Chapter19—TheSubstituteBride
Theweddingdatedrewcloser。Witheverypassingday,theKhanshouseholdbecamebusier。Thebridalclotheswerenearlyfinished,horseshadbeenpreparedforthejourney,andmessengerscameabetweenYounisandtheKharuory。Suyuanknewshehadverylittletimeleftandthatevening,sheaskedYulatomeetheralone。Yulaarrivedcarryingasmalllantern。ShelookedsurprisedtoseeSuyuanwaitingintheemptyroom。
“Youaskedforme?”
“Yes。Sit。”
Yulasatacrossfromher,foramoment,herspoke。ThenSuyuanpouredheracupoftea。
“IwantyoutoleaveYounis。”
Yulablinked。
“What?”
Suyuanlookdirectlyather。
“Iwantyoutotakemyplace。”
ThecupinYulashandsstoppedhalfwaytoherlips。
Yulastaredatherasthoughshehadmisuood。
“Sister,Itdothat。”
“You。”
“No。”Yulaimmediatelyshookherhead。“Theychoseyou,Khasarchoseyou。”
Suyuanremaincalm。“Thatisexactlywhythiswork。”
Yulasexpressionbecameuneasy。
“Youreaskiopretendtobeyou?“Why?”
Suyuanwassilentforamoment。Thenshesaid,“BecauseIdontbelieveIwillhaveafuturethere。”Yulasfaceged,Suyuantinuedbeforeshecouldinterrupt。“AfterMotherdied,nothingisholdingmebaymore。TheKhannevercaredabouther。Hecertainlywontcarewhathappenstome。”
“ButyoingtomarryKhasar。”
“Yes。”
“Thenyoucouldleave。”
Suyuangaveafaintsmile。
“CouldI?”
Yulahadnoanswer。
“Khasariskind,”Suyuansaid。“Iknowthat。Hehastreatedmewithmorekihanmostpeople。”Shelookeddownatherhands。“ButkindnessdoesntgewhatIhavetodo。”Yulafrowned。“Whatareyouplanning?”Suyuandidnotanswer。Sheonlylookedtowardthewindow,wherethedarkoutlineoftheKhanspalacecouldbeseenbeyondthecourtyard。“Therearethingsthatwillhappenafterthevoyleaves,”shesaidquietly。“ThingsIotstopanymore。”
Yulasfacepale。
“Sister…”
“Idontwantyoucaughtinthem。”
Suyuanreachedacrossthetableandtookherhand。“Ifyoustay,youwillremainhere。Yourmarriagewillbedecidedbysomeoneelseeventually。Perhapsaribe。Perhapssomeoneyoudontknow。Andyouwillspendyourwholelifebeingtoldwheretogoandwhomtomarry。”
Yulalookeddown。
Suyuanvoicesoftened。
“Butifyoutakemyplace,youleave。”