18

PAYMENT

“HOLD UP YOUR arms, Esteemed Bridge,” the seer said politely, gesturing towards my body.

Sighing a little, I did as he said, opening my jacket and turning around slowly. He felt me over for weapons, not invasively, but unnecessarily. I knew their organics would have picked that up already, even if I’d whittled a gun out of wood.

I’d decided before arriving that I’d go along with whatever hoops Voi Pai threw up for me to jump through. I knew she intended to see me eventually, and also that it would probably go a lot faster if I just refused to react, or get impatient.

At least three hours had passed since I’d first entered through Tian’anmen Gate.

“This way, Esteemed Bridge,” the seer murmured, keeping his eyes below mine.

I followed him, only sparing a glance upwards at the high walls of Meridian as we approached one of the arched entrances.

Snow covered the fields outside the gate, powdering the branches and twigs of the wet-limbed trees. Lanterns hung from poles on chains along the long path between the trees leading to the u-shaped walls of Meridian itself. It was cold, but they had given me a furred cloak, and now more torches and lanterns followed our procession inside. As we passed through, and the five bridges crossing the canals grew visible, I felt a pang of...something...when I saw how bare the city was, compared to how it had been in the spring. Some part of me wanted to read more into that, somehow. Or maybe it was the lanterns swinging from the hands of robed seers, sparking something else in me, some flicker of memory, even if it wasn’t mine.

“I sent word ahead,” I said softly to my seer guide in Prexci. “Is she amenable to seeing me on this night? Or would we wait for morning now?”

The seer looked up at me. He walked beside me in full ceremonial robes, but in a version that seemed to be much thicker in layers and fabrics. His eyes shone at me in the lamplight, a pale blue the color of glacial ice.

“Mistress Voi Pai would very much like to see you now, Esteemed Bridge,” he said cordially. “She apologizes profusely for the delay...a military matter arose unexpectedly, and she was forced to secure the grounds prior to accepting your audience.” He gestured respectfully to me in the pause, still bent at that odd angle as he walked, to keep his eyes below mine. “...The security measures invoked upon your entrance are a part of that protocol, Esteemed One. It seemed too much of a coincidence, with your arrival...we did not wish to take chances.”

I gave him a slightly sharper look, one that was more appraising.

It took me another moment to realize I looked at him that way because it felt like he was telling the truth. Of course, that only really meant that he believed it.

“Thank you for your explanation, brother,” I murmured. “I confess, I worried my person may have fallen out of favor with your most honorable mistress...”

He smiled. Again, the smile appeared genuine. “Not at all, Holy One.”

I winced a little, but managed to keep the smile on my face, bowing to his words and giving the countersign with my hand. Some of my honorifics I found easier to stomach that others. He’d just voiced probably my least favorite of the bunch.

“You have been here before,” he said, a moment later.

I nodded, then, realizing he might not understand the human gesture, given where he lived, I gestured yes in seer. “I have had this honor before, yes,” I said.

“You were collared then,” he said.

I turned my head, but I only saw puzzlement in his eyes, a kind of genuine curiosity. I realized I liked this seer with the blue eyes. I couldn’t have said why, exactly.

“I was,” I said. “It is a complicated story, brother.”

“I assumed it must be so.”

“What is your name, if I may ask?” I said, meeting his gaze again. “Have we met before, brother?”

He gestured in negative, smiling. “No, Esteemed One, but everyone who lives in the City was aware of your visit. We watched you walk the grounds. Every day you walked...for a very long time. Sometimes into the night, you walked, too.”

He paused, smiling wider.

“...And my name is Ulai, Esteemed One.”

I smiled back at him, acknowledging his words with a wave of my hand. “Please call me Alyson...or Allie.”

“Yes, Est...” He laughed, correcting himself. “Allie. And thank you for that honor.”

“And you are remembering right, brother Ulai,” I said, glancing around us as we entered the tree-filled lane along the first of the winding canals. The trees looked rather huddled and afraid without leaves and blossoms, and with the dark black sky above.

“I did walk,” I said. “...Every chance I could while I was here. I had spent much time indoors prior to that, mostly in caves, in fact, and had no intention of wasting my time in the City by neglecting to witness every one of its charms.”

“And it was spring...err...Allie.”

“Yes. It was spring.” I sighed, smiling at him. “It is a kind of paradise here, in the spring, in my mind. All of the trees were blooming. All of the birds were nesting. I remember the tiger cubs in the back pens with particular fondness...”

He was taxing my limited knowledge of formal Prexci, but he didn’t seem to notice, or mind. I was trying to decide what else to say, when he spoke up again.

“And the screens by the queen’s entrance to the Royal Gardens?” he said. “Do you remember those, Esteemed...Alyson?”

I thought for a moment. “The dragons? Green and blue, with peacocks...and an image of the intermediaries of Wisdom and Folly?”

His smile turned almost childishly pleased. “Yes,” he said. “Exactly right, Esteemed One!” At my smile, he added, “...Allie. Those are mine, if you’ll permit me to boast.”

“You made those?” I didn’t keep the wonder from my voice. “It is very, very beautiful work, brother. I am deeply impressed...”

He smiled wider at that, so that it reached his eyes.

I found myself remembering that from the last time, how proud the seers here were of their City inside a city. That pride had been justified, from what I’d been able to tell. From the numerous works of art to the cleanly ordered beauty of the daily rituals along the lit pathways and sun-filled gardens, the City felt more like a lost, ancient world than even an oasis from outer Beijing. A silence hung over it that spoke of a profound concentration and stillness, and yet I remember it feeling very happy, too. Children ran through the inner markets and played. When they weren't working, adult seers walked and laughed and threw parties in the different gardens, rode horses or visited one of the many artisan shops or indoor theaters. The seers seemed at ease in the security and safety of the high walls, and the humans seemed content to live and work alongside them, even in the role of quasi-servants.

