Reverse Reincarnation #1-100
Author: Tejoka
Date: 2021-05-28T00:00:00+00:00
Publisher: anonymous

Table Of Contents

- Table Of Contents -
01: So much for inductive reasoning
02: I must be royalty
03: Who are we?
04: A few reference points
05: My mind gets in the way
06: Morning awkwardness
07: Library!
08: I'm responsible, really!
09: My brother is a cheeky bastard
10: The value of strength
11: The power of 'getting it'
12: Some serious conversation (and bad jokes)
13: Tests and reactions
14: Way to put pressure on someone
15: The worst thing about dying
16: Am I unnerving people?
17: Kowtows and commoners
18: Sect life, take 1
Bonus 1: Stages of cultivation
19: How to lose
20: Little light
21: Worse than usual
22: Family matters
23: Back early
24: I have a PR problem
25: Non-crippling blows only
26: Sneaking about
Bonus 2: History of the world
27: A chance of hiding
28: Facing the consequences
29: More consequences
30: A few questions
31: Echoes of Earth
32: Hints of trouble
Bonus 3: Geopolitics
33: Without the Empress
34: Dire news
35: Setting off
36: Generals and nobles
37: Too close
38: Getting away
39: Making plans
Bonus 4: The imperial army
40: Close to battle
41: Weird dreams
42: Hanging out
43: Might be a trap
44: Targeted
45: Working out stress
46: A closer look
47: A taste of fear
48: Field battle
49: Civilians
50: Triumphant return
51: It's a party
52: A traitor revealed
53: Poison and revelations
54: Potential
55: Just a lie
Bonus 5: Spirits and religion
56: Who I am
57: Setting expectations
58: Details
59: The next level
60: Initiative
61: Perspective
62: Symbolic values
63: New endeavors
64: Deep sea psychology
65: Unexpected visitors
66: Underwater
Bonus 6: History of the Leri
67: Heirs' pride
68: Remnants of the past
69: Human and spirit
70: Connections
71: Speculation and study
72: Report, reward, retraining
73: Politics and proposals
74: Places lost and forgotten
75: Conversation with an enemy
76: Welcome
Interlude — Isuro
77: Moving on
78: Getting to know each other
79: Lawful union
80: Family loyalty
Bonus 7: The Zarian Dominion
81: Portents of war
82: Agreement
83: Open seas
84: Territory
85: War stinks
86: The price of protection
87: Siblings-in-law
88: Maneuvering
89: Coordinated attack
90: Waking up
91: Prisoners of war
92: Fire and water
93: Unfamiliar territory

01: So much for inductive reasoning

The nothingness receded. Darkness encroached, filling it, and I knew something was up.

The darkness was fine. Not pure blackness, but a heaviness tinted in red, the darkness behind closed eyelids in a dimly lid room. Yet I felt like the world smelled wrong.

That wasn’t quite it. And I felt normal, even good. But, somehow, I knew that what I sensed was wrong, or at least unfamiliar.

I shifted my head, and realized I was lying on something soft, with my head elevated, probably a bed with a pillow. My body signaled that it was fresh and ready, but my mind had trouble catching up. I felt like I had to catch every scattered thought and manually shift it into place.

Carefully, I opened my eyes, blinking against the light. Something about the view seemed weird, and not just because my eyes hadn’t adjusted yet and I only saw bright outlines. Did the shape of my nose change? No, that can’t be it, right?

When I mentally took a step back to try and analyze my surroundings, I became aware of a feeling that had to be the cause of the strangeness from before. The closest analogue I could come up with at the moment was that my body had been filled with warm liquid. I sat up a little more and looked at myself. That helped me focus on it, although I was still as much sensing as seeing anything.

Woven into my body was a network of lines, like someone had color-highlighted my blood vessels or lymphatic system. Except they didn’t branch as much, especially not into capillaries, and they went into my organs and bones anyway. In my abdomen, they concentrated in one glowing spot. It looked a little like the moon, bright but containing shadows.

Something very weird is going on here.

And yet, I wasn’t alarmed. If anything, my body told me it was fine and could I please get up already, and my subconscious assured me the lines were right where they were supposed to be.

Since I lacked anything better to do and my eyes had finally focused, I sat up and took a proper look around. I was in a room I didn’t recognize, even if it did feel strangely familiar. Large, light coming in from a window, furniture scattered around, watercolors on the walls. Apparently, I was lying in a bed so expansive I could easily stretch out horizontally, with silk-looking bedsheets, although for some reason I was on top of the covers.

In the silence, my breathing seemed loud, and finally it picked up a bit of speed. I started to push myself up, then my gaze caught on my hand where it rested on the bed.

It was clearly a woman’s hand, like mine, with thin, delicate-looking fingers, like mine, and fair skin, like mine. But it wasn’t mine. The shapes were off, and unless I’d been sick for a while, the color was too pale.

I shook my head in disbelief, and a few strands of blond hair danced over my eyes. I reached up and grabbed them. My hair should be a light brown, maybe sandy, not this blond.

Okay, I need to figure this out. I took a good look a the rest of my body, although most of it was hidden by my clothing. A blue, intricately embroidered robe that reminded me a bit of a martial arts gi, except longer, with loose pants of the same fabric underneath. The top wrapped around the side. Now that I paid attention to it, the material felt smooth on my skin and kept my body at the perfect temperature.

I flexed my arms. The clothing was tailored to show this body’s figure, which was definitely leaner than my own, and although I could stand to lose a kilo or two, I wasn’t fat. My muscles still brimmed with energy, and I felt like I could run a marathon while throwing a few boulders. Probably looked like a star athlete under that robe.

I took another look around the room. My new sense said it was full of … something. Although the furniture looked expensive, I couldn’t see a computer, television or anything like that. Instead of a light-bulb, soft illumination came from a glowing rock on a table. Not even a crystal or anything, just a gray stone. There were a few other appliances around the room that felt familiar, even if I couldn’t name them.

Either I was dreaming, or really hallucinating, or I’d been reincarnated in a new word. Or transmigrated, whatever.

I took a deep breath, because I felt like I should, and scooted over to the side of the bed. I was barefoot (with my feet looking much better than my own), but there were slippers placed at the side of the bed.

Okay, so. A dream is unlikely, this doesn’t have the vagueness and I should know if I was sleeping, I never wonder if I’m dreaming. Hallucination is out, too, I’ve never heard of one that encompasses all the senses and even adds a new one! That leaves fantasy-land.

I sighed and rubbed not-my temple. Well, I don’t want to be that girl who insists ‘lalala, this is all a dream!’. But the prior probability of that happening has to be astronomical. So much for inductive reasoning.

The conclusion was clear: I needed more evidence.

In the the back of my mind, I knew I should panic, but I was distantly glad that I didn’t. I needed to concentrate on the situation, figure out what was going on. Focus.

That’s when sound started to come in from behind the massive door.

Some shuffling and footsteps that slowly got louder. I froze and glanced around, but before I could even consider whether I should hide, the door opened. I was still sitting on the edge of the bed.

The first person to come in wore an old-fashioned dress. She looked middle-aged, with a few gray strands and wrinkles, though beautiful for her age. But the first thing I noticed was that I could feel a presence emanating from her. It wasn’t all that strong, but I could have pinpointed her location blindly, and I knew it was the same kind of energy that this new body contained.

The woman stopped short when she saw me. Quickly, she clasped her hands and bowed deeply, before she continued into the room, smiling. “You’re back!”

I cleared my throat, unsure how to respond. Before I could decide, my attention was drawn to the other figures entering behind her. Two younger ones, a man and woman, wore clothes the same style as hers, although the man’s looked more like a suit. Then there were two people in colorful robes, both men. They all emitted the same sort of presence, but the blue-robed man’s was almost blinding.

I blinked and by the time I looked again, he stood barely two meters in front of me. His robes were simple and loose, and he had a silver brooch pinned at his collar. He was handsome, maybe in his thirties and all sleek muscles and strong jaw, but the look in his eyes could only be caution.

“Welcome back, Your Highness. Do you remember where you are?”

Wait, ‘Your Highness?’ Wait, what? I hesitated for a moment. But they obviously knew something, and trying to bluff would be useless. “No.”

His eyebrows drew together. “Do you remember who you are?”

I swallowed. “Yes, but I shouldn’t be here …” I trailed off. Did I really know who I was, waking up in a strange body?

Then I sat bolt upright. What language are we even speaking? I didn’t know. At least, I could clearly understand and even speak it, but I didn’t know its name. It wasn’t any I’d heard before. Or so I could have sworn one minute ago.

I was thinking in English, which wasn’t unusual as far as that went. And yet, I could sort of switch to this new language, even in my thoughts. It felt a bit different than thinking in my native language or one I was fluent in, and yet easy.

“It’s alright. Please calm down.” The man held out his hands, clearly trying to look and sound reassuring. He must have misinterpreted my expression.

“I’m calm.”

I was still far calmer than I would have expected. And, if I tried to analyze my own reaction, his presence actually felt comforting. Did the previous owner of my body know him well?

If I got transmigrated, was I using a new brain with its own memories? But then why did I still feel like myself in my thoughts? I knew the mind was embodied in the brain. But where was the line? Since my current mind was clearly some combination. Just, what the hell, universe?

Actually, if this is like a story, maybe there’s a game system. I concentrated on thinking a mental prompt. System? Status? Status! … No? Shame. I could have used a character sheet.

A gentle throat-clearing brought my attention back to my conversation partner. I tried to give him my best apologetic smile, realizing I’d gotten lost in my head. If it’s mine - no, focus.

“You’re safe and home. I know this must be confusing, but things will be explained. Please just come with us, there’s someone you need to meet.”

I gave him a nod and finally stood from the bed, the man stepping back to give me space. Carefully, I maneuvered not-my feet into the slippers, then glanced around again. Apparently, while I’d been focused, the simpler-dressed people (servants, maybe?) had left. There were a few more people in colored robes visible waiting in the hallway, or at least that’s what I assumed from what I could see from here. No, wait — I knew there was a hallway.

Shaking my head, I got moving. Even though my body wasn’t really mine, I moved in it fluently and naturally, with more grace than I’d ever had.

When I stepped into the hallway, the people, three other men and a woman, formed up around me. They didn’t wear uniforms, but the brooch pinned to their chests, like the other man’s, and the way they stood and moved made me think of soldiers. Without exception, they were attractive enough to distract me from my thoughts for a moment. Hints of athletic bodies under the robes, perfect skin and symmetrical features. Their presence was also stronger than the others, though not as much as the one I’d talked to. Being surrounded by them still put me on my guard. Who knew what situation I’d somehow found my way into?

Still, there was nothing I could do about it except try to learn more, so I started following the first man.

02: I must be royalty

Considering my clothes and the room I’d woken up in, this body’s owner had to be rich. With the way I’d been addressed, probably nobility or royalty. I tried to keep my eyes open for any further clues, but the new sensations were a bit overwhelming.

The hallway we walked down looked perfectly ordinary, with little to indicate whether it belonged in a castle or palace. Although the illumination still came from stones affixed to the ceiling that I sensed contained this new energy. Mana, maybe? Qi or ki or whatever? So far, this really put me in mind of Eastern-style fantasy, what with the core of energy in my guts.

Anyway, the hallway was paneled in wood, but without any other decorations. The ceiling was a uniform white that would have been at home in any modern building. We didn’t meet any other people, although there were other doors, spaced pretty far apart.

After maybe fifty meters, we made a turn down a spiraling staircase, that had stone steps but still managed to look delicate, with handrails of a crystalline substance that shimmered in many colors. I ran my hand over one part, and it was cool to the touch. But I didn’t linger. By now, I could hear muffled sounds that had to come from other parts of the building, but nothing identifiable, just general bustle. After going down two floors, the blue-robed man led me into another hallway, this one a little broader and with elaborate designs carved into the wood paneling. I’d visited a few castles, but this didn’t look like anything I’d seen before.

Finally, he stopped before a door. Nothing differentiated it from the rest, but I could sense the presences gathered behind it. Without knocking, the man opened the door and entered.

When I followed him in, I paused at the sight. The room looked like a smallish sitting room from a movie set in the Victorian era. There was a table with chairs to the side, and in the middle something between an armchair and a sofa facing a few other cushioned chairs. Half a dozen people lined the walls in obvious bodyguard positions. They all wore dark-colored robes with the same brooch, and all of them felt about as strong as my guide. That one was now on his knees near the entrance.

But my attention was immediately drawn to the woman in the main seat. I couldn’t tell her strength. It felt like a cloud covered the sun, letting only hints of its brilliance through. But my mouth went dry before I consciously registered her presence. She has to be more powerful than me and maybe even the guards.

Her skin was a touch darker than that of not-my hand. Her dark hair fell to her shoulders, her gray eyes piercing into mine. She was beautiful. While she looked like thirty at most, something about her bearing and her eyes belied that impression. In a magic world, for all I knew, she could be centuries old. She, too, felt familiar.

Then she smiled, and just like that, my anxiety eased. “It’s good to see you,” she said. “Come, sit down. Let’s talk.”

Hesitantly, I came closer and sat on the plush chair facing the woman. I noticed she wore a black-and-white gown that looked like it had taken a master tailor years to make by hand, and was embroidered with gold and silver in intricate patterns, but her hands hid in its wide sleeves.

“I have a lot of questions,” I finally said.

“I would imagine so. However, it would be best if I asked a few questions first to determine where to begin explaining.”

I was getting impatient, but controlled myself. “Of course.”

“I’ve been told you didn’t remember the room you woke up in,” she started, and I wondered if the first woman had gone to tell her. “Do you remember anything about this place, or anyone you met?”

I’d already decided honesty was the best policy. “Not really. You feel familiar, but I couldn’t say why.”

Her face tightened just a bit at that answer, but it smoothed out quickly. “I see. What is your name?”

I paused just a bit. “Tori.” That was a nickname, but I was hesitant to reveal my identity in case this was somehow an elaborate set-up and these people turned out to have bad intentions.

She nodded again, but the way she raised an eyebrow slightly made me think she’d caught that. “’Tori’, I’m sorry to tell you that the life you knew is over.”

She paused at that. I took a deep breath. This was probably the logical conclusion given everything, but somehow the thought didn’t feel real. The idea that I would never finish university or see if the world managed to deal with climate change just seemed absurd.

“You just completed what we call a ‘soul journey’,” the woman explained. “You originally come from this world. Your soul detached from your body and was taken to another world, or another universe. The details of the how and why are very speculative, I’m afraid. In this other world, you were reincarnated, reborn without your memories. Now that you … departed that life, your soul has returned to its home. For us, only nine days passed, and your body was in a coma during that time.”

I blinked at that. I’d sort of expected reincarnation, but this was backwards! I was supposed to originally come from here? That didn’t really make sense. I’d read a few stories about transmigration, and in them a newly dead soul was taken to inhabit the body of a person who died in the cultivation world, taking their place. Maybe they just thought I was the same person? Hell, do souls even exist? This is all completely crazy.

03: Who are we?

If the woman was right, then whether I was this body’s original soul or not didn’t much matter — in either case, that meant I was dead. I waited for panic to hit me at the idea, but nothing came. I didn’t feel dead.

I couldn’t remember dying. Frowning, I tried to determine the last thing I remembered, but it was vague. It was Tuesday, I think? I had cereal for breakfast. Then … I don’t know, I studied probably? This felt like trying to recall a completely mundane day a while ago.

But of course I wouldn’t remember dying. It took a while to form long-term memories, changing synapse strengths and whatever. That’s why people sometimes lost a bit after head trauma. I’d heard about that in class, but I couldn’t remember the exact timeframe. Was it twenty minutes, a few hours?

This didn’t answer how the hell my memories were supposed to be transferred across universes. Let alone my soul, whatever that was supposed to be.

I shook my head, trying to focus on my situation. “Actually, how do you know about this?”

The woman smiled as if pleased at the question, but somehow I could still make out the sadness beneath her manner. My body’s previous occupant must have known her well.

“You’re hardly the first. Soul journeys are a mark of our clan. Most members of the family experience one, although the details can vary greatly. It’s not uncommon to lose some knowledge of our world on our return. Myself, I only have vague memories of my time before my soul journey, and that’s expected. A few are lucky enough to retain — or perhaps regain — very clear memories. While others, sadly, are left with very little.”

I digested that for a moment. So I was in a whole family of transmigrators? That could be good or bad.

“But I remember my life on Earth clearly,” I pointed out, using the English word for Earth.

Her face lightened up a little. “Oh, Earth? Great,” she said in English. “I hoped for that.”

I stared at her. “You’re from Earth, too? You transmigrated from Earth? Wait, what year was it?”

“Yes, I did. To answer your earlier question, we all recall our reincarnated lives clearly. That’s just how it works, for some reason. And I died in the spring of 2019.”

While I had a bit of an accent, she spoke English perfectly, so far as I could tell. If I had to guess, she was from the US, but I’ve never been good with placing dialects. But she didn’t seem as if she’d died a year ago. “2019? But I’m from 2020. How long have you been, uh, back?”

“About thirty years,” she said with an interested gleam in her eyes. “This sort of phenomenon is common, although a thirty-to-one ratio isn’t. And yes, I know you somehow fit your life on Earth into nine days, and I came back before you were born. No one is really sure about how time works between universes. But looking at the records, there are often times when transmigrators from the same period go to the same world, usually in a short timespan. There are many different worlds out there, so this is quite lucky in a way.”

“Is there any way to go back?”

She shook her head. “No. This world does have occasional contact with other worlds, through things like temporary portals or displaced strangers. But they’re rare, and so far as we know, there’s no way to deliberately travel to a specific world. Believe me, I’ve looked. Not to mention that your other body is dead. I’m sorry.”

I clenched my fists. If I’m dead, what about my family? They’ll think I’ve really died! I mean, I did, but I’m sort of fine. But they’ll be grieving. I need to let them know I’m okay.

“There’s no way to get a message to Earth?”

“No.” She sighed. “I wish there was, but our family’s been studying this for centuries and we’ve never found a way to contact the loved ones of our old lives, except through sheer luck.”

I fell silent. This was a hard pill to swallow. It didn’t help that my reaction was all in my mind. I didn’t feel any grief in a physical sense, no urge to cry or racing heartbeat or even tight throat. It was eerie.

After a moment, I sighed. Don’t be like that, I chided myself. You’ve been transported into a fantasy world! This is awesome. Hell, if it’s virtual reality or whatever, enjoy it while it lasts.

I looked around the room. My former guide had taken a post guarding the door, and he and the rest stood still and silent, giving no indication that they cared if they could follow our conversation or not.

“So, who are you? Who are we?”

The woman smiled and suddenly my air cut off. Pressure pushed me down in my chair, a presence emanating from her so strongly I couldn’t even move a finger. And still, the veil over her power remained, simply lifting a bit.

“I am Empress Leri Acura,” she declared. Suddenly the pressure vanished. “And you are my firstborn and likely heir, Princess Leri Inaris.”

I exhaled shakily, aware just how weak I was compared to this person, but it was her words that caught my focus. So, royalty. She said ‘likely’, so the succession wasn’t set in stone? Did I have to prove my strength or something, if it wasn’t birth order?

“Inaris. Leri Inaris,” I said, tasting the words. I supposed it was a good enough name.

The empress made a gesture with one hand, and light flowed out of it, condensing in the air before us. It expanded until it was a large rectangle, then turned black and reflective. She’d created a mirror. Somehow, it hadn’t occurred to me to wonder if magic was even real, but this was definitely magic.

I studied the person looking back at me from the mirror. The face didn’t look like mine, although there were definite similarities to the woman across from me. The girl had blond hair instead of black, but the same gray eyes, and her features were pretty, perhaps even beautiful, with high cheekbones and a delicate nose. Probably an adult, but only just. I looked further down and saw an athletic figure, with moderately large boobs. She was about as tall as my real body, of average height. If I’d met her on the street on Earth, she might have turned my head. But although I didn’t recognize it, seeing this appearance in the mirror felt right.

“Unfortunately, I have important work to do,” my new mother said, again in the local language. “There are records you will want to look at, but first, you need to learn the most important thing about this world. Aston, take her to the training courtyard.” The last one was addressed to the man who’d led me here, who bowed and came closer.

When I turned back to the Empress, she had stood up, and after a last smile at me, she and her guards vanished. Or that’s what it looked like. I could feel their presences moving away from here quickly.

I rose from my chair, too, curious about what she meant. Hopefully, I would get to learn magic now.

04: A few reference points

The man, Aston, still walked a little in front of me to show the way, but kept to my pace. So when I dawdled to look at my surroundings, he and the other guards waited patiently.

I’d seen a balcony emerging from one room we were about to cross and made a beeline for it. Now, for the first time, I looked out into my new world.

Well, I tried to. There wasn’t much to see of the world. This balcony let me look down on a part of the building complex, which did indeed look like a castle or palace. There were a number of courtyards and terraces rising in tiers until they met the massive main building. We were in a wing of that one, judging from what I could see here. Beyond the complex was a mountain range. In fact, the mountains rose into the sky so high that I couldn’t see much beyond the first ones. Definitely higher than the Alps, although that was the only great mountain range I’d seen in person. Apart from that, they were just mountains, with forested slopes rising into rocky terrain, glaciers and snow-covered peaks.

At least I knew a few things. The sky was blue, there were clouds, the temperature was mild but with a chilly breeze, and this was one hell of a castle. It had to be, what, ten kilometers until the outer wall from here? At least. The architecture looked a little weird, with some buildings having sloped roofs and others not. There were a high number of ornamental gardens with strict layouts, and even ponds and little groves of trees. I only thought of it as a castle instead of a settlement because there weren’t many people, and the inner complex was pretty massive, so the outer part wasn’t that big in comparison. And this was probably the back side.

“Okay, let’s continue,” I said. I still had a lot of things to learn.

Aston made a weird gesture, cupping his fist in the palm of his other hand and bowing slightly. “Of course, Your Highness. This way.”

This time, I paid a little more attention to my escort as we continued to walk through the castle. “I don’t remember you, I’m afraid.” Should I apologize? Were we close? “Your name is Aston?”

“Yes, Princess. Tener Aston.”

“And you’re my bodyguard?” I guessed, going by the impression I had of him being a soldier.

His eyes finally flicked to meet mine. “I am. Actually, I am a member of the Imperial Guard. It has been my duty to protect you for many years now, Your Highness. I oversee the other guards assigned to your protection.”

Hmm. I think his respect is genuine, but he won’t let me get away with things. There’s steel in his bearing and expression. Makes sense if he guarded the princess since childhood. Damn, he must have known my predecessor well.

I nodded at that, unsure how to respond. “And where are we?”

“The Imperial Palace. It’s located beside the City of a Thousand Stars, the Imperial Capital.”

I could hear the capitalization. Liked their fancy names, did they? But at least I had some sort of referent for my location.

We descended another staircase, this one broader, flatter and without handrails. The floors after that were also broader, with slightly arched ceilings and the occasional decoration in the form of paintings and murals. The noise of the palace got louder, too. I had the feeling we were still not in the “impress visitors” part of the palace, but we got closer to officially used areas.

After a while, we saw other people. They wore what I could only assume was business clothing in this world: robes, dresses and suits, mostly in blue or gray instead of black with longish jackets and embroidery. About half of them looked like they had Eastern Asian ancestry, or would have on Earth, the rest European. But that was only a rough impression and I had to remind myself I didn’t know how ethnicity worked in this world. It should already make me suspicious that there were humans on two worlds.

But it was their reactions that really drove the point home that I wasn’t on Earth. Whenever we passed, the people would make way and perform some sort of obeisance in my direction. Most cupped their hands like Aston had and bowed deeply, but some knelt or even kowtowed! On the floor and everything. Despite that, I could sense the way their eyes followed me.

They probably knew about my coma. Maybe even the transmigration. I needed to ask Aston how common that knowledge was, in the palace or otherwise, but now wasn’t the right time or place. He didn’t slow down or acknowledge the people much. So I occasionally gave a nod, tried for a regal and confident posture, and hoped they couldn’t see me wondering about them. And this was only walking down the hallways!

At least it felt like my body was familiar with trying to be regal. I could tell I must have looked graceful, and it was easy to keep my face calm and composed. That’s good, I’ll need to rely on my subconscious memory of how to act.

Finally, we reached a side entrance and stepped out into a courtyard. I took a deep breath of the fresh air, smelling traces of plant life and rain. But I didn’t dawdle to look at the scenery, instead following Aston onto a gravel path. We were high up, and several paths led to different courtyards and buildings.

I had a lot of questions, about the world and who I was supposed to be, but was still trying to process everything I’d learned, so I kept silent. There was enough to do just trying to take everything in.

Aston stayed close to the palace, leading me beside the main wall for a bit before we descended. It didn’t take long to reach a stone walls-enclosed courtyard. To the side were wooden stands with weapons, and a few of the guards in colorful robes lingered around the periphery. I could sense the ones accompanying me spreading out behind us as I stepped onto the courtyard. It was paved in stone, but with wide mats scattered around.

Someone else was waiting for us. He looked Asian, but not like the stereotypical old master. For once, he couldn’t be much older than Aston. His presence was veiled in the same way the Empress’ had been, but not as carefully, and I had the impression it was more perfunctory. His strength still definitely outstripped mine.

When he saw me, he smiled and bowed fluently. “The crown princess has returned! But I’ve been told you do not remember what you need to know. As such, it will be my honor to once again instruct you in the basics before we can continue where we left off.”

“Thank you …” I answered hesitantly.

“My name is Ling Ta, but you used to call me ‘Teacher’.” Now his smile had turned a bit melancholy.

I bowed slightly. “I’m ready to learn, Teacher.”

His smile widened. Then he sat down in the lotus position and gestured for me to do the same, so I copied him.

“Sense the qi around you,” he instructed quietly. “Still your thoughts and reach out to it. Cultivation. Your body and inner self know how to do it, they need simply remember.”

So, I was right in my guess. I nodded and closed my eyes, trying to clear my thoughts. I’d never really meditated before, although I’d done a few exercises.

It took a while for me to settle. When I did, I stopped paying attention to my breathing and instead focused on the qi around me. I could sense it far more clearly now. It was everywhere, layered over the world like bundles of cloth. It had been there before, but I’d only gotten the barest glimpse of it, the rest filtering out of my awareness because I didn’t know how to process it.

My senses expanded. I could hear the rustling of leaves on trees a kilometer away, smell a hint of spice from a bonfire two courtyards over, feel the subtle differences in pressure the folds in my clothing created. It didn’t overwhelm me, because my mind had widened to take it all in. The sensations of my old life seemed pitiful in comparison.

“Qi is everything,” my teacher’s voice rang out softly. “Everything lives in it, and it lives in everything. Cultivation is the art of interacting with it, of taking part out of the whole and making it yours, shaping it to your will, and understanding that which it entails. It is the process of refining not just qi, but yourself, your own body, mind and soul, of transcending your mortal limits. Of making yourself the best you can be, and then pushing beyond it.”

“And now, let it fill you and take it into yourself.”

I breathed in, following a pattern ingrained into my body, and qi flooded into my lungs. It flowed into my center, and from there out through the vessels in my body. I circulated it, watching as it became denser and yet lighter, taking on the characteristics of my own qi, that in my core. I started spinning my core, the light rotating around a darker center, slowly growing as the qi I pulled in was absorbed. I hadn’t realized I was close to empty, but now that qi ran through me, I came alive. New strength surged into my body, and my mind stilled even more, as if sinking into the qi flowing in my core.

05: My mind gets in the way

The passage of time ceased to matter. I didn’t know how long I cultivated. When I slowly sank out of the meditation and opened my eyes, I could see the colors of sunset painting the mountains. My eyesight had improved along with the rest of my senses, even if I wasn’t actively circulating qi. Although my core continued spinning.

My teacher was watching me with a satisfied expression. When I opened my eyes, he nodded. “Well done, Your Highness. You do this old teacher proud. Now, would you care to venture a guess to our next step?”

“Techniques?”

“Not yet. Children don’t walk before they’ve been taught to stand. No, first we will focus on the elements, or affinities, of qi.”

I nodded. All of that seemed familiar from what I’d read. During my cultivation, I had sensed that qi wasn’t uniform, that it contained many different things. Presumably, affinities. “So, which one do I have?”

“Which do you sense in yourself? Look to your dantian and meridians.”

I frowned and inspected my core. It was easy to guess, but hard to be sure. “Light? Or, no, shadow?”

“No. Like many in your family, including your most esteemed mother, you cultivate both light qi and darkness qi.”

Light and darkness, huh? That sounds cool. If I understood things correctly, that would be a pretty versatile build. But it sounded like it needed careful balance.

“Dual-element cultivators are not uncommon,” he explained, “but this way carries both advantages and risks. You need to keep the two affinities separate in your dantian, especially in the case of such opposing elements. For a genius such as yourself, that is fortunately little trouble. However, you can only draw in qi of one element at a time, and are in some sense limited by the qi you chose to gather in your core. For example, if you fill it with darkness qi completely, or almost completely, you will be unable to use a light art. There’s also the inherent splitting of focus to consider.”

I nodded. All of that made sense. “I understand.”

“Good. Then we will move on.”

He sprang up in one fluent movement, and I hurriedly stood as well. Although I’d been sitting for hours, I felt no soreness and was as limber as before. Straightening, I listened to my teacher explain the basic principles of techniques, pushing out qi through your meridians to achieve a desired effect.

“And now, create a small light.”

I took a deep breath and focused. Carefully, I guided some light qi out of my dantian and through a meridian into my arm, then out of my palm. It sputtered, creating a small puff of light, before the flow ceased.

Grimacing, I tried again. This time, I kept tighter control over my qi, trying to keep it moving smoothly. When it left my body, I squeezed down at it with my will. Finally, a speck of light sprung into existence above my palm. It flickered a little, but I smiled in triumph.

“The Star’s Spark,” Ling Ta declared. “Your first technique, although it can hardly be called one. At higher levels of mastery, it can be used to blind and confuse enemies, even searing them if one comes near. You should have little trouble regaining that mastery.”

That’s about what I would expect from a simple light technique. If nothing else, it would probably be useful as a flashlight or to light a fire if I ever needed one. But I couldn’t help feeling proud of myself. I’d actually performed magic!

“Don’t rush,” he cautioned me. “Let things come back to you. With most of your other techniques, failure can be painful or even set back your cultivation if it is great enough. There is much to learn concerning the theory of qi and the function of techniques, but you can acquire that information on your own. Still, I would suggest the honored princess come back for my instruction every day. We do not have the luxury of bungling this.”

I wasn’t sure if I could even refuse that suggestion, but I had no desire to try. Of course I wanted his help in learning cultivation.

“Of course I will,” I said. Then I looked at the weapon racks. “Actually, will your instruction include martial arts?”

The dignified teacher grinned like a schoolboy. “Naturally! Now that you mention it, I would be remiss if I did not find out how well you remember the art of combat.”

I had a bad feeling about that. But before I could protest, he moved. He was faster than any fighter I’d seen on Earth. I barely had time to be surprised before he was in front of me.

Instinctively, I dodged to the side. His fist whistled by my hair. Damn, that was fast! What do I — The next instant, I found myself sailing through the air, then crashing into a mat.

Cursing, I pulled myself up. The impact hadn’t hurt, and my body moved as well as ever, but that didn’t make me any happier.

“What was that for? I couldn’t have won, you’re too strong!”

“Oh no,” he smirked. “I suppressed my strength just enough that you could have resisted.”

I shrugged, wondering at his standards. I’d moved faster than I ever had in my life, but I didn’t really know what was normal here. “Well, do you have an assessment, or did you just spontaneously decide I would make for a nice floor decoration?”

He didn’t react to the barb. “It’s quite obvious where the problem lies. Your body remembers what to do, but your mind gets in the way. You need to learn to trust yourself and rebuild your tactical experience. That can be fixed with training.”

Honestly, he was probably right. “So much to look forward to,” I grumbled.

06: Morning awkwardness

For a brief moment, I thought I was still at home, going to start another ordinary day. But when I fully left sleep’s embrace, everything rushed back. I opened my eyes to a familiar yet unfamiliar ceiling, feeling confused.

Sighing, I sat up and stretched. After the training session yesterday, Aston had brought me back to my room, saying that sleep was recommended the night after a soul journey. I’d expected to have trouble falling asleep, but it had actually happened quickly as the mental fatigue dragged me under.

Now, I felt fresh, well-rested and ready to take on the world. Today, I promised myself, I will find some answers.

But first, I should probably see about more mundane concerns. I climbed out of bed and haphazardly smoothed out the covers. Then I looked around. Usually I didn’t sleep unclothed, but I didn’t exactly find any pajamas here. So I’d slept in my underwear, including a surprisingly modern bra.

I opened the big closet that I’d apparently been too tired to notice and whistled at the large variety of clothes I found. Some were simple, pants and shirts, others robes and gowns more elaborate than what I’d worn. But I didn’t know if colors might have some significance, so I wasn’t sure what to choose.

It was only then I noticed that the robes I’d worn yesterday lay folded over a chair, where I’d definitely not left them. They looked and smelled freshly-laundered. Had someone been in here to collect and deposit them while I was asleep? Creepy. I need to establish some boundaries.

At least they probably hadn’t gone through my closet, and I knew what to wear now. So I pulled out some fresh underwear and quickly changed into the robes, my hands deftly tying the knot before I even realized it might be a problem.

I could sense some presences outside. It was a bit like the prickle you got on your neck when you felt like you were being watched, but far more detailed. I somehow knew their position and intensity. There were a few guards at the door, including Aston, and some weaker signatures bustling about, probably servants. I took a look around the room and noticed the side doors that probably led to others where they could be. Shrugging, I checked.

To my pleasant surprise, the first door led to a bathroom. It was pretty nice, tiled in some white stone, with a pool sunk into the floor and a few qi appliances in other places. There were bottles of things that smelled like shampoo, lotion and the like, and fluffy towels. Shaking my head at myself, I disrobed again and dove into the pool.

It was nice, but I wanted to get going, so after a minute I got out, dried off and put my clothes back on. Then I checked the qi-things until I found the hair dryer, which was actually a red gem, and let the streams of hot air dry my hair. I combed it quickly with a carved wooden work of art and got out.

It was only when I’d already stepped through the door that I realized someone stood in my room. I really need to work on my situational awareness. Wait, isn’t that the same woman I first saw?

“Princess Inaris.” The woman cupped her hands and bowed deeply again. She was standing near the freshly-made bed.

I nodded in greeting, unsure how to act. A bit of awkward silence ensued.

Finally, the servant broke it. “Is there anything you require?”

I scratched at my cheek. “Breakfast would be nice. Food and drink, but no wine or anything. Oh, and I prefer not to eat meat.” Actually, I wasn’t a vegetarian, I just tried hard to only eat meat from acceptable sources where animals didn’t suffer. But since I didn’t know where the palace got their food, and I didn’t really want to explain myself, it would be better just to avoid it.

“Right away.” The servant bowed again, then scurried out of the room.

I glanced at the guards behind the wall, then turned to inspect the contents of my bedroom. There was a weapons rack in a corner, with a few shiny blades and what looked like a crossbow, all of them tingling in my new sense, like a prickle from static electricity. There was also an obvious vault with qi that just radiated the feeling of alertness. Apart from that, a desk, a few chairs, tables and a couch, plus the side entrances. One of them was locked, one led to the bathroom and the other to what I would have called a sitting room if it was in the place of the bedroom instead of leading out from it.

I turned to the vault and tapped its steel door. There was a locking mechanism unlike any I’d seen before. I prodded at it, and before I knew what I was doing, I let some of my qi out into the lock, twisting it in a familiar configuration. The lock clicked open.

Well, that happened. Curiously, I poked my head through the vault door. The inside was more of a small room than a safe. A number of items lay on the floor or on a shelf, all of them glowing with qi. Weapons, jewelry, a few that I couldn’t categorize. But my attention was drawn to the only mundane object: a piece of paper lying on a stone surface. I picked it up, and almost dropped it when I recognized that it contained English words. In handwriting that somehow felt intimately familiar.

My dreams?

Leaving alone and said to be dead.

Why do spirits like me?

There is more to us than it seems.

Something is off. Perhaps someone, I don’t know. Mother doesn’t like me asking questions about some things. It might be related, it might not.

I sucked in air through my teeth. This was really something. The first part could be a poem, although not a very good one, if not for the last part. My predecessor had taken these notes, marked down questions she couldn’t answer. And I had no clue what it all meant.

After a moment, I noticed black edges on the paper. Turning it around, I found more writing.

Possible explanations:

1. There’s a spy, infiltrator, or someone who otherwise secretly wishes harm on myself, people close to me, or the clan as a whole.

2. I’m somehow sensing that I will fail or be hurt significantly. Failing the breakthrough, or a bad life for the soul journey.

3. Someone is playing with or testing me. Might overlap with other points.

4. A random expression of the darkness affinity, perhaps even a spiritual or medical problem.

5. My dreams are picking up impressions, emotions or connections, due to my darkness affinity. It is sometimes associated with dreaming.

I rubbed my temple and stared at the notes. Well, at least I had a few hints now. So, my predecessor knew English, probably taught by her mother. I wouldn’t have chosen it, but for her, this must be the most secret language she knew. So far, so good. But what exactly did she mean?

I put the note down carefully and backed out. I just need to keep an eye out and learn more about this world and my situation. Maybe wait and see if I have any weird dreams.

A sudden noise startled me. I turned around, watching another servant enter the room. I almost hadn’t noticed his presence. Quickly, I closed the vault door, watching as it clicked into place and its qi covered the lock again.

The servant was a younger man. He bowed gracefully without moving the tray he carried a centimeter, and set it onto the table. Shrugging, I walked over to the table while he left and sat down.

The food was all new to me, but tasted good, so there was that. A little more savory than I was used to for breakfast, but the fruits were great. I only realized I wasn’t actually hungry after I began to eat, but I didn’t want to waste it and I didn’t feel full either, so I indulged. But a lingering unease prevented me from truly enjoying it, and I ate quickly.

After I finished, I left the room, looking around. Apparently, they’d noticed I was up, because a few additional guards had showed up. Now there were three men and two women. They all looked young, strong, and attractive. I had to be careful not to let my eyes linger on the tight clothing some of them wore. One of the women, a hot brunette, had a daring neckline that I tried not to notice.

Seriously, why is everyone here hot? It’s getting annoying. Is it a cultivator thing or is someone testing me?

“Let’s get going,” I said.

Aston answered, “Where to, Your Highness?”

If I had an appointment or schedule, he would have mentioned it. I really wanted someone to explain things or a few books, but decided that I should get to know the place first. Scope out my surroundings. “Can you give me a quick tour?”

He half-bowed and the rest of them formed up, and so we set off.

While Aston led me around, he explained the layout of the palace and I asked a few questions. I made an effort to focus on the tour, pushing considerations of my discovery back. Apparently, we started in the Imperial family quarters. Those were for the Empress’ closest kin, with space for favored retainers and a few chambers that could accommodate servants or guards if needed.

“Her Majesty’s rooms are on the next floor and the roof of the tower,” he mentioned, “but let’s not go there.”

The next section, after we descended one staircase and turned to the side, were what I privately called the VIP apartments. They provided housing for other members of the clan, distinguished guests and a few high officials who didn’t have their own homes. The walls were actually more decorated than before, with colorful tapestries, paintings and frescoes. The few people we passed moved aside for me, but their bows were shallower than Aston’s. Their clothing looked at least as expensive as mine. Something in the way they eyed me was appraising, and I realized they definitely knew about the soul journey. I quickened my steps a little.

“This way leads to the throne room and royal audience chambers,” Aston proceeded.

I shook my head. “Let’s go around.” I didn’t know if the Empress was there, but I didn’t want to risk meeting a throng of courtiers.

We walked on. Most of the rest of the central complex and outlying buildings housed the government, a lot of office space for various ministries and departments, and the infrastructure needed to keep them running. I ran across what had to be a magical printing press. Aside from that, I just tried to keep up and keep myself oriented. By this point, I’d gotten used to the way people reacted to my presence.

Aston showed me the general layout of the palace and the ways that led to other parts, like quarters, barracks (most of them empty), kitchens, and so on. “Then there are the workshops of the royal alchemists, tailors, blacksmiths, …”

Finally, I put a stop to it. “Okay, that’s enough. I’ve gotten the basics. Now …” My eyes lit up as I realized the most important location. “There’s a library, right? Let’s go there!”

A hint of a smile cracked through Aston’s calm expression. “Of course, Princess. There are several in the palace. The lower courtyard holds the public library, open to everyone. The various departments keep archives, and many esteemed personages have their own collections. Unless I’m severely mistaken, the honored princess has one in a side room. But if I may be so bold, I would suggest the Imperial Family’s private library.”

“Sure. Lead the way.”

“Right here.”

I smiled in anticipation as I followed Aston back. “How big is it? How many people are going to be there, actually?”

“It holds thousands of storage items and books. The Imperial Family’s private library is only open to the Empress, her closest family, meaning her children, and a few others lucky enough to be granted access as a reward for their service.”

07: Library!

“Makes sense. Wait - children?” I paused and stared at Aston. Why didn’t I ask before? “My, I mean, I have siblings?”

“Indeed, Your Highness.”

I resumed walking. “Well? Tell me about them!”

“As you command, Your Highness.” He cleared his throat. “Prince Leri Alaster is twelve years old. He is quite smart and strong for his age and shows remarkable martial talent. Princess Leri Xiaodan is eight years old. She too shows remarkable intelligence for her age, and is noted for her bright personality. Many assume the two will prove to be geniuses.”

I nodded, too preoccupied to reply. So, my predecessor had two younger siblings, quite far apart in age. At least by Earth standards. Isn’t Alaster a name from Earth, like Alistair? I think I’ve heard it somewhere. Maybe there’s the same name in this world. Not sure about Xiaodan. But more important than that was his description. I’d need to meet the two of them eventually, but just the thought made me nervous. I can put it off until I’ve learned more, at least. Damn, I miss my real brother.

That thought, I quickly pushed away, and concentrated on my surroundings. We were back in the vicinity of the family quarters, and Aston halted beside a pair of double doors, pushing them open silently.

I hurried inside, excited to see what the library held. I wasn’t disappointed. Inside, I saw a big room filled with tables, seats, and most of all bookshelves. Some held colorful little things that looked like a mineral or crystal shining with qi, but most were stuffed with books. Mostly big, hardcover books. The space was well illuminated with windows and light fixtures, silent, and covered in the scent of paper and books. It didn’t make up for losing the Internet, but it could make a pitiful try.

My guards distributed themselves around the library and the door, probably trying to cover every possible entrance. I ignored them in favor of examining the books. Some of them didn’t have any writing on their spines, but some did. To my pleasant surprise, I discovered I could read it.

At random, I pulled one from a shelf and opened it. It turned out to be a history book. I could read it the same way I did text in my native language, but when I slowed down and tried to really look at the words, the clarity left. Looking at the letters by themselves, they were just squiggles.

I frowned and took a closer look. The alphabet was like nothing I’d seen before. It looked like Egyptian cursive hieroglyphs, Chinese characters and tally marks had a threesome and produced a baby.

Well, it looks like I need to put my reading on hold. I wanted to understand the writing first, so that if I ever needed to puzzle something out or otherwise just deal with the letters, I’d be prepared.

So I searched through the books until I found what I needed, a guide to the language, which was apparently called Common or Common Imperial. It contained grammar rules, but also an alphabet with pronunciation and spelling instructions. So I scrutinized the letters displayed there and tried to memorize everything. At least this appeared to be an alphabetic language, with a few flourishes that changed how certain letters looked depending on their place in a word and accent marks that relied on the type of word.

It didn’t take long for me to realize something was weird. Experimentally, I closed the book and tried to recall the alphabet. It was right there in my mind, every letter exactly as the table in the book had portrayed them. Well, well. I suppose if something else is to mess with my mind, it could be worse.

Shutting the book, I looked around for the nearest person to pester. One of the guards stood not far away, an Asian-looking young woman. “Hey,” I called.

She turned around and bowed. “May I be of service, Your Highness?”

“Well,” I said, lamely. “Did the princess — I mean, did I … perhaps have special cognitive abilities?” Wow, awkward.

But the guard seemed to know immediately what I was getting at, her face brightening. “Yes, of course, Your Highness. You are a low-level genius.”

“A low-level … genius.” I rubbed my temple. Were they obsessed enough with levels and stages to rank geniuses? This sounded like it was a thing.

Wait, a real genius? Like on Earth, with intelligence, not cultivation talent? I was probably one. My IQ was around 130, so far as I knew. But here? “How do you know?”

“It is common knowledge, Your Highness. Your esteemed self was declared so at the age of ten. This was after a demonstration that you had successfully developed a genius’ memory.” Perhaps sensing my skepticism, she continued. “Some say that this world is alive, with intentions and agency of its own. That is for wiser masters to debate. But it is known that long-term exposure to qi during development — such as everyone born on this world — can lead to certain benefits. Anyone with the strength of mind and sharpness of wit to count as a genius will develop a perfect memory. However, this does not raise anyone’s intelligence as such, and it will really only happen to those who possess enough of it.”

I whistled. That sounded hard to believe, but then so did everything else about this world. So I made a mental note that my guards were no uneducated brutes and provisionally accepted her explanation.

An eidetic memory! I couldn’t help but laugh. Look out, world, here I come! This is going to be so much help. Now I’ll have a much easier time catching up on learning everything I need about this world. Let’s see, history, culture, geography, biology, scientific knowledge, and of course cultivation … and politics.

Still feeling a bit giddy, I scanned the shelves for the first book to dive into. If I just needed to read something once to retain all its information, that was a huge advantage. Hell, any college student would give their left arm for that. I needed to make some plans, once I knew what was available. And remember to go to the training courtyard tomorrow.

Maybe I could even run a few simple tests. But for now, I pulled down a children’s book.

I was going to be busy.

08: I'm responsible, really!

The fire spit and flashed, a bright blue flame leaping up as it consumed the remnants of my last experiment. I cursed and dodged backwards. After a moment, it settled down again, although tongues of flame flickered hungrily towards my feet.

I think it singed my hair. Sighing, I made darkness qi flow out of my hand, smothering the fire. Then I looked around, a little guiltily. The surrounding bookshelves and their content were fine, but maybe I should really be a little more careful with anything that might be flammable or explosive.

Well, it seems chemistry works normally here as well. Not that I’m an expert, but this is conclusive enough even if it’s due to my own stupidity.

I shook my head and regarded the burned remnants. There wouldn’t be any toxic smoke, and the servants would clear it up. Maybe that wasn’t good for me from a pedagogical standpoint.

Over the last two days, I’d done a number of little experiments. The results were simple. Obviously, gravity worked just fine in this world, and so did every other physical law that I could test. I assumed that qi just interacted with them, like magic layered atop reality and pressing down when it needed to. There were probably theories about that in the books, but as the saying went, ‘seeing is believing’. And it comforted me to get at least a little bit done by myself, especially to figure things out.

I glared back at the book lying open on the table before me. It had prompted the first of the experiments when I’d read some of the facts contained within. I’d looked at other ones, but the size of this planet was actually not quite clear, since they didn’t exactly have satellites and did it like the ancient Greeks. If my rough mental conversion of distances was accurate, and I’d checked it with the records from other transmigrators, even the lower end of the opinions put the world’s radius at about eight thousand kilometers. If I remembered correctly, Earth’s radius was six point something thousand. That meant the planet was, at a rough estimate, about one point six times bigger in terms of surface area alone.

Gravity felt exactly the same, although I might not have noticed if it was just slightly higher, but still. Which meant that the planet was either weird and had very low density, or magic was very weird.

I went to the window and stared out at the horizon, but I couldn’t notice anything odd. Maybe that was just because I didn’t have a good mental reference for how it should look. But the whole thing had unsettled me a bit. At least I’d gotten some basic knowledge about recent history and the Empire’s society in my reading.

Aston cleared his throat gently.

I turned around and regarded him. He’d come up just as the test finished, but I wasn’t in the mood for conversation. Still, it was probably important. “What is it?”

“His Imperial Highness, Prince Leri Alaster, has sent word. He requests the honor of a conversation at the convenience of the Imperial Princess.”

Oh. Something about the way Aston said that made me think he’d reworded the message to be more polite and formal, but I hoped it hadn’t been rude. Then he would have looked stiffer, probably.

“I suppose I really should meet him.” Had I kept the siblings waiting? It was still a little hard to wrap my head around what was probably the mentality here. If one wants to meet a ‘senior’, one doesn’t just show up at their door or summon them. But if I wanted to meet someone, they’d probably better show up quickly if called or invite me in if I deigned to visit them.

Maybe I was wrong, but so far, I had the impression this world was like those in a cultivation novel. Cultivation and spirits. Mostly feudal structure, except for sects, clans and such, and there was actually a strong central authority. So maybe not so feudal after all. And the technological level was actually pretty high from what I’d seen. I mean, they had elevators and air transport, running water and artificial lighting.

I set off, but paused when I noticed Aston’s expression. “Something up? You look like there is. Come on, spit it out.”

The guard sighed. “It might be prudent to make yourself presentable first. I doubt the smell of ash is the desired impression to leave.”

I winced and looked at myself. He was completely right. I hadn’t showered or bathed in two days, only taken a quick swim in an enclosed pond I’d come across after a training session with Ling Ta. My clothes still looked pristine, probably due to their enchantment, but my enhanced nose could pick up just a slight hint of sweat and of course fire.

“Okay, then. Let’s stop by my room. Thank you.”

My eidetic memory extended to locations, so I could find my way around easily. It didn’t take long to get back to my suite. There, the guards took their stations again, and I rummaged in my wardrobe for a new outfit. I didn’t want to appear too formal just for visiting family, so I went with a simple but nice green robe. Apparently, colors didn’t have significance, although many cultivators matched their elements.

When I reached the bathroom, just the sight of the pool made me relax a bit. I’d like a shower, but a bath would be nice too, and needed. I started to undress.

A few signatures had been moving around in the vicinity, but I didn’t pay them any mind. I only really became aware one had stopped close to me when the side door opened. It was disguised as part of the wall, and only the faint outline of qi gave its presence away previously.

I started and reflexively held my robe in front of me.

My wide-eyed stare met the gaze of a girl, no, two girls around twenty who crowded into the room. They paused when they saw my reaction and bowed, deeply and a little slowly.

My mouth went dry at the sight of it. The girls wore only loose clothing, and their decollete barely covered their generous busts, their motion giving me a good view. They had faces that could make supermodels envious, lithe and well-proportioned bodies, and a glint in their eyes that said they knew exactly what they were doing.

I cleared my throat. “Who are you? What are you doing here?”

They finally straightened, and the brunette with the cute dimples replied, “We desire to do our job, Your Highness.”

The one with curly black hair gracefully stepped to the side. “We are servants at the palace, radiant princess. Your maids. It will be our pleasure to help you bathe.” Her tone was laced with just a hint of teasing.

I swallowed. They were really hot, and it had been a while, so I couldn’t help my thoughts wandering in a certain direction. But I shut that down. Besides, the thought of having servants bathe me was just weird.

“Well, I don’t need any help,” I said as firmly as I could manage. Then I sighed internally and set down my shield of fabric. I didn’t want to appear weak, or nervous.

The two maids bowed their heads at my declaration, but they didn’t leave, instead starting to move with purpose about the room. Though their eyes never left me for long, and the sway in their steps had to be intentional.

As quickly as I could, I pulled off my underwear and dove into the pool. This was supposed to be relaxing, I complained to myself.

Just when I started to look around after a minute, a bottle of shampoo appeared at the edge. I waited until the maid had retreated a bit before quickly washing my hair with it. Then I dived under again for a bit, just because I could. This didn’t have the size of a real swimming pool, but I could move about more than freely. Reluctantly, I surfaced.

“Hand me a towel,” I said to the room.

Quickly, the brunette maid held a fluffy blanket out to me. I climbed out in a flash with my qi-enhanced body and wrapped it around me. Then I dried myself, trying not to make it too obvious I wanted to keep myself covered. When I’d finished, the other maid held out my clothes, the robe open so I only needed to slip into it, then the pants. Well, at least they’re clearly professionals.

The darker one stood close enough I could see her biting her full lip in detail. The room was damp — and why’s that, it wasn’t last time? — and the fabric of her clothes clung to her. I paused a bit.

“If the radiant princess is in need of relaxation,” the maid purred, “I would be delighted to be of service.”

For a moment, I actually considered the offer. I knew they were probably paid employees. But are they required to sleep with me, perhaps under threat of punishment? I can’t be sure. And even if this is just prostitution, basically, would I be okay with that?

Maybe if I wasn’t in the position of the princess who could probably have them whipped with a word. This just felt like they were either told to do it, trying to seduce the princess for personal gain, or just attracted to power.

“Maybe some other time.”

Quickly, I fled the room.

Outside, I breathed a covert sigh of relief, then shook my head and tried to clear my thoughts. I couldn’t afford to let things like this distract me. I was going to meet my predecessor’s little brother. Probably one of those people close to my predecessor.

09: My brother is a cheeky bastard

Aston had to show me the way again, this time to the prince’s room. Apparently, he would be having a lesson right now. I paused at a window and realized that it was only about mid-morning. Well, I had slept in the library and only for a bit. Yeah, I really need to establish some healthy routines.

“Shouldn’t I wait until his lesson is finished?”

“Almost his whole day is taken up with lessons, or cultivation,” Aston explained patiently. “The Prince is a diligent young man. And none of his tutors would object.”

“Okay, understood. I guess the Empress has high standards …” Unless the Empress just leaves it to teachers.

I frowned to myself. Calling her by her title felt weird since she was supposed to be my mother. Should I just call her Acura? No, that feels weird and … disrespectful. Hmm, okay. I’ll just use the Imperial Common word for ‘mother’.

Far too soon, we arrived at the door. I could sense several presences of mixed strength within. Before I could even take a deep breath, Aston knocked loudly, then opened the door without waiting for a response. He preceded me into the room and took position beside the doorway.

As I entered, I took in the scene. The room looked a lot like mine, with the same kind of furniture and decorations. The desk held a central position, and currently bore several textbooks and sheets of paper. Three soldiers or servants guarded the room, I wasn’t sure exactly, and a distinguished-looking older woman, probably in the fourth stage, sat at the desk with the boy.

When I entered, everyone rose to their feet or snapped to attention. Alaster half-bowed, and everyone else gave a deeper bow. The boy had light-brown hair and blue eyes that would make him a heartthrob in a few years. Actually, he was one of the lightest-skinned people I’d seen in the palace, besides myself.

I nodded at the room. After a moment of hesitation, I said, “Hello, Alaster.”

He didn’t try to hide his inspection of me, and frowned a bit. “So, they were right.”

What’s that about? I walked closer and glanced at the spectators. “Maybe we should talk privately.”

Alaster nodded and made a shooing motion at the adults. “Come on, I’m sure Elder Sister is more than enough to watch me.”

They bowed and shuffled out. Aston looked to me, and when I gave him a nod, he withdrew as well.

“You know about my soul journey, I suppose?”

The boy snorted. “Hard not to. Do you … do you really not remember anything?”

I wasn’t an expert in children, but I could tell he was trying to hide his feelings. It must be like losing his sister, I belatedly realized.

“Oh, I remember plenty of things,” I said and smiled as brightly as possible. “Lots of fun ideas from Earth, you’ll love them. And I do remember things from here, too. We wouldn’t be able to talk otherwise. I don’t have any explicit memories of you, but I think I still have the feelings.”

“Don’t treat me like a little kid, Nari.” He glared at me. “You’re not that much older. Actually, you probably don’t know that, but Mother only declared you an adult when you started your soul journey.”

I shrugged. “That’s good to know.” And apparently, I had a nickname.

Alaster sat down again, so I took a place on an armchair opposite from him.

He looked at me again and smirked. “Well, if that’s the price, I can wait. You really dampened my enthusiasm, you know. I hope I won’t come back with my brain full of holes.”

I had to chuckle at that. “You’re a cheeky little bastard, aren’t you?”

After a moment, his smirk faded and he gave a real grin. “I try. I had a good role model.”

I returned his smile. “I’ll take that as a compliment. I am older, though. I’m twenty-two, you know.”

“No, you’re not. You only turned eighteen a few months ago. If you were twenty-two, your cultivation would be so low you couldn’t show your face in the palace.”

I leaned back and put my head on my hand, getting comfortable. “I don’t buy that. They told me it was high.”

“You haven’t quite reached the late part of the third stage, Nari,” Alaster declared. “That’s good, sure, but it’s not outstanding for a genius. Mother was almost at the peak of the third stage when she was your age.”

I shrugged. I already knew Mother was considered one of the top geniuses of the last few centuries, so that objectively wasn’t bad. It did still sting a little, but I tried not to show that. “And where are you at, you little know-it-all?”

“I’m almost at the third stage,” he stated proudly, then deflated a bit. “It’ll only take a few more months. But Teacher Ling says I have remarkable talent for the combat arts! And I’ll get my genius’ memory soon.”

