Zizi’s instincts pushed him. “Tell me—please. I need to know.”
Finally, One nodded. “It was never my decision to keep it hidden from you, but I was overruled. In the beginning, there were only Nine Courts.”
Zizi jolted. “How could there not be a Fourth Court? I’m standing right here.”
“Four.Si. It is synonymous withdeath—”
“I know this—”
“But life and death are symbiotic,” One continued smoothly, as if he hadn’t interjected. “Life would lose its vibrancy without death, and death has no weight without life. In a way, they are one and the same. It was feared that theFourthKing would be so powerful they could change the rules of life and death itself and throw the Divine into disarray. Because of this, the seat and the throne were empty for a long time.” There was kindness in One’s eyes as they reached out and touched his cheek gently. “But you are special, Brother. You aredifferent.”
Zizi swallowed thickly. The Kings were a dysfunctional family, but they were still family. “Are you saying I don’t belong here with the rest of you?”
“Youareone of us, but you are so much more. You came from above.”
“Above?”
“The celestial realm is hidden from both the mortal realm and the underworld, but it does exist. The three realms—the trifecta that is the Divine.”
“That’s impossible,” Zizi said at once. “I would know if another realm exists.”
“How would anyone know, if the Celestials are determined to hide their presence from us? The humans in the mortal realm do not thinkweexist. We are myths to them. Who do you think visits our Elder Gods in that palace in Youdu? Who do you think the other two players are?”
Zizi slumped onto the grass, his back against the swing, clinging to his disbelief like a shield.
“You must have realized that there were things you can do that we cannot,” One said. “You were able to discover and use relics from the underworld that were lost to time. You were able to stay in the mortal realm with Lei Ying, and you were able live undetected as a mortal boy for so many years. And did you not crack the Obsidian Cavern’s walls when you woke? Those are not feats that the rest of the Kings are capable of—you are different.”
“I thought I was just... determined,” Zizi said weakly, struggling to absorb everything.
“The Kings are darkness, but you also possess light,” One said. “You are brighter than the Nine—the one who fell from the heavens, the Celestial who made the sacrifice.”
“Sacrifice?”
One nodded. “It was decided that only an immortal from the celestial realm could take on the mantle of the Fourth King—to act as a bridge among the three realms. It was the only way to make sure that the power of the Fourth Court would never be misused. But it meant that the Celestial could never return to their own realm again, and that was not something to be taken lightly. In the end, it was the brightest star, the son of Celestial Elders, who descended to the underworld.”
“If what you say is true, then they chose wrong. I have jeopardized everything time and again,” Zizi said, eyes downcast. He had fallen in love when love was impossible, and he had risked not just himself but everyone else for it.
“I would not be too hasty to judge if it was the right or wrong decision. The mantle of the Fourth King must be taken up voluntarily, and the decision to leave your original realm was one thatyoumade. Do not think for a second you did not have a choice in all this.”
“How doyouknow all this? And why wasn’t I told earlier?”
A shadow fell upon One’s face. “I know because I was the one who put the crown on you.”
Zizi grabbed at the choker around his neck, scrambling to his feet and running to the edge of the Garden. His mind refused to let the truth settle. He was a King, then a mortal, and then he’d thought he was a King again. But if what One said was true, he was something else altogether.... It was all too much.
The vast expanse of the underworld with its twinkling lights reflected up at him, mirroring the night sky on nights of the convergence. Zizi raised his head. That same deep-seated feeling of loss returning to his being as the dark and empty sky stared back at him.
One moved next to him. “The convergence happens with allthreerealms. Why do you think you have always been so drawn to the stars, Brother? What is it you are truly longing for?”
Zizi’s vision turned dim and water-colored, his cheeks awash with tears as he whispered a single word.
“Home.”
30
Rui
Madam Meng’s kettle and tea leaves were already laid out when Rui arrived. As they waited for the brew, Rui polished her swords, keeping her nerves in check.
