Page 47 of Song of the Crimson Flower

“And you lied to me about how my father died. What else have you lied about?”

A flash of anger crossed her face like lightning. “You speak to me of lying?” she asked. “You dare lecture me about untruths whenyouhave been withholding information. I know, myloyalson, that you travel south with a company of soldiers who seek to destroy me.” She lunged forward, startling him. Bao realized he was still wearing Commander Wei’s cloak when Vy snatched one of the dark green folds. “Perhaps you’re leading the charge yourself for Empress Jade. Perhaps I ought to bar the gates of the Gray City to you as well as them.”

“Please...” Bao croaked, his stomach clenching with fear.

“That full moon will look lovely outside the walls of my city, when you’re standing with Commander Wei and his army,” she said softly. “Mark me well, Bao. I meant everything—I want our family to be reunited again. But if I discover that you are a traitor to me—son or no, blood or no, I will bar the Gray City to you. You will not be allowed to see Huong, and you had better hope that Lan loves you enough to break the spell. If she doesn’t, well...”

In his mother’s burning eyes, Bao saw the force of her conviction—the same force that enabled her to push all else aside in favor of her ambition and to overlook the deaths she caused along the way. He didn’t dare hope that Lan could love him after their short time together, and no matter what, he could not place such an unfair expectation on her. Not when she had done so much for him already. If his mother barred him from entering the city, the witch’s spell would take full effect. He would be trapped inside the bamboo flute forever.

Vy looked at him sharply, waiting for him to respond.

“Mother,” Bao said, his mind racing to find the right words, “I am sorry I didn’t tell you who I was with. But I didn’t want you to think I was traveling with any other purpose aside from finding you and thewitch. All I want is to break this spell. I have nothing to do with the soldiers or the war they wish to wage. I am a healer, not a warrior.”

Vy’s gaze moved between each of his eyes, as though determined to catch one of them in a lie. “Do you swear this upon your life?”

“I do.”

After a moment, she let go of the cloak. “If you are speaking the truth, then you won’t deny me the pleasure of sending an honor guard to bring you to the Gray City safe and sound. And now that I know with whom you are traveling, I know exactly where to send them,” she said, tilting her head to one side. “I find Lord Nguyen to be most interesting. At first, he seems like a foolish little man, cooing over his smelly dogs. And yet the explosives he invented are one of the deadliest weapons ever made, and he has refused point-blank to pay allegiance to me or lend me any support. Perhaps my honor guard can serve a dual purpose.”

“Mother, please listen,” Bao said, but she continued talking as though he hadn’t spoken.

“They can teach this arrogant little nobleman a lesson in what happens when you cross me. What do I care for retaliation? They are launching an attack on the Gray City either way. I’ll be ready for them, won’t I?” She touched Bao’s cheek tenderly. “Answer your mother when she asks you a question. Won’t I be ready?”

“Yes,” he said, swallowing hard. He would be walking into a trap when he entered the Gray City, but there was no other option: Huong was there, and they were running out of time.

“I’ll let you go now,” Vy said in her gentle, motherly tone. “My guards will arrive late tomorrow morning. Until we meet again, my son.”

He felt again the sensation of rising to the surface of a pool of water and saw Vy lift her hand to him in farewell, right before she disappeared and he woke up in Lord Nguyen’s home.

At supper, Bao told his companions everything. He couldn’t stomach more than a few bites of Lord Nguyen’s delicious food, so agitated was he over the decision to reveal all. Though it was the right thing to do, he felt hopelessly guilty about betraying his own flesh and blood. Vy was his mother and Huong his aunt, and in a just world, he would stand with no one other than his family. But this was not a just world. This was a world in which his family had created chaos, and he had grown up alone and owed them nothing.

A muscle twitched in Commander Wei’s jaw as he listened, but he showed no anger at having been kept in the dark. Perhaps he could see how tormented Bao felt by what had passed.

“This is a clear threat from Mistress Vy,” Wren said calmly. “From what Bao tells us, I believe she is going to attack us here. She wants revenge on Lord Nguyen for not joining her.”

They all glanced at Lord Nguyen, who had listened to Bao’s speech with his arms crossed over his chest and his carefree, cheery demeanor darkening with each word. “I’ll give the woman revenge, if that’s what she wants,” he said through gritted teeth. “She has always assumed that she can bully me and bend me to her will, as she has with several other nobles.”

“No one who knew you would think that, my lord,” Lady Yen reassured him, and for a moment his face softened and he smiled at her. Commander Wei glowered at the interaction, but said nothing. “I am not convinced it is a threat. Perhaps this honor guard reallyisjust an escort for Bao, and she may be hoping it is one last chance to win you to her cause.”

“She spoke like someone who has nothing to lose,” Bao said, shivering. He had tried to return Commander Wei’s cloak, but the man had insisted that Bao keep it, and now he was glad for its warmth. The chill seemed to seep out of his very bones. “She knows Empress Jade’s forces, and those of the Grasslands and Dagovad, will descend on her city no matter what.”

Commander Wei gave a grim nod. “She never intended to negotiate. I’ve already sent word to our allies, and they march south as we speak. Tomorrow morning, we congregate outside the walls of the city and put an end to this once and for all.”

“I’ve heard much talk about the Gray City being impossible to breach,” Lord Nguyen said, looking at Wren and the Commander. “It’s supposed to have impenetrable walls.”

Wren shook her head. “No city is impenetrable,” she said confidently. “There are openings for sewage, delivery of goods, or escape, even. And we have the perfect weapon with which to break down those walls and destroy the gardens and the black spice inside.” She raised her eyebrows at Lord Nguyen, and Bao shivered again, imagining the gold-flecked granite walls violently reduced to rubble by explosives. Everything his mother had worked for and all his family had stood for deserved to be destroyed, and yet he couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret.

Beside him, Lan, who had been listening quietly, leaned her shoulder against his, and he drew warmth from her comfort. “What if Bao and I left early?” she suggested, and everyone looked at her. “If we intercepted Mistress Vy’s honor guard along the way—”

“They might still insist on coming here,” Wren said. “This isn’t just about her wanting to reunite with her son. She wants to punish Lord Nguyen once and for all.”

“We’ll see about that,” the nobleman said shortly. “Commander Wei, ifit is appropriate, I would like to speak to you and your soldiers. Thanks to Bao, we have been forewarned about this ambush, and I have weapons to make available to your men. Shall I summon them myself?”

“Wren and I will prepare the horses and meet you in the courtyard,” the Commander said, and Lord Nguyen strode purposefully out of the room. “Bao and Lan, it is too dangerous for you to accompany us to the Gray City. We will have to find some way of bringing this witch to you.”

Bao opened his mouth to protest, but Lan beat him to it. “Sir, we have no time left,” she said. “There’s no point in worrying about our danger on the road when Bao is about to become an inanimate object permanently. Wemustgo ourselves.”

“When Empress Jade asked me to escort you south, she made me responsible for you,” the Commander said. “If anything happened to you—”

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