“I’m sure you will,” I said, for once trying to sound sincerely reassuring. I still didn’t quite know what to think of the perfect memory for geniuses, but from the sound of it I’d get an interesting demonstration.

It really seemed like I got on well with little Alaster, which was nice. I’d far rather have a good relationship with my siblings than a rivalry, if nothing else because those could be deadly in cultivation stories. And my siblings would make for valuable allies. So long as they didn’t try to scheme for my position, which was another reason a close bond would be good.

“Have you seen little An yet?” he wanted to know. “She’s been asking about you. It’s probably a good thing she doesn’t really know what a soul journey is yet.”

“No, but I’ll visit her soon,” I promised. So, good relationship between the two of them, too.

Alaster seemed precocious, which didn’t surprise me considering his family and the quality of education he must be getting. I was a little more unsure about meeting an eight-year-old, but that was no excuse. And I felt curious, too.

“Just do it before you attempt a breakthrough. That could take a while, knowing you, and I don’t think she wants to see you in the healers’ wing.”

I shook my head. “You really are a cheeky little – “ I paused as something occurred to me. “Wait, actually, are we bastards?”

“I suppose so?” He scratched his cheek. “But we aren’t just normal nobility. This is the Leri clan and our Mother is Empress. It’s her prerogative to marry as many people as she wants, take as many concubines as she wants, and have as many children as she wants. No one cares with whom, unless it affects our strength.”

I guess that’s that. And the society can’t be sexually repressed if a twelve-year-old lectures me on this topic. Although I think he’s optimistic saying no one cares.

I hesitated for a bit, but Alaster was probably mature enough that I could talk about this. “Who is your father, or mine? I didn’t read anything about it.”

“There wouldn’t be anything to read.” He shrugged, frowning. “No one’s officially recorded, because Mother hasn’t said.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Is that normal?”

“Sure. No father is recorded for her, too. Although there are rumors.” He twirled a bit of hair around his finger. “I’m pretty sure Carston is ours. Though not Xiaodan’s.”

“Carston?”

“Yes. He was Mother’s closest consort for years. They loved each other, I heard.” He shrugged again, but I could see his grimace. “Not anymore, though. They had some falling out when I was little. He’s … left.”

I wanted to press more, but seeing how Alaster clearly didn’t like the topic, I decided to drop it. I could ask other people later. “Well, thanks for telling me. I assume you have private tutors?”

“Of course.”

And he clearly didn’t want to get back to his lessons just yet, and was using me as an excuse not to call them back in. But I didn’t mind.

For the next hour, we talked. About his lessons, his teachers, servants. About nobles and the palace, and about the culture. I regaled him with stories from Earth, both my own experiences and from novels or movies.

“You’re just making this up,” he accused me at one point. Then he switched to English. “I don’t care about the political situation, no one would just ignore that their world is dying.”

“Oh, if only you knew.” I shook my head.

We continued talking for a bit. His English was actually great, a little halting but he spoke without an accent. So Mother must have taught all of them her language. Interesting.

Finally, I sighed and glanced to the door. “I think your people are getting impatient. Time for me to let you get back to your lessons.”

“Oh, come on …,” he pouted.

I stood up and tried to ruffle his hair, but he rose in a flash and dodged. “It was good to meet you, Alaster.”

He looked at me for a moment and nodded. “When we’re in private, you call me Al.”

I smiled. “Of course, Al. See you around.”

Then I sent out a pulse of qi to let Aston know they could come back in, and started for the door. Before leaving, I turned and looked back one last time. Yes, this should work out nicely.

10: The value of strength

The little princess’ door wasn’t far from Al’s. I probably could have found it on my own, but Aston led me there unerringly.

He didn’t seem to mind just escorting me around and waiting while I did whatever it was I got up to. The other guards rotated, but he hadn’t yet. Although I was grateful for his patience, I wasn’t used to being guarded. For a moment, I wondered what motivated him. Status and good pay? A sense of patriotism and duty to his country? I didn’t feel I was close enough to him to ask. Maybe my predecessor had been.

This time, I paused before entering the room and assessed what I was going to find. I could sense more people this time, although none were as strong as me except for a pair of probably guards I put in the fifth stage. But one of those was waiting outside the door, the other one likely on a balcony judging from the distance. There were two presences in the room along with the one who had to be Xiaodan, the others bustled around in their vicinity.

I hadn’t felt any threat from Alaster, or had any weird feelings. Maybe that meant nothing, but in light of my predecessor’s writing, I noted it. If nothing else, I needed to check Xiaodan, too, see if meeting her might trigger anything. A long shot, but I have little to go on, so trying many different things makes sense.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the door. They must have sensed me anyway, since I hadn’t tried to veil my presence.

I barely had time to see another well-appointed room and a number of servants bowing deeply before my attention was drawn to the little girl.

“Big Sister Nari!” she exclaimed and jumped up.

I stepped further inside, smiling at her enthusiasm. She started in my direction, then paused and instead, with a glance at the stern-faced older woman with her, gave me a bow.

“Hello, little one,” I replied.

Xiaodan looked big for her age, but I didn’t have much to compare her to. She had black hair and almond eyes, with skin a bit darker than mine. Certainly more Asian-looking than me, or Alaster, for that matter. Not that I cared.

Although, glancing around, I noticed that three of the four servants visible in the room also looked distinctly as if they were of Asian descent, at least to my Earth-based mind.

While I stepped closer and caught the girl in a hug, I reflected on that. The people I’d seen in the palace so far all looked as if their ancestors were from East Asia, or white Europeans, or a mixture of both. But that was using Earth categories, and who knew how things stood here.

I’d given up wondering why there were even humans on multiple worlds. It was probably caused by those occasional portals or whatever that Mother had mentioned.

After a moment, I released my new sister and held her at arm’s length while I made a show of looking her over.

“Yes, you’re definitely my little sister,” I concluded and winked.

Xiaodan giggled.

“Xiaodan,” the older woman said, “why don’t you let Her Highness sit down?” She then turned to me and bowed her head. “If the princess wishes, this one will have some tea prepared.”

And here I was hoping there would be none of that ‘this one’ stuff. I knew it was supposed to sound humble, even deferential. But to me, it seemed pretentious, talking about yourself in the third person.

“Tea sounds good,” I answered. Right away, I sensed another servant rushing off. Then I sat down on a plush chair and patted the seat next to it.

Xiaodan settled into her place, smiling brightly. But then she stopped and looked at me with a bit of a tremble. “Elder Sister, you went on your soul journey?”

“Yes, that’s right. I did.”

“You visited another world? You were sleeping for so long.”

You don’t know the half of it. “Yes, I went to Earth. It was great. Maybe you’ll visit it yourself someday. That would be nice, wouldn’t it? I’m glad to know you missed me.” I smiled at her teasingly. “But I’m back now.”

“And … they say you’re different now?”

I sighed and looked her in the eyes. “Yes, I am different. I don’t want to try and hide this from you. I’m probably not going to be like the older sister you remember. Not quite, at least. But that just means you have new things to discover about me. And you’ll always be my Little An.”

She nodded tremulously. “Alright. I would never dare stipulate what Elder Sister should be like.”

“Hush, none of that now,” I chided gently. I laid a hand under her chin and raised it, like they did in novels. “It’s perfectly reasonable that you’d be feeling anxious.”

That earned me another smile, this one a little firmer.

“There, you see? No need to make a sad face.” I focused on the feeling I got from her. Unless I was mistaken, she had already reached the second stage of cultivation. Actually, that had to be recent. “And I can tell you’ve made good progress. Well done, Xiaodan.”

She blushed and her smile gained a few kilowatts. “Thank you! I want to be as strong as you, Big Sister Nari.”

“And you will be, someday.” Just hopefully after I’ve already gotten stronger.

“Teacher Mei said you became a genius at age ten. I don’t know if I can do that,” she confessed quietly.

I glanced at the teacher, who ducked her head. I hadn’t known that, but it made sense. And except for Xiaodan being adorable, I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary about her or what her relationship with her sister might have been like.

“I believe in you,” I assured Xiaodan. “But even if you don’t, that’s okay, too. Being fast isn’t always good. And we can’t control what we’re born with, only how we use and develop it. Just keep working hard. The foundation is crucial.” I patted her head. “I’m already proud of you, and I’m sure Mother is, too.”

I hadn’t thought she could smile any more brightly, but this one could probably count as a technique with the power of light and cuteness.

“Besides, there are other important things. Not just cultivation or even capability. Strength isn’t everything.”

The girl scrunched up her face a bit. She probably didn’t hear that sentiment expressed often.

“So you just focused on other things since your last breakthrough, and people don’t understand when they say you take too long? Is that why Teacher Ling Ta calls you lazy?”

I choked a bit. Luckily, at that moment the tea arrived and I could dodge the question.

11: The power of 'getting it'

“You’re early this time, Princess Inaris.”

I shrugged at Ling Ta. “I find myself motivated to improve my cultivation. You could say I was goaded into it.” I wasn’t so prideful as to pretend that my siblings’ words hadn’t needled me. Especially Al.

My Teacher smiled at that. “Ah, the enthusiasm of youth.”

By now, I knew him well enough to detect the sarcasm in his words. It wasn’t the tone, which remained completely deadpan, but the slight glint in his eyes.

So I didn’t answer, and only sat down on a mat in the center of the training courtyard. I glanced around. My guards stood a distance away, as before, and Aston had moved off and was doing warm-up exercises.

“Could I have some pillars?” I didn’t raise my voice, as it would be heard anyway.

One of the guards bowed. A moment later, earthen pillars shot out of the ground. They took on several forms, from straight cylinders to intricate knotwork and little trees.

I nodded in satisfaction. I’d come straight here after visiting my siblings, which meant it was just after noon. The sun burned down on us, its light flooding the courtyard. That gave me access to a lot of light qi, but the shadows cast by the pillars let me gather some darkness qi as well.

Then I closed my eyes and calmed my thoughts. That had gotten more difficult the longer I stayed in this world, thoughts of home trying to invade my private moments, when I didn’t distract myself with study or training. But I forced them away and focused on my plan. True to what I’d told Xiaodan, I’d decided that today, I would work on my foundation, not any techniques. I still hadn’t quite understood what I already knew.

For a while, I simply cultivated, trying to really get into the meditation. I didn’t even focus on cycling qi through my body, instead sensing the qi all around me. I could ‘see’ all of it, in a distant, imperfect way. Only the qi of light and darkness stood out sharply.

But as I sunk deeper into my cultivation, I realized there was no real border, no dividing line I could draw. All types of qi were, in the end, one and the same. I had known that before, but now I was reminded of it again.

Actually, it reminded me of what little I knew about quantum mechanics. Particles weren’t really here or there, there was only potential. They only took on certain states when you asked them about it, when the universe measured it. It helped to see qi in the same vein. I didn’t know how it ultimately related to matter, but it, too, wasn’t strictly defined. The closer I looked at qi, the more I came to understand it.

I wasn’t a physicist, but I found myself intuitively grasping what I sensed in a way that wasn’t restricted to ‘magic’. I could see how qi interacted with the material world around it, and I could tell how you would define its force as a function of distance. I developed an understanding of how light and darkness qi layered atop ‘pure’, affinity-free qi, that was really only an amalgamation of all its potential types. It was never really pure. The affinities present and their strength always restricted its potential, put a limit on what it could be, the distribution of its density, if I wanted to put it that way.

After a while, I applied my new understanding and pulled. I gathered qi with the familiar affinity of energy, electromagnetic force, and the notion of brightness and positive things, and breathed it in. I didn’t try to keep it to a single path, or control the speed of absorption, I simply let it in.

Then I saw the qi with the affinity of absence, of outer space and restrictions and the idea of shrouding gloom, and drew it in. I cleared it a path, and let it appear where it would.

I guided the qi through my body, pushed and pulled it through its pathways, my meridians, and always back to the core. I set its rotation, the qi spinning around each other, always both of them in concert, because they always needed each other to exist.

The qi in my core rose and rose, so I pushed down on it. I compacted the qi and stretched my dantian at the same time. Dimly, I sensed a barrier buckling, but it went gently, smoothed out of the way by the rising streams of qi. And always, I breathed new qi in, adding it to the cycle within my body.

I didn’t stop there. Time had ceased to matter. I simply cultivated, moved my qi, studied it, and added to it. I pushed some of it into my meridians themselves, shoring up their structure, sloshing away microscopic debris. That, I breathed out, before I let new qi flood in.

Finally, I came back to myself. I didn’t entirely withdraw my attention from the qi, but the sense of it faded into the background, letting me experience my surroundings without drawing my attention to anything specific. After a moment, I opened my eyes. There was no need to blink against the sunlight, instead, I welcomed it.

“Well done,” I heard my Mother’s voice from behind me.

I stiffened a bit, surprised at her presence. I hadn’t sensed her approach, and even after I stopped cultivating, it had snuck up on me. But the calm of my meditation still lingered. Smoothly, I stood up and turned around, bowing to her.

Mother wore the same dress she had the last time. The colors of twilight gave the white fabric an orange tint. Beside her, Ling Ta stood, arms crossed.

He gave me a nod. “You got into the late part of the third stage. Well into it, I’d say.”

I walked closer to them. “Thank you. I don’t feel much stronger.”

“Hmm.” Mother eyed me thoughtfully. “I’d say you are, just not in the obvious way.”

Beside her, my Teacher stiffened. He shot her a sideways glance, but didn’t comment.

I raised an eyebrow at Mother. “Oh?”

“I sensed the way you submerged into the qi. There was something … odd. A few patterns I haven’t quite seen before.” Mother cocked her head. “You progressed quite quickly, but your handling of qi changed. Especially the way you drew it in. This is more than a normal moment of enlightenment.”

I frowned thoughtfully. Somehow, I think I know what she means. I did see qi differently. Still do.

“Let me try something.” I turned around and focused on the closest earthen pillar.

Closing my eyes, I sensed the qi around me, focusing on the object. Slowly, I started my breathing pattern. Then I mentally reached out to the qi gathered around and through the pillar. It was strange, heavy and cumbersome. Unlike light or darkness qi, it didn’t yield to my grasp.

But I didn’t let that stop me. I looked deeper, focusing on the qi, on the way it belonged to the same qi everywhere, only taking on its own distinct flavor. I could see how it related to the qi around it, including the light from the sun and the darkness of the shade it cast. But I dug deeper yet again, until I saw the make-up of earth qi, or at least the qi attached to this part of the earth.

Laboriously, I drew it closer, coaxing and prodding it to me. When it arrived, I took it in. My lungs didn’t want to accept it, my breath stuttering until I smoothed it out. My meridians hindered it, letting it clog them, their shape bearing down. But I exerted my will and drew it forward, into my dantian. Here, I made my light and darkness move aside, making a bit of room for the earth qi.

Outside, someone made noise, but I ignored it. It took constant concentration to maintain the bit of earth qi in my core. I pushed it out, the meridians struggling under the unfamiliar load even more, but I persevered. Finally, it reached my hand, and I pushed it out completely, shaping it into a formless substance around it.

When I opened my eyes, my right hand was coated in hardened earth. The Stone Fist technique. Let’s see. It was the only earth technique I knew, a simple one I’d stumbled across in one of the books I’d read. With a light step, I crossed the meters to the nearest pillar. Then I punched it.

Stone flew in all directions. I shook some remaining clumps from my hand and flexed it, but I didn’t even feel bruised. The pillar had a large crater inside it. I could have done the same just with my enhanced strength, but it had been a bit easier like this.

“Well, that settles it,” Mother said, coming to a stop beside me. She smiled in obvious satisfaction. “You have a special ability.”

Ling Ta trailed after her. “Impressive, truly. You have a blessed daughter, Your Majesty.”

I couldn’t help but grin. “A special ability, huh?” I could use an OP cheat!

Mother snorted. “Don’t look so smug. We haven’t determined how strong it’s going to be yet.”

I sighed, but nodded in agreement. “Well, I don’t think it’s really about controlling qi. I could use earth qi, but it was a struggle all the way. I don’t see that getting better, either — my cultivation just isn’t suited to it.”

“That’s my assessment as well,” Mother agreed. “The capacity to manipulate qi not of your affinity is extraordinarily rare and needs experience you lack. I think what you have is an improved understanding. An intuition about the truth of qi, or perhaps abstract concepts. It allows you the understanding necessary to use qi of a particular affinity, even one you have no bond to, but it would need an effort of will to overcome the natural antagonism towards foreign qi.”

“An improved intuition?” I asked.

“Yes. Not only were you able to do this, you knew that you could. That’s telling. And it rests on your understanding of what you sensed.”

“So, my superpower is ‘getting it’.” I chuckled. “Honestly, that sounds right. I can’t wait to see how it will help me with my studies. But what are these abilities?”

Mother started walking from the courtyard, and I fell into step beside her. After a moment, she replied in English, “For us, it’s like a bloodline thing, coupled with our soul journeys. But there are other ways to get such a unique ability.”

“So it’s common?”

“No.” She chuckled. “Far from it. Only a few even among our family have one. When we do, it usually shows up shortly after our soul journey. But don’t let it get to your head. Yours is nice — honestly, I’m almost jealous — but you shouldn’t overestimate it. I’ve read of others that are plain unbelievable.”

“Like what?”

“Imagine if your ability extended further. Instead of understanding things and thus using some foreign qi with strict limitations, someone can simply use it all. They don’t have an affinity because all affinities are theirs, and cultivating any strengthens their control over all. Think about what that could mean in combat.”

I whistled. “Okay, that would be a real cheat. So, my ability is above average, but not at the peak of what’s possible?”

“That’s a good assessment.”

She sped up, but I hurried to keep pace with her, staying close. Now that she’d shown up, this was my chance to talk to her. “So, what’s yours?”

Mother glanced at me and smirked. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

I pouted. But after she gave no reaction, I dropped it. Just another thing to figure out. I bet it helps her with ruling. So I switched tracks. “Are these abilities related to the genius memory thing?”

She slowed down a bit. “Probably. Neither of those is well understood, despite what some scholars claim. And speaking of memory, I think we’ll need to see about a change in your status. But that can wait for a bit.”

Why I am I not getting a good feeling about this?

But by this point, we’d reached the entrance to the palace. Everyone who passed us scattered and went to their knees. I stopped talking, simply following Mother as she strode along.

12: Some serious conversation (and bad jokes)

“Do you want something to drink?” Mother asked. She sounded relaxed.

“No, thanks.” I looked around the rooftop terrace. She’d taken us straight up here with a qi-powered elevator tucked away near the palace’s side entrance.

It offered a great view over the mountains and the areas beyond. I stepped closer to the balustrade and looked down on the city spread out below the palace. Many lights blinked up at me. It spread far, and some buildings towered above their surroundings like skyscrapers, but in the end it couldn’t compare to a city like New York. There were more gardens, though, and great care had obviously been taken with the planning. There was a lot of bright paint, decorative statues and artistic baubles. I’d never seen a more beautiful city, in person or otherwise.

“So, how far can you see, or sense?” I asked. I wasn’t surprised she knew about my cultivation, but I was curious.

“A lot,” Mother replied, leaning on the balustrade beside me. “Everything in the palace and the city is easy. The surrounding area, too.”

I nodded, impressed but not surprised. From what I’d read, eighth-stage cultivators might as well be gods in this world.

“Ling Ta said I need to reach the eighth stage in a hundred years.” I put my chin on my hand and gazed out at the city. “That’s quite the deadline you’ve set.”

“I know, but I do what I must. You might still remain my heir if you don’t meet it, if you’ve impressed me, and the people, enough.”

“And if I don’t?”

She hesitated for a moment, and I turned to look at her. “I won’t have you ‘eliminated’. In fact, I’ll do my best to shield you. But this world is not kind to those it deems failures.”

I snorted. “Even on Earth, disgraced royalty had a low life expectancy. Especially a former heir.”

“Yes. It’s worse here. I’m sorry. You might be my daughter, but I need to do what’s best for my people, and I can’t have an unfit heir.”

“I understand.” I stared back out at the scenery, not really seeing it.

A century sounded like a long time, but it wasn’t. Very few people ever reached the peak of cultivation. I had to, and if I didn’t, I’d probably be killed. A good thing I have this special ability. I’ll need it. And the worst thing is, I can’t really blame her. Of course I need to prove myself if I’m to inherit the responsibility for an Empire. And it’s not like I could resign, I’ll always be her firstborn child.

“I just wish I could go back,” I said.

“Do you want to tell me about your life?” Mother asked quietly. When I turned around, she calmly met my gaze, waiting.

“There isn’t much to tell, really.” I ran a hand through my hair absently. “I was twenty-two, single, just starting my Master’s in Cognitive Science. My parents are academics, and I have a younger brother.” I had to force myself to use the past tense. It still didn’t quite feel real that it was over, but I pushed that thought away and kept talking. “I don’t know how I died. Probably a traffic accident. I could have had the bad luck of being in a shooting or something, but that seems very unlikely. Plus, I was almost always at home, considering the situation.”

Here, I paused, a thought occurring to me. “Oh, you don’t know about that.”

“About what?”

I shook my head. Are you going to get a shock when I tell you about Covid-19. But maybe later. I didn’t want to be insensitive if she was somehow affected. “It’s not important now. Anyway, what about you?”

She watched me for a moment, then nodded slightly. “I was your average upper-middle class white woman from the US east coast. Divorced, no children, a career that was just starting to really take off. Politically interested. I was concerned about climate change, discrimination and filter bubbles.”

“Yeah, me too.” I sighed. “I was never politically active, though. Apart from that, I was a bit of a nerd. I love fantasy and science-fiction. Hopefully, that will come in handy now.”

“Probably.” Mother smiled. “I had a casual interest in fantasy books and the like, and now I’m extremely grateful for that. I just wish I remembered more about science and technology.”

I nodded in agreement, thinking about that. I hadn’t made many plans for the future so far, just trying to learn as much as I could about my new world. But now I realized that while that was still the priority, I had some serious thinking to do. Just … not about home.

“I died from my injuries after a traffic accident,” Mother continued. “Then I woke up here.”

I thought back to what I’d read. “You were really old for a soul journey, weren’t you?”

“It started on my one hundredth birthday. Most people thought it would never happen. Of course, by that point I was almost at the eighth stage, so biologically I wasn’t very old. Then I reached it and my mother died shortly after.” Mother stared into space for a moment, then shook her head. “I was always going to be Empress, but I think I’m doing a good job. I’ve instituted a few laws to protect the common people. Our equivalent of civil rights.”

“That’s great.”

We fell into a thoughtful silence. I couldn’t imagine how things would be like if I did remember my life here, if it was really mine. Probably a lot easier. And now, for the first time, I realized how important a position I’d been given, how much impact I potentially had. It was both exciting and disquieting, because I wasn’t sure how I’d live up to my morals here. Since they were going to be rather demanding. But I need to gather information first and plan what my goals are and how I’m going to act. While still progressing my cultivation quickly.

“Now that you’ve settled in a little, it’s time for you to contribute,” Mother finally said. “At least a bit, besides your training.”

“Contribute how?”

“Several ways. Most importantly, you need to document what you can. I know you’re still reading the records, but you need to start adding to them. Earth is advanced, more than most worlds we know about, and we need your contribution, especially when it comes to scientific understanding.”

“Of course. I’ll do what I can. I’ve been writing some things up already. Shame the perfect memory doesn’t cover life on Earth.”

“That would be too easy,” Mother said with a light grin. “But I’m sure you can help anyway. I’ll need it. Hell, I tried to get a computer made for a while, but it didn’t work out. Even though I invited some of the best engineers in the country.”

I scratched my temple, thinking about that. “Build a computer. I think that’s doable. Not that I know how they’re built, but do know a bit about the concepts. I can at least get people started with some theory, Turing machines and such. Logic gates. I mean, you could build a computer out of switches. But it’s going to need a lot of development, and honestly … I don’t know if it’s a good idea to make something like that public.”

“I’m going to be very careful. And there’s no hurry. Qi-powered technology works just fine for almost everything.”

That’s an interesting thought. I guess qi-powered magitech just isn’t as detailed. Because you can power it easily and make it accomplish effects without really understanding them, so long as the enchanter is good. And I bet it’s a pain to mass-produce. Not like factory machines could infuse qi into things. But magitech would be available enough that a technological revolution can’t take off.

I was ripped from my thoughts when Mother snapped her fingers in front of my face. “Earth to Inaris. Well, not Earth. But stop thinking so much.”

I smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.”

“It’s considered rude to ignore your mother, you know. Especially when she’s your empress.”

I bowed with a flourish. “Please accept this unworthy one’s most sincere apologies, Your Majesty.”

Mother chuckled. “No, I don’t. Now straighten up.”

I did, secretly relieved she took all of this in good humor. Even though I felt like I knew her, I didn’t really, after all.

“How do people handle this?” I blurted out. “In the clan. The whole transmigration. When your loved ones could just come back changed, and you yourself lived two lives.”

She didn’t answer for a long moment. Then she turned around and started manipulating some of the qi around us while she answered. “It differs a lot. Actually, I’m surprised you haven’t talked to any of them yet. Most seek out each other’s companionship and help. Of course, they remember something of their lives, and thus their loved ones. There’s already a bond, and trust, which probably helps. You’re really unlucky in that regard.”

I watched her in silence for a moment. She spun several threads of light qi at once in an intricate pattern that I could have no hope of matching, interspersed with a few dark threads. Then she started drawing runic characters with threads of light.

Finally, she sighed and continued. “Many in the clan have their kids basically raised by servants. That way, it doesn’t hurt so much if they’re the unlucky ones who don’t remember much, or if the values of their old lives are too prominent. That wasn’t really an option for me. The children themselves typically aren’t told much for a long time. And before you say anything, Al is an exception.”

I closed my mouth on the question I’d just been about to ask.

Finally, she finished her work. A screen of light solidified, then split into several ones, hovering at the right level to be easily readable. Pictures started appearing on them, then moving.

“Wow. You’ve made screens and cameras?”

Mother smiled. “It’s only a technique, I haven’t quite managed to put it into permanent objects. But here, look.”

She focused on what I realized was a viewpoint showing the castle from above. Then she panned it around, zooming out to show me where we stood in relation to the city. After that, she zoomed back in, until the camera’s view passed through a window that glittered with enchantments and into a library tucked away in a tower. There, she sought a heavy leather-bound book. Then the screen flickered for a moment before written pages were displayed on it. Obviously, their content.

Fascinated, I leaned closer. The pages were obviously hand-written. Actually, there were a variety of languages and alphabets, often accompanied by Common Imperial text.

“Some of our more sensitive records,” Mother explained. Then she snapped her fingers and the screen vanished. The rest of them still hovered around, showing various locations or following people, but I couldn’t get a good look.

“What would you call a surveillance system using only pinhole cameras without film, Nari?”

“Epic fail.”

Mother laughed at that, longer than I thought it really deserved. “Thanks, I needed that,” she finally said. “Some of the ideas brought back by members of our family are, as you can see, a little impractical.”

“I get that. I guess in this world, sufficiently advanced technology is easily distinguishable from magic. One works.”

Mother chuckled again. “I thought you liked technology?”

“Sure, but I love science. It’s true whether or not you believe in it. I just hope magic doesn’t require belief, or I’ll be stuck in an endless feedback loop trying to reason about what I believe in. If that happens, please use a time-machine.”

“How long are you going to crack jokes?”

“A while.” I smiled and gestured around. Forcing humor was a good way to deal with sadness. Or pressure, like the threat of probable death for failure. “Any well-known quote or meme from Earth is now an in-joke for us. Maybe that’s what they call memetic mutation. Ours are the quotes.”

Mother groaned. “Just stop.” Then she shook her head and smiled. “Well, at least you’re not as bad as Al saying ‘winter is coming’ out of context. Like on the spring equinox.”

I grinned. “Well, I hope you replied with ‘You know nothing’.”

“Maybe if you’re there, from now on I will.”

13: Tests and reactions

“I knew I’d find you here. You’re predictable, Nari.”

I looked up, frowning in annoyance. Al simply grinned and sauntered further into the room. He let his eyes wander over the bookshelves until they came to rest on the volume laid on the single table that was crammed into the corner of the room.

This was the first chance I’d had to check out the location and records Mother had mentioned. So far, I wasn’t too impressed. Sure, I could see why they were kept separately with restricted access and qi-based security measures. Some of the ideas and concepts in the records were potentially dangerous. Like the existence of nuclear weapons, penciled in by Mother in neat handwriting. But there wasn’t much that I either didn’t know or couldn’t guess at. Or would agree with, when it came to ideology.

“Are you supposed to be here?” I asked curtly.

“Well, I’m not supposed to read anything, but your guards let me in. Are you sure I can’t borrow a few pages?”

“No.” I searched for my place on my current page and started reading again.

It had taken me embarrassingly long to realize Mother had shown me her technique on purpose, knowing that I would remember it perfectly. I hadn’t been able to recreate it yet, but I would manage a simpler version with some tinkering. That didn’t mean the records were unimportant, or that I’d let a kid read them.

“Wow, you’re grumpy today,” Al commented. He leaned over my shoulder, trying to get a peek.

Sighing, I clapped the book closed and turned around. The enchantments on the books should protect them from being read by anyone unauthorized, but there was no point taking the chance. My gaze flicked around the room. It was pretty small and cramped, but it had a swivel chair that more than made up for the slightly neglected surroundings.

“Do you have a point, Al?”

He backed off a little and leaned against the nearest bookshelf. “I heard some interesting news. The reason you’re so sociable right now, probably. Although I really don’t get it. Shouldn’t you be happy? You’re a high-level genius!” He crossed his arms. “So, tell me.”

I didn’t want to talk about my recent conversation with Mother, or the way the weight of expectations pressed down on me. He already knew I had to reach the eighth stage quickly. But there was another reason I felt frustrated today.

I shrugged. “I just came from hours of dealing with a gaggle of scholars Mother sent without telling me. A few were actually from the clan. They didn’t even try to hide that they were testing me. Lots of puzzles like from IQ tests, and endless debates about philosophy and math and logic and even freaking agriculture. But they really only cared about seeing my unique ability.” That much was obvious from their reaction.

“So, you used qi of another affinity?”

I allowed myself a small grin. “I conjured a little whirlwind that scattered all their papers and instruments around. It took them a while to get it all sorted, and I got them to apologize for wasting the Imperial Princess’ time.”

Al returned my grin. “Shame I couldn’t see that.”

I leaned back and shook my head. “Maybe I am a bad influence.”

“Nonsense. Besides, there’s going to be a big announcement today. People will be shocked. Bet you’ll like that.”

“You’ll have to tell me about it. I’m not going.”

His eyes widened and he straightened up. “Really? But you can’t just not be there! Does Mother know that?”

I turned away, looking out the window. “I think she understands.”

After a moment, Al sighed. “Fine. But you can’t hide forever, you know.”

“Of course I won’t.” Just as long as I reasonably can.

He left soon after that, and I turned back to my reading. But my heart wasn’t really in it at the moment. So I decided to go back to my room and relax a bit.

This morning, I’d made a marvelous discovery that I was still kicking myself about not seeing sooner. Namely, showers. There actually was one in my bathroom, a water qi-infused crystal set into the ceiling in a corner. I’d had to create a shield of darkness qi to act as a curtain, but it had really lifted my spirits. Until the scholars got me. At least the maids had left me alone. I’d seen them around, but managed to avoid them. And my cultivation had gone fantastically.

Somehow, lost in thought, my feet found their way to the family library instead of my room. I ran a hand through my hair and decided I might as well go in. I had some new things to research, after all.

I glanced at the guards still following me around. With this announcement, I’d become much higher-profile. I’d have liked to demand they leave me alone, but if assassination might be a real threat, that would be stupid. And there was that note, and the possibility of someone intending me harm.

“Aston, how much danger am I in?”

He cocked his head just slightly. “Danger can never be discounted, but I assure you, Your Highness, your guards are up to the task of protecting you.”

“Okay, let me put this another way. How many assassination attempts have there been on me in my life?”

“Six.”

I exhaled and headed into the library. That’s not good news. I guess I’m lucky it’s not higher, but they aren’t likely to stop, are they?

This made the decision on what to research next clear. With my new ability, I could use pretty much any technique recorded here. At a high cost, sure, but still. And my perfect memory meant I only had to read the instructions once to retain all the information. Hopefully, my ability also meant I wouldn’t need much practice.

I’ll look at many of them, especially those that can help protect me if I’m in danger, but I won’t need to try them all. Just having some potential options might make the difference.

So, I made a beeline for technique books, only giving a short glance to the qi-infused information storage, rows of jade slips and crystal. They might be quicker, but I was leery of having information somehow automatically transferred to my mind. From what I’d read, my family agreed, as a general principle. It was harder to keep that information separate. Especially for techniques that you might want to adapt to your specific style, there would be problems.

So, I opened an interesting-looking book with symbols for air and darkness on the cover. Hopefully, I’d find a technique that let me breath anywhere. Idly, I considered what I’d need next. Physical protection and healing. Communication and stealth I already have or can get with my main affinities. Maybe resistance to the elements.

My focus sharpened as I noticed the kind of technique I’d been looking for, and I started to immerse myself in the manual.

14: Way to put pressure on someone

“Well, this is a little underwhelming.” I frowned.

At first glance, there was nothing wrong with the wall of water standing unsupported in front of me, held upright by magic. I poked it, and except for my finger getting wet, nothing changed. But it had taken me ages to take in the water qi from around the training courtyard and use it to form this wall. And there might not have been a lake nearby, but it had rained earlier, and the air still felt damp, with rivulets of water running down the short walls.

I cut my connection to the qi, and quickly stepped back to avoid getting splashed as it crashed down.

“Water is not well suited to defensive arts,” Aston replied. He looked as unruffled as always, not a hair out of place even though we’d been up for over twenty-four hours already.

To be fair, I didn’t feel tired either. That would take some getting used to. Cultivators could use their qi to go without food or sleep for weeks, even longer at his level. Generally, I still tried to keep a healthy routine, eating regularly and sleeping at least a few hours a day.

I’m not that pressed for time, I told myself again. And familiar activities are comforting. So it’s not a waste.

And, at least, I hadn’t had any foreboding dreams. I usually remembered my dreams, that hadn’t changed, and they were only as weird as usual.

I’d been here for more than a week at this point. A week since I’d died on Earth. Any other possibility was getting less and less likely, and I tried not to delude myself. Increasingly, even throwing myself into studying and training couldn’t keep me distracted from dark thoughts. The feeling of unreality that had been wrapped around me like a barrier was breaking down.

I shook my head to rid myself of these musings and focused back on Aston. “I still don’t know what your affinity is,” I told him. He kept his presence veiled, so I had some idea of his strength, but details eluded me.

“It’s perfectly suitable for my task, Princess Inaris.”

I snorted. I could just order him to tell me, but that felt petty. Let him be mysterious if he wants, I’ll find out soon enough.

“I’m honestly surprised at your presence,” I admitted. “Sixth-stage cultivators aren’t exactly weak or common. Wouldn’t you accomplish more with a different assignment, rather than following me around? I mean, at least here. Mother isn’t going to let an assassin succeed.”

That realization had dampened my uncertainty a lot. I’d researched all of those assassination attempts, and they’d all happened when either I or Mother was away, or she was in secluded cultivation. A light-affinity eighth-stage cultivator just would have seen something like that coming a mile away.

“With all due respect, I believe you do not realize your importance.”

“Importance? Is that why I need to have crazy progress in cultivation?” I folded my arms. “I know I’m the crown princess, but Mother has at least a thousand years in her, and I’m not even at the fourth stage yet. So please, explain.”

Aston regarded me for a moment before he replied. “As you wish. I will be blunt. You are not just an heir to the throne, Your Highness, you’re the heir. You’re a high-level genius, a cultivator with remarkable strength for your age and enormous potential. You’re the only real option. Your siblings are too young and haven’t proven their strength, and their potential doesn’t equal yours.”

“Damn it, way to put pressure on someone, Aston.” I sighed. There was enough pressure just from Mother’s deadline. That explains something, at least. I guess I underestimated this situation. “There’s really no one else? What about other scions of the family?”

“Unfortunately, Her Majesty has no other close kin. I believe the closest are second cousins too old to be realistic options.”

“Oh, right.” I remembered what I’d read. “Grandmother had no other children, right?”

He waved his hand. “In fact, she did, but they died long before the war, along with her husband.”

“So she refused to remarry or have other kids.” I nodded.

I’d read about how our dynasty came to power, two hundred years ago. Not long by the standards of this world. The previous one had declined, and when the old Emperor died without a suitable heir, civil war ensued. Before the war, the Leri clan had been a prominent noble family. My grandmother, their head, was a rare late-bloomer in terms of cultivation. She reached the highest stages late, the eighth at the start of the unrest. She was already old, and qi couldn’t reverse or even halt aging, just slow it down.

“But why didn’t she have other children earlier? Or why change her mind after all?”

“I believe she intended her nephew to succeed her, but he died in the last year of the war. Then his daughter was murdered by poison several decades later.”

I grimaced. So, eventually, she had a daughter after all. Mother must have been under so much pressure. “And that’s why there aren’t many possible heirs now.”

I paused, frowning. “Didn’t the old Emperor have children?”

“He did.” Aston’s face tightened. “Two of them died in childhood. Two of them died to assassins. The intended heir suffered humiliation after losing to a noble scion of a lower stage. He was disgraced, sent into exile and ultimately killed at the start of the war. His successor only reached the sixth stage before her Father’s death. She married into the Wei clan, which dominated at the start of the war, to prop up their pretense to the throne, and was executed afterwards. His other progeny were weak, and joined other clans or were executed.”

I whistled, feeling a cold shiver tracing down my back. No wonder rulers here have several partners, if their children die like flies. “Sounds like Imperial children live dangerously. That’s why you’re here.”

“Indeed, Your Highness. Killing you would destabilize the Empire.”

And that’s why I’m a target, I concluded. For hostile foreign powers, or just nobles who want to weaken the Crown.

I shook my head. “There’s got to be a better way of doing this. I mean, I’m not saying I’m unfit, but there’s too many risks in that system. Even if I was a fan of monarchy, that would be concerning.”

Aston frowned a little, obviously put off by my words but trying not to show it. “The system has worked for millennia. In this world, strength and familial bonds are crucial.”

“Yeah, I don’t really see that being good for a culture.”

“Maybe you would,” he snapped, “if you stopped hiding in your tower and went out into the world.”

I had an angry retort on my lips when Aston paled a bit and dropped to a knee, bowing his head. “Forgive me. That disrespect was deplorable. I have no excuse.”

“No, no!” I gesticulated quickly. “I value honesty. I want you to criticize me. Please, get up.”

I’d sort of gotten used to people bowing and even kneeling, but those were strangers. Seeing that from Aston was extremely awkward.

Luckily, he stood up again quickly, nodding his head. He still looked shamefaced, not an expression that fit the collected guard captain at all.

At that moment, a bit of dust was kicked up by the arrival of another powerful presence. I recognized Ling Ta before I turned to meet him.

“I notice you stopped training, Your Highness. Would you like some advice?”

I smiled at his timely interruption. That had to be intentional. “Actually, I was finished doing techniques. But I did have a question.”

“Of course.”

“What exactly is meant by the ‘peak’ of a particular stage? And do you need to reach it to advance to the next one?”

“It means the highest strength possible for that cultivator within that stage. Improving his cultivation any further without ascending to the next stage is impossible. Except for reaching forward into the next stage with ‘taking a half-step’ onto it. You do not need to reach it to break through, although most do. And lingering too long is often taken as a sign that someone will advance no further.”

“So, I could break through now.”

Teacher frowned. “Possibly, but I have to advice you that a failed attempt will have grievous consequences.”

I shrugged at that, unimpressed. The last few days, cultivation had felt so easy that progress just happened by itself. I’d done in days what took others months. I knew it was the aftereffects of my soul journey and discovery of my special ability. Most transmigrators got a short boost from the experiences and “enlightenment” they brought from their world.

Maybe it was arrogance, but I felt ready and itching to tackle the breakthrough. Besides, if some of it was the need to submerge myself into deep meditation, to suppress my feelings and clear my head by diving into the qi, no one needed to know. So I sat down in the lotus position and closed my eyes.

It was hard to get settled at first. The conversation had brought thoughts of my own family, my real family back on Earth. I’d tried to push it down, but now that I was free of distractions, the tension returned. I wonder how they’re doing. Have Mom and Dad held a funeral? I don’t care if I’m buried in the church graveyard anymore. Are they still sorting through my things? Is Felix studying for his exams?

Taking a deep breath, I tried to quiet those thoughts. They wouldn’t do me any good. Instead, I concentrated on my breath. In, out. In, out.

Slowly, I expanded my awareness to cover the qi in my surroundings. Distantly, I noted that the others had given me space, but I didn’t let that interrupt my focus. The noon sun shone down brightly, giving me lots of life-giving qi, and the scattered pillars cast shadows to balance it.

I dove down, deeper, until I could see the qi again the way I had before. Until I could see it layered over everything, a formless mass of potential, different states and different ideas combined into a whole.

Then I dove down even deeper. I reached until I could see something that might have been a single unit of qi, or maybe just my imagination. Trying to peer any deeper strained my senses, like trying to look at something too far away to make out the details. And from there, I widened my perception, trying not to lose depth.

Slowly, I started gathering qi into myself. It went quickly, willingly almost, its absorption as natural as breathing without it.

I circulated my qi, compacting it to make room for more. I infused some into my meridians, some into the structure of my core. At first, I alternated between light and dark, pushing until my core couldn’t take any more.

Then, I adjusted. I pulled in both light qi and darkness qi, not quite simultaneously, but close enough that I could send them together. I swirled them around and pressed them into my core, into my body.

Finally, I stopped my circulation, letting all the qi in my meridians flow into my dantian. It strained, and I compacted the qi, squeezing and pressing with all of my willpower. And all the while, I kept breathing, kept taking in new qi.

I condensed the qi until it made my core crack, then I let it go, exploding through my body again. The violent flow sent stabs of pain through me, but I was too far immersed to care. I just kept cultivating.

Then I did it again.

And again and again, until my core was barely held together as one mass, making the process even harder. I couldn’t stop now if I wanted to. So I didn’t. Instead, I pushed all my qi together, drawing in more in great breaths, hammering down on my core.

Until it expanded, the invisible barrier surrounding it buckling, and it formed anew. I kept cultivating, sending the surge of qi through my meridians, strengthening them, opening new ones and washing out the impurities blocking them, and filling up my core again. And still, I breathed in qi. I cultivated until my expanded core settled.

15: The worst thing about dying

When I emerged from my cultivation, the first thing I noticed was the sunlight. It shone just as strong as before, even though I’d dimly noted its passing. The sun stood at the exact same spot it had occupied before.

Sighing, I shook my arms out and got to my feet. The pain had almost faded, but I still felt strange. My senses were heightened even further, until I could almost smell the scent of the mountains beyond the walls. My hearing could pick up the buzzing of an insect one courtyard over, but when I stopped focusing on it, the sound faded into the background of my awareness. At least there’s no sensory overload. How does this work? But the greatest change came to my sense of qi. It felt far clearer, my range had more than doubled and my sense of the guards’ presence was far more detailed.

I guess I can cross option two out. No failure here.

This time, no once came to bother me, so I took a moment to adjust to the changes before I turned around. Slowly, because my thoughts were still hushed from the meditation.

The courtyard looked the same but subtly different, with some of the guards replaced and a few mats rearranged. Aston stood guard further in, his hands clasped behind his back, his posture stiff enough for a parade.

I walked over, rolling my shoulders and testing the new lightness of my body. Again, I glanced at the sky. “How long has it been?”

“Only a day. Your Highness was quick.”

I breathed a sigh of relief, but the feeling was quickly shaken. Looking around, Ling Ta was nowhere to be seen, and neither was anyone but the guards. But Aston still stood the same way, gaze fixed straight ahead.

“I’m sorry if I was insensitive earlier,” I began.

“Your Highness, there’s no need to apologize.”

I shook my head. Well, at least he looked me in the eyes now. “Yes, there is. There probably will be a lot in the future, knowing myself.”

“Beg your pardon?”

I sighed, glancing away. After a while, I forced myself to meet his gaze again. Come on, you know your rules. Self-reflecting and articulation with people close to you. “I’m not a particularly social or empathetic person, Aston. But I like logical thinking, to analyze and debate things. Sometimes, when I’m stressed, I forget that not everyone is okay with treating some things that way.”

“I see.”

I smiled wistfully. I needed a good relationship with Aston, but maybe the meditation was still influencing me. “Once, I got halfway into a lecture about why the afterlife is a fabrication to strengthen in-group behavior and ties and rule-adherence before I noticed my little brother was struggling to hold back tears. Apparently, his best friend’s dog had just died.”

“I … see.”

I’d stopped seeing my surroundings in favor gazing into my life, my real life. Now I was the one blinking back tears.

“Do you know what the worst thing about dying is?”

“I couldn’t begin to guess.” He took half a step closer, then seemed to think better of it, stilling to listen to me.

“It’s not losing access to the Internet, although honestly that’s a serious contender. It’s not never knowing how my favorite series will end, let alone the lives of people I know. It’s not even never seeing my family again.”

“It’s not?”

“I think I could learn to deal with it if I knew they were safe and happy. The problem is that for them, I’m dead.”

Aston did step closer now, laying a hand on my shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Inaris. I’m sure your family here will come to fill the hole in your heart if you give them time.”

I turned away and rolled my eyes, but I didn’t throw off his hand. “You don’t get it, do you?”

He didn’t reply, and the silence lingered for a second.

I finally turned my head back again, meeting his gaze. “The thing is that I feel guilty for harming them, making them feel grief. Not to be egotistical, but I’m sure they love me. And it’s not something I can fix.”

Taking a deep breath, I shook my head and finally stepped away from him. Well, talking about it helped. Hopefully. “Let’s just go. I need a hot bath and a warm bed.”

So we started walking. It was only then that I noticed he’d erected a shell of qi around us, probably to keep sound in. I felt a little better as I walked through its dispersing remains, but I didn’t know how to communicate my gratitude.

The other guards fell in around me. Now that I could focus again, I noticed the usual noise of the fortress around us, people walking on the gravel pathways in the surrounding courtyards. None were close, luckily enough. Maybe they’d marked off the courtyard for my breakthrough.

Just as I was about to leave, a speck of light dropped from the sky. After a moment, I realized it was a qi construct in the form of a small bird, one that started hovering in front of me. Hesitantly, I reached out my hand. As soon as it reached my fingers, it transformed into a card made of light, black letters standing out sharply. It took me a moment to recognize Mother’s handwriting from the records.

Congrats, youngling.

There’s going to be another announcement. This time, you’ll attend.

I groaned at the bad attempt at humour. Then I groaned at the order.

“Bad news?” Aston asked.

I flicked my hand to send the construct of light qi over to him and watched him read it. Then I shrugged. “I suppose my closed season is over. At least a bit.”

He didn’t reply to that, which was probably the most diplomatic response, considering. I set off, my mood shifted yet again. At least now I have something more tangible to worry about. Progress, yay?

We started ascending the path to the palace again. The note didn’t specify the time, but I’d venture a guess that it was going to be tonight. Someone would know.

Aston looked far too pleased about this, even if he tried not to let it show.

Whatever. I’m still going to have my bath first. Maybe a nap and a nice meal. Then I can worry about this.

---

I’d barely sat down when the noise died and the session of court began.

Luckily, not the full court. The great hall was, well, great, but I could clearly make out that only half of the positions were filled. That probably made sense, me reaching the fourth stage wasn’t as big news as being a high-level genius, since it simply happened earlier than expected.

The people in the hall were almost all richly dressed and occupied a number of balconies as well as the floor. I knew most were government officials, nobles, sect heads or the like. There were spaces reserved for anyone who wanted to watch, but most of the commoners there I put as rich merchants based on their attire. A few wore plainer clothes. Others might think those were curious people from the city wandering up to take a look, but I’d bet on professional reporters.

A herald stepped forward on the dais and a gong was struck to signal the start of a proclamation. Mother sat on her throne, a golden monstrosity encrusted with gems, impassively staring ahead. I guess she doesn’t read out her own decrees.

I didn’t have a good view from where I sat on the dais, to the right of the throne. Mother had the only chair in the room, but I sat on a wide cushion, and it was actually elevated, hovering above the floor, so it didn’t matter much. Aston stood immobile behind me, and my skin tingled from all the qi barriers and unidentifiable things surrounding us.

While the herald unrolled his elaborate scroll, I turned my attention back to the courtiers. Most veiled their aura, bringing everyone allegedly to the fourth realm. Must be protocol. I could still sense that they were higher level, probably some seventh-stagers among them. Maybe even a few in the eighth stage, if they’re not showing it I probably wouldn’t know.

The proclamation concerned a new law Mother decreed. I couldn’t follow the details, but it dealt with land ownership, taxes and such. Sounded pretty mundane. By the expressions a few of the nobles sported, they didn’t think it was harmless. To them, at least. But for most, I was pretty sure they only showed polite interest.

I’d asked a few questions beforehand. Apparently, Mother didn’t do court much. She almost never dispensed justice, there were courts of law for that. Anyone who merited an audience would get one more privately in an audience chamber. Holding court was mostly for holidays and ceremonies, occasional decrees and announcements. I guess she just doesn’t like it. Well, I sympathize.

Finally, the herald stopped reading and rolled his scroll up again. There was some scattered applause from the throng, but it didn’t last long.

Then, another herald stepped forward, and started reading from another scroll. This time, it was a list of names and achievements. Citations for exemplary service. One by one, soldiers in shiny, decorated armor stepped forward and knelt to the throne. Then they received colored ribbons that must constitute medals from a gray-beard I vaguely recognized as the highest-ranked general and de facto Minister of War.

At first, I watched attentively, but after a while they blurred together. I stifled a sigh.

‘Don’t let them see your boredom, Nari.’

I started, just managing not to look around wildly. The voice had sounded from so close to me it was actually inside my skull. What the hell? Is this telepathy?

‘Concentrate on responding and use your qi.’

I took a deep breath. Now I’d definitely recognized Mother’s voice, although she sounded weirder than normal. Carefully, I grasped for a trickle of qi and focused on sending a thought in her direction. ‘Hello world …?’

‘Oh, you’re such a nerd!’ A mental chuckle accompanied the words.

‘This is telepathy? You’re in my mind?’ And all the while, I carefully tried to factor increasingly higher numbers in my thoughts, pushing down my unease.

‘Don’t worry, I can’t read your mind, only what you send back intentionally. Everyone gets some limited telepathy on reaching the seventh stage. Well, for spirits it’s innate, and spirit beasts usually develop it at the same time they gain sentience.’

I breathed an internal sigh of relief and focused again. Of course I couldn’t be sure she was telling the truth, but what else could I do, keep trying not to think important thoughts forever? I really need to search the library for this. Maybe ask a few people.

‘Why are you telling me this now?’

‘You’re not the only one getting bored.’

I managed not to smile. Then I glanced around, but no one seemed to have noticed our exchange. At least they didn’t look at me more than before. Suppressing a sigh, I plucked at my sleeve before making myself stop. I wore a white dress bedecked with pearls and a few gemstones, a little ostentatious but it could be worse. A few servants had styled my hair and applied a bit of make-up, so I actually looked quite good. There’s no reason to feel self-conscious. Besides, half of these people look like they’re trying to literally outshine each other. I’m classy.

For a while, we continued watching the ceremony together, idly commenting on the visitors. Slowly, that tapered off into a comfortable silence.

‘Actually, I have a question,’ I finally sent, the sight of the nobles reminding me of something. I hesitated a bit, then plunged in. ‘Who is my father?’

A moment’s silence, then, ‘You don’t need a father.’

I glanced at Mother. She’d turned back to face strictly forward, but I could see the set of her jaw. Her tone had been final, brusque. Obviously, there’d be no further discussion.

Had I offended her? She’s right, I suppose, I don’t need a father, she’s more than capable of raising kids alone, with servants and everything. But I’d like to know.

I calmed myself. ‘Sorry, just asking.’

She didn’t reply, and we spent a few more minutes watching the award ceremony in silence that had become tense. Finally, it finished, the general stepping back. An expectant hush fell over the room once again.

The silence deepened even more when Mothers stood from her throne and took a step forward in one graceful movement. I couldn’t see her face clearly because of the bad angle, but I’d guess she smiled, just a bit.

“The last item on today’s agenda is an Imperial announcement,” the herald declared. Then he bowed and backed away.

Mother let the silence linger for another second before she started talking. “My loyal subjects and dear guests, I am pleased to inform you of another piece of fortune that has come to our family and thus the Empire of the Sky. Again, it concerns my daughter Inaris.”

‘This is where you stand up.’

I did so as lightly as I could, which wasn’t easy since I’d been sitting cross-legged on an elevated surface, and bowed my head to her.

“My firstborn, the Imperial Princess, heir apparent to the throne, blessed of the Spirits, Lady of Earth and Sky, Princess of Ilamabidu, has again shown her strength and worthiness. As is only natural for a precious high-level genius like her, with the blood of the Imperial dynasty flowing through her veins. She broke through to the fourth stage of cultivation, the blue stage, just a scarce few months after her eighteenth birthday. There is surely no need to expound on how remarkable an achievement that is, so I shall not.”

With that, she sat down again. Then, apparently, the gathered elite realized the announcement was over, and started cheering. They put on a good show, clapping and laughing, and a few even took out glasses of what had to be alcohol seemingly from the air to make toasts.

The herald stepped forward again, and another gong sound echoed through the hall. “The session is hereby closed. You are welcome to stay and celebrate.”

Well, at least I’d managed to sit down on time. Now, I looked out over the nobles, a little baffled. They didn’t seem surprised, instead mingling and starting to converse. A lot of them still looked at me, and by the intensity of their body language, this was clearly a weighty revelation. Or good gossip.

I noticed a few of them hesitantly stepping closer. When others started to do the same, they quickened their pace. My heart started sinking. Oh, crap. They’re not coming to congratulate me, are they? Can I make an exit?

Suddenly, everyone stopped. Mother’s aura had strengthened a bit, and she looked over the gathering with increased presence. “Private congratulations are not needed,” she declared. “You may express your admiration here, now.”

I breathed a covert sigh of relief. The nobles stopped talking and turned to face us again. Then, they bowed, like a very quick human wave.

Or most of them did. A few people remained standing. Some of them just looked at me calmly, a few turned away or even sneered.

A cold shiver went down my spine, and I tried not to let my reaction show. From what I could discern, Mother’s expression remained serene, but the hand on her armrest whitened.

Probably just a few malcontents. Or arrogance, maybe. Inaris was a kid, so they haven’t had much of an heir apparent in a while. Maybe some just don’t want to bow to someone younger and weaker than them. I guess it’s a problem either way.

I exhaled and asked Aston with my eyes if it was okay to go now. He nodded slightly. So I unfolded myself from my seat.

Well, on the plus side, Mother can’t be much of a tyrant if they’re willing to disrespect her openly. On the so-so side, her power isn’t as absolute as it might seem if they get away with it. And on the minus side … I’d better look at defenses again.

Just as I was about to turn away, I paused. Something had been scratching at the corners of my mind for a bit. Frowning, I looked out over the gathered people again. Then, I finally noticed what I’d overlooked.

Some of them weren’t quite human. They had small animal ears or horns hidden in their hair, a scaly pattern in their hands, or actual crystal eyes. A dozen in total, maybe two. Most of them stood next to humans, but a few probably came alone.

I could kick myself. Anywhere else, I would’ve actually facepalmed. As it was, I only strode from the room.

As soon as the doors closed behind us, I whirled on Aston. “Those people! With the horns and stuff! Are those actual non-humans?”

Aston barely raised an eyebrow. “Indeed. It appears they are all quite strong spirit beasts in their human form.”

I grinned, then started walking, already shoving the announcement to the back of my mind. This was huge!

“Where are we going?”

“Don’t know, I actually need to talk to Mother.” I shrugged and decided a quick detour to the library would suffice.

“Is there something I should be aware of, Princess?”

“Actual non-human intelligences! If the books are right. Why didn’t I realize this before! Aston, this calls for study!”

16: Am I unnerving people?

I’d been so focused on taking notes that I jumped when someone tapped me on the shoulder. A quick check with my senses for qi showed it was nothing to be alarmed about, so I just brushed them off. “Don’t interrupt me. Later, we’re almost finished.”

“Shouldn’t you introduce this intrepid young man, Princess?” the orange-furred great ape said.

I blinked and set down my pen. Sighing, I glanced at Al, who’d retreated a few steps. Not that I could really blame him, the great spirit beast was three meters tall and in the equivalent of the sixth stage.

“Alaster, this is Ho-ri-krór, the Thousand Lights Ape. Elder, may I introduce Prince Leri Alaster, my little brother, the rascal.”

The two of them bowed to each other, deeply and with solemn faces. Then they exchanged polite greetings that I didn’t pay attention to because I could at least finish my sentence.

