Chapter Twenty-Two #2
Lim’s body jerked and shuddered, speckles of white filling his vision; dribble cold as it ran down over his chin and down his neck. All the while, the captain stared at him in something of a maniacal trance.
‘Captain Duan, might I have a word with you?’ Master Chen said, easily as though he’d asked for tea. ‘Before you break him, preferably. It will be worth your while. I assure you.’
Lim’s eyelids were dragging down; his world was filled with an intense hum. But at last the fierce grip around his neck slackened.
He collapsed to the ground, taking such desperate gulps of air his lungs spasmed.
‘I’m in no mood for your schemes, Chen. The man’s an arrogant rogue who has trespassed on his lordship’s land.’
Lim pressed a shaking hand to his chest, trying to gather himself.
‘Certainly, certainly. I do not question your thoroughness and seniority, in such matters. But if this shoe is to be our gauge then he is also a remarkably talented shoemaker. And do we not both have a master who relishes fine things?’ Master Chen cradled the slipper in the crook of his arm as if it were a dozing cat.
Lim would not have been surprised at all to see him stroke it.
‘He enjoys adding treasures to his collection, with Kunming’s prince his favourite gleaming jewel, right now. ’
Lim dug his fingertips into the dirt.
‘Make your point, Chen,’ the captain snapped. ‘Must you always be so long-winded?’
Master Chen sighed. ‘I’m just suggesting you not act too hastily, here, Duan.
His lordship has a court full of foreign guests and dignitaries, nobles from lands with a growing appetite for the exotic luxuries of the strange and mysterious Orient.
’ He lifted the slipper. ‘And we have a shoemaker who has made this for the Emperor’s own son. ’
Lifting his head, Lim glared through watering eyes at the other shoemaker, but that only seemed to delight Master Chen.
‘See! It is true. Oh, my good man, you would never survive in a palace. Your truth is writ too large upon your face.’ Chen patted the slipper.
‘He’s brought this slipper for Prince Xian.
A shoemaker fit for royalty. His lordship shall not want him in a cell; he’ll want him in my workshop, creating shoes that will seduce the English nobles and please the British Empire even more than Manhao does already.
Perhaps their queen shall wish to visit the Palace of Endless Prosperity herself, such will be our renown. ’
Lim could barely believe his ears. He’d gone from being thrown into a cell to being tied to Master Chen’s workbench; neither brought him any closer to Xian, but this option was far more preferable to the last.
‘All this over shoes?’ The captain said, incredulous. ‘You overestimate your craft, Chen.’
‘Would your lady think so, Captain Duan? Or any of the mandarin’s consorts? What of the emperor, with his bright yellow boots? Or the kings of France, with their red heeled shoes?’
‘Do not bother me with your prattle, Chen. There will be advantage in this arrangement for me?’
‘Of course.’
The captain grunted. ‘Then I am done here.’ He stood in front of Lim, who was still lightheaded from the strangling. ‘If you do not wish another bruise to be added to your prince’s flesh, then I will have word from Master Chen that you are nothing but the perfect servant.’
Lim struggled to get to his feet, swaying dangerously. ‘You wouldn’t dare lay a hand on him.’
‘Not tonight, of course.’ The Captain tilted his head, like a vulture eyeing carrion.
‘It wouldn’t do to spoil the fun of those who will pay for such pleasures.
But once the new year arrives, and the guests are gone, then perhaps I’ll have your prince dance for me, wearing those slippers you have brought, and nothing else. ’
Lim lunged at him, but Jang Ming was there, grabbing a hold and shouting at him to stay still.
Eyes now hard as granite, Captain Duan turned away. ‘Shackle his ankles. And do not make me regret this, Chen.’
The guard, Yuze, appeared bearing the shackles, as though they were kept hidden in the gardens, ready for when the captain might grow displeased with someone in the residence.
Yuze snapped the metal around Lim’s ankle; pinching at his skin. But Lim barely noticed; seething at the captain’s lewd insinuations.
Pay for the pleasure of the prince’s company? Duan goaded him, surely? Hinting at a vileness that could not possibly be true.
The Englishman’s words, his talk of finding Xian before midnight — before it was too late — suddenly filled Lim’s mind. Had that emerald-eyed man known what could befall Xian in this sordid place?
He dug his fingernails into his palms.
Master Chen drew nearer, still cradling the slipper. Yuze handed him the key to the shackles. ‘Thank you. Now, no need for you to remain, gentleman. We have an understanding, Master…I don’t know your name, shoemaker.’
Lim’s eyes did not leave the departing Captain’s back. ‘Song Lim. I am Song Lim.’
He was so close to Xian, yet felt further away than when he’d set out from Kunming chasing after him.
How often had the captain tormented Xian on that long journey? Lim’s stomach flipped unkindly, and desperation weighed on him like an unwanted cloak. His only consolation was truly horrid; if Xian were the mandarin’s prize, it would keep him safe from the lechery of men like the captain, for now.
Midnight. The time felt like an anchor; something to cling to in this madness. A point to shape plans against.
Plans that escaped him for now.
‘And pray tell me, Master Song Lim, where is the other shoe?’
It was not the question he’d expected, and Lim’s answer took a heartbeat to arrive. ‘I don’t have it.’
‘Where is it?’
He hesitated, realising he didn’t know the truth. Lim had been so driven to get to Manhao, to find Xian, he’d not stopped to wonder if the prince held the other slipper. ‘I don’t know.’
The truth; a bitter herb to swallow.
‘I find that hard to believe.’ Impatience stamped its mark on Master Chen’s tone. ‘It won’t serve you to lie to me, I’m afraid. And it is rude, considering I likely just saved your life.’
Lim kept his eyes on the captain, who moved with the guards in his shadow, hurrying to keep up with their superior, whose long strides ate up the path.
‘I’m not lying. I found only one slipper, after his highness was taken from the Governor’s manor, and I’ve not seen the other since it was in my possession in Kunming.’ Half a lie; he’d seen it on Xian’s feet after he’d given him the pair, seen the sheer joy it had brought him.
‘He brought few possessions with him,’ Chen mused. ‘And no one has spoken of shoes such as these. I’d have heard of it by now if they had.’
Lim lit up with a brilliant notion. ‘Could we not arrange an audience with his highness to find out?’
Chen huffed a laugh. ‘Not tonight, certainly. Come into my workshop now. I wish you to tell me where you sourced that fabric, and how you worked it into such elegant design.’
Lim barely heard him. He had to find Xian tonight. His certainty sat like indigestion; a pain at his chest that would not ease until the prince was with him. What plan he had for after that, Lim’s mind was worryingly blank. But he’d gotten this far with all limbs intact; a bruise or two perhaps.
And the slipper was still within his reach; whether it was enchanted or a talisman of good luck, the shoe had served him well so far.
‘Master Lim I asked you to follow me.’ Master Chen stood at the open doorway, beneath several menshen nailed to the frame above; apparently Chen needed not just one door god to guard his precious shoes, but an entire family. ‘You will not give me trouble so soon, surely?’
Lim drew in a breath, gathering himself. ‘No, Master Chen. I am grateful to you for intervening. I don’t intend to give you any trouble.’
Another couple of lies to add to his growing tally.