Flight of the Butterfly

Xiao Liu's face remained carefully blank, but something flickered in her eyes. "The old woman is Madam Li. She... works with many establishments throughout the city, helping them acquire…new talent." She lowered her voice to barely above a whisper. "The Amethyst Sea Palace is the most prestigious pleasure house in the province. Wealthy merchants, scholars, even imperial court members frequent it." She paused, choosing her words carefully. "The women there entertain through music, dance, poetry, and... other arts."

The half-digested congee churned in my stomach like molten lead. "A pleasure house?" The words came out in a strangled whisper, my throat suddenly tight. "You mean they're selling me to a—" I couldn't force myself to say it, the word sticking in my throat like a fishbone. "No. No. This is insane! I have a graduate thesis to complete! The showcase next month—our chance at the Dance Lotus Awards—" My voice cracked as the full weight of my situation crashed over me. "I've never even..." Heat flooded my face as I trailed off, unable to finish the thought.

Xiao Liu's expression softened, a flicker of sympathy breaking through her careful servant's mask. "The Amethyst Sea Palace is not like other establishments," she said gently, her voice barely above a whisper. "What they truly value is talent—in music, dance, poetry, and conversation. Many of their most celebrated courtesans earned their reputation through artistic mastery alone." She glanced toward the door before adding, "Unlike other houses that fixate on your virginity, the Amethyst Sea Palace concerns itself with refinement above all else. If you have genuine skill, you can make a comfortable living through performance and intellectual exchanges."

"I can't—" The room suddenly felt impossibly small, the air thick and stifling. I tugged at my collar, struggling to breathe. "Is it hot in here? Why can't I breathe?"

"Miss Song," Xiao Liu stepped forward, concern etched on her young face. "Please try to remain—"

"Remain calm?" I let out a laugh that bordered on hysteria. "I was pursuing a master's degree in traditional Chinese arts—music, dance, fine arts—and now I'm being sold to a pleasure house in what appears to be—" I gestured wildly at our surroundings "—what? The Ming Dynasty? The Qing? I don't even know what century I'm in!"

Xiao Liu's brow furrowed in confusion. "Ming Dynasty? Qing Dynasty? Miss Song, there are no such dynasties. We are in the Golden Moon Dynasty, under the prosperous reign of Emperor Yongxing." She tilted her head, studying me with increasing concern. "Are you feeling unwell? Perhaps the sea air..."

My legs gave out and I slid down the wall, landing hard on the wooden floor. The ship's gentle rocking, which had seemed almost soothing before, now felt like it was trying to shake my sanity loose. I pressed my palms against my temples, trying to stop the room from spinning. Golden Moon Dynasty? Emperor Yongxing? That wasn't possible. In all my years studying Chinese history, I'd never heard of either.

Xiao Liu knelt beside me, her voice barely above a whisper. "We'll reach the harbor in two days, Miss Song." She glanced at the door before continuing. "Once we dock, they'll take us straight to the house mothers, though you must take this time to rest." She twisted the hem of her sleeve. "You're fortunate, in a way. Had the ship's crew not found you drifting at sea, you'd be sharing quarters below deck with the other girls—"

My head snapped up, heart suddenly racing with possibility. "Two days?" The wheels in my mind started turning. "That's—that's actually perfect. I could slip away during the confusion, or maybe even—"

"Jump ship?" Xiao Liu's face darkened. "You wouldn't be the first to try."

"But during the confusion of docking, surely—"

"They watch extra carefully then." She glanced nervously at the door. "Three girls tried last month. They thought they could slip away in the crowd."

I leaned forward. "And?"

"The guards caught them before they made it past the harbor." Her voice dropped to barely above a whisper. "Madam Li marked you as a slave in her ledger the moment they pulled you from the sea. You have no papers, no family—"

"I am not property!" I shot to my feet, hands clenching into fists. "I'm a graduate student, a professional performer! They can't just—"

"Please, keep your voice down!" Xiao Liu pleaded, eyes darting to the door.

My protest died in my throat as the full weight of my situation crashed over me. In this time, in this place, none of that mattered. My education, my career, my rights—they might as well have been dreams for all the good they'd do me now.

Xiao Liu's expression softened with sympathy. She glanced at the door and pulled her sleeves close as she leaned in. "There are usually more girls," she whispered, barely audible over the creak of wooden planks. "Sometimes fifteen or twenty in a single journey. But this time..." She counted silently on her fingers. "Including you, there are only five."

"Five?" I slumped back against the wall, my anger giving way to a sickening realization. The thought of other women sharing my fate made my stomach turn. "And they're all being..."

Xiao Liu nodded grimly. "Madam Li was asked to recruit exactly that number. She was certain she would lose part of her payment—until you appeared in the ocean like a gift from the heavens themselves."

A bitter laughter threatened to bubble up. "So that's what I am? Convenient merchandise? The missing fifth girl Madam Li needed to complete her quota?" The words tasted like ashes in my mouth. "One moment I'm working on my graduate thesis, and the next I'm being tallied in some slave trader's ledger like a piece of cargo." My fingers dug into my palms, the sharp pain grounding me in this impossible reality.

The wooden floor beneath us creaked with the ship's movement, a constant reminder that with every passing moment, we were sailing closer to a future I desperately didn't want to face.