The barest of creases appeared between those pretty eyes. He found he liked catching her unaware.
‘How you must miss all those plots and schemes, Lady Ling.’
‘Miss them?’ The melodic quality of her voice sharpened. ‘I fought for my life every day in the palace.’
She tilted her gaze at him and he detected the steel beneath her elegant demeanour. A flash of armour amidst the softest silk. Endlessly elusive. No wonder men tried to capture her in paintings and flowery words. He, for reasons he couldn’t clearly discern, had simply captured her.
It was his eyes, she decided. That was why his adversaries feared him. Endless and black and set deep in a face devoid of any hint of kindness. The eyes of a man who was capable of anything. The cut of the scar across his features added to the sinister aura.
How appropriate that he spoke of battle. She could sense him circling, reading her the same way she tried to read him. The look he gave her now wasn’t warm … but it wasn’t cold. She could feel the blood rise up her neck. The low throb of her heart beat at her defences. Why did her body respond like this now? Why this man, when she needed her wits about her to survive?
He leaned closer. ‘Living with danger for so long changes you.’
Something about the remark felt ominously personal. A ghost of a smile lit his face, more in his eyes than his mouth. She traced a fingertip nervously over the tabletop. His eyes attended to her every move.
‘I don’t miss the danger. I was happy on the river.’ Or she had been, once.
‘Alone and abandoned? The beautiful Ling Guifei was not meant to fade into obscurity.’
‘Don’t call me that.’
Precious Consort Ling. Li Tao’s comment wounded her more than it should have. In the Emperor’s court even a pet name was elevated to an official rank. She was set apart from the world and would be for the rest of her life. It had been a long time since she’d had a conversation such as this one. She welcomed it, even as jagged and treacherous as it was.
She had resigned herself to exile with its loneliness and empty days. At least she had been free. Suddenly she was tired of crossing words with Li Tao, tired of guarding every look.
‘For as long as I can remember, every man I have met has wanted to bed me or kill me,’ she said bitterly. ‘Tell me which one you are so I know which face to wear.’
He straightened, incited by her directness. ‘Which sort of man is Gao?’
She frowned. ‘Gao Shiming?’ The sound of his name after all these years still made her go cold with fear. This was worse than she could have imagined.
‘What does Gao want from you?’
‘I don’t know. I’m nothing to him.’ She burned beneath Li Tao’s steady gaze and wondered if he had ever interrogated the men he’d been sent after. Or had he simply served as executioner under the Emperor’s orders?
‘So it is you and Old Gao challenging each other for the dragon throne,’ she said with forced casualness.
‘You sound bored.’
‘In the imperial court, every man is a conspirator.’
‘I have no interest in the imperial throne,’ he declared.
‘But I’m so rarely wrong.’
He smiled at her banter, but his expression intensified. ‘The empire is falling into ruin because it clings to the idea of one kingdom and one ruler. The Son of Heaven lording over the Middle Kingdom. That dream is over.’
She stiffened at his cynicism. ‘That sounds suspiciously close to treason.’
Speaking out against the Emperor with such scorn was enough to be deemed treason, but Li Tao also had an army at his command. He stood and she noticed he hadn’t touched the tea or any of the food. Cautious, even in his own home. She stared down at her own plate, recalling days in the palace when any bite could be her last.
‘Not close to treason,’ he replied. He moved behind her. A shiver travelled down her spine. ‘It is treason.’
His long fingers curled around the back of the chair, exerting his dominance. The skin of her neck burned. She was afraid to look at him. Afraid of what she’d see. His presence overshadowed her. The surrounding space closed in and she was trapped.
‘Emperor Shen has declared that we limit the strength of the provincial armies.’ His voice was cold and quiet.
‘And you refused?’
‘I will not let him cripple me. Our enemies are waiting to attack. All they need is a sign of weakness.’
She breathed with relief as he stepped away. The jiedushi had become too strong. Men like Li Tao and Gao Shiming listened only to their own ambitions. She wanted no part of it any more. Let the warlords fight their battle. All she wanted was to go home and be left in peace, but she was no longer safe there. Her past had come for her.
With Li Tao standing so close, his presence caging her in, she couldn’t help but consider the obvious solution. She could become Li Tao’s lover. From the way he devoured her with his eyes, she knew he wouldn’t refuse. She had yet to touch any part of him, but she could imagine how he would feel. Steel and fire. He would demand complete devotion, but he would be a fearsome protector. The idea sent a disturbing anticipation through her that she couldn’t comprehend.
But she had been bartered away too many times in her life. She would not sell herself again. Not when she had finally tasted freedom. She turned to him, but never had the chance to speak.
One of his guardsmen approached and stood a respectful distance away. Li Tao looked to him, and then left her with nothing more than a brief nod. One moment he was an overwhelming, overbearing force behind her. The next he was gone again as if she were too insignificant to be dismissed.
She watched Li Tao’s imposing figure as he left the courtyard. Her armed escort returned to her side. The soldier stood beside her, a pillar of unmovable rock as he waited patiently for her to stand. He would have probably waited until noon if she had decided to stay there.
Gao must be using her somehow to bait Li Tao. She needed information and Li Tao revealed so little. She needed to get away quickly. The two warlords were starting a civil war. It would pull the other warlords into the conflict as well the Emperor himself.
She stood and started back toward her chamber. The guardsman who followed her like a second shadow was perhaps a little beyond twenty years, not a veteran, but not a novice either. His face was by no means soft, but it was infinitely kinder than Li Tao’s.
The gardens were empty in the second courtyard. Ah, not completely empty. The boy with the withered arm crouched in the corner, pulling at weeds. He was so slight and unassuming, she had nearly missed him. Once again, he caught her eye before looking away hastily. When one was weak and vulnerable, the only defence was to watch and listen and learn, much like a frightened rabbit sniffing the air for the wolf. She had been that rabbit all her life, but the key was never to show the fear.
The guardsman urged her to keep moving. He lifted his hand to gesture towards the stairs. How steadfast were Li Tao’s people? Did they serve out of fear or loyalty?
‘What do you call yourself?’ she asked as she started up the steps.
‘Yao Ru Shan.’
She listened to the deliberate fall of his footsteps as they climbed upwards.
‘You must have accomplished great things to serve in such a trusted position,’ she ventured.
Nothing. Silence. She longed to find someone in this household who was not so stingy with words.
As