Naamah's Kiss - Jacqueline Carey [203]
I blinked, confused.
Bao's eyes widened. "Emperor Zhu is impotent?"
Master Lo gave him a sharp look. "It is worth your life to speak those words where other ears might hear, my magpie."
"You said he tried many times, with many women, to get a male heir," I reminded him.
He smiled sadly. "I did not specify the manner in which he failed. Snow Tiger's mother was the only woman to rouse him. I suspect that is why she was poisoned when the princess was yet a babe."
"Stone and sea!" I shook my head. "This tale grows sadder with every turn."
"Yes." Master Lo's gaze returned to the distance. "And I fear it is far from over."
Although I didn't think she would wish to see me again, Snow Tiger sent for me two days after dismissing me. Once again, I entered the red walls of the Celestial City, surrounded by an escort of royal attendants and armed eunuchs. And once again, her cage was unlocked to admit me.
You!
Despite everything, the leap of joy in the dragon's voice made me smile.
Beneath her blindfold, the princess was not smiling. "The dragon within is restless," she said in a formal tone. "I believe it wishes to see." She gestured to the tall mirror, still veiled in silk, now placed within her quarters. "I said aloud that I would send for you if it promises not to…" Her voice faltered. "To do what it did before. Without your magic, I cannot be sure it understands."
"Do you?" I asked the dragon.
Yes. Its tone was wistful. I give my promise. I wished only to give her a worthy mate and the pleasure I took from her.
"I know," I said. "But you cannot restore her husband, and she did not wish that pleasure returned thusly. It is not your place to choose a mate for her. You must never do it again."
His tone brightened. Even if she asks it of me?
"Ah…" I eyed Snow Tiger. "That will not happen."
It might!
"It won't."
"Are you arguing with it?" the princess asked with a trace of impatience.
"A little," I admitted. "But it's all right, my lady. He gives his promise."
Her tense shoulders relaxed a fraction. "Then summon your magic, please."
I did.
Daylight turned to dusk, settling all around us. Either it was growing easier or I was growing stronger. The seemingly endless length of silver-white brightness that roiled throughout Snow Tiger's being, turning over and over itself, turned faster, glad and excited.
Yes! Now!
I uncovered the mirror as she lowered the blindfold. Her face softened, almost childlike with pleasure. Then again, she was young. No older than me, mayhap younger. It was easy to forget. I watched her watch the dragon's pearlescent coils in the mirror's depths, filled with a terrible sympathy. The dragon's happiness and contentment at seeing itself reflected ran through my thoughts like a song, and I knew she heard it, too. It was a song without beginning or end, a song of snow-capped mountains and clouds and reflections, solitude and contemplation.
"It's so peaceful there," Snow Tiger murmured.
Yes.
I don't know how many hours I spent there. Many. She sent for me every other day while we awaited Lord Jiang's reply; and every day, it was the same. The dragon greeted me with delight.
The princess seemed to do her best to ignore my presence.
Mindful of Bao's warning, I bore it well the first two times. I was comfortable with silence and solitude, having experienced a great deal of it in my childhood. My mother and I could go for long hours without speaking to one another, doing whatever needed to be done together with no words required. I sat still and quiet and practiced the Five Styles of Breathing. I understood that I was a necessary imposition that the princess was within her rights to resent, especially given what had passed between us earlier.
And yet…
"You know, I did not choose this, either," I said on the third visit. "I consented to it. There is a difference."
Snow Tiger's dark, dragon-reflecting gaze flicked over to me, then away.
"I didn't want to leave home in the first place, but at least I found a piece of happiness in Terre d'Ange,"