“I hate having incomplete data,” I complained to no one in particular. “And we were almost done, too.”

“I apologize for the disturbance, Elder Sister. Uh … what were you doing?”

“A semi-structured interview,” I explained, proudly holding up the two pages of paper I’d used as a reference. “I developed it myself. So far, it’s worked pretty well. Although I might need to make some adjustments, but for now I must keep to the same method, obviously.”

Al glanced around, skepticism written on his face. “So, you’ve been ‘interviewing’ all these spirit beasts?”

I looked around as well, smiling. We stood in a large courtyard that Mother had graciously provided for my experiments. Some spirit beasts lay around sunning themselves, like a great white cat with blue wings who’d been a little difficult, or a harpy-like woman with ice on her limbs that turned out surprisingly cheerful. Some had transformed into their human forms and wandered off into the palace. Some had just wandered off anyway. I wasn’t worried, though the guards might get a workout.

“Well, I haven’t done this with everyone yet,” I admitted. “But I have conducted other studies. Well, tests, at least. Not like I can publish a research paper and get peer-reviewed. Or get any meaningful feedback and input, really. But at least there’s some literature on the topic.”

Al looked at the stack of books on the table. “I see.”

“The rest are in my spatial ring.” I glanced down at the qi-infused gray ring on my right hand. The runes would have been too small to make out for a normal person. I’d finally taken this ‘treasure’ from my vault when I realized I needed to prepare for my research.

“There are a number of things they don’t cover, though,” I continued. “They make assumptions, miss things that wouldn’t occur to someone from here. And Cognitive Science isn’t a thing here, sadly. So I just do what I can with simple methods that work without computers.”

Al bent down to pick up a sign. “Why are there colors written on here? And why are they colored wrong?”

“Oh, the Stroop test.” I sighed. “That one gave me a lot of grief. Try to read it out loud, it’s harder than you’d think. Even if there’s ‘red’ written there, if the letters are in blue your impulse will be to say ‘blue’. So your executive functions are needed and they’ll probably activate your anterior cingulate cortex, which I can’t measure here …” I trailed off and cleared my throat. “Anyway. It’s a test.”

“If this Ho-ri-krór may ask, Princess Inaris, why did it give you grief? I thought the test was quite interesting and went well.”

I scratched at my cheek. “Well, differences in color perception. Normal animals, at least those who aren’t primates, are actually color-blind. Basically, they can’t see red. That apparently gets adjusted for most spirit beasts, but not all, and when it happens is pretty variable. So it’s been a pain to figure out and my sample might just be too biased anyway.”

Al carefully put the sign down and wiped his hands. “I think I understood most of that. And this is why Mother put out a call for volunteers and spends so many resources? Because you want to conduct strange tests with them?”

I frowned. “Hey, it’s for science. Understanding how cognition develops and works, and differences between humans and other sapients, could have so many benefits. Least of all facilitating cross-species understanding.”

Al snorted. “If you say so. I still figured you would have asked for a more useful reward.”

Oh, damn. Is Mother just helping me as a reward for reaching the fourth stage so quickly?

Al had explained how we got stuff. Overall, we received pretty much the same amount of resources as a scion from a powerful noble family. Anything mundane would just be procured by servants. For more expensive and valuable things, like ‘medicinal pills’ to help cultivation, there was a sort of budget. Anything really worth it had to be approved by Mother. Basically, it encouraged us to work hard to earn rewards. Actually a good system. I think I’d do the same in her place. You’d want your kids to provided for and want for nothing, and keep up with others, but at the same time they can’t just have everything handed to them.

I looked down at my spatial ring again. It was quite high-quality and had been such a reward. I could have gotten some awesome weapon for my recent achievements. Oh, well. This is worth it.

“This is worth more to me than any trinket,” I declared.

Al nodded. “Well, I can see how the chance to learn from elder spirit beasts is nothing to scoff at.”

I scratched my cheek again, looking back at my notes.

“Wait. You haven’t asked them about cultivation at all, have you?”

“I’ve been preoccupied,” I protested weakly. Why didn’t I even think of that? It sounds so self-evident now that he’s mentioned it.

“We do not share our secrets so easily, young ones,” the great ape rumbled. “The agreement was to help scholarly pursuits.”

Al bowed in apology, then he turned back to me. “Anyway, I suggest you take a break.”

I sighed. Honestly, I had been neglecting other concerns too much. “Alright,” I said. “It was a pleasure to work with you, Elder. Excuse us.”

Then I stuffed the rest of my things into the spatial ring — it was really handy … pun totally intended — and went with Al.

As soon as we left the courtyard, guards trailing behind, my little brother slapped me on the shoulder. “Seriously, Nari, don’t do things like that. Most of the spirit beasts will be gone soon anyway.”

I swatted his hand aside. I’d had a good variety of beasts, both those who gained intelligence as they grew in power and gained enlightenment and a few from races that were naturally intelligent. But none of them was that rare. I’d find new participants.

“Well, I suppose I’ve done enough for a first pass,” I allowed.

“People are getting worried, Nari. Ling Ta tried to talk to you a few times, but your guard blocked him. Did you even know that?”

Oh, that’s not good. “I suppose he’s concerned because I’ve been neglecting my cultivation practice?”

Al snorted. “More than neglecting. Have you even starting mastering your domain yet?”

I stopped and held out my hand. With an effort of will, a dark shadow sprinkled with a few stars shot out of it. It rushed forward and spread out until it enveloped a few square meters. It reached out to Al, a dark wave tousling his hair as it parted around him. Then I pulled it back in an instant later.

“Sure,” I said. “It’s not your typical domain. I don’t have the reach or strength of someone with a focused externalized domain, but mine will be really difficult to get rid of. And I can mix darkness and light pretty well. I appreciate the versatility.”

“Like this, everyone will see it coming a mile away, and it takes you too long to establish it.” Al shrugged. “But I guess it is a nice one.”

We started walking again. Instead of talking, I was busy mentally reviewing what I’d learned and what I’d need to do now. It was really about time to put some more practice in regarding cultivation and sparring, and I’d neglected my self-made study plan, too. I still needed to learn more about this world. Honestly, I’ve gotten a little side-tracked. I need to make sure that doesn’t happen again. I can't afford to lose momentum with my cultivation. I guess I need to be more aware of the planning fallacy, too.

Soon, we reached the main building complex. The paths sported more people, and the hallways after the entrance even more so. All of them made way and bowed to us. But the looks sent my way had changed. I wasn’t sure exactly what they expressed. But it probably has something to do with the powerful spirit beasts running around in the castle, duh. They must be wondering what I’m up to.

“Word of what you’ve been doing has leaked, Elder Sister,” Al commented quietly. “People have been … bewildered.”

“Oh, am I unnerving people? Sorry.” I hunched my shoulders a little.

He gave me an unimpressed look. “I’m taking you to Mother.”

“What?” I held up a hand at his look. “Not that I object, but why did she send you instead of someone else? Or just a message?”

“I went on my own. And I know she wants to talk to you.”

Well, maybe he was a good choice to pull me away from my work. A bit underhanded, trying to guilt-trip me for not seeing my brother. Not like I have room to complain, though.

The rest of the way, we walked in silence. I could tell Al was nervous. He walked quickly but without the usual bounce in his step, and his fingers toyed with his sleeves. Occasionally, he would glance at the people we passed and return their greetings with a nod, but not all of them.

I wasn’t any better. So far, Mother hadn’t taken me to task yet, but I had a feeling I was in for a reprimand. Maybe she’d take away her help with the spirit beasts or order me to focus on my cultivation. Maybe she’d even command me to start participating in politics, attending meetings or visiting the government departments. While I knew that would be reasonable, I didn’t want to.

After a few minutes, Alaster stopped in front of a door. He’d led me to the central part of the palace, where tapestries and statues adorned the hallways and even the doors bore gold leaf decorations. Aston and two other guards took up station beside it.

Before we could knock, Mother’s voice called from behind the door, “Inaris, come in. Alaster, I’ll overlook you skipping out on your lessons this time, but get back to them now.”

Alaster took a step back, grimacing. “Fine. Good luck, Nari.” With that, he turned and hurried away.

I opened the door without knocking and entered. The room beyond appeared to be a meeting room, dominated by a big table with several chairs. A few shelves and desks lined the walls, but no bodyguards this time. At the head of the table sat Mother, and beside her another woman in dark gray robes with a slightly lined face.

When I entered, I bowed deeply to Mother. She didn’t react, but the other woman greeted me by kowtowing on the plush carpet. The whole time, her serene expression didn’t change. I guessed she was in the fifth or sixth stage, but couldn’t tell for sure due to her skill in veiling her aura.

“Take a seat, Inaris,” Mother said. “It’s good to see you, now that you’ve shown your face again.”

I pulled out a chair. “Hello, Mother. I’m sorry if I was too reclusive.”

“This is the head of my personal intelligence service, Leri Kariva.” Mother gestured to the woman with one hand. “You should make sure to maintain a good relationship.”

I raised an eyebrow. I knew the Empire had an official intelligence service mostly attached to the foreign office. The Empress’ personal agents must be more focused on the palace and the nobles.

“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance again, Luminous Princess,” the spymaster — or spymistress? That sounds stupid — greeted me in a quiet voice.

“Likewise, I’m pleased to meet you, Cousin Kariva,” I replied. Since I didn’t know what world she would be from, it would be safer to stick to this world’s etiquette. “I’m sure we will work together well.” I scrutinized her quickly. On Earth, I’d put her in her forties, but here, she had to be at least two hundred. I’ll need to pay close attention to her. She might be the key to investigating the old note. Or a threat.

“Thank you, my lady. I will endeavor to be of use.”

We eyed each other for a while longer before Mother broke the tension by clearing her throat.

“I hope you at least gained something.”

“A lot. Spirit beasts are fascinating. Their cognition is remarkably similar to humans’, but there are differences, and their development really makes me wonder. There’s a lot more to be discovered, and I can’t wait to study them further …”

Mother raised a hand to stop me. “Inaris. We have to talk about your mad scientist tendencies.”

I chuckled. “Okay. Just don’t expect me to make you superweapons. If I’m a mad scientist, then I’m still a scientist, not a mad engineer. Real science doesn’t need to build things.”

Mother grinned. “Such a shame. There went my hidden agenda.”

We shared a laugh, but quickly sobered up. Kariva’s face was a mask, but I wondered if she was surprised to hear our banter. I’d be surprised if Mother let loose often.

“Anyway, Inaris,” Mother continued, fixing me with a hard stare. “I’m serious about this. You’re a princess, not a researcher.”

I nod in resignation. “I know. Let me guess, you think I’ve been neglecting my cultivation.”

“No. I think you’ve been hiding,” Mother corrected, tapping her hand on the table. “There’s only so much you can learn from books. You need to see the world and experience the culture, not shut yourself away in the library.”

I grimaced. “You have a point. I know books aren’t everything. But I don’t feel ready to really step into the old Inaris’ shoes, in the eyes of the world. I’m not even sure if I’m really her or not.”

“Well, you’d better change that quickly. I’m tired of waiting for you to grow a sense of adventure.”

Uh oh. That doesn’t sound good. “I’ll start going out into the city and attending a few gatherings.”

Mother snorted and motioned to her agent, who tossed a folder onto the table.

I leaned forward. A few sheafs of paper held together with a rough binding. The title was written in blocky script. “The Carmine Cloud Sect? What is this, a parody?”

“I’ve decided that a more cold-water approach is needed.”

My heart sank. “You’re sending me to a sect? How does that even work? I mean, I’m the Imperial Princess! What if I embarrass myself, and you?”

Mother smirked. “I suggest you don’t attempt to find out. And I’m perfectly aware of your status. You’ll be protected, and the sect will make special allowances. This is a perfect opportunity to introduce you to the world and culture in a somewhat controlled environment, while also teaching you about cultivation.”

I leaned back in my chair, running a hand through my hair. “Why can’t I just go on a tour of the Empire instead?”

“Enough whining. It’s decided.” Mother shrugged. “If you want, you can go on a tour later, but you need a challenge.”

“Alright, you heartless tyrant,” I muttered under my breath, aware that she could hear me.

“You’re pushing it, Nari.” Mother’s tone hardened. “Now, pay attention. Kariva and I have carefully considered which sect to put you in.”

Kariva cleared her throat and started her report. I opened the folder and browsed the information contained within while I listened. This had really come out of left field, but I forced myself to pay attention to her description of the sect and what they would do.

I hoped this wouldn’t take long. Still, a part of my was excited to see my first sect.

17: Kowtows and commoners

It was time to go, but first I had to pry away the little girl clinging to me. I tried to be gentle, conscious of the stares on us. The outside of one of the palace’s side entrances didn’t burst with people, but guards crowded it, as well as a few people who had come to see me off. Meaning my siblings.

“Be safe out there, Big Sister,” the eight-year-old said, looking up at me with wide eyes that would melt anyone’s heart.

“Of course I will, don’t worry.” I patted her head again. “I’ll be back soon, Xiaodan.” I hope.

She gave me a nod, but she didn’t look convinced. I suppressed a sigh at the situation. At this rate, the poor girl’s going to have abandonment issues.

With that, I turned to Alaster. Before he could try to evade, I caught him in a hug. “Take care of yourself, Al.”

“You too, sister.” When we let go, there was no hint of mischief in his expression for once.

Finally, I squared my shoulders and set off, not looking back at the palace. A small procession formed around me. There hadn’t been a big announcement, and we were using side paths, but the guards all looked immaculate, walking in formation with their uniforms in order.

From the palace, we headed for an extension that lay at an angle to it roughly in the direction of the city. An enclosed space with a dock that extended into the river and rows of cranes and warehouses filled one side. Set apart a little, there was a large open yard, lined with more warehouses, stables and even stone-paved courtyards inscribed with runic formations. The guards led me to this side.

I looked around at the people bustling about. This had to be the palace’s main transport hub, with goods and people coming in from all over the Empire. I stared at the airships, some grounded and others bobbing on anchors, all of them in creative shapes and shining with qi. Then a roar directed my gaze to the closest stable, where huge spirit beasts munched on some sort of hay.

“Aston, why don’t people just use spatial items?” I asked quietly.

“Those are expensive, Your Highness, at least those with any capacity. Besides, one would still need to transport them. Spirit beasts can carry a lot of weight and fly themselves.”

That made sense. Plus, there was probably an industry of transporting people, too, and living things didn’t do well with spatial magic, from what I’d heard.

Our conversation ended when we reached my transport. It was an airship, built out of wood that blazed with qi, and decorated with many carvings, gold inlay, and colorful fabrics. I’d seen pictures of traditional models, back when the Empire of the Sky was still mostly famous for its tamed flying beasts and air travel. This looked retro, I supposed.

I’d already taken a few steps when I paused and looked back. Of the guards going into the airship and waiting on me, only half sported familiar faces, all of them in the fifth realm. Strangers that were at least as strong accompanied them. Aston hadn’t moved.

“I apologize, Princess Inaris,” he said when I turned back, and bowed. “I will not be accompanying you, as I have been sent on another assignment.”

For a moment, I just stared at him. “But why not?”

“It is not my place to question Her Majesty’s orders, but I assure you she has good reasons. Rest assured, my place will be taken by a cultivator better suited to the task.”

I frowned. The way he said that gave me a suspicion. “That other cultivator is more powerful than you, then? So, is this an issue of rank?” I guess it would be awkward if he remained in command while a higher-ranking soldier joined the team, but they couldn’t very well downgrade him.

Aston smiled a little. “As always, you mind proves sharp, Your Highness. I wish you good luck.” With that, he got on one knee, giving me a formal salute. Then he stood and left.

Sighing, I entered the airship, looking for a good place amid the luxury. I couldn’t muster much excitement for the journey. The lack of all familiar people only heightened my anxiousness.

I spent most of the trip on the top deck, looking out through a large window at the landscape, and thinking. They’d barely given me enough time to pack, and I felt unbalanced by the sudden change.

I hadn’t even gotten laid in the time I’d spent at the palace. I snorted at myself. That was one thing I had intended to do.

But I had more important concerns. Like the fact I’d have to contend against disciples who’d spent all their life learning to fight. Even a single loss to someone who wasn’t stronger than me could damage my reputation, and that of the Imperial family. Mother had really set me a challenge.

The airship made good time, and soon we were passing from the plains bisected by the river into hills that quickly grew steeper. I would’ve expected the sect to have its seat in the mountains of the Imperial homelands — it was an old one, like most air and sky focused ones — but apparently, they’d moved at some point, a few hundred kilometers to the edge of the central plains.

Finally, the airship lost altitude. I leaned forward and squinted through the window. We headed down next to a big stone enclosure, near a path that led to a settlement further down. Beyond the wall, I could see the tops of forested mountains, though they weren’t big enough to sport glaciers or rocky peaks. But there were a few colorful tents set up near the entrance in a grid, with uniformed people bustling around. I could make out the Imperial phoenix and the Leri dynasty’s colors, silver and blue.

When I came down to the open ground floor of the airship, I paused. A group of people in uniforms (that still looked like cultivator’s robes) waited for me. They were all powerful. A few other guards converged on my back and sides.

I stepped forward carefully, evaluating the soldiers. One of them stood in front of the rest, a woman that looked younger than most of them, with black hair and a sharp face. Her aura was banked, but not hidden, and I’d guess she had reached the beginning of the seventh stage.

When I came to a halt in front of them, she dropped to her knees, then the floor, performing a formal kowtow. The rest copied her.

“Please rise,” I hurried to say.

They stood gracefully. “Your Highness, Imperial Princess,” the woman greeted me. “This San Hashar has been entrusted with ensuring your protection among the Carmine Cloud Sect. With these soldiers, no assassin or other threat will come near you.”

“That’s good to hear, San Hashar,” I replied. Should I address her with a military rank? But which one? “Let’s discuss things while we walk.”

It felt weird being guarded by people other than Aston and his team, although a few of my old guards remained. I noticed Kei Weriga and Lirta Ven, a man and woman in the late fifth stage. At least I’d learned all of my regular guards’ names. I should probably do the same with the new ones.

San Hashar explained their arrangements while we walked up to the sect’s compound. Apparently, they’d supplement the sect’s normal security measures with guards patrolling on the outside as well as some watching me on the inside. Those would probably not follow me around, but they were high level enough that they’d be able to detect any threat and arrive in a matter of moments to deal with it. If I understood her correctly, she also implied that they’d keep themselves hidden for the most part, which was just as well.

Throughout the explanation, my new minder remained stiff and formal. I couldn’t help but think she resented being sent to babysit me, being in the seventh stage and all, and covered it with politeness. She probably has a point. Does Mother have a reason to use an entire elite unit for guarding me, beyond the usual?

The sect’s gates stood open and led us onto a wide path lined with artfully curated bushes. It soon terminated at a cluster of buildings. There were a number of carriages parked close to the path, and I could see a small crowd of people. Nervously, I smoothed down my robe. I still wore the one I’d conducted my research in, but it was enchanted for self-cleaning and self-repair, so I didn’t feel too shabby. I never thought I’d actually want school uniforms, but in this setting they’d be helpful.

It didn’t take long until we were noticed. Well, the soldiers didn’t make for an inconspicuous entrance. But before we even came close to the central building, probably an administrative center, my eyes were drawn to a man flying in above. He wore blue and white robes, had a topknot and felt like the sixth stage. I didn’t even feel an impact in the ground when he touched down in front of us.

“Your Highness, I bid you welcome to the Carmine Cloud Sect.” He bowed. “I am Elder Zun. It is my responsibility to see our new arrivals settled in. Of course, the Imperial Princess will not need to be processed like a normal disciple.”

I inclined my head. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, honored elder. I would not want to impose on the elder and the sect on my first day. I intend to join the group and let you return to your duties.”

The elder looked at me for a moment, before he bowed lightly again. “As you wish, then.” With a swirl of air, he was off again.

I started walking, then paused after a few steps. “San Hashar, I believe it is best I proceed alone now.”

The soldier quirked an eyebrow. “Are you quite sure, Your Highness?”

“Yes.” My tone was firm. “I do not need soldiers babysitting my every step. I am quite capable of handling myself against new disciples if it comes to that. Besides, it’s not as if you could not be at my side in less than a second if need be.”

For a moment, our gazes held, then she bowed her head with a slight smile curling her lips. A moment later, her presence was gone. I exhaled and continued walking. Did I just earn a bit of respect?

Still, I couldn’t just join the group of new disciples. Some of them had seen the soldiers escorting me, and their gazes would have been enough to clue the rest in that something was off. As I approached, the people in my way, both disciples and assorted servants or whoever had brought them here, made way for me. It took a moment until I realized the looks were probably due to my strength. I hadn’t tried to hide my cultivation, and being at the fourth stage at such an age would make me stand out anyway. From the looks of it, most new disciples were in their late teens, and I could barely pass for twenty given my appearance.

Trying not to frown, I pulled my aura in a little. Not enough to truly hide it, since I didn’t want to deceive anyone, but a casual observer shouldn’t be able to tell now.

The elder made his appearance and led the group off a little way from the central building. While we gathered around, I still stood a little apart from the others. Some were already huddled in groups.

The elder proceeded to welcome everyone to the sect. I paid attention with one ear, but I’d heard better speeches from high school presentations. His was long-winded and flowery, packed full of references to various heroes I didn’t recognize, and he didn’t engage his audience at all. I stifled a yawn towards the end.

After a while of poetically heaping praises on the sect, the Elder finally passed out some goodies. Apparently, one was a jade slip containing the sect’s foundational art, the other a crystal drop housing a small storage space that included a few pills and mundane goods. I inspected mine closely. About half a cubic meter of space. My own storage ring contained fifty cubic meters, in the form of a five by five by two meter room. I may have underestimated its worth.

“Now, follow me,” he commanded, and we shuffled off again.

I made my way through the group until I was closer to the front, glancing around. Everyone eyed each other warily. This brought back memories of the first day at a new school, except that strong and bloody competition would be expected. Yeah, this is going to be worse than your typical high school. Most of them were dark-haired, I spotted only one fellow blond in the crowd of thirty or so. Their clothing varied, although most of it was clean and decorated, with people even wearing jewelry. A few kids looked a bit rough around the edges, though, maybe the obligatory commoner scholarship students.

The path quickly took us to a cluster of houses. Unlike the medieval Chinese dwellings I’d expected, these looked more like modern apartment blocks, if those had highly symmetrical hedge and flower gardens around them.

“This is the domicile of new Outer Disciples,” the elder said. “For the first four months, you will be bound to stay there. You will take care of your own accommodation. Get settled in now. The first lesson starts at dawn.” With a dramatic swirl of his robes, the elder turned and flickered away.

Well, then. I cycled a bit of qi into my legs and dodged around people so I’d be one of the first ones through the door. I assumed we’d fight each other for better rooms. I could challenge someone, but I’d rather just pick my spot in peace, and hope they would back off.

There were only two floors in this building. Judging from the quality and spacing of the doors, the rooms got better the farther in the other direction you went. I hurried up the stairs at that side to find the pattern continued. At the end of the room, there was a bit of space before five doors with more ornate frames and carved handles dominated the hallway. When I focused on my qi senses, I could make out a hidden stairwell behind the wall off to one side. The stairs contained slight traces of qi that were probably only visible to students you’d consider very perceptive. At least, from what I could sense, only one of the prestigious suites was claimed already.

Really, I’d prefer to just take a room somewhere in the middle and ignore the whole thing. But my slight taste of anonymity couldn’t last long, and as the princess, I needed to keep ‘face’. Oh well, not like I object to having a nicer place. So I opened the door in the middle and inspected my new domicile. A small suite with an attached bathroom and a set apart space for cultivation or training. It was furnished with a nice but not particularly special bed, divan, desk, and chairs. If it wasn’t for the mob outside, I’d probably feel more at home here than in my luxurious, servant-infested rooms at the palace.

I sat on the mat they’d laid on the floor and started a light meditation, trying to calm my nerves. The qi flowing around the place was at least good, since the afternoon sun shone through the large window and the secluded niche threw some deep shadows. Slowly, I settled.

Until I became aware of the hostile presence approaching. My eyes flew open, and I stood and opened the door just in time. My eyes flickered over the group, assessing their threat. One teenage boy in my face, a few other people lingering behind him. Nothing too worrying.

“Yes?” I inquired, slowly lifting an eyebrow and not bothering to hide my inspection.

The teenager scowled. His pants and shirt were dark, of a simple cut, and I could see where someone had mended a few holes. His hair couldn’t have seen a comb in days. He was good looking, if you liked teenage boys. By his aura, I’d guess somewhere in the early to middle third stage. Considering he couldn’t be older than nineteen, that was actually impressive.

“I’ve come for your room,” he declared. “Be a good little lady and hand it over, unless you think you can take me.”

“Really? Are you seriously trying to challenge me?”

“Nobles,” he spat. “I think it’s time for you to learn some humility, sparkles. Here, people don’t have to bow to your fancy looks.”

I shrugged, trying to hide the way my heart started racing at the prospect of a fight. “Fine.”

Not being an idiot, I’d started drawing in qi as soon as I saw him. Now, I released it, a spear of shadow forming in my hand to strike at the boy. He dodged to the side, creating some distance.

Immediately, he fell into a fighting stance. The next second, a rock came flying at me. I conjured some shadow armor to absorb the hit, gritting my teeth at the impact. I needed to limit my strength to the third stage, because people would be watching and know of my strength later. I had to show that I could beat him fairly even if I didn’t need to. At least both of us were careful of the surroundings.

The next attack was quickly followed by the boy himself, fist flying. This time, it was my turn to dodge. I spun away and slashed at his side with a dagger of darkness, but a cloak of fire ignited around him and repelled the attack.

The next instant, I formed a spike of shadow under him. The boy jumped to clear it. I was already there to meet his landing, a flash igniting in my hand. Just at the moment of impact, he faltered for a moment. I took advantage, throwing him to the ground with a well placed foot and push.

He threw dust into my face, but I closed my eyes and powered through, letting the shadows in the corridor lengthen into chains to hold him down. He burned them off, but it gave me enough time to pin him down, enveloping his fire with more darkness. Then I summoned a dagger from my ring and leveled it at his face, crushing another rock in my left hand before he could finish it.

“Do I need to start drawing blood?” I asked.

He turned his face away. “I yield.”

I stood and backed away, giving him space to stand up. He was probably untrained, even the little bit of martial arts I remembered from Earth or learned in Ling Ta’s sessions a match for his experience. I felt a bit of tension flowing out of me at the realization that the old Inaris’ reflexes still gave me an advantage.

“Don’t bother me again,” I warned him. Then I paused before continuing, “and I’d advice you to choose your opponents better. Even if you don’t know who I am, I’m clearly stronger than you.”

He gave me another glare before taking off with his entourage. Shrugging, I went back into my room and resumed my meditative pose.

So. A spunky commoner. In most stories, I’d probably end up recruiting him, but screw that. He challenged a fourth-stager who didn’t really hide it, probably just for being a noble. He’s an idiot. I hate idiots.

But I had a feeling the rest of the disciples were going to be more of a challenge.

18: Sect life, take 1

It was uncomfortable suddenly being alone. Reminded me too much of my transmigration, the last time I’d entered a new environment by myself. And I’d just started to establish rapport with my new family and associates. This time, I knew I’d see them again, but I wouldn’t meet people that I subconsciously knew already.

As a consequence, I slept badly, tossing and turning for most of the night.

In the morning, the new Outer Disciples of the sect gathered outside, plus myself, who wasn’t really one, but whatever. I wore an even more ‘sparkly’ robe, blue and embroidered with a few pearls and decorated with gold thread. It wasn’t quite the most richly decorated clothing I could see, but that was fine. I’d rather come off as ‘lofty and refined’ than ‘gaudy’. I’d also omitted make-up, because screw that. My necklace and rings were all qi-imbued talismans.

When the sun rose halfway across the horizon, the elder showed up. He led us to a large open courtyard not far away. Along the way, we passed other disciples going about their business, sending curious glances at the newcomers. There were a number of building complexes spread over the area, interspersed with landscaping, gardens, and training areas. A few looked like workshops for various crafts.

When the elder stopped, I found myself again at the edge of the pack. Everyone gave me enough space I would have stood out in the crowd even without the rich clothing or barely veiled presence of someone in the fourth stage. Most of them were in the second. Various other people lingered farther away, watching. Some of them had to be elders. Is it arrogance to think they’re here for me?

“Today, your new lives begin, disciples,” Elder Zun proclaimed. “From this day on, this sect will be your home, your master, and your life. The Carmine Cloud Sect will raise you to share in its greatness and legendary tradition. You are truly fortunate to have been granted this chance.”

He paused and the disciples began polite cheering. I just crossed my arms and waited. A few others, like the boy from yesterday, didn’t react either.

“However, your group is especially fortunate to join us this year, disciples,” he continued. Uh oh. “At this time, we are graced by the presence of a particularly honored guest.”

A few people looked to me, and I mentally marked them as quick on the uptake.

“The Carmine Cloud Sect is proud to host Her Highness, Luminous Princess Leri Inaris, blessed of the spirits, Lady of Earth and Sky, heir of our beloved Empress, Her Majesty Leri Acura. Not only is she a high-level genius, a heaven-sent talent few ever receive, but she has ascended to the blue stage. At the age of eighteen, that makes her one of the youngest people in recorded history to attain this stage, as even the youngest was only seventeen.” With a flourish, he gestured to me and bowed deeply.

The other disciples backed away even further now, most of them bowing or performing other signs of obeisance. I hid a sigh and kept my expression serene.

It didn’t look like I could avoid it, so I stepped forward until I faced the group of disciples. I inclined my head in a half-bow towards the elder. “Thank you for the welcome, Elder Zun. I am glad to be here,” I lied. “This great sect will surely teach me many things.”

I paused and let my eyes sweep over the disciples. I needed to establish some ground rules if I didn’t want to end up like a lady in some of the stories I’d read. “I expect you all not to let my presence affect you and the usual proceedings of the sect too much. I am not looking for lackeys, and unasked for gifts or attempts at ingratiation will only earn my disapproval. That is all.”

I stepped back, my face set in a cold mask. None of the disciples met my gaze now, and they’d all backed away a bit further.

Crap, maybe that came off too strongly. I’m supposed to be a sheltered girl… No one here should know about my soul journey. I’d read that soul journeys constituted a family secret which few others were privy to, except for a number of rumors floating around. I needed to act like an eighteen-year-old. Granted, I wasn’t much older, mentally, but I couldn’t help but think of the new disciples as kids.

The Elder looked a little disconcerted, but he rallied quickly. “Of course, Princess Inaris, none of our disciples would think of bothering you unduly. Now, let’s continue …”

I kept listening as he explained a few proceedings. This time, the elder actually transmitted information without much elaboration. We were told how to get to important locations and given the most important rules of the sect. Then he talked about the lesson plan. Basic lessons were provided to every disciple, more advanced ones had to be earned. There would be a tournament at the end of the year. Good luck getting me to attend that. Hopefully, I’ll be back at the palace by then. If not, I’ll just vanish for the week.

“Cultivation is the art of refining oneself to the peak of one’s potential,” the Elder concluded. “Whether that’s at the orange or blue stage or reaching the black. Having been welcomed into our sect, you can be assured that your potential is high, but you will also be expected to live up to it. We do not tolerate apathy. Remember that.”

It took me a moment to parse his references. There were many ways to refer to cultivation stages, although my family preferred to just use the numbers. The black stage was the eighth, the real peak of cultivation, that few people ever achieved.

While I ambled away from the courtyard, I couldn’t help a shiver as I reflected on his words. Everyone expected me to reach the eighth stage, even without taking into account Mother’s deadline. If I didn’t, if I didn’t grow into a proper heir, I’d fail my clan, maybe the Empire. So what if my talent would be noted in the history books? I’d be either a failure, most likely a dead one, or a ruler — no wonder everyone treated me as a special case.

I shook my head to rid myself of the angst and focused on the question of what to do now. The first few lessons were basic introductions to cultivation that I didn’t need. But a few others interested me, especially the crafts I hadn’t paid much attention to before. Pill refining and formation arrays. Might as well go check them out.

A few minutes later, I found myself at a combination workshop and library dedicated to formations. It looked nice. Here, I could settle down for a bit, go through the books and watch other disciples in action. It looked like there were impromptu lessons from senior disciples or elders sometimes. So I found a seat, grabbed a primer, and started studying.

It made sense, and yet didn’t. More than once, I wandered over to the work area for a closer look at how things looked in action. Most of it seemed to be etching runes into objects. The news about my identity must have spread, because no one objected to me looking over their shoulder. Actually, I had a sneaking suspicion they failed more often than usual.

“This should work, Your Highness!” The disciple I was watching wrung his hands. “A simple qi gathering array never fails under excessive input, it just stops gathering.”

“Maybe it’s that scratch there,” I suggested, pointing to one rune. Pretty sure that shouldn’t be here. “Looks like that might even turn the rune from a ‘do this if’ to a hard break, since it looks like a ‘false’.”

The disciple, a boy of maybe twenty with soot stains on his robe, dapped at his forehead with his sleeve and bowed to me. “Thank you. What an embarrassing mistake.”

“Happens to everyone.” I gave him a smile and returned to my chair, going over what I’d seen.

This was like programming, just worse. There were thousands of runes. I’d made a good start on learning the most important ones. When I could memorize them just by reading the table, that was easy. Thank you, genius memory. You spoil me too much. This is such a cheat.

So far, I hadn’t found much of a theoretical framework behind their arts. Certainly nothing approaching treatments on computability or complexity. Although they knew some concepts. I’d found runes that were analogues of elementary logical operators like ‘and’ or ‘or’. They even had some simple loops in the more complex formations I’d found in the books. Basic ‘do this five times’ stuff. So far, I hadn’t found anything I recognized as recursion or even real functions, though.

I closed my last book and leaned back in my chair, stretching a bit. This is probably a good thing. I have stuff to work with, but I also have a decided advantage with my knowledge from Earth. Knowledge I can use, if I work at it a bit. With my unique ability, I can treat this as a hobby and still make significant use of it. Hey, maybe Mother is going to get that computer after all.

Well, I still needed to figure out the magical part. Infusing qi into formation arrays, both stationary and inscribed on artifacts, was a skill that had to be learned like any other. Even if it was designed to be powered by ambient qi, the set-up could be tricky. And I’d always been better with theory than working with my hands. From the tidbits I’d gotten, I’d probably be better off not even looking at alchemy. For now.

So, I scrounged up some wooden plates, paints and brushes for my first attempt. At least the sect had a store of common and beginner’s materials and gear, so I didn’t have to rob anyone. Apparently, they were supposed to be loaned out based on ranking or something, but no one stopped me. I settled down on a table at the far side and tried my hand at formations for the first time.

An hour later, I held up my second attempt, scrutinizing it. Well, the good news is I’m more dexterous in this body. Not that that’s saying much. But my special ability has trouble with physical stuff, I think.

Carefully, I fed some light qi into the formation, watching as it burned up. In this case, that was a good thing. The wood burned so hotly the center of the flame turned blue, and it was gone within a few minutes. This kind of thing would be good for alchemy, providing a consistent heat source. Discount Bunsen burner, pretty much. Maybe I’m starting too many fires. I’d try gravity adjustments, but those aren’t beginner formations.

I set my tools down and cracked my neck. When I looked around, all the disciples in the room hurriedly busied themselves with whatever they were doing before. I snorted. As if I wasn’t aware of their whispers. A part of me wanted someone brave enough to just approach me. But then, that would probably be some arrogant young master. At least I was used to being on my own.

A glance out the window showed the sun beginning to set, so I rose and tidied up my space. I should check out some of the sparring or combat training options, or at least cultivate a bit.

When I stepped outside the building, I was surprised by the emptiness of the surroundings. Well, the sect did cover a big area, and most of the people I’d seen before must have been loitering to watch the new meat. My memory meant I wouldn’t have a problem finding my way around, at least. I set off. I didn’t retrace my steps, but decided to try and cut straight through to the dormitories, exploring a little more of the sect in the process. It went pretty well. I ended up in a small village of sorts, little houses crowded together. They had to house the older disciples. It was almost empty, except for a group of girls in front of me.

I slowed down a bit. I was walking in a side street since I’d arrived at an angle, and it was narrow enough they blocked the way. That shouldn’t be a problem, except they hadn’t seen me yet. And the scene was telling, a group of three girls crowding another one. The probable victim carried a bag with a few books peaking out, and was trying to pick up tools that littered the ground. As I watched, one of the aggressors took a step closer, stepping almost on top of a qi-infused brush.

For a moment, I hesitated. This had nothing to do with me, they were too focused to notice my presence, and I didn’t want to make enemies I didn’t even know. But I quickly squashed my hesitation and moved on. The girl was almost certainly a victim of bullying, and the ethical choice obvious.

“Excuse me.”

The girls started. All of them were in the third stage, and wore the gray armbands of outer disciples. They turned to face me.

“You’re blocking the way,” I said mildly. “Why don’t you pack up this obvious accident so we can all go about our business? I applaud your generosity in helping your sect sister, but this is a bit of a crowd.”

The three girls, all of them with more enchantments on their persons than their victim, didn’t look happy. I doubted they recognized me. But they couldn’t really contradict a ‘senior’ of a higher stage, so they helped gather up the spilled tools. It took less than a minute.

“Great,” I said with all the cheer I could muster. “Would you walk with me for a bit, junior disciple? That has the look of an old tome, and I’m quite curious about spatial enchantments.”

The girl I’d just rescued, or hoped I had, scurried past her bullies and joined me as I walked on. She was a little homely, but her clothes didn’t look cheap, despite her relative lack of talismans. Probably a lower noble or wealthy merchant’s daughter. I might have thought she’d cheer up, but she looked terrified, didn’t even glance at me. It seemed I’d been made.

“Of course, uh …”

“Where did you find those books, junior?” I asked.

“In the library, honored senior,” she replied, obviously latching on to the cue I’d handed her. “I was granted access to the third floor of the common hall.”

“I see. And they cover teleportation?”

“Yes, honored senior. Translocation of objects along short distances only.” She still didn’t look at me, but her jaw was clenched and the words came out stiffly.

I resisted the temptation to roll my eyes. “Well, I won’t keep you. Good luck with your pursuits.”

“And to you, honored senior.”

We’d just reached the edge of the housing area, and parted ways here. She gave me a bow before hurrying away at a sharp angle. Shrugging, I decided to continue towards my own room. This was a good reminder not to expect gratitude just because you ‘saved’ someone from bullies. But I’d met the demands of my excuse for a conscience, so I didn’t really care.

I needed to cultivate. Maybe it was time to focus on my darkness-affinity arts and increase my sneakiness. I liked having the element of surprise.

Bonus 1: Stages of cultivation

In case you’ve forgotten, future self, this is the first time I make a collection of notes like this. Having perfect memory doesn’t mean I have perfect organization. It’s helpful to write things up like this, at least. I hope you keep this up. But you probably think I’m an idiot. I certainly often consider my past selves to be idiots.

Anyway, about cultivation.

It’s pretty standard from most of the stories I’ve read. There’s qi in the world, you pull it in, store it in your dantian and move it through your body’s meridians. You can release it through them to form techniques. There are many affinities, and I haven’t figured out how they form, but no one has.

Most people I’ve talked to number the stages, but there are many different ways to refer to them. Including a standardized color scheme, translated the Imperial Cultivation Stage Indicator System (ICSI, I guess. Acronyms, I haven’t missed you.) Pretty sure there’s a pun, but I haven’t figured out what.

Stages are sub-divided into early, middle and late parts. Peak is the end of late. I don’t know why they have a different name for it. Half-step means between two stages. I don’t think that’s common. And seriously, what’s up with their naming? You take a step onto a stage? Ugh. At least they’re generally called stages and not “realms”. Although I’ve read that term too. Really, it’s a stage of cultivation, why so pretentious? Okay, back on topic now.

The first stage, green, is the foundation. The qi basically makes you a little stronger and healthier than you’d otherwise be. No real techniques yet. This is when you form your core, at the transition to the second stage.

Interesting sidenote: It appears to be possible to cultivate further without a core than is commonly done. Apparently, their ancestors did. Makes me wonder how they developed dantians and the usual cultivation methods. Maybe I can study coreless cultivation at some point.

The second or yellow stage has a newly-formed core. Most people reach this stage sooner or later, even if they don’t focus on cultivation. They’re at the peak of what normal humans could achieve physically, a match for Olympic-level athletes. They also know some magic tricks. Since everyone can use qi, almost all technology relies on it, the user expending a bit of their qi to operate it. That’s obviously easier for the second stage than the first. Plus, they have slightly increased lifespans and general health.

The third stage (orange) is when I’d consider someone to be an actual mage. Supernatural strength and speed, qi techniques, the works. They’ve stabilized their cores.

In this world, people don’t really cultivate their bodies separately, it goes along with the rest of the cultivation. Some focus on it more than others. But everyone pushes qi into their bodies to enhance them, especially during breakthroughs. Ergo supernatural capabilities and senses. Even more if they actually cycle qi into the respective extremities or organs.

Fourth stage, or blue, is when you get your “domain”. That can take different forms. Some internalize it and basically strengthen their bodies further, your typical melee types. Some focus more on ranged attacks. The domain gets strengthened in later stages, but the basic characteristics don’t change.

Fifth stage, purple, is pretty transitionary from what I can tell. There might be more to it, though I haven’t found much. But while everyone knows you get your domain at the fourth stage, specialties of the later stages aren’t common knowledge. Stupid world and their hoarding of ‘secret knowledge’. No wonder most of the science I’ve read comes from the clan’s transmigrators. They need a good enlightenment. Well, it’s on my to-do list. Somewhere.

Sixth stage, cyan. These people are real powerhouses. Their physical abilities jump up a lot, as well as their qi quantity. They’re a country’s elites, and this is when anyone really starts to have political influence.

The seventh stage is red. Apparently, they get a boost to their mental strength or something. I’m sure there’s more to it, but information is hard to find. Against normals or low-level cultivators, these people can vanquish armies on their own. If you can recruit them. Most sect heads, important nobles and the like are here.

The eighth, the black stage. The best of the best. They’re basically weapons of mass destruction, and rarely seen on the battlefield. They’re just too destructive. If two or more of them fight, the surrounding areas have good chances of turning into a wasteland. I wonder if there’s an equivalent to the concept of ‘mutually assured destruction’ in this world. They aren’t easy to control, either, since they have a ton of status and usually influence. Their lifespan stretches into the thousands.

In the Empire, there are less than a hundred registered eighth stagers. That’s not just one in a million, but considerably less. Daunting, really. I guess it’s some consolation that high-level geniuses are almost as rare, and there’s a lot of overlap.

The white stage(?): I’ve only gotten some hints. Not even sure if it actually exists, or is just a metaphor. If it does, I gather this is “ascended to another plane of existence” territory. I really need to learn more! If there’s a way to gain immortality, I need to at least get close enough to evaluate if I want to take it. But I guess I need to be patient. I’ll ask Mother when I have a good opportunity. If anyone can tell me something substantial, it’s her.

Well, that’s it. Something I keep wondering: how much does this systematization follow the course of cultivation and how much does that conception build it? Are there different paths, different steps to reach the same or similar power levels? For example, do people only build a core in the first transition and get their domain in the fourth stage because that’s how they’re taught? I can look at foreign cultivation methods, and will, but that’s not conclusive, since they might be closely related. Well, I suppose I have more practical concerns to worry about. Next, history.

19: How to lose

The disciple emerged from the ball of water, coughing and sputtering. Mud streamed from his chin and clumped in his hair. A moment later, Elder Zun’s qi flared and a sudden gust of heat turned the water into vapor. The losing disciple collected himself and bowed to his opponent. The older girl returned his gesture before she resumed her place in the crowd of disciples ringing the sparring circle. The loser followed a moment later.

I regarded the mud, impressed at his creativity for trying to trap air in a clay construct to avoid being drowned. The water’s pressure had been too high, though, despite its small volume. Well, making water apply pressure had to be easy.

While the Elder praised the victor, I ruminated on the way qi of different affinities played into and made techniques. There were both conceptual and physical factors. After all, how else would you even get a ‘nature’ type, or commonly use light to bolster people’s morale? That was hardly an inherent property of the thing. It was probably due to some ‘collective unconscious’, but also the actor’s own beliefs. Understanding how your affinity worked correlated with your power, and constituted a big part of why “enlightenment” was such a big deal. That was why I’d advanced so quickly — a lifetime’s worth of knowledge and conceptions about light, darkness and natural laws in general.

The elder clapping his hands broke my train of thought. “On to the next spar. Inner disciple Han against disciple Leri.”

The ambient volume plummeted. I ignored the stares and stepped forward until I stood just inside the border of stones marking out the sparring circle. At the same time, I started cycling, pushing light qi into a diffuse aura around me, preparing to activate one of my best techniques. Light’s Speed. One Mother had created, while the old Inaris had adapted it into a version I’d further improved. A simple buff to your speed. Natives might be surprised, but what could be faster than light? I’d been tinkering with other things, but I wouldn’t reveal my trump cards, especially since they weren’t even ready.

My opponent stepped into the ring as well. He looked to be in his mid-twenties, but could be older, and had the strength of someone in the middle of the fourth stage. I don’t think I’ll beat him, but at least he’s stronger than me by enough that losing shouldn’t damage my reputation if I put up a good fight.

Over the last few days, I’d participated a bit and managed to hold my own against two people at my level, although I wasn’t sure if they’d given it their all. But the serious look on Han’s face and the way he gathered his Earth-affinity qi let me know I wouldn’t get any freebies here. We bowed to each other.

The elder nodded at us. “Begin!”

I took off. A moment later, a boulder crashed into the ground where I’d been standing. From my opponent’s expression, he hadn’t expected my speed, and he tried to reorient himself.

I took the chance to dart in and throw a few jabs. The first took him in the shoulder, but he barely moved back, and the rest failed against a covering of brown qi he’d raised. He tried to retaliate, and I backed away, narrowly dodging a qi-enhanced kick.

All of this went so quickly a normal human wouldn’t have been able to distinguish our movements. I circled around the ring. It was quite large, but not enough to let us really cut loose. While I had the speed advantage, his defenses were strong.

I dodged around the ring for a bit more, trying to get a feel for his movements. Like in previous spars, I planned to let my body worry about the actual moves and concentrate on the strategy. It meant I fought half on autopilot all the time, but that couldn’t be helped. I only had a yellow belt in a single martial art on Earth.

After half a second of this dance, the Earth rumbled. I jumped, my enhanced qi carrying me all the way to the center of the ring. Behind me, I could feel chasms opening and pillars shooting out. I dodged a strike and tried to retaliate with one of my own, but he moved and it glanced uselessly off his flank.

I turned his shadow into chains to buy me some time while I disengaged. I might be able to wear him down, but he had more qi than me. My dantian contained mostly light qi presently, so I couldn’t use many darkness techniques. But I had to do more than dodge around the ring until I exhausted myself, if I wanted to keep up my image.

Another covering of earth qi grew on my opponent and he destroyed my chains, gathering more qi for another attack.

I cycled more qi, pushing it out and forming it into loose balls of light. While I dodged another throw, I made darkness snap around myself, letting my presence vanish into its concealment. I couldn’t hide my qi signature completely, but I tamped it down until it was the strength of the decoys, who I’d set to flitting around the ring. They were little more than light qi with the vague shape of a girl, but I copied their movements, hiding among them.

One of them approached him from behind, gathering speed. My opponent jumped aside just in time and I let it curve back around at the same time another one attacked. I couldn’t keep this up for long, my core was already half empty, but he’d spent a lot, too. For every illusion that attacked, he had to assume it contained a full attack and guard against it.

So I sent two of them at him and watched as he raised an earthen wall around himself, obscuring him from my sight. I pulled back the attacks a little, spinning them to come from different angles.

The wall exploded. I tried to evade, but clumps of stone smashed into my constructs, the qi contained in them disrupting their structure.

At the same time, my opponent reappeared. I sensed his presence a split-second before he charged out of the cloud of dirt. I tried to dodge, but I hadn’t kept up my speed buff. An Earthen wall slammed out of the ground in front of me, and I only just managed to vault it.

The wall shot up. Just as I was flying over it, it hit me. I tried to correct my trajectory, but the air offered no purchase. The disciple came to a halt at the edge of the ring just as I slammed into the ground, a meter outside.

I shook my head and levered myself up. The impact hadn’t hurt more than jumping onto a mat, but I had to flick a few strands of hair out of my eyes.

Silence had overtaken the courtyard. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw the tension in the spectators’ postures. But I wasted no time in turning toward the victor and offering a bow. It wasn’t excessively deep, but on the level of the one I’d give the elder.

“Thank you for your valuable pointers, senior Han. That was a good fight, and a clever finishing move.”

Everyone seemed to release their pent-up breath at once. The disciple bowed back right away. “It was my honor.”

I smiled again, just to demonstrate I wasn’t upset. No one needed to fear a grudge that would ruin their career. Good thing I know how to lose. Hopefully, that makes it clear I expect them to fight seriously. I need to learn.

The elder recaptured their attention, and I moved off to watch the rest of the fights. No one came within three meters of me, but I’d gotten used to that. The fights made up for it. I usually sparred against older disciples, many of them inner disciples, because of my stage. These people all had fighting experience and it showed. While there was little in the way of more clever tricks, the fluidity and finesse of their techniques matched their brutal efficiency. Some of the fights devolved into beatdowns at the end, and the elder even had to call off someone. The disciple had beaten his rival even after it became clear he’d fallen unconscious, and I’d bet there were some internal injuries in addition to all the broken bones. A healer moved in and carried the loser off.

After the fights, most stayed in the area to train on their own, but I didn’t linger. I didn’t want people watching my fumblings, and didn’t have a partner to train with. So I walked away, trying to decide where to go. The library beckoned, or I could do some formations training, or even explore the sect a little more.

Soon, the other disciples walked off to their own destinations, and I found myself alone on a path winding between a small grove of trees and a pond further up the hill, with a good view of the sect. I paused to watch it.

After a moment, I spoke. “San Hashar, can you hear me?”

A slight rustle answered, and when I turned around, I found the soldier standing beside the trees. She cupped her hands. “You called for me, Princess?”

Well, that answers that. I shrugged. “How are things going? Any problems?”

“Nothing serious. The elders are not pleased with our security measures, but they don’t object too strongly. We’ve had no perimeter breaches or suspicious activity outside. None of the disciples seem to pose any threat.”

I didn’t want to know how they assessed threat. “Good.” Then I paused as a thought struck me. “Actually, since you’re here. What did you think about my fight?”

“It was a valiant struggle, Your Highness.”

I snorted. “Which I lost. Seriously. Be brutally honest, please.”

She raised an eyebrow and paused for a moment before speaking. “I saw that you expected not to win. That was your first mistake.”

“Hmm. But I was outmatched, wasn’t I?”

“Perhaps. Knowing your limits and estimating your chances realistically is important. But a fighter still needs confidence. Without trust in yourself and determination to prove it right, how will you fight at your full potential?”

I nodded, knowing she had a point. “Fair. Anything else?”

“Your lack of experience hampers you. While your tactic may have been clever, it could not have worked. Your opponent was in the middle part of the fourth stage, with senses superior to yours. Your effort at hiding was doomed to fail.”

I rubbed my temple. “So he played along enough to let me think it had worked until he countered. That’s embarrassing. Thank you for your analysis, San Hashar.”

“Of course. Is there anything else you require, Your Highness?”

“Do you anticipate any trouble going forward? How about if I leave the sect?”

She cocked her head a little. “Nothing specifically, though we are wary. The town has been cleared, so it should be safe enough with a reasonable contingent of guards. I would advise against going into the wilderness, as its beasts can be unpredictable.”

I blinked. Of course. The nearby town, Pekasa. I didn’t even think about that. “Disciples go to the town regularly, right?”

“Occasionally, though only those who have reached the third stage are permitted to leave, and they are not allowed to stay outside the sect longer than a day.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “Not a problem. I’ll be going to the town now. Make whatever preparations you need, but I’d prefer to go alone.”

“As you wish.” San Hashar bowed, then vanished again.

I fed a bit of qi into my spatial ring, taking out a few things to check that I had everything I might need before putting them back inside. Then I took off for the sect’s gates at a fast pace, arriving a minute later.

The guards, two disciples in a small hut beside the main gate, politely questioned me on my destination and reminded me of the time limit, but let me through without a problem. I started walking, taking a look at the sky to gauge the weather. A few clouds, but otherwise nice. The sun would start setting in about an hour, so I could spend a nice evening in town.

The path reminded me a bit of roman roads. It cut in a straight line through meadows and the forest’s outskirts. The town wasn’t far, and even without pushing myself, I could be there in ten minutes. But first, I looked for a nice spot on the way to refill my qi a bit.

Soon, I was sitting on a hill beside the road, letting the sun warm my face. Birds sung in the trees, their melodies alien yet able to relax me a bit. I sank into meditation, cycling qi. Behind me, an outcropping of boulders threw deep shadows, and I pulled in some of the darkness gathering there, too.

Something disturbed me, a prickle against my senses that broke through my meditation. I opened my eyes and tried to pinpoint its source, but I couldn’t find anything. My qi was restless, my mind on alert, but there was nothing to grab on to. I channeled qi into my eyes, ears and even my nose, trying to chase it down. The birdsong and occasional rustle of leaves sharpened, but all the noises belonged here. I smelled the forest, the road and a few animals, nothing suspicious. My sight sharpened and I stood up and swept my gaze over my surroundings. Nothing had changed from before, had it?

There. I caught it in the corner of my eyes. When I tried to focus, I saw a blur floating over the sky, towards the horizon. I couldn’t make out any details, didn’t even know if it was a physical object or if I was just seeing qi. A few moments later, it grew too distant to make out.

I remained alert for a bit, but nothing happened. The prickle didn’t come back. Since I hadn’t heard from the guards, it was probably nothing important, maybe just a strong beast flying over us. I considered calling for them, but I didn’t want to appear spooked by nothing. And if it was a serious concern, they probably needed to focus without me distracting them, anyway.

Still, I picked up the pace a bit as I continued on my way to the Pekasa. I could already see the town, and with a bit of qi strengthening my legs the walls soon loomed over me. They were several meters tall, built of stone that appeared coated in qi, with two gates set into them that I could see. The stone was very smooth and regular, like concrete, although the actual bastion and gates looked like those of a medieval city or castle wall. I could even see the spikes of a portcullis and downward-facing holes to pour liquids through, what were they called again? It all brought back memories of the castles I’d visited on Earth, but I shook those thoughts off.

The gates stood open, and while a few third-stage cultivators in uniform guarded them, they let me through without hassle. I slowed down and entered the town, trying to take in everything.

My first impression said this was an utter mess. The houses stood mostly two or three stories tall, and looked like someone tried to cross half-timbered houses with concrete, and put sloped roofs and oriental decorations on top. The streets were cobblestone and wide enough for the crowd, but still a bit cramped. Lots of different colors assaulted my eyes, everything decorated with bright fabrics and shiny crystals or stones. I needed a moment to adjust to the clamor of a settlement after days in relative peace and quiet. At least the smell wasn’t worse than in any modern town.

I cut through the crowd easily, as everyone moved out of my way. The looks started to bother me, so I ducked into a side alley at the first opportunity, put up a dark screen and changed to some less fancy clothing I’d stored in my ring. The pants, shirt and jacket were still of good quality, but not enough to mark me as a noble. I also clamped down on my aura and dampened my qi to that of someone in the third stage.

With the new getup, I could breathe easier. People still didn’t shove or crowd me, but few spared me a second glance. So I wandered through the town, trying to take everything in.

Except for some superficial differences, it was pretty mundane. People went about their business, visited or operated stores, ate in open-air restaurants, or strolled through the small park. I guessed the place had at most twenty thousand inhabitants, a village or small town any way you looked at it. I listened to some conversations that revolved around what to buy or who was seen with whom. Even if they could carry sacks of produce around one-handed, people were still people. Most of those I saw where in the first three stages, only the occasional town guard might be in the late part of the third stage or higher.

Wait, that one seemed familiar. Wasn’t that Commoner Boy from the sect? But I only caught a glimpse of him as he went down a darkish alley. I’d just go the other way.

All in all, I spent a pleasant if boring evening in town, wandering through the streets and taking in the sights. I bought a flatbread sandwich from a street vendor and enjoyed it on the go. I hadn’t eaten anything since I arrived at the sect, so it was a nice change.

Streetlights had completely replaced natural lighting by now, and I should probably head back. I took a look around at where I’d ended up in. Clearly the seedier part of town. Most of the establishments around me let out light, music and the buzz of conversation. The music might be a little boring, mostly flutes and string instruments with simple melodies, but I’d still missed it.

The next corner over, two women in very thin dresses looked down from a balcony. When they noticed my gaze, they smiled and leaned forward, sticking out their chests. I snorted and turned away. I wasn’t that hard up.

