The steward of the Second Prince’s pace was expecting them.

  They had no sooner stepped across the gate’s shadow when the man seemingly burst in from nowhere.

  ‘His Highnesses are waiting for you,’ said the man. His face was ftter than a scallion pancake. His skin was as oily as one too. ‘Come with me, quickly.’

  They followed him. Three was tense the whole time — everything seemed like a threat, from the gazes that slid on her neck to the pruning shears in a maid’s hands.

  Red cquered doors and pilrs slid past. She silently memorised their path, drafting the lines of a map in her head.

  There were just so many people.

  The oily, rattish steward stopped outside a door and gave it a few hard knocks. He waited, then opened it, walking in with a bow. ‘Your Highnesses, the Third Princess has arrived.’

  Inside the vish room was a fine table and the two noble imperial twins. With the wheelchair blending into the other chairs, Three could only distinguish them by their attire and two respective shadow guards — the orange-cd, man was the First Prince Jiaoyang, whilst the purple and jewel-den man was the Second Prince Qingxian.

  Those three heads swivelled when she walked in. One didn’t; he couldn’t take his eyes off Two’s bandage-wrapped arms.

  The Second Prince set down his teacup as they walked in. ‘Third,’ he nodded, ‘I’ve been expecting you.’

  Xi Qian’e stepped forward. Unwilling for her master’s status to fall any further, she pulled out the spare chair, quickly running her hands over it to check for safety. Then she stood behind it, arms crossed.

  The princess shot her a bemused gnce. Then she slid into the chair, her voice and gaze turning hard. ‘Second Brother. I do hope it’s as you intend to make true on your promise.’

  ‘Of course, of course,’ the man rasped. The gold and jewels over his face swayed, casting glinting, dark shadows. ‘That’s why I was expecting you. You want protection, yes?’

  The princess didn’t nod; she only turned to look at the First Prince.

  ‘I’m aware of the deal,’ the prince said. His neck and chest, heavy with silver, clinked as he swayed. ‘After you leave, I’ll have some bodyguards follow. They won’t be as skilled as the shadow guards, but they’ve got the quantity.’

  ‘Many thanks.’

  The prince stood, the sunlight from the window glinting off the round colr of his nshan robes. ‘Don’t thank me, thank Qingxian.’ Then he patted his twin on the shoulder, a warm smile lighting up his face. His face hardened. ‘But my aid comes with a decration. I won’t bother harbouring cowards.’

  ‘Of course.’ The princess nodded to her; she took out the bundle of carved jade flowers and handed one to the prince. ‘Here’s my stance. However — I need accommodation. My brother and father have cut ties with me.’

  ‘That can be done,’ said the prince. ‘You’ll stay in Qingxian’s pace, he has a block of empty servants’ rooms behind the pace stables. Just pick one and make yourself comfortable. If that’s all, I won’t see you out.’

  ‘Wonderful. Three, let’s go.’ Xi Qian’e stood and beckoned to her, swiftly leaving out the door.

  She started, blinking — hadn’t she been air mere moments ago? — and hurried after. A cough rippled through the air; turn back, she was met with the questions in Two’s limpid, hooded eyes and the boiling darkness of One’s heavy gaze.

  She turned away and chased after Xi Yu’s shadow.

  Stepping over the building’s threshold was like breaking through the membrane of a bubble. The stifling tension that had crept up on her was ripped away like a rag, the golden afternoon light searing across her skin.

  She took a breath, tasted the crisp cold, and blew white clouds.

  Her gaze settled on Xi Qian’e’s soft smile, thinner than paper yet warm like a bowl of noodle soup.

  ‘Xi Yu,’ she said, ‘what do you want to do now?’

  Her princess reached out a hand, finer than jade, and gently grasped around her own. ‘Can we watch the sun fall?’

  She clenched that hand. The cold of Xi Yu’s palm slowly warmed. She was holding a gentle piece of ice, snow that would melt in her grasp and run clean through her dirty fingers.

  ‘Of course,’ she said. Then, a smile. ‘But we’re going to do it properly.’

  Xi Qian’e blinked, confused. ‘What do you mean?’