The abuse, beatings, collars, slavery and degradation of seers at the hands of humans that I witnessed in the States...and even in India, despite its large seer population...didn’t seem to exist in the City at all.

Even now, in the ice and snow, I could feel that peculiarly subtle and complex construct that hung over the Lao Hu enclave. In addition to its security features, which were likely unparalleled outside of the Pamir, the construct also maintained the inner purity of the light of the Inner City. It created a true sanctuary from the confusion of lights just outside the City gates, and maintained a “frozen in time” flavor that instantly caused something in my aleimi to relax. It also evoked an alien nostalgia for some particular time period or flavor of history that I couldn’t quite name, but that didn't seem wholly Chinese, either. Whatever it was, it always hovered just outside of my reach; I couldn't pin down anything specific to me, much less remember.

In addition to the physical buildings of the City, the construct housed probably a few thousand Barrier rooms and spaces that could be accessed if one had the proper permissions. I’d been allowed to roam through some of these, including reconstructions of the old human City, before the time of the seers...all the way back to when the humans lived as nomads in this part of the world. Some of the constructs were imaginary places, things dreamed up by their seer creators. Some were views into possible futures and distant pasts, including one where one could sit and watch dinosaurs, even picnic among them as the sun set...and several that reconstructed pieces of history in the time of the greatest of the high seer civilizations, both of the First Race and the Second Race.

Remembering all of this now, I couldn't help thinking that the City existed as the last, true refuge for seers. The Pamir was mostly gone, an echo of what it once had been.

Although officially its guardians and protectors, there was no question that the seers had claimed the City as their own. The Lao Hu paid for that privilege by providing the Chinese human government with the largest, most highly-trained, disciplined and loyal group of infiltrators that existed anywhere else in the world. Even at the peak of the Seven, the Lao Hu’s numbers had been greater than those the Council commanded. Now, with the near decimation of the Seven’s Guard during the attack on Seertown, as well as the loss of many in the Adhipan through that same fight and its aftermath, the disparity was even greater.

Revik had been the only one who came close to challenging the strength of the Lao Hu, and compared to the Chinese infiltrators, his camp had consisted largely of half-trained, undisciplined misfits looking for a fight. Of course, that fighting force had been in its infancy; even in the time that I spent with them, I saw that beginning to change.

Revik had been grooming and training them as soldiers...and he had been looking to grow their numbers, too, both through freeing ex-infiltrators from the slave camps and human prisons, and by recruiting from among the ranks of free seers.

Thinking about this, it struck me again how naive I'd been. I should have realized that Voi Pai would view Revik and his armies as a threat. Maybe she was even right, to see the danger there, in terms of the direction things were going. It was likely why she courted Balidor, as well; she'd been looking for a closer relationship with the Adhipan, the only group besides the Lao Hu really qualified to train the growing rabble of free seers.

In any case, I should have realized she’d take the opportunity to wipe her rivals out...before they were “grown up” enough to be a real threat.

Revik was right. I had been stupid. Or at the very least, incredibly naive.

My companion pulled me once more from my thoughts.

“Is the Esteemed Bridge hungry?” Ulai asked politely.

I glanced at him. I considered a polite lie, then smiled instead. “Starving, actually,” I said, using the more common version of Prexci. “Is there any chance you have a pizza waiting for me in there, brother?”

He laughed at this, delighted by my informality. “The food on the human planes...”

“Is cardboard and ash, yes, brother...agreed. But due to my low-brow upbringing, I can’t help but crave their cardboard now and again. Especially when I’m truly hungry.”

He laughed again.

“We can find you much more agreeable food, Esteemed One. I have our chefs working on something now I hope you will like...although perhaps it will not be quite what you have imagined with your American-style pizza...”

I found myself remembering my favorite pizza joint in San Francisco, and smiled. I didn’t realize he'd felt the memory until he gestured in appreciation.

“That helps, Esteemed One...” He smiled again in faint embarrassment. “...Allie. It helps a great deal in fact. Our cook expresses his appreciation for the impression...”

I had to chuckle at this, clasping my hands behind my back as I walked. “I will be very interested to see what they come up with, brother...”

“As will I,” he affirmed sincerely.

“You will have to taste it with me,” I teased him. “Ensure it passes muster.”

His eyes grew serious. “I will taste it anyway, Esteemed Bridge. To ensure it is safe to eat before risking your person.” His eyes grew troubled, and far-seeing. “...Particularly in these dangerous times, where you are being unfairly marked by militants and fanatics, Esteemed One.”

I smiled wanly at this. “...Allie,” I reminded him.

“Allie. Yes, of course, Esteemed One.”

I raised an eyebrow at this, and both of us laughed.

I realized I missed this, just talking to other seers. Seers who didn’t yell at me for being stupid, or try to force me to make decisions that meant other people’s lives. I’d forgotten that all of the seers in the world didn’t view me as the devil...even if most of those in the West currently did. It occurred to me in the same breath that I’d forgotten, while holed up in that mountain, just how many of those others really did want to kill me.

It was possible, of course, that some here might as well.

“You are safe here, Esteemed sister Allie,” Ulai said, seeming to find a compromise with my name and title that he felt comfortable with.

He said it with a vehemence I found comforting.

“Thank you, brother,” I replied, tipping my hand respectfully. “That is a reassurance I very much appreciate at the moment.”

We were passing the third set of gates inside the outer wall of Meridian.

