Gateway (16 page)

Even Daiyu was nodding. Perhaps it was what he said, perhaps it was the way he said it, but everything Chenglei said made sense. She was sure she should be picking apar this speech, finding the error of logic, the vital flaw, but at the moment, she couldn’t think clearly. At that moment, she believed Chenglei.

Astonishingly, Xiang had no plans for Daiyu the following day. No appointments with dressmakers or deportment specialists, no accidental meetings with Mei or her son.

“May I go to the aviary, then?” Daiyu asked over their second meal of the day. She posed the question casually, but, under the table, her hands were clasped together so tightly they hurt. She hadn’t seen Kalen in days, and she missed him with a pain that was almost physical. She didn’t know if she would be able to maintain her meek façade if Xiang refused her now.

But she didn’t. “I suppose you may. The driver will take you.”

“Thank you, Aunt.”

There had been no time to tell Kalen that she would be coming, and she tried not to think about the possibility that he might not be working in the bird house that afternoon. But she had scarcely taken ten steps past the black grillwork gate before he came bounding up to her, a bucket in his hand sloshing water over the sides as he ran.

“Daiyu! Is something wrong?”

She was so happy to see him that she almost threw her arms around him, but she knew better than to do anything so foolish. “No. Yes. I mean, nothing has happened, it’s just that I’m so
confused
. And I
missed
you.”

He set down his bucket and led her deep into the aviary. They stepped past bushes covered with twittering scarlet birds, past shallow reflecting pools, past the giant trees and the hanging vines all decorated with patches of feathered red. She could hear the muted rumble before they came across the artificial waterfall situated at the heart of the aviary, a cheery tumble of water charging down a stone face about two stories high and feeding into a bubbling pool.

“Back here,” Kalen said, and flattened himself against the surface of the stone to edge behind the sheet of water. He disappeared.

Daiyu held her breath and, fully expecting to get drenched, followedhim.

Instantly she found herself in a shallow and surreally lit alcove curtained by the rushing water. There was a damp space about three feet wide between the stone wall and the water itself.

“Kalen! What a wonderful place!” Daiyu exclaimed.

He had pulled off his shirt and was spreading it on the ground. His bare chest and arms were wiry, muscled with years of labor, but he was far too thin for someone of his height. “Here. You can sit on that,” he said, settling on the ground so she would have all of the fabric for herself. He had to pull his legs up tightly to make sure his feet weren’t dangling in the water.

She didn’t bother protesting; she knew he would insist. So she dropped beside him, leaned her back against the rock, and locked her arms around her updrawn knees.

“I’m so glad you were here today,” she said. “I always feel safe when I’m with you.”

“So what happened?” he asked. He prodded her with a finger in her ribs. She grabbed his hand to make him stop and then didn’t let go.

“Chenglei,” she said.

“You’ve talked to him again?”

She shook her head. “Heard him deliver a speech. About why the sick people in the northwest need to be quarantined.”

“Well, that’s always been his position.”

“And everything he said sounded so plausible,” she said. “I mean, he could very well be right. If there’s some—some—plague in the northwest territories and it moves to Shenglang, it could wipeout halfthepopulation.It’s notlikeithasn’t happened before in the history of the world. At least, my world.”

Kalen was watching her, his face unreadable. But his hand was still clasped with hers, warm and comforting. “Then why are you confused?”

“Because he’s wrong! I know he’s wrong! If a civilized society turns its back on its weakest members, then it is no longer a civilized society. And the sick and the dying are the weakest of all. If I learned nothing else from my father, I learned that.”

Now Kalen gave her a smile and squeezed her hand. “See?” he said quietly. “You didn’t need me to remember
that
for you.”

For a moment she was startled, and then she laughed. “You’re right. I can practically hear my father saying the words.” She shook her head. “But it took me a long time last night to come up with the counterargument. I lay awake for at least three hours, trying to figure it out.”

“And that’s why you’re confused?”

Still leaning against the stone, she turned her head to look at him. “I’m confused because I don’t know how he could make it sound right in the first place. How he could make me believe him when I know he’s wrong.”

“A lot of people believe him,” Kalen said. “It’s hardly surprising that you did too.”

“Aurora says that evil is seductive,” Daiyu said, her voice troubled. Aurora also said that Chenglei was evil. Daiyu was far from sure Aurora was right on either count.

Kalengrinned.“Doesshe?I’ve always found evil to be flat-out ugly. But maybe she knows a higher class of villain than I do.”

Daiyu gave him an absent smile. Her voice, she could tell, was anxious. “But what if Chenglei is not actually a villain? What if he’s just mistaken? What if he truly believes that Shenglang is endangered? I might not agree with his conclusions, but that doesn’t make him a bad man, just a misguided one.”

Kalen didn’t answer, just watched her with his calm brown eyes. When she went on, her voice had dropped to a murmur. “What if Aurora and Ombri are wrong? Worse, what if they’re lying? What if Chenglei doesn’t deserve to be sent away after all?”

She half expected him to berate her for her loss of faith, to state with conviction that Aurora and Ombri were pure-hearted as angels sent from the most benevolent of the gods. But he didn’t. “I have come to believe in them, but I can only speak for myself,” he said slowly. “And maybe I would have believed in anyone who gave me a place to live and food to eat. Maybe I would believe in Chenglei if he was the one who offered me shelter. Maybe I’m just a simple man.”

“Kalen,” she whispered, “that doesn’t help at all.”

He laid his free hand along the side of her face, drawing her toward him until their noses almost touched. “You have to act on whatever it is you believe,” he said, his voice very low. “No one can tell you what that is. Not me, not your father, not Aurora or Ombri. Only you.”

