Chapter 8: Morning Tea

Ruoxi woke to the sound of a bird in the plum tree outside the shutters.

Light came in thin and gold across the sheet.

Mingzhu was asleep against her shoulder, one hand curled on Ruoxi's chest.

Her braid had come loose.

Her mouth was slightly open.

Ruoxi lay perfectly still and looked at her for a long time.

She had tasted a thousand dishes and had never wanted to stay in a room so much.

"You're staring," said Mingzhu, without opening her eyes.

"I'm tasting the morning."

"What does it taste of?"

"Plum blossom. Sleep." Ruoxi kissed her hair. "You."

Mingzhu smiled into her skin.

"Say that again."

Ruoxi said it again.

It took a while to get out of bed after that.

There was a good deal of kissing, and some laughing, and one argument about who had snored.

Mingzhu said it was Ruoxi.

Ruoxi said princesses did not snore, and Mingzhu bit her shoulder to prove otherwise.

Lanyin had left tea outside the door and a folded set of clean robes.

The slate-blue one hung on its hook.

Ruoxi put it on, retied the cord with the spoon, and went out to the dining hall with her hair loose, feeling ten feet tall.

The Marquis was already in the hall.

He sat at the princess's table, which no one sat at, with the tasting ledger open before him.

Keep reading free with an account. Start The Poison Taster Who Outlived the Princess's Dinners from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.