The siskin wondered how to get the human to follow it. Most people ignored birds or tried to kill them.
Go find a string of white silk. Bring it to him. He knows my hair is white. It will remind him. Keep bringing him pieces of string until he follows you. Go, little siskin. Help me escape.
The siskin took off at once to begin the search. It had found little Shixian and the concubine. It could find Marenqo as well. Bingmei’s consciousness traveled with the siskin as it flew away from the queen’s quarter toward the larger section of the palace.
On the way, Bingmei caught sight of a parade of six servants walking alongside Xisi toward the Hall of Memory. She detached from the siskin and dropped down to a blackbird hiding amidst some flowerpots. Sunlight still hadn’t reached the passageway, and the maidens walked with little puffs of frost coming from their mouths.
Bingmei felt the presence of another bird and swept into it next, following the parade as they made their way. The two guards stationed at the doors saw the queen coming. Bingmei nudged the bird to fly closer until she could see the expressions of the guards, since she couldn’t smell them.
“Dread queen,” one of them stammered. “The dragon has not summoned you.”
“I bring news he will want to hear,” Xisi answered. “And a gift. Open the door.”
“My lady, he is . . . resting.”
“Open the door, or I will open it with your body,” she answered.
The guard looked pale with dread. He gestured to the other one, and they began to heave on the heavy handles, pulling open the red-painted doors. The six maidservants exchanged nervous glances. One of them held a stone bottle in her hands.
Xisi and her servants stepped over the doorstep and entered the majestic palace.
Bingmei urged the bird to fly in through the open doors, which were twice as tall as a person, but the bird balked in fear.
Please! she coaxed.
The bird swooped in and soared around the vast palace. Bingmei saw the two stone sarcophagi in the center of the room, the lids fixed in place. Also in the chamber was the Phoenix Blade, suspended within the jaws of a dragon statue high above them. Bingmei felt it tug at her mind, but she couldn’t have touched it even if she’d been physically present. Dark magic still connected it to Echion.
There were no servants inside the room. The windows were all shuttered, keeping it dark. A loud gong sounded outside in the courtyard.
Xisi strolled in, a smug look on her face. “Husband. We must talk.”
The bird landed on one of the rafters. It was terrified, and Bingmei tried to calm it down as the doors closed behind them, blocking its escape.
“Husband,” Xisi repeated. “Come out. We must talk.”
The grinding of stone sounded as the sarcophagus lid scraped against the edge. The sound made the bird jumpy. As the lid moved aside, she saw the pale hand of Echion reach out and push it over. He sat up in the crypt, wearing a silk robe, and gazed down at his wife with disdain and anger. A woman cowered next to him, wrapped in a silk sheet, which she hugged to herself in fear. Echion stepped over the edge, his bare feet touching the floor. He was huge, muscular, and smoldering at the interruption.
“Why did you come?” he asked with disdain. “I have no desire to see you.”
“I can see that your desire is occupied elsewhere,” she said back with a taunting smile. “But this news could not wait. I knew you would want to hear it immediately.”
“News? What news? I already know about General Tzu’s pitiable fleet. They should be arriving before nightfall.”
“That soon?”
“They think to take me by surprise,” Echion said, folding the robe closed and wrapping a sash around his waist. “The fools. My dragons have been watching them prepare. So your visit was unnecessary. When I wish to speak to you, I will summon you.”
“But that is not the news, Husband. While you’ve been preparing for this one-sided war, I’ve been searching for the child.”
Echion’s eyes widened. “Did you find her?”
Xisi nodded and bowed to him.
Echion’s expression altered. He was suddenly interested. He started toward her.
“Where is the babe?” he demanded hungrily.
“It was already dead. Drowned in the flood that you caused. Some birds were pecking at it, poor thing. My dragon devoured it and learned it was the infant we’ve been searching for.”
Echion’s eyes glittered with satisfaction. “Indeed, this is joyful news. All we need is to destroy the woman. And we have won.”
“We have already won, Echion,” she said, stepping toward him. Even though Bingmei couldn’t smell it, she knew Xisi was lying. “No one can defeat us both. You are far too cunning.” Echion lifted an eyebrow. “To celebrate our victory, I brought you a gift. A bottle of ice wine recently arrived from Sajinau. And I will let you have one of my servants as a concubine. You choose which.”
Bingmei heard the gasps of the girls who’d accompanied her. She clearly hadn’t shared her plan with them.
“A gift? What trickery is this?” Echion mused. “You never seek to please me.”
“A bribe, more like,” said Xisi. “One of your concubines . . . I do not like her. I think she pleases you too much. I want to kill her.”
“Jealous woman, which one?”
“I don’t know her name. One loses track among so many. But she recently gave birth to a daughter, poor thing. I want her dead.”
“She means nothing to me,” Echion said with a chuff.
“Whether or not you are lying, I don’t know. She conceived, which is rare enough. Perhaps you’ll try to get a son out of her. I don’t want a rival yet. So I thought my news would . . . soften your mood.”
“And you know I like ice wine,” Echion