Although … I really would like to get laid, and this is the first real opportunity I’ve had. I gazed around again, settling on one bar with more upbeat music and an inviting atmosphere, where I could see qi signatures pulsating. There are my guards, but they wouldn’t spy on private moments, would they? I hesitated, then shook my head. No, I think they’ll respect my privacy. Besides, guards will be around a long time. I’m not going to let their presence dictate my life. So I headed for the bar.

20: Little light

When I stepped out onto the street, the sun was just peeking over the rooftops. I stretched a little and glanced back at the bar plus motel before I started walking.

I’d never picked someone up for casual sex before, but this had been ridiculously easy. Must be my ‘exotic good looks’. Within minutes of entering the building, a handsome cultivator had offered to buy me a drink, and things progressed from there. Although I’d heard people were generally more restrained in these matters, there were always exceptions, and I must have picked the right establishment.

Now, the town seemed bright and cheery. I felt a little sore, but in a good way. That had to be my imagination, though, considering my qi-enhanced body. Although apparently the old Inaris was a virgin. Well, glad that’s over with. I shook my head at myself. Not like I have room to judge, it’s still earlier than last time.

But the memories of home sobered me up, and I quickened my pace. I wanted to be back at the sect. Now that I’d released some lingering frustration, I could get back to work with a clear head.

The town displayed the same bustle despite the early hour, and I had to limit my speed not to run people over. No one seemed bothered by close calls, though, probably because I showed the presence of a third-stage cultivator. I stopped by another street vendor to exchange a few bronze coins for breakfast, this time bread with fruits and nuts baked in, and walked on. I’d considered going shopping, but there was nothing I really needed from here. Besides, the money I’d been given was a hefty sum but not unlimited, and I might want to buy some powerful artifact someday.

The gate stood open still, and as soon as I walked through it I sped up again. It was only then I noticed that I hadn’t changed back to my fancier clothing. Oh, well. Maybe I can change behind a tree or sneak into the sect. I walked quickly, but the morning sunshine and slight breeze was nice enough I decided to enjoy it for a bit, so I didn’t run.

I was ambling along beside the edge of the forest, thinking about my plans for introducing new technology, when I experienced a prickle of unease. I stopped, looking around. This felt similar to the incident yesterday. I channeled qi into my senses again, straining my eyes to see if I could make out any disturbances. But nothing stood out to me. Meanwhile, the prickle was getting stronger, as if something brushed over my qi. I couldn’t help but shiver.

I hadn’t felt anything like this before. What could it be? Maybe someone’s scrying me. Or searching for me, or something. Could this be related to the old Inaris' questions?

Slowly, I moved back until I reached the cover of the trees. Was it my imagination, or did the forest’s noise seem muted? I tried to calm my heartbeat and concentrate on my senses. Wait, is that qi? Squinting into the distance, I saw a blur that could be a construct moving quickly, if my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me. After a moment, I lost it.

Glancing around, I said quietly, “Guards, if you’re there, tell me if you sense anything suspicious.”

No answer came. Maybe I’d been too quiet, or San Hashar was away and her underlings didn’t have her senses. Maybe they were only watching me and I’d broken their line of sight.

The prickling feeling hadn’t abated, although it felt more like static electricity now. I suppressed the urge to flinch. It grew to a peak, then as suddenly as it had come, the sensation abated. After a few seconds, only my anxiety remained.

I took a deep breath and cautiously moved a few steps forward, still hugging the tree-line. My muscles loosened up after a few moments, and I felt my tension ease. Time to get back to the sect, maybe do some research into magical surveillance.

After a moment, I paused, something tugging at my attention. Isn’t it still too quiet? I breathed in deeply, and could feel a hint more moisture than there had been previously. Now that I looked around, a faint mist started to seep in, covering the trees and extending onto the road.

I frowned, taking a few cautious steps. This didn’t feel threatening, not like the other sensation. But I could feel something in my qi if I concentrated on it. A presence?

The qi signature moved around until it approached me from the direction I’d been going, just inside the wood’s edge. It coalesced until I could make out the outline of a person. Even after a few moments, it remained a blurry shape, but I could sense a clear presence in the qi. It felt different from everyone I’d ever met, even the spirit beasts, but faintly familiar at the same time. Something in my subconscious recognized its kind.

“A spirit?” I asked.

A hiss like laughter answered me. ‘Yes yes, little one, I am that I am.’

I relaxed a bit and straightened up. I couldn’t get a good read on the spirit’s level of power, but I guessed it would be around the fifth stage, not that things worked the same way as for humans.

‘Little light, little light, going to your burrow, out of your hearth.’ It started circling around me, a bubbling sound accompanying it. More mist surrounded us, infused with qi, dampening my sensation of the outside world.

I still didn’t feel threatened. If it wanted to harm me, it could do a lot more than that. “It’s nice to meet you, I suppose?”

Another hiss, but this one didn’t sound amused. ‘Not so, not a good way. Light of the night sky, your sun’s away.’

I blinked. My Mother was called ‘Sun of the Empire’ as one of her titles. Didn’t someone call me ‘night sky of the Empire’? But that wasn’t serious. Maybe it’s a common nickname for the heir.

“Yes, I’m alone. Why?”

‘Little light, hidden find. Be wary, don’t shine too brightly, or you’ll burn the flames.’

That was a little clearer. “Is that a warning? You’re warning me of something?”

‘Yes yes yes. Unease here, bad potential, be wary. Threat reaches, lingers in the space, in home, threat against you.’

I nodded and resolved to heed its words. “Thank you for the warning. I’ll try to be careful.” I hesitated. “Why did you go out of your way to warn me, though?”

The spirit laughed again, lighter this time, like a chuckle. ‘You are you, little hidden light. I am that I am.’ It bounced, then swirled a little quicker. ‘And this is home. People here, part of home, shelter, protection, order, comfort. Don’t like order, but people, home.’

“I suppose.” If I parsed that correctly, this was because the spirit was bound to the local area. This land had been in the Empire for millennia. Its people thought of it as their home, their pillar of stability. Maybe so much this had settled into the land on a deeper level, reflected in its qi or at least the spirits living here. As the heir apparent to the Empire, it stood to reason that I was connected to it on a conceptual level. Well, magic is weird and a little scary. And wasn’t there some actual religious stuff linked to the Empress?

The figure stopped and cocked its head for a moment, before it restarted its spirals. ‘Gone now, hidden threat, given a pause, I think.’ It came a little closer until I could feel its mantle of qi brushing over my skin. ‘Farewell, little light, little part.’

I didn’t want it to go, but it wouldn’t be wise to pester a strong spirit with questions. So I bowed to it. “Goodbye, and thank you for the conversation.”

Then the spirit swirled around, growing more distant. It took off into the forest, the mist receding slowly.

I watched it go for a moment, before curiosity overcame me and I started following it. I walked at the edge of the forest, just inside the tree-line, trying to trace the spirit’s path. I couldn’t see it anymore, but I could still sense its qi. And by the way it slowed down and danced around, I had the sneaking suspicion that it was playing with me. I resisted the temptation to move deeper into the forest, though, always staying just at the edge of the road.

Finally, it stopped, and just as I debated slowing down, another presence came at me. I jerked back on reflex, sliding behind a tree and veiling my qi. But the other person decelerated as it came closer, deviating from its path.

I strained my senses. This one felt familiar. A cultivator in the third stage, probably a young male. The rustle of coarse fabric, an earthy yet faintly burned smell. Frowning, I peeked from my cover, watching as a boy emerged from the trees. The one who’d tried to challenge me for my room. What’s he doing here?

“Is someone there?” he called. “Show yourself at once!” He held up his fist, which was now wreathed in flames.

Well, there was nothing for it. I stepped from behind my tree, careful to come from the direction of the road, but still kept my aura locked tightly enough he shouldn’t be able to get much from it. “What are you doing here?”

He lowered his hand, although its fire didn’t go out, and narrowed his eyes. “I would ask you that. Who are you, and why do you sneak around here?”

I laughed. “You don’t even remember who beat you? Put that out, or you’ll need to face the consequences of threatening me.” That wasn’t just arrogance, I had a feeling the guards wouldn’t take kindly to him.

The flames died. I could see his wide eyes flicker from my clothing to my face and back. After a moment, he dropped to one knee and bowed, although it looked awkward. “I’m sorry! Uh, Princess. I didn’t recognize you.”

“Obviously.” I took a step closer. “You may rise. What was your name, anyway?”

“Lorn Rhis.”

“Well, Lorn, I’m Leri Inaris, but I hope you know that. Again, what were you doing here?”

“I was just returning to the sect from an excursion, er, Your Highness.”

I frowned. Was it a coincidence that I stumbled on him just after that strange feeling and the encounter with the spirit? Or had the spirit really led me to him? Maybe it was just playing a joke on me, but there might be more to it.

“And where did you come from? What did you do?”

He shifted his weight a little, not looking me in the eyes. “Nothing important. Certainly nothing you would concern yourself with.”

“Oh, really.” My tone was flat. “Tell me.”

“I visited the sect’s tenants, alright? The villagers were having trouble with some beasts from higher up the forest, and I scared them away.”

I hadn’t expected that. I glanced in the direction the village lay, although I couldn’t see it from here. I knew it existed, since it was mentioned in the briefing Kariva gave me, but I’d had no reason to care about it. Still, my curiosity was roused now. It might be good to check out how these people lived, and their relationship to the sect.

“Alright. Why don’t you take me to the village?”

He started. “Princess?”

“I want you to take me to the village,” I repeated slowly. “Is there an issue with that?”

He ducked his head. “No, of course not.”

With obvious reluctance, he turned around and started walking, glancing back to me. I sped up until I walked beside him, but with a comfortable distance. I didn’t know what he was afraid I’d do in the village, but it was clear he didn’t like nobles, and to be fair, he was probably wise to be cautious. So I didn’t let it bother me.

After a few meters, we reached a path winding through the trees at an angle from the road. It was a simple dirt path, not wide enough for most vehicles, but I felt better not to be walking through the undergrowth.

As we started following it, I looked up. “Checking in. Are you still with me?”

A moment later, a bit of the sky darkened, and I saw a figure looking down at me. Kei Weriga, one of the Imperial Guard from the palace. After a moment, he flickered and vanished again. I ignored Lorn’s look. But seeing the guard did make me feel better.

Not that I was concerned about the boy, but someone else could take advantage of me being out alone. I took a deep breath. I guess I’m still a little rattled. Head in the game, now. I straightened my shoulders and continued walking.

21: Worse than usual

We didn’t have far to go, since the village was directly next to the sect compound proper. But I saw several spirits on the way.

Most of them had roughly the form of animals. One looked like a tree made of qi. A few were humanoid, although they looked more like children. All of them had that wispy, qi-formed look, and none of them were as strong as the spirit who’d warned me. In fact, I guessed they were weaker than me.

The longer we walked, the more of them I noticed. Were they coming to watch me? At least they didn’t seem hostile. Those with recognizable faces smiled when I looked at them, and a few of them waved. At least, I interpreted the tree’s branches moving as a wave.

One of them, a small childlike wisp, sprang onto the path in front of us. After gazing at me for a moment, the spirit laughed and ran back into the forest. It was only a moment later that I noticed a snake with emerald scales hanging from the tree I’d been about to walk under. I’d put it in the late third stage, but it had hidden its qi well. I shivered at the feeling of nature and the cold stillness of an ambush and gave its tree a wide berth. At least it didn’t do more than hiss at me, probably sensing that I was stronger.

Lorn didn’t take his eyes from it, but he made no move to attack. He hadn’t said anything since we started walking.

Soon after, the trees receded. We stepped into a large clearing. One side of it was filled with huts, while behind those, they must have cleared the forest, until tree crowns rose again in the distance. Small fields with a variety of crops filled the space, and I could see people working in them. Not enough to account for the number of houses, though, there had to be at least fifty of those.

We slowed down even more to normal human walking speed as we came closer, and I took a good look at the village. The houses were small and made from wood, but they seemed well-built at least. A lot of them showed signs of neglect, though, from chipped or discolored boards to broken roof tiles. The street between them was dirt, although someone had put effort into making it less muddy by spreading gravel across it. If my guide wanted to help them, why didn’t he just harden the ground? Well, maybe he did. As we stepped on it, the road was reasonably firm.

There was an open square in the middle of the village, with some benches and a few small trees set up. A few people sat there. Only the elderly or women with hordes of small children, though. They all wore rough clothing they probably sewed themselves. All in all, the scene felt far away from what I’d seen in the palace, but that was to be expected.

Lorn hesitated a bit, giving me a sideways glance, before he headed for an elderly couple sitting beneath a withered tree that didn’t sport many leaves. When they saw us, the villagers rose, their joints creaking with age.

“Honored disciple,” the man said, wheezing a little. “We did not expect you back so soon. Is something the matter?”

“No, Elder. I’m simply playing guide, showing around the —”

“A fellow disciple,” I cut in, shooting a look at the boy. “I’m another newcomer to the sect, but I was curious about this village, so I asked Sect Brother Lorn to show me.”

The elder eyed me with ill-concealed suspicion at that.

“The rising star of our class, who beat me when I challenged her, I was going to say,” Lorn grumbled. “I’m not afraid to admit it, although her humility does the sect sister credit.”

Good. Maybe he has a brain in his head after all. I knew cutting him off would be awkward, but better that than being outed as the Imperial Princess.

Now, though, the man looked noticeably more relaxed, even smiling a bit at our interaction. “Naturally. I don’t know what you’re hoping to find here, honored disciple, but you are of course welcome.”

I inclined my head. “Thank you, Elder. I will try not to impose.”

“Is there anything in particular we can help you with?”

“As I said, I’m new to the sect, and I’d like to understand how everything works. You farm this land to feed the sect?”

His face soured a little. “Yes. We farm, build and repair their houses, keep the grounds, and other tasks. All work the sect deems too mundane and peaceful to bother their disciples.”

I nodded, looking around. I had to remind myself again that cultivators could subsist on qi instead of food to a large degree. Most of the food grown here was probably for the younger disciples, who hadn’t reached a high stage yet. But these villagers were only in the second stage at most, and would need at least as much. None of them looked malnourished, but none of them was anything approaching fat, either.

Right on cue, several men came from the direction of the sect, where its wall loomed over the fields. I turned and watched, my enhanced eyesight easily bridging the distance. They trudged along with slumped shoulders, but at a fast pace. Wood shavings and stone dust were caught in their clothes and hair. Focusing on their qi, I saw that all of them were close to empty. They all had Earth affinity, though none were above the early part of the second stage.

“I see,” I said. “I suppose this land belongs to the sect? And how much do they charge?”

“Enough to eat up most of what little they give us,” another woman said. She was younger, although her posture and the lines on her face would suggest otherwise. She bent down to grab the hand of a little boy who’d run around close to us, gathering up little sticks. “Excuse me.”

“No, stay,” I commanded before she could return to her previous place. “Explain. You have my word that I won’t be angry.”

The woman hesitated, clearly unsure about what her moment of venting had caused. “I’d not talk out of turn.”

“That’s alright,” the male elder said. “If the disciple wants a woman’s opinion, we can humor her. My good wife would hardly speak in my place, would you, Lir?”

The elderly woman shook her head. Her expression didn’t change.

Sexism. Here. I rubbed my temple and suppressed a sigh. I really hadn’t expected that. This reminded me again that just because the law said people were equal, traditions and social norms were harder to change. For whatever reason, I hadn’t considered the Empire would be like this.

Well, this part at least. The Empire was vast. I knew there were a lot of different cultures or subcultures or whatever in it. But this area was pretty close to the capital.

“Being a woman myself, I don’t appreciate that attitude,” I said with some sharpness. “Now, let her talk. Please, miss?”

The woman shifted a little, pulling her son closer to her. “Well, my lady. It’s just as I said. The sect’s rent and taxes are, of course, fair and just. But being simple commoners, we can’t do much work of worth. Therefore, we don’t receive much pay, even though we work hard. Often ten or twelve hours a day. Nothing wrong with our industriousness, is there? But …”

I nodded, sighing. “I understand. Even if the sect owns the land, you’re all free citizens, though, aren’t you? Can’t you find work elsewhere?”

The woman scowled. “If only we could. My man had a cousin who tried, few years ago. Came back three months later, minus a good deal of weight and his shoes.”

“The sect doesn’t want its workers leaving,” Lorn commented. I noticed he’d balled his hands into fists.

“The Greater Spirits know we’re grateful for the Empress’ laws,” the elder added. “At least now we can’t be forced to stay if we can’t bear to. But,” he gestured around, “this is our home. Here are our families. Few have the courage to leave it all behind, knowing how small their chances are.”

Just then, the small boy ripped himself away from his mother and trundled over. He tugged at the hem of my tunic, staring upward. “Pretty light. More light.”

His mother gasped, and I could see the elder freezing. I felt a little awkward about this, but what could I do? So, I crouched down, ruffling the child’s hair. “Thank you. How about this?”

I let some light qi trickle out and conjured a spark in my hand. The child giggled and tried to grab it. After a second of thought, I used a bit more qi to turn it into a real qi construct, letting it fly away. After the boy was occupied chasing the butterfly of light, I turned back to the adults.

“Your son has to have talent, to see my affinity this easily,” I said to the mother. “You must be happy.”

She nodded, smiling shakily. “Thank you, lady.”

Unspoken, we all knew that his talent wouldn’t amount to much, growing up here. He might have a slightly easier time with the work, if he reached the second stage quickly. But I doubted the people here had much time for cultivation, or any means to afford the resources that would help. Even if a few kind disciples like Lorn helped out and gave them a few tips, they’d be hard-pressed to match even the average citizen of a city with some prosperity.

The work party came closer. A few of the men split up to go into their homes, but most of them continued on to the fields. They waved at us, but didn’t head over. All of them eyed Lorn and me as if we were hungry spirit beasts. I returned their waves, smiling as I scrutinized them and the village.

“Lorn, let’s take a look at the fields,” I said. “I thank you for your indulgence, kind folk.”

Lorn obviously stifled a sigh and fell into place beside me as I walked off, leaving the small gathering behind. I cataloged everything I saw, but my thoughts were occupied with trying to analyze it, so I didn’t speak.

I didn’t see anything outright ‘evil’. No armed guards, people being whipped, or women dragged away. This was a more muted form of oppression. In a way, that made it worse. I could see the way their circumstances weighed them down, shaping their minds and bodies. I noticed the signs of exhaustion and overwork in their bodies, the way continuous hard labor strained them. I didn’t recognize the crops, but they used hand tools to work the fields. Although the tools were fed with qi to turn into something like half-automatic devices.

I sighed and pinched my nose. Lorn looked pleased at my reaction. Whatever. Let him think their plight makes me burn with anger and sadness. In truth, nothing I saw came as a particular shock. But I was annoyed. Irked because I’d seen a problem that I felt obligated to fix. But how do I do that, in a sustainable way that benefits everyone the most? I could easily give them enough money to leave, but the sect would just bring in a new group of workers.

After a while, I turned back. “You’re not from here, are you, Lorn?”

He blinked. “No. I’m from further down west, close to the Purple Shores. But this isn’t so different from home, in some respects.” He trailed off and shrugged. “I was just a street rat, before a merchant family grabbed me from the streets, to turn me into their champion. Then an elder from the sect visiting his family noticed me and offered me a scholarship.”

I nodded, although I didn’t much care about his backstory. “How does the situation here compare to others? I’m assuming this isn’t unique.”

Lorn scratched his cheek and hesitated a bit. “To be honest, it is worse than usual here. But … not fundamentally different in many places.”

“I see.” As I’d thought, then. I started walking back to the people we’d talked to before, Lorn trailing behind. His aura had tightened in a way that betrayed his rising tension.

When I came back to the young woman I’d talked to before, I smiled and greeted her pleasantly. “You do have a beautiful village here, despite everything. The way you keep going despite adversity is admirable. I’ll see if I can’t find the time to help out occasionally, if you need more beasts repelled or the like.”

The woman brightened up at that. “Thank you so much! That would help a lot. You should talk to the elder about it, though.”

I shrugged. “No need to bother him. You can pass that on, can’t you?” I dampened my voice a little. “To be honest, I don’t like the way he talks about women. Don’t let him get to you. You’re all citizens of the Empire.”

The woman smiled conspiratorially. “We have our ways of dealing with old bigots. But thank you for the sentiment.” She paused, her eyes flicking about the scene and back to my face. “Ah, do you mind a question?”

“Ask away.”

“I’ve heard that the Imperial Princess is at the sect.” The woman bit her lip. “Do you … think she will help?”

My thoughts came to a screeching halt. I could feel my face freeze. “I’m sure she will,” I said after a moment. “After all, the Empress and her family are very concerned with giving their people justice and the chance for a better life. It might not be tomorrow, but things will get better.”

“I’ll personally make sure she’s aware of the village’s circumstances,” Lorn put in, the corners of his mouth twitching.

I extended my domain to have some invisible qi slap him, but didn’t let anything show on my face. To his credit, he mostly suppressed his wince and didn’t look at me.

After a moment of thought, I pulled two medicinal pills from my storage ring and handed them to the woman. “Here, take these. To help with the problems and lasting conditions caused by overwork. They’re meant for the third stage, so you need to dilute them. Give everyone about half a cup, no more than a fifth of the total. But only for those who really need them, otherwise the effect will be too weak.” I was drawing on knowledge from a book that had mentioned this offhand, but I was pretty confident in it. At least, this wouldn’t make things worse.

The woman gasped. “Really? That’s very generous of you. May all the Greater Spirits bless you.”

I smiled, trying not to show my awkwardness as I pressed them into her hand. “It’s nothing.” Only a stopgap measure, but that’s alright. “I need to get back now.”

It took a moment to extricate myself and Lorn from the village, and when we finally walked back into the forest at a good pace, I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Go on ahead,” I said to Lorn. “Thank you for playing guide, but that’s it. And don’t talk about this to anyone, or I’ll be … upset.”

He gulped and gave me a bow. “Of course not, Your Highness.” With that, he took off, cutting through the forest.

I watched him go for a moment, but he’d put on speed and was soon out of my sight or hearing. Then I sighed and started walking back at a more leisurely pace, pulling out my robe and waiting for a good spot to put up a darkness screen and change.

“Do you hear me, spirit?” I said, glancing around me. “I don’t know if you led me here on purpose. If you did, I understand. These must be your people, the ones who give you offerings. Even though they have so little. For the sect, they’re just conveniences. But to you, they’re worth more. I get it. People are people. I know that everyone has the same value and worth, that everyone has rights that need to be respected. The nobles and the sects, they think they’re better than that, many of them, don’t they? But they’re not, and things will change.”

No answer came.

22: Family matters

I’d almost been afraid that something had happened at the sect in my absence. But when I returned, nothing had changed. So I breathed a covert sigh of relief, still a little apprehensive about the spirit’s warning and the feelings that preceded it, and got back to work.

While I kept up with formations and sparring practice, I now had two more areas added to my research list, spending most of my time in the library to work on it.

I’d asked the guards about the incident before the spirit, but they claimed not to have noticed anything suspicious. Following my hunch, I questioned them about scrying and locating people, and researched it in the library. However, while some techniques could potentially break the shielding put on me, none of them were easy or possible without some sort of link to me. And if they had succeeded, no one would have noticed, certainly not with some kind of doom sensing. But I couldn’t rule it out, and while the sect’s library was extensive, there would be lots of techniques I couldn’t find here.

After I’d read through the last of the books I’d marked as possibilities, I threw my pen down in disgust and stalked out. The weather had turned, and now gloomy skies sent down a drizzle that seemed determined to soak into everything. I tilted my face up into the rain, letting the water soothe me. This world’s rain smelled clean and fresh, and I could drink it without worrying about acidity or pollution.

I should go back to my other research, but I just couldn’t make myself do that at the moment. If this had been frustrating, then poring over tomes of law could make me go crazy. Metaphorically. I mean, there have been people who called me crazy, but that’s just hurtful. I was more sane than any of them.

Still, even trying to take a break and relax in the rain, I couldn’t make myself settle down. I got like that sometimes. My thoughts were always going, running around, pressing forward, impossible to shut off. It’s gotten better since my — my death. Maybe because of the constant meditation I do here for cultivation practice. Maybe it actually helps. I wonder if my family has the same problem? Maybe it’s a genius thing. Maybe they even have something that helps. But do I really want to take medication? I don’t even really need it. I like my thoughts, generally.

Rubbing my temple, I decided some physical activity might help me unwind, so I started jogging. Maybe I’d be lucky enough to find a training courtyard empty in the rain. If not, I’d just ignore the stares and practice my moves anyway. While I looked for one, I started to go over what I’d learned in regards to my other headache.

I’d hoped I could find some law they were breaking. If the sect was actually doing something illegal, it would make things a lot easier. Unfortunately, while they certainly had predatory business practices, they all kept within the letter of the rules. None of the villagers’ human rights were actually violated, at least so far as this country had them. Basically Mother’s new civil rights. Those all came back to the Empress’ authority, technically, there was nothing like an international charter.

Well, there were other options, but I’d prefer letting the courts handle it.

Finally, I did find an empty training spot in an out-of-the way corner. There was a rack of weapons that looked like they’d rust onto their places with a few more rainfalls. But I grabbed a practice spear, anyway. That would be an easy and effective weapon for someone with little training, so I’d concentrated on it so far. While swords were cool, I didn’t like them enough to put in the effort of training for years.

Blinking against the water streaming down my face, I started a kata Ling Ta had shown me. The rain intensified, pouring down in a steady deluge, but I didn’t mind. This was good training, anyway. And yet, I couldn’t quite concentrate on the moves. In the back of my mind, I kept chewing over the laws and what I might do, even though I’d gone over it all before.

One time, my attention wandered enough that I almost stabbed myself in the foot. Cursing, I threw the spear down, shaking wet hair out of my eyes. Good days and bad ones, and today’s a bad day. I wish I could just curl up on the couch with a good book.

“Your Highness.”

I whirled around to see San Hashar standing behind me. The rain slid off an invisible shield above her. As I watched, her qi flickered and the shield extended to cover me.

I picked up my spear, put it into storage and cycled some light qi. Frowning in concentration, I nudged the qi I gathered around me just a bit, until it emitted no visible light anymore. Instead, warmth bathed me as it converted to infrared, starting to dry the wetness. When I tried moving the qi around, it felt like a breeze, as if I’d turned on a weak hair dryer.

“Yes?” I asked.

“A message from the palace, my lady. Her Majesty the Empress invites you back due to a family matter.”

That didn’t sound good. “Which is?”

The guard hesitated. “Your Highness, it’s about Prince Alaster. He’s in a coma.”

Definitely not a good day.

I stared out the window, not really seeing the landscape passing by. We should be almost to the palace. I hoped. I’d spent most of the trip deep in thought, going in circles.

Al would be okay. There was no reason to think otherwise.

I’d need to talk to Mother about a lot of things. The village and the social structure of the Empire, for one. My ideas about technologies. Maybe I should make a list. But it wasn’t like I could forget anything.

I should probably visit Kariva, too. While I didn’t know who my guards reported to, I had a feeling it went through her.

“Is there anything you might require, Your Highness?” San Hashar asked.

I turned around. The soldier looked concerned. Maybe she was nicer than I’d given her credit for. I could probably use some conversation. “What did you do before you guarded me, San Hashar?”

She took a step closer. “I had many different postings in the last few decades. My most recent one was at the eastern shores. The longest and most interesting put me at the southern border. The culture in the south is quite fascinating, with vibrant holidays and a style of music just made for dancing. The threat of raids from the south cast a shadow over it, however. Although in my time there, I was never faced with a raid.”

I nodded. The southern border. Its mention jarred loose something in my memory. Didn’t Carston leave for the southern border? Aston had said that after I asked him about my probable father, but little more. Everyone else avoided the question. “Did you meet Carston?”

The soldier looked uncomfortable at his mention. “Not there, no. I did meet Lord Carston one time at the Imperial Palace, about two decades ago. But he was long … gone by the time I was dispatched to the south.”

Gone, huh? “What do you know about what happened?”

San Hashar shifted a bit, but then she squared her shoulders. “I know the raid he was caught in came without warning. No one ever heard from him again, of course, and he’s presumed dead. But his body was never found, and there are rumors among the troops that he isn’t.”

I blinked. That sounds like foul play. Is Mother behind that? No, that’s not like her. She would have made sure he died, anyway. The way it sounds, I doubt he really did. But … said to be dead.

“Thank you. Give me a moment, please.”

The soldier bowed and backed away, a look of understanding on her face. She probably thought I wanted to be alone to process the information about my father.

I spread some darkness qi around myself as a cover against observers, creating a spark of light qi to let me see. Then I pulled out the piece of paper I’d found in my vault at the palace. I hadn’t paid it much mind since before the sect. Although I’d memorized its contents, I wanted to take another look. It didn’t show any traces of qi. Thoughtfully, I turned it over in my hands, reading the first part again.

My dreams?

Leaving alone and said to be dead.

Why do spirits like me?

There is more to us than it seems.

Something is off. Perhaps someone, I don’t know. Mother doesn’t like me asking questions about some things. It might be related, it might not.

The second line could easily refer to Carston. He’d probably left the palace alone, and was now presumed dead. I guess I can understand that part. I have questions about that myself.

For the next question, I had a tentative answer, too. That didn’t help me find what might be off about my predecessor’s experience. Although, come to think of it, why write that down at all? The old Inaris had an eidetic memory. I mean, I sometimes write things out to help me work through them. But the way this was stored in the vault, it suggests there might be more to it. Almost as if my old self, or whatever, wrote that for my future self to find. Did she know she was going on a soul journey soon?

I put the note back, planning to ask some questions when I returned.

I didn’t have to wait long. We’d already started the descent, and now touched down on the roof of a side building. I hadn’t know there was a landing pad here, but when I disembarked, I could see several roped off areas, containing nothing but clear, level stone covering the roof.

Guards awaited me, but I only spared them a nod before setting off. I barely noticed that San Hashar stayed on the airship with most of her unit. Aston was nowhere to be seen, but I recognized most of the Imperial Guard. They fell into step around me as I hurried into the palace proper.

Through empty corridors and staircases, it didn’t take me long to arrive at the family quarters. Stopping at Al’s door, I turned the handle and entered. His room was almost empty. I saw him lying in his bed, on top of the covers, eyes closed. His breathing was so faint I wouldn’t have noticed it as a normal human.

Sighing, I sat down at the chair beside the bed, reaching for his hand. It was warm, and checking showed a slow pulse.

After a moment, I turned around to the guard standing in the corner, a man in the early part of the sixth stage who I’d seen around before. “How long has it been?”

“Today is the third day, Your Highness.”

My grip tightened. Three days? And Mother only saw fit to tell me now? I exhaled. “I guess she wanted to be sure it was his soul journey.”

The guard didn’t reply. I let go of Alaster’s hand and turned around to watch him more closely. “Is there any way to tell when someone is about to start their soul journey?”

“It seems to be mostly random,” a new voice said. The shadows in the corner swirled until Leri Kariva stepped out of them. “Your Highness.” She bowed to me.

At least they took this seriously, if Kariva herself was watching him. I inclined my head. “Please tell me more.”

“Some think that a significant change in experiences or attitudes can trigger it. But most are skeptical of that. Furthermore, there is a tendency for someone about to undergo their soul journey to become quiet, distracted, and listless. As if their souls were preparing for departure.”

I scratched my temple. So they could have suspected this was coming, like my predecessor could have.

“There isn’t any way to stop it, is there?”

Kariva shook her head, expression sober. “No. It is simply something our family’s bloodline effects. Whatever ancient ritual or strange art caused it gives us no control over the soul journeys.”

I nodded, and we fell silent.

For a while, I simply watched the boy. Wondering what world he was living in.

23: Back early

I didn’t expect to see Mother lounging on a canvas chair with a guy. Maybe I should have.

After my double-take, I stepped out onto the rooftop terrace, looking around. The summer sun burned down on us, enough to make me sweat if my robe hadn’t been enchanted. Mother looked relaxed, although the man sat bolt upright at my entry. That was harder than it sounded since she was sitting on his lap. At least they were fully clothed.

As I came closer, Mother languidly stood up, patting the man on the shoulder. “Welcome back, Inaris. This is Kei Yating. He’s, well, the closest thing I have to a boyfriend.”

We bowed to each other and exchanged polite greetings. I’d heard of Kei Yating. He’d been Mother’s lover for over a decade and was almost certainly Xiaodan’s father. Looking at him now, I could see a bit of a resemblance. He looked young, about the same age as Mother, with dark hair and dark eyes, attractive enough he could’ve been a model on Earth. His sleeveless vest didn’t leave much doubt that he worked out. I couldn’t get a good read on his cultivation stage.

“Yating, Xiaodan’s about to master a new technique in the lower courtyard,” Mother said.

He smiled and kissed her cheek before turning into a blur and racing down the side of the building. I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. At least sixth stage. He’s more than a pretty face.

“How many lovers do you have, anyway?” I settled down on another chair.

“Depends on who you count, I suppose. Three or four regular ones currently.” Mother shrugged. “They know what they’re getting into, and can say no any time they want. But there have to be some perks to being the ruler, right?”

“Sure.” I stretched out a bit, getting comfortable on the chair.

“By the way, congrats on losing your virginity.”

I choked a bit. “Uh. Thanks, I guess. I didn’t, really. The guards reported it?”

“They report everything of relevance, although I’m only told the important parts. There’s also a tiny change in your aura. Something like this is considered a significant transition in this world.”

“Great.”

The conversation died there and we waited, the silence stretching on, until Mother sighed. “Okay. You want to know why I didn’t call you earlier, don’t you?”

“Sure.”

“Because there was no need to. Soul journeys always take at least a few days, and I saw no reason to take you out of the sect unnecessarily.”

I pushed the chair in a more upright position and turned to face her fully. “I get that. On the topic of the sect, though. I have a feeling you haven’t chosen it just because of its prestige. You wanted to challenge me to come in conflict with them in some way.”

Mother regarded me for a moment, her fingers tapping on her armrests, until she finally nodded. “Yes. I have a suspicion they’re doing something illegal, and I want you to find out. There’s nothing concrete, except hints from the qi in the area, and their behavior …”

I told her about what I’d seen in the village. All the while, she listened quietly and her expression didn’t change.

“This isn’t just the one sect, is it?” I asked at the end.

“Yes. It’s a systemic problem,” Mother admitted. “But this sect is more important than most, which is why I want you to investigate.”

“I hope you’re planning on doing something. Soon.”

“I am,” she assured me. “I’ve been preparing for a while.”

I looked at her in silence for a moment, then nodded. “Good. Then I’ll leave reform in your hands … for now.”

Mother cocked her head. “Why do I get the feeling that was too easy?”

I smiled and continued to look her in the eyes. “I mean it. I’m trusting you to handle this. Please don’t disappoint me.”

Another mother — or ruler — in this world would have been incensed. But Mother simply met my gaze calmly. When she spoke, her tone was sober. “I understand. I won’t.”

Silence returned, as we were both lost in contemplation.

How would you go about this? What I could think of was making new laws. Setting a minimum wage and a cap on rents and taxes. Then maybe workplace safety regulations and all the rest. But you’d have to control and enforce them, and I didn’t think this country had experience with that sort of regulation. Maybe it would be smarter to focus on creating new, acceptable jobs, so people had alternatives and could leave bad positions. In any case, Mother would be far more knowledgeable about the state of affairs than me.

After a while, the conversation resumed, this time centered on lighter topics. Mostly, we discussed ideas I’d had about technological improvements. I wished I could stay longer, this wouldn’t be enough to really get things started, but I could at least get her blessing on a few ideas I had. Plus, I asked her to get together a team I could work with when I returned from the sect so I could tackle that computer. Formations masters, whatever this world had in the way of electricians, mechanical engineers — variety would be useful. Also, any transmigrators who might know something related to the topic. Computers didn’t seem to be widespread among the different worlds, let alone people who really worked with them, but it didn’t hurt to check.

Then I talked about a few simpler ideas I had, ones that should be obvious.

“Telegraph lines?” Mother asked, eyebrows raised. So maybe not obvious.

“We already have electricity, it should be simple. And we’d get almost-instant communication that doesn’t rely on qi. Seems like it would have a lot of strategic value, if nothing else.”

“Now I feel stupid,” she sighed. “Of course it would. We just need to take care of protection from beast attacks. I’ll get together a few people working with electrical power. Can you write up some plans?”

“I already did.” I smiled and took a stack of papers out of my storage ring. “There’s a few things here. You can look through it. When I get back, I’d like to take charge and push the projects along. Though it’s not like I’ll have much time for it, sadly.”

Mother took the papers and leafed through them, nodding. “I’ll look forward to seeing what you can do.”

Great, now I’m nervous. I wasn’t much of a scientist, and only knew the basics of physics or chemistry. But with the help of local scholars and transmigrators, that should be enough for some technological progress. I’d already decided to start simple when it came to automation, but I figured I could bring larger-scale plans up after seeing how this worked out.

I was trying to find the best wording of the Church-Turing thesis when a pulse of qi entered my room. Frowning, I looked up from my desk, pausing my pen above the sheet of sheet of paper I’d been about to complete.

The qi formed into glowing letters in the air, spelling out ‘He’s awake’.

I departed in a flash. The pen clattered onto the desk, but I was already out of the door. Then I hurried down the corridor and flung open the door to Al’s room, stepping inside.

Al was just sitting up, blinking and looking around. He paused when he faced Mother, who stood before the bed, her hands clasped in front of her, hidden inside her sleeves. I couldn’t see her expression from my angle, only Alaster’s. A lot of emotions chased each other across his face.

“I - “ He swallowed. “I’m back. Mommy. I’m back.”

The next instant, Mother enveloped him in a hug, gripping him tightly.

He remembers. I came closer, waiting for my turn to hug Al.

I couldn’t help but feel a bit of a pang at seeing Mother hugging my brother. She’d never shown me any physical affection. She was probably busy with important things when I awoke from my soul journey. And then she didn’t want to scare me, since I didn’t remember anything. It was bad enough without dealing with emotional family. I stifled a sigh, a little annoyed at myself. I should have seen that the humor in our interactions was covering for hurt. Obviously she’d be emotionally affected by her daughter having this sort of memory loss.

Finally, she let him go, and I stepped up. “Al.” I hugged him, careful not to apply too much force or make him feel constricted.

When I released him, he continued looking around the room. “I’m back in Aran. I went on a soul journey … that means I died.” He closed his eyes, shaking. Mother started to hug him again, but he pushed her away, taking deep breaths. “I’m fine. I just need a bit of time to adjust.”

He was speaking in English, but had faint traces of an accent now. I guessed it was Asian. From a tonal language, maybe Chinese. But that was just an impression.

“So, you remember?” I asked quietly.

Alaster nodded, blinking. “Yes. Most of my memories of this life are vague, but … I remember lots of things. Like how you came back from your soul journey recently.”

He took a few deep breaths, wiping his eyes. We gave him time to collect himself. After a bit, his expression hardened and he stood up.

Mother commented, “You sound older.”

“I’m seventeen.” He grimaced.

“I’m very sorry you died this young.”

“My life on Earth…” He shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about it. Please don’t ask.”

Both of us nodded somberly. He’s from Earth too! I was dying from curiosity, but I’d respect his wishes and not bring his old life up. He’d have a hard enough time coming to accept his death without painful reminders. Heaven knows I haven’t quite accepted it yet.

He seemed more affected than me, maybe because he had two sets of memories, and knew his old life was gone right away. If his new old body wasn’t calm, he’d probably freak out completely. Although, he has to go through puberty twice now. Poor boy. That’s almost worse than losing your memories.

I took his hand and gave it a squeeze, trying to make it clear that I supported him. Although a little part of me was jealous of his luck, it was beaten and kicked into the corner by the larger part that was just glad he would remember his life, and me. Not that I knew him that well, yet, but I didn’t want to go through the whole drama again with me on the other side.

“You’re back, that is what matters,” Mother said. “Take your time to adjust. We’ll all support you. Well, Inaris is going back to the sect soon. But reach out if you need help.”

Alaster nodded. “Of course, Mother.”

“We’ll need to talk about serious topics, but that can come later. For now, I’m just glad to have you back.”

“We all are,” I added.

His eyebrows drew together a little and he didn’t reply. I couldn’t blame him. Of course he wasn’t glad his life ended.

24: I have a PR problem

I would have liked to stay longer and spend time with Al. Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be. Unlike his previous behavior, the new Alaster was withdrawn, preferring to spend time cultivating than talking to me. Or anyone. Also, Mother wouldn’t hear of it, sending me back to the sect the day after he awoke. Since that had happened so early, only a day after I returned, I didn’t get to spend much time at home before I faced the airship again.

This time, it would start from the pad atop the palace, not the transport hub further down. I had the feeling Mother didn’t want to draw attention to my short visit. That would require explaining that something had happened to Al, I supposed.

At least he’d come to see me off. After I finished hugging Xiaodan, who seemed to cling on longer every time I let her get her hands on me, I looked to him. He stood a bit farther away, hands in his pockets.

“You know, I’m not infectious,” I teased him. “You can hug me goodbye. I promise we won’t tell anyone.”

He snorted, but I saw a faint smile. “I guess I am tired of social distancing.” He stepped into my hug.

I hadn’t used that term at all, which confirmed that he really was from Earth and not too far into the future, if the pandemic was still going on. Once he was ready to talk about it, I’d ask.

Then it was time to face the music. I entered the airship, barely giving the opulent decor a second glance. It was amazing how quickly living as a princess desensitized one to luxury. Not that I had used the minibar or massage chairs.

Instead, I flung myself onto a divan on the observation deck. After watching the fortress and city shrink into the distance, I grew bored of looking out the window and rifled through my spatial ring.

There was a lot of stuff inside. Most of it I’d grabbed in preparation for my time at the sect. A lot of it things that might come in handy or save my hide in certain contingencies. But there were also a few things I’d kept because the old Inaris had valued them, a few less practical items. Chiefly, of course, books. I’d taken along a stack of novels I’d found in her collection.

This world’s version of science fiction was bound to be fascinating. So I chose a novel set in the future and cracked the book open. So far, I’d resisted the lure of fiction, since I had so much to do. But now I felt I’d earned a break.

I wasn’t prepared for the experience. Not because the book was bad or even all that strange. Although the style took a little getting used to, I enjoyed the story. But reading a story while having a perfect memory felt weird. I remembered everything, never had to wonder at a name or check back. More importantly, I could already tell that I wouldn’t forget even the most minor of twists.

Actually, this is a little depressing. I won’t be able to really reread a favorite novel. Usually, even if I knew the big surprises, there were always little things to re-discover. Now I’d basically absorb the entire novel. Well, maybe that just means I can reread it in my mind, without even needing the book.

These really had to be my predecessor’s favorites, though, worthy of being kept in the collection.

Just when the villain was about to crash the space station onto a floating island, we arrived. I hastily stowed the book and smoothed out my robes. I’d have to make time to finish the book soon, but for now, I hurried to the hatch, San Hashar gliding into place beside me.

No one was there to greet me. I looked around, taking note of the deserted road and single guard posted next to the gate to the sect. He stepped aside to let us enter, his face expressionless. I hurried up the path to the sect buildings, my reinforced body moving at a pace beyond the humanly possible. At some point, the guards around me dissipated, and when I came to the busier areas, I was alone.

Disciples went about their business, same as usual. It didn’t look like anything had changed in the two days I’d been gone. Although something felt a little off. Maybe it was the fact that no one seemed to care about my return.

I decided to go check on my room. I didn’t meet anyone on the way, and when I stepped into the building, I slowed down and let my senses for qi sweep it. Everything registered as normal. Slowly, I walked through the building, instead of taking the staircase.

A few times, I did see another disciple. But only for a moment. When they noticed me, they’d immediately turn back and vanish in their rooms. The few who were walking along the corridor just kept their heads down and kept their distance.

At least it didn’t look like anyone had been in my room. I checked it thoroughly, taking a few more items into my spatial ring. Just in case. I was definitely missing something here.

That feeling persisted. When I went back to the library, I received far less bows or other respectful greetings than usual. Maybe they were resentful that I could leave for days and come back without any problems. In the library itself, everyone continued to do their best to avoid me. Not that I minded the lack of curious onlookers, but those people who did watch me seemed less curious or starstruck, and instead, their looks struck me as darker.

But I put it out of my mind, instead concentrating on my studies. I still looked through the arts and techniques here in order to learn more about the world. But now, I also focused more on how I might use them, how they compared to Earth-technology solutions for the same problems. I had to restrain myself, though. I needed to concentrate on getting stronger. The eighth stage wouldn’t reach itself, and time showed no mercy.

So I returned to my favorite spot for cultivating. It was a hill sheltered by a few boulders, overlooking a waterfall. A few other disciples sat close to the pond at the lower end of the fall, eyes closed. They didn’t acknowledge me, and I gave them a wide berth since I didn’t want to interrupt their cultivation.

At least my spot was free. I settled down, feeling for the cracks in the boulders and pulling darkness out of them. I sank into my meditation, letting the qi of the world flow through me and taking it in.

Suddenly, the serenity was broken. I blinked and opened my eyes. Nothing looked wrong. I hadn’t concentrated on it, but I remembered the qi presence that had roused me. Someone had moved by close to me, sending out a burst of qi. Probably training some technique.

I frowned and stood up. Okay, what is going on? This might not be a big deal, but people would have been more careful of interrupting the Imperial Princess before. The disciple didn’t stick around, and I hadn’t gotten a good enough read to identify them. Maybe it wasn’t deliberate, but something was off.

I departed and walked through the sect, keeping my senses sharp. I didn’t imagine it, people were definitely avoiding me. They never did anything openly disrespectful, but the atmosphere had changed. The animosity left the hairs on the back of my neck prickling.

I returned to another secluded spot, between a grove of trees and the river. “What’s going on here?”

I looked around, but didn’t find anything. So I started to pace, trying to think about any clue I’d noticed.

After a few minutes, I felt a familiar presence coalesce, and turned to see San Hashar coming to a stop in front of me. Her right hand was clenched around something.

She bowed. “Your Highness.”

“Rise, San Hashar. I hope you have information for me.”

“Yes, my princess.” She straightened up. There was a frown line tugging at her eyebrows.

I noticed a few other shapes coming closer, veiled from sight but their qi standing out to me just enough to be noticed. I recognized them as guards. They formed a perimeter.

“I have investigated the change in behavior and attitude that seems to have come over the people in this sect,” she reported. “We did not find any outright threats to your person. However, the atmosphere has turned decidedly more hostile, and sect elders are reluctant to cooperate with us without being cowed. At first, I thought it was simply resentment over Your Highness’ departure and seeming ability to leave and enter it with impunity. I did find indications of jealousy in that regard.”

I nodded. “What exactly?”

“Mostly comments intended to be private and insinuations,” San Hashar said, her lip curling slightly. “The most explicit one was complaining about my lady ‘gallivanting around’ and ‘treating the seclusion of the sect as a joke’, or ‘rubbing in her position by flaunting her ability to leave when we can’t’.”

“I see.” I grimaced. “I hope those will die down with time. Their jealousy is understandable in principle, I suppose, but I’m a little surprised at the vehemence.”

San Hashar shook her head. “Ordinarily, I would expect them to die down, as well. But the fact that the disciples would utter such disrespect so readily roused my suspicion. I am quite sure that part of this issue is spillover from another source of resentment, one more dangerous. It took a while to ferret out, but I believe I have cracked the mystery.”

That didn’t sound good. “Do tell.”

“There has been resentment and derision starting shortly after our departure, along with seditious rumors, decrying Your Highness’ attitude and goals. The source was hidden, but I finally found this.”

She held up the item she’d been carrying. A small black ball, probably crystal, glowing with qi of different affinities. I recognized the type. This was a recorder of some kind. San Hashar fed it a bit of her qi, and it activated.

“People are people. I know that everyone has the same value and worth, that everyone has rights that need to be respected. The nobles and the sects, they think they’re better than that, many of them, don’t they? But they’re not, and things will change.”

What the freaking hell? I stared at the recorder, only remembering to close my mouth a moment later. I really hadn’t expected to hear my own voice resounding like this, repeating words I hadn’t given a second thought. The voice sounded more sinister than I remembered.

“I said this in the forest, intended for a spirit to hear,” I said. “No one else was near. Or so I thought. Where did this come from?”

San Hashar glanced away and bowed her head. “Unfortunately, this one was unable to pinpoint the source, Your Highness. My deepest apologies for the failure. It was hidden well. I do not believe many people actually heard this. Most of the effect would have been spread by rumors.”

“Not really an improvement, considering how rumors propagate.” I sighed and rubbed my temple. “I imagine the damage is done.”

“Most likely, my lady.” San Hashar straightened up and clasped her hands behind her back. “Most would not like the crown princess spouting such … untraditional sentiments.”

I swallowed, feeling a drop in my stomach. There was no reason to believe this would stay in the sect. I definitely have an enemy, someone is trying to hurt me. And now I have a PR problem.

“But I believe most nobles will dismiss the rumors as exaggerations or blowing up youthful naivete,” the soldier added.

I hope so. “But in the sect, they’re taken seriously.” I shook my head. “I would have thought at least the commoners would support me.”

At least San Hashar seems to be on my side. I guess she comes from a common background. The soldier spoke without any dialect, same as anyone I’d met in the palace, but that could be trained.

“Most likely, they’re afraid of openly supporting this view and attracting retaliation.”

Well, that just figures. I frowned down at the orb before tossing it back to the soldier. “Take this to Leri Kariva. She’ll want to try and trace where this move came from. There’s nothing else I can do, I fear.”

San Hashar tucked it into her robe and bowed. “Respectfully, you should prepare to face increased hostility towards your person in the sect, Your Highness.”

“I know, but I can deal with it,” I grumbled. “If they cross the line, I will beat them for it.” I considered. “Or have you fine soldiers beat them up.”

She fell in beside me as I started walking again. “There might also be an increased threat of assassins from outside, my princess.”

I glanced at the horizon, where I could make out the wall surrounding the sect. “That might be the whole point.”

Hopefully, Mother would let me go back soon.

25: Non-crippling blows only

Things didn’t improve the next days. I tried to keep my head down and avoid doing anything to further the rumors. Even then, I knew that was an effort doomed to failure. So, I simply tried to concentrate on learning and improving. That was the whole purpose of being in the sect, after all.

But the other disciples’ behavior preyed on my mind. I felt isolated and lonely. Emotions I knew well and could deal with, but they took the joy out of learning about a magical world. I had to muster the motivation to read about history or culture, and often reached for my old self’s novels. Escapism to combat loneliness was also familiar. At least I managed steady progress with my cultivation, and new things with formation arrays.

The problem was that the irritants actually hindered my progress. Many disciples weren’t content with just avoiding me, but made my life difficult in minor ways. Snide looks and hushed whispers didn’t bother me much, beyond sapping my willpower. But when I returned to the library, I often found the books I’d been reading were taken out, and the older disciples assigned to the library professed under many apologies that they were unable to help me find volumes matching my requirements.

It was slightly more apparent in the workshop. The one I’d been going to saw less and less traffic. People no longer let me look over their shoulders as they worked. In fact, they tended to pack up shortly after I entered, to attend to urgent business elsewhere. Funnily enough, that didn’t reduce the demand on books or materials any.

None of them were openly disrespectful. Maybe my silence and inaction encouraged them. As the days went on, these kinds of things became worse. From a single misplaced book to almost all in a particular topic checked out. From working with elementary formations if I was there to taking materials I might need and leaving.

But the worst was probably martial arts practice and sparring. While people couldn’t refuse to partner with me under the gaze of the elders, they never put up a serious challenge. Later on, they’d let me beat them while barely fighting back, smirking at the end. Making it clear to everyone what happened.

The atmosphere was turning against me. I knew that. People saw everyone else doing things like that and joined in. Group mentality would push them beyond reasonable caution, leading them to actions they would usually recognize as stupid.

I sighed, kicking my feet in the pond. I was alone in the clearing, of course, and tried to destress after another practice session where the only thing I trained was my facial muscles and self-control. The cool water and birds chirping in the trees helped me push it aside, but they couldn’t quite ease the frustration.

I couldn’t really attack them. Oh sure, I could impose my will and leave them groveling, but the problem was that would only cement the issue. I’d be perceived as the one at fault, as a bully, if I struck back too hard. But what else can I do? Bait them into openly insulting me, then come down hard? The rate things are going, it’s going to happen soon enough. But that’s not the real solution.

I shook my head. Changing people’s minds and hearts was never easy. Maybe it wasn’t even worth trying here.

They’d even unnerved me enough that I took to wearing most of my protection. Enchanted items and hidden shields I’d been given at the palace, to ensure the heir wouldn’t die from an unfortunate accident. I’d always kept some surprises on me, but added more as time went on. Better to be cautious.

Feeling annoyed, I got up and made my way over to the main sect buildings. It was about time I checked up on other things. Although I couldn’t help but keep worrying over what I might do about the way the disciples treated me. The elders would be reluctant to help, since they clearly shared their attitude, just hid it better.

I was so consumed by my thoughts that I barely paid attention to my surroundings. I noticed that failing when my foot slipped in a puddle, and I had to flail around, almost falling, before I regained my balance.

Snickering followed. A group of disciples sat under the shade of a tree close by, with qi constructs around them. I glanced back at the puddle. Had it been that way before, or had something happened? If only I’d paid more attention.

I looked back at the disciples. Some others had stopped at the minor scene, and most of them put their heads together. My eyes narrowed as I recognized one of the girls in the closer group. The girl I’d helped back at the beginning, when she was being bullied. She sneered and leaned over to whisper something to the girl besides her. I couldn’t make it out, but from the glances they shot at me, what they said was easy enough to guess.

And wasn’t that one of the former bullies standing there? Just a few meters from her former victim. I guess I know what’s what. They both snickered at something another guy said. The group looked pretty diverse, with people from the second to the fourth stage, some inner disciples. Maybe they were a regional faction or something.

I shrugged and ambled closer to them, looking them over. It took quite a bit for them to notice me and stand up.

“Something we can help you with?” one of them asked.

I let the silence draw out for a bit before I shrugged. “No. I’m sure you are all studying hard for improving your techniques. It is nice to see disciples helping each other like that.”

When I turned away, they were silent for a bit, before the conversations resumed. I could hear what might be scoffs from a few people. Then a few low exchanges that were mostly banter about helping each other.

But I circulated qi to my ears, sharpening my hearing. And one of them was too careless, parts of their comment reaching me, “… so weak, how will … Empire cope …”.

Okay, that’s it.

I turned back around, holding up my hand and sending a trickle of qi through the talisman in the form of a gold-threaded silk bracelet cradling my wrist. Then I marched back towards the group of disciples. I could hear the people around me falling silent, watching.

The disciples clearly knew something was up, and most of them showed signs of unease. They certainly stood up quicker than before, some bowing.

At the same time, I felt the presence of guards joining me. One of them descended from the sky, one melted out of a shadow in front of the crowd, and one of them simply strode through the throng. They came to attention around me.

“What did you just say?” I asked, quietly but with a voice cold enough to cut, the brown-haired boy standing next to the girl from before. He was an inner disciple, at least in his twenties.

He shifted.

“Not man enough to repeat it, are you?” I snorted. “Just as well.”

“I didn’t - “

“You called me weak.” I cut him off, taking another step forward. “How dare you, you worm?”

The crowd grew even quieter. I noticed it had swollen, other disciples coming over perhaps in response to my pulse of qi.

“He disrespected his princess.” I stated, my voice dropping over the space like a stone. I looked to the guards. “Teach him what that means.”

I could have beaten him myself, since he was in the early part of the fourth stage. But I didn’t want this to be me winning and then kicking him while he was down. No, this was the Imperial Princess administering justice.

The guards didn’t hesitate. Two of the soldiers grabbed the boy, while Kei Weriga took up a guard position beside me. The disciple struggled, but the fifth-stage soldiers made him look like a toddler in comparison. He tried to use a technique, but one of the guards flared his qi, of the darkness affinity, and suppressed the boy, smothering his attempts.

They dragged him away from the group, into open space in front of me, and in full view of everyone. Then they started beating on him. A few strikes brought the disciple staggering to his knees.

I’d been pulling in some air qi, then formed it and sent it to the guards, carrying a message others wouldn’t overhear. I wanted them to be careful, to avoid any crippling or long-lasting harm.

Of course, the definition of ‘lasting harm’ was different in a world with qi-based healing and medicinal pills. The guards certainly didn’t go easy on the offender. Their strikes and kicks were precise and smooth, and the way they targeted them told me they knew what they were doing. His head only received glancing blows, while his torso and extremities took the brunt. I could hear bones snapping a few times. I made sure my face didn’t flicker, watching everything with a cool expression.

At first, the boy tried fighting back, but quickly, that was reduced to trying to cover his vulnerable spots. It didn’t take long for him to fall and finally curl into a ball. The guards stopped soon after that.

The beating didn’t take long. Of course, with cultivators that could move quicker than any normal human, quite a number of blows fell.

