Lysandra blinked once. Then twice. “Excuse me?”
Mingxi stepped forward immediately, tails flaring wide behind him. “Absolutely not.”
Yunlian’s expression went icy. “They dare send summons so soon?”
Poppy put a hand on her belly, instinctive, protective. Mingxi seemed to notice instantly and curled an arm around her like a shield of warm fire.
The crane continued, oblivious to the rising fury, “Failure to appear will be treated as an act of treason.”
“Treason?” Lysandra scoffed. “Tell them their attitude is treasonous.”
Mingzhao’s qi thundered through the courtyard like a distant storm. “The Shen Clan does not answer to threats.”
Poppy exhaled slowly, stepping in front of Mingxi before he lit the crane on fire.
She looked the crane dead in the eye. “I healed a moonwell,” she said, voice flat. “And the Ashen Court wants to drag me into politics? Fine. I’ll go.”
Mingxi jerked toward her. “Poppy—”
She put her hand on his chest. “They won’t touch her,” she said, nodding toward Lysandra. “Or me. Not with you there.”
His breath shuddered.
Lysandra preened. “Obviously I’m going, too. Someone has to make this interesting.”
Caelan groaned. “Do we really have to?”
“Yes,” Poppy said. “We end this properly. To their faces.”
The crane folded into itself, satisfied, and dissolved into a wisp of light.
Yunlian cupped Poppy’s cheek, thumb brushing gently. “We go with you.”
“Of course we do,” Mingzhao added. “They will not outnumber our family.”
Mingxi wrapped his arm around Poppy, lowering his forehead to hers. “If a single Councilor breathes wrong in your direction, I’ll torch the entire Ashen Court.”
Poppy smiled faintly. “Let me try diplomacy first.”
Lysandra snorted. “And I’ll try violence second.”
Lirrane cracked her knuckles. “Third.”
Caelan sighed. “I hate all of this.”
The courtyard stirred as warriors stepped forward, bowing in unison, silently pledging protection. The air warmed with foxfire.
Poppy lifted her chin. “Fetch the carriage,” she said. “We’re going to the Ashen Court.”
Huoyáo Jìng answered with a roar of approval.
Chapter 111
The Ashen Court rose from the mist like a palace carved out of cold moonlight, its silver pillars and star-etched arches gleaming in the pale glow. Poppy stepped down from the carriage first, Mingxi’s hand steadying her, Lysandra right behind them, already eyeing the architecture like she was planning a burglary.
Slate-armored guards bowed stiffly.
One stepped forward and said, “Penelope Sinclair. Lysandra Sinclair. You will follow—”
