Nothing seemed to move, not even the air. Finally the emperor said, “You truly believe this.”

“I truly believe this,” Rosethorn said in agreement.

After a long moment’s consideration, Weishu told Rosethorn, “This plant will be in your pavilion, with a suitable container, when you return there today. You will carry this thing all those miles home with you?”

Rosethorn straightened to her knees. “It would be my honor,” she replied. Her back had gone stiff on the ground; she struggled to get one leg up so she could stand. Briar lunged to help her. To the boy’s surprise and Rosethorn’s, the emperor himself grasped the arm that Briar did not. Gently they helped her to rise. Once she was on her feet, Briar let her go.

The emperor threaded Rosethorn’s arm through his. “Have you a thought as to the color and shape for our rose?” he asked. “Or is it too soon to inquire?”

THE GROVE OF VENERABLE OAKS

THE WINTER PALACE

DOHAN IN YANJING

At the breakfast feast that the emperor had set up in Rosethorn’s honor, Briar was finally able to eat his fill. Once that was done he went in search of his vanished student. He found Evvy among the feasting groups of courtiers. She was tucked under an awning, seated on a bench. Parahan sat cross-legged on the ground beside her. Briar had glimpsed him earlier, but hadn’t had a chance to do more than nod before the emperor had claimed his attention and Rosethorn’s. The young female mage, who had stood with the others next to the throne the night before, was now on the bench with Evvy.

Parahan grinned up at him. Briar took that as an invitation and sat beside him.

“How many cats do you have?” Evvy was asking the young mage. “I have seven —”

“Evvy, I don’t think the nanshur wants to know about your cats,” Briar said. Experience had taught him that not everyone welcomed Evvy’s way of chattering on about the subjects she liked.

“But I have cats of my own,” the mage explained. “I would have seven if I could, but the servants would frown at me.” She smiled prettily at Briar. “I am Jia Jui, one of the imperial mages. It is an honor to meet you, Nanshur Briar Moss.”

Briar gave her a bow in return. She was very pretty, but he was still jumpy after the goings-on in the rose garden. She was also much too old for him, though she was young for an academic mage — in her mid- to late twenties, perhaps. She wore only a single long string of beads around her neck, and some of them were blank. Could that mean they had no spells? Or were they really nasty, and hidden?

“Nanshur Moss, you are staring at my beads,” Jia Jui said, her voice teasing. She had produced a fan from her sash and was using it to hide the bare skin above the neckline of her robes.

Briar was rarely caught without something to say. “Actually I was admiring the embroidery on the borders of your outer robe. Please forgive me if I seemed to be rude. Are these bits done with knots? My foster-sister works her magic through thread, and I have to tell her about the beautiful work I see. Are those phoenixes?”

“They are,” Jia Jui said with a smile, smoothing the threadwork with pride. “I stitched for years to make this robe. It is such a pleasure to meet a man who takes an interest in these things.”

“I’m going to meet his sisters when we go to his home,” Evvy said. “One of them braids weather into her hair.”

Jia Jui laughed musically. “It is a shame you did not bring your sisters with you,” she told Briar. “They would have learned much from my teachers, I know, and we could have learned from you.” She looked up at Briar, her eyes twinkling. “I would love a demonstration of your magic. I have never known someone who got his certification from the schools in the west.”

She doesn’t believe Evvy, Briar realized. She doesn’t believe that my medallion could mean I’m as good as a Yanjingyi mage.

Coldly he thought, And maybe that’s for the best. Despite the friendly reception, he had that old bad feeling. It was one he got when he was burgling a house, and his instincts told him he had been noticed by guards, or dogs, or magic.

“No demonstrations here, of course,” Jia Jui was saying. “It is permitted in the imperial presence only under special circumstances.”

“Of course not,” Briar replied agreeably. “There’s no telling what might go awry, with so many mages present and so many spells for the emperor’s protection woven around him.”

“Exactly,” Jia Jui said. “You grasp what many visitors to court have not, Nanshur Briar. Now I will not stop you from dining, and Evvy, you may tell me about your cats.”

Briar waved off a servant with more food, but he did accept a pitcher of coconut water and a cup to drink it with. Parahan took water and a bowl of steamed dumplings. They listened for a moment as Evvy began to count cats on her fingers. “There’s Mystery, Asa, Apricot, Raisin, Ball, Monster, and Ria. They lived with me in Chammur, but they’re travelers now. What about your cats?”

“Will you get in trouble for going off with Evvy like that?” Briar asked Parahan.

“Not at all,” the big man replied between mouthfuls. “The guards were with us all along. And I was instructed to help keep you three amused. I imagine I will spend a good amount of time with Evvy. There are more flower gardens than the emperor could show you in one morning.”

Briar made a face. “Believe me, I’d rather look at plants and trees than armies like we did yesterday.”