe clinging softly to her body when she had found him under the spell, and the feel of her legs, slender and shapely, in his hands...
“Why are you being so quiet?” she inquired.
“I’mbathing, and bathing is private.” He almost wished they were fighting again.
“But isn’t it communal in the river market? My father says that all of the men stop work early one day a month and jump into the water together.”
“We’re notinthe river market, and you and I are—”
“Hush!” Lan hissed. “Stop talking!”
“Me?” he asked incredulously, but then he heard Commander Wei and Lady Yen’s voices raised in a heated discussion. They seemed to be coming closer every minute. Bao made to get out, but froze in horror when he saw Lan peering at him through the bushes. Her eyes crinkled in amusement, and she shook her head at him, telling him to remain in place.
“I’m not a goat, Wei,” Lady Yen was saying indignantly. “I’m not a sack of rice or a bag of potatoes to be thrown onto a cart and conveyed to my owner. I am a human being with thoughts and desires of my own.”
“I have nothing to say about that,” the Commander replied. “I am serving my Empress, who charged me with the task of bringing you safely to your husband. That’s all I care about.”
There was a silence, and then, in a very low voice: “You don’t care about anything else?”
