HAWK & SABLE | FIVE

SHE WASN'T SURE why she warned him. He didn't need it. He would have noted every danger within sight and further the moment he stepped anywhere, being the trained spy he was. But she did it anyway.

He tilted his head, a small smile on his lips. "I realised."

"You're safe from my friends, I think. Princess Longyu seems rather cold but she's practical above all else, and she gains nothing from hurting you. Prince Ruge is much more easy going. He likes you."

"A great honour."

He was being sardonic and sarcastic. Usually she appreciated that combination and his dry wit. Today she was annoyed by it. She hid her irritation behind a sip of tea. That was one thing she loved about the Scarlet Palace and Sai. They served tea everywhere, and it's good tea. Tea she could drink without feeling all queasy in her stomach afterwards.

He flashed a smile. "I've annoyed you. I have that effect on people."

"You're not blind, at least, which is good." She placed the small, bone china cup back down. "But here is what I wish to say, if you'd stop interrupting me." A scowl. "You are safe from my friends, but not from others. There are people among us who are not fond of foreigners. You are counted among those."

"I realised." There he went again. Being witty. Ciri felt her eyes roll before she could stop it. She was usually much more graceful than this. But some part of her felt much more comfortable around Laurence than she should be. She wasn't sure if it was necessarily wise. Cass trusted him, and Ciri backed her sister's instincts more often than not.

"You're very familiar with the Prince and Princess." And then the charming friend had vanished again, replaced by the wily spy, carefully probing for information. Two can play this game.

Ciri said, "Of course. We converse regularly. I am a friend of Asteria's, and Asteria is a friend of theirs." Nothing he didn't already know.

"Ciri, Ciri," he flashed his pearly white teeth. "We're allies here. Arecia says we would not support you if you chose to start a war, but the truth is that we'd be overjoyed to do so. Caershire is begging for a chance to show off their armies and power."

"Arecia already knows more secrets than us Saians like." Lady Kuroki's girls, for example. "I'd say we're more or less equals, wouldn't you? We will reveal information if it's necessary. Be patient. Don't get into trouble. I don't want to waste time digging you out of it."

"I shall be prudent and listen to your advice. But even I did things that would land me in trouble, you wouldn't be aware of it." Then he was underestimating her as well. He was a good spy, but she was trained by both the Duchess of Dai and Lady Kuroki. Their skills were probably evenly matched. And she was on home turf, vastly outnumbering him. If it came down to it, he wouldn't win.

She made a sound that conveyed her opinion on that without actually saying anything. "Irina and Ryan would probably invite a few people to dinner. Young officials, nobles. The Circle of Herons and the Circle of Cranes. The future leaders of this empire. Try your best to not offend any of them and get on their good side. I'm not much worried about that, you being you, but I like to be careful."

"Offending them would be offending the entirety of Sai. Got it."

Ciri's eyes blazed with barely suppressed fury. "For hell's sake, be serious for once."

"I am," he replied, nonchalant. "I like to be humorous when people warn me against losing my life accidentally."

"Serious is not humorous. Make up your mind." She kept her voice firm, matter-of-factly, like a mother would talk to her rebellious son. She felt like one right now, really. Decades older. She felt like Lady Kuroki sending her girls out on missions. It was not a nice feeling. She made a mental note to respect her mentor a damned hell more.

"With all due respect," Laurence muttered, "You're wasting your breath. I'm no novice at this. I know what to do."

"With all due respect," Ciri shot back, voice acidic, "you need to take a lesson on humility and learning respect."

"I'm rather certain most Saian proverbs only mention listening to the advice of your elders. You're what, five years younger than me?"

"Four years and three months. Advice from anyone should be taken into consideration. I am no novice at this either. I daresay I'm as good as you."

"Perhaps better. See, there. Humility. I willingly admit that you may be better than me." A lazy grin emerged, carefree like sunshine at the coast of Kneighton. Ciri rolled her eyes.

"Are you here just to annoy me, or do you actually have something serious to discuss with me? You have seen William by now, of course, though you pretended not to have," she saw his silhouette from the window, "he has not realised this and tells me he looks forward to meeting you. Would you like to do so now, perhaps? You would have brought attention to yourself already, crossing the courtyard. William is not a spy, but he's cleverer than he seems."

"Is there a single simple person in this palace?" He demanded, sitting straight. "So far, you're all either spies, special operatives, or 'smarter than you seem'. Us Arecians look like sheep in comparison."

