Chapter 25
With our mission concluded, we stayed at Asu’s only long enough to catch a few hours’ sleep.
I was surprised to realize that despite our unpleasant mission and treacherous host, I was going to miss staying here.
The place was beautiful, and it would have been nice to relax for a few days and get to know Asu and the children better, without her bastard of a husband breathing down our necks.
I would have had a lot of fun exploring Leniang City, too.
I resolved to come back as a tourist someday, so I could take in the sights without the pressure of an urgent mission on my shoulders.
“It was truly a pleasure having you all,” Asu said to us as she saw us off in a carriage, and I could tell by her scent and her smile that she genuinely meant it.
The children had gathered around to see us off as well.
“I do hope that you will come to visit again, Lalia. I have not experienced this much excitement since before I married Loku.”
“Duties permitting, I will visit more often,” Chen promised, hugging her sister.
“Do you have to leave now?” one of the twins asked, her eyes round and sad as she looked up at me. “You have not stayed long, and now that Father is sleeping all the time, he cannot scold us for playing with you.”
I smiled at her, then crouched down to meet her at eye level. “I would stay and play with you, but our friends are waiting for us, and we have to get back. But I can show you a cool trick before we leave.”
“Really?” Her face lit up, and the other children began bouncing on the balls of their feet, even the older ones. “Show us, show us!”
I got down on all fours, then reached for my inner beast and changed.
The children gasped as white light engulfed my body, hiding it from sight as the magic stretched and changed me.
Muscles and bones rearranged, fangs, claws, and fur grew where there were none, and my senses sharpened, scents becoming stronger, visual details becoming clearer.
“A cat,” the little girl crowed as the light faded away. The other children gasped and shouted, some in fear, others in delight. “A really big cat!”
“A panther,” the oldest sister corrected.
“Be careful!” she said as the younger ones rushed up to me, gliding their hands along my sleek, black fur and playing with my ears.
I allowed it for a few minutes, rolling onto my back so they could stroke my belly even though, as a general rule, we cats didn’t enjoy that.
Eventually, even the older ones joined in, and I found myself purring as Busou, the oldest boy, scratched a really good spot beneath my chin with his strong fingers.
“All right,” Asu said, her voice both stern and affectionate. “That’s enough, children. Let Miss Baine up. She has to leave.”
The children whined and pouted a little, but they obediently returned to their mother’s side. I got to my feet and quickly licked Shirai’s face—the twin who had asked me to play. She shrieked in delight, then ran back to her mother and clutched at her skirts.
I had half a mind to climb into the carriage as a panther, but there wasn’t enough room for me to stretch out, and I doubted Garrett or Chen would appreciate it if I lay on their laps. So I changed back to human form, then joined the others in the carriage.
It took about two hours via a steep, winding road for us to reach Bao-Sung’s stone house overlooking the small port he unofficially commanded.
We met him in the same room as before. This time, his principal concubine was there as well, her dark, manicured hands resting on Liu’s shoulders.
My heart lightened to see the little girl so at ease despite being surrounded by pirates—she was wearing a sunny yellow dress with white flowers, and looked like she’d put on a little weight in the past few days.
“Thank you for caring for Liu while we were gone,” Iannis said. “We can see that she has been very well taken care of.”
“Tulai has a way with children,” Bao-Sung said easily, smiling at the woman. “I believe she would keep your little slave if she could.”
“Liu is very clever,” Tulai said in a voice like raw honey. She patted Liu on the shoulder, then gently pushed her forward. “But a pirate cove is no place for a young girl. She will be better off with you.”
Liu gave Tulai a grateful smile, and, though she seemed reluctant, returned to us. She came to stand between Director Chen and me, and I squeezed her hand briefly to reassure her.
The pilot Bao-Sung was sending with us was a short, stocky Garaian with several missing teeth, a shaved head, and a gold hoop in his left ear.
But despite his rough looks, he was courteous and professional.
He spoke only Garaian, so Director Chen dealt with him, sitting up front with him in the gondola of the airship while the rest of us occupied the passenger seats.
The airship was a little rickety, and nowhere near as luxurious as any of the ones Iannis owned, or even my own second-hand dirigible, but it did the job.
Soon, Leniang Port was but a speck on the ground as we headed north for Bilai.
Since we were running behind schedule, Iannis and Garrett used magic to strengthen the favorable winds and push us toward the capital, forcing the craft to make the journey in one day rather than the three we had taken to get to Leniang Port.
While they powered the spell, I helped Liu practice her Northian.
Tulai had already begun teaching her words and phrases, and I was astounded at how much she had picked up in the last couple of days.
“Are you sure you want to be a chef when you grow up?” I asked her. “I could see you being a doctor or a scientist very easily.”
Liu bit her bottom lip. “I no know much about doctor or science,” she said. “I know food.”
“Everyone likes good food,” I said with an encouraging smile. “I’m sure you’ll be a fantastic chef, and people will come from all over to eat at your restaurant.”
Liu smiled back, but the happy expression quickly faded as she turned to look out the window. The sun had completely set by now, but the Imperial Palace was easy to spot, the lights blazing like a beacon in the center of the capital city.
