The dragon does not act alone.
He took off his glasses, and now I saw what was obvious in retrospect—how they concealed the yellow glint of his eyes. Because he had not wanted me to know.
“It was you,” I whispered. “You were the one forming the spirit gates.”
He shook his head, still smiling. “The ones down south, sure. But the northern gates were all thanks to you, my friend. Why do you fight it? Why do you fight it when we seek the same outcome?”
“Is Baihu controlling you too?” I whispered, as if there were a way the tiger spirit could not overhear me. “Is that why you’re doing this?”
“Controlling me?” he repeated, as if I’d said something ludicrous. “Controlling me?” He threw his head back with laughter. “My dear, I am the one controllingher.”
He was a lost cause, then. He believed what I’d once believed—that I could be the exception, the one to thwart fate. That I could be the one immune to the corrupting hand of power.
“So it is your wish to tear down the veil and let the spirits run amok among us?” I asked, disbelieving. “You would give our world to them, and let this too become a world of spirits?”
“What I want,” he said, his eyes glittering, “is a world for all people.”
“Then—”
“Allpeople,” he said again. “The blacksmith, the butcher, the widow, and the orphan.” He closed the distance between us, as I edged back. “None will be greater than the other; the prince himself will be our equal. There will be no more class division, no more blood lineage, no more landowners and tenant farmers and beggars on the street. For the land will be centrally owned, and power will be returned to the people. At last.”
“Then why?” I asked, my voice rising. “Why destroy our world if you care for its people?”
“Because I care for them,” he said. “I equip them. I offer power freely, rather than withhold it for myself. That is what sets us apart from every lord and sovereign before us. You and me, my dear. We can be the last dynasty.”
“You’ve got it all wrong,” I insisted.
“With every new gate opened, more and more common folk can cross into the spirit realm,” he said, voice slow, patient. “More and more people can become summoners and restore power to the masses. How do you think a ragtag band of untrained rebels defeated the Leyuan warlord? How do you think we’ll defeat the Anlai one this time?”
“Aren’t you tired of war?”
He shook his head. “For us common folk, the war never ended.” He grew impassioned, stirred by the sound of his own voice. “They tax us mercilessly, stealing our hard-earned coin, promising to repair our roads and fill our storehouses in winter. But winter has come and gone, and the roads are still ruined, and the storehouses empty. The common people are starving, while in the palace, they gorge themselves on the spoils of our labor.”
Was anyone ever satisfied? I wondered. The dragon wanted more; the people wanted more; even the lords and kings wanted more. Was this then our fate—to fight and destroy one another until the world was reduced to ruins?
Kuro must have seen the hopelessness in my eyes, for his voice gentled. “My friend, the time of emperors and warlords is over. The Mandate of Heaven has passed on to the people. Together, we can build a world where women stand equal to men, where every peasant has the same opportunities as a nobleman. A world where the land is not hoarded by corrupt officials but held centrally by the state for the good of all. Imagine the promise of such a world.”
My heart was thudding wildly in my chest. His tone was soothing, level, and his expression sure and steady. In contrast, I was weak, torn, indecisive.
Help him. Help him return power to the people. You want equality, don’t you? You trained those servant girls in the palace, even though you weren’t supposed to. How is this any different?
Kuro’s hand came down on my shoulder, and I flinched. “Help me, my friend. Help me crush the foundations of the old world, and build a new one from its ashes.”
I couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. How could I discern right from wrong anymore? Who was an enemy, and who was a friend? I had been so certain in my choice to trust Qinglong, who had never seen me as his equal. At the same time, I had been too quick to discredit Sima Yi, aiming to kill him before I’d even known him.
What if the spirit gates did topple the monarchy? What if changewasneeded—what if the Three Kingdoms could not go on like this anymore? What if another young woman, as dissatisfied and reckless as I’d once been, was peering out her window at this very moment, wondering what lay beyond the monotony of the women’s quarters? What if I gave her a fighting chance? What if shetoo struck a bargain with a spirit; what if she too sought the power that had transformed me?
“Hai Meilin,” Kuro said, his eyes glowing strangely. “Help me serve the people.”
His compulsion entered me like sand slipping through the cracks of a sealed door. I felt myself go still, the anxious thoughts in my head settling like dust motes floating to the floor.
A spinning knife sliced open my tunic sleeve, drawing the thinnest of cuts. I turned in surprise, before spotting Lei fast approaching us.
Lei, who never missed.
Waking from the rebel leader’s spell, I glared furiously into his gold eyes. Without giving him a chance to react, I plunged my qi into his, adopting the techniques I’d once tried on Chancellor Sima. I felt the dark energy of his lixia, the human emotion his spirit fed upon. Just as Qinglong devoured my greed, Baihu fed his pride.
He believed he could do no wrong.