I had lost my previous land markers to some extent, but I was fairly certain we had passed inside the segment that had belonged to the private quarters of the Imperial family, back in the days when the City was occupied solely by humans. I recognized some of the building fronts, and although the gardens were bare of most plants, the rock formations I remembered remained, along with several pieces of art that withstood the weather well enough to remain outdoors. One of these, a stone sculpture of a turtle with the world under one foot, I remembered.

Sighing a little, I pulled the coat more tightly around my chest. I fought to keep my mind clear, but something about being here brought the previous year more sharply into relief. Remembering how I’d felt when I first saw Revik in that courtyard, waiting for me under the trees, I had to fight back a low surge of pain.

For a moment then...for just the barest moment...he’d looked like Revik to me again. The look in his eyes, the way he’d studied my face. The way his light felt.

It came back, now and then, while we stayed in those caves with Salinse. Glimpses of him, through the fog of the Dreng. Just enough to confuse me, to make me want to reach him all the more. I think I could have gotten him out earlier. I think a part of me waited to see if he would want to go with me, without my even having to ask. But that day never came, and the longer we stayed with his people, the more I realized that was just a fantasy, too.

Now, of course, I understood. He’d known he couldn’t survive without them. Not intact anyway. He might not have known that consciously, but on some level he knew...well enough to return there after they reunited him with that part of him that was Syrimne. Well enough to stay, even after he could probably tell I wanted us both to go.

Pushing those memories further from my light, I glanced again at Ulai. I was going to try and engage him in conversation again...anything to get my mind off of Revik and how I’d left him...when he smiled at me, gesturing towards a building to our left.

I hadn’t noticed at first, since a wall separated us from its windows, but now that we reached an opening in the white stone, I could see that the building he indicated was awash in lights.

“Our mistress waits for you there, Esteemed sister,” Ulai said.

I nodded, slowing my steps without realizing I did it. I noticed only because Ulai paced me, and I saw him correct. Taking a breath, I walked the stone path directly towards a sliding door that stood open. It hadn’t been open a moment before, so I had to assume they’d felt us approach. I simply hadn’t noticed them scanning me...which wasn’t all that unusual here, given the complexity of the construct. I often couldn’t feel other seers in it, or even humans.

Usually they could feel me, though, like Ulai had, so I had to assume it had to do with varying levels of access granted to those living inside.

“Exactly, right, Esteemed Allie,” Ulai said, smiling.

I followed his hand as he indicated up the stairs and into the entryway beyond. There stood a darkened throne I remembered vaguely, and a collection of sculptures of birds and fish and even a dragon. Tall trees stood behind and beside it as well, reaching almost to the high ceiling, where wooden tiles had been cut and hand-painted in bright gold and red, creating an illusion of depth, almost like pyramids inverted inside each piece of wood. Tapestries fell down the far and side walls, along with tiered kites and lanterns. The inside seemed more richly decorated than I remembered...perhaps from much of the art having been moved indoors.

“This way, Esteemed Bridge,” Ulai said, again indicating the direction I should walk, which was out of the candlelit entrance and towards the more brightly lit chambers beyond.

We walked through a circular opening cut into dark wood, the outer edges carved in great detail to appear like two trees grown together at their roots and highest branches. I blinked into the light as we entered the high-ceilinged room beyond, then scanned it in reflex. When my light told me little, other than to show me more holes and crevices in the construct itself, I used my physical eyes. At the first face my eyes focused on directly, I startled. I nearly jumped back in fact, bumping Ulai behind me.

The face was Wreg's.

He stared at me with equal surprise.

Then his expression hardened into a mask. That mask projected so much hatred I looked away before I’d fully taken it in. Even so, seeing him was a shock, and not only because of how I’d left him on the plane. After all that time in the Barrier with Revik, I felt like I knew him in a way I never had before. Some of that knowing made me like him more, some less, but the level of intimacy in my own light was disconcerting.

My eyes found Voi Pai a second later. She sat on a chair that also resembled a throne, but a significantly less ornate one than the remnants of the old human audience chambers of the outer hall. Voi Pai’s seat stood at least five feet above the lower segments of the room. Made of padded silk cushions and hand sewn round pillows, it stretched out almost to the length of a couch and looked like a Chinese version of a love seat.

I studied her face long enough to remember its details. Her porcelain skin looked the same, her high cheekbones. Those strange, yellow eyes with the vertical, cat-like pupils focused on my face as well, as if she were doing a similar inventory. Her sleek, black hair stood in a traditional, high bun, adorned with jeweled combs. Two long, curved pieces of hair like bangs framed her oval face, accenting her cheekbones while seeming to point to her blood-red mouth.

I glanced around the rest of the room, and realized it was almost full.

I flinched again when I saw Garensche and Holo, standing not far from me, wearing the servant caste clothing of the City. Frowning when I saw the two of them standing in a slight alcove, Garensche nearly crouched due to his enormous height next to what looked like a small cooking area, I glanced away, taking in the rest of the room if only to keep the reaction off my face. Most of the seers lining the walls were Lao Hu...infiltrators, from the black sashes they wore. I also saw Cass and Baguen sitting at a bench to the left of Voi Pai’s elevated chair. Next to them stood Jax and Mila, two more infiltrators who had worked for Revik.

Along with Wreg, five other seers knelt at the edge of the inner floor. I noticed only then that they were bound, and collared. Garensche, Holo, Jax and Mila wore collars as well.

Feeling my jaw harden, I looked back at Voi Pai.

“I am here,” I said, throwing out every word of my carefully-rehearsed formal greeting. “You wished to speak to me in person?”

She smiled faintly, raising one penciled eyebrow. Even so, I heard the chiding in her softly clicking tongue.

“Is that how we shall greet one another, Esteemed Bridge?” she said softly. “I admit, sister, your words wound me...”