At last, one of the guards stepped back, while the other crouched and pulled the disciple’s hands away. “Speak,” he commanded.

The boy blinked. Then he raised his head and glanced at me. Slowly, he levered himself to his knees so he could get into position for a kowtow. “Please, forgive this unworthy one, Your Highness.”

I let the moment stretch out just a bit, conscious of the eyes on me. Then I gave a firm nod. “You’re forgiven.”

Without sparing him another glance, I turned around, letting my gaze sweep over the crowd. He’d be right as rain tomorrow. I curled my lip slightly, before I strode away. Disciples scrambled out of my path.

As I went, I could hear people start talking. The tone had definitely changed.

I didn’t feel particularly ashamed or remorseful. The boy had brought this on himself, and while my orders might have been ethically dubious, there was enough justification in my mind. In the end, I headed off worse possibilities. I didn’t feel particularly good or smug about it, either, just indifferent.

Maybe news spread, but no one else came close to me the rest of the way, and I didn’t hear any hushed whispers directed at me. Satisfied that this went well enough, I returned to the library.

I stayed there for quite a while, enjoying the newfound calm. Immersing myself in books, I only stopped long enough to conjure some water to drink before diving back into another topic. No one bothered me. While I was still aware of disciples watching, they didn’t concern me as much.

When I left to return to my routine, I noticed the same. The snide looks and whispers vanished, or were at least carefully hidden. Disciples still avoided me, but they didn’t make it quite so obvious, and many of them ducked their heads rather than scrunch up their noses at me when they did. I overheard some of what they said, and privately shook my head at it.

Having someone beat up for impertinence has shaken them. But I think it’s more of a ‘shaken awake’ then ‘shaking in shock’. Maybe I looked at this too much like an Earth me problem, forgot how this world views strength.

Overall, things calmed down, and my next few days in the sect were productive. I still felt antsy, but my quick progress helped keep my mood up.

Unfortunately, things changed sooner than I thought. I was cultivating in my favorite spot when San Hashar came to tell me the news.

“A Heavenly Gold Bear. Sounds suspicious,” I commented. “A beast in the equivalent of the seventh stage just so happens to wander here, threatening the settlement?”

The soldier tilted her head. “Things like that do happen occasionally. And whether there is more to it or not, I am needed to fight it. The sect patriarch is old, and the usual reinforcements they’d call might not come quickly enough for the outlying villages.”

“Of course.” I stood up and fidgeted with my robe to pull it straighter. “Go and subdue it, I wouldn’t keep you. And yes, take some of your strongest people with you.”

“I’m uncomfortable leaving you exposed,” she admitted after a moment. “Especially like this.”

I nodded. “We will need to have the rest of the guards reinforce the perimeter. I don’t trust this, and a real threat is more likely to come from outside. But don’t worry. I’m well protected, Mother’s people saw to that. And if needed, you can be at my side in minutes even from deeper in the forest, can’t you?”

“Quicker, my lady.” San Hashar straightened up. “I will keep as close as I am able.”

I ran a hand through my hair, smiling a little. “I suppose this has given me an opportunity, as well. A distraction is just what I needed.”

She regarded me silently for a moment, before nodding. “Then, with your leave?”

I nodded. “May the Wind speed your steps, the Sun warm you and the Moon guide you, San Hashar,” I quoted.

She went to a knee, bowing her head for a moment. “Your will, Luminous Princess.”

Then she departed. I looked after her for a moment before I turned my thoughts to planning my next steps.

26: Sneaking about

I exhaled a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding as we reached the shadow of the last dormitory building. I stopped and checked our surroundings again, making sure that no one was near. The fading rays of sunset made the buildings look sinister, throwing sharp shadows everywhere. Good for me, though.

I checked my attire once more. Dark gray clothes and an enchanted hood. I carried most of my defensive talismans, even if they made me feel weird. Two rings, two amulets under my shirt, an ankle chain, and of course the calling bracelet. Along with a few knives and pills stowed away, everything I might need on a moment’s notice would be ready, the rest in my spatial ring. Yeah, I’m prepared to go sneaking.

I turned to the guard who’d escorted me out of my room, a woman in the late fifth stage by the name of Li Yahra. Her darkness qi spread out around us, hiding us from the sight, hearing and qi senses of any passersby. My own qi hovered beneath it, reinforcing her technique a little. I’d originally planned to have light bent around me, but that would interfere with her veil, and this was definitely the better option for getting out unseen.

“This is it, now,” I said. “From here, I need to go on alone.”

The guard bowed her head, but didn’t depart yet. “Your Highness, are you sure we can’t …”

“Positive,” I repeated, rolling my eyes. “I said I can’t risk you watching me. Even if you could trick their shields, you’d need to use qi. That would need to be anchored around me and might be traced.”

“Of course, Your Highness.” The guard bowed lower. Then she swirled away into the shadows, her veil gradually fading.

I made sure I continued to be covered. More of my darkness qi surged out to lay around me, and I erected a layer of light qi along with it. With an effort of will, I extended that veil to cover other kinds of radiation and hide my heat signature, too.

Taking a deep breath, I started walking. Although I was tempted to try and stick to the darkest areas, flitting from shadow to shadow, it would be more efficient to move smoothly and with few deviations. So I walked up to my first real obstacle slowly, approaching it from the side.

For I moment, I wondered if I was making the right decision. But even if the sect would let me into their highly restricted areas, they’d always keep an eye on me and steer me away from anything important. Insisting would only tip them off that I’m trying to investigate. Well, let’s hope Mother is onto something and I’m not doing this for no reason. I could totally see her getting me to sneak into the sect leadership’s playground as a test.

The gate looked innocuous enough. It was the only solid structure in a wall otherwise consisting only of inscribed pillars and qi. I approached it silently, glad that they didn’t have the equivalent of motion sensors and seemed to rely on their access restriction for security. At least San Hashar had figured out their security measures early on, and I knew I could get in.

I stopped in front of the gate and lifted part of my veil. Then, going slowly and with care, I pulled in air qi from the surroundings while still keeping the rest of it going. My world shrunk to qi, my concentration deepening.

Laboriously, I formed the qi into the correct shape. A few times, I noticed I’d made a mistake and had to reshape a section. As I got closer to completion, the mental strain intensified, until a headache pounding away against my skull threatened to distract me. But I persevered. Finally, I got the qi shaped like I wanted it, in both outer form and aspect, and inserted it into the singular keyhole in the door. Another effort of will later, this one making me see bright spots against the surrounding darkness, it clicked.

I breathed out my tension, taking a moment to close my eyes and let the headache ease. Without my genius memory, I’d never have been able to do this in time. Without my unique ability, it would have been hopeless. But I’d come here to observe sect elders entering many times since I came back. A few of them, presumably those who had an affinity for air qi, formed the key on their own. Others had a qi-imbued token they used for access. I’d considered trying to steal one, but decided it wasn’t worth the risk. So I’d observed until I was confident I could mimic the qi they used. Without my improved understanding, it would have taken months.

Carefully, I pushed the door open a bit, then hurried through and closed it again. I stilled, sweeping the area with my senses. No one here, and nothing reacted. I wished I could have taken along a guard, but the door only let one person through at a time, and it might have detected if I tried to substitute my qi signature for someone else’s.

After waiting for a bit, I continued on. I drew my veil tightly about myself, although I did have to adjust the light qi part. I didn’t know what sort of illumination I’d get, and I needed enough light to come through that I could see, without giving my presence away.

The path I walked on looked no different from those in the other parts of the sect. It took me uphill at an increasing rate. I passed a few buildings close to the gate, but after giving those a thorough inspection from here, I decided not to bother with them. We’d already done some snooping and determined they were worthless targets, just storage and office space or armories built close to the gate for easy access in emergencies. This sect had a lot of buildings, but I suspected they played a part in some landscaped formation array.

As I continued on, I couldn’t help anxiously scanning the shadows around me. Maybe I was making a mistake. But whoever might be after me, they certainly wouldn’t expect me to go sneaking about like this. They should have no way to locate me. In a way, I’m probably safer here than in my room, if someone is after me. Maybe I’m just being paranoid. And besides, I couldn’t squander this opportunity.

The restricted part of the compound wasn’t that big. Maybe a few hundred meters across from the entrance to the wall, although it stretched out wider to the sides. I eyed the house, more like palace, at the top of the hill. This would be the home of the sect patriarch and the most revered elders. There were additional protections on it. Ones I couldn’t be confident in breaking. I didn’t even know if I’d caught all of them. If only I was at a higher stage.

I meandered through the grounds, circling the buildings several times. Everything was quiet. No matter how much I strained my ears, they only caught the whispering of the wind. No one moved, except for a single guard patrolling the edges of the wall where it met the rest of the sect grounds. Judging from his aura, a core disciple, in the fifth stage.

I made sure to stay still and tighten my veil whenever I got close to him, but he never even glanced in my direction. He’d be more concerned about a threat from outside than whoever might already be inside. I didn’t know if there were supposed to be more guards further in, but they could have been pulled because of the situation with the beast.

As the minutes passed by and I didn’t find anything, I had to focus to keep my frustration under control. Maybe I should try to get into the mansion. But my gut warned me against that. Better to cut my losses and return. I’d already gained a lot of valuable intel, and I could afford to be patient.

I was about to conclude that I should turn back, when an incongruity caught my eye. Something about the shadows cast by that house was off. It stood in a back corner, smaller and meaner than its fellows, as if they had cast it aside for not following the sect’s flamboyance. Might have been more suspicious if similar, less maintained houses hadn’t been present in the other parts of the area.

I stepped closer, reaching out with my qi and at the same time scrutinizing the corner in question. I didn’t actually feel anything, but after considering the nearby light sources and how the shadows should fall, I felt sure of my interpretation. It might have been dark enough that a normal human couldn’t have seen it, but I had no problems piercing darkness. The ground was elevated slightly here, something blocking the light rays just a bit.

I crouched down and carefully stretched my senses out over the ground. Now that I came closer, I could feel just a faint echo of a qi construct. Someone had hidden this, and hidden it well, but not well enough to thwart someone who could see qi as easily as me. At least if I knew where to look.

Carefully, I spread some of my own darkness qi over it, letting it sink into and mingle with the enchantment until I could see through it. I took my time, examining everything with utmost care, before I breathed a sign of relief. No real security measures, just concealment. That made sense, since hiding a high-level protective enchantment wouldn’t be simple.

I crouched, checked the area one last time, then lifted the hidden trapdoor. Beneath it, I could see the beginning of a tunnel. Quickly, I swept it to make sure there were no hidden traps, then jumped down and pulled the trapdoor closed behind me.

My head almost brushed the top of the tunnel, and I couldn’t stretch out both arms without hitting the wall. It smelled like earth. Even though it was completely dark, my qi senses and darkness affinity let me perceive everything around me, and I could see that the tunnel didn’t stretch out long. I continued forward, stepping carefully and looking for anything suspicious.

After maybe two hundred meters, I reached a gate. It wasn’t physical, just a barrier made of qi with the shape of a door inside.

I crouched a little and took a closer look. I could sense an alarm formation interwoven with the barrier, but I got the feeling it would only react if someone opened the door. Presumably, there was some way to turn it off, but I didn’t have a clue how.

Still, this didn’t have to be the end. I adjusted my veil a little and sent parts of my light qi out, probing. As I thought, the barrier prevented people or objects passing through, but it didn’t prevent light. So I formed my best impression of a flashlight and looked beyond it.

A wide chamber with several doors leading off of it. At the side, there was a section that looked straight out of some mad scientist’s laboratory. Tables and seats with restraints, things that could only be microscopes, shelves with many devices or neatly labeled bottles. I didn’t recognize half of the things there, but the rest were obvious enough to make it clear I’d found a secret research area.

Frowning, I altered my technique a little, shifting the wavelength. The doors between this room and the next ones were flimsy wood, and didn’t stand up to infrared light. Behind this one, I could see several smaller rooms arranged around a corridor. Most of them contained heat signatures in the shape of a person.

Well, this is pretty clear, I guess.

I took a step closer and ever so carefully pushed up against the barrier. Then I closed my eyes and concentrated on my qi senses. The boundary made it hard, like looking through milky glass. But I kept at it, adjusting until I could filter it out enough to get a good idea of the area.

As I thought, most of the devices glowed with qi. Different affinities, but all of it intricately made formations. Looking beyond that, I focused on the people. They were all in the first or second stage of cultivation, like the workers from the village. And yet, something was off. Their qi pulsated angrily, flowing in unnatural shapes through their bodies. And in some parts, qi was concentrated, glowing far more strongly than the rest. But it didn’t give me the same sensation it should have.

Chewing my lips, I tried to peer more closely. The qi in odd spots looked remarkably similar across persons. I could distinguish two clear groups. That confirmed my impression - it was foreign qi someone had injected into them.

So much for the sect. I stepped back and opened my eyes, frowning at the door. Getting your own qi into someone else’s body was illegal, outside of specific medical applications, and especially without their consent. That was an old law, far more rooted in the Empire than most of Mother’s new ones. Mostly because failure could lead to catastrophes that damaged far more than the recipient.

I didn’t know if the sect had obtained these people’s informed consent, but I had trouble believing it. Probably they pretend they have consent, but coerced them in some way.

For a moment, I considered barging in. But I was alone in the heart of the sect’s territory. I’d get out and set things in motion to deal with this, get people that could capture the compound and investigate what was going on here. These people will just have to stay a little longer, and it’s not like any of them look about to die.

Sighing, I turned around, quickly letting the ‘secret lab’ fade into the distance. When I reached the trapdoor, I waited for a bit, trusting my ears and qi senses to pick up anyone nearby, then climbed up. The area still seemed deserted. I carefully made my way back to the gate, feeling myself relax a little more as I came closer.

I had to wonder what the sect was trying to accomplish. Probably a way to make their disciples stronger. While they were prestigious, they’d lost a good deal of influence they once had. In their view, losing a few commoners to failed experiments was probably worth the chance of discovering a new technique or something. Not for much longer.

Almost despite my expectations, everything remained clear. I avoided the patrol and got back to the gate quickly. Opening it only a bit, I slipped out and closed it behind me, straining my senses to pick up anything suspicious. Nothing happened. I continued on.

I almost missed it when someone did come. A sect elder, probably in the sixth stage. His darkness qi let him blend into the shadows, almost sliding beneath my awareness. I stopped, then backed away, drawing my veil tighter around myself.

He stopped. I held my breath and stilled, focusing on being one with the night. He frowned. But after a moment, he started walking again.

Carefully, I backed away farther, going a little out of my way to keep my distance from the elder. If he discovered me, they might find what I’d been doing. Only when he stepped up to the gate did I dare breathe easier.

I turned and continued heading to my room. The sect sprawled before me, quiet in the night. Unfortunately, I was coming from a bad direction now, where it would be harder to slip into the residential area. There was a group of disciples nearby, playing some sort of ball game in an open courtyard. Two large storehouses flanked the path to the dormitories not far beyond them.

I released my veil a little. I didn’t feel confident in fooling higher-stage people in close proximity, and I might encounter those on the way. Still, I didn’t want to draw attention by calling a guard to help. So instead, I strove to be unobtrusive, just another disciple out for some training, and set out on a curving path to approach the section.

No one approached or called out to me, although the sounds of the other disciples stopped one moment. The whole way, I kept thinking about how best to reveal the sect’s illegal doings and to whom.

Bonus 2: History of the world

It strikes me that the history of this world is in many ways similar to, and yet in many ways different from Earth’s.

Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be a commonly used name for the world. I’ll go with the Imperial Common term, Aran, which is just the word for “world” or “planet”.

The early history (or prehistory?) is the most striking aspect. There isn’t much known. For a long time, at least several millennia, humans lived in tribes of hunter-gatherers. So far, so like Earth. But we don’t know if humans actually evolved here. No hard evidence has been found, like bones of earlier hominids. No real signs of this period, like cave paintings. I suppose that’s simply the nature of the world.

It’s possible that humans came from different worlds. We already know that there’s connections between them. In my opinion, the presence of recognizable humans in so many different worlds can be better explained by migration rather than convergent evolution. But with magic, who knows?

Maybe ‘the barriers between universes’ were thinner then. The world was certainly a different place. Wilder and more chaotic. I’m not sure if cultivation changed qi, or if it settled naturally. Maybe the stories are exaggerated, as well. But with all the spirits and spirits beasts, it’s a testament to humanity’s resilience that they survived. This period is marked by early attempts at cultivation. Pulling qi into their bodies to make them tougher and stronger, but without anything we could call techniques, and certainly not enough to match the monsters. Humans survived in areas of lower qi density, where there weren’t as many beasts, or they weren’t as strong.

Slowly, they started building settlements. This world’s Neolithic Revolution, about ten thousand years ago, at an estimate. This happened almost everywhere at the same time, give or take a thousand years. It’s also the time when people really started dealing with spirits, and improving their cultivation. The first cores were formed. The world was still more ‘unsettled’ back then, but I think it calmed down around this period.

During this early history, there was a relative ton of communication between different groups. One of the most glaring differences to Earth, and it surprised me a lot. The reason is spirits. Humans bargained with spirits, who had a far easier time crossing inhospitable terrain and passing messages even to people a thousand kilometers away. So, ideas spread. Even between continents, though slower.

In this time, a while after building the first villages, there was a crafting boom. At around the same time, humans developed technology for crafting stuff from monster parts and smelting metal. Better weapons and general tech, along with their improved cultivation, allowed them to push back against the wilderness and secure bigger areas. The first towns were built, and eventually the first cities.

Of course, since settling down, society also changed. Class systems developed. They were naturally more fluid in the beginning. Those with a lot of talent were revered. Generally, the ‘warrior class’, who protected the settlements from monsters, had higher status. Maybe they also got to be in charge because they had the military strength. In any case, from the records we have, there stood a grand total of three cities on this continent where the leaders were not warriors — and those were lead by shamans or priests. People will be people, I guess.

Right, the records. Writing developed from early signs around the same time they discovered metalwork. It spread quickly, and it’s hard to say whether it’s from a single source or the concept was developed independently in several places. Of course, different regions developed their own systems. Neighboring cities’ would usually be close enough that travelers could decipher them, but modern historians haven’t even come close to getting all of them.

It’s important to realize just how scattered they were, though. Humans mostly still stuck to safe locations, and there could easily be wilderness for a thousand kilometers around a city-state. Compared to Earth, qi made growing food easier, but the environment harder to survive, let alone tame. I guess it’s unsurprising events took a slightly different path.

In time, things reminiscent to modern nations developed. Although they changed a lot. Technology improved mostly based on qi. This made it feasible to expand, and link up cities and regions. Whether that happened through trade connections or conquest varied, of course. I think this is the time period that influences from other worlds really started to matter. Maybe because of better organization, maybe a cultural change. It could just be that other worlds advanced through time as well, and therefore scientific exchange became more possible. In any case, in some parts of the continent, the cultures developed in ways I find strangely familiar.

! Let me pause for an important note. If you reread this, future self, pay attention. The only history I’ve read comes from Imperial sources, or at least books approved to be kept in the palace. There’s obviously bias here. Of course, history is often told far from objectively. My country isn’t much for revisionist history, thankfully, but even in my schoolbooks there were parts that could have been handled better, or should have been included at all. And in other countries, well… Here, the rhetoric is hard to miss sometimes, at minimum.

I mean, any country that has to be called ‘the greatest country in the world’ regularly probably isn’t.

Of course, the world might just be like that. Maybe all countries have that kind of propaganda, and this is still one of the better places to live. In fact, that probably is the case. This isn’t Earth, after all.

That said, I’ll leave most of the Empire’s history for their books, or maybe deal with it later.

The nation started in what’s called the Central Mountains. In the middle of the Central Continent. Oh, the egocentrism …. It’s often the Sky Continent now. Not much better, but at least it fits with the rest.

There’s some debate on when the country really started, but whatever. After a while, it was properly unified and in the throes of progress. That’s when it spread out. A new city was built at the foot of the mountains, between the ‘two great rivers’. The first expansion followed them. Along the Blossom River towards the northern bay, the closest coastline; and along the Green River through the Central Plains (really, folks?), until it reached the low mountain range usually called Dark Forest. The whole thing went pretty quickly. Finishing Thousand Stars City, the new capital, marks the start of the Imperial Calendar. In the same year, the ruler officially changed his title to Emperor, although he’d apparently been called that for a while.

Afterward, over a period of around two thousand years, it spread until it covered most of the continent. There are a lot of separate events, conquests and some losses, though I’m too lazy to note them all down here. But they did have cool airships. Then there was a period of stagnation where nothing much happened, with only a bit of progress. Well, the printing press, not much else of note. Then the most devastating civil war yet, which is still prominent in their culture: the Red Rain. That ended in the year 3250 with the third dynasty. Well, a period of stabilization, and then it continued spreading.

The country started with a feudal structure, and that never really changed. Developing from the ‘martial heroes’ of the early nation, the nobles used to have more power back then. Well, how strong they were in comparison to the throne varied a lot over the millennia, of course. In some eras, the Empire was more of a loose collection of states, while in others, the rulers kept them on a tight leash. The most recent civil war and its aftermath are a case in point.

Anyway, the next step that happened would be intercontinental travel and everything that usually follows it. Right now, of course, we’re in some weird mix of the middle ages, the age of imperialism, maybe the cold war, and the modern day.

I find it interesting how there’s a progression to larger structures. From villages to cities to nations to global powers. More clearly than on Earth. I guess that means it’s time for conquering the world, right? (Seriously, though.)

I think I’ll focus on the later history of the Empire of the Sky at some other time. Right now, I’d rather see if I can find anything about spirit beast civilizations.

27: A chance of hiding

After a bit of thought, I decided to ask San Hashar for advice as soon as she returned. But just as I made the decision, my neck prickled, and I paused.

It was too quiet, but focused on my thoughts, I only noticed that now. The storehouses loomed in front of me, close enough that I would have reached their shadows if it was morning instead of night. Yet I was no longer alone on the path.

I turned around, stifling a sigh as my eyes confirmed what my qi senses had been telling me. Four disciples, three boys and a girl, came up the path behind me. As I watched, they spread out, forming a half-circle.

Great. Do they just want to bully someone or is there more to it? Did they see me sneaking?

“Spare us a moment of your time, sect brother,” one of them demanded. “Or is it sister?”

I gave them a polite bow. “Can I help you with something, sect brother?”

They should be able to guess my strength, although the veil might lead them to underestimate it a bit. But all of them were in the fourth stage, probably all inner disciples. The one who’d spoken had a ratty face and slick, styled hair, with a blue robe that matched the bubble of water in his aura. His body language oozed confidence.

“We couldn’t help but notice you,” he said. “Clothed like an assassin, even hiding your face? One has to wonder just what we’ve stumbled on here.”

I stiffened. “My training and what talismans I choose to bolster my cultivation are none of your business.”

“Mouthy, isn’t he?”, one of the others said, this one wearing a topknot and green robes. He leered at me. “Although I do believe it’s a she. There are some curves hiding under that clothing.”

I felt the sudden urge to take a bath, but ignored it. “Does my gender concern you in some way, sect brothers?”

“Not your gender, no,” the first speaker drawled. They continued to approach until he came close enough to emphasize how he stood half a head taller than me. “But I do find your path suspicious. From the west side of the sect grounds, going for the residences. Where could you have been coming from? There’s nothing there, certainly no sect buildings.”

“I was simply training.”

“I mean,” he continued, not responding to me, “the only thing there is a border with the elders’ grounds. An out-of-the-way approach to them.”

I consciously relaxed my muscles, silencing their desire to tense up. Does he really think he’s onto something, or is this simply a justification to bother me?

“I’ve seen it,” I acknowledged evenly, glad that my face was hidden. “A border of qi. Everyone knows about that. But it doesn’t concern me. I was simply training my techniques in a quiet spot. A dark spot, of course, given my affinity. The reasoning should be clear to any inner disciples, no?”

I could have just revealed myself, but I did come sneaking from the wrong direction, and the sect might notice someone had tricked their gate. I couldn’t risk them moving their experiments.

“Watch your mouth,” the girl growled. Her qi flared in my direction like fire. “If anyone displays a lack of reasoning ability here, it’s certainly you. Are you even an inner disciple?”

I backed up just a bit. “I did not mean any insult. My status is not in question, however.”

They probably took that as confirmation that I wasn’t. The four of them advanced on me again, closing the distance. The fourth disciple, quiet so far, even moved further around so he was positioned to cut off my retreat.

Before I could come to a decision, my chance to try and escape them was past. Not that I would have tried, since I didn’t want to turn my back to the group. I needed to lose them somehow.

“We’ll need to check to make sure that you have no suspicious intentions,” the leader said, smirking.

“That would be a right shame,” the last boy agreed, crossing his arms to provide a good imitation of a brick wall. His qi felt like air brushing against me.

“Maybe a change in environment will help,” the first one said, snapping his fingers to call up a ball of water floating beside him.

I prepared to erect a barrier of darkness qi. My qi reserves weren’t in good shape after my excursion, and I knew I didn’t stand much of a chance against the four of them. Hopefully, he was just messing around.

Just as I tried to jump to the side, a wall of air boxed me in. The water splashed against my shield, spraying back all over the area and the path.

“My shoes!” the girl cried. “How dare you sully them?”

The green-robed boy wiped water out of his eyes. “Let’s teach her a lesson.” In the next moment, vines burst out of the ground.

I backed away a pace, trying to step onto the vines before they could snatch me. I was quicker than them, and my shield kept the worst of it off me. But the bullies didn’t wait around.

The one behind me lunged forward, striking with swiftness unsuited to his frame. I barely managed to stumble away from his blow. Then one of the vines caught my ankle and whirled me around. A fireball roared at me. I ducked and felt its heat pass above me, my barrier collapsing under the strain.

“Stop it!” Things had escalated too much. I raised my hands and tried to peel away the mask. Unfortunately, it had been designed not to come off easily.

A fist crashed into my stomach. I doubled up and reflexively brought my hands up to go for the first boy’s face.

He staggered back, but the air had been knocked out of me. That’s going to leave a bruise, I noted as I tried to get my breathing back.

I straightened up just in time to see the next attack coming at me, a throwing knife the girl had let loose. Unable to get out of the way, I tried to knock it aside with my forearm. It worked, though the move left a stinging trail on my arm. Then some instinct had me dodge, just enough to have the big guy’s blade glance off my side. I could feel wetness flow down as I kicked out, giving myself some space.

For a moment, they backed away. I knew my injuries had to be superficial, and regretted for a moment my decision to have my protective talismans only for life-threatening injuries. I’d thought the lack of bleeding might be suspicious if I was injured while someone saw me.

“Stop it, you don’t know —”

As if my starting to talk was a signal, they attacked again. This time, the four of them came in together, fists and feet flying at me.

I gritted my teeth and endured what I couldn’t dodge, hissing as the girl’s fist crashed into the cut in my side. In a moment, I gathered qi and released it in a wave. A flash of light blinded them while my domain manifested as black plates to shove them away.

One was thrown, the green-robed boy, while the others retreated. But my dantian only had a little qi left, most of it light affinity.

I took the moment to finally get my mask off and shake my hair loose.

“Blond hair?” the green guy asked with a tilt of his head.

“No,” the leader whispered, swallowing audibly. “That’s …”

“The name is Inaris, Leri Inaris,” I said, taking a bit of satisfaction from his expression. “And you four just made a big mistake.”

Air boy made a strangled sound and dropped to his knees. Green boy followed suit.

“Sun’s light.” The girl took a step back, but remained standing. “We just assaulted the Imperial Princess.”

The blue-robed guy looked from her to me and back. “Oh, by the spirits. Stand firm, now.”

The creep frowned, eyes darting back and forth. “What?”

“We attacked the heir to the throne,” the girl said. “We drew her blood. Do you know what that means?”

The other one, air boy, stood up. “It means we’re dead men walking.”

My feeling of satisfaction turned sour and my stomach dropped. “Now, don’t make your mistake even worse.”

“If anyone finds out, we’ll be killed. Slowly, I reckon.” A sword appeared in the blue-robed disciple’s hand. “The only chance we have is hiding it. Nothing personal, princess. But it’s your life or ours.”

Oh, for heaven’s sake.

I poured all but scant remnants of qi into another shield, cursing internally. “I can show you mercy, if you stop this foolishness now!”

The green creep finally stood up, too, pulling a whip from the air. “How could we believe that? Rarko, you’re right, I think we have a chance of hiding this. No one’s noticed yet.”

I felt a surge of qi from air boy. A moment later, a bubble formed around us, cutting off all outside sounds and muddying my qi senses.

Any doubt I had vanished when they attacked. They were desperate, their moves savage and intense. With weapons bursting with qi, they hacked my barrier to pieces.

Suddenly, I felt a lot less confident in my gear. It wouldn’t protect me from drowning in a bubble of water with my qi depleted.

I strengthened my barriers, making an effort to keep my breathing calm. I locked eyes with the leader. His were narrowed, his sword strike being stopped centimeters from my face. I channeled qi through my bracelet. A pulse exploded out of it, racing into the air, stunning my attackers briefly.

The leader recovered first. I saw him lunge forward, his sword raised, flashing towards me.

The next moment, it spun through the air. He thudded to the ground.

I had to blink before the scene in front of me made sense. From one instant to the next, all of the disciples had fallen, red spreading on their robes or pouring out onto the ground. They didn’t even get the chance to scream. One body twitched a little, its eyes staring upwards, unmoving.

I turned to the side a bit to look at San Hashar where she knelt on the ground. Her qi blazed like a star that had sucked everything in.

“Call for reinforcements,” I said, in a voice distant to my own ears. “Then confine the sect.”

I couldn’t help but stare at the four disciples. The leader wasn’t clad in blue anymore, his robes torn all over his chest where the red color fountained out, dyeing his attire. His face was still set in determination to bring me down, trying to save his life.

28: Facing the consequences

“Your Highness. Please let me tend to your injuries.”

I tore my gaze away from the bodies. Was a mistake looking in the first place, I idly noted, now I can’t forget the sight. But I focused on the situation. San Hashar was still kneeling, her brows furrowed and her gaze turned downwards.

I patted my side, feeling the dried blood in my clothing. “I’ve got it.” With a thought, I took a medicinal pill from my storage ring and swallowed. Since my injuries were light, they should be healed in a few minutes.

I finally turned around, gesturing for San Hashar to get up. But after a step, I had to look at her again, my face set in a scowl. “Why did you have to kill them?”

“They assaulted the Radiant Princess. They committed treason, and thus forfeit their lives. My duty is Your Highness’ protection. I saw no compelling reason to take the risk of leaving them alive, even if it was small.”

I sighed, shaking my head. In the end, I supposed it didn’t matter. They’d explicitly tried to kill me, they would have been executed anyway.

We started walking. But I moved slowly, still trying to wrap my head around everything. Even if seeing her kill the bullies didn’t affect me as much as I might have thought, there was a lot to deal with.

San Hashar hadn’t left my side for a moment, but I’d felt her using her qi and heard her communicate with her soldiers. I could feel them moving in around me. After a look around, I commanded, “Take me to a more secure place.”

“Of course, Your Highness.”

A moment later, air qi enveloped me. We lifted into the air, and for a few seconds, I could feel the wind whistling by me, until we slowed and touched down again. Now we stood behind the gates of the main sect entrance. A group of soldiers set up what I realized was a defensive position here, building onto the gate with constructs of qi.

I went into the earthen hut one of them had raised for me and pulled off my bloodstained clothes. The pill designed to ‘flush out impurities’ in the wounds had made them bleed again. But I didn’t bathe, simply taking a new set of clothing, this one an ornamental blue robe, from my storage ring, and putting it on. Red stains quickly spread across them, but I could feel the gashes closing slowly.

I could have looked pristine, but I didn’t need to appear invincible. No, sect disciples had attacked me — that was the fact I needed to showcase.

I exited the hut again and ran into the waiting gaze of San Hashar. Frowning, I averted my eyes and started to pace, hoping the reinforcements would come quickly.

They didn’t really deserve to die.

The thought wormed its way through my mind, itching under my skin. I knew the people here wouldn’t understand. But even if I’d been a fan of the death penalty, which I wasn’t, they really had fought for their lives in a very real sense.

But now they are dead. San Hashar only did her job. A job I knew she did. So where did I go wrong? Could I have kept them from trying to cover their actions up? I sighed, pacing harder. Probably not.

To be fair, I could see two options if they had been taken alive. In the first, someone would have ordered their deaths without consulting me, or convinced me to do it. In the second, if I decided to spare them, there’d still be a good chance that Mother would have overruled me. Of course, they’d still stood a better chance if they’d simply thrown themselves on my mercy, but they didn’t know that.

I don’t think that’s the answer. But I should have revealed myself earlier. Before this could have escalated so much. Of course, that’s hindsight. … And maybe this is better in the grand scheme of things, anyway.

Even in my own head, the words felt hollow. Because this wasn’t the plan.

“Wait.” I stopped and turned to look at San Hashar. “What happened with the bear?”

“Everything went according to plan, my lady,” she reported. “We suffered a few casualties, but no fatalities. We were just about to take it down for good when I saw your signal. The team is on its way back and should arrive momentarily.”

I tried to calculate her speed if she’d made it here from the forest in little more than a second, and shook my head. The seventh stage is no joke.

“You could have disabled them,” I stated, no doubt in my mind about it.

The soldier bowed her head, but met my eyes without the slightest twitch.

After a moment, I snorted and looked away. At least they died quickly, I guess. I get the feeling my guards don’t like the sect.

After a pause, I switched tracks. “I assume you reported this to Mother. What’s she going to do?”

San Hashar straightened to stand at attention again. “There were no new orders, Your Highness.” Her eyes narrowed. “Although, Lady Kariva let me know, unofficially, that Her Majesty will see justice done in any case.”

“So, she wants to see what I’ll do,” I interpreted. And it’s on me to dispense punishment. Well, don’t mind if I do.

I focused on my breathing and started circulating qi, pulling more in. I had a bit of light affinity qi left, and complemented that with a bit of darkness now.

We waited in silence for a bit longer, until the team returned. They blurred up the path almost too fast for me to track, then came to a stop in front of me and their commander. A few dark stains marked their clothing, but no one had trouble moving. They stood in orderly rows, saluting us.

“Great work,” I said, then looked to San Hashar.

She nodded and started giving them orders, having them link up with the rest of the group.

I swept my senses over the surroundings. There were a little more soldiers here than I’d seen with San Hashar, and some wore different uniforms. Probably local forces from the town of Pecasa or the forest. I could still feel some of the elites moving through the sect grounds.

I waved my chief guard over and whispered, “Should we wait?”

San Hashar hesitated for a moment. “It might be best if we move now, before the elders of the sect have time to prepare. We can take the outer sect easily, then wait for reinforcements. They’ll be here soon.”

“Alright. Make it happen.”

I listened to her orders closely and watched as the majority of the soldiers departed. They spread out, moving forward as a wave sweeping across the sect. San Hashar herself stayed close to me, along with two of the Imperial Guards.

After I judged it was safe, I started walking up the path. San Hashar sighed audibly, then moved to put herself diagonally in front of me. At least she didn’t try to force me to stay put.

We walked by the residences, which were empty of life. I slowed down to look at the buildings, then shook my head and kept going. Occasionally, I’d catch a glimpse of a soldier moving quickly across the sect grounds, herding disciples towards the center. I couldn’t see or sense an elder anywhere.

It didn’t take long for us to reach the gathering. I could feel them before I saw them, the presence of so many cultivators prickling like static electricity against my skin. The feeling guided me to the large courtyard in the center.

That’s when I did see an elder, Zun, the one who’d welcomed the new disciples. He stood quietly at the head of the group, hands clasped before him, posture relaxed. But the way his eyes darted to the soldiers betrayed his calm. The rest of them were disciples of various stages. They huddled in groups in the center of the courtyard, whispering to each other and eyeing the soldiers encircling them. I could practically smell the unease. No, wait, some of them are sweating pretty badly, that’s what I can smell.

When I turned up, the soldiers all went to attention and saluted, their qi spreading out heavier, suppressing the disciples even more. Once I came to a stop facing the crowd, San Hashar stepped forward.

“On your knees for the Imperial Princess!” she bellowed, her voice echoing around the courtyard.

They complied. Zun apparently didn’t move quickly enough, so the soldier next to him pushed him down. A few of the disciples sprawled forward under the guards’ qi, as well.

I could see the way their gazes fixed on me, stopping on the blood staining my robe. More than one of them gulped. Being reminded of it, the spots itched.

I channeled the grossness into an unpleasant expression. After letting the silence build for a few seconds, I spoke. “Today, I was attacked.” I paused for effect. “A group of this sect’s inner disciples assaulted me. They even stated that they aimed to kill me. I do not know if they acted alone or if the sect put them up to it.”

Well, that’s true. I can’t be sure the sect isn’t behind this.

“We never —”

A guard slapped the elder to silence him.

I raised a hand. “Let’s hear it.”

The elder stopped rubbing his face and raised his head. “Thank you, Your Highness! The Carmine Cloud Sect would never do something like this. The very thought is abhorrent! It pains this lowly one greatly that such a vile act could have happened within this sect. These vermin acted alone, or perhaps they were coopted by foreign interests. Where are they? This one is sure we can wring the truth from them, before we send them to the wretched death they deserve!”

I managed not to cringe through this speech, staring at the elder coldly. “They’re dead, of course.”

That shut him up for the moment.

I shook my head, watching the disciples. “The sect is already under heavy suspicion of breaking Imperial law. Given what happened, I am taking control here until further notice. Rest assured that the eventual fate of the sect will be … just.”

The soldiers seemed content to follow my command. Technically, I could probably have it razed to the ground and everyone put to the sword. Until Mother stopped me. But I wasn’t that upset or stupid. Well, or evil. Instead, a picture of what I wanted had been percolating through the back of my mind. At least it stopped me from dwelling on the disciples who’d tried to kill me.

I stepped away and told San Hashar to raise a shield. She made a bubble of air qi that would prevent our conversation from being overheard, and blurred our features enough lipreading wouldn’t work. Then I told her what I’d seen in the sect’s restricted area. I should have done that earlier, but I’d been preoccupied.

She simply nodded, and started passing it on by forming a qi construct, probably to Kariva or one of her agents. I paced up and down, sending glances at the gathered sect members. They stayed on their knees, although hushed conversations resumed.

After a bit, I forced myself to stillness and tried cultivating. It didn’t go as well as usual. By the time I really immersed myself, the arrival of new presences broke me out of it. Maybe fifteen minutes had passed.

The reinforcements came from an airship hovering over the square. Another group of soldiers flew down, some on their own, some by standing on pieces of metal I recognized as flying swords. All of them wore the silver-and-blue with phoenix insignia, and were at least in the fifth stage. More elite soldiers.

My attention was drawn to the leader, an old man whose face was framed by a gray mane and decorated with a scar across his left cheek. His presence weighed on me a little bit more than San Hashar’s. The soldiers went to one knee and saluted, but right away, he started barking orders at them and they scattered.

A moment later, he turned to me, bowing. “Imperial Princess Inaris. San Hashar. I hear this sect needs some tough attention.”

I smiled and gestured for him to straighten up, but stayed quiet to let San Hashar do the talking.

“It’s good to see you, Ru. We’ve secured the outer sect, but the elders in their compound will be a tougher match. With you aboard, though, it’ll be easy.”

“I hope you two can handle the sect patriarch,” I said.

“Certainly, Your Highness. He might be in the seventh stage, but combined, Ru and I will have no trouble taking him down. Although I doubt it will come to a fight. He’s old but not stupid.”

“Well, I can promise that I won’t kill him. Shall we?”

Unfortunately, it wasn’t that easy. The two seventh-stagers gathered the troops that would come, then took off for the compound. I trailed behind, left in their dust and settled with half a dozen bodyguards. When I reached the gate to the compound, it stood open, but I had no idea if the elders had opened it, or my soldiers.

We moved quickly, and soon came to the mansion at the top. One elder lay crumpled on the ground beside the gate. His chest was rising and falling slightly, though. I gave him a wide berth and entered the building. It teemed with marble columns, statues, paintings, silk draperies, and everything else you might expect. After a short hallway, double doors of some dark wood with intricate carvings led into a foyer.

I paused, the weight of the gathered presences making my steps hitch. But I powered on, scanning the scene. San Hashar and the other commander, Ru, stood facing a group of old people in robes that wouldn’t have looked odd in the palace. The sect leadership, I assumed. The old man in the center stopped, his head barely reaching Ru’s chest, his gnarled hand gripping a cane. But I could feel the strongest presence in the room emanating from him.

When I entered, the soldiers bowed to me. The sect elders followed suit after a moment. I could hear the old man’s joints creaking.

“Let me cut to the chase,” I said. “If you cooperate, no one else needs to die. You have my word.”

The sect leadership exchanged looks. For a moment, silence lingered. Then the patriarch stomped his cane on the floor and bowed his head.

“We truly are innocent in the matter of that sacrilegious attack, Your Highness,” he said. “But of course, this sect would not dare think of defying the Empire.”

I inclined my head in response. “Thank you, Patriarch.” I walked closer, coming to a stop between the commanders. “Where are the rest?”

“In their dwellings, Your Highness,” San Hashar answered. “Graciously showing our men and women around.”

Uh huh. I hid a smile and looked back at the elders. “What about the secret laboratory beneath our feet? What does the Carmine Cloud Sect have to say for itself?”

They shifted and whispered among themselves for a moment, until the patriarch shook his head. “We have, in fact, conducted experiments there,” he stated. “However, all subjects are volunteers, and we have the documentation to prove it.” He stepped forward, grabbed a sheaf of documents from thin air and handed it to San Hashar.

She flicked through it, snorting once.

I raised an eyebrow. “Be that as it may. We will have to ask the people themselves once they have been retrieved. It doesn’t change the fact that you injected foreign qi into people of a much lower stage, causing detrimental effects. A clear violation of my esteemed Mother’s laws, for which this sect will face the consequences.”

“None of them died!” another elder protested.

“Enough!”

They fell silent, and I took a deep breath. Then I squared my shoulders and raised my chin. “From this day forth, the Carmine Cloud Sect is dissolved. So I decree in the name of my Mother, the glorious Empress Acura. Let all bear witness.”

Their eyes widened and for a moment, silence reigned. Then the elders started speaking. A few gathered qi. Others simply raised their voices.

“You can’t do that!” the patriarch cried.

A shining polearm appeared in San Hashar’s hands, forward spike facing the elders. Ru gathered qi into his fists. The rest of the soldiers let their power swell, too.

“I just did,” I replied. Sorry, couldn’t resist.

The tension built until any first-stager would have been killed just from standing in the room. The hairs on my body stood on end, and I had to lock my knees to keep standing straight.

Finally, the elder sighed, and the will seemed to seep out of the former sect’s leaders. “What is going to happen?” he asked.

I smiled and relaxed my tense muscles. “The Carmine Cloud sect is no more. The sect’s grounds will be confiscated by the Empire. The victims of the experiments will be compensated after the investigation. As restitution, a portion of the sect’s lands will be given to its tenants. All of the sect’s resources — excluding personal property, of course — will be seized as well, and part of them distributed among the sect members to help them in the transition.”

I paused and continued in a less formal tone. “I’m sure many of the disciples will be picked up by other sects. Those from noble families can return home. We’ll make sure everyone finds a place that fits them.” Except the elders, I imagine. “Of course, punishments for the illegal experimentation will be decided in court after a trial, for whoever is found guilty.”

And it was a guarantee that some of them would be.

The elders bowed their heads, but I didn’t miss the sideways glances they shot each other.

I sighed to myself. This isn’t over yet, even if my part is done. Now all I need to do is face the music back home.

29: More consequences

I noticed a number of disciples milling around the sect entrance and stifled a sigh. It had been hours, and they were looking as lost as baby animals kicked out of their nest.

Well, maybe some are waiting for someone to come pick them up.

The sun had just started to rise when I made my decree. Since then, I’d had to take care of many details, even if I left the legwork to the soldiers. Now it was on its journey downward to sink behind the horizon in a few hours. While I appreciated the symbolism, the sun shone directly into my eyes, and I had to avert my gaze. The cleared area around the sect entrance was bustling with people, both soldiers and former set members. Two airships cast shadows onto the crowd, one of them my destination.

I stopped in front of it and turned around, watching the scene once more. The disciples talked among themselves and avoided looking in my direction.

Except one. Just as I was about to turn back, he raised his head, meeting my gaze. The bow he gave me now was proper, but the smile on his face said so much more. I couldn’t help my lips curling slightly in response. Then Lorn turned around again, talking with one of the others.

“He would do well in the military, I think,” I said to San Hashar.

She nodded. “I was planning to offer him an opportunity. If he works hard, he could make the elite teams, maybe the Imperial Guard.”

That reminded me of a question I had, considering the way the soldiers had acted. “By the way. There aren’t many nobles among the elite soldiers, are there?”

San Hashar titled her head a little. “Many are like him, commoners from disadvantaged backgrounds. Especially in the Imperial Guard. They tend to want people who are loyal to the throne, not some noble family.”

Probably because the Empire enabled their advancement. I hummed in response, not sure if I should call that discriminatory or not. In all fairness, most nobles who were strong enough would probably prefer positions that gave them high standing in their clans, instead. In any case, it was a practical approach.

“Personally, I’m from the poorer parts of the capital,” she finally broke the silence.

That figured. I rubbed the back of my neck. “I wish you could accompany me. I understand that you’re needed here, though. This was a temporary assignment, but …”

“I consider myself lucky to have been given it.”

I snorted. “Come on. You’re likely to reach the eighth stage. Probably within a century. I doubt Mother just happened to assign you here.”

San Hashar smiled. “It has truly been an honor to be your guard, even if only for a short time, Princess Inaris.”

“No, it’s been my honor to have you with me. I hope we’ll meet again soon.”

“I’m sure we will.” With that, she gave me one last bow, then turned and headed away.

I watched her as she passed through the sect entrance. I wouldn’t have imagined it when we first met, but now, I felt a bitter taste on my tongue, and the bright day lost its luster. I really didn’t like seeing her go.

Finally, I shook myself loose and turned to enter the airship. I felt tired and wrung out after everything that happened. If only I could just shut myself away for a day.

In the airship, I stepped to the window, watching as the sect grounds disappeared, until the Dark Forest was only a blur in the distance. Judging by the rate that happened, the airship was moving a bit quicker, this time. I snorted at the realization.

At least the airship had a bathroom. It was nice, with a big bathtub taking over the middle of the room. I peeled off my robe. In some places, the dried blood made it stick to my skin, and I had to be careful not to tear the fabric. At least I wouldn’t have to clean it. Grateful to be free of it, I scrubbed a bit with a provided bucket, then sank into the bathtub.

I ended up taking the longest bath I ever had in my life, in this world or on Earth. I rested one of my old self’s novels on the edge, reading. Although the book was good, I’d find my thoughts drifting off occasionally.

The image of the dead disciples refused to leave me alone, creeping back several times. I could recall it perfectly, see every crease in their clothing, every detail in their expression. It made my skin crawl and prevented me from truly enjoying the bath.

Finally, I felt the familiar qi barriers around the palace coming closer, so I got out and got new clothing from my storage ring. Black pants and a blue robe with silver embroidery, chosen for their comfy material. Then I went towards the lower deck, nodding at the guards. The airship jolted as it touched down.

When I stepped out, the sight of the palace rooftop greeted me. A few guards lined the perimeter, but only two people stood ready to welcome me.

“Hello, Mother,” I greeted them. “Aston, good to see you again. Congratulations on your breakthrough.” His aura left no doubt that he’d advanced from one part of the sixth stage to the next.

The guard bowed, a smile on his lips. But he didn’t speak before Mother.

She crossed her arm and raised an eyebrow. “Welcome back, Inaris. We need to talk.”

Before I could say anything else, swirling motes of qi engulfed us, sparkling with inner light. I felt dizzy for a moment and instinctively closed my eyes. When I opened them again, we stood in a room inside the palace. It was furnished with sofas and a conference table, and none of the sounds from the outside could be heard.

“Aston, please wait outside,” Mother said.

He bowed and moved off, glancing back at me before exiting the room.

Them we were alone. I had to unclench my fists and force my tense muscles to relax.

“I knew you wanted to get back,” Mother said. “I suppose that’s one way to cut your visit short.”

This wasn’t off to a good start. I shrugged. “They deserved it, right?”

Mother didn’t seem amused, judging by the crease between her eyebrows. “You know, the sect patriarch and a few elders came here. They petitioned me to overrule your decision.”

I found it hard to meet her gaze, but forced myself not to cower. “You refused, right?”

“Of course. I can’t have you losing face like that, so I backed you. That doesn’t mean I’m happy about it.”

The temperature in the room dropped by a few degrees. I waited in silence until Mother continued speaking. “I knew you were concerned about the village. But you said you trusted me to handle things.”

“I do trust you! But that was before disciples tried to kill me. The situation changed.” I scratched my cheek, hoping I didn’t let my embarrassment show too much. “I’m sorry if I messed up your plans.”

Mother frowned at me for a moment more, before her expression softened and she sighed. “Okay. I admit you did handle the situation well, given everything. This might even be better than what I had in mind.”

That was good to hear. I smiled. “Thanks.”

“I hope you at least learned something.”

“Oh, I learned lots of things. About the world and myself. By the way, I think I changed my mind. I might look for a retainer after all.” I still didn’t like loneliness. Maybe this was a bad idea, but I could try it at least.

“Good. I’m sure many nobles and young scions of our clan would jump at the chance.”

“Besides that, well …” I hesitated. “You were testing me, weren’t you?”

“Of course.” Mother shrugged. “I wanted to see how you handled yourself. But I didn’t really interfere.”

“Then someone else recorded me saying some ‘radical’ things and distributed them.”

“Kariva is on it. I wouldn’t worry too much.” Mother tapped her hands on her chin. “But I’m glad you seem to have found your spark. What are your plans now?”

“I’ll work on some technological advancement like I’d been planning. Long-term …” I tilted my head. “Well, I have to work on improving things here, to not break my stupid morals.”

Mother shook her head. “I may just send you to another sect, so be careful.”

“Sure.”

We fell silent again. Her expression darkened. “Inaris, what they did …” She trailed off. After a moment, she shook her head. “Anyway, that’s all I needed to know.”

I felt a vague sense of disappointment. So we’re not going to talk about emotional stuff? Alright. I guess seeing people die is common enough here. Whatever. “Can I go, then? I’m tired.”

Her eyes softened. “Of course. Good night.”

When I left the room, Aston fell into step beside me. I knew I should talk to him, but I wasn’t feeling up to it. I really was tired, having to blink against the light more than usual, feeling a heaviness in my limbs. Although my thoughts were going at full speed, threatening to run in circles again.

When we reached my room, everything looked exactly as I’d left it. That felt vaguely disingenuous. Aston stayed in the doorway, watching me with a calm expression. I got the feeling he understood I was having a hard time.

I hesitated. The bed looked inviting, but I could tell I wouldn’t be able to find sleep easily. I felt both tired and keyed up, that weird mix that lent itself to sleepless nights and dark thoughts, if you didn’t get a grip on it.

“Aston, did your mission go well?”

He smiled. “Yes, Your Highness, it was quite successful. Thank you for asking.”

I nodded and continued pacing. Then I shook myself and sat down at the desk to go over some notes. But I found it hard to focus. I didn’t think the ideas I wrote down were much good, and they jumped from place to place quickly.

After a while, I threw my pen down in disgust, kneading my temples. I needed something to help me focus, or at least stop me from thinking too much. I even started thinking of home, on Earth, dwelling on things I’d lost. Grief was the last thing I needed right now.

Maybe I should get some booze. I started tapping my fingers and feet. But I didn’t even like alcohol. And being in an altered state of consciousness as a cultivator didn’t seem like a bright idea.

Getting a sudden thought, I turned around. “Aston, get me someone to bang tonight.”

He raised an eyebrow, but bowed his head. “Of course, Your Highness.”

I’m going to regret this tomorrow, but … screw it. Literally.

I stood and plopped onto the bed. “I don’t care who so long as they’re not ugly or taken,” I specified after a moment. “Consent, obviously. Just for the night.”

The corners of his mouth twitched slightly. “Of course.” A moment later, he bowed and left the room.

I sighed, staring at the ceiling.

After a moment, I started getting restless, so I tried cultivating. It was hard to focus. My dantian accumulated qi at a sluggish pace.

When Aston returned with a girl in fancy robes, only half an hour had passed, and I only had a bit more qi, but I didn’t care.

30: A few questions

It took a moment for me to realize I’d woken up. The dream lingered, its emotions seeping through my mind. I could hear my heart racing, feel the cold sweat on my skin.

When I opened my eyes, the bright light provided some relief. But it couldn’t help my confusion. This dream had been too vivid. I could still feel the alien feelings brushing against me, frustration and rage boxing me in.

Someone failed, things aren’t going their way. But they’re not letting it stop them. They’ll continue, and they’re sure of their eventual success.

I knew that in a way I couldn’t quite explain. Information I’d picked up in the dream. And I also knew that the hostility I felt was directed against myself. The knowledge sent shivers up my spine. Someone wished me harm. Someone who knew me in a way I didn’t understand.

I sighed, sitting up and throwing off the covers. I think I know what my old self was concerned about. I remembered the note, the quick strokes of the first sentences’ letters. Quickly jotted down to work out my thoughts, I think. Then some implications. And when she felt the soul journey coming, she decided to leave it for her future self?

I couldn’t be sure of that, but I felt like I understood what it must have been like. This dream had been creepy as hell.

Shaking my head, I shelved those thoughts for later pondering and looked around. The girl was gone, but the right side of the bed still carried her scent. The night had been great — I’d learned a few … interesting uses for qi — but I was glad to avoid any awkwardness.

I was right. I regret that decision already. At least I had the presence of mind to make sure she was here entirely of her own volition and knew it was a one time thing.

I got out and took a quick shower. After I put on some clothing, I brushed my hair, shooing away a servant. I didn’t need any help for a simple outfit and I liked to leave my hair open.

Then I called for Aston. He breezed into the room almost before I’d shut my mouth.

I fidgeted a bit. “Sorry if I made you uncomfortable with that.”

“It’s my job, Princess Inaris,” he replied. “Besides, I’ve had worse errands. If you’re curious, I had Ven guide her to a bathroom and then take her back to her rooms discretely.”

I nodded, grateful for his support, and sat on the bed. “Thanks. So … who was she?” I didn’t know more than a name.

The corner of his mouth twitched. “Hua Li, twenty-three years old. She’s a daughter of the well-off Hua clan and seen as one of their new talents for reaching the fourth stage a year ago. They tend to be practical and not too enamored of traditional mores, but cautious. I’m sure they will treat this discreetly and not try to capitalize on it too much. Hua Li herself seems to be aspiring for strength in cultivation rather than getting an advantageous marriage, which means she hopefully would not try to seduce you.”

I sighed, putting my chin in my hands. “How did you find someone so quickly, anyway?”

Aston shrugged. “I went to Lady Kariva. She knows a lot about the palace’s inhabitants. She and her agents did a good job at setting criteria and weeding out candidates to pick someone.”

I groaned, hiding my face in my hand. I should have seen that coming. “Are there a lot of people interested in me?”

“Of course, Your Highness.” He stepped closer, his expression hard. “Young people of the minor nobility see it as an attractive prospect. For, say, the fourth daughter of some bureaucrat, seducing you into taking them as a concubine or even consort would be quite a step up. They’d probably plan on climbing higher.”

I sighed again. “Of course it is. I take your point.”

Then I stood up and went to my desk. My notes from yesterday needed some organization, but I’d actually had some good ideas. “Well, that was a mess.”

Aston spoke again, his tone tentative. “Your Highness, perhaps you should take a concubine or two.”

“Hmm.” I didn’t refuse his suggestion, even if I didn’t like it. I couldn’t keep calling up random strangers for a one-night-stand. Some sort of arrangement like that might be a better idea.

For now, I concentrated on looking through my notes and considering my plans for the day. I’d need to mull over the implications of my dream, too.

“You shouldn’t have tried to cover your knight. Check.”

I moved my king, realizing how my opponent had cornered it. “I’ve lost, haven’t I?”

“You will in three moves, my lady.”

I sighed and tipped over my figure. You wanted someone smart, I reminded myself, pushing down my irritation.

Then I looked over at the young woman across from me. “I haven’t played much chess, but I can tell you’re quite good, Cousin Tenira.”

She shrugged. “It really is quite similar to that game from my world I mentioned. And I was a regional champion.”

I could believe that. Leri Tenira was a low-level genius, definitely a point in her favor for a prospective retainer.

From what I’d heard, those were what you’d expect, a mix of companion, assistant, and vassal, with a high status. Almost every important noble had some, and they would often be friends. I didn’t want a genius just because I was a snob, the perfect memory would be a big advantage for anyone working like an assistant.

“Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?” I said.

“Of course, Your Highness.”

