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“All this, just to take your brother’s position?” I uttered with disbelief. Perhaps a part of me hoped that he had been driven to this against his will. But greed and ambition . . . I did not think such things spurred him so. He was not who I believed him to be; there was no honor in him. Yet that spark of ruthlessness, that desire to win at all costs had always been there—if only I had recognized it for the unfettered ambition it was.
His fingers squeezed the cup on the table, his knuckles white with strain. “You know nothing of my half-brother.”
“I didn’t even know you had a brother.”
“Beyond our shared blood, he’s no kin of mine. Ever since we were young, he has showed me nothing but cruelty and hate. Such suffering I endured at his hands—the beatings, punishments, and insults. I could do nothing against him, not because I was weaker, but because he was the heir. The few loyal attendants and friends I had in my youth were taken away by him, too, and I learned not to show anyone my favor. The only way I could protect myself and those I cared for was to rise above him and claim the throne.”
I quashed a spurt of pity, trying to ignore the rawness in his tone. Who knew if these were more lies to elicit my sympathy? My eyes bored into his as I asked, “What does this have to do with the Celestial Kingdom? The pearls? Me?”
“My father’s dream is to overthrow the Celestial Kingdom. His hatred of the emperor runs deep. For vilifying our magic and turning the Immortal Realm against us. For those we lost in the war. But we could not break the truce; we were not strong enough to defeat them and their allies.”
“Your magic is despicable.” Rash words, spurred by the memory of Liwei’s torment under Lady Hualing’s control. My own struggles with Governor Renyu.
“No, it is not. Our magic can heal ailments of the minds, soothe misery, uncover lies, detect ill intent. It can be used in despicable ways—just as Water, Fire, Earth, and Air have been channeled into grotesque acts of death and destruction. It is easily maligned because it’s the least understood of the Talents. Most of all, because it is feared by those in power—the emperor and his allies.”
“To control someone’s mind, to take their will away, is a vile thing.”
His face darkened. “This magic was rarely exercised before the war, not tolerated even among us—until we were forced to use it to defend ourselves. Don’t blame the instrument, but the one who directs its tune. Perhaps this was the emperor’s intent to solidify his power in the Immortal Realm. There is no greater unity than a common danger. If so, he has created a self-fulfilling prophecy, one which will be his undoing. Hounding us into exile only made us stronger, giving us a cause. And in a war, the lines between right and wrong are blurred.”
My thoughts wound and tangled together. Between him and the emperor, I trusted neither. Or was it simply Wenzhi’s skill that made me feel this way, his ability to twist things until I could no longer discern the head from its tail?
When I remained silent, he continued, “I promised my father that if he named me heir, I would help him overthrow the Celestial Kingdom. I would seek out the most powerful weapon against its emperor—one he feared so greatly, he locked it away in the Mortal Realm.”
“The dragons,” I said in a strangled whisper. “You took their pearls from me. What will you do with them?”
He shrugged. “Perhaps they would be glad to avenge themselves against the one who imprisoned them for so long.”
“Never!” I cried. “You heard what they said. The dragons are peace-loving. They allowed themselves to be imprisoned to avoid bloodshed. They will die if you force them to do such a thing.”
My words fell on deaf ears. His face was set with icy determination, hewn from stone. Ignoring the writhing in my chest, I pressed on. I had to learn how deep his treachery lay. “The ore from Shadow Peak. You took it to forge these?” I thrust the bracelets before him.
“We needed to defend ourselves, however we could.”
“In the Eastern Sea, did you orchestrate the merfolk rebellion?”
His lips clamped into thin lines. “A seed planted that bore more trouble than it was worth. I had long wanted to visit the library of the Eastern Sea, but they are fiercely protective of their knowledge. Particularly of anything related to the dragons. Our spies told us of their complacent forces and the ambitious governor. We arranged for the pendant to be gifted to Governor Renyu to sow discord, knowing the Eastern Sea would call upon the Celestial Kingdom for aid at the first sign of unrest. Who could refuse a favor to a savior? But the governor’s plans went beyond what we intended. We did not want him to usurp the Eastern Sea throne, to cast his ambition toward the Four Seas. Our enmity lies with the Celestial Kingdom alone.”
I forced myself to listen with a detached calm, though it sickened me to think he had feigned such concern over those struck down that day. I dared not ponder his answers too deeply; I would not be able to restrain myself if I did. Glancing up, I found his gaze upon me—pale, gleaming gray. Something stirred in me, an elusive echo of recognition. That of the archer in the forest, the one with the silver eyes who had shot at me so relentlessly.
“You attacked me! In the pagoda.” I almost folded over from the pain slashing my heart. “It was you behind Princess Fengmei’s abduction.”
He looked away then. Was it with shame or guilt? “I warned you not to go. I was trying to protect you. I only shot at you to keep you safe—to keep you in the pagoda, away from the ambush. And if you were injured, you might leave to safety.”
His black feathered arrow had indeed struck down my attacker, yet it did nothing to appease my rage. “How could you? Do you know the hell we went through there?”
He inhaled a ragged breath. “I ordered Lady Hualing not to harm you. She agreed—but you, Xingyin, have a knack of evoking strong emotions in those you meet. To both your benefit and detriment.”
I flinched from the intimate way he spoke to me. “An honorable plan,” I congratulated him with blazing scorn. “Abducting an innocent girl and manipulating the pain of an embittered immortal, getting her to do your bidding without staining your hands. Have you no shame?”
His face tightened at my taunt. “My decades of service, gaining access to the innermost circle of power in the Celestial Kingdom, had not yielded the key to the dragons. My father was impatient, so I decided to return and deliver him a gift in lieu of them.”
“Liwei.” A pang struck me at the thought of him. Had he made his way back to the Celestial Kingdom? Was he wondering where I was?
Wenzhi sighed. “Either would have sufficed: the Crown Prince’s lifeforce or the collapse of the alliance with the Phoenix Kingdom. It was a pity you destroyed Lady Hualing’s ring. My father was most displeased at its loss.”
Something in me shattered at his lack of remorse, the last of . . . whatever scrap of hope I still clung to that this was not him, that this was not real. Everything I had done since leaving my mother, everything I had accomplished seemed to be tainted by his wickedness.
Bile rose in my throat—hot, bitter, acrid. I fought for calm, failing miserably as my rage erupted. I swung my palm into his cheek with every bit of strength I could muster. He did not flinch or block me as his head snapped to one side with a resounding crack. My hand stung like fire, though the red imprint left on his skin gave me a fierce satisfaction.
