lips. Paper whispered against envelope, and the folded sheet slid out a quarter of the way. She paused, a frown flickering, before she drew it out entirely. “What is the meaning of this?” she said, her words as cold as ice piercing through my chest. “Have you come to play a jest on me? This letter is blank.”
“The truth is…” I floundered, straining to improvise, but I could find nothing but the truth. “I only came to fetch something.”
Madam Yeonok fixed me with a stare. “What?”
“I was wondering if you knew anything about Lady O and her murder.”
The maid gasped. The gisaeng kept silent, but she could not hide the blood draining from her face or the trembling of her fingers. A sheen of sweat glistened on her brow, betraying her through the mask of anger she put on.
“Impudent girl,” Madam Yeonok said, and a spiteful laugh tinkled in the air. “Who do you think I am? I am a gisaeng, a keeper of secrets, and so is everyone in this house. Go before I have you flogged and reported to Inspector Han—”
“I have come here by Commander Yi’s orders.” The lie slipped from my lips. I’d rarely lied before, but now it was all I had. “He has set up a secret investigation. He wants to know what happened here the night of the killing.”
The gisaeng arched her brow. “And he sent you, a mere damo?”
It was true, that was all I was. A mere damo. My name, my existence, was nothing but ashes and burnt bridges. I was already hated by Inspector Han, despised by all of Ky?n’s gang of officers.
“If you do not tell me the truth,” I whispered as menacingly as I could, “Commander Yi will send his men to search every nook and cranny of this mansion. He will beat and he will tear until the truth comes out.”
Madam Yeonok raised her chin as she examined me. A thousand thoughts flitted across her eyes, like the swift reflection of clouds over water. She had to know that for me to utter such an immense lie would be to put my life at risk. Surely, it made more sense to her that I was telling the truth.
At length, she slid her stare to the maid. “Go bring a manservant to deal with this damo, Misu-yah.”
My bravado faltered, my courage crumbled. I couldn’t risk causing a scene. “Madam, if you wish me to leave, I will leave. I have done my best to warn you.”
She remained still, and I dared to take a step back, then another, and when I realized she had no intention of stopping me, I turned on my heel. The maids slid open the doors, and the moment I stepped out, the doors shut with a clack. Cold sweat clung to the back of my neck as I stared down the hall, trying to gather my thoughts. That was it? I had come all this way just to be scared off so soon?
“Misu-yah,” came Madam Yeonok’s lowered voice from beyond the paper screen. “Burn it.”
A gasp caught in my throat. The urgent fear in the madam’s voice was undeniable.
“Now, mistress?”
“You should have burned it long ago.”
Hearing Misu shuffling toward the entrance, I hurried down the hall and turned a corner, and right then I heard the doors slide open, followed by the sound of footsteps drawing near, closer to my hiding spot. I bit my lower lip, and as quick as I could without making a sound, I rushed forward and finally managed to escape into the main courtyard. I whirled behind a pillar and kept an eye on the front mansion entrance as Madam Yeonok’s order pounded in my ears.
Burn it.
Soon enough, Misu’s face, ghostly pale with terror, flashed down the veranda, disappearing through a connecting gate. And I followed. I wound my way through the crowd and didn’t realize that I was only in my socks until I was running, but I had no time to run back to the side mansion entrance to retrieve my sandals. As soon as I passed through the gate, I hid behind a wooden beam, watching Misu scurry into what looked to be the servants’ quarter with its dusty and run-down appearance. Whatever she’d been ordered to burn, I’d give her no time to do so. I raced forward, threw the door aside, and stormed in.
Misu was shoving fabric into a sack.
I grabbed it, a material so soft I knew it was silk, but she