“How old are you, and what about your soul journey?”

“I’m biologically twenty-three,” she started.

I nodded. She didn’t look more than a year my senior, but I knew cultivation that went beyond the initial stages started slowing down aging noticeably at the end of puberty, and even more during the twenties. Probably because the brain finished developing.

“In my other life, I died at twenty-one. My soul journey happened when I was twenty, so I’ve been back for three years.” She spoke about it calmly, but I could see a tightening around her eyes.

I looked back at the chessboard, trying not to stare. Tenira was even prettier than most cultivators. Her black hair seemed to sparkle, and her green eyes stood out. I had to remind myself that she was off-limits.

“I’ve read your records about your world. Anything you want to add?”

“Not really.” She pursed her lips. “I was the child of a merchant, so I didn’t learn much about the technology, but I do know a bit. I could design a crude steam engine, and I had a childhood fascination with airships. I never learned about alchemy, though.”

From her descriptions, the world of her soul journey reminded me a lot of the steampunk genre. Everything depended on steam engines, and cogs and gears were the silicon chips of their technology.

“I’m sure that will come in useful for my projects, Cousin,” I replied. “If you’re interested.”

I couldn’t just commandeer her even if I wanted. She was something like my fourth cousin. No — I quickly recalled the family tree I’d read and traced it — a third cousin once removed. And quite talented at cultivation, considering she’d reached the fourth stage shortly after her soul journey.

“I am, Princess Inaris. That seems like an interesting challenge.”

I couldn’t quite figure Tenira out, she was too composed. But I didn’t get any bad vibes. In fact, she seemed like the sort of person I would enjoy debating things with.

Before I could continue the conversation, though, a familiar presence approached. The door opened, and the person marched inside. It might have been more intimidating if she wasn’t an eight year old girl.

“Elder Sister Nari!”

I knew I was forgetting something. I schooled my expression into a smile and turned around. “Hello, Little An. This is cousin Tenira.”

“We’ve met,” Tenira said, inclining her head to the girl. “Nice to see you again, Princess Xiaodan.”

I stood and opened my arms. “Come on, give me a hug.”

My sister hesitated before she went forward and accepted my hug. But she didn’t cling for as long as I’d feared. And when she disengaged, she still didn’t look happy.

Looks like someone’s pouting about my absence. I scratched my cheek. Mother must have kept my siblings away when I’d arrived, for which I was grateful. But I couldn’t ignore them.

“You’ve been away too long, Big Sister!” she declared. “You need to make it up to me.”

“Oh? And how do I do that?”

“I want you to go play with me in the gardens.” Her eyes moved to the board. “And teach me that game!”

I sighed and ruffled her hair. “I’m sorry, but I don’t have time right now, Xiaodan. I’m talking with Cousin Tenira. Some other time, okay?”

She crossed her arms. “Can’t you talk to her later?”

I had to express a chuckle at her expression. “Are you pouting at me?”

“No, I’m not!” Her pout intensified.

“Yes, you are,” I countered. “You’re doing it on purpose, too.”

“Am not. Please, Big Sister Nari, just come play!”

“There, you’re making those big puppy dog eyes.” They were really effective, too. Xiaodan was one cute little girl.

“Big Sister Nari!”

“The answer is still no.” I patted her shoulder. “It’s for your own good, Little An.”

She tilted her head. “Why?”

“Someone has to resist your charms,” I explained. “Otherwise you’ll grow up to be a spoiled little princess that thinks everything has to go her way.”

See, I make perfect sense!

“That’s stupid. Isn’t it, Cousin Tenira?”

The young woman stifled a chuckle. “I think your sister has a good point, Princess. We all need to learn to deal with adversity.”

The girl turned back to me. “But other people are resisting me, too. Like my tutors. So there.”

“Are they?” I raised an eyebrow. “Then why are you here and not in your lessons?”

Xiaodan opened her mouth, then closed it again. It didn’t take a genius to figure out she’d made them let her go with the power of cuteness. If I didn’t miss my guess, even Mother would spoil her when she could.

“Do you want me to ask them?” I said. “Or are you going back to your lessons?” I didn’t enjoy playing the strict older sister, but I’d meant what I said. Someone should.

“You don’t need to,” the girl mumbled, “I’m going.”

“Great.” I gave her a quick hug goodbye, then ushered her to the door. “I’ll be checking.”

She looked back once, then walked down the corridor, her shoulders slumped. Unfortunately for her, my self-control could weather a lot worse than a cute kid.

“Sorry for the interruption, cousin.” I sat down again.

“Don’t be.” Tenira smiled wryly. “It was informative.”

I scrutinized her. She didn’t show any reaction to my gaze.

“One more question, if you don’t mind,” I said. “Why? You’d do quite well without me.”

That was a good thing. A retainer with such a high status would mean that the power imbalance wouldn’t be big. And since she was from the clan, she’d be unlikely to work for an ‘outsider’.

“You don’t remember it, but we had a relatively good relationship.” She crossed her fingers. “We played together as children, on occasion. Later, I even showed you a technique.”

“Sorry, I didn’t realize.”

She waved my apology off. “No need, Princess Inaris. But I’d say I have a good idea of your character. Especially with recent developments.” She hesitated, and her knuckles started to turn white. “Honestly, you’re someone I felt would show support. When it comes to, well, personal issues to do with social conventions.”

“I consider myself an open-minded person.” I smiled to make it clear I wasn’t put off. “Unless you hurt others, I don’t care who you are, who you sleep with, how you behave, or whatever the issue might be. We don’t need to talk about it.” I had an inkling of what the problem might be, but I wouldn’t want to press. I knew ‘safe spaces’ were important.

She exhaled audibly. “Thank you.”

“Of course. So, what do you think? I’d gladly take you on as a retainer.”

She stood up and bowed. “I’ll serve you faithfully, Your Highness.”

“So long as you tell me when I’m being stupid.” I stood as well and started clearing up the board. “Call me Inaris, if I can call you Tenira. Do we need a ceremony?”

“Why would we, Inaris? I think it’s pointless.”

“Ah, a woman after my own heart.” I grinned. “Let’s go to the workshops Mother set up. Sorting out the logistics can wait, I want so see what they’ve come up with so far.”

She returned my smile and started moving almost before I did. This may be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

But I knew she might report to Mother, or Kariva, or whoever. I wouldn’t be quick to trust her, but I hoped it could come with time.

31: Echoes of Earth

I frowned and crossed out my last word. I couldn’t assume qi was the same as electricity. There might be no analogue for alternating current at all. And this was probably not the right way forward, anyway.

As I felt a familiar presence approaching, I raised my head and extended my domain to open the door before he could knock. Alaster hesitated for a second before he walked in. He’d advanced a bit in the time I’d been gone.

“Hi, Al. Give me a bit to finish this up, okay?”

“Sure.”

I finished writing down my thought process, then checked the simple additions I’d done for the last time. They should work.

Then I put down my pen and turned around. My office was so cramped Al couldn’t keep much distance even if he wanted to. He looked around at the mostly-empty bookshelves and put his hands in his pockets.

“It’s good to see you again,” I said. “Sorry for not meeting you sooner. I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to come.”

“That’s fine.” He took a step closer and peered at the papers in front of me. “What are you working on?”

“I’m trying to figure out calculation in binary.” I flipped the page. “It’s been a while since my introductory computer science lecture, so I had to work it out again. The math is simple enough. But I don’t know how to build something to actually do it. Especially with the option of qi.”

“Hmm. Don’t computers basically use transistors?”

“Yeah. But we don’t have the level of technology to imitate modern computer chips, and I don’t really know how it started. We could use enchantments, but those are way too big and can’t really be miniaturized enough in the future.”

Al shrugged. “I wish I could help. So, your focus is on trying to build a computer?”

“That’s our star project. But it’s probably the most difficult.” I stood up. “I could show you around, if you want?”

“That would be great.”

I put away my notes. Part of the papers went into the desk, the rest into my spatial ring. That might be inefficient, but I didn’t want to store everything in one location, so I’d make backups of everything important.

When we left the room, I locked the door with both a physical key and a pulse of qi to arm its alarm formation. Then I took a look around. Mother had taken over a small building in the palace grounds to house a group of scholars and artificers, and given them the notes I’d left. Most of my time yesterday and today had been spent trying to catch up to everything and get to know the team.

The interior was simple considering its location, with white walls bare of decorations and sturdy furniture placed in the offices and workspaces. It didn’t look like my old university, but then again I hadn’t expected to lead a research team any time soon. I’d give that up for a working computer, though.

I led my brother down the corridor to the central room and showed him around. It functioned as the main office for the group, but only projects that didn’t need much space for practical works could be seen here.

“This is Lei, another cousin or something.” I pointed to a man in a corner who was hunched over some sketches. “From a world I’d put at a similar level of technology as the pre-world war one era. He’s taken over the telegraph project. At some point, we’ll work on radio.”

Although I hadn’t lowered my voice, the transmigrator showed no reaction, apparently too focused on his work to notice. I shrugged and pulled Al along.

“Here, this is the real game changer for the near future. I hope.” With a snap of my fingers, I ignited the light in the next room, then walked inside, Al following behind.

“There’s no qi here.” He frowned.

I glanced at the machines. One of them was mostly complete, the rest consisted of a framework and some wood on a worktable. Except for a few tools and the light, you really couldn’t feel any accumulation of qi in the room, in contrast to most of the surroundings.

“Is that cotton?” he asked.

“Something close enough. These are weaving machines. One of the important things at the start of the industrialization, I think. That’s why they don’t have any qi.”

Al walked over and ran a hand over it. “You want to game-change the textile industry?”

“No, I want to make one.” I shrugged. “This is just a prototype, we’ll get to other machines in time. The point is, I want to start factories for this. I mean, clothes are something everyone needs, but most people don’t actually wear qi-imbued outfits. So they can profit from this. Cheaper clothes for the common folk, plus introducing the first factories. It would create jobs and set up the concept.”

Al sighed. “I can’t believe you go from designing a computer to this.”

“I have to make myself deal with other projects, not just the one that interests me,” I admitted. “It’s about compromise, right? Let’s go back.”

As I’d sensed, my new retainer had returned to the room. Tenira was currently organizing stuff on her desk neatly. She seemed to do that a lot, but considering my own messy habits, I was in no position to complain. Her blue robes were the fanciest clothing in the room and looked like they came fresh from the tailor, not a single crease out of place.

“Hey, Tenira,” I said. “I assume you know Alaster?”

She straightened up and exchanged a polite hello with my brother. It felt a little weird seeing someone treat him without deference, but considering he was a kid and she a valued scion of the clan, that made sense. Maybe I should stop avoiding most of the family …

Then she asked after his soul journey. Al dodged all questions, before he turned back to me and asked me to talk about the various projects we were working on.

I was happy to explain, although there wasn’t much to mention yet. A few of the scholars were trying to puzzle out what new discoveries the chemistry knowledge from recent soul journeys like mine hid. They looked for ways to improve agriculture and the food supply, with things like better fertilizer or preservation methods. I could see the importance, but I’d rather deal with a dissection than that. The rest of the team were excitedly poring over airplane designs or physics projects.

I wasn’t quite sure how practicable the airplane fever was, but maybe they’d come up with something good. If nothing else, the army would probably appreciate the bomber designs.

All of the people here tried to incorporate qi into their projects in some way. I’d already pointed out a number of times where it would be better to use mechanical alternatives. The mindset here really differed from back home. The ability to replicate, mass produce and have things widely available didn’t get as much consideration.

All through my explanations, Al interjected comments. Most of them jokes or snide remarks. I could tell by his expression that he was impressed, though. Maybe being a snarker was just part of his personality regardless of memories.

After a while, he wandered off to take a look into the other rooms. I was about to accompany him, but Tenira caught my eye.

“I’m sorry if this is out of line,” she said. “But I get the feeling Alaster hasn’t heard about your night after you returned yet.”

I rolled my eyes. “So there are rumors? And why do you say that?”

“He hasn’t mentioned it, and knowing him, he’d at least get in a few jabs.” Tenira lowered her gaze. “I don’t mean to presume, but perhaps it’s best if he learns it from you. We don’t know what sort of cultural values his soul journey might have given him.”

I cursed as I realized what she meant. I’d never talked about my sexuality with Al, obviously, and considering their age, my old self probably hadn’t, either. Since there hadn’t been any lovers before, the only way to tell would have been observing the way I acted. There was a good chance he didn’t know I liked girls.

“Thank you,” I said, making a mental note of her consideration and thoughtfulness about this.

Then I looked for my brother, who was currently reading plans for a telegraph station.

“Thanks for showing me around,” he said when I came. “I’m trying to get as much cultivation advancement as I can from my soul journey, so I don’t have much time to help here. But I might be able to help out a bit.”

“That would be nice,” I replied. “Do you want to go to the training courtyard for a spar?”

He smiled. “Sure!”

He rushed off, and I had to walk quickly to keep up. The whole way through the palace grounds, I barely noticed our surroundings, focused on keeping my breathing even and my thoughts centered.

I thought I’d moved past the trouble of a coming out. But now the familiar anxiety returned. I’d felt the same when I told my parents. Not because I thought they’d reject me, but because they could. Now, I was more mature, but I also didn’t know what sort of background Al had, and that made it hard to gauge his reaction. If he freaked out, I might have a big problem on my hands for a long time. Well, at least his subconscious would still be that of the boy from here, right?

When we reached the courtyard, our guards spread out to cover it. I almost missed Aston giving me a thumbs-up gesture. It looked awkward, and I had no idea where he’d learned about it, but I appreciated the sentiment. I smiled back, and actually felt better knowing he supported me.

We started warming up with some light exercises. After I felt my muscles loosen up, I paused and looked to Al. “Actually, there was something I wanted to tell you.”

He stopped and raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

“I like girls,” I blurted out. “I mean, I like boys, too. I’m bisexual. Just, uh, wanted you to know that.”

His eyes widened. He stared at me for a second, then looked away. I couldn’t quite read the expression on his face. After a moment, he said, “Okay.”

I bit back a response and started moving again. He followed suit, doing a few air kicks.

Then he said, “Thanks for telling me. That’s good to know. I’m …”

The silence stretched on.

I prompted, “You’re what?”

He stopped moving, looking at his feet. “I think I might be gay,” he said quietly. Then he looked back up, and I could see the shadows in his eyes. “I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it in this life. On Earth … I tried to avoid thinking about it. Thought it was just hormones acting up and I’d fall in love with a girl eventually. My family was pretty conservative, and it’s not as socially acceptable as in other countries. I never talked about it and just avoided romance. I mean, I’m only a teenager. I think I was in denial.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, tentatively putting a hand on his shoulder. This must be so hard for him.

“Coming back here with different memories …” He shrugged. “With the different attitude, it made me realize the weirdness. I don’t really know what to think.”

“That’s alright,” I said. “Your body is only twelve, and just entering puberty. You have time to figure it out. But I’ll support you no matter what. It doesn’t matter what your sexuality is, your family loves you regardless. And you can talk to me any time.”

I couldn’t help thinking about the implications. People would be disappointed, since they wanted him to provide heirs for the Imperial family. There’d be pressure. But I kept that thought to myself.

“Thank you,” he said quietly.

I hugged him. After a moment, he buried his face in my shoulder and took deep breaths. We stayed like that for a while, until he pushed away.

He smiled. “To think I was jealous of you for being normal.”

I laughed. “No one’s ever accused me of being normal, but I’ll take it.”

In silent agreement, we continued with our warm-up exercises. If they were taking longer today than usual, no one commented.

“Really, I was jealous for a different reason,” he suddenly said, sending a glance at me. “That you’re a high-level genius with such a cool ability. That you’re the eldest and heir. I’ll never be Emperor because of you.” He spun around in a fancy move, facing me again. “I know I probably wouldn’t even be happy if I was, that it’s right you’re the heir. I’m dealing with it.”

How did you respond to that? After a moment of thought, I settled on, “Thanks.”

He stopped and assumed a fighting stance. “It’s alright,” he grinned. “Instead, I’ll be the best general the world’s ever seen.”

In that moment, he looked and sounded exactly like he did before his soul journey. I returned his grin. It was nice to see that the little brother I’d gotten to know was still there, just a little weathered by new experiences.

But what did that mean for my own identity? Was I really the same person I’d been in this world, even if I couldn’t remember it?

We started sparring. Of course, I went easy on him, and stopped to teach him a new technique after a while. It was nice.

32: Hints of trouble

“Why does it have to be flying swords?” I complained. “Why can’t we have a flying carpet or flying chair instead?”

The wind carried Mother’s chuckle from ahead. “Flying swords can be used to attack or even block others’ attacks in addition to carrying you around.”

I sighed, looking down at the metal beneath my feet. The flying sword didn’t look much like a sword, since it was shaped with a broader, flatter blade. But it could probably work as a flying shield and the tip was sharp. This culture is too obsessed with fighting, I grumbled to myself.

I moved it to the side, and almost overbalanced. Standing on a thin, not quite smooth object at high speeds clearly needed practice. Cultivators usually learned to use them when they reached the fourth stage, as having a domain made controlling them easier. I had it cradled in my domain, and used my intuition to steer it, which worked well.

Once again, I noted that enhanced reflexes weren’t all they were cracked up to be. Maybe that’s why cultivators can move really quickly, but not quite as fast in a fight? Besides needing to process more.

Flying felt awesome, though. The wind whistling by reminded me of sitting in a car with the window cranked down, except it was all around me. I looked down at the fortress drawing away from us, people crawling around the grounds. The view took my breath away. I could see a lot more details from this high up than I would have been able to on Earth. Good thing heights didn’t bother me.

“It just takes some practice, you’ll be comfortable with it soon,” Tenira called.

I chanced a glance back. My retainer stood on her own flying sword as if it was the ground, her hands clasped behind her back. Even when she accelerated to pull up alongside me, she leaned forward in a flowing motion, keeping her balance perfectly. I scowled at her and concentrated on speeding up a bit.

Soon, we started to reach the city’s airspace, its lights moving closer until they were directly under us. I carefully slowed down along with the others, then watched it passing beneath us.

The City of a Thousand Stars was big. Here at the outskirts, I could see how far it stretched. Even in daytime, many lights flickered upwards. We were high enough up that I could only hear the city’s noise if I concentrated. The many colors made it look a bit like a mosaic. Its architecture still seemed weird to me, but the houses looked fairly modern. The streets were as broad as in any city in Europe, and houses ten stories or higher clustered together in some areas. The people seemed to love gardens. The further we went, the more I could see mansions made of glittering stone, with greenery surrounding them alongside statues or other decorations.

It was probably a good thing my first experience with the city was from above. Much better than actually standing in it, among all those people whose lives differed so drastically from mine. I did feel my curiosity stirring, and I knew I’d be back, but it made sense to get the lay of the land first. At least the city was built according to a clear grid pattern, and it should be easy to tell where I was if I walked its streets.

A few people moved over the city in the air. Some of them stood on flying swords, but the majority traveled in small airships or rode flying beasts. Those came in different shapes and sizes. Some I recognized as big versions of an eagle or other bird, and some I didn’t know what to make of. We flew well above them, and they didn’t look up. Compared to the streets, very few people traveled in the air.

Mother led us in an arc over the city, until we reached the side facing the Central Plains. A few skyscrapers passed us by, and then we reached a section with larger, sprawling buildings, as well as some with balconies sticking out everywhere, obviously housing complexes. The other ones might be warehouses or something.

Finally, we came to a stop over a building that didn’t yet show any greenery or decorations. On the outside, it looked similar to the rest, although it sported more windows. I could see a number of people going into and out of it.

“So, that’s the new factory,” Mother said.

I descended a bit, careful to keep my balance, and took a closer look. With a bit of qi, I bent some light further down, giving me a view into the inside. Rows of weaving machines filled the floor, with people hard at work using them. One side was dedicated to materials, another had rows of worktables for people cutting and sewing the fabric into clothing.

“You don’t want to go inside?”

“No.” I grimaced. “I don’t want to cause that kind of a commotion.”

Mother chuckled. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

After a moment of thought, I turned to my retainer. “Tenira, would you like to go take a look? You’re not as recognizable as Mother and probably better at being low-key than me.”

She bowed her head. “Of course, my lady.”

My heart climbed into my throat as she started falling, but she halted her momentum close to the ground and touched down without even making noise. She stepped off her flying sword and took it into her storage ring. Then she shimmered for a moment. Afterward, her clothes had changed color and seemed a lot less fancy. She headed into the factory.

After a bit of waiting, I moved myself closer to Mother. I wanted to ask a few questions.

“Mother, this might sound weird, but do you know anything about premonitions in dreams? I had a weird one a while ago. It was too vivid, and I think I felt someone else’s emotions. It felt like someone was out to do me harm.”

She frowned and her fingers gripped the hems of her sleeves. “That sounds bad.” She seemed to ponder it for a moment. “The darkness affinity is sometimes associated with dreams, although …”

“What?”

She shook her head. “I haven’t heard about something like this before, but we shouldn’t take it lightly. I’ll make sure the guards are on alert. Was this a threat specifically against you?”

I paused. She hadn’t met my gaze. I got the feeling there was something she didn’t say. But after a moment, I answered, “I don’t know. It wasn’t very clear. I don’t think it’s a danger just to me.”

Mother hummed thoughtfully. “I’ll tell everyone to be alert. It might be something to do with the south. The nomads have increased their movements, and things are getting tense with the Zarian Dominion. Well, tenser. But not as bad as all that.”

I nodded. I hadn’t paid much attention to international politics so far, but I knew the relationship with the Empire’s long-standing opponents getting tense was pretty normal.

I didn’t really think this was just politics. It felt more personal than that. But I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know what I felt, and maybe my mind failed to take into account that I was the crown princess. Still, I could tell neither of us thought we had a satisfactory answer.

“I really don’t need this right now,” Mother muttered, running a hand through her hair. “I’m going to go into secluded cultivation soon. I’m getting close to advancement. I could postpone it, but things are probably going to get worse, so I think it’s better to have it done quickly. Things will be easier once I reach the middle part of the eighth stage.”

I grimaced. Her going into seclusion wasn’t good news, but I understood her reasoning, and of course it would help in the long run.

We fell into silence until Tenira returned, which didn’t take long. She looked around, then stepped on her flying sword and shot upwards. I could see a few of the other flying cultivators glance up, but they moved on quickly.

“Any problems?” Mother asked.

“I’m not sure, Your Majesty,” Tenira said. “There has been some trouble with the workers. They keep getting in each other’s way and don’t quite seem to understand the plan.”

I sighed. “Sounds like the whole division of work thing is too unknown for them. At least like this. Let’s hope those problems shake out. If only we had experienced supervisors that could help.”

“It’s probably unavoidable,” Mother said. “We just need to get through the beginning. Let’s go.”

We started moving again. This time, she led us in a different direction, not directly back to the palace. I was too busy trying not to fall from my flying sword while I handled the acceleration and turning to question her, though. I really hoped I’d get the hang of this quickly.

Finally, we settled on a speed and bearing, so I felt comfortable talking. “By the way, Mother, I’m a little surprised you came personally for this.”

Mother looked back at me and raised an eyebrow. “Your projects could revolutionize the Empire. Of course I’m invested in them and the progress we make.” She paused. “Speaking of, is there anything new to discuss?”

I almost rolled my eyes. Of course she’d have this conversation while I had to deal with my new flying sword. But after a moment, I had a thought. “Tenira, didn’t you bring something up yesterday?”

She came closer. “You mean the public transportation, Inaris? I stand by that opinion. It has a lot of room for improvement.”

“Explain, please,” Mother said.

“Look at the city. There is no system to speak of,” I said. “Of course, advanced cultivators can travel quickly. But most people aren’t much stronger than humans on Earth. Mounts or carriages are expensive. Even the rickshaw-like things probably cost too much for an everyday expense.”

Tenira tapped a finger to her chin, disregarding the wind whipping her hair around completely. “People’s mobility is limited. They tend to work closely to their homes. Now, if they could easily travel to other parts of the city? I imagine productivity would rise considerably, and it would make development like we intend easier.”

After a moment, Mother nodded. “I see. That’s certainly true. So you want to design a tram or something?”

“No.” I shrugged at her look. “I have no idea how to do city planning. What I’d propose is to hold a contest. Let people send in plans and then choose a winner and build it. We can offer a few suggestions, like the possibility of underground trains or whatever. Maybe even flying buses? Might be cool.”

After a bit, Mother agreed. We discussed the idea some more and came up with a plan. She’d gather a few people to form a committee that could judge applications. They’d do a pilot project in the capital to start with, and if it worked, it could be replicated in other cities. The costs for the venture would be split between the Imperial treasury and the city. Hopefully, we could make public transportation free.

I was so involved in the discussion I barely noticed where we were going. It was only when the wind changed that I realized we’d reached the mountains. I groaned as I looked around, trying to steady myself as I decelerated. The mountains looked familiar, they were probably similar everywhere. We flew high enough up that there was only the occasional tree beneath the rock faces. I could see what looked like a glacier further on.

“We’ll stay here until you make some progress,” Mother said.

“Why here?”

She grinned. “I can’t have you making a fool of yourself in the palace, can I?”

I rolled my eyes and sped up again. She had a point. Carefully, I headed deeper into the mountains. It was harder to maneuver here than in the open, but I’d already made some progress.

For a few hours, I sent my flying sword around the area, trying to deal with wind currents and occasionally descending far enough to move around the terrain. If I wasn’t a cultivator, my legs would be really sore, but I hardly got tired. After a bit, I started to get the hang of turning.

When my levels of qi were getting low and I felt I’d made enough progress, I returned to where Mother and Tenira waited. I could see them talking to each other.

On an impulse, I sent my flying sword up, going in an arc to move to their blind spots. They could probably feel my presence, but I couldn’t help it. I hovered in the air above and a little behind them, getting ready.

Then I plunged down. “Woo, look out!” I raised my hands and struck a pose, while I sent my flying sword spinning towards them.

Except when I almost reached them, a gust of wind sent it wobbling a bit. My stance was too unstable. With the spin of the sword getting out of whack, it cost me my balance. I tried to correct, cartwheeling my arms, but the momentum worked against me and I was sent from the sword.

For an instant, I closed my eyes and groaned internally. Then I extended my domain and tried to push.

The ground was coming at me quickly. I managed to slow my momentum. Still, when I landed hands first, I was sent flipping over, impacting with my back against the rough ground.

I blinked, trying to get my breath back. I knew I’d probably looked ridiculous. After I finally stood up and dusted myself off, I noticed my two companions flying closer, both of them laughing.

No need to let them know how much my pride stung. “I totally meant to do that,” I called up, grinning. “A little entertainment to thank you for waiting.”

Mother shook her head, but she was still smiling.

At least I didn’t seem injured. My hands throbbed and my back was a bit sore, but I wouldn’t have anything worse than bruises.

I collected my flying sword from where it had fallen and reluctantly ascended back into the air. “Let’s just go back.”

And so we did. After we left the mountains, Mother dropped back again to fly beside me, matching my movements with ease. She looked serious. “Your cultivation is progressing well. From now on, I want you to attend my weekly morning meetings in the map room, with my advisers and a few key people.”

That both brightened and soured my mood. It felt good to know she liked my progress and thought I was ready for that, but I didn’t relish the thought of attending meetings.

Well, at least it wasn’t open court or the big social functions.

Bonus 3: Geopolitics

The first thing I need to remember — well, to keep in mind: This planet is different from Earth. Not just in the whole existence of magic aspect, but the planet itself. If I’m right, Aran is considerably larger. That affects geography and climate, although those seem to work similar to Earth. The existence of qi has to play into it somehow. But these environments shape the nations that arise in them.

Depending on how you count, there are about nine continents. All of them have roughly similar sizes as those on Earth, although they might be bigger on average. I’m not sure.

Depending on how you count, there are either ten or twelve global powers. All of those cover at least a significant portion of a continent.

These global powers operate according to different structures, of course. But I can see similarities. Most of them are quite old, and spread across their home continents over time. None of them has anything that resembles a modern democracy, although their governing systems differ. But it tends to be the strongest cultivators that are in charge. Class structures are prominent, often in forms resembling feudalism. All of them based in history.

The relationship between these powers is, to summarize it in one word, tense. Many of them have spread onto and colonized other continents. Sometimes, that led them into conflict. But outright war between the powers isn’t something anyone appears to want. It hasn’t happened since the colonizations really kicked off, and the current distribution of power emerged. Everyone knows that total war would be devastating, that it would harm themselves as well as their enemies grievously. At least, that’s my impression. Does this multi-front cold war based on a delicate balance of power and threat seem unstable? Of course it does. But it’s held for a while. And to be fair, not everyone is hostile to each other. There’s only a few real enmities.

These nations like to keep their secrets. In general, there’s little commerce or communication between them. Well, a few countries do trade, but not anywhere as much as I remember from Earth. They also make sure not to show important knowledge or technology to outsiders. That’s why any assessment of another power’s capabilities has to factor in some uncertainty.

They also have some degree of decentralized government. Just how much autonomy provinces or colonies are allowed varies, though. But vassal states and petty kingdoms subordinate to a power seem common, especially on those continents where many nations coexist, including several of the global players. The Earth Continent comes to mind, where most of the Empire’s territories outside of the Central/Sky Continent are located.

Since the last major changes to global powers’ borders lie centuries in the past, they have all secured their territories in their own way. I think the Empire is a good example of how that can work. They don’t discriminate based on ethnicity, everyone is a citizen of the Empire. Living standards don’t differ much between the continents or regions. The Empire promotes a shared, overarching culture, but local influences are accepted and show up everywhere.

Depending on how you assess it, the Empire of the Sky is the second largest nation in terms of landmass covered, the second biggest in terms of population, and probably the second greatest in terms of technological development. Although our knowledge is limited, so those assessments may be in error.

But the real key in those statistics lies in how none of the countries presumably taking first place are at the top in more than one category. The Lotus Confederation is a mess, closer to a federation of countries than a centralized nation. It has a huge population, but a lot of internal strife. Although its foreign policy is consistent, if you consider their internal structure, it’s no wonder they appear to be behind in terms of economy and technology. And the Peiah-Kartun might cover a large area, but a good chunk of it is inhospitable wasteland. Probably the aftermath of some huge catastrophe based on qi.

No, in reality, the Empire of the Sky’s claim to be the most powerful can’t be dismissed. Even if I only have access to some sources, given everything I have learned, I’d judge it to be justified.

Of course, it also pays to consider the Empire’s status in terms of geography, if you look at the world map overall.

… Despite the name, the Central Continent does not lie at the center of the world. Shocking, right? In fact, it’s somewhat close to the equator but beneath it, in the southern hemisphere of Aran. But it’s a good location that has many strategic advantages. Ships from the Empire can reach four continents quickly, either due to proximity or ocean currents. Plus, it’s a pretty good climate, unlike what some other countries are stuck with.

Anyway. I’ve taken a closer look at some of the nations that hold importance to the Empire.

The first one would be the City-State of Adzur. Despite the name, it’s a bit more than a city-state nowadays, though not on the level of a global power. But its technological development is superior to all. Or so they say. I’m inclined to believe it, although from what I’ve seen, I’m confident I can get the Empire to surpass them. It makes me wonder if they have a connection to other worlds. Their relationship to the Empire must be pretty good, since they occasionally sell us devices and even blueprints. Maybe that’s why they’re still alive and kicking, despite all the superpowers around. They hold a strategic location, so I imagine they could act as something like a buffer state. Since no one wants the others to gain control of them.

Then there’s the Kingdom of Terbekteri. A mouthful, but they may be the closest allies the Empire has. Still not that close, and there’s no official alliance treaty, although they have made a number of agreements. On the global stage, the two countries support each other more often than not. There’s even a lot of trade. At least half of the Empire’s exports go to Terbekteri, if I had to guess. If there’s ever a global war, the two are likely to be on the same side, probably as the center of a power block. I’m not the only one who thinks so, and I get the impression their relationship is one of the foundations underlying their status on the global stage.

But the most important nation to the Empire is, without question, their rival. The Zarian Dominion. It covers the Southern or Storm Continent, the one connected to the Sky Continent. Their animosity goes back to the time both of them rose to dominate their respective continents. When the Empire pushed south, and the Dominion sent expeditions north.

Yet the two don’t share a border, because between them lies what locals call the Yellow Graves, and the nomads inhabiting that region. They call themselves the Zarieni. If what I’ve read is right, that means ‘children of sorrow’, while Zarian is ‘children of the storm’. Or something along those lines; the meaning is complex.

The Zarieni came to inhabit the region after they fled from the northern plains of the Storm Continent. Why and how that happened, I’m not sure. Maybe they were a rogue faction driven out by the Zarian, or a people that fled from the prospect of being conquered by them. The Imperial books I’ve read don’t offer a clear answer, since it depends on which side you ask, and even their stories are hardly consistent.

In my opinion, the Empire made what may be the most grievous mistake in its career by pushing south and trying so persistently to get across to the Storm Continent. They made themselves the enemy. Even now, despite the official stories, it’s clear to anyone that the Zarian and the Zarieni have established some degree of cooperation. I don’t think that’s just Imperial propaganda. It makes sense for the Zarian to use them as a buffer state and cat’s paw. In return, they protect them by threatening war on the Empire if it tries a full invasion of the Yellow Graves.

That brings me to the raids. They’re almost a constant through the south’s history. Years or decades might go by without one, but the peace at the border never lasts long. Of course, most of the raids are minor, although a few tribes have tried to invade the Empire outright.

The nomads are organized in tribes. They move around a lot, and have perfected the art of hiding in their territory. That makes it hard for the Empire to root them out. The Zarian presence means that no large-scale effort has been undertaken. At least not in a few millennia, I think. Of course, the border has fortifications, but there’s a lot of ground to cover and it’s not like a wall would do much to stop a cultivator. It’s pretty clear why the south is a frequent problem for the Imperial throne. But the southern coasts and the regions further inland are rich in population and resources.

The Zarian themselves are a global power same as the Empire. They might be a little weaker, but it’s not enough to risk a war. Not nearly. They have a few colonies overseas, but they’re more concentrated on their continent than the Empire.

I don’t see this conflict being resolved any time soon. The animosity runs too deep, and the two sides are too evenly matched.

On that cheery note, I’ll stop. I want to take a closer look at the oceans and what they might hide. Or at least the shipping routes.

33: Without the Empress

I quickly settled into a routine in the weeks that followed. The projects were progressing well. They already built telegraph lines, and the factories were starting to take off. The speed impressed me, even if I knew that they’d started working before I returned from the sect. But having cultivators probably sped up building times a lot. I continued working on the projects, keeping my excitement for more mad science-y pursuits in check in favor of practical applications to help the Empire’s progress. Besides that, I spent a lot of time cultivating. After all, I still had that deadline to worry about, and my cultivation was still going very smoothly after the soul journey.

Sometimes, I felt disgustingly adult. Funny since I’d ‘come back’ to a younger body.

At least being with my younger siblings was fun. True to my word, I taught Xiaodan to play chess. She was hilariously bad at it, of course, and only showed interest in the game occasionally. Well, she was only eight. If she continued like this, she’d become a great chess player in time.

Then, of course, there were Mother’s meetings.

They didn’t go as badly as I feared. The gatherings she had invited me seemed informal, just Mother, a few advisers, Kariva and a few other people in important positions, plus whoever was needed that day. We discussed what was going on in the Empire recently, and any concerns or issues that had been brought up. Mother acted surprisingly hands-off here. After a bit, I realized these meetings were mostly meant to keep each other up to speed. They were hardly the only governing she did.

I learned a lot about the Empire and the way it functioned. The structure was not very centralized in most aspects, probably a necessity for such a large nation that encompassed so many provinces and people. Local governments, nobles, city mayors and the like took care of many problems. The Imperial government and its bureaucracy controlled all of them. The army handled other sorts of issues. But even dealing with other countries and strife between different factions in the Empire took a lot of effort.

“Inaris, do you have any comments?” Mother asked.

I started and shook my head, looking to the previous speaker in today’s meeting. I’d paid enough attention that I could have recited the minister’s words, but I hadn’t worried much about them. “No, Mother, I don’t.”

She’d begun asking for my impressions and opinions, but at least she didn’t chew me out if she didn’t like them. I felt like I was in class sometimes, but I knew my job here was to learn.

Mother nodded, then turned her gaze back to the others.

I looked around the room. Aside from wall hangings and carvings in the entranceways, it contained no decorations. In the middle stood a conference table and an assortment of chairs. Layers of qi covered the room, woven through the walls, floor and ceiling. They isolated it from the rest of the palace. Together with the strength the attendants exuded, it made me feel like all the qi pressed in on me. At least the cultivators, all stronger than me, did me the courtesy of suppressing their auras.

The next speaker started talking. This one was reporting on the state of the southern border. I paid attention and did my best to make sense of what he said. A few times, I had to stop myself from interjecting with a question. It felt weird to hear the intelligence people talk of powerful spirits as sources.

Of course, we had little contact with the nomads or the Dominion. There was no trade, and this world didn’t take the concept of embassies and ambassadors as far as Earth. We still knew something, of course. If nothing else, both sides could send a powerful cultivator to the border, or out at sea, and have them fly really high up, then look over with the equivalent of a telescope. Not as good as satellite imagery, but better than nothing. And of course, there were always spies, or bargaining with spirits.

I looked at the map decorating the table. In the south of the Central or Sky Continent, it narrowed until it reached a landmass connecting it to the Storm Continent. A bit like the Sinai or Mesoamerica, maybe, but shaped differently. From there, the Zarieni nomads launched occasional raids through the border at the Empire’s southern regions. One reason this area proved a constant headache for Mother and her predecessors.

“Unfortunately, the recent difficulty in the Pit means we won’t be able to send many reinforcements south,” Kariva commented. “Given this new activity, I’ll pay increased attention to the southern border. We should also check all the ports in the southern side of the continent and maybe call a few more ships up. This wouldn’t be the first time the Dominion took advantage to bother our shipping.”

I continued pondering the differences this world presented to Earth, particularly the different inhabitants. Increased attention probably meant sending and asking them. Even Greater Spirits could be bargained with if you made it worth their while. Kariva had mentioned something about an agreement Mother made, but maybe I was misinterpreting. They would certainly be able to tell you a lot. I didn’t quite know how to handle the fact that we dealt with entities worshiped as gods, but I’d also done my best to avoid religion.

“How’s our relationship with beasts in the sea?” I asked.

Mother smiled at me. “Quite good. We have a number of agreements with powerful ones. I hope to send you to negotiate some in time. Given your research and knowledge of psychology, I expect you’d do well.”

I nodded. “I should.”

One of the others raised an eyebrow at that, but I didn’t care. I saw no need for false humility.

“Is there anything else we need to discuss?” Mother asked.

No one spoke. I glanced at each person in the room. The officials sat down the table from Mother, who had me at her right hand, and all wore ornate robes or what might have been suits under all the decoration. Seven of the ten people in the room were men, not counting us.

Mother let the silence linger for a bit, steepling her fingers. I sat up straighter, realizing where this was going now.

“It is time for me attempt my breakthrough,” Mother said. “I don’t need to tell anyone this, but remember that it is a very delicate endeavor, and a distraction at the wrong moment could ruin everything. Therefore, I will be in seclusion. We’ll head there now.”

She paused as if to invite questions. A few people exchanged looks, but no one spoke up. Mother nodded, and dissolved the meeting.

I couldn’t help but feel like the day had grown darker as I followed her out of the room. Having her gone would take away a bit of my security, both in my physical safety, a concern given my bad premonitions, and the matter of responsibility. But more than that, I realized I didn’t like the prospect of not seeing her for the time she remained in seclusion.

Mother headed out of the palace. In silence, she hurried through its grounds towards the mountains. I followed her, along with Kariva and a few people from the council. Two advisers and the chancellor. A number of guards surrounded us, ranging ahead and behind. They were out in force today, and I assumed they would keep watch over Mother the whole time.

It didn’t take long to reach the location. Apparently, a cave at the foot of the closest mountain. It hid under a rocky outcropping, although my senses told me there was a naturally formed shaft leading down from the surface, allowing light to enter. The whole area positively brimmed with qi. I felt the hairs on my neck stand up just being close to the entrance. The guards took up positions around it.

“If I’m lucky, this should only take a month, maybe two,” Mother told me. “Although it might be more if there are complications.”

I nodded, frowning. “Who’s going to run the Empire in your absence?”

“It’s mostly going to run itself.” She smiled reassuringly. “The ministers and other officials will handle anything that comes up within their sphere. A few months isn’t enough for the Empire to get unstable without a ruler. And the nobles know better than to try something. Otherwise, Gen will deal with the administration.”

The man bowed. At least he couldn’t see me side-eying him.

I would have said some joke about going off into a cave on her own if we were alone. Instead, I simply smiled and wished Mother luck. Everyone hurried to follow my example.

She lingered for a second, looking at me. Then she turned around and entered the cave. Just like that, Empress Acura of the Empire of the Sky was now on hiatus.

I sighed and looked for Aston, who was standing a bit to the side of me. He smiled supportively. I was beginning to think his role as bodyguard was a front for a different job.

I turned away and shook out my sleeves. “Well, let’s hope her success comes quickly.”

Gen smiled. “Of course, Your Highness.”

I had to force my expression to remain polite. Maybe it was my imagination, but I didn’t like the way he smiled at me, like he was indulging a kid. It made me want to challenge him.

It probably would have been smarter to stay silent, but I spoke anyway, wanting to hear his answer to my question. “What do you intend to do about that that activity in the Pit? It could be some powerful new beast moving in and pushing out others. The towns in the region might be in for a challenge.”

He waved a hand. “I will let the Imperial army handle it. After all, that’s their job, Your Highness.”

I narrowed my eyes. “And if the generals want to transfer more troops to the region, you’ll support that decision?”

“Any requests for logistical assistance will of course be given the proper attention. I assure you, Your Highness, we have things well in hand, and there is no need for you to worry about anything. We are more than capable of carrying the burden of governing so that you can focus on your cultivation.”

I gritted my teeth. While I couldn’t argue with him about the matter, I didn’t appreciate his tone or the way he smiled at me again.

I exhaled, pushing out my frustration. I knew better than to let it loose. “Very well, Chancellor Gen. I will leave you to your work. You are dismissed.”

His face tightened a bit, but he bowed and took his leave.

I stayed and watched the officials go. Although only Gen and the advisers left. I’d lost track of Kariva. When I turned around again and saw her standing at my side, I almost jumped, but managed to control myself just in time.

“Don’t mind Gen, my lady,” she said. “He’s good at keeping everything together, but not the kind who likes to act quickly.” She looked after them and frowned for a moment, before she turned back to me. “I doubt it, but if he becomes troublesome, the matter will be handled.”

I shook my head. “Do you try to sound like that on purpose?”

Kariva smiled. “Sometimes. I meant it, though.”

“Hmm.” I gave her a closer look. Even though we’d met in the meetings, I didn’t know much about her. “So you would back me against him if it came to a conflict? Even with underhanded means?”

“Well, of course.” She raised an eyebrow. “You’re the crown princess of the Empire, and the heir of the family. Our Young Miss, if you will. In the absence of the Empress, it is only right that I answer to you. So long as it does not go against her orders or our interests, of course.”

I crossed my arms, staring at her with a challenge in my eyes. “And if I wanted to have you whipped for talking to me without the proper respect?”

She answered promptly, her tone and expression unmoved. “I would strive to take the punishment with grace, of course, Your Highness.”

She didn’t seem bothered at all. It could be because she knew I was only testing her. But still. Is she a psychopath or just a fanatic?

At least she seemed to be on my side. I’d just have to be careful. It looked like if I wanted to have someone assassinated or whatever, she’d have no problem actually doing it.

“Well, tell me if there’s anything I need to know,” I ordered. Then I hesitated for a moment. I didn’t trust her enough to tell her how I might have bad premonitions yet. But I could at least say something. “And I need you to be especially careful, until further notice.”

Kariva bowed her head. “Of course, my lady."

With that, I turned and walked away. The back of my neck itched, but I didn’t look back to see if she was watching me.

I had work to do. I should keep focused on that.

34: Dire news

The bit of qi flickered, spinning around under my invisible grip. I tried to look more closely, but had a hard time noticing any change. When I released it, it dissolved into the surroundings, merging with the qi covering everything.

I hadn’t figured out where exactly to draw the line between light-affinity qi and the light it produced. That might be a small distinction, but my inability to grasp the finer points of how qi worked frustrated me. I knew qi itself didn’t have any light-emitting properties, per se. When I produced a spark, light would come from the light-affinity qi that made up the technique, but the qi itself wouldn’t be destroyed, simply dissipate. I didn’t know if it lost its affinity — the change in the environment would be too small to notice, since seeing qi with its affinities ‘in the wild’ was hard enough and required a lot of concentration. Testing that would need a greater amount of light qi than I would be comfortable playing around with like this.

And I didn’t even know where to begin in investigating the more conceptual parts of what it could do. But at least I succeeded in producing electromagnetic radiation in other parts of the spectrum.

Shaking my head, I turned my attention back to my current project. Darkness qi was even worse to get a grip on than light qi, since, by its very nature, it embodied the concept of absence. Absence of light, of course, but I was hoping I could translate that to absence of other things, like void-affinity in some stories. I knew higher-level techniques did something like that.

For the moment, I used it as an insulator.

I formed a small sphere of darkness qi, concentrating on turning it into a protection from light-based effects in addition to a black screen. Then I slowly pushed some light qi through a gap I’d left open.

A pulse of qi swept through the surroundings. It wasn’t very noticeable, but I almost lost my grip on the delicate operation. Frowning, I paused what I was doing and took a quick look around.

I stood in an open space besides the building housing our workshop. I could feel the people inside going about their business. No one else was near. The afternoon sunlight lengthened the shadows of a few people hurrying over the paths a bit further away, making them dance across the grass. I couldn’t feel anything else with my qi senses.

Focusing back on what I was doing, I closed up the sphere of darkness while maintaining my connection to the bit of light qi. That was the tricky part, but I managed. Then, I concentrated on the light-affinity qi, bearing down on it with my will. I got it to shift, making it emit light with smaller and smaller wavelengths. It almost seemed to shrink as the energy of the EM-waves increased. I pushed further, sending my senses out to my qi, following along what it created. With more pressure, I could feel it change, going from ultraviolet to X-rays. I pushed even further, focusing it even more, until I could feel it coming close to gamma rays.

Then I stopped. The protective shell around my experiment felt battered and drained, although it still held. I knew none of the harmful radiation had reached me, although the amount was small enough that it wouldn’t have mattered much.

I couldn’t help but smile. I was a long way from weaponizing this, or even recreating an X-ray scanner. I still hadn’t figured out a good method to do this with formations. But the potential was there. Sure, high-stage light cultivators could release a lot of energy in explosions, but my way was a lot more controlled.

Well, Mother had probably done the same sorts of experiments, if no one else. It couldn’t be easy to make a real difference with it. But I didn’t let that thought discourage me. I had to have a better idea of what I was actually working with than almost anyone else in this world, and when it came to qi, that mattered.

Before I could try to do it again, I felt Aston approaching quickly. I turned back just in time to see him run up the path and come to a stop in front of me. Wasn’t he cultivating somewhere? He didn’t look happy.

“Your Highness, there’s going to be an emergency meeting,” he said.

I sighed and flicked the remnants of my darkness sphere away. “Gen and the other officials don’t really need me there.”

Aston frowned and looked like he was considering what to say. Then, I could feel another familiar presence approaching, and turned to see Tenira rushing to us.

“Inaris, they’re holding an emergency meeting. Apparently, there’s been dire news from the south.”

“That sounds bad. Although I’m sure the generals and the government could actually handle it themselves. Why do I always have to stop when things are going well?” I muttered.

Tenira took a step closer. “Inaris, this is a real emergency. Even if your presence doesn’t turn out to be necessary, you should attend.”

I rolled my eyes for good measure, then pushed my annoyance down. “Yeah, I know. I’m going.”

I took a quick look at my clothing, which was in order, and disappeared my notepad into my storage ring. Then I headed off. When I noticed Tenira didn’t move, I made a shooing motion at her. “Come on. You’re my retainer, you can accompany me.”

We moved quickly. When we reached the main complex, I noticed that activity had kicked up, with people rushing here and there. This must be serious. I increased my pace further as I hurried up to the main wing. The presence of the guards and accumulation of qi signatures I recognized guided me to the correct place, a big meeting room close to the great hall, bordering on the offices used by the top generals and some belonging to the ministry of war. I took a deep breath and pushed the door open, Aston and Tenira following me inside.

Everyone rose when I entered. I quickly scanned the people gathered, then took my place to the right of the throne-like chair at the head of the table, which remained empty. I recognized all four top generals, Gen and two of his people, a few other functionaries, the head of the main intelligence service, and Kariva. Shields of qi covered the room, obviously designed for privacy.

Tenira took a position standing at my shoulder, while Aston joined a few other guards around the room. Everyone sat down again when I did. We must have been the last to arrive.

Since Gen didn’t do anything, I spoke up. “Let’s begin, please.”

One of the generals, named Poteri, as I recalled, cleared his throat and stood up. His uniform and hair were neatly kept, and his expression gave no hint to his emotions.

He waited until everyone’s attention was fixed on him to talk. “My lords and ladies, I bring dire news. The nomads have breached our borders again. This time, it’s no simple raid, but closer to an invasion.”

Muttering started. I felt my own heartbeat speed up. An invasion? And Mother isn’t here!

The top general, an old man called Tsakan Wu with an impressive gray beard, rapped his hand on the table. “What news do we have, and how did we get them?”

Poteri looked like he expected the question. “The barbarians breached our border close to the seventeenth border fort, about two hours ago. The fort went dark without sending a message, but the alarm formation was triggered. The closest garrison sent an elite team that discovered the fort in ruins and all soldiers slain. This message was passed on to the regional headquarters and from there to us.”

A few eyebrows went up at that. The Zarieni nomads usually preferred to try and sneak through the border, I knew. I wondered what system the military had set up to pass messages, but shelved that question. Probably qi talismans for communication.

“Since then,” he continued, “the nomads have been sighted on their way to the region around Blue Valley City. Their host numbers in the thousands, all of them in the middle or high stages. That means the complete fighting force of one tribe, at minimum. We assume they have been razing villages on the way, although confirmation was still pending as of five minutes ago. We do have reports of smaller groups splitting off.”

He paused at that.

“It would be stupid for them to stay together like that,” Tsakan commented. “What else do we know about them?”

They discussed the issue for a while longer, while I did my best to understand what this meant. I knew that combat in a world of cultivators worked quite differently. An army of people in the first stage could be annihilated by a single elite in the seventh. That was why armies tended to be small and full of high-stage warriors. Since the Empire outmatched them, raiders would usually move quickly, strike before the army could muster a full response, and retreat. But this army of the Zarieni nomads meant that they could probably take many of the forces the Empire had spread across the south on their own.

Something else bothered me, though. “What about the timing?” I asked. “This incursion comes only two days after Mother went into seclusion. Did they find out?”

“Almost certainly,” Kariva answered. “It’s too suspicious. And they must have prepared for this, too. I can only assume that the Zarian caught wind of it, probably from a spy in the palace or among the nobles, and let the Zarieni know.” She frowned. “They could have even instigated this.”

Everyone fell silent. I had to fight to keep my expression calm and my dismay from showing. This incursion was enough of a problem on its own.

Then again, it should be well within the army’s capabilities to handle. At least once they pulled together enough troops and sent them south. Of course, the raiders could do a lot of damage to the southern regions in that time. The local defenders had to try to cover every settlement, and cultivator armies moved quickly.

“We need to tell the Empress,” one of the ministers said. “She needs to be aware of this, and make the decisions.”

Gen shook his head, and Kariva answered flatly, “No. Her Majesty is in a deep meditation to break through to the next part of the eighth stage. Disturbing her could be catastrophic. We cannot.”

Most of the people gathered nodded in understanding.

“What do we do?” someone finally asked.

“We scramble the army, taking what soldiers we can spare, and bring them south,” Tsakan answered. He sounded tired. “We try to coordinate the defense of the south. We call on the nobles, both local and in the rest of the Empire, for help.”

A lot of gazes suddenly moved to me. I nodded. “That’s a solid plan.”

It looked like they waited for me to say something more. I shifted in my seat, then immediately stilled myself.

“And who will be in charge of the campaign?” Poteri asked.

Gen looked like he tried his best to go unnoticed. A few of the attendees glanced at him, but most still looked to me.

“I’m sure the Generals and leadership of the army know their jobs and their people,” I said.

Kariva cleared her throat. “Your Highness, before this goes any further, I would like to convene with you.” She sent her gaze through the room. “In private.”

I sighed and glanced at the other people. I could hardly refuse her. “Everyone, give us the room, if you please. Tenira, you can stay.”

The rest of them didn’t look happy, but they stood, bowed to me, and left the room without complaint. A few moments later, we were alone, the qi formation screening our conversation from the outside world.

I had a feeling I knew where this was going, but I didn’t have to make it easy on her. “So, Kariva, do you have any important news?”

The spymaster took her seat again, smiling evenly. “No, my lady, but perhaps some perspective.”

I nodded and tapped my fingers on the table while I thought. “The nobles don’t like the army, do they?”

“They’re not part of the army and not answerable to the generals themselves”, Tenira said. She shrugged when I looked at her. “The nobility does have a lot of resources and strong cultivators, even if they’ve lost power over the populace.”

“So, you need me to rally them. To get them to join the war effort. Since they owe fealty to the throne, and Mother isn’t here, I represent it, or what?”

They nodded.

“The way I see it, you have three choices, Your Highness,” Kariva said after a moment. “May I explain?”

“Go ahead.”

“You could do nothing. Let the generals handle it, appoint someone to lead the campaign, and defeat the raiders. They’re going to be handled in time, but the defense in the south might be fragmented.”

“Let me guess,” I said. “The second choice is to appoint someone to fight the war, put the weight of Imperial authority behind them, as best I can. Then I’ll stay here and maybe weigh in on decisions occasionally.”

Kariva nodded. “Or,” she paused meaningfully, “you could go to war yourself, my lady. Call on the nobles for their service, rally the army and the nobility in the south, and lead a glorious campaign to rid the Empire of the barbarian scourge.”

“Such good PR,” I said dryly.

“You wouldn’t even need to dictate the war yourself,” Kariva continued. “Being there and issuing orders would be the important part. The nobles are more likely to join in this effort if you are. It’s harder to refuse the Imperial Princess than some general. Of course, actually gaining experience in fighting would be quite valuable as well, if you’ll forgive the presumption.”

I stared down at the table, still tapping my fingers. This was a big decision, so I took my time to think it over carefully, even if the answer seemed clear.

“There’s no way to resolve this peacefully, is there?” I asked.

I could hear Kariva almost sigh. “For a moment, I forgot who I was talking to,” she muttered. I had to strain my ears to hear it.

“Of course not,” Tenira said, looking at me like I’d failed a simple math problem. “The raiders aren’t going to be interested in dialog.” Her expression darkened. “They’ll pillage their way across the region if they aren’t stopped. Many civilians will die no matter what.”

I sighed. I’d expected that answer, knew it was true, but I didn’t like the idea of supporting a war, let alone being responsible for one. It didn’t agree with my ideals, even if I didn’t doubt my ability to go through with it. But in this context, I knew I had to, which made it easier.

The first option Kariva had given me was obviously bad. It might leave my hands clean at first glance. But if I could make things better, or at least less bad, maybe save lives overall, I was obligated to take action. My principles were pretty clear on that, too.

“Well.” I shook my head. “There’s no way I can let someone I don’t know lead a war in my name. Who knows what they might get up to? At least I’m fairly confident in my own judgment. And you have made good points.”

It was the best choice.

Kariva leaned back in her chair. “Then you’ll do it, Your Highness?”

“I will. I guess it’s time to call the banners.”

They frowned in confusion, but I didn’t care if they got the reference.

Now, we had to prepare for war.

35: Setting off

It turned out that preparing for war meant a lot of time sitting in meetings and debating details most people wouldn’t think of. I knew that actually being in the war would involve many strategy meetings, but I might not have realized just how much there was to do before we could even set off.

Luckily, I didn’t need to be present or involved in most of that.

I’d been sitting in a conference room with generals and high-ranking officers, plus Kariva and a few of her people, for hours now. We’d been discussing the most important points.

I looked back at the sheet of paper in front of me. With the help of Kariva and Tenira, I’d drafted a message halfway between a royal command and a call for volunteers. It had been spread to the nobility, and now we were waiting. Looking at the flowery words, I grimaced.

Everyone agreed that time was of the essence. We’d send an advance force south as soon as possible, one that would be able to travel quickly. The rest of the troops mobilized for this war would follow.

Someone tapping their hand on the table brought my attention back to the debate. The officer, a gray-haired general, shook his head as he glared at the woman opposite him. “It would be more trouble than it’s worth. There’d be questions about command. And those of the eighth stage are notoriously … difficult to work with.”

