Page 46 of Forest of a Thousand Lanterns

It took all of her willpower not to falter or collapse to her knees before him.

Why should I bow? He is my equal.A slow hum of approval whispered from the dark depths beneath her heart.

Still, she felt conscious of her plain hair and clothing. “I’m sorry, sir.” She spoke in the respectful tone she would have used for a minister or high-ranking eunuch. “I didn’t realize the room was already occupied.”

He had a twinkle of humor she never would have expected from a ruthless invader of foreign lands. “I suspect you came in here for the same reason I did.” He tilted his head toward the corridor, where Lady Sun was still shrieking.

Xifeng kept her face blank and watched the Emperor lean over the map, forearms braced against the edge. He was shorter than Wei and not as broad, with a lithe elegance better suited to rooms like this than to a training field. In short—nothing like what she had expected. She forced herself to remain calm, to curb the mixture of confusion and eagerness and recognition boiling inside her.

“It’s a birthday gift for the Empress. The eunuchs hid it here so she wouldn’t find it.”

“It’s an impressive gift, and one I think will be appreciated,” she responded.

How could this man with the quiet, thoughtful air possibly be the iron-willed ruler of Feng Lu? And yet it was certainly him. He was Empress Lihua’s second husband, Xifeng knew, but still she had expected someone stern, rotund, and in his sixties. This man had to be about thirty, Lady Sun’s age, and carried himself not with the swagger of a soldier, but with quiet thought and intelligence.

He was more like a bird, she decided, with his sharp, clear-cut features. But whereas Wei was hawk-like, wild and savage, Emperor Jun was more like a falcon, practiced, polished, and precise.Still a bird of prey.She averted her gaze when his keen, narrow eyes returned to her.

“You don’t speak like a maidservant. Who are you, then?” She told him, and his laugh was a bright, merry sound. “I wish you luck in your new position. So you think this is an appropriate present for Her Majesty?”

“It’s not my place to say, sir, if the gift is already meant for her.”

“Are you sure you’re new to the palace? You speak as guardedly as one who has lived her whole life at court.”

“It would be a marvelous gift for any lady, but particularly one who reigns above all others.” She glanced at his hands on the map. His finger- nails were immaculate, the thumb lingering off the coast of Kamatsu. Wei’s had always been dirty and covered with cuts and bruises, the hands of a working man.

Emperor Jun’s eyes crinkled. “Most ladies would disagree with you. Women like Lady Sun, for instance, prefer silks and jewels.”

Xifeng bit her tongue to keep from saying something about the concubine she might regret later. “This is a much more romantic gesture.”

“Why?”

“Any woman of means might expect silks and jewels, but how many can say she has been given the world?”

His face broke into such a delighted smile, she couldn’t help returning it. “A lady-in-waiting with a way with words. I thought such a thing couldn’t exist,” he teased. “You know, that chief eunuch fancies himself a poet. You should speak to him. Perhaps he’ll mentor you.”

If he’s not busy stealing from poems himself,she thought, but saw he was still teasing. He must have known about Master Yu, too. It was almost too easy to forget she was speaking to the Emperor himself, not to a friend. “I’m afraid he’d find me a bit beneath him, sir.”

“Nonsense.” He turned back to the map, tapping a section above the Great Forest at the continent’s northernmost tip. “Do you see this mountain range here?”

“The Mountains of Enlightenment. The shrine of the Dragon Lords lies there.”

“Very good,” he said, as though praising a pupil. “And a hundred monasteries besides. There’s an envoy leaving the palace this winter to go there. They make an offering of loyalty to the gods once every nine years. The last time they did that, I had just come to the palace. Just a poor distant relative of the Empress... certainly nothing to her or her first husband, Tai. They were first cousins of the purest blood, directly descended from the Dragon King himself.”

Xifeng glanced at him, and the feeling of familiarity intensified. Perhaps it was the bitter edge she heard in his voice, that others should be born to such greatness; he was, after all, a bit of an outsider like herself.He’s my destiny,she realized.He seems familiar because our names are written together in the cards.

“Any offering to the shrine is an offering to the Empress, her children, and their godly blood,” he continued.

“The shrine must be empty, isn’t it?”

“Of the gods’ treasures, yes.” His face returned to its calm neutrality as he traced his thumb across the painted peaks. “The lords removed their heirlooms when their alliance dissolved. Some say they brought the relics back to the heavens, whereas others think they left them hidden on Earth.”

“What is your opinion?”

Emperor Jun arched his eyebrows. “That they’re still here, for the taking.”

“For the taking?” she repeated. “By whom?”

“The scholars still speak of that fabled peace of Feng Lu, when the shrine was full. They say peace will return one day when the treasures are restored. Pretty thought, isn’t it?”

---