Chapter 35: What the River Takes

He asked her first. It was the second watch on the night of the second, and Mei was lying in the cabin with Liulang's wine sour in her stomach when Fish stopped in the doorway. He didn't fill it, call up a turtle, or begin bleeding on anything, and Mei decided that for a prince this was progress enough to deserve witnesses. "I want to call Keeper Tan." "Here?" "Unless you know another lake." "If he scratches the hull, you pay." "He is a turtle." "He is a large turtle." Fish considered the distinction. "Then I'll pay." The answer came too easily. Mei pushed herself up on one elbow, dragging the blanket with her. "Why?" "There's something I need to ask him." "About me." "About the river. About what it takes." The lamp behind him left his face in shadow, but she could see the pale cloth around his hands.…