‘We don’t have anywhere to go, Chicken Feet,’ Xi Qian’er said. ‘How ironic.’

  ‘I know,’ she said.

  They sat on a bridge in the imperial gardens above a thawing pond. Some distance away, eunuchs were fishing out the koi in shallower kes, moving them and the smaller fish to rge wooden barrels.

  The water was quiet in its frozen state.

  Three let her legs swing from the bench, kicking the gravel’s pebbles one by one onto the ice.

  ‘Three, I… I’m really scared, for once.’ Curled up, thin arms hugging the bulging leather bag, Xi Qian’e cracked a thin, miserable smile. ‘You terrify me like nothing else. Liking you feels horrible.’

  ‘Good, we’re even.’ Warmth bubbled up in her. Her heart had never been so light yet cmmy; it was as though she’d eaten a handful of freshly roasted chestnuts and burned herself on the tongue too. A tinkling ugh slipped from her as she said, ‘I like you too.’

  If I must die one day, it wouldn’t be too bad to have it at your hands.

  Then her smile faltered.

  Did the young miss once feel the same way too?

  She couldn’t ever, ever love her Xi Yu in the same way — it would hurt too much, it would smother them both —

  Xi Qian’e flushed red, even her ears turning pink. ‘You’ve got the tongue of a snake,’ she hissed.

  ‘You’ve got thin skin.’ Three teased, ‘You’re shy. And very pretty.’ As the princess turned redder and redder she grinned and tapped her cheek, ‘Come on, gorgeous, gimme a kiss —’

  The princess smacked her on the top of her head. ‘Shut it.’

  ‘Whatever you want.’

  Then arms circled around her, pulling her into a thin embrace, the bag left abandoned on the bench. A chin rested on her shoulder.

  Oh.

  Fuck.

  Three’s heartrate immediately shot to dangerous levels.

  ‘I’m sorry, Three,’ Xi Qian’e mumbled, ‘for being so cold, recently. I’m going to try harder. I’ll work for us, too.’

  ‘…For what?’ Never had she been so grateful that the other couldn’t see her face. Otherwise, she’d die from both a fever-inducing heart attack and embarrassment. It was like warm air was pumped into her — she was lighter than a bird, almost high over the clouds from the soft press of lips on her neck. ‘Kissing? You’re a quick learner, princess —’

  ‘Not that,’ mumbled the other. ‘But I’m not going to let you go, Chicken Feet.’

  ‘That’s good.’

  Xi Qian’e hugged her tighter. Any tighter and she would turn into mushy jelly. ‘We’re a good set.’

  Even with everything?

  But Three kept quiet and watched the sun drift away. Relief, a soft smile — it spilled over her face.

  She had never needed to melt that wall of ice.

  Xi Yu had already smashed it pieces for her.

  ‘Hey, Three,’ the princess asked, ‘what about “Hu Bingchuan”?’

  ‘Gciers are too cold.’ Leaning back to fsh a grin, she said, ‘That name would suit you more, I reckon. You have ice for facial muscles, you know.’

  The princess only sneered, each of her reprimanding raps on the head lighter than rain.

  *

  They got up once the eunuchs started coming too close.

  ‘We can’t keep hiding like this,’ Three said. ‘It will be impossible to survive once the empress sends his men after us again. And he likely will by nightfall.’

  ‘I know.’ Xi Qian’e’s eyes hardened with a vicious light. The sunlight, a diluted orange, gleamed like stars in her red eyes, reflected in white waves on her hair. The gravel crunched under their shoes. ‘We must have the empress turn his attention from us to the First Prince. And to do so…’

  Three reached out to hold the princess’s hand.

  Fingertips pressed into her palms as thin lips whispered by her ear. ‘Kill the Fifth Prince and take his head. Frame it as One would, then come find me — I trust you can track the First Prince and I down.’

  She froze.

  Then, she nodded.

