Six Crimson Cranes: Chapters 21–29

Nawaiyi was famous for its healing temple, but I had a difficult time believing its pious priestesses had taught Zairena—of all people—their arts.

“You’re harder to track down than the sons of the wind, you know that?” the dragon admonished.

The tension in his voice was palpable.

Why do you care so much about him? Because he's your betrothed?
I glared at my presumptuous little bird.

Takkan was well again, and my endeavor had been successful, complete with personal thanks from the young lord himself.

“Have as many as you like. Join us for breakfast.”
Me? I balked. I glanced at Pao, who raised his chin a hair, as if to say, Go on.

Her words sounded utterly contrived, but she reached for her umbrella nonetheless.

I'm starting to like him already.
I twisted my lips at her. You're a fickle one. I seem to recall someone who didn't want me to waste my time brewing soup for him.

“Legends contain vestiges of magic,” my stepmother would say.

I had hot water at my disposal, a bronze brazier that kept the room warm, and cupboards full of coats and robes.

Her tone was even, the inflection of each word too rehearsed to be natural.

Really, she just didn’t want her children to be seen gallivanting about Iro with someone who looked like a demon worshipper.

“I saved a few for you, too, Lina,” said Zairena, passing me a parcel of persimmons wrapped in a swath of striped cotton.

I fluttered my hands at the altar, stooping to show deference.

His eyes were adamant, one thick eyebrow slightly raised as if to dare further disagreement.

No mansions or villas, no outdoor markets or arched bridges or boats rowing along the river. Only a handful of red gates in the watery sun.
It was everything I would have hated as Princess Shiori. Now I found it idyllic.

“I’m still trying to get my big brother to change your name to Noodles. Admiral is such a stodgy old name.”

Megari was brazen, I thought, chuckling at how mortified Takkan looked. Like he wished the river would sweep him away.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to play among the plum blossoms, or was that a ruse to get Lina and me to come here with you?”
“It was a ruse for me to get you to sing at the festival, Brother. I knew you wouldn’t say no, not in front of Lina.”

Below, one wolf skulked along the edges of the hill.

Countless nights of wielding enchanted nettles with knife-sharp leaves and scorching thorns hadn’t made me utter a sound, but in one fleeting moment with Megari and Takkan, I had almost ruined everything.

Eventually I found a pavilion cloistered in the gardens, and I took solace on its veranda, warm and secluded.

A wan smile.

“Sometimes I think magic never left Kiata. Not fully. I would even go so far as to wonder whether the princes and princess themselves were ensorcelled—it is the only way to explain how no one has been able to find them.”

“But when they fall in love, their strands are tied together at both ends, becoming one.” He tethered the second end of the twine so it became a circle. “And their fates are irrevocably joined.”

The shrill pitch cut through the din of Chiruan’s chopping, the steady hiss of the kettle, and the clatter of the cooks’ pots as they prepared lunch.

“I say the assassin mistook the old man for you,” argued Hasege, “and now he is blundering his way back to Yuji’s camps as we dither here, wasting time instead of chasing after him.”

“We are assuming the assassin is an assassin. There are easier ways to kill a man than with Four Breaths. Other poisons are just as lethal, just as quick. No, Four Breaths is unique because it can make its victims sleep like a numb moon, rendering them vulnerable to capture.”

He took another bite, keeping his expression perfectly neutral and not divulging any opinion at all.

It was hard for me to imagine Zairena being such a whimsical child, but I knew firsthand how much one could change after a great loss.

Lady Bushian straightened, gathering her poise and refocusing her gaze on me.

It certainly looked like Zairena. The same rounded chin and pointed nose, the single plait down her back, the mole on her right cheek.

I approached it tentatively. If she caught me using it for my starstroke, I’d be thrown back into the dungeon.

“Don’t look so crestfallen, Lina. Lady Bushian and Lord Takkan both ate the cakes. I’m certain the young lord at least will vouch for you.”

Her fingers were splayed over the folds of her blanket, her breathing slow and soft.

“Her stomach made her ill, but she’s convalescing now.”

He was thin and gangly, his robes too short and his hat sliding off his overly waxed black hair.

“Lord Yuji?” I repeated, twisting a lock of hair as I ruminated. “Why would he trick me? He wants me to marry one of his sons.”

I meant to speak imperiously, but my words came out wobbly and guilt-ridden: “You said it was a gift. I could help you paint another one. I'm not very good at art, not like Yotan—"

He smiled again, his disposition even sunnier than before, and in spite of my tears, I couldn't help smiling back.