“As clearly this display is meant to do for me,” I said.

Fighting back my anger, I gestured around at the seers on the floor, not looking at Wreg as I let my hand shift from his team to Garensche and Holo in the back room, finishing on Jax and Mila where they stood next to Cass and Baguen.

“What is the point of this, otherwise? Treating our brothers and sisters in this manner?”

“I treat then as what they are.”

“Slaves to the Lao Hu?”

“Those whose lives belong to our people...yes.”

I folded my arms, forcing my light to retract, to calm down. She’d done this on purpose, to rattle me, and it had worked. I was too exhausted to play it cool, and I’d just spent three hours getting the runaround besides.

Even so, I could see that my reaction pleased her...hell, I could almost feel it, despite the stranglehold of the construct. Somehow, I couldn’t quite stop myself from reacting anyway. Finally, I glanced at Ulai, who remained standing beside me. I could see from his face that the tone of our exchange distressed him. I also realized for the first time how tall he was. He had maybe an inch on Revik even.

Sighing in a clicking kind of purr, I looked back at Voi Pai, bowing as graciously as I could.

“I apologize, most respected Voi Pai, leader of the Lao Hu,” I said, holding my hand up in the polite manner. “Perhaps we could start again. I was told you wished to speak to me?”

The female seer smiled, but it did not reach her eyes.

“Yes, Esteemed Bridge.”

“Would it be possible for us to continue this conversation in private?” I said, once more aware of Wreg’s eyes on me. I gestured around vaguely. “This hardly seems a conducive environment for a civil negotiation.”

“I disagree, Esteemed Bridge,” Voi Pai returned smoothly. She smiled at me when I gave her a hard look. “I prefer to negotiate openly...where the parties retaining an interest are able to hear the discussion of their own worth...”

“Is this what you wished to say to me?” I said, biting my lip once more.

“No, Esteemed Bridge...of course not.”

“Then perhaps,” I said evenly. “We could begin there. Since you wish this to be publicly aired, please do share with me whatever words could not be communicated through my emissaries. Then, I also,” I added. “...Would like to speak to you. About the request I sent, for which I have still heard no reply, as to terms you would find acceptable...despite the long stay of my two friends.”

Briefly, I considered raising the issue of the human-killing disease, as well...which obviously bothered her enough that I'd read a real reaction in the words of that one message we received.

But I dismissed it from my mind a second later.

I'd let her bring that up, since it was clearly some kind of sticking point with her. And anyway, it wasn’t why I was there.

Still watching me narrowly, Voi Pai leaned back in her chair, bowing her head politely, as if my request had been spoken with no anger at all. I felt my patience ebbing as she leaned over a small table, pouring herself a cup of tea from a dark clay tea pot etched with some kind of subtle design and fitted with a bamboo handle. Setting the pot down on the same brightly lacquered tray where she’d found it, she leaned back on her couch, pausing to sniff her cup before taking a gentle series of sips. I bit my lip, but didn't move.

“I wished only to apologize, first,” the Lao Hu leader said. Smiling at me, she made her voice cajoling. “I wished things to be cordial between the two of us once more, Esteemed Intermediary...so much so that I risked your displeasure at my lack of reply.”

“A rather flawed approach,” I said sourly.

“Perhaps. And yet, my regrets are very real.”

“Of that I have little doubt. Are you ready to talk business, respected Voi Pai?”

“I have not yet apologized, beloved intermediary.”

I waved away her words, using every effort to keep the gesture polite, even as I bit my lip to keep the irritation off my face.

“No apologies are necessary, I assure you,” I said. “An answer to my request, however, is, if you would like things to remain friendly between us.”

She leaned back once more on her long chair and lit a hiri as I watched, one of the black-skinned, expensive ones I remembered her smoking when I stayed here before. I didn’t take my eyes off her as she fitted the hiri’s end into a filter made of what looked like real ivory.

“Perhaps you could remind me of the exact nature of your request?” she said, exhaling a plume of dark smoke. “...The details of this note have escaped me, I admit,” she added, smiling. “...And my attention on this day has been taken up almost entirely by the difficulties we experienced, warding off yet another attack by these rebels with whom you are suddenly so enamored...whom you continually assure me are not a threat to the Lao Hu...”

Hesitating at this, I glanced at Wreg, almost before I could stop myself.

Letting my gaze trail down his body, I realized only then that he was wearing body armor, and that two holsters around his person were empty. His long hair was tied back, and he wore boots on his feet with spikes at the edges for climbing. The seers with him were all dressed similarly, all without the external armor coats I remembered, but clearly disarmed recently and dressed for a military operation. I wondered if they had actually tried to climb one of the newer walls...the higher ones erected sometime after World War II.

Still avoiding Wreg’s eyes, I looked back at Voi Pai.

“You would call them dangerous,” I said, letting a faint derision touch my voice. “...For doing what any of us would do in their position? Trying to free their brothers and sisters from this illegal ‘ownership’ you claim?”

I glanced at Cass, who smiled at me faintly. She looked angry too, however. So did Baguen, which made me like him a lot more for some reason.

Voi Pai’s voice pulled my eyes off the two of them as well.

“There is nothing illegal about it,” she said smoothly. Her voice had changed however, I heard an open warning in it that time, what sounded like real anger. “I would bid you caution, Esteemed Bridge...we honor you, but you are still a guest in my home...”

“A guest who has been repeatedly insulted, lied to and dishonored, well before I arrived in your home,” I said shortly. I gestured towards Cass and Baguen, my face hard. “...What crime have I committed, that you see fit to imprison my friends? Very dear friends of mine, in fact, who came here only at my request, for honest parlay...?”

