Chapter 1 #2
If I didn’t, I might have expected him to be ugly.
The Imperial House was supposed to protect the people from famines.
They were supposed to make sure babies were not born small and malnourished and promptly buried.
People who were rotten at their hearts, like the sons of the Azalea House, ought to be ugly.
But now that I was seeing him—really seeing him in the flesh—I found that I hadn’t the attention to judge his appearance. I was too busy staring at the House Seal, glowing on his left cheek. It was the only thing I could focus on, and no doubt it was what everyone else was staring at too.
The outer ring of the sigil was circular and bore the flower pattern of the Azalea House. There was a single character inscribed within. I could not read, of course, but everyone in Tensha knew the seals of our imperial sons.
“果/Guo,” a man standing beside me whispered to his wife, and a similar murmur spread through the crowd. “The Ancestors’ word for fruit.”
As if in confirmation, Isan raised his hand.
The earth responded right away. The cracks in the cobble beneath our feet groaned and widened as bushes and vines began unfurling out from the dust-trampled ground.
Blackberry bushes, mulberry trees, plump grapes on vines all sprang up from the earth.
Branches heavy with pears poured out from under the eaves of a nearby store.
Peach trees erupted from the gutters, blossomed, and bore fruit, all in the span of a breath.
Bao squealed in delight, then climbed off me to make a dive for a small haw tree. Around us, everyone else was scrambling to pick fruit of their own.
I helped myself to a peach. As I bit into it, it occurred to me that it was the sweetest thing I had tasted in my entire life. It went into my empty belly like fire filling a cold hearth.
And I started weeping uncontrollably.
I wanted to keep hating Isan. I wanted to keep hating the Azalea House for the years that they never came to give their Blessings, for not stopping the famine that killed Larkspur and four of my other siblings, that might possibly still kill Bao.
But I found that I could not. I tried very, very hard to summon hatred, but found myself unable to feel anything at all, except for the taste of peach juice in my mouth.
“I have come to Guishan to celebrate the Year of the Dragon.” Isan’s bright voice rang through the plaza, pulling the crowd’s attention back to him. “I am here to give Blessings to the people, and make one request. First, the Blessings.”
At his command, the officials and servants in red livery all produced strings of firecrackers and lit them. They burst into deafening crackles, and through the smoke, tiny red papers fluttered over the city square like quince blossoms in spring.
“Catch one, sister! Catch one for me!” Bao cried, and then I was scrambling, like everybody else, to get my hands on one. But I didn’t have to fight for it. There were plenty to go around.
I managed to catch two slips in the end, each inked with a glowing four-character proverb. I gave both to Bao, who laughed like a toddler and bounced up and down. He shoved them into his pocket and threw his arms around me in a hug.
“What do you think they are?” he asked, eyes so shiny with excitement that I couldn’t help but smile back.
“I don’t know. We’ll have to find out when we get home, won’t we?”
He looked about to burst with impatience. “We can ask someone here. Someone in Guishan will know how to read. I don’t wanna wait—”
“Now the request,” Prince Isan announced, sending the crowd into a renewed hush.
“As you may be aware, my father has recently changed his chosen successor. The heir of the Azalea House is no longer my eldest brother, Maro, but my second brother, Terren. As part of his new duties, Prince Terren has begun a search for concubines. All interested candidates between the ages of fifteen and nineteen should gather in this square for appraisals, one week from now at noon.”
This announcement, even more so than the Blessings, sent the crowd into a chattering frenzy.
Everyone here knew of Isan and his Guo seal, but there was not a soul in Tensha who did not fear Prince Terren and his Dao sigil.
Prince Terren, whose affinity for blades made him the most powerful man in the nation.
Prince Terren, terrifying and ruthless and cruel, who was to inherit the throne after his father’s death.
Nobody knew for sure why the ailing emperor had suddenly named his second son heir, but it was certainly not for Terren’s character.
I had heard that he would have a servant flayed for merely spilling his tea.
I had heard that he would have a dog slaughtered if it so much as barked at him as he passed, that he would have a maid’s tongue cut off if only she forgot to address him by his proper title.
I had heard that he killed his own mother.
But watching the crowd, it was clear that nobody was thinking of those whispers. Or if they were, they did not care. All they had heard in that speech was an opportunity.
“Sister?” Bao tugged at my arm.
And, it terrified me to admit, so had I. I ran my hand through my brother’s hair absently as I stared at the retreating procession. It terrified me that I was not thinking of Prince Terren’s cruelty, of flayings or slaughtered dogs or cut-off tongues.
I was thinking of full bellies, and nights on soft beds, and little sisters who did not have to be buried.
I was thinking of Ma’s hollow cheeks filled in and of Ba’s pain getting fixed. With the gifts I might receive as a favored concubine, we could buy anything we wanted, even prunes on days that were not New Year’s.
“I wanna go home,” Bao pressed. He was tugging at my arm again. “I wanna try the Blessings. Please please please?”
I was thinking of Bao going to school. Going to school and learning to read. I was thinking of Bao leaving the famished village life behind and becoming whatever he wished.
My hand closed around my little brother’s, and for a brief moment, I let myself imagine a future as sweet as the peach juice lingering on my tongue.