There was no compliment in his words. The knife remained poised lightly in his free hand. The threat of it brought her to another time and place. The same haze of fear had choked her then. The men who had come for her had looked at her with cold eyes as they’d held out two choices, a knife or poison.
‘Gao doesn’t own me.’ Whatever ploy this was, she knew nothing about it. She’d been snared in it somehow and she had to convince him.
‘No, not Gao.’
Faster than a serpent’s strike, he had her arms pinned against the bed frame. He still held the knife. She gasped as the bone handle dug into her wrist.
‘Did Lao Sou send you?’ he demanded.
‘Who?’
‘Did the old man send you?’
‘I don’t know any old man. No one sent me.’
‘Someone wanted you here. With me.’
His face was a rigid mask above her, jaw taut, his mouth a harsh line. If she called for help, Ru Shan would come storming in, but then Li Tao would kill them both. He held her pinned and there was nothing she could offer, nothing she could bargain with. She had never felt so helpless.
She was only alive at his whim. Nothing could sway him. Not vulnerability or tears or lies. Her desperate plea came out in a flood of words.
‘You think anyone would send me to kill you? That I would walk in and do it while you were watching? You took me from my home. All I want is to go back.’
He had her caged against the bed, overpowered by his size and strength. A glimmer alighted in his eyes, a spark of passion amidst the blind anger. His hold loosened enough for her to slip her arms free.
She thought he would kiss her again. He was so close, the heat of his body enveloping her. Wildly, she realised she wanted him to. It would be no gentle caress this time. Not with the tension that vibrated through him. She needed something to penetrate this terrifying coldness.
‘You know who sent that box.’ Her breath came in shallow pulls. ‘Someone who sends it every year.’
‘I have powerful enemies.’
He was still watching her, a sharp line etched between his brows. She was afraid to move, afraid to invoke the demon caged inside him. His chest rose and fell, the pulse in his throat jumping beneath the tanned skin as the tension transformed to desire. There was an answering call within her. It was always this way between them, though she couldn’t understand why.
‘What does it mean?’ she asked.
Her mention of the dagger broke the thrall over him. He glanced once at the open box.
‘Leave.’
Chapter Five
As soon as Li Tao freed her, she fled from the room and stumbled through the corridor. She could still feel the bruising pressure of his hands pinning her, holding her captive.
Auntie waited at the end of the corridor, her expression twisted with worry.
‘Lady Ling?’
Suyin tore past the old woman and left the servants in the entrance hall.
‘My lady, what happened?’
Auntie insisted on following her into the garden. Struggling for breath, Suyin sank on to one of the flattened boulders lying in the soft grass. She needed to escape from here. Her captor was not only ruthless, he was likely mad.
‘Unfavourable day, indeed,’ Suyin snapped. ‘You knew what would happen, didn’t you?’
The old woman stood several steps away, her hands clasped before her demurely. Suyin clutched at the smooth stone below her, trying to steady the pounding of her heart. It always came to this, a knife at her throat, men coming to silence her. When she’d left the palace, she had vowed that she would no longer be used in the schemes of powerful men. She had been brought here by someone’s design, she was certain of it.
‘Auntie was hoping the lady could convince Master Li.’
‘Convince him of what?’
The old woman shrank back at her anger, but Suyin couldn’t find it within her to feel any remorse. Li Tao had held a blade to her. He had never directly threatened her with it, but that didn’t matter. What frightened her even more was what had happened afterwards. She had fought to keep herself safe from men like him all her life, only to be drawn to Li Tao despite every survival instinct within her. They called it the seduction of power. She hadn’t fully believed in it until now.
‘What could I possibly convince him to do?’ She raised herself to her feet. ‘I am a prisoner, brought here against my will.’
A commotion rose from the depths of the front hall. The sound of Li Tao’s strident voice resonated against the walls followed by the stamp of his footsteps. She was relieved to have some distance between them as he left.
‘Master Li is a good man.’ Auntie ventured forwards to grasp her sleeve. ‘You are the only one he will listen to.’
‘He listens to no one.’
‘That is not true! Master spends more time here now. He enquires about your welfare constantly.’
He had asked Auntie about her? Most likely he was trying to discover her secrets.
Suyin pulled away in agitation. ‘If he didn’t make everyone out to be an enemy, he wouldn’t need to live in constant fear.’
She didn’t realise the truth of it until she spoke the words aloud. Li Tao had been afraid, as she was afraid. It was apparent that Auntie worried for him as well. Auntie trusted her and she needed to find a way to use that to her advantage. It was her best chance for escape.
‘Auntie, the governor speaks constantly of defiance and rebellion.’ She lowered her tone cautiously. ‘I’m afraid it will destroy him.’
‘Master is not a traitor. He’s a good man.’
Suyin watched guiltily as tears gathered in the old woman’s eyes.
‘The box is a warning, isn’t it?’ Suyin asked.
Auntie started to respond, but then clamped her mouth shut and glanced furtively towards the house.
‘Governor Li is gone,’ Suyin assured. ‘What does the box mean? Has your master ever mentioned an old man?’
Li Tao had interrogated her about an old man, Lao Sou, when he’d had her pinned.
‘Old man? Cook is old …’
Suyin sighed impatiently. ‘Not Cook.’
‘The box is a reminder.’ Auntie whispered even though the others were too far away to hear. ‘Master doesn’t think I know, but Auntie remembers everything. Once it was a sign of favour. Now it is a warning.’
‘Favour?’
‘From the August Emperor.’
‘The August Emperor is dead. He has been dead for two years.’
‘I know that!’ Auntie snapped. The old woman wasn’t completely intimidated. ‘The Emperor would send Master Li a gift every year in honour of his service. Since his death, someone else must be sending the gift to remind him of his loyalty to the empire.’
Suyin bit back her cynical response. It was either Gao or some other rival who was sending the dagger to provoke Li Tao, but Auntie would think the best of him no matter what the circumstances.
She needed to bend Auntie’s fear and loyalty to her advantage. She took hold of Auntie’s thinning shoulders and spoke in a grave tone.
‘Li Tao has refused to swear loyalty to the throne. How long before Emperor Shen publicly