Yù’chén’s arms are held to the stone by some form of dark magic. His blood continues to stream from him into the pillar. As I watch, those black and red scales climb higher up his throat; the scene within the gateway grows clearer. His eyes are shut; his face is drawn and pale.
My gaze snaps back to Sansiran.
I find that Weirufeng’s magic has released me. And I find that I do not care about the consequences of the words I speak next: “Do to me what you will, but I will not relinquish any secrets about ascending the mortal throne—not until you agree to my conditions.” I look the demon queen in the eyes, and I change the entire strategy of my game. “I want you to enact a covenant with me.”
I’m dimly aware of the uproar as the crowd explodes into chatter, but I don’t break eye contact with Sansiran.
Her lips part with delight as she leans forward, propping her chin on her hand. “You’ve piqued my interest,” she says, and her court falls silent again, hanging on to her every word. “And what would the details of this covenant entail?”
I blink, but otherwise, I let no signs of surprise show. Holding her gaze is as unnerving as staring into an abyss. “Should I succeed in helping your son claim the mortal throne, you will immediately stop the war upon the Kingdom of Rivers. You will set a decree that your kind—the mó—shall not, in any way, harm or frighten my kind, the mortals; any offenders of this law will be punished by death. I am to be appointed as High Advisor of the Kingdom of Rivers, with powers equal to the emperor’s, and you shall not force us into a betrothal or marriage. And finally”—I draw a deep breath and turn my gaze to Yù’chén—“you will not hurt him any longer.”
The throne room is so quiet I can hear my pulse roaring in my ears. Across the spring, from beneath the pái’fang, Yù’chén lifts his face. I feel his eyes burning into me.
Then Sansiran starts to laugh. It’s a deep belly laugh, one that fills the entire glade and echoes.
“Dear girl,” she says coldly. “You speak as though you haveany authority over me. I birthed my son from my flesh and blood; he belongs to me in a way that you will never understand. And he has made a covenant with me.” Her voice turns soft, and her smile suddenly turns sharp. “His life is mine, so long as he exists. His joys, his sorrows, his desires, and his pains—I am the one to dictate them all.” She lifts her hand. “And if you care anything for him, then you’ll reveal whatever secrets you know about claiming the mortal throne tonight.”
Her magic slices through the air like an invisible blade. Yù’chén jerks as it hits him; his eyes squeeze shut, and his face drains of color. Red and black scales climb up his cheeks and cover his face, completing his transformation into his demon form, as he pitches over with a deep groan.
I’m running toward him before I know it. No one moves to restrain me as I barrel past the spring and up the dais to where he is bound. I slide to my knees and wrap my arms around him.
“Stop,” I gasp. “Stop—”
“If you wish for him to stop hurting,” Sansiran drawls, “you’ll tell us all that your mortal heir revealed to you about becoming emperor to the Kingdom of Rivers.”
Yù’chén’s ears have grown long and pointed. His hands, turned to claws, dig grooves into the ground with his blackened nails. His entire body, covered in scales, is shaking from whatever she is doing to him.
I made you a promise.
“His blood must join with a river in the mortal realm.” My voice sounds hollow, the words echoing in the sudden, complete silence that has befallen the throne room. “His blood must be offered to the Long River, the first river sprung from the Azure Dragon’s bones.”
In my arms, Yù’chén has fallen still. And though I know he despises showing his demon form, I cup his cheek and lift his face to mine. His entire face is covered in scales, and his sharpened teeth protrude past his lips. His eyes are completely black but for the crimson pupils at their center.
I stroke a thumb over his scales. “That,” I finish quietly, “is how a mortal heir can lay claim to the Kingdom of Rivers, for the land to decide whether it chooses them.”
Dimly, I’m aware of Sansiran’s laughter ringing beneath the night skies. “How wondrous and foolish the mortal heart can be,” she says. “Though…yours may not be purely mortal. Isn’t that right, Àn’ying?”
My head snaps up. Sansiran’s watching me like a cat who’s cornered a mouse, and I have a feeling everything that came before now was a foil to the true purpose of tonight’s gathering.
“The night I stormed the Kingdom of Sky and met you,” the demon queen continues, “I felt a power within you that I have never before seen in any mortal practitioner. One that held echoes of that female immortal I killed.” At last, Sansiran cracks open the real reason she has summoned me here. “And so tonight, I will test the truth to your connection to the immortal realm.”
Magic clamps down on me, pinning me to the spot. Yù’chén strains toward me, confusion clear on his face as he fights against his mother’s magic.
But Niefuzan and his underlings are upon him, dragging him back. A cold energy grips me like a living thing, slithering into my veins and bones, and I’m bodily lifted into the air. I only make out Weirufeng watching me from across the crystal spring as he pulls me forward.
Sansiran’s command rings across the throne room: “Drown her.”
—
The water is cold, the silence absolute but for the fading echo of Yù’chén’s yell in my ears. The moon of this realm casts a pale light upon me, and I’m reminded that white is the color of mourning in my realm.
I’m thrashing as I sink, but Weirufeng’s magic holds me in a viselike grip just below the surface. Just away from air.
I’ve nearly drowned thrice in my life.
Once, in the half-frozen pond north of our village, when I needed to seek out light lotuses to sustain my mother’s life.
Once, in the ocean between realms on my way to the Kingdom of Sky.