  *

  ‘You’re braver than you look,’ the princess sneered. ‘Daring to rob even from the Second Prince’s kitchen.’

  ‘Of course, of course,’ Three sniggered, ‘but I’m no match for you, little accomplice.’

  ‘Oh, I see how it is, you rat.’ Xi Qian’e smiled, the light curve of her lips catching the honey beams of the sun. She reached out to grab Three’s hand, letting herself be pulled up the cobbled stone wall. ‘Trying to pull me down with you, huh?’

  Squatting on top of the wall, Three gave a snort and lifted the other in her arms, muscles flexing. Then, carrying her princess, she leapt down onto the dirt. ‘Obviously. Why shouldn’t I?’

  She made a beeline for the kitchen.

  Xi Qian’e crossed her legs, still in Three’s arms. ‘Well, I do hope whatever you steal pays off your impulsivity.’

  ‘Pardon me, but your life is as bnd as pin rice.’ Grinning, she tossed the princess in the air a few times and was rewarded with a light sp to the cheek. ‘You need some impulse, darling. Live a little!’

  ‘Yes, I’m living. Because stealing from my cousin is the epiphany of life —’

  ‘Exactly!’ Having arrived at the kitchen complex, Three put down the princess, a twinge of disappointing running through her hands. Then she schooled herself and reached out, opening a window.

  In the building was a flurry of steam and fire; for every stovetop stood two men, one to cook and one to stoke the fmes.

  She stuck her head in and called out to a grey-haired woman arranging meat buns on a pte. ‘Hello, Aunty! Uh, would it be alright if I could have some food?’

  The woman nearly jumped at her voice; spluttering, the older servant said, ‘Who are you? What do you want?’

  ‘Ah, I’m a female eunuch following the First Prince,’ she lied. ‘I haven’t eaten for days, could you please spare me a bun or two?’

  The woman’s willow-leaf eyes traced the lines of her bony face — that burning gaze floated down onto her choker of scars, the mars that wrapped around her fingers and wrists. ‘What happened? Did you offend anyone?’

  ‘No, no.’ Throwing in some pity for good measure, she said, ‘I’m supporting my mother, I don’t have the money for food.’ Csping her hands together, she wheedled, ‘Please, Aunty? Did I mention you’re absolutely gorgeous today? Sprightlier than a spring chicken, if I do say so myself.’

  The woman rolled her eyes and grabbed two buns from the waiting stack. Tossing them into a paper bag, she handed it to Three through the window. ‘Alright, fine. This is one-off, got it? I’d better not see your face again, or I’ll report you.’

  ‘Thanks!’ Beaming a brilliant smile, she took the bag and gave a wink before vanishing from the window.

  She ran back to the princess, who was squatting behind a collection of boulders shaped into small mountains. ‘I’m back.’ She held out a bun, finishing one off herself in a few bites. The fatty meat and soup inside flooded her tongue, the skin’s soft, spongey texture against her lips — it was bliss incarnate.

  ‘You’re quite the sweet-talker,’ Xi Qian’e said. The other took a few small bites and swallowed. The heat made her lips redden. Red like lychees. ‘I thought you’d —’

  ‘What, sneak around and threaten people at knifepoint?’ She snorted and helped the other to her feet, ‘I’m better than that, don’t look down on my talents.’

  ‘I won’t, I won’t.’ Xi Qian’e smiled and handed her the remaining half of the bun. ‘I can’t finish it.’

  ‘What am I, your night-soil vat?’ She rolled her eyes and polished it off, licking her lips. A soft heat burned at her — that bun had once touched the other’s lips —

  She stomped down on that line of thought.

  Then Xi Qian’e quickened, pulling ahead and rolling into a smooth yet skipping rhythm.

  Three held that hand as she walked. Then her walk became a jog, a run, a sprint; the wind blew through her hair, that hand never letting go, chasing after the setting sun, the ball of fire that hung above the towering stone horizon.

  The path of cobbled rock dwindled away, melting into the strip of grass and purple-flowering weeds before the wall. They came up to her thighs — their spindly arms brushed at her legs, dancing in Xi Qian’e’s shadow, kissing the bck hair that had started to come undone and the white robes that flew like swallows.