“I told you, Esteemed Bridge,” Voi Pai warned. “I wished only to speak to you in person – ”

“So you say,” I cut in. “But I would have responded much more favorably to this request had it come without the illegal detention of my people. You could have requested the same, and returned my friends to me...along with an answer to my request that you name whatever price the respected Voi Pai would like for the purchase of her ‘legitimately owned’ seers...”

I felt Wreg turn, staring at me. I did my best to ignore it.

Voi Pai only smiled at my words, exhaling a perfect ring of smoke.

“I have heard no price quoted,” she said, draping an arm over the back of the couch.

“I quoted one before,” I returned, a little more sharply than I intended. “Instead of refusing this price, and bargaining one that was acceptable to us both...you simply pretended to agree and then extracted your own price, one that is clearly not acceptable to me...” I felt my jaw harden slightly. “How is that friendly, Voi Pai?”

She shrugged, gesturing vaguely with the hand that held the hiri.

“I was not aware the rebels were so precious to you. You seemed less interested in their welfare before...”

“Bullshit,” I said, before I could stop myself. “I was crystal clear about the stipulations of this little ‘partnership.’ I said no fucking hostages, Voi Pai...apart from Salinse...”

“I could not find Salinse.”

“So you take every other goddamned seer in the compound?”

As I bit back my fury, I heard the silence in the room.

I felt Wreg’s eyes on me once more, along with Garensche’s and Jax’s. Really, every seer there was looking at me, but those were the ones whose eyes seemed to bore into me hardest. I avoided Cass’ face as well, not sure if I was ready to know what she thought about all of this. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to know if they’d been mistreating her here, either. I felt Baguen hovering over her protectively, enough that I knew they’d likely been separated before this.

Right then, that was more than enough to anger me.

Voi Pai smiled again, letting her eyes drift over the length of my body. Realizing she was enjoying my anger, that she was enjoying the conversation in general, I looked away, clicking sharply under my breath. Once more, I spoke before I had my anger under control.

“I would have thought the respected Voi Pai would have more interesting amusements,” I said, folding my arms tighter. “...Than inviting guests for the sole purpose of insulting them. I would have hoped you would not be so bored as to risk a war with me, simply for the purpose of entertaining yourself on my displeasure...”

Voi Pai smiled wider, inclining her head.

“I still have not heard an offer as to price...” she purred softly.

“I have put that ball in your court, respected Voi Pai,” I replied, my voice equally level. “As you surely must know by now. Since you have a tendency to say ‘yes’ when you mean ‘no,’ I thought it more likely I’d get a real quote if you named it yourself.” Biting my lip again, I gestured towards her a bit sharply.

“...Clearly you have something in mind. Name it.”

Voi Pai’s smile turned predatory.

“I would like the Sword,” she said.

“Fucking bitch,” Wreg snarled.

Before I could turn my head, he got cuffed across the head, hard, by the guard standing behind him. I glanced at him just long enough to see him recover, kneeling once more at the edge of the square carpet. Seeing the mark forming on his face, I bit my tongue. I returned my eyes to Voi Pai, my voice cold.

“He’s not for sale,” I said. “That is non-negotiable.”

“Then we have no deal, Esteemed Bridge.”

“I find that hard to believe,” I said. “That you would ask for what is so clearly unreasonable, expecting anything but a ‘no’ in response. Clearly, you want war with me.”

“But you are wrong, Esteemed Bridge,” she said, her eyes serious. “I do not wish war. I wish a fair price, in exchange for what I would be giving up.”

“Why do you want him?” I said, blunt.

For a moment she only looked at me, her yellow eyes unmoving. Then she smiled, taking another drag of the hiri before exhaling another perfect ring.

“Why do you think?” she said, smiling wider at whatever look must have come to my face. “...He is valuable to me. He can work off the debt of these other seers you wish to rid me of. Far faster than anything you can offer. And I do not like trading in gold.”

“So you would not take market price for these seers?”

“I would not. And you could not afford it...Esteemed Bridge.”

I felt my jaw harden again, as I tried to think through this. There was something she wasn’t saying. I could feel it, but I couldn’t quite grasp what it meant. She knew I wouldn’t give her Revik. She hadn’t shown a flicker of surprise when I said no...and yet, I could tell the door wasn’t closed on our negotiation, either. Her price of Revik wasn’t as firm as she pretended, but if she wouldn’t take money, I didn’t know what she was angling for...other than to know without a doubt that she was angling for something.

“Why him, though?” I said again.

“He is an intermediary,” she said, gesturing as if this were obvious.

I felt my jaw harden more. Suddenly, I knew exactly what she wanted...and why she’d insisted that I come here in person. Shaking my head, I gave a low laugh. Then I looked at her, meeting her gaze directly.

“I, too, am an intermediary,” I said. “...most venerable Voi Pai.”

She froze, her hand poised with the hiri not far from her mouth. I didn’t know how much of it was pure bullshit theatrics, but the effect worked well enough. It also left time for every seer and human in the room to swallow what I’d said.

After that pause, a smile slid carefully over Voi Pai’s red mouth. I knew I’d been right when I saw that covetousness I’d seen in her before, what seemed like a million years ago in that square in the spring sun. She stared at me like she wanted to pin me to the wall with her eyes, like some kind of exotic bug for her collection.

“He is not for sale,” she purred softly. “...But you are, Esteemed Bridge?”

I felt my jaw harden, even as every eye in the room seemed to turn and bore into me once more. I avoided all of them, focusing only on the seer on the silk-cushioned love seat.

“Can we finish this discussion alone, Voi Pai?”

“No,” she said, her eyes still on mine. “I wish an answer to my question, Esteemed Bridge.”

