Fox and Phoenix (Lóng City 1)

Finally, Yún swallowed. The furious expression leaked away, and she just looked ill. “Magic,” she said, then swallowed again. “Protection spells.”

“I guessed that.”

She frowned. “Your fault, Kai. What—”

“Oh, shut up,” I said and rolled over to throw up everything I’d eaten.

Yún shouted for help. Above the pounding in my skull, I heard an even louder thunder of footsteps. Doors opened from fifty different directions, and a whole battalion of servants exploded into view. When they saw us, they all sneered in unison and turned to go, but Yún was having none of that. She shouted some more, ordering them around as if she were a princess herself. In two minutes they’d mopped up the mess, and I was sitting over in one corner, dressed in a fresh tunic and with my face scrubbed clean, while Yún fussed over me.

I swatted her away. “I’m fine. Leave me alone.”

“What did you think you were doing? Running around the palace without an escort?”

“I-I wanted to see the emperor. That’s all. And don’t tell me how stupid that was. I know.”

“Not stupid,” sh

e said. “Impulsive.”

I glanced up to see her smiling at me. The first real smile since that night when she caught up with me in the mountains. We were alone. The servants had all disappeared into their hidey-holes, even the ones who usually loitered around waiting for orders. All I could think about was how much I wanted to kiss her.

Voices—way too close—made us both jump back. The next minute, Lian came striding toward her rooms, trailed by a retinue of courtiers and palace servants. Her eyes gleamed like a mountain eagle’s.

Uh-oh.

Lian halted in front of us. The tide of followers crashed into an invisible barrier behind her.

“What are you doing?” she said.

“Taking a tour,” I said weakly.

Her gaze flicked from me to Yún and back. “Ah, yes. I should have told you. It’s dangerous to wander around the palace without permission.”

“So we found out,” Yún said. “What happened to you?”

Lian flushed. “Not here,” she said in a low voice.

She stalked through the doors. Her followers poured inside. Just as quickly they poured back out and scattered in all directions. Some glared at us as they passed. The rest wore those blank expressions you see in Courtier Catalog.

Yún watched them depart, smiling faintly. “Our princess is in a rage.”

She stood and held out a hand. Too miserable to argue, I let her pull me to standing. “Thanks,” I said gruffly.

“It was my turn to help you,” she said. “Come on. We’d better find out what happened with our friend.”

Lian waited for us in a parlor. She stood by the window overlooking an exquisite courtyard filled with trees covered with emerald-bright leaves. A narrow patch of cloud-smeared sky showed between the golden towers and spires that reached upward from all around. I caught a whiff of Jun’s musky scent, but the fox-spirit remained invisible. Just as well. Jun made me nervous.

Yún and I sat. Lian remained standing, staring down at the trees below, but her expression was remote, as though she were watching a far different scene.

I stirred. “What—”

“Nothing,” Lian snapped.

I glanced at Yún, who was studying Lian with a curious expression.

“You met Quan again, didn’t you?” she said.

Lian spun around. Stopped. Sank into the nearest chair. “Yes.”