A few of the people present grimaced. One of them asked, “But can we really afford not to?”

“It probably wouldn’t matter much,” General Tsakan said. “The raiders know they can’t match us in a straight fight, so they’ll split up, try to force us to defend everything. Only a few of the eighth-stagers are known for their senses, and none of those could join us.”

“Besides,” Poteri added, “if we bring several, the raiders will know they’ve lost, and they could just hole up in towns and force us to devastate the settlements to bring them down.”

I almost grimaced at that. It sounded like we needed to have the invaders think they stood a chance. That agreed with what military ‘wisdom’ I remembered from Earth, that an enemy was most dangerous when he’s desperate.

“We’ve agreed, then,” Tsakan said. “Someone in the eighth stage from the south might join us. In any case, we’ll proceed as planned. We’ll send the relief force down quickly. Your Highness?”

“I’ll lead that one, of course,” I said. “I want to be involved in what’s happening in the south.”

We’d already sent a message with the gist of the plan. But this communication worked with a massive qi drain of a formation. It sent out a qi construct that traveled at great speed. Unfortunately, for locations hundreds of kilometers away, that ‘great speed’ still made anything like real-time coordination impossible.

That was why the generals had agreed to leave coordinating the local defense in the hands of the commanders in the region. I agreed, of course. Trying to micro-manage with that kind of control loop, not to mention the information throughput, would be courting disaster.

No one seemed surprised at my words. Instead, the discussion turned back to which units would be sent and who would be in tactical command. Unfortunately, there weren’t many that could be recalled this quickly, without leaving important positions uncovered.

“I hate saying this, but we can’t afford to uncover the border,” I agreed. “Not when the Zarian are clearly up to something. The rest of the tribes could take advantage, too. For all we know, this army is simply meant to soften us up. If anything, we should transfer more troops to the border.”

“The Zarian will see that as a provocation,” Tsakan warned.

I rubbed my temples. “Fine. Not enough reinforcements to seem suspicious, of course. If they want to be butthurt over our sending more soldiers south, they will in any case.”

At that point, Tenira slipped back into the room, walking to my side.

“What exactly did you ‘organize’, Tenira?” I asked quietly. She’d left without telling me any details.

“Your retinue, of course,” she said. “Seeing as I’m your only permanent retainer. A few of our relatives and vassals will join us for the campaign. I also picked some servants and coordinated with Aston.”

I rolled my eyes. Of course I needed to go to war with an entourage. At least I knew I didn’t have to worry about my safety. They wouldn’t let me get into serious danger.

“Fine. This time, I’m not letting Aston leave me,” I muttered. “No matter how many seventh-stagers they send.”

The discussion was winding down as well. I was glad I didn’t need to put effort into memorizing all the names they mentioned, and could just look them up later. But now, we were almost ready to depart.

I wished I could skip this part, just fast-forward to the traveling, or maybe arrival. Unfortunately, even magic didn’t work that way. And I needed to be present for this.

I looked down at the white robe I wore. Even the pearls and diamonds woven into and hanging from it as decoration all had the same color. Everything fit, so I stepped up to the chariot and jumped inside. It was a monster of a carriage, hovering a meter above the ground with lots of spikes and armaments protruding from it. I suspected those were for show. Its general design reminded me of chariots from Earth’s history, with low walls and an open back.

One of the spirit beasts pulling the carriage turned its head to look at me. It snorted, its breath gently blowing across my face with a hint of qi. It felt like I’d breathed in relaxing incense. The beast itself looked like nothing I’d seen before. Like a giant elephant with fur and a lion’s mane in pure white, plus sharp tusks with an edge.

‘Your human traditions are weird, but this is an easy task,’ a voice said in my mind. I decided it sounded male.

We started moving, and he turned his head to face forward. I straightened up into a regal posture, tightening my grip on the polearm in my right hand. The gates of the palace’s outer wall opened before us, and a wall of noise swept over me. The soldiers marching in front of and behind me sounded quiet in comparison.

‘I know that,’ I replied in my mind. ‘I’m just a bit nervous. After all, there’s a lot of people outside and I am going to war.’

‘Understandable. You humans are awfully fond of crowds.’

‘Be nice, Jaiidu,’ a new voice chided. I couldn’t tell their gender. Had to be the second beast, who flicked their ear in his direction.

By now, the carriage had reached the road going from the palace towards the fort a few kilometers away, where we would be boarding the airships taking us south. Only a part of the road cut through the city’s outskirts, but the sides of the path were packed with people. They cheered, and sent up flickers of qi that resulted in sparks, puffs of air or blinking lights. A few waved flags, both normal ones and some that glowed like neon lights, but made with enchantments.

This had been organized quickly, considering it was still the same day we’d received the news. Well, the sun had sunk a while ago, but still. It seemed a traditional send-off to war had priority.

I felt the weight of the crown resting on my head keenly, even though it was only made of flowers. White ones that glowed with qi. White Sun Flowers, despite the stupid name, were hard to find and valuable ingredients, but I guessed this use was more important. Morale mattered, even if I didn’t understand the traditions.

‘Why are you doing this, by the way?’ I asked the spirit beasts. They had to be strong. Why play draft animals?

‘It is hardly an arduous task, and our honor demands it,’ the first one replied. ‘Your clan has helped our people for a long time, so we work to repay that debt.’

‘You must have seen a lot. Have you ever fought in a war?’

The rest of the way, I chatted with the spirit beasts. It helped to take my mind off the way the people looked at me. This had to be the first time they saw me in an official capacity, and I knew I needed to make a good impression. So I stood with my head held high, occasionally waving to them. They cheered me like rabid fans for some superstar. They must really like our clan, and Mother, probably for the civil rights laws she made.

The spirits beasts’ stories were interesting. Both of them had seen warfare, although it was on another continent against very different enemies. Their tales about ‘glorious battle’ and the nights before it helped make me feel more prepared to face my own war.

We made good progress, and before I knew it, the crowds thinned out. Soon, we passed through the gate of another wall, and reached an open field where airships waited for us in neat rows.

They all looked similar, gleaming in blue paint, although I could distinguish three types of different sizes. The only one that stood out had golden decorations and a slightly different shape, plus it radiated more qi. When I looked around, I saw another group of airships to the side of them, this one made of different types and sizes and scattered in little groups, most of them dyed in vibrant colors and decorated in various ways.

The chariot pulled up in front of the first row of airships, directly facing the special one. I thanked the spirit beasts and hopped down. Guards surrounded me at once. For this occasion, they had all put on their ceremonial armor, painted in gold, silver and blue, and polished so they shined in the qi lights illuminating the airstrip. Tenira materialized at my side, as well.

“I suppose I should greet the nobles?” I asked her.

“They’re coming over now.” I was sure her smile showed sympathy.

A moment later, the crowd arrived. I recognized most of them, either from my one session of court or from pictures in the dossiers Kariva had provided at meetings. They were dressed either in robes decorated with precious metals and gems, or in armor that had too many frills and inlays. The gathered group consisted of maybe two dozen nobles, none of them below the sixth stage or looking younger than forty. I knew they had to be the leaders or senior representatives of their houses, and the other members waited in the airships.

All of them knelt to me in greeting, then introduced themselves in order of title and seniority. Luckily, everyone knew that time was short, so they didn’t linger too long. They assured me of their support, praised the martial strength of their house, and invited me to talks at a later time. I replied the same way to all of them, saying how pleased I was, that I looked forward to fighting beside them, and so on.

When they departed, I still felt drained.

Before I could enter the airship, Aston approached me with a few other guards. He’d clamped his hands onto the shoulder of a boy I only recognized after a moment, since he wore makeup and dark clothes with a hood.

“Your Highness, we caught Prince Alaster attempting to sneak onto an airship,” he explained.

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Seriously, Al? I don’t want to hear anything about you being older than twelve ever again. You know that even if you’d succeeded, I would have just sent you back, right?”

Alaster sulked. “But I am seventeen. I’m old enough to go to war.”

“By Earth standards, you’re not. Even by local standards, that would be highly questionable.” I crossed my arms and frowned down at him. “And biologically, you’re twelve, which is too young even here. And not strong enough, either. I’m disappointed in you.”

“But Big Sister!” He looked at me with wide eyes. “I want to help you! I can’t let you go off into danger alone. Plus, I’m going to be a general, remember? I need experience. The guards would make sure nothing happens to me.”

That prompted a sudden thought. Please don’t tell me Xiaodon is also trying to sneak in. Although, she is watched more closely.

“It’s still too dangerous and I wouldn’t want you to see what’s going to happen,” I said. “You don’t need that. Besides, I already said no and you tried to sneak in anyway.”

Aston finally took his hand off, probably sensing Al’s defeat. “What should be done with His Highness, my lady?”

“Tell his tutors and guards that he’s confined to the main building for a week,” I decided. “And double his etiquette lessons.”

“Please don’t, Elder Sister!” he pouted. “Isn’t this humiliation enough?”

“You defied your Elder Sister,” I pointed out. “Obviously you still have much to learn. Besides, that was a crappy attempt at sneaking. Or at least long-term planning. You deserve to be punished for that alone.”

After a long moment of silence, he nodded.

“I’m leaving now,” I said. “Stay safe.”

He sighed, and stepped forward to give me a hug. “I’ll miss you.”

I had to smile. “Me too, Al.”

After that, a few of the guards escorted him off. I looked after them, shaking my head. I really would miss both of them.

I turned back to enter the airship, but once again, stopped before I crossed the hatch. This time, it was a distortion in the air besides the entrance that gave me pause. I squinted and focused on my qi senses.

As if sensing it was caught, the figure withdrew some of its veil, letting me get a better impression. It was indistinct, little more than wisps in the outline of a person, only a hint of a physical presence. But I could tell this spirit was strong, it’s — no, their — qi shone like a shooting star.

“Honored spirit.” I inclined my head. “Are you here for me?”

‘Yes, little light,’ they answered, their voice cracking like sparks struck on stone. ‘You shouldn’t go south.’

“Really?” What is it with spirits and cryptic warnings?

‘It might not end well for you,’ they said. ‘You have enemies in the south.’

“That’s sort of what war means.”

‘I’m aware, hidden light.’ Something like a rumbly chuckle echoed from their form. ‘But still. You don’t understand. Please heed my warning.’

“Will you explain it to me, then?”

‘No.’

I sighed. This didn’t sit well with me. On the other hand, I really needed to go, and it would take more than a vague warning to just abandon this campaign. “I’m sorry, but I have to. Thank you for the warning, though.”

‘Very well.’ Their form contorted into a bow before it flowed back upright. ‘I wish you success on your venture. Do not say you weren’t warned.’

With that, their form dissipated, their qi signature flowing away.

I finally entered the airship, but I was too preoccupied to pay it much attention.

I really needed to figure out what was up with these spirits, but I had no idea where to even start. They didn’t seem to want to tell me who my enemies were, or anything helpful, really. For the moment, I pushed it to the back of my mind, since I needed to focus on this ‘going to war’ thing.

36: Generals and nobles

I’d half-expected another walled-off compound, but when we landed, it was in an open field. I watched the other airships setting down next to mine before I stepped onto the ground. The walls of Blue Valley City rose up only a few hundred meters away. Beside them, a large structure loomed, looking like it grew out of the city wall. The fortress was built of black rock, and only had small windows, but it was studded with emplacements for artillery. A net of qi infused its walls.

I walked forward, letting the guards around me rush to take up their positions. They walked far enough away not to obstruct my view, at least. Behind them, I sensed my entourage spilling out of the airship and joining us.

I’d stowed the flower crown in my spatial ring, but I still wore the ceremonial clothing, which felt stiffer than what I was used to.

A small group waited for us. According to their uniforms, which resembled what I would have expected to see in nineteenth century Europe if you put more flowing lines on them, these people were officers. The rank markings put the leader at what I thought would be a Colonel on Earth. His aura seemed like he was in the sixth stage.

The officers performed their obeisance towards me, but didn’t wait for me to tell them to rise.

“Your Highness, these lowly ones are greatly relieved at your arrival,” the leader said. “The generals beg forgiveness for not greeting you in person. They ask you and your commanders to join them in the fort’s command center. This one will escort you.”

Well, at least they don’t beat around the bush … much. “Of course.” They would have had more important things to do than organize a greeting party, so I didn’t mind that this one had obviously been rushed out on short notice.

I started following the group. A gaggle of nobles that had been spilling from their airships moved in behind my group. At least they kept up.

On the inside, the fort was pretty much what I expected. A lot of soldiers rushed about between conference rooms and offices. The walls were white, bare of decorations, and had clearly been built to last. I could feel the auras of many cultivators in different stages, although they tended towards the higher ones.

Even if it appeared intimidating, this command building wasn’t big. We reached the central control room, or so I assumed, quickly. Its construction reminded me of a lecture hall, with segments at different heights going down towards a floor. Or maybe an amphitheater, since it was shaped like a circle with a bite taken from it. Stations that consisted of both mundane desks and qi apparatuses covered the tiers.

When we entered, the room fell silent, and everyone scrambled to put away what they were doing before they dropped to their knees.

I descended the steps, waving a hand at the gathered soldiers. “You may rise. Continue with your work.”

In the center, besides a large map table, stood a group of officers, some with stars pinned to their uniform lapels. I tried not to smile at the thought of how Mother must have instituted a system from her home. It wouldn’t have been the thing I focused on, certainly. Then again, I didn’t know what they’d been doing before.

I recognized one of them, and suppressed a smile.

A man in the center, who had three stars adorning his uniform, stepped forward, forcing my attention back to him. Despite his small stature, he radiated confidence and authority. “Luminous Princess Inaris. I can’t tell you how glad we are to see you, and the fighters you bring.”

Someone snorted, loudly enough that it carried through the room. Turning my head, I saw a group of nobles pushing their way through the room besides the guards. At their front was an old man I recognized as head of the influential Zun clan.

“Outrageous,” he said. “You dare face the Imperial Princess with your back straight, when even the most esteemed nobles of the Empire bow to her station? What a savage they have leading this outpost.”

The general’s cheeks reddened, and I saw him biting down on a retort before he looked to me. The others behind him grew still.

I really didn’t care for this, but now that someone had pointed his behavior out, I couldn’t overlook it. “Greet me properly now,” I said. “So we can focus on our purpose here.”

“Deepest apologies, Your Highness. This General Wei is honored to be graced by your presence.”

He, and the other commanders, performed a kowtow and stayed on the floor until I hurriedly told them to rise. I could see Zun’s face set in a smile.

“Let’s sit down with a map and start a proper briefing,” I suggested.

We headed to the conference room attached to this command center. In the shuffle, I caught the youngest general’s eye, tapping my mouth. I’d recently been reminded that telepathy existed, after all, and anyone in the seventh stage should be able to do it.

Of course, San Hashar was a smart woman, so I heard her voice in my head a moment later. ‘Your Highness.’

‘I didn’t know you were a general,’ I said, trying not to sound awkward.

She hid a smile as she took her seat. ‘I received a promotion recently.’

‘Congratulations.’ I sat down as well. Elite soldiers usually didn’t wear rank insignia, and I’d never asked about hers. The whole time, I’d assumed the soldiers she led to guard me were her whole command, but maybe I’d been wrong. Although, elites always held higher ranks.

Since a dozen nobles joined us, there were a lot of people at the table. At least the senior generals sat close to me. Tenira had the chair to my right, while aides and retainers stood at the shoulders of most of the others.

“Please, tell us about the situation, General,” I asked.

General Wei cleared his throat and started talking. He moved colored markers over the map on the table, with trailing lines of qi showing their movements.

The Zarieni had already penetrated pretty far into Imperial territory, considering how little time they’d had. Of course, I knew that cultivators moved quickly. And according to the general, they carried few supplies, and their force seemed to consist only of fighters.

“Probably not just one tribe, but warriors from other tribes joining them,” he said. “They wouldn’t get this number otherwise. I assume their weakest members are staying behind in a hidden camp in the Graves, or perhaps another tribe is sheltering them.”

“We don’t know?” one of the nobles asked.

“The warriors in the raiding force don’t wear distinguishing characteristics,” San Hashar said. “And while we have some eyes on the Yellow Graves, they haven’t been able to identify this tribe’s nest yet. Our informants among the other tribes have remained silent.”

“While we should try to find them, this isn’t the most relevant issue right now,” Tenira said. “How do you expect the invasion force to proceed?”

The officers offered a lot of disclaimers and caveats. But they did draw a few paths that the nomads might take.

I looked at the glowing lines on the map and stifled a sigh. It looks like they’re heading for this city, but who knows? There are a lot of possible targets here. And just because they remain mostly in one group doesn’t mean they can’t split up later.

The problem was that I didn’t even know why they were here. Sure, they were raiding, but why in such a large number, and why push so far? Did something happen to make them desperate for more loot? Did the Zarian bribe them? Trying to figure out their plans like this was pointless.

“If we gathered our forces and attacked them now, could we win?” I asked.

The officers exchanged looks. General Wei seemed hesitant. “Perhaps, Your Highness. Our forces would be about evenly matched. But we couldn’t keep them from running or scattering. We’ll have the advantage once the local nobles rally their warriors and the reinforcements arrive.”

I didn’t like that answer, or the apprehension in the way he looked at me. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one. I could hear a few of the nobles muttering about dithering.

“The longer they’re free to roam in our lands, the more damage they’ll do,” Tenira warned.

“We do have eyes on them, right?” I asked.

“Yes, a few of our elites are following them from a distance, watching them,” one of the officers said. “They keep us posted on their course and strength.”

“That’s all?” Zun snorted. “A few soldiers following them from afar? How come we don’t have real surveillance? Flying beasts, light cultivators, qi tracking formations?”

General Wei ground his teeth, a vein on his forehead standing out. “We haven’t had time to set up everything we’d like!” he snapped.

I frowned. Personally, I agreed with Zun. We needed good intelligence, and how long could it take to set up something? Shouldn’t they have been prepared?

I was beginning to think the situation wasn’t in the best hands here. Even if Zun clearly had ulterior motives.

“What about the towns and villages on their path, that they might raid?” I asked. “Can we evacuate the settlements?”

Wei glowered at the map, his expression grim. “We could try. But we don’t have enough airships to evacuate them all quickly. And if we had the people leave without them, on foot or maybe with carts, they would be too slow to evade the raiders if they attacked them. The people might even be less safe during such a trek.”

One of the nobles sitting beside Zun, a woman who I recalled was named Miray, shook her head and glared at him. “They’re citizens of the Empire! It’s our, and especially your, duty to protect them. How can you just dismiss this?”

I looked at the map again, sighing internally. Why did the south of the Empire have to be so heavily populated? This region in particular had many settlements scattered throughout the valley and the plains beyond, almost all the way up to the border.

“This isn’t an all or nothing issue,” I interrupted. “We can send all the airships we can spare. That way, we’ll try to evacuate at least the people in the most danger from the raiders.”

No one looked like they liked that compromise, but they didn’t protest. I knew the airships were needed, and I knew that all of the people threatened by this invasion deserved to be saved. But this was the best I could do. Let’s just hope that it doesn’t backfire and I get the worst of both worlds.

“I’d also like to take some troops closer to the enemy,” I decided. “I want to see the situation for myself.”

General Wei paled a bit. “Your Highness, please reconsider that. The regional nobles are assembling, and we need to integrate our troops. Taking only some to meet the enemy is …” he trailed off.

“I’m sure we can work something out,” I said.

It looked like I might need to assume more direct leadership than I wanted, so I had to get an idea of my opponents and the situation. I would be careful. I had no intention of actually fighting the raiders.

But I did want to put a bit of pressure on the invaders, and see which way they jumped.

37: Too close

I stepped out onto the deck of the airship. The wind blew a few gusts of hair across my eyes, and I shook my head to try and get them off. When that only resulted in my view being obstructed more, I raised my hands to comb my hair back, tucking a few strands behind my ears. I’d exchanged my ceremonial robes for more practical ones, but maybe I should’ve brought a hair tie.

This airship was constructed differently from those I’d used before. It looked more like a real ship, since it had an open deck with a few structures growing out of it, and weapon emplacements at the sides. A bubble of air qi encompassed it, shielding us from projectiles or, at the moment, birds. It also robbed the wind of most of its force.

I strode towards the front of the airship and took a proper look around. A few clouds dotted the sky overhead. The countryside passed beneath me. It didn’t look too different from further north, with fields, meadows and forests sprawling around settlements, although the ground was hillier. Roads cut straight through the terrain to connect the towns and villages.

Beside my airship, I could make out two others, the leading elements of the formation. One of them looked sturdy, built with a simple design and lots of weapon modules. The other was fancier, with colorful ribbons fluttering around and elegant curves ending in baubles and figurines. Occasionally, I’d get a glimpse of a flying beast with its riders.

I frowned and looked back. “Hey, Tenira?”

My retainer looked over and came to me, trailed by a few others. “Yes?”

I pointed at the left airship. “Aren’t they out of sync? What’s clan Lirta doing, pulling ahead?”

Lei, one of my distant cousins and member of my research team, who’d accompanied me here, snorted. “Probably the young hotheads wanting to get some action.”

“Look who’s talking,” Tenira muttered.

I stifled a smile. With his short brown hair and gangly frame, Lei looked like a nerd, missing only a pair of glasses. I knew he was good with tech, but he was apparently also a fighter known for his fierceness, with a particular fondness for throwing lightning around. I hadn’t seen him in action yet, though.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have taken a mixed team.” I sighed. “I just thought we needed to integrate them, get them used to working together.”

“We certainly need that,” Tenira said, rolling her eyes.

We’d set off later than planned because of organizational crap, trying to straighten out the details of this little expeditionary force. At least I’d gotten a good read on what I had to work with. From the nobles, that mostly came in two groups: old warriors in the higher stages, answering my call to preserve their clans’ honor or reputation, and young scions out for glory. At least they were all in the fourth stage at minimum.

“They’re putting a bit too much qi into their forward formations, aren’t they?” one of the others asked, a young woman from a vassal clan of the Leri by the name of Aiki Lis.

She was right. They were charging their forward-facing weapons in addition to their shields.

I was getting tired of this. “They need to stop. Tell them, if they go and attack the nomads, I’ll have their overabundance of guts removed,” I growled.

Lei chuckled. “Now that’s the right mindset.”

I didn’t want to leave the initiative entirely to the nomads. I went here to see them and assess the situation for myself, and to bring reinforcements to the detachment covering them. Ideally, they could keep them in check, keep them from spreading out too much until we could properly meet them in battle and crush them. That didn’t mean attacking them head on would be anything but stupid.

I watched the airships in silence for a bit. Clan Lirta’s fell back, taking the qi from their weapons and getting more power to their shields instead.

After a minute, Aston approached, stopping beside the railing. “Your Highness, we’re approaching the nomads.”

I looked forward again and strained my eyes. After a moment, I could see a darkish spot in the distance. “Let’s see,” I muttered.

I cycled some light qi into my eyes, which let me make out the spot more clearly. I could now tell how it was composed of many small elements that were moving around. Then I pulled some light qi into the air in front of me, shaping it with my will. This was a relatively simple technique, which basically created a lens that hovered in the air in front of me, moving along with the rest of the airship. I adjusted it a bit until the nomads came into focus.

I couldn’t tell their strength, of course, but I’d bet they could at least match my soldiers. They moved quickly enough I had trouble keeping my impromptu telescope trained on them. Some of them rode spirit beasts, while the rest jogged along. I couldn’t make out any details of the figures, but it seemed like they wore dark clothing. They moved around a lot, going from group to group, some of them ranging outwards and coming back. I didn’t see anything I could call an organized formation, but there had to be some sense behind their positioning. It made it hard to get a good count.

What concerned me most was their fliers. A number of them rode spirit beasts, both above the horde and ranging all around them, into the countryside. They were probably scouting. I couldn’t see much of the fliers, but they seemed relatively small, not as large as some of the flying beasts I’d seen in the palace’s transport hub.

“Your Highness, we’re getting quite close,” Aston said, a note of warning in his voice.

“Just a little farther,” I responded absently. I wanted to see the Zarieni.

The distance shrunk quickly, but I still put a little more power into my lens, expanding it a bit more so I could get a good look at the people I would fight.

I didn’t even know what I expected, but I felt surprised. Their clothing was pretty diverse. I couldn’t see anything I would call a rank marking, although I probably wouldn’t recognize any system they used. All of them had bits and pieces hanging from or stitched onto their clothes, which tended to be wide and flowing. Their colors varied, but they mostly dressed in ochre, brown or greenish tones, with some black. Some of them carried weapons of all sorts, but I couldn’t make out any patterns behind who did or didn’t.

Finally, I got good look at their fliers. They rode spirit beasts that all seemed to be some variant of a large bird of prey, although I didn’t recognize them. The riders wore tighter clothing and weren’t as covered up as the rest of the nomads. As I watched, more of them started heading towards the front.

I started feeling a bit nervous. “Turn around, let’s head back quickly!” I called.

I heard people passing my orders on to the pilot and the other airships, but didn’t take my eyes from the nomads. After a few seconds, we decelerated abruptly, and I grabbed onto the railing.

Unfortunately, it would take us a bit of time to pick up speed in the opposite direction, even with qi-powered propulsion. But we were still far away from the raiders. Some in higher stages might see us, but I doubted they’d be able to catch us.

I relaxed my grip on the rail, seeing the airship speed away back in the direction we’d come. I’d need to be more careful in the future, this had been too close.

At that moment, I felt a prickle in my qi senses. Frowning, I let go of my technique, but kept qi flowing to my eyes. Were there shapes moving through the clouds? Wait, where did those clouds come from? There weren’t that many in the sky before!

As I watched, more and more clouds coalesced, growing darker every second. We’d been flying low, but now, I could see mist curling a few meters in front of me. The clouds reached down, billowing closer to us, like dark veils coming to capture our airships. They covered the whole area of the sky, a low-hanging thunderstorm just waiting to let loose on anyone caught in its midst. The wind howled, pushing against us.

I flinched as Aston grabbed my shoulder. “Your Highness, activate your defenses!” he cried.

I nodded. The wind grasped at my clothes and whipped against my face. With one hand, I clamped onto the airship’s rail again. With the other, I touched one of the amulets hanging from my neck, and channeled qi into it and one of my rings. A transparent shield of qi emerged to cover me, prickling against my skin but leaving my hands bare so I could use techniques without worrying about it.

More and more shapes emerged from the clouds around us, their movements hard to track against the growing fury of the storm. Zarieni sitting on their flying beasts, weapons glinting in their hands, qi swirling around them. My senses told me that some of their qi was interwoven with the air around us, gathering in the clouds.

Any idiot could tell they controlled the storm. This must be the Zarieni’s outriders. More and more of them gathered. I knew they’d get more from the main force soon.

The airship cracked and groaned around us. Qi flashed against its shields, illuminating the surroundings in short bursts. As we lost momentum, not just the wind, but the deceleration pulled at me.

By now, the airship’s contingent of soldiers had spilled out onto the deck, armored in qi. They began fighting back, throwing all sort of attacks at the fliers. The airships themselves fired off a few large bursts from their armaments, but the Zarieni were fast, their mounts evading the attacks to let them streak harmlessly into the storm.

Rain drops started to splatter onto my face and soak my clothes. I looked around, trying to assess the situation. The other airships fared no better than ours. One of them seemed to have lost part of its bow, and I could see figures spilling from it. We’d lost our formation, were drifting apart. A bolt of lightning struck the airship next to mine, bright against the dark sky. It left a hole in its deck, the outside burning.

“This is why airships aren’t really used for combat, just transport,” Aston muttered.

I took another look at the soldiers and clan warriors on the ships, realizing that most of them weren’t doing much good. Sure, they threw attacks at the fliers, but they could only form them outside the ariship’s shield, or had to be careful to get them past it. Even so, the shield was almost in tatters, holed and fluctuating from the Zarieni’s attacks. The airship groaned again, tilting to the side.

We didn’t have enough people with affinities for air or sky, even if it had been more robust. And by now, a few of the other airships showed serious damage, with people fleeing them on flying swords or qi techniques. Those actually seemed to do better in fighting back, evading the nomads’ attacks more easily.

“We need to abandon the airships,” I realized. They were too easy to bring down, and too much of a target at the same time.

Aston’s hand left my shoulder for a moment, before it returned with a vengeance. He pressed something into my other hand. I felt the cool metal of a flying sword before I looked down to identify it.

Before I could say anything else, Aston dragged me away from the railing. Other Imperial Guards crowded around us, some of them pushing or towing my entourage with them. I let my guard captain guide me, trying to get off a shot at one rider who came close enough that he dived through the tattered remnants of the airship’s shield. He dove to the side, dodging my lance of light.

We reached an open space at the stern of the airship. Circles of soldiers stood here, defending it against the nomads and leaving us a bit of space.

I didn’t wait for Aston to shove me onto the flying sword, climbing onto it quickly. Aston’s qi flickered over to me, and straps curled from the flying sword to latch onto me and secure my footing. Around me, droves of soldiers lifted into the air.

I ascended, letting them carry me through the whipping wind, over the hull of the airship and into the fury of the storm. I used a bit of darkness qi to keep my sight clear, despite the wind and rain. I hoped the evacuation went well for the other airships, that someone was coordinating it. Because I clearly couldn’t.

It was chaos. Over the howling of the wind, I could hardly hear my own heartbeat. Dark shapes flickered, some so fast I could barely make them out. Fire, lightning, and all sorts of qi techniques streaked through the clouds, illuminating our surroundings in short bursts. If not for Aston always keeping close to me, I might have lost all sense of direction. The soldiers had spread out, giving everyone enough space to fight and evade. We moved across the sky like a school of fish evading predators, just worse.

A boulder flying at me focused my attention back on my immediate surroundings. I dodged, spinning my flying sword around and ducking to let it pass over my head. I teetered a bit, but the clamps built into the material pulled at my feet and legs, preventing me from flying off. I had to thank Aston for them when we got out of here.

But I had no time for distractions. There were more attacks to evade. I had to make sure I stayed with the others, to navigate the chaos of the storm and the raiders’ attacks and find my way around the fight. A few times, I saw an opportunity and struck, sending attacks at the beasts or their riders. One bird got a ball of darkness tearing through its wing. It tumbled down with a loud caw.

I’d seen groups of guards around my companions, but we moved in different directions and I soon lost sight of them. The battle demanded all of my attention.

I couldn’t tell how long we fought. Time passed in a blur of riding the winds, dodging attacks and striking back, trying to tell where my people were, and how things were going. The airships soon vanished into the darkness of the storm, as we moved towards the city we’d come from. Aston guided me away from the thick of the battle, until I lost sight of most of the fighting.

Finally, we passed through the clouds, falling away from the manmade storm and the battle. I glanced back, suppressing a shudder. I think we managed an organized retreat. Somewhat.

Aston slowed down and pulled up alongside me, extending his domain to stabilize my flying sword. It felt like a cushion of air cradled it, yet one hard and sharp enough to cut.

I really screwed up, didn’t I?

My bodyguard cleared his throat. “Your Highness, please focus. We’re not back safely yet.”

I exhaled and turned my attention back to my surroundings, looking at the sky and the landscape below us. He was right.

38: Getting away

I hovered in the air, waiting for things to settle a bit more and to see what was going on. A few of my guards had managed to follow Aston and me, and a few more trickled in over the next few minutes.

We drifted away from the storm, which was dissolving, anyway. But I stopped seeing new people in our vicinity quickly.

“Perhaps we should get down,” Aston suggested. “The nomads have driven us off, but they might be going in pursuit. And if they somehow find out you were among us … well, it’s better not to be seen.”

I shook my head. “Alright, sure.”

So we descended, moving in the direction of Blue Valley City at the same time. I got what Aston meant, we’d be less visible closer to the ground. The guards arranged themselves in a loose formation around me, although Aston stayed close.

I glanced back in the direction we came from, feeling a stone drop into my stomach. I just hope the airships didn’t crash anywhere people live. Although that has to be unlikely. The landscape below us was dominated by grassy hills, some of them sprinkled with woods, and a few brooks cutting through them. I could see a few settlements, but they were far enough apart that the odds of debris hitting one should be low.

“Can we communicate with the others?” I asked Aston.

He frowned. “Yes, but the qi used could be felt by the nomads, and they might track the qi trail.”

Not a good idea unless there was something important, then. I didn’t know if whoever was in command of the remains of my force, and probably had a communication talisman linked to Aston’s, might still be fighting the nomads.

We continued flying, getting closer to the ground at the same time. These flying swords could move quickly, but not on the same level as the airships, so it would take a while to get back. Longer if we might have to evade nomad fliers. But perhaps we could come upon an Imperial airship.

As we traveled, I pondered where I had gone wrong. With some distance, I could see how Zun had obviously tried to discredit General Wei, probably to get me to take charge myself. Maybe he’d wanted to see me fail. If I showed more caution in the future, heeding the advice of experts, would he or others start making trouble for me? I would have expected old nobles to chafe at having to listen to someone in the fourth stage, maybe try to undermine my orders. Perhaps I’d underestimated their strategy.

The same way I’d underestimated the effective range of the raiders.

When I looked back, the storm the nomads had conjured was nowhere to be seen. I saw a few figures in the distance, but at this range I couldn’t tell if they were friend or foe. And I couldn’t use my techniques to get a closer look, not while we were flying. Hopefully, Tenira and the others got away safely.

We traveled in silence for a few more minutes, until I noticed flashes of light from the ground. They were weak and didn’t last long, but my enhanced eyes picked them up. I decelerated, sensing the guards around me follow suit, and angled my flying sword in their direction. I wanted to know what was going on there.

As we drew closer, I saw they were coming from the direction of a village. It wasn’t particularly big by local standards, but more than a hamlet. A few of the houses had to be on fire, smoke rising from their roofs. Around them, a fight raged. Cultivators threw techniques at each other or engaged in close combat. In the main road of the village, which led outward, a crowd of people had gathered. An airship stood in the field outside the village.

I descended even more, trying to make sense of the chaotic scene. The airship looked bigger than the ones I’d used, with a round hull providing lots of room for passengers. Imperial soldiers swarmed over it and the village, obviously trying to defend their transport and the villagers huddling on the road. As I watched, some of them dove for the airship. Further away, more of the nomads’ flying beasts swam through the sky over the village. Their riders threw techniques and enhanced arrows or crossbow bolts at the defenders, sometimes spurring their mounts into a dive. A few of the Zarieni warriors seemed to have dismounted, fighting from the village’s rooftops or streets.

“We need to help them,” I said. I looked over to Aston. “Don’t try to change my mind.”

It might be ‘beneath me’, or just not the best use of my time, to help with the evacuation of a single village. But I suspected the riders had only pressed forward so much because of me and the airships I’d brought. Besides, the fight wouldn’t take long, and it made sense to link up with these soldiers and their airship.

And maybe I was feeling the sting of losing my airships to the Zarieni vanguard.

“Of course not, Your Highness,” Aston sighed. “Kei, Virtuon, you circle around and attack from the other side. Lirta, you keep close to the princess with me. Let’s go.”

Before I could even start to move, the soldiers he hadn’t named dove down at a speed that would make a parachuter envious. The two others flew in a downwards curve that would take them to the other side of the battle. They were in the fifth and sixth stage, so I knew they could give the raiders a fight.

I didn’t hesitate, but followed my guards down. The wind whistled by so strongly I would have worried about my eyes if I wasn’t a cultivator. I couldn’t do an arc as graceful as them, but going down at an angle was easy with the flying sword, and I joined the battle only a moment after them.

The raiders didn’t get much warning about our arrival. They’d probably been too busy with the fight to pay attention to the wider skies. But they reacted quickly. Most of the birds scattered before my soldiers could get close to them. The raiders at the ground raised shield of various qi affinities in their direction, but didn’t pause their combat with the soldiers for long.

I threw a lance of light at a raider who wasn’t quick enough to look up, then searched for a new target as he stumbled into a building. The thunder of explosions came from the other side of the village.

I took a moment to release some light qi, buffing myself with Light’s Speed. My best shielding technique was darkness based, but in this fight speed would win out. I noticed a raider staggered from an Imperial’s earth spikes, and threw a ball of darkness qi at him. He tried to dodge, but my projectile caught the edge of his fire cloak and started to smother it. That would make him easy prey for his opponent.

I descended further, hopping from my flying sword to the roof of a house positioned at the edge of the village, catching the device in my left hand. I’d be more effective fighting on solid ground. Well, as solid as a roof that looked like it had been battered by a few boulders could be.

My first victim showed himself again, blurring past the street two houses over. I sensed his presence just in time, dodging an ice spike. I jumped to the next building, sending a bit of darkness qi into the air and letting it drift over while I spun around and fired off another ball of darkness. He dodged that one, coming onto the roof so quickly I almost fell down the side in my haste to get away.

While I corrected my course, pushing up the street onto another roof, I turned and fired off another beam of concentrated light qi. It flew over his head, before it met the reflective surface I’d left behind, coming back towards him.

His eyes widened and he twisted his torso, but he couldn’t stop the attack from hitting his side. Ice cracked as his shielding technique failed.

But a moment later, he continued on towards me with most of his momentum. I cursed, barely dodging his attack in time. He’s got to be in the late part of the fourth stage at least!

I frantically dodged and weaved around his next attacks. Without my buff, I couldn’t have matched his speed, but I knew his attacks hit harder than mine.

The next second, a boulder the size of a basketball shot towards him, quickly enough I only caught a glimpse of it. The attack battered through his defense as if it didn’t exist, caving in his torso like he was made of paper.

Before I got a good look at it, Aston caught me, pulling me to yet another rooftop. I pushed his arm away. He could have intervened earlier, couldn’t he?

If I stopped to think about it, I’d kept remarkably calm throughout all the fighting. I didn’t feel like I was in danger of breaking down. But having Aston close relaxed some of my tension.

I took in the scene at a glance. The village lay half in ruins, and the other half looked like a sequence of natural catastrophes had befallen it. But the fight seemed to be going well. More of the villagers were on the deck of the airship or on their way to it, shielded by soldiers. Kei and Virtuon had made their way over, their side of the village empty of threats. They’d linked up with a group of higher-stage soldiers. The raiders were retreating. As I watched, more of them jumped onto their birds, and most of those in the sky pulled away to higher altitudes.

They weren’t really leaving, though. I knew that much.

“Let’s get everyone into the airship fast,” I said. “Come on.”

I looked at my clothing, in a bit of disarray from the fight. I’d chosen my outfit to be practical, and I might still look like a noble, but probably not a princess. My guards didn’t wear their uniforms, either. Taking those into a potential combat situation would be worse than putting glowing target markers on me.

I descended to the floor, approaching the startled villagers and trying my best to calm them down. They wore simple but durable clothing, and most clutched a few treasured possessions or weapons. The headman seemed to have a storage ring for their important items. I could see the stress on their faces, but at least there were no hysterics.

They responded well to a firm voice that sounded like it knew what it was doing. With a bit of help from Aston and the rest, we managed to get them into the airship quickly. They vanished into its belly, while the soldiers gathered on deck and in the air.

I let Aston talk tactics with the commander of the task force, simply listening in. They worked things out quickly. After a minute, I felt a buildup of air qi. I grasped onto the railing as the vessel moved straight upwards into the sky. I was glad to leave the smell of smoke behind, at least.

A moment later, Aston joined me. He spoke quietly. “Your Highness, protecting the airship is going to be difficult, if not dangerous. It might be quicker to return to the city on our own.”

I shook my head. “I can hardly abandon the people we evacuated now. If nothing else, what would that do for my reputation?”

We waited in silence as the airship accelerated. It flew pretty far down, but the wind still whipped my hair around. I kept an eye out for the raiders, who had kept their distance so far but were gathering now. It looked like they’d finished regrouping.

All too soon, they came back and started harassing us. Aston and a few others put up shields around the airship, which took most of their attacks. But the occasional gust of wind made it sway. And some attacks managed to get through, inflicting minor damage on the hull or hitting one of the soldiers.

The Imperials didn’t sit idly by, of course. They tried to fight back, throwing techniques and projectiles at the raiders. But their birds were agile, and evaded most of the attacks. I joined in, trying my best to aim for any vulnerabilities. Light-based attacks moved quickly, and I was good at targeting. But even when an attack hit, it usually didn’t inflict much damage. Maybe a few scorched feathers, or throwing them off for a bit. I wished I wasn’t just in the fourth stage.

The journey back didn’t hold any surprises, or sudden spikes of danger. But the minutes dragged by as if time wanted to torture us, nerves grating and worn thin by the constant attacks. Mental fatigue started dogging me after a bit. My qi reserves dwindled, and I took a break to recharge them, although the situation didn’t let me cultivate well.

At least we didn’t face that many raiders. If there were more, they probably would have sunk the airship.

But the others were worn thin, too. I noticed that many of the soldiers conserved their qi carefully, some of them almost running empty. The shields surrounding the airship weren’t affected much, since it was the high-stage officers who maintained them, but our soldiers reacted to threats more slowly. And the shields did let through a bit more of the raiders’ attacks.

Then, just as I was beginning to worry if we could reach the city, they stopped. I opened my eyes, glancing around in confusion. The raiders, who’d spread themselves out all around the airship, now gathered at the rear. They let the distance increase.

When I looked past the bow of the airship, I saw why. A number of black spots dotted the sky, growing larger quickly. Soon, I could make out the shapes of the new arrivals, and the individual people shortly after.

They were riding a variety of flying beasts, although none of them of the same type as the nomads’. Most were larger and seated several people. Soldiers, I realized. And at the front, atop what looked like a winged jaguar, flew San Hashar.

I turned around and watched as they streaked over the airship, going after the raiders. Those were in full retreat by now. I sensed a few flashes and qi pulses as the Imperials hunted them down. Elites, by the strength they displayed.

It didn’t take long for them to return, settling into formation around the airship. San Hashar pulled her mount up alongside where I stood on the deck. She saluted me.

I smiled, feeling a weight slip off my shoulders. “It’s very good to see you, General.”

She grinned. “Anytime, my princess. After I heard what happened, I knew I needed to make sure you got back safely. The rest of my soldiers are heading to the other evacuations and to join up with the remnants of your force.”

I couldn’t help smiling wryly. “I suppose you protected me again. Thank you.”

“It’s always good to have some backup,” Aston added. He sounded a lot cheerier. “Let’s get Her Highness back to the city.”

39: Making plans

The journey back was uneventful, which I didn’t mind one bit. It took a while, but that was okay.

A few times, San Hashar updated us about what was going on with the soldiers left behind and her reinforcements. I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard that Tenira and the others were being sent back with one of the airships for the evacuation. Although Lei insisted on staying to fight with their soldiers.

They’d implement at least part of my original plan as well as they could. Acting as a counterweight to the nomads’ fliers and outriders, they would try to discourage them from splitting off groups or, worse, scattering.

“Their movement has slowed down,” San Hashar reported eventually. “They’re diverting a bit, heading for towns. It looks like they’ll take a meandering path to the city, raiding as they go.”

Hopefully, our evacuations would help. But the nomads still did me a favor by changing their course like this. I tried not to think about the soldiers who might have died for it.

Some time during the journey, I started to feel the aftereffects of the excitement. I didn’t start shaking, but I did notice the adrenaline wearing off. It left me feeling a curious mix of drained and accomplished. Like I wanted to do a victory dance but only had the energy to take a nap. Sure, I may have made a few mistakes, but I survived. There’s something to be said for that. I didn’t do too badly in the fighting.

I frowned and shook my head at my thoughts. I didn’t know if I’d killed any of the raiders. I’d certainly injured some. But I’d do it again without hesitation. I didn’t really care. I didn’t feel like I had after San Hashar killed the disciples attacking me. In part because I’d been too busy to really notice the gore. And in part because this was war, and they’d been attacking us or civilians, so I didn’t think I had to feel guilty.

A shout from one of the elites roused me from my self-reflection. The city was in sight.

I stepped forward, grasping the rails, and looked out over the scenery. A broad valley that a river cut through, its color a deep blue. The city sat in the middle, where a smaller river joined it. As we came closer, I could make out more details. I’d been too preoccupied the last time, but now I took stock of what I saw.

Blue Valley City sprawled across a space almost as large as the capital. In contrast to it, I saw almost no skyscrapers, and few towers. Most buildings had two or three stories at most. They were built from a drab brown material, but the city sported colorful decorations, if not as many as the capital. Its streets were narrower in some parts, the grid pattern present but less consistent. You could be forgiven for forgetting that Blue Valley City was about a thousand years younger than the capital, instead of the reverse. Although it had plenty of modern aspects, like the many qi appliances people used. I saw shining signs in several languages, but mostly Common, and small airships above the city.

The wind carried the city’s noise to me. Many smells mixed together into a unique pattern accompanied it. But we flew high enough that I had to strain my senses if I wanted any details. Not that I needed to.

A few more riders on flying beasts joined us in the skies, taking positions to flank the airship alongside San Hashar’s people. They guided us toward the same fort we’d set off from, although we touched down at a different field this time. It was closer to the city gates, which would make things easier for the evacuees.

This time, no greeting party waited for us. When I stepped back onto solid ground, Aston flanked me, and the guards fanned out around us. San Hashar and a few of her officers followed us. Her aura felt coiled around herself more tightly than during the journey. I wanted to hurry to the command building, but forced myself to keep my pace measured, and my head high. A number of people buzzed around the vicinity of the field, most of them soldiers or cultivators in similar stages.

The inside of the building was just as busy. This time, I headed directly to the conference room where I sensed a gathering of qi signatures, most of them familiar. Despite the closed doors, raised voices rang out through the corridor.

Aston pushed open the door and stepped through ahead of me. When I followed him into the room, I paused to take in the situation.

It was a large conference room partitioned into several sections by tables with books, maps or devices strewn across them. In the center, several people surrounded a conference table. I could have made a cluster analysis about their positioning. One cluster contained several subgroups of officers with various distinctions in their uniforms. Another one contained groups of nobles, who kept more distance between themselves than the officers. A number of them I hadn’t seen before. More importantly, they were arguing loudly, although I couldn’t say what about. A few of them looked in the direction of the door we came through, their mouths snapping shut.

San Hashar, who’d come up beside me, stomped on the ground and produced a low rumble that echoed through the room. “The Luminous Princess has returned!” she bellowed.

That’s one way to get their attention, I guess.

Their argument apparently forgotten, everyone hurried to bow to me.

I strode through the room until I arrived at the central table, gesturing at them to rise.

“Your Highness,” Zun said, the old noble’s smile looking like it didn’t quite fit a face more accustomed to scowling. “Let this one be the first to welcome you back and express his profound relief that you have returned to us unscathed. After such a shocking incident, many of us were given to worry.”

“Thank you,” I replied, my tone curt. “Do you have anything else to say about this ‘shocking incident’?” I hoped he wasn’t making allusions to how I’d been defeated.

“No, Your Highness,” he replied, his smile shrinking a bit. “I’m sure our noble soldiers will work hard to ensure that such a thing never happens again.”

General Wei grunted. “As will our noble compatriots, I’m sure. At least, this endeavor did have some benefit.”

“We have gained intelligence, although meeting the nomads with our full force would be preferable,” I said. “I am going to rely on your experience, generals, as I could on the strength of our elite troops.”

That was the closest I could come to an apology. I met Wei’s eyes, and he gave me a small nod. I’d prefer to actually apologize and promise to consider his words more in the future, but that could be seen as showing weakness. We both knew that, and I was glad he understood.

I still didn’t trust him, or anyone here I didn’t know. My dream and the spirit’s warning made me wary. But I knew I couldn’t show everyone here distrust, or I wouldn’t be able to win this war.

“Do you think our current strategy is still viable?” I asked.

Most of the officers nodded. General Wei tilted his head a little. “Yes, Your Highness, within reason.”

“Then we will proceed as planned,” I said. “We’ll continue our efforts to box in the nomads. If we can curtail their spread, we may succeed in meeting them in pitched battle, where we can crush them with our numerical advantage and discipline. Although I’m open to reconsidering this approach if there’s new information.”

The officers and nobles exchanged looks. I could see that some didn’t like the way I proclaimed what we would do. But I’d taken charge deliberately, even knowing that I had less experience than some of them. I’d gladly scrap this plan if another one would do better.

I took a moment to press my finger against the device hanging from my neck, checking that it was still active. Its qi signature was small and overshadowed by my defensive measures, and hopefully anyone who did notice it wouldn’t be able to figure out what it did. Not that it mattered if they knew I was recording what we said here.

“That’s a solid foundation for our planning, Your Highness,” General Wei said. “For now, perhaps we should take stock of our forces? Especially our local support.”

Everyone’s attention turned to the group of well-dressed cultivators I hadn’t seen before. I knew they had to be nobles from the south, coming from this region or any other potentially threatened by raiders. Unlike the nobles I’d taken from the center of the continent, they would hopefully field the entirety of their warriors. Or at least a big part of it, since they’d want to secure their homes with the rest.

They introduced themselves, and I recalled the detailed map of the Empire to take stock of where they came from. As I’d assumed, they were scattered all over the south. Not every clan was here, though. Their introductions made way to talking about numbers and strengths and how best to use them.

From the discussion that followed, I learned that some clans, probably most, had stayed to secure their regions, manning local defenses along with Imperial soldiers. It probably made sense to split their efforts like that rather than take a few people from every clan. Trying to organize everyone would be enough of a nightmare already.

The distribution of military force here is a weird mix of a modern-ish military and feudal structures, I mused. I guess it makes sense given the makeup of the Empire, and that fighters should be high-stage people, but it’s a bit of a mess.

At some point, the door opened again, and Tenira slipped into the room, escorted by a few Imperial guard. Her hair was in a bit of disarray, which suited her, but otherwise she didn’t appear harmed at all. A knot around my heart loosened, one that I’d almost forgotten was there. It felt like I could breathe freely again after wearing a mask for hours. Just more intense. Wow, I really missed her.

I smiled at Tenira as she stopped next to me. I’d have given her a hug, but considering the circumstances, this had to do.

The rest of the people gathered noticed her arrival as well, and bowed politely. The discussion continued. Tenira offered occasional input, but stayed silent most of the time. Probably trying to learn as much as she could, like I was.

After we’d discussed the makeup of our forces, in enough detail that I struggled to pay attention towards the end, the discussion moved on to an actual game plan. Here, I mostly let Wei and the others talk. I’d said what I wanted, now they could make something workable out of it. And they did seem to be in agreement. They pointed out a few things I hadn’t considered, such as the terrain on the route they might take and which roads connected which towns. But I was feeling pretty good about the plan. Sure, we couldn’t predict if the raiders would continue on as they were, but taking our army into the field wasn’t a bad decision either way.

My satisfaction lasted until Zun spoke up again. “Your Highness, perhaps you should appoint a commander to take the army into the field while we direct it from this control point.”

I blinked. “I intend to lead them into the field myself. I thought that was obvious.”

Another noble, a woman from the south, spoke up. “Your Highness, you will be able to lead the campaign just as well from here. And going into war — into battle — yourself is a risk. No matter how good your guards are, there will always be chaos during battle, and the raiders may try to strike at you even from the shadows. Your life is too precious to risk like that, if you will forgive me for pointing this out.”

She sounded earnest, so I tried not to let it bother me. “I realize that, lady Kuni’ta. But I am willing to take this risk, the same as any of our soldiers or warriors.”

Zun shook his head. “But how would we ever be able to face our ancestors if something were to happen? Her Majesty, the Empress, would strike us down in righteous anger if we failed to protect you from injury.”

I snorted. I couldn’t help it. With a flick of my hand, I pulled a knife from my storage ring. Its hilt glittered under the light. I flicked back my sleeve as well. Before they could say anything, I’d pressed the knife to my forearm, parting the skin.

“There, I am injured,” I said. “None of you is responsible or will be punished, obviously.”

It wasn’t a deep wound, and I could already feel my body working to heal it. Then one of my guards stepped forward. Qi flowed from his hands and the cut sealed shut as if it had never existed. The gathered people looked at me with wide eyes, complete silence filling the room.

I disappeared the knife again. It had been over almost before I noticed the pain. I wouldn’t have considered something like this on Earth, but it was a different story if a cut would only hurt for minutes, if not seconds.

I held out my arm as a servant came with a wet towel to clean the blood off, not taking my eyes from the gathered cultivators. “Let’s move on, shall we? Your concern for my safety gladdens me, and you can be assured that I will take measures to ensure my protection.”

Wei raised an eyebrow. “An increase in guards, Your Highness? A few of our elites would be honored to take that duty.”

“I’ve decided that I will travel with a new central command section. A headquarters unit, if you will, that can also act as a strategic reserve.” I looked over to San Hashar. “General San has already proven more than competent for such a role, and I will happily commend myself to her care.”

I could see by the way she scrunched her eyes a bit that she wanted to smile or laugh. But San Hashar remained stoic. She genuflected and said in a somber voice, “This one thanks the Imperial Princess for her confidence, and will strive to prove worthy of the honor.”

Zun and the other nobles quickly expressed their approval. I saw General Wei give a small shrug to one of his colleagues, before he started to talk about our schedule.

With San Hashar close by, I felt less worried about hidden enemies or attacks from the shadows. Hopefully, it would discourage people from striking at her, as well.

Of course, I still didn’t know who my enemies were, or what they might be planning.

Bonus 4: The imperial army

The most important thing about the Imperial army is that it’s not just a fighting force, but has a lot of social and political relevance.

No, wait, let’s take a step back. First of all, ‘the army’ is more like the Imperial military. There’s what I might call an airforce integrated with it. The navy is a bit more separate from the army proper, but they still have the same command structure and eventual commanders.

The whole military isn’t that big, especially if you consider the huge population of the Empire. That’s because it consists almost exclusively of cultivators in the middle and high stages. After all, I imagine a fight between, say, a second-stager and a fourth-stager would only deserve the term ‘slaughter’. That doesn’t change much if you make it ten people in the second stage, or even a hundred.

From what I gather, most common soldiers are in the third or fourth stage, at least, and most officers in the fifth or sixth.

Common soldiers are mostly useful as ‘warm bodies’. Well, perhaps I’m exaggerating. But the weaker soldiers, especially, are usually deployed guarding towns and cities in the inner regions of the Empire. They carry out the ruler’s job of protecting the people from danger. Dealing with spirits or monsters at least as much as with brigands or whatever.

I mean, sizable stretches of the Empire aren’t really settled. There are many regions basically left to the wilderness, where dangerous spirit beasts or other perils lurk. They’re useful for getting resources, but need to be guarded.

The other main purpose of the army is to secure the borders. I think this often just means making a show of force. The Empire doesn’t really fight with its neighbors, on most borders. But fortifying them still makes sense. This isn’t a peaceful world. (Unfortunately.) Still, I have the impression the army is mostly important internally, the way things stand now.

I figure about a third of the army’s officers are nobles. As a ballpark estimate, at least. The relative percentage is higher in the upper echelons, but not that much higher. And that’s taking into account some distant scions of minor clans, who don’t have many options besides sects.

To become an officer, you have to pass a proficiency test my grandmother introduced. Besides having a certain strength in cultivation, of course. It’s quite common for nobles slated for the military to study for these exams, and they almost always pass. But commoners have good chances, too, if they’ve gotten a good education, or if they serve as common soldiers first, work their way through the ranks and acquire the knowledge they need.

Unsurprisingly, if I consider the culture, most soldiers are men. But there are a sizable number of women, as well. Perhaps up to forty percent? It depends on the specifics.

It still sounds pretty elitist, doesn’t it? If you have to be at least in the third stage, at a fairly young age, that rules out most people. But the army does employ recruiters looking for talent. Those tend to be picky, but open to taking anyone no matter their background. The army helps them progress, but keeps these recruits in a sort of trial status until they meet the requirements to become a proper soldier.

And the army does have a lot to offer when it comes to cultivation. They have quite the library of both general knowledge and technique books. According to some figures I read, over four times as many volumes now as before the civil war. The Leri dynasty has built it up a lot. In part, they used ‘donations’ from clans on the losing side. Nowadays, I doubt there’s a clan or sect with more techniques to show their members.

Another question I had: If the army helps them rise like this, why do the soldiers stay? Sure, they’re paid quite well, but with high stages come a lot of opportunities working for nobles, being self-employed, or elsewhere. Well, the answer is pretty simple. Some do leave after a while, especially those with skills suited for it, like medics. But many stay. The army makes them sign up for long terms of service. Some continue out of devotion, or because they’ve found a home, with their comrades. And they can keep doing their job for a long time. After all, this isn’t Earth. Cultivators stay physically fit for quite a while, and it’s not uncommon to find people serving in the army for upwards of fifty years or a hundred years.

Something I found interesting is that apparently, some veterans start working for the government. With their cultivation strength, they have the social status for it. The army sponsors a program to help them get the appropriate schooling. The cynic in me says it’s because ‘the throne’ wants people beholden (or at least loyal) to it in the local governments. To be fair, I guess that’s a valid political strategy. At least these people are competent, and not some noble given a position because he’s someone’s second cousin.