I glanced at Cass, almost without my willing it. Seeing her staring at me, shaking her head vehemently, I looked away again. Feeling a kind of tiredness come over me, I remembered again what I’d said to Balidor, and to Vash...and what I’d written to Revik. Did it really matter what I did for the next however-many months? I had nowhere to go. Chances were, I’d stay alive with the Lao Hu. At least until Revik resurfaced and everyone stopped assuming I’d murdered him.

Looking back at the Lao Hu leader, I gestured in a conciliatory way.

“I am willing to discuss a term of...repayment,” I said, deliberately avoiding Cass’ eyes, as well as those of the other seers. “If that is agreeable to you. You must know that security is a concern for me of late...and that my effectiveness as a leader is hampered as a result. Your timing appears well calculated in that regard, at least...”

I saw that look of near greed rise more prominently to her eyes.

“As you say,” she said softly. “I am open to negotiation on that point.”

“Then tell me what terms you would be willing to accept,” I said.

She paused for a moment, looking up at the ceiling, as though thinking. I felt every seer in the room hold their breath, watching her. I felt Cass looking at her, too. Voi Pai’s eyes narrowed slightly as she stared upwards, just before she glanced at an older seer to her right, one who appeared to be an advisor of some kind based on his age and the different cut of his robe.

Whatever she thought at him, he raised his eyebrows slightly, then bowed in acquiescence, as though he approved of whatever she’d sent.

“Eighteen million,” she said, looking back at me. “That’s half a million for each infiltrator ranked above a six...plus a quarter million for those who are ranked less. That is fair market price.” She gave me a conciliatory bow. “...It is also rounded in your favor.”

“You would have me work off their market price?” I raised an eyebrow, glancing at Ulai. I saw that he had paled, and that he stood closer to me, hovering almost protectively. For a moment, I felt a pulse of warmth for him, strong enough that he seemed to feel it.

“It is a fair offer,” Voi Pai said. “And it is final. I would want the same from the Sword. I ask only for what is due me...in terms of payment for his rescue...”

“What about the others?” I said. “Those in the work camps?”

She waved dismissively. “Make it an even twenty million. For all of them.”

I felt my jaw harden once more.

“And you will of course include all of those seers captured tonight?”

“Then it is twenty-two million,” Voi Pai said curtly. “That one alone,” she added, pointing at Wreg. “He is worth half that. It is a fair price.”

“And how do I know you will keep our bargain this time?” I said, gesturing around at the others without looking at them. “How can I be sure you won’t simply kidnap them again, and auction them off at your whim...?”

Voi Pai clicked softly. “The Esteemed Bridge has a poor opinion of her servant...”

“...Because I do not kid myself for one moment that that’s what you are,” I retorted, my hands clenching. “I need assurances, Voi Pai. They must be real assurances. I need to know they are free...before I will let you own me.”

“We can provide that,” she said, her eyes hard on mine. “You must agree to be collared, for at least a portion of your time under my employ...”

I thought about this, then was forced to concede, realizing I couldn’t expect otherwise with the telekinesis. I gestured as much, avoiding Cass’s eyes again.

“Agreed.”

“And work at whatever work I deem you fit for.”

I conceded to this as well, albeit more reluctantly. “Agreed.” I hesitated. "In return, I would ask for training while I am here..."

"Training?" Her eyebrow lifted again humorously.

"Full infiltration training. Whatever you provide to your normal recruits."

Her eyes measured mine, then she nodded. "Agreed."

"Will I be a formal member of the Lao Hu?"

"Through the duration of the contract, yes," she said. Her eyes narrowed further. "Which means you will be bonded to the group...that is non-negotiable, Esteemed Bridge."

I hesitated at this. Unfortunately I didn't know enough about what she was saying to know if it was unreasonable or not, or what the effects would be long-term. There was no one there I could ask, obviously. After another longish pause, I gestured a yes.

"Agreed."

“The terms will begin, including the collar, once I have provided you these assurances to your satisfaction?”

“They must be to my satisfaction,” I warned her. “You will not own me, in any way, until I am sure they are all away...”

“Sister...!”

I jumped, turning my head.

It wasn’t that someone had spoken so much as who.

Wreg stared at me, his eyes stricken, like his voice. His face held a kind of bewilderment, like he didn’t know me, but there was grief there too. From the look on his face, it seemed he wanted to say more, but he didn’t move as I returned his gaze, probably as much in surprise as anything else. Finally, I swallowed, turning back to Voi Pai.

I pointed at Wreg without looking at him, my jaw hard once more.

“I would request a moment alone with brother Wreg,” I said. “No guards, no construct...I need to speak to him privately.” Glancing briefly at Ulai, I added, “If you need one of your representatives there, I will accept brother Ulai as a chaperone...but no one else.”

Voi Pai gestured dismissively. Despite the ease of the gesture, her eyes on mine were harder, examining my face as though looking for some kind of trick.

“You may go,” she said. “Use the gardens past the antechamber...and brother Ulai.”

Taking my arm gently, Ulai led me out the way we’d come in.

Before I turned, I glimpsed Cass’ face once more, almost by accident. In that one look, I saw that she’d gone sheet white, her eyes wide as she shook her head in another silent ‘no’ to me, if anything more adamantly than before. My eyes flickered up to see Jax and Mila giving me equally stunned looks, but theirs were closer to what Wreg’s had been, like they couldn’t believe what they’d just heard. I saw a guard prod Wreg to his feet then, and followed Ulai into the candlelit dimness of a room past the throne room we’d walked through before.

We passed another set of doors, and then we were outside, in a lantern-lit patch of snow filled with stone landscapes. The creek that used to run through here was dry, but the cherry trees still stood, their bases wrapped with padding against the cold.

