Naamah's Kiss - Jacqueline Carey [135]
Beyond a giant fern frond, a figure squatting by the door stirred. "You alive, huh?"
I sat up and squinted. "Bao?"
"Uh-huh." He rose with careless grace, staff in one hand. "I go get Master Lo."
I looked around. "Am I still in the Palace? What are you doing here?"
Bao shrugged. "Master Lo ask me to stay, I stay."
"How did he know I was here?"
He shrugged again. "You ask for him."
"Oh." I had a vague memory of begging the royal chirurgeon to send word to Master Lo Feng. "How did…" I gestured around at the plants.
"Good, huh?" Bao looked smug. "Master Lo's idea. You need wood energy, earth energy. That White Queen, she say bring them all. Fill the room."
I flushed. "Jehanne was here?"
"Uh-huh. Lots of people in and out. You sleep like dead girl. Is it true you and the Queen… ?" He made a lewd gesture.
"Um." My face got hotter.
Bao grinned. "I think she like you."
He left to fetch Master Lo Feng. I collapsed back on the pillows, wondering if it were true. One thing was sure, whatever her motives, Jehanne was right. I'd needed someone to save me from myself.
I breathed in the wonderful green-smelling air and dozed for the better part of an hour until Bao returned with Lo Feng.
My mentor shook his elegant head at me. "Foolish girl." He felt my pulse up and down my wrists and made me stick out my tongue for him. When he was finished, he beckoned to Bao, who twirled his staff with a flourish and deposited a silk-wrapped bundle on the bed. "I've prepared a tonic for you." Master Lo Feng untied the bundle to reveal a multitude of sheer muslin pouches filled with dried herbs. "You will steep one pouch in hot water and drink it twice a day. I will speak to the kitchen regarding food that is healthful. Now." He folded his hands into his sleeves. "Will you listen and heed?"
"Yes, my lord," I said humbly.
"Very good." He gave me a sharp nod. "You have a gift, Moirin. But you pay a price for using it. When you draw energy from the earth and give it back to the earth, it is like"—he withdrew one hand from his sleeve and described a rotating circle in the air—"a wheel powered by the stream to grind grain."
I'd seen such a thing. "A waterwheel."
"Even so." Master Lo Feng inclined his head. "The stream's energy makes the millstone turn, but the water is taken and given back. In the end, nothing is lost. All is in accordance with nature."
"I understand."
He raised one finger. "Understand this. The stream is your vital chi. When you draw energy and spend it in a manner unnatural to you, it is as though you spill your water on barren soil instead of returning it to the stream. In time, the streambed will run dry."
I sighed. "I understand, I do."
"You wish to do good," Lo Feng said gently. "And you wish to find your place in the world. Those are very fine desires. And yet desires are encumbrances. It is wise to let go of them. You find yourself in a place of refuge. Rest and be grateful."
"I will," I promised.
He folded hand over fist and bowed. "When you are ready to resume your lessons, Bao and I will be waiting."
I rested in my green-scented chamber filled with plants.
I was grateful.
And for a while, a little while, I let go of the urgent sense of purpose that had driven me across the Straits. I ceased to fret over what the Maghuin Dhonn Herself intended for me. Quiet, efficient servants came in and out at intervals, asking if there was aught I required. My few possessions and increasingly larger wardrobe arrived, transported from Raphael's townhouse. I forced myself not to think about Raphael and how furious he must be. I slept intermittently. I ate the rich and spicy foods Master Lo Feng had ordered the kitchen to make for me. I steeped his muslin pouches and drank his tea. I let myself drift.
Although