Gateway by Sharon Shinn

Author:Sharon Shinn
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Penguin USA, Inc.
Published: 2010-03-27T05:20:24.607000+00:00

FOURTEEN

THE FOLLOWING DAYS were devoted entirely to getting ready for the Presentation Ball, which was only four days away. How could it be so soon? Daiyu thought, as something like dread washed over her. She knew that the minute she snapped the bracelet on Chenglei’s wrist, her time in Shenglang was effectively over. Oh, she might be able to stay another day or two, curious to see how the city changed once Chenglei was gone, but there was no reason for her to linger.

One reason, of course.

Every time she thought about leaving Kalen behind, she had a moment when she actually could not breathe. It was bad enough knowing she would never see him again—never have a chance to watch his face light up when he caught sight of her—never tuck her hand in his and feel, for as long as she held on to him, that she was safe and the world was good. But knowing that once she left Jia, she would leave behind all memories of Kalen, made her absolutely frantic. She could not forget his shy smile and his easy way of speaking. She could not forget those magical kisses behind the shimmering wall of translucent water. Surely Kalen’s face had been imprinted on her heart, a shape and a memory that she would carry with her no matter what dimension she called home.

To distract herself from her constant anxiety over Kalen, she tried to throw herself wholeheartedly into preparations for the ball. She submitted uncomplainingly to the final round of dress fittings; she sniffed dozens of perfumes as she and Xiang worked together to find Daiyu’s perfect scent. She exclaimed in unfeigned wonder as Xiang spread the contents of her jewelry box on a table in her ornate parlor.

“Aunt! What beautiful gems you have! I’ve never seen anything like these!”

“No, and you never will again, though Mei thinks her own jewels are worth as much as mine,” Xiang replied, preening a little. With her long lacquered nails, she picked through the necklaces,theearrings,thepins,therings,thebracelets.“When we chose the fabric for your dress, I had thought it might look best with pearls and sapphires, but now I am wondering. I believe qiji stones would go with it even better. What do you think?”

And she picked up a short strand of exquisite pink gems thickly clustered on a slim gold chain.

Daiyu could only stare.

There had to be a hundred qiji stones on this necklace, so many it would take a stonepicker months to mine them from the river. That was shocking enough all by itself, but Daiyu also was amazed to finally see what a polished qiji looked like—and to realize that she recognized it. It was a qiji that the old woman had handed her back at Fair Saint Louis; it was a qiji that had pulled her through the Arch into this iteration. She had been enthralled with the very first one she had seen, and she’d had no idea what it was.

“My dress is—is blue,” she stammered.

“Yes, but the accents are not,” Xiang said.

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