He laughed with her, then turned to give Sweet Rose a farewell peck before rushing off.
The two maids watched him go, then began to tidy the room. As Pearl Heart stripped the covers from the cushions, she noticed the square of silk beneath one of them. It was a pale lilac with the pictogram of the Yin family in green in one comer. She knew at once whose it was, and lifted it to her nose briefly before returning it, making no mention to Sweet Rose.
"She's beautiful, don't you think, Pearl Heart?"
Sweet Rose was gazing outward through the open doorway, following the figure of Li Yuan as he made his way through the gardens.
"They say there's no one quite as beautiful in all the Families as Fei Yen. But she's a hua poo, a flowery panther. She's headstrong and willful for all her beauty."
Sweet Rose sighed and looked back at her older sister. "And Li Yuan, he seems to love her like a brother."
Pearl Heart laughed. "Have you seen how his eyes grow soft at the merest glimpse of her. He's hooked, the poor little one."
"Ah. . . ." Sweet Rose glanced around once more, then busied herself, disturbed by what Pearl Heart had said. A moment later, while she was gathering up the linen, she stopped sud-denly and looked up again, her eyes moist. "Then I feel pity for him, Pearl Heart. For nothing can come of it."
Pearl Heart nodded sagely. "It is our law, Sweet Rose. A man cannot marry his brother's wife. And there's wisdom in that law, mei mei, for think what would come of things were it not so. There are men who would murder their own brothers for the sake of a worthless woman!"
Sweet Rose looked down. "And yet we are sisters. And we share a man."
Pearl Heart laughed and began to take the new silk sheets from the drawer. "Li Yuan's a boy, and they're less complex than men. But in any case, the whole thing's totally different. We are here only to help him and teach him. We must think not of ourselves but of the future T'ang."
Sweet Rose studied her sister a moment, noting how she busied herself as if unconcerned. But she had heard the undertone of bitterness in her voice and could see the faint trace of regret at the comers of her mouth and in her eyes and knew that, whatever else she said, she, too, was just a little in love with the young Prince.
"What are you reading?"
Fei Yen half turned her face toward him, then smiled and set the book down on the wooden ledge beside her. "Ah, Li Yuan, I wondered when you'd come."
She was sitting in a bower overlooking one of the garden's tiny waterfalls. The interlaced branches of the maple overhead threw her features into shadow as she looked at him, but he could see that her hair had been put up in a complex bun, the dark, fine bunches held there by tiny ivory combs no bigger than his thumbnail. She was wearing a waist-length, curve-edged riding-
tunic with a high collar, the satin a delicate lavender with the thinnest edging of black, while her riding breeches were of dark blue silk, cut almost to her figure. Her boots were of kid leather, dyed to match the breeches.
He let his query pass. "Shall I come and sit with you, Fei Yen?"
"Wait there, Li Yuan. I'll come out to you. It's rather warm in here. Why don't we walk down to the terrace?"
He bowed, then moved back to let her pass, smelling the scent of her for the first time that day. Mei hua. Plum blossom. He fell in beside her on the path.
"How is your father, Yin Tsu?"
She laughed. "He's fine. As he was yesterday when you asked. And my three brothers, too, before you ask." She stopped and inclined her head toward him. "Let's drop formality, shall we, Li Yuan? I find it all so tiresome after a while."
A small bird flitted from branch to branch overhead, distracting them both a moment. When they looked down again it was at the same time. Their eyes met and they laughed.
"All right," he said. "But in public . . ."
She touched his arm gently. "In public it shall be as always." She lifted her chin in imitation of an old, starchy courtier. "We'll be as tight laced as a minister's corsets!"
He giggled, unable to help himself, then saw she was watching him, enjoying his laughter.
"Come, Yuan. Let's go down."
She let him take her arm. A flight of stone steps snaked steeply downward, following the slope, ending with a tiny bridge of stone. But the bridge was only wide enough for one to cross at a time. Li Yuan went first, then turned, holding out his hand to help her across the tiny stream.
She took his hand and let him draw her to him, brushing past him closely, then turned to look back at him, her face in full sunlight for the first time since he had met her in the bower.
"What's that?"
She began to smile, then saw the look on his face. "It's a mian ye. A beauty mark, that's all. Why, don't you like it?"
He made the slightest movement of his head, reluctant to find anything about her less than perfect.
"Here, wipe it off!"
He took the silk handkerchief she offered him, realizing at once that it was the twin to the one he had in his room, beneath his pillow. Resisting the temptation to put it to his face, he reached out and made to touch the mark, but Fei Yen laughed and pushed his hand away.
"Come here, Li Yuan! How can you do it from over there? You'll Ijave to hold my cheek while you rub the mark away. It isn't easy, you know!"
He moved closer, then gently took her cheek and turned it, almost fearing to hurt her. His body was touching hers now, brushing against her, and he could feel her warmth and smell the scent of plum blossom on her clothes. He felt a slight shiver pass down his spine, then began, brushing at it, gently at first, then harder, licking the silk, then dabbing it against her cheek, until the mark was gone.
And all the while she was watching him, a strange, unreadable expression in her dark, beautiful eyes. He was conscious of her breathing: of her warm breath on his neck; of the soft rise and fall of her breasts beneath the tightly fitting tunic; of the warm pulse of her body where it touched his own.
He shuddered and moved away, bringing his hand back from her face; looking down at it a moment, as if it wasn't his. Then, recollecting himself, he offered her the silk.
Her smile, her answer, made him burn. "Keep it. Put it with its twin."
He swallowed, then smiled and gave a small bow of thanks.
On the terrace she stood there, her hands on the balcony, looking out across the lake. "Do you still want to ride?"
He looked away, a faint color in his cheeks, remembering what Pearl Heart had said.
"What is it?" she asked, touching his shoulder gently.
"Nothing," he said, then laughed and changed the subject. "Do you remember that day here, on the far side of the lake? The day of the reception?"
She looked across and nodded, her mouth opening slightly, showing her perfect white teeth. "The day I let Han beat me at archery."
They were silent a moment, a strange mix of emotions in the air between them. Then she turned back to him, smiling.
"Let's go across. I'm not in the mood for riding. Let's walk, and talk of old times, eh, Yuan?"
He looked up shyly at her, then smiled. "Yes. I'd like that. I'd like that very much."
FOR A LONG TIME after Li Yuan had gone, Fei Yen stood there at the edge of the lake, staring out across the water, deep in thought.
She had thought it would be amusing to play an ancient game: to flirt with him and maybe afterward, in some secret place away from prying eyes, introduce him to pleasures finer than those his maids could offer. But Li Yuan had wanted more than that. Much more, despite the impossibility of it.
She could still hear his voice echoing in her head.
"Your son will be T'ang."
Had he seen her surprise? Had he seen how unprepared she was for that? Her laughter had been designed to put him off; to make him think she thought it all a joke, when she could see from his eyes how serious he was.