News of Father's imminent arrival was officially announced at lunch the next day. Excitement ensued along with a flurry of activity. The gardens were to be pruned, the floors swept and instruments tuned.
"He never comes to listen to us anyway," complained a girl as the string on her lute snapped.
"Hush!" barked Auntie as she walked nearby. "Do you want your Father to arrive with the sound of badly plucked lutes in his ears?"
Dressmaking also became the most popular pastime, as despite the fact they would not be seen, everyone loved the excuse to be as beautiful as they could be. This was an enthusiasm that was much encouraged by Auntie who assured them all the silk stocks would be replenished anyway when Father arrived laden with gifts from the north.
Song Jie and Yang Min had already recently completed new dresses so they had time to sit in corners of the garden talking of what they should do. It turned out, much to Song Jie's surprise that she was not the only one that had nightmares. Yang Min dreamed of a golden palace burning and the ash would come and stain her face so she could no longer see.
"Why did you never tell me?" asked Song Jie, feeling horribly guilty.
"Yours seemed worse," replied Yang Min as if it was nothing.
The feeling of unease shared between the two girls had given them all they needed to escape, it seemed like a plan was a minor detail in Yang Min's mind, as she was quick-witted and sharp, practicalities and scenarios came easily to her.
"We are prepared for anything," she announced to Song Jie as they watched the fish jumping up from the pond.
"I hope so," Song Jie replied as she absently wondered how long a carp could hold its breath out of water.
They would wait until the new babies had been passed from Auntie to the girls waiting in the corridors. Father would then present Auntie with gifts from the Court, during that time she would be distracted and Yang Min and Song Jie could slip via the grates at the back to the front steps. The 'grates' were stone lattice work arches with stools for girls' quiet reflection. However, the jasmine had been so enamoured with the beautifully designed climbing frame that it had quite overtaken most of it, so that any person walking down the northern half of it was obscured from view. From the front steps the two girls would find their way to the final arches and gate leading out of the Concubine Houses. After this point, they were not sure where next to go or how to avoid the 'guards' they had only ever heard of.
"Maybe they only concern themselves with what is going in?" Yang Min suggested hopefully.
The day of the visit came and Song Jie awoke early, having had the same nightmare. The cold this time had frozen her feet. She looked down to see that her feet were indeed poking out from the covers; however the room was warm, bathed in morning sun. Everything seemed quieter than usual and she determined that the other girls must all either still be asleep or concentrating very hard on their tasks.
Song Jie changed first, into the thick pink dress with golden robes she had made weeks earlier. She then slipped on pink satin slippers and dressed her hair with small ivory flower pins. For the first time, she did not fragrance herself, afraid even the waft of a scent could give them away to the guards.
She hid outdoor shoes in a small pouch and put it behind her door, along with that she also stowed away a crystal bottle of water from the pool, the notes she had found, a handful of petals from the orange blossom trees wrapped in a silk ribbon and a small book of poetry she had claimed when a child.
Bags were not necessary at the Concubine Houses, after all no one ever went anywhere. Therefore Song Jie and Yang Min had fashioned their own from silks in their spare time when everybody else was pinning dresses.
Song Jie's stomach felt angrily empty, and although she was sure she was not hungry, it growled menacingly at her and then proceeded to gnaw on itself.
She dropped the pouch in fright when there was a loud knock on the door,
"It's Yang Min!" came a hissed, familiar voice.
Song Jie swung open the wooden door to see her friend looking perhaps even paler than her.
"Are the others awake?" Song Jie asked, positioning the pouch into its hiding place once more and noticing that Yang Min also had a bag but it was slung around her waist.
"What are you doing?" Song Jie asked anxiously, pointing to the bag. "You can't carry that into the breakfast hall! People will ask where you are going!"
"I know that," Yang Min rolled her eyes, "I just don't like leaving it anywhere. Most of the others are still asleep, the ones that are up don't look like they slept much, we will blend in well."
"Let's go to breakfast then," Song Jie nodded, feeling like she was a clockwork toy someone had wound up too tightly.
Yang Min pushed her pouch in with Song Jie's and the two girls made their way down the cloisters. On her last day Song Jie had expected everything in the Houses to smell sweeter, sound more enticing and seem more seductive. She had anticipated everything would save its fullest beauty for their day of departure so it would be even harder to leave. As if the whole place were drawing her back in to its comforting life.
However, nothing could have been further from the truth. It was as if the entire Houses and its inhabitants knew of their betrayal. As Song Jie and Yang Min walked down the arches, no fewer than four dragonflies flew at full speed into Yang Min's face, causing her to splutter and bat them away. The overhanging roses covering the door even scratched Song Jie's hand as she went to pull them back.
"I wasn't aware these roses had thorns," she muttered to herself as she inspected the scratch.
"How can honey taste bitter?" complained Yang Min as she attempted to eat her breakfast. They had piled their plates high, wanting to get as much energy as possible and not knowing when their next meal might come. However the reassuring sweet warmth the food usually provided was noticeably absent.
"And correct me if I'm wrong," Yang Min continued pointedly, "but is it looking, almost grey outside?"
Song Jie turned to gaze out of the windows. Yang Min was right, the sun seemed to have disappeared behind a mist. For the first time ever the gardens seemed uninviting. Song Jie shuddered as she realized the unusual quiet this morning had also been in part to the absence of bird chatter by her window.
"Up already?" croaked a tired voice suddenly from behind them. The girls both jumped - it was Auntie, shuffling into the breakfast hall on her stick, she obviously hadn't slept either. Auntie went immediately over to a large glass flask and poured herself a cup of honeyed water. She gulped it down in seconds and turned to refill her glass as if oblivious to the weather outside.
"Just us then," sighed Yang Min, "at least no one else will suspect anything."
As more and more girls piled into the hall, sleepy eyed and murmuring to each other, the haze outside seemed to lift somewhat and Song Jie and Yang Min could forget the ominous gloom of the morning. After breakfast, the plates were cleared away and the long tables that lined the edges of the room were pushed back further. Large decorated mats came out and placed on the floor, instruments were positioned ready and girls ran in and out to places where they could find mirrors.
When they had all assembled, Auntie instructed them to go about their duties, playing the sanxian or reading poetry. The nervous buzz in the room only seemed to make Song Jie's stomach even hungrier. She sat with Yang Min and three other girls plucking instruments.
Endless hours seemed to pass when finally there was a sound from outside - it was the main door being opened. It could be heard even from the other side of the Houses as every ear had been pricked waiting for it.
"He's here." whispered Yang Min, making the hairs on the back of Song Jie's neck stand up.
A little while later, Auntie returned looking nervous, she had discarded her stick for the visit and was hobbling painfully. "Gather round," she snapped at last, motioning with a gnarled hand. The girls all abandoned their instruments with a loud clatter and ran to kneel in front of her.
"I have news," Auntie's eyes seem to cloud over for a moment, lost in her own thoughts before she snapped her attention back to the gathered crowd. "Yes, I have some news. Your Father wishes to see you."
There was an audible intake of breath around the room as everyone leaned further towards the old woman for some kind of explanation.
"It is time, for... a Choosing," after that announcement Auntie fell silent and instead turned around and left the room abruptly. Everyone looked at each other before the hall dissolved in a frenzied chaos of chatter and talk.
Comments (0)
See all