“He can’t force her to be his concubine. It’s not right,” Lilette said.
“He can do whatever he wants.”
Lilette knew that better than anyone. “Will the witches believe him?”
Ko’s gaze was fixed on the floor. “I don’t know.”
A eunuch brought Lilette another bowl of rich broth. Though Ko had to help her sit up, she was able to grip the bowl and sip it herself. It was such a relief when her body welcomed the food instead of promptly rejecting it.
“How long have I been asleep?” she asked.
Ko refilled her cup of tea. “Almost a whole day.”
Lilette passed a hand over her face in frustration. A whole day wasted. “Did Jolin say anything about my sister?” She set the empty bowl down. “I saw her with the other witches.”
Ko shook her head. “I’m sorry.”
Lilette finished a few cups of the tea the eunuchs had made according to Jolin’s instructions. Then Ko dismissed all of the eunuchs.
Despite her worry for Jolin and her distress for her sister and the others, Lilette fell asleep. She woke in the late afternoon, feeling as if she was no longer hand in hand with death.
A eunuch who’d been kneeling in the corner kowtowed and backed from the room. Ko came in moments later with more broth, this time with noodles. Lilette pushed herself into a sitting position for the first time in two days. Such a small thing, but it felt like a victory. Though she trembled, she was able to slurp the food on her own. Ko left for a time while the eunuchs bathed Lilette. Then she slept again.
When she opened her eyes next, it was cooler and the light was soft—it was morning. That made it three days since Laosh had poisoned her. Five days since Lilette had left Calden. A pang of homesickness shot through her.
A breeze flowed through the open windows. Another eunuch brought Lilette some plain rice, fruit, and tea. Then Ko knelt beside the sleeping mat and dismissed all the eunuchs.
Lilette slipped a piece of mango into her mouth. Sweet and tart, with a metallic aftertaste. “How’s Jolin?”
Ko sighed. “She’s been fighting, so they gave her the sleeping tincture. She hasn’t woken yet.”
Lilette steeled herself. She would have to be patient, but patience had never come easily to her.
“You need to be very careful how you address the heir. Only the emperor is more powerful,” Ko said bitterly.
Lilette stared into the distance and hoped her song made her stronger than Chen. Her fingers felt big and clumsy as she gripped the chopsticks.
Ko watched her. “Do you remember me finding you wandering the compound, lost and disoriented? My helping you here?” There was a tension about Ko, a tightness to her face, and she looked exhausted.
Lilette swallowed her mouthful. “Han brought me here.”
Not meeting her gaze, Ko stirred the rice. “You were very sick. You must have imagined that.”
“Why are you so afraid that I’ll remember?”
Ko bowed her head. “They kill any whole man who enters the harem, besides the emperor or the heir—and even he must be escorted by the chief eunuch. No man may lay eyes upon the imperial concubines if the emperor does not wish it—even if that man is my son.” Ko finally looked up, pleading plain on her face. “Please.”
Lilette could not deny her. Not after everything she’d done. “Your secret—his secret—will become my secret.”
Ko let out a deep breath. “After you and your family escaped, they took him from me and locked down the harem so even the children could not leave. The night he brought you here was the first I’ve seen him in eight years.” There were tears in her voice, though her face remained a tight mask. “I barely recognized him—my own son.”
“Chief Wang told me they took the children at twelve,” Lilette said. Han had only been ten when she left, while Chen had been days from twelve.
“They wouldn’t tell me why they took him early,” Ko said softly.
Lilette’s determination to escape hardened within her. She would not bear children only to give them up and never see them again.
Gazing out the window, she studied the guards patrolling the ramparts. How had Han gotten inside? How had he found her? “Is there a way out?”
Ko stared at the mat she knelt on. “We are the best-guarded treasure in the whole empire. To leave the compound without permission is to die.”
If Han had managed it, so could Lilette. She wasn’t afraid of death. Not anymore. In fact, a part of her longed for it. Though not eating for the last few days had caused her stomach to shrink, she forced herself to finish her food.
Ko gathered up the dishes and left just before Jolin came stiffly inside and slid the screen shut. Her eyes were bleary, her hair a limp. There were tight lines of pain on her face.