"Revolution is still fresh in our minds. We do not have the stability of your Arecian court, and hence have not become boring and staid. Each of us are masters at these games of politics, espionage and war. You're very outgunned, Laurence."

He let out a very expressive curse. "I'm beginning to regret volunteering."

She studied him with those too-wise eyes of her, before slowly tilting her head. "Do you, though?"

She could see the answer in his eyes. He could complain and whine, but he wanted to be here. She'd find out why soon. For now, she took another sip of tea and sighed, as if conceding a point. "Did you enjoy the pastries Ruge had sent to your room?"

"They were very fine, thank you." Ciri had shared hers with her two new maids, who happily scarfed it down. She hadn't been too hungry after the steamed bun.

"Excellent." She stood up, moving across the room with slight, graceful movements. That had been the product of years of dancing. Lady Kuroki liked her girls elegant as swans gliding across water. His eyes followed her like a hawk tracking its prey. An hawk tracking a sable.

I am the prey here, then? That was a strange feeling. But she was used to chasing hares and feeding on the prey others had hunted. They worked on much the same missions, but their approaches were drastically different. Ciri waited and lured. Laurence tracked and hunted.

Dangerous, dangerous. Foolish girl. Concentrate.

She wrapped her slender fingers around a small jade statuette and blew on it, clearing the dust that had gathered there. "If we are lucky, Irina might bestow upon us a performance on the pipa."

"Do you play?"

"Of course." She almost felt offended that he suggested otherwise. "We play pipas and erhus and guzheng here the same way you Arecians play pianos and violins. Any highborn girl worth their salt would know how to play at least one instrument. I know two."

"I've never heard you play before."

"I rarely perform for others." She shrugged. "Irina is a master. I am an amateur in comparison. She says it helps her think. Me, it just gives me a headache and hurts my fingers when I play too long. Rather unpleasant. I suppose it's worth it if you know how to play well."

"Excellent advice that applies to everything else in life as well."

She didn't bother hiding her exasperated sigh this time. He chuckled. Damn. He was doing it on purpose, just to irritate her. Maybe she should stop giving him the joy of her reaction. She placed the jade statuette back on the shelf, twirling around to face him. "Are you done?"

Laurence raised a brow. "You realise it's part of my personality?"

She gave him a pointed look. "It's a damned irritating personality."

He mockingly frowned. "I've been told it's rather charming, Miss Diao."

"People find me charming, Lord Archsham. I'm willing to believe anything at this point."

That seemed to surprise him. "But you are charming. Rather famous for it, actually. I've heard a few lords talk about it before. Did you really turn down the Earl of Morndale?"

Ciri blinked. She hadn't been expecting him to know that, but Morndale probably hung around similar groups. Morndale had been one of her various suitors over the years. She'd debuted at sixteen, rather early, but they excused it by saying that she wanted to travel the world. Morndale had proposed... that was last year, when she went to Caershire. She'd met Morndale earlier than that. A pleasant, sweet man with a brain that was regularly used. If she had been anyone else, she'd have been overjoyed to accept. But getting a husband would just hindrance her work right now, so she had respectfully declined. Morndale took rejection nicely, but she hadn't seen him again.

"I did, yes."

"The man's a bloody earl, Ciri. And not one of those idiotic ones."

"You know why I couldn't accept."

"You could still do work while married. Your job isn't like your sister's. In fact, marriage to someone involved in politics like Morndale would make your job much easier."

"And tell me. What is there in Arecia to know that I do not know already?"

That silenced him.

"If I make a strategic marriage," she mused, running her fingers over the wooden shelves, "it'd be to someone in... Caershire, maybe, to influence their politics. Or Novokuluga, whose borders are close enough to Sai to require regular monitoring. Or maybe they'd marry me to one of the high-ranking lords around here in Sai who like to act as diplomats."

Laurence made a sound that sounded suspiciously like a curse. She arched a brow, studying him.

"Your sheer practicality terrifies me sometimes," he muttered. "For some reason I had it in my head that you were a romantic."

That made her grin. "Oh, I am. For other people. Love isn't written anywhere in my future."

That took him aback. "Usually, it's men like me saying that. Not the pretty debutantes with a legion of suitors begging at their feet."

