Chapter 21 · Survival Menu - Chapter 21: The Dowager Takes a Sip

The soup's already moving. Two palace maids carry the black lacquer tray past me, steam curling up like it's got nothing to hide. I can smell the star anise from here. The mushrooms. The lie.

Yan Xiao's hand closes around my wrist. Not hard. Just there.

"Don't," he says. Low. Like he knows what I'm thinking.

I yank my arm back. The Dowager's sitting twenty feet away on a carved rosewood chair that's probably worth more than the entire kitchen staff. Her phoenix ring catches the light every time she moves her hand. Same ring. Same stone. I saw it in the chief cook's memory, dropping powder into his palm like she was handing out New Year coin.

Now she's about to drink what he made.

I take a step forward. Yan Xiao moves with me, blocking my path without looking like he's blocking anything. He's good at that. Looking like he's just standing there when really he's a wall.

"She ordered it," he says. "You can't stop her."

I shake my head. Point at the tray. Then at my mouth. The mute act's supposed to keep me safe but right now it's just another cage.

He leans in.