And so he did, using a conveniently placed stone to jump high enough on the wall to grab a tree branch. It was a delicate maneuver. He’d already tried it twice before now and had fallen on his ass each time. He’d only succeeded when he’d found and moved the rock.
This time he jumped, grabbed the branch, and then swung himself up beside her. And she looked appropriately impressed.
“Are you a spirit?” she asked. “It’s like you flew up here.”
“You know I am not. Spirits probably smell sweeter than I do.”
She took a delicate sniff, then wrinkled her nose. “It is not so bad.”
“I am pleased to hear it.” And even more pleased when he saw how her gaze roved over his chest. She leaned in to press lightly against his arm.
He shifted his position such that his forearm fell just below her breast. Indeed, he felt the weight of it on his arm and saw Ling Xin’s cheeks flush pink. But she did not move away.
“Was that you singing this afternoon? It was beautiful. It distracted me from the essay I was writing.”
“That was Li Fei. She had planned to sing for the emperor. It is her talent.”
“Planned?” he said. “She will not go to the selection for empress?”
She shook her head. “She was meant to. Indeed, we were to go to the selection together, but her father changed his mind. I do not know why.”
“So you are the one meant for the Forbidden City.”
It wasn’t a question. In truth, it was never a question. From the moment she was born a girl, her father had planned to make her the next empress. Nevertheless, she nodded.
“My father thinks I am more likely to attract the emperor’s notice. Li Fei is small and fairy-like. Very attractive in her own way, but he doesn’t think the emperor wants a fairy in his bed.”
He could tell by her tone that she didn’t fully understand what she was saying. Most aristocratic girls were not educated in the basics of copulation. They were kept isolated from the one thing they would need to know to attract a man. He thought it an unwise choice, but he was not a father.
“And this is what you want?” He tried to phrase it as a question, but he already knew the answer. Even his own sisters spent nights dreaming of becoming the new Empress of China, but they could not attend the Feast of Fertility from which the new empress would be chosen. There wasn’t enough money to fund both the girls and his education. There wasn’t enough left over for clothing, much less the bribes or training needed to outfit the future empress.
Clearly all the Song family money was going to this woman. And how could he blame them?
She was beautiful with her sweet moon face, bright red lips, and the timbre in her voice made a man’s balls tighten. It was only when he looked in her eyes that he saw the wild streak in her. Her eyes danced with delight at things that should not attract a well-behaved woman. Things like bantering with a man while standing on a wall or ogling a man doing his martial artsforms in the moonlight. And a well-behaved woman would never risk climbing a wall with a hurt foot.
Ling Xin was a woman who liked to take chances, and that might not attract an emperor, but it certainly called to him. Every part of his body yearned to do more than look at her in the shadows.
Meanwhile, her mind seemed to be elsewhere. “I want to bring my family honor,” she said, her expression and her tone abruptly flat. “And it is a great honor to become empress.”
Oh my. That was not an auspicious answer, especially when spoken in that empty tone. He turned to face her more squarely, and when she did not respond, he nudged her arm much as he might his eldest sister.
“What do you really want?”
She arched her brows at him. It was a perfect empress look of disdain, and he marveled at the power in it. It didn’t affect him, of course. She had tumbled into his arms last night, so he knew she was no prim miss. But he did admire the expression.
And he matched it with one of his own.
It took a while. He expected her to break first because women were always weak around him, but she did not. In the end, he had to give her something more than his stern expression.
“Come now,” he coaxed. “I can tell you don’t mean it. I will make you a deal. I shall tell you my secret if you share one of yours.”
Her expression shifted to wariness, but he already knew she would give in. She liked being daring and what was more daring than trading secrets with a stranger?
“You first,” she said.
He nodded. He had expected no less. “I have two sisters who are eligible for the Feast of Fertility.”
She gasped. “What are their names? I will—”