Wreg joined us a moment later. The guard shoved him out the door, so that we all stood in the new snow. He stumbled a little as he came to stand near Ulai and me, then looked up, his eyes narrow as he stared into mine.

“What the fuck are you doing?” he hissed. “Is this some kind of joke?”

Ulai spoke up before I could answer, his voice openly worried.

“You should not speak to her in this way,” he said to Wreg. He gave me a worried look though, with some measure of apology. “...But he is right, Esteemed sister,” he added. “Voi Pai is not positing this as an idle offer...she will take ownership of you, and she will employ you however she deems it most profitable...”

Swallowing, Ulai looked down at me nervously, letting his gaze grow meaningful as it trailed down to my feet.

“...You must know there are possibilities with that,” he added. “Things which you might not wish to have done to you.” Clearing his throat, he looked away again, his skin darkening slightly. “...Indignities, Esteemed Bridge. Not befitting your stature...”

I looked up at Ulai, reading the meaning in his light blue eyes.

Nodding, I realized I had known that. Clearly, Voi Pai wanted me to know it, just as she’d wanted me to offer myself instead of just telling me outright what she wanted. I still didn’t see a whole lot of options. I didn’t exactly have the clout or the manpower to declare war on the Lao Hu...even if I managed to pull some kind of army together with the refugees from those camps, it would take too long, and anyway, half of them wouldn’t even be trained. It would be months if not years before I would have any leverage with her that way.

Even Revik would need at least a year to plan such an operation, if not more.

I knew Voi Pai likely had her own reasons for wanting me out of the picture. More than simply humiliating me and playing her own stupid power games, that is. Maybe she was even trying to lure Revik back here. Maybe she wanted her own paired set of telekinetic seers.

Or maybe she was just hedging her bets again, protecting the hegemony of the Lao Hu by making sure we never became a threat to her. In any case, I got the feeling she was more than a little disappointed that I hadn’t killed Revik following his capture. She’d likely go out of her way to humiliate me, in the hopes it would bring Revik here faster.

But it wouldn’t work. Not anymore.

Feeling something in my chest tighten, I looked at Wreg. As soon as I had, I wished I hadn’t. The same understanding that Ulai voiced seemed to have reached him as he studied my face.

“You knew,” he said, his voice an accusation. “You are whoring yourself...you are doing it on purpose.” His voice grew angry. “Why?”

I shook my head, clicking sharply. “I don’t have to answer to you, Wreg, even when you shout. And no, I didn’t know. I came here to make a deal. This is the deal she will accept.”

“You are a liar!”

“Am I?” I bit my lip, remembering Revik accusing me of the same. “I suppose you’re right. Being the mastermind that I am, I planned all of this. I coerced Voi Pai into demanding this ridiculous price of me...right after she asked me to sell her my husband...” I swallowed, almost correcting myself on that last, then shrugged, giving Wreg a flat look. “You’ve got me, brother Wreg. The jig is up..."

“You laugh. This whole thing could be a charade...”

“And you would never know if it were,” I retorted. At his angry look, I threw up my hands. “Gods, Wreg. Would you rather I sold Revik? Or do you think there is someone else she would accept in either of our places?”

He shook his head, clicking at me angrily.

When I didn’t say anything else, he looked away. I watched him thinking about my words, his eyes narrowed as he kicked a booted foot at the snow. I felt emotion pulse off him, but I couldn’t read any of it, apart from his anger at me.

“You came here to sell yourself,” he said. “...to martyr yourself. It is an indignity, to do such a thing...even for you. You are still an intermediary...”

“What I do isn’t really any of your business, Wreg.”

“Did you kill the Sword then?” he said, his voice bitter. “Is that what this is about? Penance for your crimes?”

I gave a disbelieving laugh, shaking my head. “What is it with you two? He asked me the same about you. No, I didn’t kill him...he’s fine, Wreg.”

“Where is he?”

“You know I can’t tell you that,” I said, impatient. “But I don’t need to. He’ll be free, soon enough, and I have no doubt you’ll be the first one he contacts...”

“Free?” Wreg stared at me. “You will release him?”

“I have ordered him released, yes. He’ll be out in a month. Possibly less...possibly more. There is some discretion there, but it won’t be very long, I promise you...” Sighing a little at his skeptical look, I rubbed my face with one hand. “I’ll let him explain what happened when he sees you. I was trying to help him. He will likely describe it differently...but I never meant him any harm, Wreg...”

“Just the rest of us,” he growled.

“Clearly, yes...I wished you all enslaved. And tortured.”

“Then you are simply a fool,” he said angrily.

I didn’t answer that. I just stood there, my arms folded.

After I took a breath, I looked at Ulai.

“Can we trust that she will let me honestly verify that they are gone?”

Ulai nodded, slowly, his eyes still flickering between me and Wreg. They rested on Wreg more warily, pausing for a beat before he looked back at me.

“Yes,” he said. “She is sincere in her price. I think she will not risk war by refusing your conditions. She would have to kill too many otherwise...and she fears the Sword.”

“He won’t come for me,” I told him bluntly.

Wreg gave a low laugh at this.

“Are you sure of that, Esteemed Bridge?” Ulai asked nervously.

“I’m sure. He won’t come...not unless someone gives him a reason to.” I bit the inside of my cheek. “So if that’s her game, it won’t work.”

Ulai gave me a puzzled look. “Her...game, Esteemed Bridge?”

"Is this still about him? About bringing him here?"

Ulai's eyes grew more thoughtful. Realizing he was in the Barrier space, I didn't speak, and a few seconds later, his eyes clicked back into focus.

