V

Mischief

Mei lay sleeping on my lap as dawn was breaking. The festivities had gone on throughout the night, leaving the streets almost barren in the early waking hours. An entire city hungover, yet the number of guards I noticed steadily increased. My eyes lingered on the duke's manor on the horizon.

"You're still here..." Mei stirred, looking up at me.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I tried giving her a reassuring smile, but I doubted it was any good.

"Because..." She turned away. "No... Thank you, Shin."

The pill I'd given her helped her injuries a lot over the night, given they hadn't been as severe as mine. While she roused herself up, stretching her legs, I hid a yawn. I hadn't slept. It wasn't only to keep a lookout. Even without the support of Qi, I tended to skip sleep whenever I could, for a certain reason.

"Do you want to explore more of the city?"

"...We shouldn't," she said, hanging her head.

"Don't worry about it," I clapped my chest. "Now that I know what we're up against, I won't let them find us again that easy. I'll get rid of them if they do. Just tell me what you want and I'll see it done."

"...I want to leave from here," it was the faintest of whispers, deflating my hollow boasting.

"That..."

...would be difficult. It'd occurred to me during the night. The duke was in charge of the city's defences. Why had he first sent some thugs after her, then a single cultivator, when he had the entire city watch on his disposal?

The answer was face. He would become a laughing stock in the public's eyes if everyone learned about his bride running away from him. His actions thus far were an attempt of his to sweep the matter under the rug. Although the public was likely already aware. Gossips of this kind spread like wildfire, but the people feigned ignorance, fearing repercussions. It was one big lie everyone played along with. A sudden case of partial blindness affected the entire city.

It seemed the duke was done playing around, however. His patience had run thin after his latest failure to retrieve her. In the last few hours, I'd counted more guards than I'd seen on duty in the entire city of Guangen. Was she that important to him?

"Sorry, I shouldn't have said that," her voice ripped me out of my thoughts. She looked guilty for making that request. "I know it's impossible."

"No, it's..."

Zhanhai was an enormous city; finding a single girl wouldn't be easy. We were unlucky that day before. Leaving, on the other hand, was different. There were only a handful of gates, easily guarded, that provided the only exits past the city walls.

"I'm sure I can think of something."

There might be a way, but my thoughts drifted someplace else. Leave, the notion left me uneasy for some reason. Then what? Would I still...?

"...Time," I shook my head free of the unnecessary, "I need some time, and..."

"Okay," she nodded, her easy smile trying to comfort me, "but I do have something else I want to take care of... Would that be alright?"

"Oh?" I readily latched onto the rope she threw me. "Like what?"

"You'll see!"

***

"This is ridiculous..."

We walked down the streets, Mei leading the way. Both of us had a brown blanket draped over ourselves. It'd stand out once the sun rose, but it was fresh enough to warrant wearing it in the morning without looking stranger for it.

Mei had said she needed a few things from an apothecary. I checked our dwindling funds and asked her how she wanted to pay for the ingredients, after buying yet another robe for myself. The merchant had wanted to bash our heads in, charging double for waking him so early. Mei was fine with the exorbitant price because she had an idea. That's where our argument started.

"It's not ridiculous," she said, crossing her arms.

"You're right. It's dumb."

"No, it's not!"

"Do you know how much attention it will draw?"

"No one will think it's me!"

"Even if that were the case, it'd never work!"

"Trust me on this, I guarantee it will!" Her voice contained unbounded confidence.

"Trust you? Based on what?"

"Experience."

"What do you mean experience?"

"Shush, be quiet now. We're getting close."

Her target had a sign hanging outside, depicting a drop of blood surrounded by flowery vines. It was one of the buildings we'd passed the day before.

"Now play along, and stick to our plan."

"Plan," I mouthed.

Mei was determined to do it her way. She could be unreasonably stubborn if she wanted to. Relenting to her whims, I gave up, picked her up into my arms, and started running towards the apothecary. I almost dropped her when she began screaming, waking the entire neighbourhood. We arrived in front of the entrance where I banged against the door with my foot.

"Doctor!" My voice barely made it through Mei's. "Doctor, help! My w-wife, she's in labour!"

My face grew hot, making me feel even dumber. Why had I ever let her convince me? Amazingly, her screaming intensified, which I'd not thought possible. The first stares lurked behind the curtains. A pair of guards hurried over to find the commotion, looking over from a distance. I held my breath until they left again. No words could describe how grateful I was for them to still be slacking on their duty. Though I doubted anything similar would have worked if we tried leaving the city.

After what felt like an eternity, the door swung open, revealing a surprisingly young man for a doctor who wore his sleeping attire. His look of slight annoyance quickly transformed. Blinking his eyes in disbelief, he looked at our faces, at her large belly, then back at us, dumbfounded. Mei kept screaming.

