Gunpowder Alchemy by Jeannie Lin Page B

exile within its mother country. When it was apparent Yang would not return, I tried the door and found it unlocked. There was no guard posted outside, either.
    I shut the door once more and retreated toward the desk. It was nighttime and I was in a strange port. Even if I had dared to navigate the foreign settlement by myself, I wasn’t certain I wanted to go. Was I any better entrenched in Prince Yizhu’s enclave than I was here?
    What I did next didn’t come without reproach, but I did it all the same. Yang had left me in his private cabin with his books and papers right before my eyes. He trusted me, and perhaps I should have valued that trust by not going through his belongings, but I had come here with a purpose.
    I began sorting through his desk, sifting through journals, ledger books and maps. A route that dotted the coastline and skirted the waters of Japan had been marked upon one of the maps. Another route ventured as far as India. These were places I had heard of, but I had no understanding of where they were located or who the people were.
    There was nothing I recognized as scientific in nature. Certainly Yang wouldn’t have left me in here with anything valuable, but I had to try to seek out some clue. If I returned to Prince Yizhu empty-handed, I’d have nothing to negotiate with on behalf of my family.
    After about an hour, Little Jie returned with tea and a plate of dumplings for me.
    â€œHow long have you been aboard this ship?” I asked him as he set the tray down.
    â€œOh no, miss! You won’t pry any information from me.”
    With a devilish look, he was gone. I drank the tea and ate the plump dumplings, which were a mix of pork and shrimp, once again thinking of my family. The last of the rice would have run out by now. Nan was clever enough to perhaps barter away some small household items, but we had little left to trade.
    Once I returned, I resolved to find other means of supporting them. I had become a burden to Physician Lo, and we had no need in the village for two healers.
    The only options left to me were bleak: our family would be reduced to begging, and Tian would be conscripted to work in the mines. I could marry Merchant Hu if he would still have me, but that was hardly a solution.
    After the meal, I rinsed my mouth with tea and lay down on the bed. Blowing out the lantern, I squeezed my eyes shut, as if that could make my problems go away for just one night. Despite the difficulties we faced at home, I still wanted to be there. Safe.
    The bunk was surprisingly warm and not uncomfortable. Before long, I started to drift as the activity of the day caught up to me.
    I thought of Yang conjuring fire out of air.
Smoke or fire?
    There had been many questions I hadn’t posed. The remaining ones lingered in my head like the buzz of dragonflies.
    If I had another three questions now, what would I ask him? What were all those shipments listed in his ledger book? And how did he get his hands on the exorbitant amounts of silver listed beside them? What had he been looking for inside the puzzle box? How had he escaped the purge when the rest of Father’s disciples had been imprisoned and stripped of rank?
    And finally, what had he done that was so unforgivable that it was better to cut off his hair and spend the rest of his life in exile?

Chapter Nine
    I awoke to movement and the rush of the wind outside. The entire cabin was in motion, and it was no longer the rocking sway of the vessel upon water.
    The ship had set sail.
    I jumped from the berth and shoved my feet into slippers before bursting out of the door. No one stopped me as I flew up the stairs.
    The too-bright sun blinded me the moment I emerged above deck. A gust of wind whipped over me, and I staggered at the wideness of the sky above and the breadth of the ocean surrounding us.
    Water. There was nothing but water and blue sky as far as the eye could see. The horizon looked impossibly far away, and a