She wasn’t surprised at the civility of his question. Xi was a general down to his bones. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t execute or torture her should it become necessary, but until then, he’d treat her with flawless courtesy.
“A little stiff,” she said, stretching out her wings and wincing more than strictly required. “May I be permitted to do a low flight to ease my muscles?” It would give her an idea of the landscape at least.
Unfortunately, Xi was too smart to permit such a slip after keeping her blindfolded this long. “No,” he said. “But you can spread your wings in this courtyard before we go in.”
Andromeda took her time. She was stiff and she needed to move smoothly if she was to seize an escape opportunity when it arose. Going through some basic exercises taught to most angels in childhood, she did nothing to betray her training under Dahariel—or the fact she’d kept up her skill by sparring with Dahariel and Galen behind walls that protected her secret.
Both angels had agreed with her choice to keep a hidden skill in her arsenal. Galen helped her because she was one of Jessamy’s apprentices, but Dahariel’s motives were . . . complicated. Andromeda didn’t like to think too much on those motives, but her training meant she had some kind of a chance in this hostile environment.
You have secrets.
Naasir’s deep voice echoed in her head and she wondered what he’d done after discovering she’d gone missing. He would’ve joined in the search, but even a silver-eyed vampire who wasn’t a vampire couldn’t be expected to infiltrate this citadel. As far as she was aware, no one aside from Lijuan’s people even knew its exact location.
If she was to survive this and escape, she’d have to rely on herself. Ironically, her bloodline might sway Lijuan enough to keep Andromeda alive, but Andromeda was no hypocrite. She wouldn’t attempt to use a family name she’d chosen to forsake—and regardless, given the way she’d been abducted, Lijuan wasn’t worried about offending Charisemnon.
“Thank you,” she said to Xi after completing the stretching routine.
She’d taken the opportunity to note the armed guards atop the high turrets, as well as the squadrons overhead. For some reason, and despite having witnessed the exquisite beauty and stately elegance of the Forbidden City before its destruction, she’d expected Lijuan’s citadel to be an ugly monstrosity full of despair—instead it was formed from a shimmering dark gray stone that the rising sun lit to glowing life.
Flowers in subtle shades bloomed in large planters situated around the courtyard, and she could see not only soldiers of both sexes moving about, but also maidens dressed in delicate silk cheongsams and ethereal gowns. There were pretty male courtiers, too, wearing embroidered silks and fashionable tunics.
Water glinted through one passageway out of the courtyard, along with flashes of green. A pond, Andromeda realized. Perhaps a garden created around that source of water. That had to be the true courtyard where Lijuan might walk amongst her courtiers. This was the more practical external one, and even it was paved with stones that glittered with flecks of sparkling minerals.
The parts of the roof she could see from here had sinuous dragons along the edges, while painstakingly carved stone bridges connected one section of the citadel to another. Those bridges endowed on the surely sprawling edifice an appearance of fragility. Impressive, given that it was hewn out of stone and could probably withstand a long-term siege.
“It’s beautiful,” she murmured. “I expected a more military-like structure.”
“This is our lady’s home,” Xi said, a touch of censure in his tone, his posture military straight. “She has always loved and nurtured artists, though she has never flaunted it like Michaela. This citadel was designed by a gifted architect long ago.”
“Ah.” She ran her fingers over the stone, her bones aching from the sense of history embedded in the silky smoothness under her touch. As if so many hands had touched this stone over so many millennia, it had been worn down to its purest essence. “Suyin?” she asked in wonder.
A small incline of Xi’s head. “She was born of Lady Lijuan’s sister.”
Andromeda felt her heart sigh. To be allowed to view, to touch one of Suyin’s lost masterworks . . . It almost made her forget her circumstances. Craning her neck, she wished she could see the citadel from above—not for escape this time, but because her scholar’s heart was aflutter at the idea of exploring what may well be the largest structure Suyin ever designed.
Xi allowed her time to admire the parts she could glimpse before nodding at her to walk with him into the citadel.
“The world lost a great artist on Suyin’s death,” Andromeda said, her hands itching for a sketchpad and a pencil.
“Yes.”
Even as she continued to glory in the grace and splendor that shouted Suyin’s touch—as embodied in the palace the architect had designed for Alexander—she was recalling the sad and mysterious circumstances of the other woman’s death. “Since Suyin’s body was never found, I’ve always hoped that perhaps her suicide note was a feint intended to allow her to go to Sleep on her own terms.”
Xi’s wings brushed hers on a tight corner. “My apologies,” he said, immediately putting an inch between them. “I wasn’t alive at the time Suyin created this citadel, but my lady may have further insights. We go to see her now.”
Andromeda’s blood chilled, wonder erased by ice-cold fear.
10
Swallowing to wet her dry throat, she said, “Is it possible for me to refresh myself prior to meeting the archangel? She is not known for her kindness to those who offend her.” An undeniable truth. “I would rather go in looking my best.”
“A wise and intelligent choice.” Xi’s near-black eyes skimmed her dusty form, but there was nothing derogatory in the glance.
No, it was more like a general taking stock of one of his men.
“You have fifteen minutes,” he said. “I will speak to my lady in the interim and tell her I have given you time to recover.” He made a small gesture and a short, sturdy-looking Chinese vampire appeared out of the woodwork to bow deeply toward him.
Andromeda’s heart slammed hard against her rib cage. She hadn’t seen the black-garbed vampire, hadn’t even suspected he was hovering. She’d have to be far more alert if she intended to make it out of here. Following the vampire down the corridor, then another and another and another, she realized he was either deliberately taking her on a circuitous and confusing route, or this citadel was a maze. It didn’t matter—a scholar’s mind was her greatest weapon and Andromeda had long ago learned ways to memorize and retrieve information.
Reaching the room at last, the vampire waved her in. “I will wait for you, honored guest,” he said in one of the major dialects spoken in Lijuan’s territory, then began almost immediately to repeat the words in French.