"B-Bring her in." Just like that we actually made it inside, much further than I'd have expected. Was he blind? "Lay her down over there."

I did as told, watching the apothecary browsing through his shelves in a hurry. The messy place reeked of herbs. Traces of various powders littered his worktable like piles of dust, and opened jars spilled their contents between his notes. He navigated his chaos well enough, taking not too long until he returned to us. He tried to take a look, but the wild thrashing of her legs prevented him from doing so.

"Here, chew on this," he handed her a cut vine, "it will ease the pain for now."

"No, she can't," I held him back, earning me a puzzled frown, "she's allergic to catervine."

I thanked the heavens I actually knew that plant, making the act ever so slightly more believable.

"Allergic?" He paused before nodding to himself. "Hold on."

The man left, returning in a hurry with a different herb - one I hadn't seen before.

"Ah, that one's also bad." It was difficult to keep a serious face. He frowned, but accepted my objection, returning with yet another. "No, this one's even worse. She... gets the rashes."

"That one's..."

"Ah, I'm afraid that..."

"I apologize, but..."

"She's allergic to numb honey?" His face told me that was it. That was his limit to this dumb charade.

"My wife she..." I bit the inside of my mouth, "she has a condition. A very rare one, making her intestines incredibly delicate. A cultivator has once diagnosed her with it after we hired him with our family's combined fortune."

That last sentence worked like a spell, turning a face filled with complaints into one torn with doubt.

"I don't think I-"

Mei's screaming reached yet another level, interrupting any coherent thoughts either of us could have. Dear heavens, where does she hide those extra pair of lungs of hers? Did she cultivate the hidden art of screaming your ear off?

"I've searched the lands far and wide ever since her first signs of pregnancy," I powered through her screams, "but nothing suited the descriptions the cultivator left me with! A herb more common here in the west, one that must be stored in the dark! Do you grow anything in your cellar?" He nodded to my relief. "Please, bring it all here! I can recognize the correct one! The chances may be slim, but we need to try! She needs some medicine to stay awake, otherwise...!"

Mei's head was redder than the robe she wore. A moment later she fell unconscious, returning the gift of silence to the world. "No, my love, hang on!" I screamed grieve-stricken, convincing the apothecary to run into his cellar. It worked? I couldn't believe it. He should know better. Regardless, I followed after him, quietly shutting the door.

"Finally," Mei said, jumping up from the bed. "Took you long enough."

"Luck," I shook my head as well as the hand she'd squeezed into oblivion. "Sheer luck. Heaps of it, mountains! What if he didn't have a cellar?" I asked as she threw away the stuffing beneath her robe.

"I noticed it yesterday when we passed by." A bit surprised, I stared at her. "What? Did you think I gave you random words to spout around?"

"Sure seemed like it," she pouted, ready to fire off her complaints. "Forget it, we can talk later. We've got to hurry."

I looked for the powder of minced lynd nuts and black kerrel seeds that she needed. Time was ticking, and the number of jars standing around the room staggering.

"We could've just sneaked in, damn it," I mumbled, drawing another blank as I fumbled over the writing on the lids. "Would have gotten all the time we needed, and some."

"No fun in that," she heard me. I had the urge to give her another piece of my mind when I found the powder I was looking for.

"I got mine," I turned to find her eyes glued to a jar in her hand. The handwriting was too messy for me to read it from the distance, but the contents looked like some kind of dried berries to me.

"Mei? Mei!" I spoke louder, tapping her on the shoulder when she didn't react. "Don't dawdle around, I got what we need, what about you?"

"...Not everything yet," she stuffed it into her robe when I heard someone running up the stairs.

"You better hurry," I left the search to her, heading towards the cellar door. I was about to block it from the outside but then thought better of it. Doing it like that wouldn't be 'fun,' would it?

"I brought as much as I could carry!" The door flung open as the apothecary rushed through it, holding dearly onto the pile in his arms. "If we can't find what you need, we can mix these two here with some distilled quick grass and numb honey. I'm sure we can find something... that... works..."

"I got it!" Mei jumped with a cheer, no longer pregnant. "Shin, let's..." She turned around, finding the young apothecary staring at her with an open mouth.

"I'll take this one off your hands." I walked out from behind him, taking his pot of numb honey. He didn't offer much resistance, and I left through the door. "Much appreciated. Good day to you, doctor, we're grateful for your services. May the heavens look upon you with good will."

Meanwhile, Mei and the apothecary were still locked inside a starring contest.

"Oh no, look, over there!" She shouted, her throat somehow still capable of such a feat. "My baby is running away! Quick, somebody catch it!"

She stormed out of the house, shooting me an angry glare as she overtook me. You forgot to lock the door, you dummy! I could hear her unspoken words. I hurried after her, smirking beside myself while the apothecary screamed for the guards. Too bad for him. Mei's screaming had already shooed them all far away.