Chapter 8 #2
“Lady Han and entourage. So good, as always, to see you!” gushed the proprietress of what Alex had to admit was an impressive four-story establishment of cleverly fitted wood and stone.
The front entrance was especially classy for this time and place, the grandly arched front door lined with sandalwood inlay polished to a soft gleam, along with half a dozen wide windows with perfectly clear paned glass that gave a glimpse of a fine eating hall from which dozens of patrons could be seen taking their ease, sampling countless drinks and gustatory delights.
Clearly, these patrons weren’t suffering from any limits to their daily intake.
Alex’s belly grumbled just glimpsing it.
The door was quickly opened for them by an elegant servitor who radiated a cultivator’s grace with a short jian at his hip that he managed to wear as if it were just an accessory to his white-and-blue silk tunic and tight-fitting hose, flowing into a graceful bow before leading the way to the proprietress herself who was even now gushing and curtsying as if Sunlay was a favored and much-loved guest.
Which did absolute wonders for ensuring them immediate quarters and seating at what was not just the dining hall but a private room of their own, their table soon tended by demurely clad women who immediately took up harp, zither, and erhu while their sunken table was filled with bowls of steamed rice and porridge; pita, humus and chutney; and dozens of small game animals poached, roasted, and grilled, covered with sauces or crisped up, much like a drumstick of a lifetime ago.
Alex was beyond thrilled to eat some truly tasty fare, though the look he gave Nili spoke volumes.
Nili, no fool, just smiled and nodded, her fingers flowing in a graceful message while their musicians and a pair of quiet, deferential servants awaited their pleasure.
“A bit much, I know. But don’t worry. Lady Han is an old cover and has facilitated our entrance and exit from the palace at will for the last three years.”
Alex frowned at Nili’s handsign, but really, what could he say?
That using that role right now smacked of coincidence and pushing their luck to an extreme?
That it would have been better to sink into anonymity until the moment they revealed the prize that would pull Wanshi from the brink of utter disaster?
He sighed and shook his head. Because ultimately, it wasn’t his call. It was Sunlay’s. And if her spymistress approved, then who was Alex to say anything? He doubted anyone knew the particular circumstances and how best to go about things in any locale better than those who were native to the area.
Yet despite his acceptance, his fingers still flashed his misgivings.
“I don’t like it. Because there’s no way that no one has put two and two together over that long a period, which means your cover is just a known alias for who you really are.
Even if that information was worth little before now, with so many things in play and with enemies no doubt eager to weaken your own faction at every turn, I fear it could bite us in the ass when we least expect it. ”
Alex winced internally when both Nili and Sunlay glared at his pronouncement, realizing that his fingers, after days of nonstop battle, had spoken far less diplomatically than was his normal wont.
He cleared his throat and took a sip of hot summer tea.
“I can’t help but admire both the beauty of Wanshi and her people,” he said aloud with a disarming smile, saluting his companions with his cup.
“This humble Ruidian is grateful to travel in such august company and prays that our joint venture will ensure a lifetime of prosperity for us all.” Despite his reservations, he went along with their plan, earning a hard smile from Nili as they all drank in turn.
“To desert fortunes and strong companions.” Sunlay raised her glass. “With the natural cistern we discovered, our future as the most prosperous water merchants of Wanshi is all but guaranteed.”
All of them cheered and drank as one to that.
And if one of the musicians missed a single note in their performance, no one else missed a beat.
For such was their cover story and one that would certainly invite interest from all sorts of potential parties, if spies were indeed listening in, curious as to their true motives for being there.
Yet news of a hidden oasis or other source of water that one had to journey for, a source that could be controlled or blockaded altogether, was far less of a threat to their perceived enemies than the prize they actually carried.
Or such was their hope as they allowed the carefully calibrated rumors to slip free of their control, assuming they were being spied on at all. And should anyone know Sunlay’s true identity, she was far safer being thought the holder of a secret desert oasis than an actual city-saving Water core.
