A Great Escape
Chapter 16: The truth comes out
Two weeks.
That was how much longer Shen had to stay in Gongmen City: two weeks. That is, provided that he had all of the cannons he was commissioned to build at least halfway down the assembly line by that time, and that Jie and Yue Xifeng arrived home from their unknown excursion before the dinner date – but there was no doubt in the peacock's mind that both of those things would happen. He was ready to go home, ready to head back to his normal life and take Lanying with him. So he would make sure that everything went according to plan before the two weeks were up.
He was surprised when the time didn't pass as slowly as he'd thought it might. Work in the fireworks factory became almost leisurely as he slipped back into his element and had the chance to exercise his inventive mind, and he and Xun managed to avoid any further spats. Once every few days, he and Lanying would arrange to meet at her parents' house, and then the two of them would go off into the city in order to experience all of the sights and sounds it had to offer.
This was not as enjoyable as he'd believed it would be, for Lanying was unable to even pretend that she was comfortable in the city. The crowds set her on edge, making her cringe at even the barest brush of accidental contact; the sounds of civilians shouting to each other, carts' wheels scraping against the streets, and vendors' wares jingling were visibly grating on her nerves; and she recoiled from the most mundane activities as if they were dangerous obstacles, always veering away from things like rickshaws clattering by or crews performing building repairs. She usually followed close behind him or right at his side, and if he ever parted from her for a few moments, she would stand stock-still in one spot until he returned, as tense and frightened as a child separated from her parents.
"You need to loosen up," Shen told her one day, worriedly watching her flinch as they moved down a particularly busy road. "Nothing here will hurt you, I promise."
Lanying didn't answer at first, though she almost made a grab for his arm when a rickshaw passed by her a few feet away. Despite the kiss they'd shared not so long ago, she had been very particular about maintaining a low level of physical contact with him. He assumed it was because she was simply unused to having people touch her.
"It's funny," she finally said. "During all that time I spent locked up in my bedroom, all I could think about was having my freedom. Now I've got my freedom, and I'd rather be painting in my room by myself."
"Well, you can't simply be thrown into anything, even your freedom," he assured her. "After all, you've been trapped inside for most of your life, so I'm not surprised that the city makes you skittish. You'll probably do better in the Valley of Peace – it's not nearly as crowded or busy there."
She sighed. "This is pathetic. I'm twenty-six years old, and I don't know how to act like a normal, calm person in public."
"Nonsense." He spotted a bench out near a storefront, away from the swarming mass of people. "Would you like to sit down for a moment?"
She obliged, and the two of them darted to the side of the street, sitting side by side on the bench. Shen noticed that Lanying's breathing seemed slightly irregular, and she was beginning to gulp in unnecessarily large mouthfuls of air. Her body was trembling slightly. "Are you having a panic attack?" he asked, alarmed. He had practically forgotten about her anxiety condition.
Lanying shook her head. "No…just a few panic symptoms, that's all. Not a full-blown attack. This happens sometimes. Don't you worry about me, I'll be perfectly fine in a few more minutes…besides, I've only ever had panic attacks at night."
That evening, when he returned to the dormitory, he decided to talk the situation over with the soothsayer. His nanny sighed and said, "Most any person who has spent most of their life in one remote location will struggle when they reach the outside world. You were like that when you were a chick…after all, you never even left the Tower of the Sacred Flame until you were six years old."
"Well, I turned out all right in that regard, didn't I?" responded Shen. He still wasn't crazy about crowds, of course, but he rarely got as anxious as Lanying.
"Yes, but remember, you were only a child when you began to get acclimated to the outside world. Lanying is a grown woman, and she probably hasn't been out into the city two dozen times in her life. At this point, she may never become entirely used to it…but we'll see, of course."
Shen's eyes flickered thoughtfully. "All we can do is try."
After a few seconds of silence, the soothsayer heaved a sigh. "Now that you know Miss Xifeng a little better, Shen, you should know that she's not quite self-supporting. Oh, I'm sure that she'll be able to manage her finances and maintain a home once she gets her own job, but…she needs emotional support. Without someone there for her, I doubt that she will make it very far."
He lifted his head resolutely. "Whatever she needs, I'm willing to provide for her."
The soothsayer looked at him reproachfully, even smirking a little, but she didn't say anything more.
…
Two weeks.
Shen was almost stunned when he realized that the allotted amount of time was nearly over. Most of his belongings were packed now, and he imagined that Lanying's were too. He wondered if she was counting the days with even more fervor than he was, eagerly awaiting the morning when she would be able to leave Gongmen City, her gilded cage, and her parents far behind.
