The Concubine

childish games, he told himself. His attention was on the larger matters of state. No woman—certainly not a mouthy virgin—could tempt him away from that. His work, however unofficial, was more important. And yet, he couldn't resist thinking about her delectable lips, the saucy sway of her hips and that last look she'd given him as she walked into the Forbidden City. It was part challenge, part interest and wholly compelling.

Did he dare? Could he resist? Especially since she now owed him for his help. Bo Tao began to grin. Tomorrow's physical exam would be his next opportunity with the delectable virgin Ji Yue.

'WHY ARE YOU SO LAZY?' bellowed a male voice much too early the next morning. 'An empress must be ready at all hours of the day and night!'

Ji Yue gasped and sat bolt upright in her bed. She threw back the covers and put her feet to the floor before she realized how inappropriate that response was. Her roommate, Hua Si, of the long gold necklace that was now a choker, acted as a maiden ought; she pulled the covers up to her chin and trembled in fear at a man's presence in her room. But Ji Yue stood in her white night shift in front of…

Sun Bo Tao, the master of the festival. He stood at the doorway of their boxlike room and smirked as he stared at her bare calves and feet. Then his gaze traveled upward, and she felt the heat of his perusal slide up her legs, around her hips and then to the tips of her pointed breasts.

'How dare you enter my chamber!' she snapped as she quickly whipped the blanket off her bed and around her shoulders.

He arched his brows. 'I am the master here,' he drawled, somehow making his words suggestive. 'I dare whatever I wish.'

Ji Yue trembled even as her toes curled in delight at his dark words. She should not be intrigued by him, but he had tortured her already in her dreams. She had quivered beneath his gaze and trembled at his hold on her ankle. So his presence now seemed a simple continuation of his dreamtime seduction. But she could not allow him to distract her! So she lifted her chin and faced him eye to eye as a future empress.

'I am the emperor's concubine!' she responded tartly. 'It is not seemly for you to see my sleeping attire.'

'Ha!' he barked. 'You are no concubine yet! And no one has privacy in the Forbidden City.'

True enough. Eunuchs were everywhere. Even in the virgins' palace, they stood silent sentry over bathing, dressing, even peeing. 'A virgin, however, requires modesty,' she retorted. 'As I am awake now, your task is done. You may go wake the others.'

He arched a single black brow at her, the expression both menacing and…amused? Had she detected a glimmer of laughter beneath his dour expression? If she had, it was quickly erased.

'You will not be so impudent after today's physical examination, I wager,' he said darkly. 'No cosmetics. Today we will see you without lies.' Then he sketched a mocking bow and withdrew from the room.

'You are so brave!' murmured Hua Si as she emerged from the blankets. 'You must speak out at every turn. The emperor will be sure to notice your courage.'

Ji Yue barely restrained herself from rolling her eyes at the ploy. If she continued to speak as she did, the emperor would notice her long enough to toss her outside onto a garbage heap. A woman's virtues included silence and compliance, not the acid tongue she had when that man looked at her.

She sighed and began to dress. 'Do you know what is involved in the physical exam?' she asked. She had a guess, but maybe Hua Si had better information.

'I hope it involves food,' Hua Si returned. 'I'm starving.'

Ji Yue didn't respond. She doubted she could eat. Not with the master's dire prediction poisoning the air. What did he mean? What was to happen that would make her less impudent? And what would she do without cosmetics to make herself prettier?

Without thinking, she pulled out her cream pot. The sweet scent was not makeup, per se. It was merely a special lotion to keep the skin supple and sweeten the body's smell. Was it cheating to put it on?

'What are you doing?' Hua Si gasped.

'Nothing,' she lied as she stood there, cream on her fingertips.

'He said no makeup!'

'It is for the skin,' she said as she dabbed a bit on her face.

'They will find out you are cheating,' she said haughtily and spun out of the room, balancing perfectly on her tiny feet.

Ji Yue grimaced. Hua Si was going to tell. She quickly washed away the lotion from her cheeks but hesitated before leaving the room. There was one place where a woman's scent was strongest, one place where it most needed to be sweetened, and it was there that she'd been instructed to use the cream. Making a swift decision, she stroked a couple dabs below, resettled her clothing, then dashed out of the room.

There was no breakfast beyond the barest taste of tea. Ji Yue drank what she could, taking a moment to inspect her competition around the table. As a rule, they were all her age or younger. Though a few seemed composed, most showed their nerves in high tittering laughs or dark acerbic glares. A few had ignored the no- cosmetics rule while others displayed their natural beauty with pride.

And then he walked in and all other thoughts fled. She had been too flustered in the beginning to notice his attire, but now she looked closely. He was dressed in red and black court finery, but casually so. As if he wore it because he had to, not because he wished it. In that respect, he reminded her of her father. But in all other things, he was the exact opposite of her parent. Broad shoulders, commanding height and a jaw tightened in annoyance—he had a confidence that made her long to challenge him, to see if she could best him at his own game.

But then his gaze cut to hers, and her breath stopped cold in her throat. His eyes were sharp and dark, like the tip of the sharpest pin, and they pierced her straight through. Once again, she was immersed in her nighttime dream of him in her palanquin, his hand on her ankle, her knee, her thigh.

'Virgins,' he said, and he seemed to sneer the word. 'Virgins! You were told no cosmetics! Those who have ignored such commands will be taken out and summarily washed.'

His gaze was hard on her, as if he knew what she had done. But he couldn't. Not even Hua Si knew. So she arched her own mocking brow right back. Let him find where she had placed her lotion, and then explain to the emperor how he had discovered it.

He held her gaze for a moment longer, and it was as though a lute string vibrated between them. The tone it created was too low to be heard, but she felt it deep in her womb. And the more they stared at each other, the stronger the note became.

Then a girl screamed, and he looked away. Only then did Ji Yue breathe. And once air returned to her lungs, she had the wits to look around her and see what was happening. Eunuchs were moving through the crowd of girls. They inspected faces and lifted hair to sniff at the neck beneath. Any hint of charcoal or paint and the girl was dragged away. The one who had screamed was so young—too young to be here—and the eunuch was handling her roughly. He had a bruising grip on her arm and another hand dug deep into the girl's hair as he jerked her away from the table.

Ji Yue straightened in her seat. Did they not see that the girl was terrified? Away from her family for the first time in her life, surrounded by snakes of every kind, and now manhandled by a eunuch—it was no wonder that the girl was screaming. Worse, her struggles made the eunuch more vicious as he hauled her head back and twisted her arm. And what was this girl's crime? She'd put a little red paint on her lips! That was all!

Ji Yue stood, instinctively moving to stop the eunuch's cruelty. It was a stupid move. She could not afford to bring more unpleasant attention to herself. Besides, one less girl would lessen the competition. But she feared for the girl's sanity, so she pushed forward.

'Stop that!' bellowed the master.

The sound was so commanding that everyone froze. Ji Yue was stuck in a half crouch as she maneuvered her legs and tight skirt over the bench seat. Her legs trembled as she watched the master stomp across the room to the girl, who was—thankfully—no longer screaming. But one look at her face told Ji Yue that she wasn't breathing, either. Her mouth was locked open, her eyes huge, and her skin had become paler than death.

The master stomped directly in front of the girl's view. 'Breathe!' he ordered.

The girl gasped on command.

'Again!'

She did so again.