"Who put me in silk?"
I spat the question out before the room decided it was morning. My fingers fumbled across brocade and found sleeve, trembled at the weight of folds that did not belong to a trainer's gym shirt.
"Miss Zifu?" Halfxia's voice at the door sounded like someone trying not to break glass. She burst in on the second knock, hair still pinned, breath quick.
"I'm not Miss Zifu," I said. "I'm... wait, which Zifu?"
Halfxia's eyes widened. "The Chancellor's younger miss. You fainted, ma'am. Guests are in the receiving hall."
"Fainted," I repeated, tasting the word like an accusation. I pushed myself up. My limbs obeyed with odd delicacy. My palm came away with a smear of dust from a lacquered chest. I knew how to move heavy weights. I knew how to count reps. I did not know how to sit without looking like I was waiting to be evaluated.
Halfxia hovered, torn between maid and witness. "Should I fetch the doctor? The apothecary knows—"
"No doctor," I said. "Tell me everything. Right now."
Her breath hitched. "You collapsed in the garden after the sacrifice offering had been made. You were on the outer steps. There were gifts. So many gifts. Everyone thought it was the shock. Miss Luo Ying insisted—"
"Stop." I steadied my voice. I had three seconds of plausible daze and then the room would want its proper performance. "Bring me water. And the mirror."
Halfxia