  Her breaths came faster. Though the air was cold, it warmed deep in her chest, as though the very light could seep its way into her chest.

  Then, they came to the pace wall.

  The stone wall, incomparably tall, split the sky in two. It cast a cold darkness, stealing the grasses and wildflowers away; the cold, once staved off by the honey-orange sun, now chilled the white puffs from her lips.

  She extended a hand — her fingertips froze whilst her wrist burned.

  ‘This can do,’ Xi Qian’e said. ‘Even with the wall, at least the sun isn’t hidden.’

  She turned to the other. ‘Doesn’t the Pace of Gentle Snow have better sunsets? It should be better there, what with the kes and trees.’

  Light caught on the edge of Xi Qian’e’s skin; the outline of her face was almost glowing. Blowing something from her nose that was both a sigh and a ugh, the princess added, ‘My residence faces the northern and southern mountains. There isn’t much to see, and regardless I don’t quite dare to stick myself out the window or climb on the roof. Not to mention the fog — and besides, I only came back to the capital recently.’ She mused, ‘It hasn’t even been six months yet. I never had the time.’

  ‘Well,’ said Three, ‘now that you’ve got the time, would you dare to climb the wall?’

  ‘What?!’

  ‘Well, the view would be better up there,’ she said, gesturing to the sun peeking over the top, ‘than down here. And most of the guards know my face, anyway — they won’t report it.’

  Because they’re afraid I’ll kill them.

  ‘You’re crazy.’ Xi Qian’e pointed to the wall and said, ‘How, exactly, do you pn for me to get up there? By running and hoping the wind can lift me up? I’m not like you — I don’t have qinggong, I can’t lighten my body to that extent.’

  ‘No, seriously.’ She pulled the princess and walked along the wall, finally spotting a set of dder-like bricks protruding from the wall. ‘When stonemasons and sves built the Imperial City’s walls, they would turn out some bricks to make footholds. It was too dangerous to remove them after the inner walls were built, so they were just left there.’

  ‘…But what if people climbed them?’ The princess paused and said, ‘There are no walls near the Pace of Gentle Snow —’

  ‘That’s because your pace is on the water. The walls’ only purpose is to keep out the mountain animals.’ She smiled and said, ‘The Imperial City is a pteau of forest surrounded by the northern mountains and rivers; nature itself is already a sufficient wall.’

  She reached out a hand to trace a brick. It was cold, hard, a little dusty and damp. The hold it provided was as long as her palm — not too much, nor too little.

  These bricks marched up the wall in turns; right, left, then right again, all the way up to the top. The width of the stone ‘steps’ was that of one and a half shoulder-lengths, and the gap between each vertical ledge was about two legs’ worth.

  While it wouldn’t pose a problem for her, it might be difficult for the princess.

  Turning back, she asked, ‘Can you do it?’

  Xi Qian’e gritted her teeth. ‘If I fall…’

  ‘I’ll catch you.’ She smiled and added, ‘If you want to, get on my back and I’ll carry you up.’

  ‘No, it’s fine. I’ll just learn.’ Like a cat trying to prove its prowess, the other marched up to the wall and pced a foot on the first brick. Then, she looked down to gre, ‘Chicken Feet, you’d better catch me if I fall.’

  She smiled, ‘Of course, of course. I wouldn’t dare let your precious ass hit the ground.’

  The princess rolled her eyes; then she started to climb.

  Three watched, slowly craning her neck back. Xi Qian’e’s progress was slow; it was in a faltering manner that the other cmbered up.

  ‘You’re nearly there,’ she said. ‘Don’t worry, I’m here.’

  ‘You better be,’ Xi Qian’e snorted.

  The woman smoothly climbed to the top, even if her legs and arms were trembling from fear. Then, with a shudder, she jumped up over the wall and rolled out of sight. ‘I made it!’ A shout. ‘The view’s amazing, Chicken Feet!’

  ‘Great.’ Three leapt onto the stone and crawled up, ‘I’m coming!’

  Then she jumped up and hit the sunlight.