Bingmei’s eyes widened. “Who?”
“The white dragon. It came down and transformed into a woman. The queen.”
Bingmei gasped, her heart wrenching in pain.
“I was so worried. I had to protect Shixian, but I didn’t even have control of my body. She came up and kicked the leopard away from the basket. When it tried to defend Shixian, she drew a rune, and it just died. Then . . . then she knelt and parted the blanket. The baby was exhausted from crying and was just whimpering. She looked down at him and opened up the clothes. Bingmei, she said . . . she said . . . ‘A boy?’ and then a strange look came over her face. I can’t describe it. There was something in her eyes. I tried to stop her from lifting up the basket. I couldn’t touch her, but she saw me, Bingmei. She saw my spirit-soul. She gave me the most wicked smile and drew a symbol in the air, and I went hurtling into the Grave Kingdom.”
Bingmei stared at Quion in horror. Xisi had her baby. Her heart clenched so hard she feared it would stop beating. Xisi . . . that horrible, awful woman had stolen her child. To kill him? But if that had been her intention, why hadn’t she murdered Shixian and left his body for Bingmei to find?
Did Xisi intend to take him as her own?
“I’m so sorry, Bingmei,” Quion said, weeping. “I . . . I couldn’t stop her from taking him. The next thing I knew, I was in those dark streets. The symbol of the black dragon was everywhere. It was terrifying. I saw my father . . . you r-remember him, right?”
Bingmei nodded, trying to suppress the agony of suspense in her heart.
“He said my mother was lost in the maze somewhere and we had to search for her. I went with him, and all he could do was talk about finding her. If we both looked, he thought we’d manage it. But I was only there for a little while before I was yanked out of the Grave Kingdom like a fish on a hook. I saw you kneeling by me, watching me, and I knew you were the one who’d brought me back.”
Again she felt grateful for the power that had helped her do it. But the pain of losing her child was unbearable. She blinked away tears, clenching her fists and slamming them against the rocks despite the pain.
“Bingmei,” Quion said, gripping her arm. “You have to save him. You have to.”
That was her earnest intention. She looked him in the eye. “You did your best, Quion. And I’m grateful for it. If you had still been alive . . . Xisi would have killed you. I have no doubt about that. But I can’t stay with you. I have to go after them.”
Quion nodded. “Are you going to Fusang?”
“Yes. She’ll keep him right under Echion’s nose. She has the power to protect offspring. He’s a boy, not a girl. Even the Iron Rules won’t win out. I can’t believe this has happened. I’m still stunned by it. They were waiting for us to cross there.” She clenched her fists even harder and shook them. “They were watching for us. And like fools we fell into their trap.”
“It’s not your fault,” Quion said, shaking his head.
“It is,” she retorted angrily, but pain quickly overwhelmed her anger. “My son. My poor son. I have to get him back, Quion. Whatever she’s planning.”
“I know,” Quion said, gazing into her eyes tenderly. “You must go on alone. I can’t keep up with you.”
“I’m sorry, Quion,” she said, her voice trembling. “I have to go. Now.”
“I know,” he said again. “I’ve got the cricket. I’ll be able to cross the Death Wall.”
She stared at him and saw how defenseless he was. The cricket would help him, but he still needed protection that she could no longer provide.
“Go to Sihui,” she told him, pulling the short sword from her belt. The polished blade was stained with black. She set it down next to him. “I will meet you there. Tell General Tzu what we know about Echion’s plans. How he plans to lure him on shore before unleashing the dragons. And take the blade. I’ve taught you the glyph that will protect you from the killing fog. Teach it to the others if you get there first. I’ll bring Shixian to Sihui when I’ve freed him.”
Quion nodded boldly. “Fly, phoenix. Fly.”
By the time Bingmei reached Fusang, she was utterly exhausted. She had flown throughout the night, soaring past the sentries patrolling the Death Wall, over icy glaciers, and between huge mountain passes. The Phoenix Blade and Rowen’s presence both guided her. The blade was still in the palace of Fusang, and she wondered if Echion were even guarding it now. Could she possibly reclaim it?
Weary to the bone, she stopped at the phoenix pagoda atop the hill north of the city, the one where her ensign had taken shelter from the killing fog unleashed by Echion.
There was still snow in the mountains, but she’d passed over waterfalls that were now starting to release the melted ice. Thick clumps of snow still clung to the shadowed side of the pine trees, but elsewhere they were a lustrous green. The air was fresh with their scent.
She sat down cross-legged in the center of the pagoda and set the staff across her lap. Lethargy made her want to stretch out on the ground, but it wasn’t as powerful as her need to know what had happened to her son. She loosened the muscles in her neck and back. Even though the wings were spiritual things, they exhausted her physically when she used them.
There were birds all over the woods on the hill, but she knew there were finches kept in cages in Xisi’s palatial rooms. Her consciousness fled to that place on the wings of a
