Chapter 38 #2
She was a feral thing. Still shrieking, she stabbed me.
My eyes burned, my skin blistered, flames clawed my throat like I’d been doused in oil, inside and out, then set alight.
Every time the blade bit, the scorching pain intensified.
She shoved me off her, and I rolled, limp and unresisting, onto my back.
She held the dagger to my throat. My throat closed up; the sounds I made, desperate wheezing gasps, would have alarmed me, but my mind was already far away, unconsciousness beckoning.
‘Jie! What are you doing?’ Another shriek, but a welcome one. Lady Ay had finally returned.
‘I told you,’ I tried to say, but the noise I made was more akin to a short, weak huff. If I still had command of my body, I would have wagged a finger to scold her, given a righteous speech about dignity, respect, and honour, but alas, I did not. I passed out.
The second time I came to, the shadows stretched the length of the floor.
It was evening, the sun close to setting.
I was laid out on my bed, tucked up with blankets.
My skin itched, but no longer blazed with pain, for which I was grateful.
My throat was another matter. It felt like I’d swallowed a handful of blades followed by a handful of glass shards.
The dagger was somewhere in the room, bare; the smell of it burned my nostrils and made my eyes water.
I kept my eyes closed, checking my senses. Only Lady Rey was in the room. I considered whether I ought to simply mist away and avoid further confrontation.
‘I know you’re awake,’ she said. Her tone was not friendly. I was not inclined to torture myself further so I kept my eyes shut. ‘Stop pretending. I have things to say.’
I squinted open one eye. Lady Rey sat a few feet away, her knees tucked up under her chin. Despite her harsh words, she looked pale. ‘Are you well?’ I asked before I could stop myself. The three words scraped my throat raw. I swallowed; it gave no respite. I needed a drink.
She glared at me. ‘What is wrong with you? You are the one injured. You are the one I stabbed, who passed out like a rotted delicate flower. And your first words are to ask me if I am well?’
I smiled weakly. I could not understand why but I found her anger endearing.
‘Tea?’ I croaked, indicating with my eyes the teacup sitting on the low table.
She scowled, but brought it over to me. Thinking I ought to sit up and converse properly, I shifted and had to grit my teeth to stop from screaming.
Holding myself very still, I waited for the agony to subside to a tolerable level.
It took some time, but slowly I found I could breathe.
Without asking, Lady Rey held the cup to my lips, and I drank greedily. The cold tea provided sweet relief, moistening my parched mouth and cooling my throat. ‘Thank you.’ Though the words were hoarse, at least now speaking them chafed less.
‘You sound terrible.’
‘I wonder why,’ I said, a little irritably. The room spun so I lay back down and closed my eyes. The tea helped, but blood would be better. The prospect of trying to seek sustenance tonight did not appeal, but I knew full well remaining in this state was not an option.
‘Meimei said you saved my life.’ Lady Rey’s soft voice reminded me of her presence. I opened my eyes to find her on her knees, kowtowing. ‘I offer you a boon for your kindness.’
‘Just one? I’ve saved your life more than once. While you’ve tried to do away with mine multiple times.’
‘I have not!’
‘You tried to poison me the first time we met, then you threw me to the demon hunters. You’re lucky they’re not as fast as I am.
Today you defamed my honour and stabbed me over and over.
I have suffered greatly at your hands.’ A shadow flickered across Lady Rey’s face.
It gave me a pang but I shook off the guilt. Nothing I said was untrue.
Lady Ay returned with a bucket full of water. She took one look at her sister and heaved a heavy sigh. ‘Jie,’ she said, her tone half-warning, half-order.
‘Lady Ay, it is a pleasure to still be alive to greet you.’
Lady Ay bowed low to me. ‘I am very sorry for my sister’s behaviour,’ she said. ‘She was worried for me, and overreacted.’ Their bond was touching. I had hoped my children would watch out for each other in that way. But alas, Maximilien and Marianne only fought.
‘Of course she will offer you more than one boon. Would three be acceptable?’
‘Meimei – one is more than enough!’
It was at that opportune moment I happened to cough. The itch in my throat was unbearable. ‘Is the dagger still here?’
Lady Ay was on her feet immediately. ‘I placed it over there—’
‘Could you immerse it in salt water? It will neutralise the scent at least. I have a small jar of salt over by the samovar.’
Lady Ay hurried away.
Lady Rey stared at her feet, looking morose. ‘The silver really hurts you?’
‘Silver usually doesn’t, but that dagger – perhaps it’s the etchings on the blade – highly unpleasant,’ I said.
‘So the talismanic scripts affect you as well,’ she said. ‘Perhaps we do have something in common, after all.’ She bit her lip, regarding me with resentful suspicion. ‘What do you want for your first boon?’
‘Are we agreed on three boons?’
She was silent for a while, which suited me. I did not feel fully myself, and it hurt to speak. But she agreed, in the end.
This is where the journal ends. I like the father I see in these pages, brave, respectful, and funny.
My mother too – feisty and loyal, not the sad shell she became after my father left us.
It makes me realise how similar in temperament I am to my mother and, oddly, how similar Tony is to my father.
He forgave my mother many things; even though she tried to kill him, falsely accused him, tried to kill him again, he didn’t hesitate to save her over and over, nor did he try to keep her by his side.
He was content to keep watch over her and protect her the best he could.
Like Big Wang did his best for me. Maybe that’s how you’re meant to love someone.