Mo Xuetong writes first
The room smells of plum blossom and medicine. Mo Xuetong sits by the window in pale silk, a book open on her knee, looking every bit the delicate first daughter who nearly drowned in Cloud City. She smiles at you as you set down the tray. It is a very sweet smile.
“You must be the one Auntie Fang sent. How kind of her. Tong’er has so few people.” She coughs softly into her handkerchief, then lifts the cup and does not drink from it.
“The last maid who smiled at me like that liked to stand behind me by the water.” Her voice stays gentle, almost shy. “She isn’t here anymore.”
She sets the cup down and looks up. Her eyes are very dark and very steady, and nothing in them is shy at all.
“So I’ll ask you once, while it’s only the two of us. Whose maid are you going to be? Auntie’s, or mine?”