Sharon Shinn - Gateway

“Who’s Feng?”

“He’s the son of one of the wealthy families, but he’s been disowned. Every few days you can find him in a park or on the street, delivering a speech about what’s wrong with the government-particularly Chenglei.”

Daiyu smiled a little as she listened to the description. “He’s a dissident. I’d love to hear him speak. Where can I find him?”

“I’ll ask around. He might be in hiding right now. But even Feng doesn’t know how bad Chenglei can be, Ombri says. Aurora says there’s no end to the misery he’ll bring to Jia. They say he’s destroyed whole cultures on other worlds.”

And we’ll have to take their word for it that such a thing is true, Daiyu thought, since we can hardly prove it ourselves. She unconsciously tightened her grip on Kalen’s hand as her stomach clenched even harder. “Well,” she said. “I’m glad I got a glimpse of him. Now at least I know who I’m dealing with.”

They spent another couple of hours wandering around the city before catching a trolley back to Kalen’s neighborhood. Daiyu couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so at ease with a young man her own age. When she was around the boys at school, she usually felt awkward and unsure of herself; she rarely tried for casual conversation. She knew she had a reputation for being aloof, an impression that was reinforced by her habitually calm demeanor. But she found it easy to talk to Kalen.

They were still talking as they approached the door to his house and caught the scent of something exotic cooking. “Aurora’shome,” Kalen said as they stepped inside. She let go of his hand for the first time all afternoon.

Daiyu had been half expecting someone as dark as Ombri, but Aurora was almost his exact opposite. She was only slightly taller than Daiyu, porcelain-skinned, blue-eyed, with utterly straight yellow hair that fell almost to her waist. She looked to be about fifty years old, but Daiyu had to wonder. She had gotten the impression that Ombri, at least, had seen a lot of travel; perhaps the servants were as ageless as the gods.

“Here’s Daiyu,” Kalen said. “She arrived last night.”

“Hello,Daiyu,” Aurora said, and her voice was low and restful. “I’m so pleased to meet you.”

“We haven’t seen you for a couple of days,” Kalen said.

Aurora returned her attention to the meal she was making. “No, Xiang is keeping me pretty busy,” she said. “But that will work to our advantage, I think. She was very excited to hear about Daiyu.”

Daiyuwasconfused.“Whataboutme?Whoareyoutalking about?”

“Xiang. The woman who employs me,” Aurora said. She shook some spice into a pot and glanced back at Daiyu. Those blue eyes were truly astonishing. “She is a wealthy, ambitious woman who has no daughters. She has been bemoaning the fact that she is excluded from some of the summer events at the prime minister’s residence because they are designed to introduce young women to society.”

“Debutante balls!” Daiyu said under her breath. St. Louis had a longstanding tradition called the Veiled Prophet Ball, in which debutantes made their first formal appearances. The History Museum once had mounted an exhibit of Veiled Prophet gowns from decades’ worth of dances, and Daiyu had gone three times to see the display.

Aurora smiled at her again. “Here they are called Presentation Balls, and the annual one sponsored by the prime minister is the most glittering event of the season. Xiang has never been able to attend, and she is very disappointed that this year she will be left out again.” Aurora scooped what looked like soup from the pot and took a taste. “I wish Ombri would get home. This is ready to eat.”

“I’ll get the bowls,” Kalen said, and started rummaging through the kitchen cabinets.

“What can I do to help?” Daiyu asked, gesturing toward the bubblingpot.

“Nothing. Just sit,” Aurora said. She unwrapped a loaf of bread and began slicing it. “So the reason Xiang was excited to learn about you, Daiyu, is that she wants to borrow you.”

“What?”

“She wants to pretend you are her niece, take you to the palace, and present you to Chenglei. And I, of course, told her that she could.”

Not until Ombri was home and they all sat at the table eating bread and soup and something that seemed like cheese, but wasn’t exactly right, did Aurora explain the rest of the plan.

“I told Xiang that I was expecting a visitor from the northwestern territories-a poor girl, but full-blooded Han, not a worthless cangbai woman like me,” Aurora said. “I said you were coming to the city to try to find work. That you had been educated by a rich uncle who lost interest in you when his own daughter bore a child late in life. So you have no prospects and no connections, and you cannot be expected to have the polish of a city woman, but you are genteel. I think this will explain away any oddness in your language or gaps in your knowledge,” Aurora added.

“And you want me to pretend Xiang is my aunt so that I can attend the Presentation Ball?”

“Precisely,” Ombri replied.

“It’s almost three weeks until the ball,” Aurora said. “That will give Xiang time to drill you in how to behave in society. And to have clothes made, of course.”

Daiyu laid down her oversized spoon. “Wait,” she said. “You want me to go live with her for a couple of weeks?”

“Perhaps not quite so long,” Aurora said. “But you’ll certainly have to spend time with her before the ball so that she can coach you in some of the behaviors you will be expected to know.”

“You could train me,” Daiyu suggested.

Ombri shook his head. “There are subtleties and nuances that you could only learn from a native.”

She looked at Kalen for support, and he laughed. “ I don’t know how to behave at a society dinner.”

“You must go live with Xiang, because she is your route to Chenglei’s side,” Ombri said firmly. “Once you have banished Chenglei, you will be free to leave Xiang’s household and return to your own world.”

“Ah, that’s something we have to explain very carefully,” Aurora said. “Exactly how we want you to send Chenglei home.”

AFTER DINNER THE four of them sat on a brightly colored rug spread over the floor, and Aurora laid a selection of items before her. One was a simple piece of shimmering rose quartz about the size of a robin’s egg, polished to a slippery smooth shine. It lay beside a red silk bag with a gold drawstring top. Another was a broad silver bracelet etched with an indecipherable design; it was hinged in the middle, and just now lay open in two connected curves. Next to it was a small scuffed box that looked just big enough to hold the bracelet in its closed position.

Aurora had pulled on thin white cotton gloves that went all the way up to her elbows, and she tossed a similar pair to Daiyu.

“Never touch any of the talismans with your bare hands,” Ombri said, his sonorous voice making the prohibition all the more compelling. “They are designed to respond almost instantly to contact with skin. Even if you drop them after only a second or two, the damage will be done. You will already be transported.”

“Transported where?”

Aurora pointed at the piece of quartz, and Daiyu picked it upinherglovedhand. For a moment she caught a faint familiar fragrance, as if the stone had been daubed with her father’s aftershave or her mother’s perfume, but then it faded.

“This piece of quartz is big enough to send you home even if you are nowhere near the gateway,” Aurora said. “The talisman was precisely calibrated to send you back to the exact place and time you were when you left Earth. It will be as if not a single minute has passed.” She handed the silk bag to Daiyu. “Put the quartz inside the pouch and carry it with you at all times,since you never know when you might need it.”