Pascual and Ju Li engaged in a silent battle of stares.

She didn't look away from the boy who was beginning to flounder under her gaze. It would seem that would divulge no more information on the matter, as he refused to answer any more of her questions. She sighed, and looked away from him, settling back down on the floor. She considered asking him something else when a rustling sounded from the door, and her attention snapped towards it. She turned her gaze away from him for only a moment, but when Ju Li looked back to warn Pascual, he had already gone.

Left behind was the single dagger she had previously been eyeing when she thought Pascual would kill her. As her luck would have it, such was not the case and she was left with a weapon that was not hers to keep. Just as the door swung open, she flung the blade under her pillow and stared out the window, pretending to be lost in thought.

A hand rested on her shoulder, and she looked over to see that it was her mother. Words lay hidden in her eyes as worry consumed her frame. Ju Li's mother had been oddly quiet in her daughter's time of sickness, as if guilt had held her tongue. The woman now hesitated, held back once more.

"How are you feeling," she inquired softly, "Are you unable to sleep?"

"I am well, Mother, you needn't fret over me," Ju Li replied, "A bird flew in and woke me up. I was just looking at the moon; it's most beautiful tonight."

"Yes, it is," her mother agreed, offering a faint smile. It faded, however, as she moved on to what it was she was originally there.

"Ju Li," she began, letting her hand slip from her daughter's shoulder.

"Yes?"

"I had not intended for you to become so sick," she continued, giving life to her words quickly, "I had merely been thinking of a way for you to return to us. If the emperor had seen that you were sick, you would not be accepted and you would be home with us."

"What is the meaning of this?" It would seem that this night held more than just a strange boy and his secrets.

"I only wanted to keep you here with me, with your family."

"Did you not think that when you decided that Xiao Li and I would be bartered off?"

"That would have been different. You would have been able to see us again."

"How do you know? Forgive me, Mother, but I fail to see how it would be different. The husband you choose for me can say one thing and do another. He could say that he would want me to visit you often, but keep me from doing so. How do you know that he would allow me visitation with you and Father?"

"I do not know, but I hope for this possibility."

"Hope is an evil and corrupting thing," Ju Li hissed, turning away from her mother then.

A moment later there was the familiar smack of flesh against flesh, her mother's hand raised from having completed the slap. A red mark formed on the girl's cheek slowly, a flower blossoming over her skin.

"Hope is all that we have," her mother whispered fervently before getting to her feet and leaving the room.

Ju Li did not attempt sleep under long after her encounter with her mother. She continued to stare at the moon for several more hours, imagining it as some great looking glass by which the gods reflected their desires upon the world. When she tired of the thought and the images that came with it, she looked instead to the dagger left behind by her visitor Pascual.

The blade itself was basic and its hilt no better, but it was an enticing thing to behold. Perhaps in the possibility of power that it gave as it rested in her hands. She swallowed, taking the thoughts of its uses away from her mind. She was in the process of returning it to its place under her pillow when the softest click sounded.

Fearing she had broken something, she inspected the hilt, only to find that a secret compartment was hidden just under a cap. Tucked neatly inside was a folded scrap of parchment. Ju Li removed it carefully and unraveled it, finding a message of some sort in it. The words, however, were unreadable to her as her brows furrowed and her lips pressed into a thin line with her concentration. The language was unintelligible, characters that she had never seen before.

She supposed Pascual would be able to read it. After all, it was his dagger, and that meant the message written on the paper was meant for him. Refolding the paper and tucking it back in the compartment, she screwed the cap back over it before gingerly replacing it under her pillow.

As she lay her head down, sleep finally claimed her as its prisoner.

The following morning brought the revelations of the night with it. Ju Li was awoken by Xiao Li's excited squeals as she shook her older sister awake. Wild-eyed and confused, Ju Li remained disoriented for a moment until her body remembered where it was. She breathed a sigh, still confused by her sister's burst of energy so early in the morning. She watched as the girl moved in and out of the room like a storm, coming back to be sure she was awake and urging her to get up.

The process of getting dressed was expedited by an excited Xiao Li doing all the real work while Ju Li weakly lifted her limbs out of the way. When at least she was presentable, her younger sister dragged her out of the room and headed towards the garden. Stopping abruptly, Xiao Li swiveled on her heels quickly to grin up at Ju Li.

"What is it," the older girl inquired, "Have you finally gone mad?"

"No, I have not, but the gods have blessed us once more," Xiao Li stated.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, they sent us a boy."

With this as the last words she would impart upon her sister, Xiao Li continued to drag her out to the gates of the house. There stood their mother and father with a slim boy, bowed and holding out a piece of paper for them to read. Ju Li watched as her father read the words, then looked down at the boy, who remained bowed.

His skin was tanned, yet pale like peeling bark from a tree. His hair, long and braided, fell to either side of his neck as he bowed and suddenly that figure seemed familiar. He raised his head a moment later and she saw then that his eyes were a deep brown when they turned to her. A smile threatened to break over the boy's face as it dawned on her that she knew who this boy was.

Bowing once more, he said slowly, "My name is Pascual, and I would like to work for your family."

// damn, pascual. back at it getting into people's homes again. he's such a nugget; too precious, too pure for this world. please let me know if I messed anything up, and if anyone caught the title line ;) thanks so much for reading, as always! I really appreciate it! cheers, rem.

QUESTIONS: Any thoughts on why Pascual is getting so close? Do you think that the message is for him or for Ju Li? What do you think the message is?