Catching Shadows

Chapter Six: Missing

Hi, guys! This is Chapter Six. Thanks for all your reviews and votes, they really inspire me :) If there's anything you want to see happen or something you think I left out, go ahead and tell me :D

Chapter Six

At Choi's gasp, Mingzhu stepped forward. "What is it?" she asked. "Do you know him?"

Choi managed to tear her eyes away from the unconscious figure on the bed to look at Lady Xiu. "Not...not by name," she said softly, "but he saved my life once. I...I wondered if I'd ever get the chance to thank him."

Mingzhu smiled gently. "It must be fate, then," she said, and then reached out and pulled lightly on a tasseled bell-cord. A wrinkled old man appeared, bowing deeply. "What is it, madam?"

"Send Lanying here, please." After the servant had gone, Mingzhu turned back to Choi, keeping her voice low. "Lanying will be your room-mate. She will show you where to put your things, and after you've settled in, come back here and I will tell you what your duties are."

Choi nodded. "Thank you, madam."

Several minutes later, Lanying stepped into the room. She was a little shorter than Choi, with a round face and huge dark eyes that seemed to be taking in everything around her.

"Lanying, please take Choi to your room," Mingzhu said. "She's starting work here today and will be sharing with you."

Lanying turned to Choi and smiled. "Come on, then," she said, reaching for Choi's hand. Hesitantly, the girl took it, and the pair of them left the room. Before turning the corner, Choi looked back once, and then followed Lanying.

"Madam wants you to be her new maid," Lanying said as the two girls walked down the path. " The other maid that shared with me didn't like it here, and she left. She was from the provinces, and the city frightened her. I'm glad I'll be sharing with you."

The two girls shared a smile, and some of the ache that filled Choi began to dissolve. She had found an ally.

Her mind went back to the injured stranger, and almost instinctively, her hand strayed to her pocket. Touching the dragon pendant, she said a silent prayer that he would wake up soon.

***

"Liang?"

Yanmei knocked lightly on the door of her fellow assassin's room. She had learned a long time ago that walking in without knocking was a mistake with Liang, and even though their friendship had vanished a long time ago, she still respected his wishes.

When there was no answer, the young woman pushed the doors open, and stepped into the room. It was empty, the bed neatly made up, and everything in its proper place. Curious, Yanmei walked over to the closet in the corner and pulled it open.

The knives that Liang kept there were gone.

Yanmei stared at the empty closet, a puzzled look on her face. She hadn't seen Liang all yesterday, and at first had assumed that he was avoiding her after his interview with Dai Feng, but now she wondered where he had gone.

The sound of the front gates opening caught her attention and she walked over to the window. Mengyao was just walking in, his dark clothes dusty and his face set in a frown. In his hand he carried something familiar: Liang's cloak.

Yanmei frowned. She was going to get to the bottom of this, one way or another. Leaving Liang's room, she headed to Dai Feng's chamber, walking in without knocking.

Mengyao had gotten there before her, and as she stepped into the room, Yanmei heard him say to Dai Feng, "I tracked him like you asked me to, but he must have known someone was following him, because I lost him after a while. It took me some time to find out where he had gone, and when I finally thought I had caught up with him, I found blood on the ground and this in a corner." He threw the cloak down onto the table.