  The princess drew away. ‘I’m sorry, Three, but I can’t expin it to you right now. If you get caught by the emperor again and she orders you to divulge our secrets, then we’d —’

  She patted the top of Xi Qian’e’s head with a gentle, soothing smile. ‘Don’t worry, Xi Yu.’ Leaning in to press a kiss on the other’s lips, she murmured, ‘I trust you.’

  And the princess smiled so dazzlingly she couldn’t help but wonder why such meagre words could make the other so painfully happy.

  If she could always keep the other smiling —

  What a wonderful thing it would be.

  Xi Qian’e led her to the Hall of Heavenly Harmony. The walk to the morning court was utterly terrifying — all her muscles wound up, tension in every string of her body.

  The closer they came, the more people there were.

  And when the gravel became hard earth and the yellow stones became wooden steps, Three came face-to-face with all her surviving siblings.

  One.

  Two.

  Five.

  Seven.

  The pairs of masters and guards all fell silent, having met each other. Only Two kept his forced nonchance; he raised a hand and waved in greeting to her, a scarred wrist peeking out from his robes.

  Then he was spped by the irritated Second Prince, who dragged him away and into the hall’s bright mouth.

  The First Prince didn’t even bother to look at them; he just left and walked away, the bulky One quietly trailing behind. The guard, already thirty-one, seemed to have aged with so many deaths — now, his shadow had thinned, his muscles like giant weights, face gaunt and thin.

  He, too, was swallowed by the dark.

  The Fifth Prince didn’t stick around and quickly followed after his elder cousins, pausing only to shoot a disapproving look at the leather bag on Xi Yu’s shoulders. Five didn’t move; her mouth opened and closed, as though a fish stranded on a beach, eyes burning into Three’s cheeks. It was only when the man snapped, ‘Five!’ that she left and hurried after him.

  And Seven, now masterless, was like a piece of wood that was numb to the world.

  He had gained a little bit of weight, but the sense of purpose that had once lingered about him had vanished. Perhaps it was the loss of his master, or maybe the terrified flutter in his eyes, but his soul had been cut away with a knife, just like what Two so often did to his own skin.

  Seven nodded to Three and said with a twisted smile, ‘Well, you look…’ He barked a harsh ugh, ‘Great. You fucking, heartless bitch!’

  Xi Qian’e exploded into a hissing fit, snarling, ‘Shut up and leave!’ A hand seized hers, dragging her away. ‘Get out of our sight!’

  ‘Thank you, Xi Yu.’ She smiled and let herself be tugged along. ‘It’s alright, you know.’

  But Seven yelled at her back, ‘The head shadow’s coming, little girl!’ Footsteps stormed after her.

  She froze. She forced herself to walk, to push through the terrible ice that chained her down.

  ‘Just wait until the Dongzhi Festival,’ Seven roared, the shadow of his fist flying over her shoulder, ‘you and your bastard princess can go find Four in the Yellow Springs!’

  Three smashed a foot into his stomach, kicking him down the stairs.

  She leapt down after him, impulse and fiery rage burning through her veins. He scrabbed up to her, a fistful of dust in his hands, but she dislocated his wrist and spped him across the face.

  ‘Choose your words wisely, Brother,’ she hissed. ‘You may know how to hurt me, but I know you just the same.’

  Seven fell silent. He draped his arm over his face, blocking out the sun and shattered eyes.

  Three snapped his wrist back in pce and let it fall, spping back into the dirt. ‘We’ve changed, Seven, and you’ve got to accept that.’

  ‘I can’t believe it,’ he mumbled. ‘How could you… how could you and that princess…?’

  She knelt, the anger fizzling away. Pulling him up to sit, she said, ‘My first love was a poisonous honey. Yours was never tasted. Only you can decide, and I suggest letting time smooth it over for you.’ At his impassive, emaciated face, she added, ‘You can’t kill yourself anyway.’

  He ughed.

  Then she walked away and followed her princess.