Page 13 of A Forgery of Fate

It was what he always said he had to do when he left. A corner of his mouth quirked. “You see, you really do know me better than anyone.”

He dropped a heavy pouch of coins onto the table. My payment. As I lunged for it, Gaari held on to the other end of the drawstring.

“Think on what I said,” he spoke, before letting go.

No,I replied in my head.My answer is no. It will always be no.

Ever since Baba had disappeared, strange things happened when I painted my own work. Things I’d never told anyone—not Mama, not Falina. Not even Nomi.

I didn’t wish Gaari farewell, but it was as if he’d cursed me. After he left, I kept imagining dragon tails in the curve of my noodles. Even my vegetables seemed to form the shape of a face, silently haunting me.

I scowled at my bowl and devoured every last noodle with a vengeance. Every drop of soup too.

My belly full and my mouth smarting with spice, I peeled open the money pouch to count the coins. But that scoundrel Gaari! “Demon turds,” I exclaimed, “this is only half of what I was supposed to get.”

A shadow fell upon me, and when I looked up, the waiter with the long ears was at my side. Tangyor, I remembered.

He was carrying a tray, which he placed before me.

“Courtesy of Mr.Gaari,” he said, head bowed.

On the tray was a scholar’s hat, like the ones the thieves had worn this morning. I glared, but Tangyor’s expression was inscrutable.

Slowly, I lifted the hat. Underneath, in an identical pouch to the one I had, was the extra thousand jens.

“Mr.Gaari never breaks a promise,” said Tangyor. He finally acknowledged my glare, and the barest smile appeared on his face. “There’s no need for concern. My colleagues and I won’t be following you.” He paused. “Unless orders change.”

“Just what do you do for him?” I demanded.

“I serve noodles.” Tangyor bowed, then he reached for my bowl and my chilis, taking them both away. “Customers are waiting, ma’am. I am glad you enjoyed your meal, but kindly be considerate of others.”

With that, he turned and disappeared behind the beaded curtain.

“The audacity of that old man,” I muttered. First, hiring his henchmen to chase after me. Then getting them to kick me out of Luk’s!

I slung my knapsack over my shoulder, ready to storm out into the streets. In my haste, the scholar’s hat toppled onto Gaari’s stool. There it sat, looking forlorn and forgotten.

The sight appeared like a dream, and one I’d seen before. My mood instantly brightening, I picked the hat up and dusted its black folds clean. Nomi had always wanted a hat like this.

I tucked it under my arm, then out onto the road I returned, whistling to the glares of the Luk’s customers still waiting in line. Everything had gone better than I’d foreseen, and nothing—absolutely nothing—could ruin my mood.

Chapter Four

Money sang in my pocket, coins clinking together like the sweetest music. Turned out I was my mother’s daughter after all, because gods, Ilovedmoney. The sound of it, the smell, the weight, even the grime around the coin edges.

I counted my earnings with my fingers, tapping a mental abacus as I worked out how long the money would last, how much I could save. Whether I finally had enough to get my family out of Gangsun.

We were close, I concluded. Just one more sale, and we’d have enough to leave the city and start afresh. Maybe we could move to Port Kamalan, Niyan, or even Bisandi.

Or Port Onsun.My heart gave a twinge. That was the port where Baba had last been seen, before he’d taken off for the Taijin Sea.

Deep down, I knew I should cross it off my list. That after five years, it was a certainty Baba was gone, and we shouldn’t waste precious coin and time trying to find him. That it was an obsession that would ruin us all. But still I yearned for answers. I knew my sisters did too.

The central marketplace buzzed, so crowded I had to suck in my stomach to squeeze through. Tomorrow was the Ghost Festival, which honored the dead. It was the day the gates of Heaven and Hell opened, when all spirits were permitted to visit earth. My least favorite festival.

“Peanuts, tangerines!” cried the merchants selling ritual food and wine. “Roast pork, very fresh!”

“Thunderbolts of Saino,” others shouted, holding up firecrackers and grotesque masks for warding off evil. “Strike down all evil spirits and protect Gangsun eternally!”

---