"No," he said. "I do not think so. Her attention seems to be solely on you, Esteemed Bridge. She has some concern that he may come, actually...it does not seem to be her desire. She seems to be hoping the contract will be fulfilled before he does, or that she can force you to tell him to stay away, if you are in her employ and bonded to her infiltrators..."

Feeling my jaw harden, I turned on the other seer.

He was staring at me now, too, a new understanding in his eyes.

“You can’t tell him, Wreg,” I said. “...Where I am.”

There was a silence where he just looked at me. Then he let out a snort, right before the expression in his eyes turned disbelieving once more.

“I can tell him whatever I want...Bridge.”

I took a step closer to him, feeling my jaw harden more.

“No, you can’t,” I said. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist that you give me your blood oath that you won't...or I’ll go in there and tell her you’re not part of the deal. In fact, I may throw Jax and Mila in, as well. Clearly you don’t value your own life much, if you were dumb enough to try and climb these walls...”

He stared back at me, his eyes holding a faint surprise, right before they narrowed.

“You would not do that.”

“Believe me, brother Wreg,” I said. “I would. As far as I’m concerned, it’s one less million I have to work off...maybe two, with Jax and Mila...”

His dark eyes remained on mine a beat longer.

Then, as if seeing something in my face, he nodded slowly.

“You mean it?” he said. “You do not want him to know?”

“I do mean it.”

“A blood oath?”

I gestured a sharp yes. “I figure that way I have a prayer of you keeping it.”

“I will keep it.”

He looked up at Ulai.

“A knife, brother?”

Ulai glanced at me, his eyes a question.

When I nodded, he flipped back his coat, pulling a knife from a leather scabbard at his right hip. He held the blade out towards the other male, hilt-first, but Wreg shook his head, indicating his hands bound behind his back.

“You’ll have to do it, brother.”

Ulai nodded, once, then walked around behind Wreg.

I followed, watching as Ulai pulled one of Wreg’s hands flat gently below the cuffs. In one clean motion, he cut the seer’s hand across the palm, making me wince. Turning to me, Ulai held a hand out politely, gesturing for me to take it. After a bare hesitation, I placed the same hand as he’d cut on Wreg in his, palm up. Without waiting, he cut mine across the palm, just as cleanly.

I winced again, but more at the sight of it; I barely felt it.

When he indicated, I clasped Wreg’s hand over the cut, palm to palm.

“You will not tell him,” I said to Wreg.

“I will not tell him.”

“Where I am, or how you got away...you’ll make up a story, one that does not involve me.”

“I will not tell him...I will do exactly as you said.”

“You did not see me here. You have not seen me since I shot you on the plane.”

“I have not seen you.”

“Promise me, Wreg!”

“I vow it,” he said. “He will hear nothing of this, or of you...not from me, or from any of my people. I vow this, Esteemed Bridge.”

“And you will tell the Wvercian...Baguen...to do the same,” I added. “...You will tell him it is my wish, as his intermediary, that he forget this thing, that he speak of it to no one.” I swallowed, fighting back a pain in my chest as it occurred to me that she might not forgive me. “...And tell him to erase Cass. Make her forget I was here. Give her whatever story you intend to give the Sword...or have her remember nothing at all. Whatever is more effective...”

“Yes,” he said, after a pause. “If Baguen is unable to do it, one of my people will. We will remove the memory from her...or create a new one, Esteemed Bridge.”

I nodded, almost to myself.

I tried to decide if there was anything I’d forgotten, then realized if he wanted to find a loophole, he probably could. I had to trust he would do as I’d asked, and not lie to me about it. Maybe it was dumb, but I did trust him, even then. I trusted him to keep his word, anyway; I still wouldn’t trust him not to shoot me on sight if he got the opportunity.

When I released him, I saw his shoulders relax.

Walking back around to the front of where he stood, I met his gaze. His eyes had narrowed again. Even so, I saw that my words had affected him somehow, too.

“You said he would not come for you,” he said.

I gestured a yes. “He won’t.”

“Why the secret, then?”

I gestured a seer’s shrug, keeping my face carefully blank.

“I am telling the truth,” I said. “He wouldn’t come only for me, Wreg...but I don’t want him to feel obligated. He might come out of a sense of debt, if he knew I’d freed you. I know how you seers value your honor in such things.” I folded my arms. “I only want to keep this clean. I don’t trust Voi Pai, and I don’t want her using me to get to him.”

Pausing again, I looked him in the face.

“Keep him safe,” I added. “Do what you do best, Wreg, and be loyal. Don’t give him a reason. If he doesn’t know about you and the others, he won’t care about the rest.”

He continued to stare at me, his dark eyes openly skeptical.

Rolling my own a little, I clicked impatiently, saying it again. “Believe me on this. He wouldn’t come only for me, Wreg. And he won’t care what I do. I promise you that...”

For a long moment, Wreg only looked at me.

Then he averted his eyes, clicking to himself.

“I think you are lying to yourself, princess,” he said softly.

His words startled me, more for his use of the old nickname he’d teased me with before. I didn’t think about the rest of what he'd said until later.

“Well, you’d be wrong,” I said only.

“...But I have made the oath,” he added, as if I hadn’t spoken. “I will keep it.”

Hearing his words, I nodded, feeling my shoulders unclench.

I realized I believed him. I really believed him.

“Thanks, Wreg.”

I felt a tightness come unexpectedly to my throat.

Before he could see my expression, I looked away, forcing my face still as I looked again at Ulai. The taller seer’s eyes and mouth remained pinched as he met my gaze. He seemed almost as if he wished to speak, too...but he didn’t. Squeezing his hand briefly, I let it go.

Not looking at either of them, I cleared my throat, speaking levelly.

“We can go back in now,” I told them.