Still, Alex couldn’t deny the way his heart raced as the geisha focused so diligently upon their instruments, the servants so intently filling their cups with both honeyed tea and rich red wine, which must have been horribly expensive, and precious water that he feared would soon be just as dear as life itself to the hundreds of thousands of citizens who would all be in utter jeopardy the minute the city’s singular waterfall stopped filling the caldera basin with its ever-waning bounty.
And how had this grand city, which had at least the population and thus rift-stabilizing Dark Qi saturation as Liushi, ended up with only one rift? The question gnawed at him, even if it would have to remain unanswered. At least for now.
“Come, Zhang. Master Chaoxiang will be most interested in the fortuitous tidings of our latest guests.”
That was when he heard it, the wind whispering secrets in his ears that Rank 8 Qi Perception did not, focused as it was more on the movements of the pair of cultivators that were manservant and the zither-playing geisha, more than the far more faint mortals.
Yet there could be no mistaking the curt whisper caressing Alex’s ear when he gave Nili a pointed look, his fingers at his hip.
“Who is Master Chaoxiang?”
Nili froze for just a heartbeat, before roaring with laughter at the awful story Zichen and Anjen were gleefully recounting about their one encounter with bandits and desert boar.
Nili then leaned against a smirking Alex, a heartbeat before her arms wrapped around him and her lips locked against his own, sending his heart racing with a fiery, passionate kiss.
Alex froze almost as much as Nili’s husband, Quing Da, even though he had known it was coming, not having to act at all when his arms instinctively wrapped around the beautiful lithe kitsune woman, and he kissed her back, fiercely and hard, losing himself for half a second as Quing Da’s laughter rang through their private dining room, only pulling back with flushed cheeks when his Dantian actually twinged.
And the teasing look Nili gave him was just too much, biting his lip as she whispered loud enough for half the table to hear. “That was yummy. Now take me to bed and kiss me like that again.”
Her teasing quip set his cheeks blazing all the brighter even as he lifted himself to his feet, arm wrapped around a purring Nili as he locked gazes with their party leader.
“With your permission, Lady Han… the hour is late.”
Sunlay sighed, giving her presumed employees an exasperated smile. “I fear it has been a long day for all of us. Best we make use of the quarters provided, and we could all use a good night’s rest. Come, my friends. To quarters. Tomorrow will be an exciting day.”
She turned her gaze to the ever-attentive servitor beside the doorway who was either Bronze or just a half-step below, now bowing fluidly at the waist.
“Please follow me. I shall show you all to your quarters and the steam baths below, should you wish it.”
Time passed in an odd blur as Nili captured Alex’s lips yet again, and this time his Dantian was definitely twinging, which filled him with hot shame to find that the wild hunger he happily put on display for their presumed audience wasn’t entirely the act he had intended it to be.
Nili chortled huskily. “Come, my pet. Let me show you the true delights that our fair city has to offer.” She slipped into the first room that the coolly smiling servitor led them to, pulling Alex along and slamming the door shut.
Only then did she chuckle huskily, still leaning against Alex, her heart racing just as fast as his.
The look she gave him when she stepped back left Alex’s throat dry.
For long moments they just stared at one another, her fingers gently reaching to caress his cheeks, her flushed lips half-open as her breath hitched, soft brown eyes taking up his entire world.
Alex froze, stiffened by shame, desire, confusion, and being totally caught off guard.
For an endless moment, they stared at each other, Alex’s Dantian now definitely twinging, before Nili broke off eye contact with a chuckle, quickly spinning around, slipping free of an arm he hadn’t even realized had been holding her so snugly.
“Good acting, Alex,” was all she said as she quickly adjusted her attire.
Still, it was several long moments before they had both fully collected themselves, sharing an awkward smile when a storm of something that neither of them had been expecting finally passed.
“So… are you ready for a meeting with the local head of an organization I was once intimately familiar with?”
Alex, still not trusting himself to speak, and perhaps more ashamed than he wanted to admit, just dipped his head.