"Do you believe in love?" She tilted her head in inquiry, watching him. His parents had been a love match. A legendary one. When Marissa Dumont had died, part of Jack Dumont did too. It's muttered that the spy had allowed himself to be killed by Meliqueans, not even bothering to fight. She always thought it was rather cowardly, how he left his son behind, barely an adult, burdened with responsibilities and shadows too heavy for his shoulders.

He smiled pleasantly. "Of course. Whether it's part of my future is up for debate. I like to think yes."

Ciri was amused. "Most people would assume the opposite for the two of us. Aren't the charming rakes the ones who believe love is a scam?"

Laurence gave a one-shoulder shrug."We have hidden layers, my lady. Neither of us are what we seem to be."

"No,' she mused, gliding back towards the chairs. "I suppose we're not. So tell me, Lord Archsham, we've discussed my love life. How fares yours?"

"I'm not exactly looking," he replied dryly. "Luckily for me, I'm male. Society is a hundred times more lenient on me. As long as I can avoid matchmaking mamas, I'm safe."

"Is that why you volunteered on this mission? You realise Saian mothers are just as, if not even more persistent?" Moments like these made Ciri wonder of her own mother. What would she have been like if she had lived? Certainly she and her sister wouldn't have accidentally gotten separated from their family during the chaos of their banishment in the first place. Where would she be then? She'd asked Cass once, whether she thought about what could have been of their parents. Cass's answer had been simple and straightforward. No. Cass didn't care. They were dead. They weren't coming back. They found new families. There was no point pondering over the past and what could have been.

She was the one with frightening levels of practicality? Cass beat her every damned day of the week. Her sister could be hard as stone when she wanted to be.

Laurence blinked, as if this hadn't struck him before. "Are Saian mothers considering Arecian lords a good catch in recent years?"

Ciri fixed him with a bland, 'are-you-kidding-me?' look. "Laurence. Sai's most likely ally in the war against the Meliqueans is Arecia, which ensures at least a decade or two of good relations with your kingdom. Besides, you're a viscount. Some mothers wouldn't even care if you came from Melique as long as you were a damn viscount. You're not exactly a hideous, odious oaf either. You're going to be swarmed."

Laurence let out a curse that should never have been uttered in front of a lady, but Ciri took no offence. If it hadn't crossed his mind before, he deserved what he had coming. Ciri couldn't hide the smile flittering onto her face. This was going to be very fun to watch.

"I don't suppose there's any getting out of it."

"Try to always have an eligible, single female around you. Preferably Asteria, really. Or you could trail behind Lady Kuroki. She's considered quite the fearsome dragon. No debutante or their mothers would dare approach you with her around."

"Why Asteria?"

"She's a countess, and most of the court is quite genuinely terrified of her. Irina works as well, of course. Danna's more of a wallflower— of her own choice, really, and Io's too young. Me, I also work, but not half as effectively as Irina or Asteria. Try not to be alone with Ruge or Dominic. Or William, really. Then you'd get swarmed twice as hard."

"You have a lot of experience regarding this."

"You're hardly the only eligible bachelor or bachelorette around town. I'm considered quite the catch as well."

He smirked. "I've realised. So how do you avoid your persistent suitors?"

"I... don't," Ciri admitted. "If they get too comfortable, I subtly push them away. I'm rather good at it."

"Lots of experience?" He was teasing her now, quite openly.

She flexed her fingers, one by one. "You know the answer to that, my lord. Don't ask stupid questions." Tucking a lock of wayward hair back behind her ear, she said, "Dinner would be served soon, my lord."

He understood instantly. Standing up, he bowed. "You'll have to get ready, of course. I won't bother you any longer, Miss Diao."

It was funny, this game they placed, bouncing back and forth between formal and informal, acquaintances and friends. They both smiled. Ciri curtsied. "Thank you, my lord." He left for his own house, and Ciri turned into her bedchamber, summoning one of the maids to help her with her hair.

This maid was a girl of around fifteen, with hair the colour of chocolate and fearful, wide eyes. New to this place, then, and utterly terrified. Ciri did her best to be kind. She asked for her white dress, simple and elegant. She did a simple bun, with a mother-of-pearl ji finishing it off. Ciri looked through her measly collection of jewellery and picked a pearl necklace that belonged to her grandmother. Cass had gotten the earrings. Lady Kuroki must have fetched these from her room at the school. She always did have excellent foresight.

She found a pretty white shawl at the bottom of her luggage and wrapped it around herself, glancing into the mirror. Perfect.

She gave a little twirl, grinning. She did love dressing up.

Now there was nothing to do but wait.