“What’s wrong?” I asked when she began to tremble. “Are you nervous?”
“They… kill me,” she whispered softly. “I no be… allow… to enter.”
“You’ll be fine,” I assured her. “You’ll simply be counted as one of our five servants, now that we’ve sent another one of them home. Lord Iannis and I will not let anything bad happen to you. You have my word.”
Liu nodded, but she still looked worried, and I had a feeling she didn’t believe us. After all, we were foreigners, so what could we do if the new Mage-Emperor did take offense to her presence?
“Should we not have brought her back with us?” I asked Iannis worriedly, using mindspeak so that Liu would not overhear and grow even more agitated.
“It will be all right,” Iannis said. “She’ll be inside the pavilion for the remainder of our stay.
We’ll bribe the staff to look the other way.
Besides, no one else notices servants. Since Northia is racially diverse, it wouldn’t be strange for us to have another Garaian with us, even if she is a bit young for the role. ”
The winds began to pick up in strength as we approached the Imperial Palace walls, so Iannis and I broke off our discussion so he could focus on controlling the weather. Visibility worsened as the dirigible dove lower, as thick clouds were moving in from the west, hanging close to the ground.
“These clouds have one advantage,” Chen said as I scowled out the window. “We could land close to the guest pavilions, right inside the walls.”
“Not with this craft,” Garrett pointed out. “There is no landing space big enough. And how would we see it anyway, through this fog?” He pressed his lips together as he studied the view of the ground below. “How close can the pilot get us?” he asked Chen.
“Lord Iannis,” Director Chen said after a brief, but tense conversation with the pilot.
“The pilot is not going to be able to land here. And the moment the guards see this big airship, the jig would be up. It would mean a death sentence for the pilot to be caught in there without authorization. We will have to levitate down the rest of the way.”
“Very well,” Iannis said, his eyes still focused outside as he wrangled the winds. “But tell the pilot not to hover too high up.”
After a quick discussion with Chen, the pilot agreed to get us as close above the guest pavilions as possible. Since Iannis was the main one controlling the winds, he would leave the airship last, so he could send the pilot on his way with a nice gust at his back.
“We can’t hover for long,” he shouted over the roaring wind as Garrett opened the door. I grabbed Liu, fearing that the strong currents would whip her away, and held her trembling body close to mine. “Someone from the Imperial Palace might notice this aircraft, and send guards out to investigate!”
“Guess we better hurry then.” I scooped Liu up in my arms, then walked over to the open door.
But instead of jumping, I leaned up on tiptoe and kissed Iannis, quick and hard.
His mouth opened in surprise, and I nipped on his lower lip, satisfying myself with a small taste.
After all, there was always a chance I could fuck this up and die.
“See you down below,” I said, and then jumped out into the roiling fog.
I landed on top of the nearest pavilion, my shoes smacking against the rain-slicked tiles harder than I would have liked.
Liu whimpered as I tottered a little, and I quickly regained my balance, then pressed myself against the roof.
The incline was steep, but the edges were curved upward, so that we could not easily slide off.
“Are you all right?” Iannis whispered as he landed next to me. Chen and Garrett were still floating down, doing their best to control their descent despite the buffeting winds.
“Yes, I’m fine.” We watched as Chen landed gracefully. Garrett had less luck, banging his shin against the glazed tiles as he alighted.
“Shh!” I admonished as he let out a sharp curse.
“Who is that?” a male voice, laced with sleep and suspicion, demanded from below, and we all froze.
I glared at Garrett, who quickly scurried to the edge of the roof and looked down. “Very sorry to wake you, sir!” he called down as quietly as he could. “I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to come up to the roof to enjoy the night sky.”
“In this weather?” the man asked incredulously. “You can’t see a thing with these clouds!”
“I like the rain,” Garrett said simply as the rest of us listened, rooted to the spot. If that guy came up here to investigate…. “I didn’t think sitting on the roof was a crime.”
“It is if you wake others up in the middle of the night,” the man grumped. “Be more considerate of others.”
His footsteps crunched against some stray pebbles on the path as he walked away, and my shoulders slumped in relief.
We stayed up there for a good five minutes more, and then I crept to the edge of the roof and scoped out our surroundings with my night vision to make sure that no one else was around.
“All clear,” I told the others, and we levitated down to the front porch silently. It was somewhere around four in the morning, still an hour before dawn, so I doubted anyone could see our descent. Even so, it made me nervous that we were so exposed.
Once we reached the Northian pavilion, Iannis did not knock on the front door, but used the unlocking spell to let us in. Solar came rushing out of one of the rooms as we shut the door behind us, a lantern held aloft and a scowl on his face.
“Oh, Lord Iannis!” Solar lowered the lantern, looking relieved.
“You’ve made it back!” His expression turned wary as he looked us all over.
“Where is Henning? And who is that girl?” he added, staring at Liu, who was peeking out from behind Chen’s robes.
Her eyes were wide as she glanced about the common room, taking in the splendor of the guest pavilion.
“Why don’t you wake the Minister?” Iannis suggested. “We have much to report.”