Page 75

Our blades clashed. Again, and again. I held back each time, though he showed no such restraint. Yet we were more closely matched than I anticipated. He had been the better swordsman, but I had the benefit of a soldier’s training. I was quick, he was strong. My strikes were deft, he was ruthless. Magic would have tipped the scales, except his was bound. And I found myself unwilling to draw my own against him. A slender distinction, but to use my powers on him now felt akin to execution. Unfair, almost. My mind screamed what use was such honor, even as my heart whispered that it was not Liwei who attacked me so pitilessly—just the husk of his body, dancing to another’s tune. He was my opponent, but he was not my enemy. And though I wanted to win, I could not kill him. It was not honor alone which restrained me but a sense of self-preservation, knowing that slaying the one I loved would destroy me, too. I would never recover, not for all eternity. Not even if I found my way home.

My foot caught on a loose rock and I stumbled. In a flash, the point of his sword pressed against the hollow of my neck. He stilled, a muscle clenching in his cheek. Was he struggling against Lady Hualing’s control? I glanced at her—dazzling light pouring from her eyes, her brow coated in a sheen of sweat. Was she tiring? Hope flared in me, only to be extinguished when Liwei’s hand trembled—a moment before his sword dipped and drove through my chest. I gasped, my legs buckling as I collapsed onto the stone floor, sinking into a puddle of my still-warm blood.

Darkness beckoned, a merciful void without the pain blossoming through my body, only eclipsed by the agony of knowing that it was he who had done this. A forgotten memory flared. My mother’s arms, lifting me up from where I had fallen, her thumb brushing the tears from my cheek. How my scraped flesh had stung—my first real injury—until her cool touch and soft murmurs soothed it away.

This would not be the end.

My eyes flew open. I reached for a precious fragment of my power, sealing my wound. The healers would have cringed at my crude work, at the scar which would remain—but the pain subsided and the bleeding staunched. My mind cleared a little as I staggered to my feet, searching Liwei’s face for the faintest sign of recognition. Yet there was nothing; not a flicker of love, not a speck of remorse. And in that moment, something snapped into place for me: I would not throw my life away. I would not be defeated by myself or another. I would fight to live, and while I lived there would be hope. To grasp at a chance of our survival, I would risk everything. Even our lives.

My energy was dwindling. I seized what I could, the air shimmering as I hurled my magic at Liwei. Coils of air wrapped around his body—knocking him to the ground—sealing his ears, nose, mouth, and pressing his eyelids shut. Covering every inch of his skin until he could do nothing except lay there, writhing like a trapped beast. If his powers had not been constrained, my binds could never have held him so.

Lady Hualing’s delighted laugh rang through my ears. Was this not the spectacle she had forced us to perform? Had she dreamed of inflicting such torment on her own faithless lover?

Trapped in the cocoon of air I buried him in, Liwei was paler than snow. I gagged, fighting the urge to release him. Yet I hardened myself; I could not stop now. My power flowed, settling over every pore of his body until he glittered with a thousand silver lights like he was cloaked in stardust. My heart ripped from me could not have hurt more; pain had lost all meaning.

His struggles weakened until his body went limp, the steady thrum of his aura fading until I could no longer sense it. Only then did I stop. My eyes were dry, though I had wept a river inside. How wretched I was, cracked and ripped and gouged, yet I refused to shatter. Sinking onto the ground, my fingers sought Liwei’s cold hand, pressing our palms together.

“I’m sorry.” A ragged whisper. “Forgive me.”

Loud clapping rang through the cavern, jarring amid my despair. It hit me then—the vile, unspeakable thing I had done. Lady Hualing wanted to hurt those who had wronged her, but I had struck down the one I still loved. In the cold light of victory, were my reasons hollow? Glazing my selfish desire to live?

My control broke. I fell away from him as though scalded; I did not deserve to touch him. Not after this, not after what I had done. My arms clasped tight around myself as I retched until my stomach clenched in protest. Sobs ripped from my throat—ugly and raw—echoing through the terrible silence.

But it was not over. I could not let all this be in vain. Gathering the remnants of my composure, I staggered to my feet. “My bow,” I said flatly to Lady Hualing.

She inclined her head. “I gave you my word. And my offer still stands. The Demon King would be pleased to have you by his side. A good mind, a strong arm and will. Someone who does what needs to be done, when the time calls for it.”

