Page 39 of Between Ghosts and Gods

“Then I have nothing to give you as an apology.”

“There’s no need. I’d already accepted your apology. If you want to do something for me, you could get some sleep. I’ll need you at your best soon,” she said when Arun tried to protest.

It was a flimsy excuse, but Arun had the grace to accept it. They stood silent for a moment, his hands still resting in hers.

Kasu quickly snatched up her usual rag and wiped away the pollen that had fallen onto the wood. When she looked up, Arun was holding his wrist and staring at her with eyes too dark to discern his emotions.

His gaze was as sharp as his sword – it pierced her through.

After a moment, Arun nodded his thanks and made his way out of the parlour. Kasu watched him go until the doors swung shut behind him.

The sprig of summer’s blood remained discarded on her counter. Poisonous though they were, no one had ever given her flowers before. Not in her life. Not in her death. Carefully, Kasu wrapped a cloth around her fingers so as not to touch the petals and placed the flowers in her empty cup.

The blossoms stayed there for the rest of the morning.

The next few days passed peacefully. Or, rather, peacefully for Ghost City. The crowd of protesters marching past Camellia House had dwindled in size – Kasu had heard that quite a few had been eaten – but they were no less dogged and just as loud as when they had been at full force. The day of the demon bazaar was imminent and Lady Camellia would be gone the entire night.

From time to time, Arun would drop in while Kasu was at work. His presence amused Banse and Manzu enough that he no longer had to bribe the guards to let him through.

“Why do you want to be reborn as a human so badly? There’s nothing great about it, in my opinion. If I could choose what to be in my next life, I’d be a cat,” said Arun as he leaned across her counter, watching her tally tiles.

“Like Ruo?” Kasu glanced at him.

“Like a proper house cat. I’d hunt mice all day, and at night my owners would pamper me with a plate of juicy meat and a dish of warm milk. I’d sleep in all the best sunny spots and jump onto the cupboards to avoid children pulling my tail.”

Kasu almost laughed at the thought, but stopped herself just in time. Maintain proper decorum in your exchanges with others. Her smile faded under the sombre reminder that she would not be able to reincarnate at all until her contract with Lady Camellia was over. Whenever she thought of how long she had left, the years seemed to stretch into eternity.

Arun sobered as well. “I know what you dream of,” he said delicately, like he was talking to a cornered animal he did not want to spook. “You told me about the apple orchard. But you might not get that in your next life. You might never get that. What if you’re born in a desert country? What if you’re born to a poor family and you starve to death?”

His words were like stones thrown into the middle of a pond. As soon as they hit the bottom, they stirred up the sediment of her memories. Kasu remembered green fields and the warm kiss of the sun. She remembered snow and harsh winds. She remembered a hunger so terrible it hollowed out her bones.

You need to eat. Just one spoon. Please. I promise I’ll—

Kasu shook her head. The fragments of her past life only left her feeling addled. She did not want to think about it – about the silly and vain girl she had once been, trading her soul for a simple jade pendant.

“It doesn’t matter where I end up or what circumstances I’m born into; I just want to be reborn. As long as I obey the Heavenly Principles, the gods will reward me.”

If the Heavenly Principles failed her, what else was there to believe in?

Chapter Twenty Kasu

The night of the demon bazaar came quicker than Kasu realized. Even just thinking about stealing Lady Camellia’s elixir made her shake with anticipation and fear. Soon, the demon lord would leave for the mortal realm and her private chambers would be empty. This would be their only chance. If they did not succeed here, they would have to wait a month for the next demon bazaar, and who knew if the Pale Lady would be willing to delay that long.

As the House prepared to wind down for the evening, Lady Camellia swept past Kasu’s counter, dressed in a deep-red gown so dark it looked almost black and a shawl made of wolf pelts. The flowers sticking out of her eye socket were arranged in a stunning display of crimson and vermillion hues.

The boxes for the bazaar were already packed and ready to go. A pair of servants hauled them over their shoulders and took them outside. Lady Camellia gave Kasu the barest of nods as Banse and Manzu held the doors open for her, and the shadows of the city swallowed her up.

Soon, it was time to close up. Turning her attention back to the last tasks of the day, Kasu took stock of the trades she had collected. Some would remain on the shelves for a week, available for their owners to buy back. Others would be labelled and packed up, ready to be shipped up to the mortal realm and sold to humans with unscrupulous taste and dishonest morals at next month’s demon bazaar.

Though the heavens frowned on such corrupt dealings, Kasu longed to visit the bazaar even once – to stand beneath the vaulted sky and feel the wind brush through her hair – but most ghosts could not survive more than a few minutes in the mortal realm. Only demons of a certain strength could visit as they pleased. Demons like Lady Camellia.

Kasu carefully wrapped the goods in cloth and sealed them away, taking only a moment to guess how much each piece would sell for. A jewelled necklace that could make the wearer slightly happier was probably worth the equivalent of two good horses and a bag of rice. The voice of a famed singer – at least a whole herd. Two mirrors of departure – a pair of looking glasses that connected to one another and could transport an individual between them – would go for the price of a small palace.

Once she was done sorting and packing everything, Kasu waited for the rest of the staff to lock up then grabbed a small, empty bottle and tucked it into the pocket of her dress. It would be useful for decanting a few drops of Lady Camellia’s elixir into.

Arun was waiting for her at the edge of the forest. His rash had fully healed, as had any lingering annoyance at Ruo for lying to him. Kasu found them both waiting for her.

“The front of Camellia House is always locked, but there’s a hidden back door that has a warped frame. I bet I can prise it open if I wiggle it just right,” said Kasu, as they headed to the rear.