Page 55 of The Poet Empress
Terren lifted his chin and narrowed his eyes. He was reassessing, recalibrating. I knew that if I lived through this, he would no doubt punish me for what I was about to say. We had our wedding night ahead of us, and two weeks’ retreat after that to spend alone. There would be plenty of opportunities for him to hurt me.
I could not worry about that now. I only had room in my mind to save one person at a time.
“Explain,” the empress said.
“Perhaps we should let Maya go first, Your Majesty. She has told the truth, after all. It takes remarkable bravery, to report something as dangerous as she has.”
She nodded to the guards, who took the maid away. “Explain,” Empress Sun repeated, turning to me. “Whyhaveyou gone to the West Palace at night, dressed so dishonorably?” She looked absolutely delighted, likely believing I was about to be executed—which I would be, if my gamble did not work.
“Your Majesty, I was going to see my teacher.” I glanced over at Silian. “Though I had learned some techniques to please a man, I knew I had room for improvement. Since my wedding day was nearing, I wanted to surprise my prince with new techniques, to please him during our retreat. And I… I knew that Lady Song had more experience than me. So I asked her to…” I trailed off and lowered my head, trying to seem too embarrassed to speak.
Empress Sun gave me a poisonous look. “If that is the case, why have you asked Lady Song—and not a concubine in your own prince’s Inner Court?”
“Your Majesty, I was thinking of feasts. I was imagining that I had invited a very important guest to a banquet, and had served him a hundred dishes. But if none of them appetized him, I do not think I would double the quantity of an existing plate. I should think a gracious host would look elsewhere, for new flavors.”
A few men in the terrace below laughed, then coughed to disguise their laughs.
Please,I begged Silian silently.Work with me. Corroborate my story.
My heart drummed so loud I heard it in my ears.
“It is true,” Silian said with a smile. “In Yoor, in the northeastern districts, the ladies receive a different education than in the heartlands.”
Now it was Maro’s turn to look suspicious. Beside him, Mei Yu had turned an even deeper shade of red, matching the azalea petals strewn all over the ground. I wondered how Silian would handle her husband’s questions once they had a chance to speak in private.
“What different education?” the empress demanded. I could tell her temper was rising. “What different techniques?”
I looked at my feet, trying to seem uncomfortable. “Must I demonstrate for everyone on the day of my wedding, Your Majesty? In front of so many other men? I had intended to save my learnings for the wedding chamber, as a surprise.”
There was a chuckle from one of the Great Clans’ leaders, and this time, he did not even bother to cough over it.
The empress went quiet. She must have sensed the sentiment shifting against her, known that if she kept pursuing the matter, it would only be herself that she embarrassed. “No, that will not be necessary,” she said in a strained voice. “I am glad we have clarified that minor misunderstanding, so that we may now resume our celebrations.”
She said the ceremonial words alongside the chancellor, to officiate the marriage.
I didn’t even have a chance to feel relieved. As she said those words, I felt Terren’s eyes bore into me. He wore the same thoughtful look he did whenever he was thinking of new torture methods. I may have lucked my way out of the empress’s trap, but who knew what he was going to do to me tonight? He was one of two people on the terrace—other than Silian—who knew for certain that I’d been lying.
The other was Hesin.
In the break after the ceremony’s end and before the beginning of the feast, the eunuch found me. “Lady Yin, you are quite lucky that Lady Song has helped you.”
I picked a safe thing to say. “The Ancestors are kind.”
The two of us were the only ones left on the terrace. Below us, the square had cleared of the less distinguished guests, leaving behind trampled red azaleas, discarded paper cutouts, and dropped lanterns. The snow was falling in earnest now, each cluster as large as a blossom.
The more important guests were already gathered in the Hall of Heavenly Supremacy behind us. Music, warm light, and the smell of feasts and flowers poured from its gates.
“I must tell you the truth,” Hesin said. “I am growing suspicious of you.”
I was completely caught off guard. My heart raced fast, but I forced my voice to be steady. “Is that so?”
“I know of one way, at least, that the prince we serve can be killed. Despite his invulnerability ward.”
I knew the interrogation tactic he was using. I had seen him use it on the men at court, in the blade-filled Hall of Divine Harmony—guessing at motivations to see whether they would react in a telling way.
I tried to imagine I had never heard of the heart-spirit poem, had never even tried learning to read. “Really?”
“It requires stories. The very kind you have been asking me about.”