Lanying's parents had returned home right on schedule, so Shen was unable to see her again for a few days. Fortunately, he had the arrangements for the upcoming formal dinner to keep him occupied. The implications of the event were nerve-wracking; this would be the first time that the Xifengs would be around Xun and the soothsayer for more than a few minutes, and also probably his last real meeting with his future in-laws until the wedding. He scrambled about with Masters Storming Ox and Croc, collecting the cutlery and selecting the dishes that the cooks would prepare. He normally wouldn't have gotten so worked up over a supper, but this time, he felt that everything had to be perfect.
When the big day (or, as he had begun to think of it, the "day of judgment") arrived, he did not report to the fireworks factory; he didn't want a single speck of soot on his white feathers when the Xifengs arrived that evening. Xun did go to work, but only for an hour or two, since the two former criminals were barely needed at all this far in the production process. For everyone in the dormitory, the afternoon was spent cleaning up and changing into their finest dress clothes. Even the soothsayer put on a few layers of silver silk robes that Shen hadn't even known she'd brought with her.
At last, the tension was over, the table was set, and the Xifengs arrived. All three Java green peafowl were wearing their finest robe, with Lanying adorned in what must have been another new outfit – a sleek, trim garment all done up in red and gold. Even this choice of clothing spoke of serious intentions, as red was the color of good luck and, consequently, marriage. Shen was essentially seeing a preview of what she would look like in her wedding gown.
The dinner started out pleasantly enough. Pleasantries were exchanged, compliments on the quality of the food were spoken, and Jie and Yue began sharing a few details of their trip. It was only when the drinks were served that things began to go awry.
As with any truly special occasion, an alcoholic beverage was offered to everyone: sake. Shen had been drunk only once before, on his seventeenth birthday, and had caused a particularly foolish incident involving explosives that dissuaded him from repeating the experience. He didn't drink now, but when the glass was brought before him, he warily took a few tiny sips to be polite. Xun mimicked his friend's behavior, not wanting to disgrace himself even though he usually wasn't adverse to more potent beverages, and the masters flat-out declined the drinks. As it turned out, there was only one person who downed copious glasses of the sake, and that was Yue.
Yue acted as if what she was drinking was no more powerful than juice, and consumed several glasses of it. The more intoxicated she became, the more talkative she got, and her accent thickened and obscured her words as she chattered on about the trip she had taken with her husband.
"You know I was adverse to leaving Lanying by herself. She can be so, how you say, unstable," Yue prattled on, as Lanying dropped her eyes and flattened her crest. "And of course, when we get back she tell me that she has had one of her panic attacks when we were gone."
Shen arched his eyebrows, shooting Lanying a meaningful look, since she hadn't told him that. But Lanying was still glowering and embarrassed and didn't meet his eyes.
"And I of course say, why are you telling me this? What good does it do me or you? This has been going on for so many years, and yet Lanying still never thinks of other people! She is so selfish, never thinking of how I work hard to hide her away and protect our family's honor and how much of an embarrassment it is for me to have a daughter such as her!"
With that, Yue lapsed into colorful-sounding Javanese words, while Lanying sank down into her seat with her face hidden in her wings. Jie tried not to groan too loudly and gently chided his wife in their native tongue. Everyone else, including Shen, gave Lanying discreet sympathetic glances to show that they didn't agree with her mother's frank stupidity. Honestly, that last bout of babbling had sparked Shen's temper a bit. Lanying was suffering from a condition that her parents could neither cure nor understand, and her mother was more concerned about how it impacted her social standing? That was the most blatant example of selfishness he'd ever seen.
…
Lanying didn't say another word throughout the rest of the dinner, reverting back to her bitter, closed-up default mode. She was holding back a torrent of insults that she would have loved to scream at her mother, and they tasted as bitter and sharp as a rusty knife held against her tongue. Tomorrow morning, she reminded herself. It will all be over tomorrow morning. And you'll see that it will all have been worth it…
Tomorrow morning was the day that Shen would leave, and she'd go with him without looking back once. A few weeks ago she'd been dreading their marriage, but he'd shown her a side of him that she had never imagined existed, and now all she could think of was the blessed great escape that their union would bring. She knew that she was developing feelings for him, but in a way that frightened her, because she had never loved anyone before. How did she know that what she felt for him was real? What if she was simply clinging to him because he was there, as no one had ever been before? How could she tell the difference between emotional need and real love?
Either way, there wasn't much she could do about her situation now; things had been going surprisingly well, and she just had to hope that they would continue that way.
At the end of the meal, when the last of the desert dishes had been cleared away, her father stood up and cleared his throat. "Master Shen, my wife and I wish to offer our thanks to you on the behalf of our daughter," he announced. "Your generous offer has been a blessing to our family."
