Tangled Hopes.

Ying Lan crouched among the thick reeds, every muscle in her body tense and alert. Gently, she parted the green stalks before her, making no more noise than the breeze that whispered through them. Her eyes carefully scanned the clearing ahead. There was no sign of the Marquess or his men.

Cautiously, Ying Lan crept out of her hiding place; and as she did, a flash of light caught her eye — a glint of something in the sun. Her heart leaped and she sprinted towards it, hoping to see the familiar shape of her jade pendant.

But as she drew closer, she saw it wasn't the pendant that lay before her, but one of her twin daggers. She had dropped it during her futile attempt to control the unruly horse. She picked the dagger, and slid it into its sheath. It wasn't what she sought, but still, it was a comfort to have it back at her side.

Ying Lan's gaze then fell upon the ruts left by the rogue carriage that had shattered her escape plan. She traced the ruts to where Miss Ding had fallen off. The place was marked by gouged sand and displaced pebbles, a testimony to the haughty Miss unceremonious landing. Ying Lan bent down and begun to search for her pendant; she circled the place over and over again.

She found nothing.

Desperation gripped her heart. She stopped her search and gazed towards the road. Mybe Miss Ding dropped the pendant when she was heading back to the road, when she was boarding another carriage to continue her journey?

Without a moment's hesitation, Ying Lan walked toward the road; her eyes glued to the ground, scanning for any trace of white jade. She reached where the other carriages in the marquess party had lined up. She searched the area; pacing back and forth, back and forth.

She found nothing.

Despair settled over her like a dark cloud; what she had dreaded most had come to pass: her pendant was gone; Miss Ding had taken it.