I look to the distant lights shimmering just beyond reach and imagine Hào’yáng there, his armor rendered like the sun, his eyes as steady as the earth.
I know he would want me to go on fighting.
I swipe my palms across my cheeks. I know the choice I am making as I turn to go back to Yù’chén.
But the alcove of wisteria where Yù’chén was waiting for me is gone. In its place is a row of flowering pear trees. Frost blooms at their roots, spreading across the grass, and as I watch, dozens more begin to sprout from the ground, blocking thepath back. The air has turned icy, and my breath plumes in front of me.
Feminine laughter trills in the open space, which has suddenly grown eerily silent. And then a sweet voice rings out from all around:
“A little flower, drifted into my land of winter?”
18
Àn’ying
Palace of the Aurora, Kingdom of Night
Xisenyin.
My heart races as I press a hand to my throat, remembering her tongue against my skin.
But this time, I am not defenseless.
I slip between two wisteria trees, their hanging flowers shielding me as I weave a talisman of concealment. Then I take out the porcelain shard hidden beneath the bodice of my gown.
I am not prey. I am a scorpion.
All I need to do is get my stinger back.
Between the branches of wisteria, I spot Xisenyin’s unmissable white hair and dress as she steps out from between two of her flowering pear trees onto the balcony.
“Little flower, skin soft as petals, flesh sweet as fruit. Won’t you come out so I can taste you?”
She hasn’t seen me yet; my concealment talisman is working.
For now.
I search her dress for signs of my blades, but as she moves, the snowy fabric shifts and glitters, and it’s impossible to tell. She’s wearing that wicked smile, prowling forward like she’s hunting.
I tighten my grip on my makeshift weapon.Not if I hunt you first, I think.
Adrenaline surges through me, my senses sharpening as I step out and weave through the trees. Everything falls away but the chase; I could be home in the woods outside Xi’lín, stalking a deer.
I’m close enough now to see the intricate patterns in the frost lacing her dress, and I can make out a familiar moon-shaped dagger, gleaming between the folds of fabric—right where I saw it the first time.
Fleet.
My heart lifts at the sight of my crescent blade, just steps out of reach.
The Higher One moves forward—and the fabric of her dress twists to reveal two more hilts: my other crescent blades, Poison and Striker.
“Little flower, little flower, I promise to be gentle when I catch you…I’ll peel your skin like samite, I’ll weave your hair to silk…”
I know I am protected by Yù’chén’s covenant with Sansiran, but Xisenyin’s eerie song sends shivers up my spine. I dart forward silently, zigzagging between the flowering trees. Golden light spills from their petals so that it feels like I’m walking among stars in the dark. Ahead of me, Xisenyin drifts, snow falling and flowers blooming where she steps.
When I’m close enough to make out the strokes of the talisman engraved on Fleet’s hilt, I act.
I dart out from the cover of trees and reach for Fleet.