I flinched from her praise, hoping she would take it for exhaustion rather than revulsion. I had never imagined myself bloodthirsty, but I would have killed her now and rejoiced. Yet, she had spoken no lies. My hands were stained with Liwei’s blood; it had been my choice to hurt him.

“You were right,” I said, trying to lull her into a sense of false security. “There is no sense in dying for principles alone. And I will consider your offer, only because the Celestial Kingdom will no longer welcome me after this.”

When Lady Hualing nodded, a guard thrust the Phoenix Fire Bow at me. As I clutched it, a memory flashed through me—of the first time I had held it in the peach blossom forest. A lifetime ago, when I had still been whole. I turned away, stumbling toward him once more. Lifeless and shackled, he was still every inch the regal prince. How I prayed our ordeal was almost over.

“Free him.” I pointed at his manacles. The sight of them enraged me past bearing. I would do it myself, except I did not want to rouse her suspicions.

“Why?” she asked.

I looked her full in the face. “I have done what you wished, though it hurt me greatly. Prince Liwei should be laid to rest with all the ceremony he deserves. I will do him the final service of returning his body to his parents, but I will not bring him fettered like a slave. Besides, do you want this to fall into the hands of the Celestial Kingdom?” I gestured at the metal encircling his wrists.

When she did not speak, I frowned. “Did you not want Their Celestial Majesties to know what you did to their son?”

“What you did, you mean,” she taunted me with exquisite cruelty. “It would suit me well if you delivered his body to them. I only wish I were there to see it.”

She jerked her head at a soldier who hurried forward. He pressed something against Liwei’s manacles, which fell away, clattering onto the ground. At once, I dragged Liwei’s arm across my shoulders to haul him away.

“Wait.” Lady Hualing drew closer, the amethyst ring glowing on her finger. “I must drain his lifeforce as it’s fading fast. It will be quicker now, without those chains.”

My breathing quickened, I fought for calm. I would not let her defile him further. As she reached for him, I grasped my energy, bracing for release—but the air warmed, a powerful force hurling Lady Hualing away. She slammed against the stone wall, her shield winking out as bands of fire bound her. I swung around to find Liwei, staggering to his feet, the tip of his blade trailing on the ground. As three soldiers charged at him, he swung his sword in a wide arc, the blow sending them flying. A guard bolted toward me with his spear outstretched, whom I dispatched with a quick arrow to his chest.

I was shaking, my heart ablaze. It had been nothing more than a wild guess, pieced together from the little I knew. In the Eastern Sea, I had sealed my hearing to fight Governor Renyu’s compulsion—but his charm was of the voice alone and that would not have worked here. Yet the governor had spoken of death being the only release from those caught in the throes of such power. And so, to break Lady Hualing’s control over Liwei, I had sealed off every sense he possessed—bringing him to the brink of death itself. Though if I had failed, he would have died or killed me. And we would have perished for nothing.

When I held his hand after, I had channeled my energy into him. As much as I could muster without arousing suspicion. I was no healer and all I could do then was pray it would suffice. I could not have risked his life just to save my own. But I had done it, to save us both.

I had hoped, under the guise of death, Lady Hualing would have let me take him away. And it had almost worked. But I gloated too soon; we were not out of danger yet. Too late did I sense her gathering power. In one strike, Lady Hualing dispelled her binds as vines shot out, coiling around Liwei and me—squeezing the breath from my chest, strangling my limbs to numbness. Before I could despair, Liwei’s magic rippled across us, burning away the plants.

Lady Hualing raised her hands again. The damp scent of earth thickened as the air gleamed with her magic. I flung up a barrier as Liwei threw his might behind mine. I could not fight her alone, yet together, we stood a chance. Her energy crackled when it struck, transforming into endless vines which shone with a sinister light as they writhed against our shield. Sweat dripped from my brow as I tried not to imagine what they sought with such ravenous hunger.

My struggles were not lost on her. Lady Hualing’s red lips curved upward as the crushing pressure on our shield intensified. The tendrils curled with renewed vigor. Time was not on our side; I was close to exhaustion, and Liwei’s strength must be ebbing, too. Soon, we would fall—either from fatigue or her malevolent spell, or the soldiers closing around us, their faces alight with anticipation.