“I wish you
would
tell me,” she replied, still whispering. “You’re the only one who makes sense to me.”

He closed the distance between them, placing a gentle kiss upon her mouth. Instantly, she was flooded with a sense of well- being, a conviction that everything would be fine. She dropped his hand so she could twine both arms around his neck, ands he scooted closer so she could kiss him back. His other arm came up to encircle her waist and his kiss grew a little harder; he shifted positions to draw her deeper into his embrace.

And then abruptly he released her with a muffled exclamation of annoyance. At first she was shocked, and then she started laughing. He had accidentally swept his feet through the waterfall and now he was wet up to his knees.

“I hope nobody was walking by just now and happened to see your feet poking through the water!” she exclaimed.

“Well, that’ll teach me to be places I shouldn’t be, doing things I shouldn’t do,” he remarked. He seemed cheerful but a little unsure, as if utterly unable to predict what she might say now.

She laughed a little shakily. She was fully aware of all the reasons it was a bad idea to be kissing Kalen, from Xiang’s horror at his unsuitability to the fact that she would be leaving him behind forever in a matter of days. Even so, she felt decidedly pleased with herself; she knew the heat in her cheeks was part embarrassment and part delight. “Then it seems unfair that you’re the only one who got drenched, since I shouldn’t have been here doing that either,” she said.

“I don’t think I’ll be mentioning it to Ombri,” he said.

“I don’t think I’ll be telling Xiang.”

He smiled, but quickly turned serious. She wished he would take her hand again, but he didn’t. “I wonder if it might do you good to hear Feng talk about Chenglei.”

“Who’s—oh, the dissident you told me about? I’d like that.”

“I’ll see if he’s got anything planned. It’s been a while since I’ve heard him, so maybe he’s still in hiding. They say that Chenglei hates him.”

“Every political party needs the righteous anger of the loyal opposition to keep it honest,” Daiyu said.

Kalen laughed at her. “Is that your father talking again?”

“No, that’s Isabel. My boss.” Daiyu paused, for she hadn’t thought about Isabel in days. “If you let Aurora know where he’ll be, I’ll try to get free to go hear him.”

He hesitated. “Sometimes Feng speaks at fairly disreputable places. Will you be afraid or uncomfortable?”

“Not if you’re with me,” she said honestly.

He nodded. “We’ll meet here and then slip away.”

“Aurora won’t like it,” Daiyu said. “She doesn’t want me to do anything to risk Xiang’s displeasure.”

“I’ll find a way to give Aurora a message so that she won’t realize what we’re planning,” Kalen said.

They smiled at each other in perfect complicity. For the most part Daiyu was a docile and obedient daughter, but she had learned years ago that there were times the adults in her life didn’t need to be apprised of all her plans.

“I suppose I’d better go,” she said. “But it was so good to finally see you again! And to talk face-to-face without having to pretend!”

His smile deepened. “It
was
good,” he said meaningfully, and she blushed again. She scrambled to her feet and shook out his shirt, which was now both wrinkled and a little mudstained, before handing it back.

“I hope your shoes and pants dry,” she said. “Sorry you got wet.”

He shrugged and pushed her gently toward the opening where they had squeezed in. But right before she flattened herself against the stone, he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. When she looked up, he gave her one more brief kiss.

“In case I never have another chance,” he said.

She looked up at him for a moment. “I hope you do,” she said.

Out from behind the tumbling water, back on the formal pathways that led through the aviary, Daiyu opened her parasol and strolled toward the gate. She moved as if she was in no great hurry, pausing every once in a while to admire one of the streaks of bright red that painted the humid air. She glanced back only once, to see Kalen on his knees, scrubbing a stone bench. He did not even look up as she stepped through the gate and back to the car where the driver sat waiting.

THE FOLLOWING DAYS
were devoted entirely to getting ready for the Presentation Ball, which was only four days away.
How could it be so soon?
Daiyu thought, as something like dread washed over her. She knew that the minute she snapped the bracelet on Chenglei’s wrist, her time in Shenglang was effectively over. Oh, she might be able to stay another day or two, curious to see how the city changed once Chenglei was gone, but there was no reason for her to linger.

One reason, of course.

Every time she thought about leaving Kalen behind, she had a moment when she actually could not breathe. It was bad enough knowing she would never see him again—never have a chance to watch his face light up when he caught sight of her—never tuck her hand in his and feel, for as long as she held on to him, that she was safe and the world was good. But knowing that once she left Jia, she would leave behind all memories of Kalen, made her absolutely frantic. She
could not
forget his shy smile and his easy way of speaking. She
could not
forget those magical kisses behind the shimmering wall of translucent water. Surely Kalen’s face had been imprinted on her heart, a shape and a memory that she would carry with her no matter what dimension she called home.

To distract herself from her constant anxiety over Kalen, she tried to throw herself wholeheartedly into preparations for the ball. She submitted uncomplainingly to the final round of dress fittings; she sniffed dozens of perfumes as she and Xiang worked together to find Daiyu’s perfect scent. She exclaimed in unfeigned wonder as Xiang spread the contents of her jewelry box on a table in her ornate parlor.

“
Aunt!
What beautiful gems you have! I’ve never seen anything like these!”

“No, and you never will again, though Mei thinks her own jewels are worth as much as mine,” Xiang replied, preening a little. With her long lacquered nails, she picked through the necklaces,theearrings,thepins,therings,thebracelets.“When we chose the fabric for your dress, I had thought it might look best with pearls and sapphires, but now I am wondering. I believe
qiji
stones would go with it even better. What do you think?”