he wind gave a piercing scream, and both Pinmei and Yishan were silent. Was Amah in a dungeon, in the dark and alone? Or out in the freezing snow, shivering? Pinmei placed her hand over the cold jade bracelet on her wrist, her fingers curling around it.

“Yanna said the soldiers camp out on the eastern side of the Long Walkway,” Pinmei said. “So if we just follow the walkway, we could find the camp easily.”

“But to find Amah, we’d have to sneak among the soldiers,” Yishan said. “And Yanna also said the emperor is out there too.”

Pinmei looked out the window. The branches on the trees were being flung about by the wind, swaying toward her like bony fingers clawing at a small animal. She shivered, pulling the bracelet on and off her wrist.

“The emperor and his men are only here for one night,” she said. “That means we only have tonight to look for Amah.”

Yishan rubbed his chin. “So when everyone is sleeping,” he said, “we’ll have to creep out of here to the soldiers’ camp and sneak around to look for Amah.”

Pinmei nodded. Her hands cupped Amah’s bracelet like a nest and the stone began to warm.

“We’ll have to be very careful,” Yishan warned, “and very, very quiet.”

Pinmei turned to look at Yishan, putting the bracelet on her arm. Then she tossed her braid, which had always reminded her of a long mouse tail.

“I can do that,” Pinmei said.

Yishan looked back at her and grinned.

CHAPTER 27

“Ah, they feed me much better since you arrived,” the stonecutter said as the dungeon door slammed closed. He picked up a bowl of rice and pushed it toward Amah.

“A small bowl of rice every other day,” Amah said, taking the bowl, “does not seem like good feeding to me.”

“They used to forget for three, four days—sometimes a week,” the stonecutter said. “And now, they leave a light. It is because of you, of course.”

“Me?” Amah said, scooping the rice with her cold fingers.

“Yes,” the stonecutter said. “You misjudge those who honor you. They do not think you can predict the future or save them from catastrophe. They honor you because you are the Storyteller.”

“It does not seem like something that would earn the respect of men such as these,” Amah said.

“Almost all men respect the Storyteller,” the stonecutter said. “You can make time disappear. You can bring us to places we have never dreamed of. You can make us feel sorrow and joy and peace. You have great magic.”

“You flatter me,” Amah said. “I do not think I am what you say.”

The stonecutter laughed. “How can you not be?” he said. “Don’t the soldiers treat you as kindly as they can? Are you not covered by a guard’s own coat right now?”

“How selfish I am,” Amah said. “You have been cold much longer than me. You should have this coat.”

“The guard gave it to you, Storyteller,” the stonecutter said. “Keep it. Instead, give me another story.”

“Very well,” Amah said. “What kind of story would you like?”

“Tell me a story about eating something delicious,” the stonecutter said, “so I can imagine I am eating something other than plain rice.”

Emperor Zu was called the Son of the Heavens because he was indeed somehow related to the immortal Queen Mother of the Heavens. And even though the relation must have been distant, the Queen Mother still looked upon him with great favor. For his sixtieth birthday celebration, the Queen Mother came. A full chariot pulled by unicorns burst from a cloud and descended. The thousands of acrobats, singers, dancers, and guests froze at a shocked standstill. However, while the light of the stars on the Queen Mother’s crown was brighter than all the lanterns combined, it was the peach she held in her hands that everyone stared at.

“Zu,” the Queen Mother said, “your character is too flawed for me to grant you immortality, so instead I bring you this peach of longevity. This peach will grant you nine hundred and ninety-nine more years of life. I hope with these extra years, you will be able to merit immortality.”

All, including the emperor, sank to the floor in deference, and one of the queen’s companions had to nudge a servant to rise in order to take the peach. As the emperor stammered his gratitude, the Queen Mother nodded to him and gave the sea of bowed heads a glance of acknowledgment. Then the unicorns reared and leaped and she and her entourage disappeared back into the sky.

For a moment, the emperor and his guests could only stare up at the heavens. If it were not for the peach, all would have doubted the reality of the Queen Mother’s visit. But the glorious golden peach was casting a warm glow. The emperor, already licking his lips, waved his hand for the peach to be brought to him.

The crowd parted and watched in hushed silence as the trembling servant carried the peach as if leading a procession. The sweet fragrance wafted through the air like an intoxicating wine, and it was not only the emperor’s mouth that watered.

But just as the peach was almost within arm’s distance of the emperor, someone broke through the mesmerized crowd and grabbed it! After a brief stunned moment, the emperor barked an order, and the guards clamored.

They swarmed upon the attempted thief, who collapsed to the floor. But with him fell the peach. It rolled on the floor toward the emperor, and all gazed in horror as they saw that a bite had been taken out of it!

For while the moment of shock had been short, it had been long enough. The golden skin of the peach had been torn open, and where a chunk of flesh was now missing, a sweet, sticky juice was dripping like crystal beads gliding off a string. The emperor would not take the first bite of his peach.

Enraged, the emperor had the thief brought before him. To everyone’s surprise, it was a magistrate who was distantly connected to the emperor by marriage. By all accounts, he was well liked. But all favor had disappeared with the bite of the peach.

“How dare you take a bite of my peach!” the emperor roared. “I shall have you executed!”

“Forgiveness, Your Exalted Majesty,” the magistrate said, prostrating himself. “But if I have eaten from the peach of longevity, how can I be killed?”

“Fool!” the emperor said. “You have stolen some extra years of life, but you are not invincible! That bite of peach may protect you from sickness and age, but you can still be killed.”