The forest was quieter than it had been all week. Quieter than it should've been for all the people still around.
Lanterns swayed between the trees, casting long shadows over the dirt paths as nobles and ministers drifted back to their tents. The smell of roasted meat still lingered in the air, but it was thinner now, diluted by night, by exhaustion, by all the performances that had already played out.
I walked slowly.
Not because I was tired, but because I was waiting.
Behind me, just far enough to pretend subtlety, one of Princess Yuyan's servants followed Yaozu and me. Her footsteps were light, careful, but not careful enough. She stepped too close once, then too far. She hadn't been trained for this. Probably one of Yuyan's newer girls, sent with too many promises and too little experience.
Yaozu said nothing as we walked, but he didn't have to. Both of us were shaking our heads at the sheer stupidity of the move.