"It's no trouble at all," replied Shen, looking a bit uncomfortable.
"We understand that you are leaving tomorrow." Jie seemed slightly uneasy. "My wife and I would like to speak to you before you bring our daughter home with you."
Shen nodded, pushing out his chair. Jie led his slightly disoriented wife around the table, shooting a glance at Lanying that told her to stay put, and followed Shen out into the hallway. The soothsayer left, too, most likely wanting to hear the conversation, and Masters Storming Ox and Croc had gotten up to help carry serving trays into the kitchen or something. That left just Xun and Lanying in their seats.
Lanying had not been intending to engage in conversation with the wolf. She knew that he was the former Wolf Boss, and also that he was Shen's friend or something, but that didn't exactly compel her to talk to him. So she was surprised when he cleared his throat and said carefully, "So, you're coming home with us tomorrow."
Startled, she looked up at him. "Um, yes, that's right."
"So, has Shen told you about…the plan?"
"Plan?" She narrowed her eyes. "What plan?"
Xun exhaled roughly. "That dumb peacock…okay, since Shen refuses to tell you this, I'm gonna tell you. For your own good, 'cause you had to find out about it eventually…anyway, Shen's not really going to marry you."
If Lanying had been drinking something, she would have spit it out all over the table. As it was she sat bolt upright in her chair, her eyes widening. "Excuse me? Of course Shen is going to marry me! He's the one who offered in the first place!"
"Well, it was a fake offer, okay?" Xun seemed irritated and slightly uncomfortable. "After he heard that you had panic attacks, he felt bad for you and decided he wanted to take you back to the Valley of Peace with him…you know, so that you could get a job without people being prejudiced against you, and stuff. He didn't want you to end up going crazy like he did, which was why he told your parents he would marry you. He said he was going to tell you, but then he never did, for some reason. I dunno, I figured I should tell you…I didn't want to see you getting any false hopes."
"False hopes…" Lanying echoed. Her shoulders were heaving, and she was panting angrily.
"Anyway, I should probably go…" Xun's single eye darted from side to side nervously, and he quickly darted up from the table and out of the room, not eager to stick around and see what the consequences of his words would be.
…
Shen's last task was to douse the final worries of Jie Xifeng (Yue was a bit too drunk to fully participate in the conversation). Yes, Lanying would be fine with him; yes, he had enough money to support her and to pay for the wedding; yes, he'd send a letter telling them when exactly the wedding would be. At last Jie was satisfied, and he took his wife to wait outside while Shen fetched Lanying. This would be Shen's final opportunity to see Lanying before tomorrow, and he was hoping that she might let him kiss her again.
When he walked back into the dining room, he found her standing stiffly in front of the table, glaring at him.
"Lanying…?" he said uncertainly.
"I know," she stated flatly.
"You know? Know what?"
Suddenly, he felt a shocking burst of cold splash the front of his silk robe. She had picked up a half-empty glass from the table and hurled its contents at him.
"I know that you've been using me!" she cried. "You were never intending to marry me? How convenient that you never told me about that!"
Shen felt a rush of cold surge through him that had nothing to do with the stain on his robe. Here he was, just inches from his goal, and he had been caught. The truth had come out at the last – and worst – possible moment.
"H-how…" He swallowed weakly. "How did you find out?"
"Your friend Xun told me!" She bared her beak in a snarl, before snapping away from him and throwing her wings into the air. "All this time…all this time I was surprised by how much of a gentleman you were, and it really was too good to be true! You've been baiting me this whole time! Luring me in with charming lies! You 'empathize' with me because you have panic attacks as well? I can't believe I fell for that!"
"Lanying, I wasn't lying!" Shen interjected desperately. "If you would just give me a second to explain – "
"Explain? Oh, I see, you want to come up with more lies that I'll believe hook, line, and sinker! Well, I've reached the end of my rope with you, you monster! Tell me, if you weren't planning to marry me once we arrived in the Valley of Peace, then what exactly were you going to do with me? Enslave me? Turn me into your mistress?"
"It wasn't like that at all…" Shen's voice was small, faint, hopeless. "I…I never wanted to hurt you, honestly…"
"Then why did you trick me?" Lanying panted angrily, beads of moisture forming at the corners of her violet eyes. "What could you possibly hope to gain?"
Shen opened his beak, but no sound came out. His voice had entirely deserted him.
Lanying shoved past him as she angrily hurried out the door, hitching up the long hem of her robe, and all Shen could do was stand there and continue to gape at her as she never once looked back.