They climbed down the wall just before the sun set.

  There was a fuzzy float to her steps; it was as though her head had been filled with air and was tied down to drunken legs.

  She didn’t know what that kiss had done, but had proved something, like a stamp on a contract — some sort of bond or retionship that had Xi Qian’e reaching out for her hand and made her let it happen.

  It was like a hot iron. It burned her, but she couldn’t bear to let go.

  They walked through the wildflowers in silence. The night’s cold settled in with waves of crisp soil, hard under her boots. Lantern lights flickered ahead, dotting a hazy sea in the dark as they crossed onto the cobbled path.

  The inky bck, in a way, brought a strange dignity. It was an extra yer of cloth on her face, something to hide behind, like the bnket she’d once spread over General Jian’s tortured corpse.

  Footsteps echoed — she wrenched her hand from Xi Qian’e’s.

  ‘Three? What’s wrong?’

  ‘There’s someone up ahead.’

  A man walked out the shadows of a twisted pine tree. He had an unnatural bulkiness to him, as though he were some tiny finch that had gorged itself on some magic until it was more muscle than feathers. The grey robes on his body were stretched so tightly that the very fibres themselves trembled; any further, and the carefully cultivated shape of his flesh would become something grotesque.

  ‘Greetings, Your Highness,’ he said. ‘I was sent by the First Prince to ensure your safety tonight.’

  Xi Qian’e didn’t respond; rather, she inclined her head towards Three.

  ‘I thank your efforts,’ Three said, giving a nod, ‘and I hope for a happy cooperation.’

  ‘Of course. Allow me to escort you two to your quarters.’ The man stepped closer, a faint smile on his face, hands rigid at his sides. He took another step, the thumb and middle fingers on his right hand touching; he lifted his left to pull at the colr of his robes —

  Three leapt forward, a knife in each hand, smming the bdes at his face. He dodged and kicked at her, but she stomped down on his leg. A loud snap rung out into the air — he screamed, body going limp — she stabbed at his neck — the knife sank in —

  He fell.

  She didn’t wait to check. She ripped the bde out and grabbed the horrified princess’s hand, sprinting away.

  ‘Your Highness,’ she said, ‘that man wanted to kill you! Assassins are coming, we’ve got to run!’

  ‘What?’ The princess’s breaths grew increasingly boured; soon, Three would have to carry her. ‘But didn’t the First Prince —?’

  ‘His men aren’t here!’ No longer caring if they were seen, she bolted out for the pace’s exit; she didn’t know the terrain and there were too many people.

  If she could make it to another pace —

  If she could bring them to the emperor’s quarters —

  Her princess would survive. The emperor would not refuse her if she begged.

  She had to run.

  They managed to flee out of the Second Prince’s pace; then, she seized the other’s shoulders and commanded, ‘Xi Yu, you’ll need to run. Go to the emperor’s pace — she won’t refuse you.’

  ‘Three — what?’ Xi Qian’e shook off her hands and stumbled back. ‘No, I’m going with you!’

  She could only bluntly say, ‘Xi Yu, you’re a burden to me right now. I can’t protect you and fight everyone off at once. No-one will dare to offend the emperor; if you get within her line of sight, you’ll be safe!’

  ‘The emperor isn’t someone I can see because I want to, Three!’ Emotion bloomed across the other’s skin and face, in a crazed, almost feverish explosion. There was so much of it — anger, fear, anxiety, panic.

  She gritted her teeth and reached into her robes, taking out the white jade token the emperor had once given her. Stuffing it into Xi Qian’e’s hand, she said, ‘Take this. No servant will stop you. Just run!’

  ‘This —’ The princess gasped, ‘How did you get the emperor’s personal seal?!’

  ‘Go!’ She shoved the other hard and snapped, ‘Leave, before we both die!’

  Xi Qian’e stumbled back, a terrible light fshing in her eyes. ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘Give me your pack, it’ll slow you down. If you dare die, I’ll throw it and your corpse into the Imperial City’s river.’

  ‘The same for you,’ Three snapped. She slung off her things — inside it, the skirt, chrysanthemums, coins and medicines. Perhaps it would come in handy — at the least, Xi Qian’e could use it as a shield. ‘Now, GET OUT!’

  The princess turned away and ran.

  She ran to the cover of the jasmine bridges and waited.

  Then, the footsteps.

  The thumping of countless pairs of boots echoed in her ears, all around like a terrifying net that slowly closed over her neck. The candlelight of the nterns flickered, shadows twisting in the young night.

  How many were there?

  The First Prince’s words rang out in her head — They won’t be as skilled as the shadow guards, but they’ve got the quantity.

  If even First Prince Xi Jiaoyang could cultivate his own men, then how many more would the empress have? The imperial noble consort?

  The terror locked around her.

  There were twelve men, all carrying knives that glinted in the dull moonlight, with sharp eyes and sharp teeth and sharp murder in their smiles.

  They were tracking down Xi Yu’s steps.

  As a man moved towards the princess’s tracks, she seized a stone from the garden and threw it hard, smashing into a nearby ntern.

  The lights went out.

  And darkness fell on them all.