Another important thing I need to consider is, of course, the army’s support structure and logistics. Every soldier is issued a spatial item. They’re not very good, but stow what the soldiers might otherwise have to carry in a pack. For large-scale logistics, the army relies on better items, plus airships and the like.

The army isn’t just fighters, there’s quite a lot of people in support roles. Crafters, alchemists, cooks, and so on. Some of them are at lower stages of cultivation. Especially if their job relies on their brain rather than cultivation strength, like siege engineers. They’re also responsible for outfitting the soldiers. Getting resources, especially armor and weapons, is almost as important as training up the fighters themselves. No wonder the army has a lot of crafters working for them to produce and maintain gear, usually made using enchanted metal or material from spirit beasts. Well, the details are boring, and I haven’t done much more than glance at equipment lists. I’m lucky there are people to handle this sort of thing.

That brings us to the matter of transport and vehicles. Who would have guessed, but airships and flying beasts are expensive. Really expensive. They need specialized care, and breeding good flying mounts takes a lot of effort. I still feel like there should be more airships for the army, but maybe there are good reasons and I don’t get it. Flying swords are cheaper, but they rely on the user’s qi in a way the other possibilities I’ve mentioned don’t, so they’re not good for long-distance, well, anything.

Looking at everything, it makes sense why the army is such a big deal for the Empire, especially for its rulers. It might be the most important consideration to Mother’s power in her Empire. Well, the commoners also like her because of her civil rights laws. But the army, with the way it consists mostly of commoners given the chance to rise, gives her support and followers on another level. Not to mention that that’s pretty good publicity.

This is perhaps most apparent if you look at the elites. On the surface, they look not as great as one might think. After all, they’re at least in the sixth stage, as a rule. That’s pretty high in terms of status. Sure, they have high ranks and are well paid, but there are other factors that explain why people would choose such a dangerous job and to serve in the army. Glory and prestige, certainly. But they also tend to be most devoted to the Empire, and the Empress. Actually, it occurs to me that perhaps their background, far from noble for most of them, might be one reason. To have a high stage outside of a clan or sect might not be a comfortable position in this society. And I guess they’ve been groomed by the army, to rise so high.

I think I’m beginning to understand more about San Hashar, even if a lot of this is speculation.

I just need to find a way to help those who don’t have as much talent, who make up most of the Empire’s population, matter. I can’t hope for a real equalizer, but perhaps less qi-focused tech is the key. I guess we’ll see. For now, I really need to get back to more concrete warfare.

40: Close to battle

If I’d been asked how I would travel with the army, considering speed was of the essence, I would not have thought of a litter. But apparently, whoever organized these things had. I disliked them more with every passing hour.

I sighed and shifted my weight a little as the conveyance swayed beneath me. Looking out through the curtain, I could see the landscape passing by quickly, although it hadn’t changed much from the last time I’d looked. We were surrounded by guards, and beyond them the bulk of the army. Most of the soldiers jogged, although there were a few wagons.

“I guess having spatial items really matters,” I said to Tenira. “I don’t want to imagine what our logistics would have been like without them.”

She looked up from the book she was reading and glanced out the window as well. “That’s true.”

I pushed another curtain aside. This litter was really more of a moving tent, with space for several people to lounge in comfort. I looked at the six spirits beasts strapped to poles that carried us around. They were massive, bigger than any horse I’d seen, and built more broadly, although otherwise they looked like draft horses with technicolor manes. They moved at a steady pace that would have exhausted any horse on Earth, but managed to keep up with the cultivators around us without a problem.

I sighed and sat back. I would’ve loved to have the whole army fly. Airships were vulnerable, as I’d experienced. We probably could have scrounged up enough mounts or flying swords for everyone. But that would’ve been a nightmare to organize with appropriate formations. It was bad enough in two dimensions.

“Not every soldier is good with a flying sword, Inaris,” Tenira said. “Not to mention the support staff like alchemists or engineers. Many of them aren’t even in the fourth stage — that’s why they’re on the wagons or being carried.”

I blinked. “Were my thoughts that obvious?”

Tenira smiled. “It helps that you’ve talked about it at least two times so far.” She snapped her book shut and shook her head. “Besides, we wouldn’t have been much faster in the air.”

Aiki Lis, who was sitting on a bench half-separated from the main compartment, looked over and smiled. “You can’t always be mysterious, my lady.”

I raised my hands in mock surrender, then looked back out of the makeshift window.

Behind us, another litter carried other members of my retinue for this campaign, mostly older people from the Leri clan and its followers. I knew some of them were here to keep an eye on me and the other young ones, not just to show the strength of the clan. They hadn’t concerned themselves much with the war, not even attending most of the meetings. I felt a bit like I was doing an evaluation with unenthusiastic graders tagging along. At least they’d be handy in a fight.

We were getting close to the enemy now, and the litter felt more constricting with every passing meter. So I pushed the curtain back and stood up. The guards didn’t leave enough space that I could jump down and walk alongside the litter easily. I poked my torso out and looked around.

Aston pushed through the crowd, until he was close enough to push me back if he dared. “Your Highness, please sit down.”

I focused my qi senses on his presence, remembering our journey back to the city and the fight with the raiders. “Aston, you have an affinity for air qi, don’t you?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Air and earth.”

“Then you can take me along easily, right?”

He stifled a sigh, then bowed his head.

I didn’t waste time, instead stepping out of the carriage. Instead of falling, my feet met a pillow made of air. As soon as I stood securely, Aston moved me away and upwards, until I floated above the marching guards beside the litter, with him standing close beside me.

For a while, I just enjoyed the fresh air, looking out over the army marching towards the nomads. Then I pulled out a telescope designed to function with light qi, and activated it. I sent a bit of darkness up to act as a mirror, adjusting both until I found the nomads’ force. They really were getting close.

Although I couldn’t tell much more than that. They were using a formation to counter anyone trying to scry them from afar, blurring the picture so much I could barely make out the size of their host. And this was using direct light reflected from them, it would probably be worse if I relied on a more aspect-based light qi technique.

I still felt stupid for not realizing they had to have something like this earlier. It explained at least part of why the military leadership had so little intelligence. I knew there were formations set up at the borders, but none to cover the area the nomads had moved through, and setting up one to combat their defenses took time. They still could have done it earlier, but I’d cut them some slack.

More importantly, we had similar formations covering the army. I’d participated in setting them up myself, since there were too few light qi cultivators with enough skill. And our plan relied on concealing our army’s strength.

“We’re getting close,” I said to Aston. “How is the other forces’ status?”

“They report that everything is going to plan so far,” Aston answered. “They’re building fortifications and stepping up their defensive measures.”

I nodded. Most of the nobles’ forces had joined the soldiers left behind last time. Many of them were local nobles’ hosts coming up to the sides of the invaders’ path, anyway. Now, they helped us box the nomads in.

“We really will meet them soon, my lady,” Aston added, a faint frown on his face as he looked forward.

“Then we need to put more power into the formation,” I said. “Give the signal to start the preparations for the battle.”

I watched as Aston sent out a few qi constructs. Maybe I should have called a meeting with the various commanders, but I wasn’t feeling like it. Although, I probably shouldn’t ignore them.

While the army slowed down, I got Tenira out of the litter and had Aston bring both of us a little farther ahead. Here, we met San Hashar and a few other officers on their flying beasts or flying swords. After a minute, General Wei and a few other commanders flew up as well. They probably didn’t want to be left out of the loop.

I greeted them with a nod. “Generals. Is everything ready?”

Wei looked sober, his gaze never straying from the direction of the raiders for too long. “Yes, Your Highness. We are getting close. If they don’t change course within the next ten minutes, it will be almost impossible for them to avoid clashing with the bulk of our forces.”

Silence fell as we waited for what was to come. Beneath us, the army shifted, soldiers moving into formation to prepare for a battle. Runners flew through them and up to the officers. Whispered conversations and the glints of qi constructs filled the air around me.

After maybe three minutes, one of those conversations cut through the bustle, the officer’s voice rising. When he turned to face me and the rest, his face was set in a frown.

“News from the east?” General Wei asked.

“Yes, General. Commander Huin says they’re starting to lose sight of the enemy. They seem to have turned, heading west.”

I gritted my teeth, cursing internally. “Well, do we have reports from the western side?”

A few other officers were sending and receiving qi constructs, and conferred with the man quickly. He turned back, looking even grimmer. “Your Highness, we received word from every group except for clan Lirta. According to our reports, the nomads seem to have turned roughly west-south-west.”

“They’ll come upon our forces if they haven’t already,” General Wei said. “Probably why Lirta didn’t respond.”

“They should have sent word as soon as they sighted them,” another general added. “Perhaps they thought they could hold the nomads back by themselves? Their young master is untried, but they insisted on putting him in charge.”

I rubbed my temple. Probably someone being an idiot, right. And this was going so well, too. Although the nomads might punch through in any case.

“Well, let’s not stand around waiting,” I said. Then I looked to my former guard. “San Hashar, scramble your people and reinforce our perimeter. The goal is to keep the nomads tied down, but don’t risk yourself or your soldiers if you’re outmatched.”

San Hashar saluted and flew away without wasting any time.

They were our fastest. Hopefully, they’d be enough for a bit. I watched her fly off for a moment, then turned back. Wei was already barking orders, turning the army around.

I didn’t know if we would be able to cut the nomads off, but they were certainly giving it a good try. The army shifted in record time. Then the soldiers started running faster. I watched while Aston sped our platform up to keep pace.

Still, there was only so much speed a group of thousands of people could muster. On their own, all of those soldiers could have probably covered more ground. But although the wagons fell behind, there were a few hiccups that slowed the army down. The terrain didn’t help, either. We had to cross a sharp gorge, rocky walls and steep, slippery hills rising before us. The plan had been to funnel the nomads though it, and help our efforts to box them in. Maybe that was a mistake.

I took out my telescope again, trying to get a glimpse of the enemy army. But I couldn’t. The terrain didn’t help. I could almost make out the fortifications the nobles’ forces had thrown up, though. My guts tightened as I considered that the nomads might have moved too quickly.

And we still had no word from clan Lirta’s task force. Maybe they’d been overrun completely, their communication device destroyed.

Finally, I couldn’t take it any longer. I looked to the officers around me. “I’ll take a detachment of high-stage cultivators ahead, as an advance force. Aston will carry me along, and my guards should be able to keep up.”

They didn’t even look surprised anymore. In fact, I suspected Wei was glad I’d be out of his hair while he wrangled the army. He barked a few orders, and I quickly had a few officers in the sixth or seventh stage with me, scrambling their units.

The Imperial Guard surrounded me like a swarm of insects, until I could barely make out anything of the world beyond them. I grabbed onto Aston’s arm as he accelerated us rapidly. We shot higher into the sky, and sped ahead of the main body of the army. I could sense the soldiers in formation around us. They’d put my group into the center. A few guards escorted Tenira behind me. Soon, we had crossed the ridge, and I could feel a few scattered qi presences.

The guards around me slowed down, and Aston moved me forward until we came out at the front of the group, which opened to show me what lay before us. I sucked in a deep breath.

In the skies beyond, I could see a few figures darting through the air. A squad of soldiers I recognized as San Hashar’s flew just above the ground, spreading out over the location. I could see it had once been a fortified camp, probably thrown up quickly as soon as their commanders figured out where the nomads would move. A few ditches gaped open like scars in the earth. The earthen rampart had so many holes and indentations it looked more like a chain of hills. A few sheets of cloth flapped around, some of them burning. Wooden planks and the remains of low stone walls dotted the area, making the footing even more treacherous. All of them were still filled with qi. A few half-collapsed towers leaned over it all, probably built of materials taken from some spirit beasts.

“Aston, take me down,” I said.

We’re too late. There’s no mistaking that. The nomads are long past, and San Hashar’s people can’t fight all of them on their own. I guess they’ll return soon. Most of them.

On the ground, I pulled the hem of my robe over my nose to keep the smoke out. It pervaded everything, coming from smoldering cloth and wood. Worse, it carried the odor of burnt flesh.

I stepped through the ruins of the fortification, looking around with both my eyes and my qi senses. The guards joined me, shifting rubble and pulling out the occasional body. Some of them coughed or had still bleeding wounds. Some of them didn’t move.

After a few meters, I reached the remnant of one of the towers. I scrutinized it quickly, then bent down and pulled out the first plank, which I quickly tossed aside. Then I removed a few more pieces of wood, small boulders and the bones of some spirit beasts. Beside me, Aston and a few other guards helped in silence.

Finally, I found what I’d been looking for. Careful not to jostle him too much, I grabbed the man beneath his shoulders and heaved him out. Aston cleared a spot with a quick gust of wind, and I set him down, looking him over carefully. A redhead in the fifth stage who looked like he was in his twenties, wearing heavily embroidered robes now decorated with rips and dust. His left leg stuck out at an odd angle, and there was a lot of blood on his face, but his chest rose and fell with deep, steady breaths.

I stepped back to let one of the guards who worked as a healer take care of the noble. Water affinity qi flowed out of his hands into the man’s wounds. It didn’t take long for him to open his eyes, drawing deep gasps of air.

The guard stepped back as the man rose to his feet, swaying just a bit, and steadied himself. He looked around with wide eyes.

“Lirta Veno?” I asked, crossing my arms.

He gulped and dropped to his knees. “Yes, Your Highness.”

“The nomads overran your task force,” I stated the obvious. “Why didn’t you call for help earlier?”

He dropped his eyes to the ground, shame or grief twisting his face. “They were so fast, Your Highness …” He took a deep breath. “I thought I could take them, beat them back so the plan would still work. I thought I’d prove that I could do it alone, leading my warriors, not having to call for help like a wimp. My clan gave me this responsibility, I wouldn’t fail them.”

“But you did,” Aston said, his voice harsh.

Lirta closed his eyes. “Yes, I did.”

By now, most of the remaining soldiers had gathered around, standing around us in orderly ranks. Further off, I could feel the combined qi signatures making up the army approach. They’d be here in a minute.

I almost felt bad for Lirta. He’d just lost most of his warriors, and many of them had to be acquaintances or friends. But he’d been an idiot. I couldn’t just let him get away with that even if I wanted to.

“You didn’t just fail, you disobeyed an order,” I said, the words tasting like ash on my tongue. “All of the task groups were explicitly commanded to report in once they spotted the enemy, and if the nomads changed their course. If you’d raised the alarm quickly, then reinforcements may have been here in time to hold them long enough for the army to arrive. We may have still forced them into battle.”

Lirta pressed his forehead to the ground. “This one can never express the depths of his shame and regret.”

“The humiliation of this loss is not enough punishment for not following orders. A public whipping in the camp tonight,” I commanded. He’s in the fifth stage, that’s not going to bother him for more than a week even if they use special tools. “Hopefully, you’ll learn from your mistakes.”

Then I turned away and left him in the dirt as I walked out of the ruined encampment. I took out my flying sword and ascended into the air, flying upward far enough I could watch the army’s arrival.

We didn’t have to wait long for San Hashar to return. A few minutes after I’d rejoined the commanders at an impromptu strategy meeting, she flew into camp with most of her soldiers. Many of them sported some sign of battle. They couldn’t have much qi left.

San Hashar herself looked grim as she reported on her advance. It was pretty much as I’d feared. The nomads had overrun Lirta’s force, the fight not slowing them down for long. San Hashar had caught up barely in time to engage their rear guard. They’d retreated as soon as it became clear that there was little they could do.

“The nomads are scattering,” she concluded. “I stayed long enough to see most of it and left a few of my soldiers behind to watch.”

Damnit. I took a deep breath, clenching and unclenching my fists.

For a moment, I considered having the army chase them straight away. But that would be idiotic even by the standards of my decisions in this campaign. The nomads had obviously planned for this, were moving in prearranged groups. Even if we knew the details, it wouldn’t be easy to split the army well enough to chase them effectively. I risked defeat in detail, or whatever the term was.

But we were going to have to split the army, probably. I really wasn’t looking forward to fighting some inverse guerrilla war.

41: Weird dreams

I rolled my shoulders and tried not to grimace as I stepped onto solid ground once more. At least I didn’t have any inclination to get sea-sick, or I’d dislike the litter even more.

But I focused and tried to assess my surroundings. This town didn’t hold many people, and what felt like half of them had gathered around to watch the army move in. The spectators kept their distance. When they saw me looking in their direction, they bowed, not meeting my eyes. I swept my gaze over them and to the reason we were here, the military base. It looked fairly large. Built of old stone, enclosed by a few fences, it should have enough barracks space and conference rooms for everyone.

I swept inside, Aston and the guards following. In other circumstances, it might have interested me more, but I felt too exhausted to be curious.

“Take me to wherever I’m staying,” I said to Aston. “I’m going to sleep.”

We had sent some of our elites and specialized soldiers after the nomads. They were supposed to harass the raiders as best they could, establish surveillance and generally keep us from getting any unwelcome surprises. But most of our forces were still concentrated, and would be used to reinforce garrisons and outposts in the area, and launch strikes at the raiding groups.

It would take a while for all of the army to arrive and be put up. Besides, I didn’t see the need for any more planning meetings until we had more intel from the teams we’d sent to follow the nomads, or at least knew more about what we had to work with. I’d ordered more airships brought here. Some would be requisitioned from vehicles that had been confiscated, which tended to happen to professional smugglers, apparently. Others the army would buy. But it could take a while.

The suite Aston showed me had to be the best in the base, but I didn’t care. I simply shooed my guards out and finally shrugged out of my robe. A shower in the attached bathroom made me feel like I washed layers of grime and blood off, even though I hadn’t been injured or particularly dirty. Then I curled up in the bed, the silky sheets relaxing some of my tension.

I hadn’t slept for days, and had barely eaten or drunk anything. After the battle, and what I’d seen in the destroyed fortifications, I just wanted a break. I’d been a little afraid that I wouldn’t be able to calm down, but my tiredness overpowered any other concerns, and my thoughts had felt slow since before we arrived here. Even if it was mental exhaustion instead of physical, I welcomed it. My eyes fell closed, and I sank into the warmth of the bed with barely a thought. It didn’t take long for me to slip from my half-awake state into sleep.

I knew as soon as I fell asleep. The world around me turned surreal and vague, and yet I remained perfectly aware of myself. But something felt off, something about the dream I entered.

Between the vague shadows of dreaming, I could see the burnt landscape, scorched of anything that might support life, a big crater thrusting its edges to the sky as if in accusation. Time hadn’t blurred the picture, and my memory of it remained clear, even dreaming. Will I ever get used to having an eidetic memory? I wondered idly. Perhaps if I had grown up with it like everyone else, it would be different. I don’t particularly wish to remember this scene, in any case.

I shied away from the impressions and thoughts filtering through my mind. They weren’t mine. The whole dream carried a subtle distance with it, even though I was right inside, living it. This is new. Am I seeing someone else’s dream?

Sighing mentally, I zoomed in on the plain, my dream-self stepping over the burnt ground. The spot where I should have been was hazy, since I could not remember seeing myself. My subconscious filled in the figure lying on the ground, gasping for air. I turned away from him, towards the approaching cultivators. With a bit of focus, I made them freeze, taking a moment to contemplate the scene. I was glad I had learned to control my dreams. ‘Lucid dreaming’, Acura had called it. Suited to reflection perhaps better than even meditation.

Yes, I was definitely sharing someone else’s dream, I realized, while most of my mind was busy experiencing it. And that someone was in control of his dream. I knew it was a man. Behind the dream, I got a sense of him, an echo of his identity. It was too vague to make out any details, but I’d recognize his mind if I was ever telepathically connected to him, perhaps even if I met him.

The Zarian warriors looked as menacing as ever, although I could only feel an echo of the qi presences they had had. Two of them were in the seventh stage, the rest in the sixth. Frozen like statues, their faces displayed grim lines attesting to their determination. The one whose arm I’d gotten moved like nothing bothered him. They wore no distinguishing marks, only simple cultivator’s robes you might see in most nations. I stepped aside, prodding the dream to continue replaying my memory. Consequently, I watched as the Zarian picked up the hunched figure and carried him off, outside of the crater, where they would take me into the air. Unconsciousness had taken me then, until I awoke far into their land.

I never did find out what happened to the men of the unit I had taken command of. Short as our time together had been, I felt a pang of regret at that.

Perhaps I could ask. I frowned as the thought occurred to me. Waving a hand, the scene dissolved, until only void danced before my eyes. I did not wish to relive my journey, so I changed the setting to my current home.

In the back of my head, a feeling of unease started to spread as I realized what I was learning. But I concentrated on the dream. I could think about it later — for now, I didn’t want to miss any details.

Back then, it never would have occurred to me that they might simply give me information freely. But now, as I paced among the pillars at the entrance of my domicile, I reflected on how much had changed. The Zarian no longer treated me like a prisoner, if I was being honest.

A flash of Fiarko’s face crossed my consciousness, disrupting the scenery I’d built. I watched it for a moment, the smile revealing his gleaming teeth, the sympathy in his eyes, part of it faked, part of it likely real. Then I pushed it away, refocusing on my dream.

I had climbed higher in my cultivation since then. To their credit, they had allowed me to pursue it. But now that I had broken through to the middle of the seventh stage, I knew my threat increased. They can hardly keep me guarded forever, tying up their elites. I looked out over the city, the capital of the Dominion in all its nightly glory just one valley away. In truth, they allowed me far more freedoms than was probably wise, even for a valued hostage. Naturally, there were guards around the estate, and I would never enter the city unaccompanied. But they did let me visit, let me see many important personages, met any reasonable request.

It’s not like I didn’t give anything for that modicum of trust, a part of me whispered. I am hardly acting like a prisoner that hates his captors.

I stopped pacing and stared out at the dream scenery I had recreated. I knew why I had returned to the day of my capture. I was simply trying not to think about it, or the reflections of my past it had stirred up.

In recent years, I’d often asked myself if I even wanted to return to the Empire of the Sky. Would I even be welcome? Acura and I had parted on tense but nominally good terms. And if the burning in my chest whenever I thought of her was any indication, I felt confident she still held some small, lingering affection for me. I would likely be accepted back warmly … If I keep my mouth shut, otherwise she might not be so welcoming.

I didn’t like to think of Acura, or the life we had once led together. Nothing good could be found in such thoughts.

I had never reached a clear decision, certainly not enough to attempt action. But now, with the tensions between the Dominion and the Empire rising, that might pose a problem. Especially with the news I had received today.

Inaris was fighting the nomads, leading the Imperial campaign against their invasion.

Without my conscious decision, the dream changed again. It morphed to show a lounge opening onto a rooftop. I moved forward in the clear night, the stars twinkling down on me, turning away from the lights of the city shining from the other direction. A figure waited for me at the balustrade, blurry in the darkness.

With an effort of will, I took hold of the dream and changed it again, this time to a balcony above a courtyard. There I’d stood, watching children fight, while occasionally the cries of a toddler would resound from the playroom. One started, but I cut it off, flinching back from the sound enough that the dream wavered for an instant. I stared down at the remembered scene of a girl kindling a spark of light to make her opponent flinch.

For all I know, my boy might already have gone through his soul journey. I turned away at the thought, looking towards the door behind me, but I did not dare go through it. I couldn’t stand seeing little Alaster as he had been. But I could not stop considering it. It’s almost been long enough, hasn’t it? And Inaris certainly has. The way she jumped to the next stage all of a sudden and was acclaimed a high level genius is telling.

I clenched my fists, even though I possessed no real body in the dream, watching the scene again for lack of anything better to focus on.

I regretted telling them about Inaris. I had almost from the minute I’d done it, and all the years since.

I wasn’t sure if I regretted the conversation all those years ago on the rooftop, though. Most often I did. The bitterness was persistent, the spite and desire to soothe it, but that was not the person I aimed to be. I had loved Acura and promised myself to take care of her, and if we had different ideas about how love might be expressed, that did not take away from my desire to support her, any more than it did from my hurt.

I dispersed the dream around me, going back to a pleasant scene of walking along a beach in the Zarian Dominion’s eastern coast last year. I was getting sick of revisiting the past, and my own regrets.

Pull yourself together, Dalcarston, I told myself. Ruminating on this will do you no good. Get some rest.

I concentrated on the beach, relaxed my tight hold on the dream and let it regain some of its wispy quality. My dream-self walked through the sand, the warmth and relaxation lulling me into a deeper state of unconsciousness. Time started to blur.

It took me a moment to realize I was waking up. The dream had ended softly, ejecting me back into my own sleeping mind, which now roused. For a moment, I simply lay there, snuggling into the covers. But I didn’t feel sleepy, and my thoughts were clear.

I sat up, staring at the wall while I thought about what I’d just experienced. I could definitely see what my old self had meant about weird dreams, now. But it raised more questions than it answered.

Sighing, I got out of bed and started getting dressed. So, that was Carston. Mother’s ex and probably my father. But I felt less convinced of that now. His feelings towards me were obviously complicated, and I couldn’t make much sense of them.

I didn’t feel particularly surprised that he was alive, after all. I just wished I knew what he had said about me.

Shaking my head, I opened the door and stepped out, nodding to the guards outside. I needed to let Mother know that the Zarian Dominion had captured him, as soon as she came back from seclusion. It probably had a lot of political implications, too.

I came to a small foyer and looked around, listening to the bustle of people farther away. Maybe I should visit Tenira, see if she was up for a game of chess.

But my feet carried me the other way instead. I followed my qi senses until I came to a door hiding the right presence. Not giving myself time to hesitate, I knocked. I needed to take more action in regards to this invasion, especially if the Zarian were behind it. That meant I needed to play a few more cards, or at least try to get some new ones.

The door opened quickly. I stepped inside, gesturing Aston to follow, and watched as the woman I came to visit backed away and dropped to her knees. She looked unassuming, with graying hair and an understated robe.

“Your Highness. How may this one be of assistance?”

“Rise.” I looked her and the room over. There were a few papers on the desk, and the bed was neatly made, looking untouched. Aiki Ilia was one of Kariva’s agents. Probably not the only one in this army, if I had to guess, but I assumed she was in charge.

“I want you to get a team to the Yellow Graves,” I said. “Find out where the rest of this tribe is hiding, which other ones are supporting it, and what they are planning to do about us. I’d like to get a clearer picture of the events behind this invasion, but what we need is the location of their civilian remnant.”

The agent didn’t look surprised. She simply bowed her head. “As you command, Your Highness. Who may I draft for this mission?”

“Whoever’s necessary, so long as they aren’t of critical importance elsewhere,” I said after a bit of thought. “But I’d prefer if you kept the whole thing low-key.”

I wanted to ask about the contacts her group probably had within the nomads, but decided I didn’t need to know. She could ask Kariva for help if she needed it. If I was asking too much, I trusted her to tell me. But for all I knew, they were already working on something like that. I wouldn’t put it past Kariva, or the other intelligence people.

The agent bowed. “It will be done, my princess.”

I nodded to her, then turned and left. Hopefully, something would come of this. But in the meantime, I’d need to deal with the nomads’ scattered groups as best I could.

After the sun went up. For now, I headed to Tenira’s room.

42: Hanging out

“Therefore, I expect us to see significant results within the next two weeks,” General Wei concluded his presentation. Then he turned to me. “Does this plan meet with your approval, Your Highness?”

I looked at the map they’d spread around the conference table again, even though I would have memorized it by now even without an eidetic memory. It still didn’t look good, but it could be worse, I supposed.

After the airship fiasco and the lost battle, I forced myself to face the fact that I had been playing with fire. It was time to take a step back and let the professionals do their thing. For the most part, at least. That’s why I’d been quite silent for this meeting, and probably why Wei felt the need to ask.

“If I may summarize the main points,” I said. “You propose to spread most of our forces, and the reinforcements arriving soon, between various outposts, bases, and garrisons. At the same time, we’ll evacuate all the less defensible settlements the raiders might reach. And we will send off certain ‘hunting teams’ to attack groups of nomads whenever they show themselves. Those they should be able to beat, at least. That’s where most of our soldiers in the higher stages will go. Do I have the right of it?”

“A succinct summary, my lady.”

“Are there any objections? I encourage you all to speak your mind.”

The officers and nobles sitting in the meeting room looked at each other, but no one spoke, or displayed any signs of disapproval.

I nodded, trying to show some gravitas. “Very well, General. Implement this plan.”

A few of the officers smiled, and the conversation resumed, hashing out a few final details. I excused myself shortly after. It wasn’t like I knew enough about the south to give input on garrison strengths or routes, and they didn’t need me looking over their shoulders.

As I left, a guard closing the door behind me with a soft thud, I couldn’t help my thoughts returning to my dream again. They’d often strayed there the last few hours. I barely saw the wide corridor and its crisp white walls as I walked, the sound of mine and the guards’ feet thumping on the floor the only break in the silence.

Why did I even have the dream? Probably my darkness affinity doing some weird stuff. Maybe there’s something that happened to open me to those dreams, who knows? It might work through a connection I have to someone — like a blood connection. Then he was having an important dream, thinking about me, and I happened to be asleep at the same time.

I frowned. That was the best theory I could come up with right now, even if it left a lot of open questions. Like Carston himself. Was he from another world? He said something about not growing up to have an eidetic memory, but maybe I was overinterpreting things.

I shook those thoughts off as I stepped out of the building, tilting my face up to meet the sun’s rays. It promised to be a nice day, although there was a hint of rain in the air.

“Did you leave the meeting early?” Tenira asked.

I turned to see her leaving the building’s entrance behind me, a smile playing on her face. She looked perfectly composed in a dress shimmering with silver threads, grace and beauty rolling off her. But I noticed a slight shadow beneath her eyes.

“I saw the important part,” I replied, tearing my eyes away from her.

Lei came out of the building behind her, grinning. “We’ll show those raiders where the sword hangs!” Then he paused. “Do you want to spar a bit, or maybe review some plans?”

Neither of those sounded good at the moment. I wasn’t in the mood for a fight, even if it was sparring, and I didn’t know if I could concentrate on technological plans.

“We could visit the town,” Tenira suggested. “I hear they’re building a telegraph line here. On the hill beside the base and the town, I think.”

That sounded like a good idea. “Sure, let’s go.”

We started walking, a group of guards accompanying us like always. On the way, Lei talked excitedly about the newest breakthroughs on the project. I marveled at his enthusiasm and the fact it wasn’t affected by the battle and the whole war.

When we left the base, I half tuned him out, looking around at the town. It was encircled by walls that reached at least twice the height of Pekasa, the town I’d visited near the sect, even though its population couldn’t be much higher. They put a large chunk of the town in shadow. Now I realized why it was called Rampart. No wonder it housed one of the main army bases in the South.

There was a dent, where a second fence encircled an area that bordered on both the base and the town walls. A hill rose behind it, buildings scattered over its surface, with a tall post somewhere close to the top. If I focused, I could even see the wire stretching from it in the direction of Blue Valley City.

It didn’t take us long to reach it, the gate standing open to let us enter. I hurried up the hill and paused at a good vantage point, looking over the city. Reddish and brown roofs, a maze of streets, and the sounds of people going about their lives. “It doesn’t seem too different from what I remember of Earth,” I mentioned.

Lei cocked his head. “Well, there certainly was no qi on my world. And a town this size would have had a lot more smog.”

I grinned at that. The air was definitely clearer here than in most places I’d been on Earth.

“I don’t know, it could use a good clock tower,” Tenira said. She turned around. “Let’s go, shall we?”

I followed her. For a moment, we walked in silence, before Lei started talking again. He gestured at the complex rising before us, pointing out all the places where we could see qi, and the lines of electric cable.

It couldn’t hold my attention the way it usually might. Hanging out with Tenira and Lei felt good, even more than seeing the proof of our technological innovation. I couldn’t help but smile as I walked, the sounds of their footsteps echoing mine, Lei’s excitement bouncing around us.

When we reached the building, he hurried ahead, looking at the devices in the room and examining the telegraph line itself. I hung back a bit, and Tenira joined me.

“By the way,” I asked, “do you remember Carston?”

“Your father?” She raised an eyebrow. “I think I met him as a child a few times, but I can’t quite recall.”

We walked over to examine some of the equipment. “Why did he leave?”

“I don’t know, I’m sorry. Some sort of falling out with your mother, I imagine.”

I gave her a sideways glance and asked, “Is he, though? My father, I mean. What do you think?”

Tenira stayed quiet for a bit, looking intently at some qi device. After a moment, she shook her head a little. “I can’t say for sure. My mother is a bit of a gossip, you know. She said that Kariva mentioned that she knew every cultivator your mother might have slept with during that time in, and no one but Carston had blond hair or fair skin.”

“Hmm.” I blinked, then turned around. “Let’s head outside.”

I looked at the wire running through the air, and thought about what she’d said. I figured Kariva would know what she was talking about. But Mother may have kept someone a secret. And besides, I didn’t want to count on gossip. At this point, I was starting to get sick of the question, and resolved to just shelve it.

“Do you miss your old life, Tenira?”

My friend grimaced, tucking a strand of black hair behind her ear. “Sometimes. On the whole, I’m glad I’m here, though. I never saw much of a future for myself there, but now it’s different. Besides, having qi is wonderful.”

I nodded. “I can see that.”

“And you, Inaris?”

“Yeah, I miss it. Less so as time goes on, though. I feel like I don’t miss it enough, sometimes.”

Tenira snorted. “You just need to overcomplicate things, don’t you? Don’t feel like you have to pine over your old attachments. Besides, you’re too much of a cold-blooded bitch for that.”

I shook my head. “You know, you’re the only one who would dare call me something like that. Besides Mother, but I don’t see her that often. Whatever would I do without you, Tenira?”

Humor sparkled in her eyes, and her smile lit up the day so much I had to avert my eyes so I wouldn’t stare. “Probably be a little more arrogant than you already are, and get assassinated for it?”

I laughed. Before I could continue the banter, though, Lei returned. He’d somehow managed to get his robes in disarray and get a smudge on his cheek. “Ladies, what are you doing dawdling here? There’s more to see.”

Tenira shook her head. “We should get back. The reinforcements from the central provinces are supposed to come, remember? Inaris needs to be there for it.”

I sighed, but she was right. “Yes, let’s head back.”

It didn’t take us long to leave the compound. I only noticed I’d felt some pressure when the accumulations of qi got weaker with distance. The guards, who’d kept their distance to give us some privacy, closed in again. I noticed what I thought might be a smile on Aston’s face, but it quickly smoothed back to a neutral expression.

This time, we didn’t talk much on the way back. All too soon, we passed through the gate post into the base again, then made our way to the wing of the building we’d been put up in. There, the others split off to go to their respective rooms and freshen up.

I hurried to mine and looked through the clothing I’d brought. A few of the servants rushed in. I recognized both of them from the palace, but didn’t try to start a conversation. They styled my hair and put on a bit of makeup. After a few minutes, I was ready, and left my room again to head to the open square at the back of the base.

I arrived just on time. A few shadows already darkened the ground by the time I took my place next to Tenira, close to General Wei and Lord Zun. When I looked up, I could make out a number of airships closing in quickly. They touched down a minute later.

Their doors opened, and soldiers marched out, taking up a formation. They all saluted. I returned their gesture, then focused my attention on the officers stepping up to greet us. I recognized one of them from the meeting in the palace, although I hadn’t caught her name. They both knelt to me.

“Please rise,” I said, then raised my voice so everyone could hear me. “We are glad of your timely arrival. Your help in repelling the nomad scourge plaguing the south will be invaluable. I’m sure you will prove your worth in the battles to come, and I look forward to having you fighting by my side.”

No one looked upset, and a few of the soldiers I could see actually relaxed a bit, so I must have done well.

A few other officers exchanged a few words, then we turned to head into the building. But I paused, throwing a glance back as something tickled my awareness. Aiki Ilia, the agent, had approached a one-star general from the reinforcements. I watched a packet change hands. Probably an exchange of correspondence.

I felt a little better at the thought that Kariva was handling things back home.

Then we reached the meeting room, and I turned my thoughts back to my surroundings. I should learn the names and details of the new commanders, and we needed to bring them up to speed.

But in a pause during the meeting, I pulled Tenira aside. A meaningful look at Aston had him raise a barrier of air qi that would prevent us from being overheard.

“I’ve been thinking,” I said. “I’d like you, or the people from my retinue, to reach out to the various commanders. High officers and nobles. Not officially, just a few off-the-record conversations, if you can. I’d like to hear their opinions on what’s going on, see if they have concerns or suggestions they wouldn’t raise publicly.”

Tenira raised her eyebrows, then nodded. “They might be wary of talking to me and Lei,” she said slowly. “But we can try, and I’ll tell the others. We’ll do our best.”

“Great.” I smiled at her, then turned to rejoin the meeting.

It should be over soon, at least. If nothing else, I’d go into the field to escape these constant meetings.

43: Might be a trap

I wouldn’t have thought I’d like being on a flying sword, but it was preferable to the litter. I’d definitely gained a new appreciation for the view from up here, the wind playing around my face and the feeling of freedom high up in the air.

It may have had something to do with the people gathered below us. I’d rather not face this sort of farewell on the ground, any more than I had to.

“You’ve gotten better, Inaris,” Tenira commented. She pulled up beside me, her own flying sword tilted at an angle and yet moving in a perfectly straight line, probably so she could speak to me easier.

“Not as good as you,” I sighed. “But I’ll take what I can get.”

We fell silent, and I continued watching the soldiers below me. The task force assembled, part of it on spirit beasts, the rest on foot. They walked in orderly lines, but I assumed they’d pick up speed once they were farther away from the town. Lei hadn’t shown his face, probably engrossed in some project, and none of the others had shown interest in coming along.

“To be honest, I thought the commanders would put up a bit more of a fight about me going along,” I admitted. “I mean, I know why I want to see the current front and how the fight is going, and I know this task force is big enough to protect me, but it still feels a bit like running off.”

It was supposed to be only a short trip through secure territory, but still.

Tenira smiled wryly. “I suppose you scared them with your demonstration before the battle.”

It took me a moment to realize what she was talking about. “You mean cutting myself?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Maybe you don’t realize the significance of it. Drawing royal blood is, as you would say, a big deal. People have been hanged for less. I know you did it yourself, but a few of them are probably nervous that the Empress is going to blame them for how you had to go far enough to actually spill your blood.”

I winced. “It’s really that bad?”

“I once had to stop the Guard from punishing someone who tripped me on accident so I scraped my knee. And I’m not the crown princess.”

I looked at Tenira. I’d never really considered how it must have been like for her, growing up.

“One of those ideological things, I guess,” I muttered. Now that I think of it, even Teacher Ling Ta never went that hard on me in training. I got a few bruises, but nothing like that. He must have known Mother wouldn’t punish him, but I guess he wanted to be sure.

“Anyway, what’s up with General Wei and Lord Zun?” I asked to change the subject. “Do they have a grudge or something?”

“I don’t think so. Many of the nobles don’t like the Wei. Probably because they wanted those lands, even if they pretend it’s because they’re traitors.” She frowned. “Well, I suppose the General has been loyal.”

“Wait,” I said. Then I realized what she meant. The Wei were one of the leading clans in the civil war, the one who took in the wannabe new empress. I’d known that, just hadn’t made the connection. “How are they even still around?”

Tenira shrugged. “The current clan was just a side branch with a different name. They did a lot to prove their loyalty. After the current patriarch distinguished himself fighting the last major raid, the old Empress let them take up the name and gave them back some of the Wei’s former holdings.”

I sighed. I didn’t like politics, and this just told me how many nuances I was missing. At least I knew now.

By now, the task force had moved far enough away from the town that they were starting to speed up. I increased my flying sword’s speed as well, leaning forward against the acceleration. At least I didn’t seem to be in any danger of falling off.

“Plus, Wei is a talented cultivator,” Tenira continued, frowning thoughtfully, as if she was thinking all of this through herself just now. “His family claims that they’re descended from a powerful spirit. I don’t know if that’s true, people say his great-grandmother took a fancy to spirit beasts. In any case, I think he has some bloodline or constitution that helps him fight.”

I scratched my temple, considering that. Not many people had these, but it was hardly uncommon either. The more powerful spirit beasts could take humanoid forms that could interbreed with humans, which was the most common cause of special ‘constitutions’. Usually, they increased someone’s affinity for one type of qi or even certain arts, but might come with a downside.

We fell silent again, and this time it lasted. I watched the countryside passing by slowly, the town vanishing into the distance. To the right of our path, the Green Forest stretched. Despite the name, it was a pretty dark place. As I watched, the trees bent as if under a wave, which could only be a wave of qi. When it came to qi-rich pieces of wilderness in the Empire, the forest didn’t rank very highly, but it was dangerous enough that there were no permanent settlements within. A few kilometers of wild meadows separated it from the rest of the countryside, before fields started again. The village closest to it, the only one I could see clearly from here, had a high palisade encircling it. But now, it lay still and silent, its inhabitants evacuated to the town of Rampart.

After half an hour of flying above the soldiers and thinking, I took stock of my qi reserves. I wasn’t close to drained yet. Recently, I’d taken a bit of time for cultivating and had progressed further, increasing my core’s capacity. I could fly for hours without worrying about running dry. But that would not be prudent, so I’d probably have to get down soon.

The further we got from the town, the closer Aston and the other guards drew to me. They did it gradually, so I only noticed it as we neared the forest. By now, they were starting to obstruct my view. But I didn’t protest. It wasn’t like I could see much, anyway. The thick foliage of the trees’ crowns hid what might be going on underneath, and I could sense the forest’s qi blanketing the area. Our route was planned to take us parallel to it with a few kilometers’ distance, and I could see why.

It should only take a few hours to reach our first goal, an outpost. I’d probably have to stay there while the task force went after a group of nomads in the vicinity.

I’d just feel better if I could check on things in person. Besides, the local commanders might do well to have me looking over their shoulder for a bit. And while we’d gotten reports, I had read enough to know how different things could look on the ground. Especially if the culture was used to glorifying war. Plus, it couldn’t hurt to be seen doing more than just sitting on my posterior behind walls.

A prickle in my qi senses made me look up. The guards were drawing closer to me, and the soldiers on the ground slowed down. As I watched, two soldiers on flying swords returned to the main group from the direction opposite of the forest. They must be scouts.

This doesn’t bode well. I descended, Tenira beside me and Aston and a few other guards sticking close. Once I stepped onto the ground beside the group of officers responsible for this detachment, I didn’t have to wait long for the scouts to return. They quickly took a knee and bowed their heads to me.

“Rise, and report,” I said.

They did as ordered, while the officers asked questions. The scouts told us how on their approach, they’d seen a nomad flying beast dive into the forest southeast of here. Their group had come closer and spread out a bit. Two of them had caught glimpses of figures in the nomads’ typical clothing among the trees. They also reported a slight edge in their qi senses, probably the nomads’ attempt at hiding coupled with the aura of the forest. It might not be part of the Green Forest, but traces of that phenomenon lingered, and had concentrated to form something of an echo.

As I listened, I felt my forehead furrowing more and more, and I had to stop myself from gritting my teeth. This didn’t bode well at all. I knew it had to be a small group, but the nomads weren’t supposed to come here. It was pretty stupid of them. Too far from the rest of their forces, or at least too close to our main base. Although, maybe they’d just started a push and the situation had changed.

“What could they be doing here?” I asked.

The commander of the task force, a woman in the sixth stage, sighed. “To be honest, I’m unsure, Your Highness. It’s quite a risk for them to take. I suppose if they follow the forest’s line, they could advance further east. There is a town there, the only reasonable target.”

I scratched at my temple. “Green Town, right? Has it been evacuated already?”

Aston shook his head. “No, my lady. It was considered too close to our strongholds to be in much danger, and it’s too big to evacuate easily. Its garrison was reinforced, but it might not hold up to one of the nomads’ bigger raiding parties.”

I didn’t ask how he knew that. He must have checked the route we would take and gathered info on everything along our path to assess possible dangers.

“The question is, what do we do about it?” Tenira asked. “They could already be really close to the town, if what our scouts saw is only their rearguard. And it probably is, I doubt they’d go this far with only a few people. But we need to defend the town.”

I clenched my hands, then made myself unclench them again. I really didn’t like this, but she was right. “We’re the closest and the only ones who might be there in time if that’s the case,” I said, trying not to let my annoyance show.

“Your Highness, we can’t risk endangering you,” the commander said.

“Of course. I won’t go, but you should,” I replied, rubbing my temple again. “Loath as I am to split the party, needs must.”

“Then the bulk of the task force will move to the town quickly, while we’ll retain enough soldiers to assure your safety?” Aston asked.

Did he just suggest that to prevent me from sending all the soldiers off? I wondered, amused at the thought.

“Of course,” I said. “Commander, will you handle the allocation? I’m not as familiar with your units or troops.”

She bowed and started conferring with her subordinates. I listened in, but got lost once they started throwing around names and designations. All the while, the soldiers beneath us remained standing, keeping still and silent. I had to admire their discipline. The scouts kept back, in reach to be called back for details but not part of the discussion.

After a minute, I pulled Aston aside, asking him in a low voice, “Is this a good idea? I mean, do you think I will be safer away from the fighting, instead of being with all these soldiers?”

He stayed silent for a moment, frowning. Finally, he sighed. “I’m not sure, Your Highness. I dislike the idea of letting you get close to such a fight, even if there should be many of our soldiers with us. This might be a trap, and I’d rather we didn’t risk you being caught in it, and instead try to avoid engaging the enemy as much as we can.”

I nodded. “I know, and I won’t argue. You’re my guard captain, Aston. I trust you to make decisions about my safety.”

His frown eased at that, and I caught sight of a smile before he bowed his head. “Thank you, my lady.”

After that, it didn’t take long for the officers to settle on a distribution of forces. Soon, the main part of the task force set off. I watched as they marched away, vanishing into the countryside quickly. Hopefully, they’d be in time to foil whatever designs the Zarieni had against the town.

A number of soldiers stayed to augment my group of Imperial Guard, mostly people in the higher stages. They formed up around us.

“Let’s move on,” Aston suggested, “carefully.”

“Yes, let’s,” I agreed.

So we continued on our way. I let Aston set the pace. He seemed to have taken command of this group, not that I minded. A few scouts flew, but most of us moved on foot. I noticed that the scouts were hard to spot even though I’d watched them leave, probably using techniques for camouflage.

For the first fifteen minutes, nothing happened, and I started to relax again, letting my thoughts wander. But then another few qi signatures coming in captured my attention. The soldiers stopped, and I stepped closer to Aston before I realized what I was doing.

Another two scouts descended and knelt. This time, they didn’t wait to be asked before they began their report. “Nomads in the Green Forest, Your Highness! Two of their birds were spotted just above the trees. Two of our unit moved closer, and they reported catching sight of three nomad raiders hiding among the trees.”

I started to curse, then cut myself off. After taking a deep breath, I asked, “How many do you expect to be there?”

“There’s no way to know, my lady,” Aston answered. “But we should expect the worst. We need to get more distance between us and the forest.”

I ran a hand through my hair, nodding. We’d tried to avoid the nomads’ trap, but maybe we were just walking into another one.

“There’s a road connecting the forest with another town further south,” Aston suggested. “We would have come upon it in another minute. We could take that one south, then another road to our destination. It will be a small detour.”

After a moment of thought, I nodded. “Let’s go.”

We started moving again, this time more quickly.

“Virtuon, Lirta,” Aston called two of the guards. “You’re our rearguard. Kei, pick three of the soldiers and scout the road ahead.”

I listened to him organize our march, trying to let his calm presence steady me. But I couldn’t help glancing back. Was it my imagination, or were shapes rising from the forest?

44: Targeted

At first, we moved slowly, carefully. The soldiers had drawn tighter around me and Tenira, and they now all carried weapons. I couldn’t make sense of who wielded what weapon, but they would know what they were doing.

Still, I couldn’t help glancing back. I saw dark shapes just above the forest’s canopy. They could just be ordinary birds, but they seemed pretty large. I wish I could take out my telescope or use a technique, but I needed to keep my attention on our march, and the soldiers would probably block my line of sight.

It didn’t take us long to reach the crossing, where a road split off towards the south, away from the Green Forest. It was narrower than the one we’d been using before, and the soldiers’ formation shifted again. But the sides of the road had slopes, shrubs and the occasional tree, which wouldn’t help if we needed to run. Besides, I could feel traces of qi in the material beneath our feet.

After a few minutes, a figure appeared on the road, quickly growing closer. I tensed until I recognized Kei Weriga, the guard Aston had sent to scout ahead.

He bowed and fell into place in the formation. “Captain, the road ahead is clear.”

Good. I turned around again, looking back towards the forest. There were definitely dark shapes there, more than before. The outline of some matched the nomads’ birds with riders.

“Aston,” I said, “are these raiders coming in our direction?”

He spared a glance behind me, then gave me a smile that showed obvious strain. “It appears so, Your Highness.”

Silence fell after that, although we increased our speed from a walk to a jog.

At the next bend of the road, I felt Tenira shifting beside me. “Why aren’t we flying? Wouldn’t we be faster?”

“We’d be more conspicuous,” I said, glancing at Aston, who was sending a qi construct right now. “Aston probably thinks we might go unnoticed by them.”

I didn’t feel that was likely, but it was worth trying. I tried not to think of the many soldiers we’d sent ahead to save a town from another group of raiders. The fact that there were this many Zarieni here, even in the forest, didn’t bode well. There can’t be many targets here worth the risk for them.

Another qi presence drew near, this one a lot faster. I barely turned my head in time to watch them come up behind us. Virtuon Les, one of the two Aston had sent as rearguard, in the sixth stage. The formation parted around him until he reached his captain.

“There’s a group of nomad fliers that nested in the jungle,” he reported, breathing hard. “At least several dozen. Some of their birds carried double. They’re coming in our direction.”

I looked back as Aston asked a few questions, focused on what I could see. The few shadowy figures had multiplied, and they obviously moved closer.

Aston picked up speed again, turning our pace into a full out run. I cycled qi into my legs to keep up. Hopefully, the fact they were moving in our direction was coincidence, but that felt like wishful thinking. Still, by the time we moved into the air ourselves, they would be almost upon us. Since there were a number of cultivators with earth affinity among my guards, we might have better cards on the ground. I wanted to ask Aston, but saved my breath. He didn’t need me interrupting him.

I glanced back occasionally, trying to gauge the speed of our pursuers. Their forms drew closer, until I could make out their shapes clearly, and they still moved in our direction. They were flying in a V like formation, like a swarm of birds, but they were too big and their riders too visible to pass for a normal one.

I pumped my legs harder to keep up with our increased speed. I also drew on the qi in my dantian more heavily, but it still had a lot remaining. When I tried to gauge the qi levels of the soldiers, it seemed to be the same for most of them, and no one was running low.

A flicker of qi to the side of the road distracted me. I squinted, trying to get a better look. The qi coalesced into the upper torso of a person, its face drawn crudely with no distinguishing features, long hair whipping in the wind around it. The spirit shook their head as it watched us.

I exhaled, feeling cold suddenly. The warning of the spirit before my departure played in my mind. The one here dissolved, its qi moving away.

I focused on my spatial ring, searching it for an item I had put in back at the palace, but never used before. A ring tumbled into my hand. I glanced at it, checking it over quickly. It looked simple, woven together from strands of wood, with a few bits of crystal inserted in odd places. In my qi senses, it barely showed at all, like it was supposed to. I put it on my left pointer finger. After a bit of hesitation, I fed it some of my qi. It took more than I should spare, but that couldn’t be helped. The ring’s presence didn’t grow more pronounced, but it sharpened, and strings started to connect it to my meridians, so thin I could barely make them out.

We continued running. When I looked back again, the nomads had drawn closer, but they were still far enough away that I couldn’t be sure they were following us.

Suddenly, Aston stumbled in front of me. It looked like he wanted to stop, but his momentum made him slide further. I had no time to wonder about it, though. My qi sense screamed.

In an instant, I realized what was going on. A huge formation lay beneath our feet, drawn across the road and over the space at its edges. Qi pulsed beneath us, and hung above the ground like a solidified mass, encasing our feet and lower legs. Everyone stopped, rooted in place by the formation. The trap.

My heartbeat raced and time seemed to slow down as my body screamed at me. The sense of danger sharpened my mind, making things stand out with unnatural clarity.

A flare of qi streaked across the sky towards us. The air around it wavered and distorted. I could barely move my eyes fast enough to track its progress. It seemed like I moved my head in slow motion. In what had to be a fraction of a second, it barreled toward me, growing from the size of a marble to the size of a basketball and more. It set my qi senses screaming until my qi thrummed in my meridians. A shield of qi wavered into existence before it, but the attack tore through it in the next instant.

I had to react, but my feet couldn’t move, and I didn’t have time. I tried to twist sideways and raise my hands to shield me on instinct. Before I could, the attack reached me.

For a moment, my world was nothing but light and heat and overwhelming pressure.

When I came to, I lay on a slight slope, my head ringing. I blinked and raised it. I was on the side of the road, the attack clearly throwing me away from the trap. When I took a breath, my chest hurt. I picked myself up, moving into a sitting position and glancing around.

More nomads descended from the air. One of them had an overwhelming presence, enough to make breathing difficult even in normal conditions. Clearly well into the seventh stage. A few others accompanied him, all probably in the sixth stage.

I stayed down and assessed my injuries. It felt like I was bruised all over, and I might have broken a few ribs. It should have been far worse. Forcing my hand open, I glanced at the ring. A few of its crystals had broken loose, and its strands where unraveling, its qi spent.

It had been one of the most valuable things I owned, a one-use defensive measure strong enough to take a technique using most of the qi from someone in the seventh stage. I hadn’t told anyone about it, not even my guards or retinue. That’s why whoever set this trap didn’t know, right?

Then I shook my head and forced myself to stop thinking about that and focus on what was happening. I still felt a bit dazed, but I needed to push through it.

Aston and a few other people rose into the air to meet the incoming Zarieni. Qi flickered in front of them, forming shields and grasping at the attackers. More of the soldiers were moving toward me, making a defensive formation. Someone pushed Tenira to me. A few soldiers were still struggling to break free of the trap.

It probably hadn’t been intended to hold us for more than a few moments, but that was all they’d needed. I could see how the soldiers’ formation had been broken. But the strike meant to assassinate me had failed.

I barely managed to stand up before the real fight began. A group of soldiers clashed with the Zarieni seventh-stager with a roar of thunder and a bright flash. A few others took on his companions, trying to keep them away. The soldiers on the ground started shaping the earth, assembling bigger weapons, or throwing techniques upward.

I focused on my spatial ring, taking out my best weapon for this occasion. A repeating crossbow made of qi-infused material and enchanted several times. I planted it on the ground, lining up the first bolt. It was cumbersome and took a while to use, but for this fight I had firm footing and targets to shoot down.

I saw the other group of nomads rapidly approaching, some of them already diving down to join the fight. The pain I felt was distant, my adrenaline pushing it away, letting me focus on the fight. I took a shallow breath and pulled some light qi, gathering it at the tip of the bolt. Then I aimed the weapon, squinting through the sights until I found one of the nomads, and released.

In a flash, the projectile impacted on his barrier. I didn’t see how much damage it might have done, but this had been a practice shot, anyway. I let the crossbow redraw itself and inserted a second bolt.

This time, I concentrated and pulled darkness qi out. I made a technique, forming it around the head of the bolt. I hadn’t perfected this one yet, but it should work. Then I switched targets to one of the higher-stage nomads and fired. The shot crashed against her barrier, but the ball of darkness latched onto it. I could feel it flickering before it stabilized. One of my soldiers used the opportunity to launch a devastating attack at the nomad, blowing her back.

Seems like the Void’s Nibble is a success. Frowning in concentration, I prepared a second shot. This time, I tied the technique into the bolt, cutting it off. It wobbled a bit, then stabilized. This really was a good weapon. Carefully, I aimed for the nomad in the seventh stage. He was still airborne, fighting several Imperial soldiers.

I took a deep breath, then concentrated on the qi around me, sinking into it. I focused on the air, setting my gaze on the area around that fight. With an effort of will, a small vacuum formed, pushing against the enemy cultivator and tying him in place for a moment. I’d already released the bolt, and watched as my technique crashed into his shield. It held, but I knew it must have taken a hit. His opponents capitalized on it, launching a barrage of attacks.

The fight raged around me, soldiers and guards facing off against nomads. But the occasional flash, thunder or wave of air couldn’t shake me. Since it had worked so well, I repeated the combo a few more times. The soldiers knew what to expect now and worked well with me, keeping their opponent tied down for me to hit. If I focused, I could see how his barrier recovered after my technique, but not quickly enough to keep up with the attacks. We were wearing him down.

Suddenly, after I’d launched another one, the soldiers scattered. I barely got a glimpse of a fiery spear bigger than most trees before it crashed into the nomad.

I blinked and turned. Behind us, a group of three cultivators had appeared. Their auras gave me no doubt they were in the seventh stage. Probably officers or elites. Well, I guess this fight was pretty noticeable. Their trap definitely was.

The nomads tried to retreat, but they didn’t get a chance. The leader’s hair was burning, and he wobbled in the air. Aston darted in and decapitated his opponent before he could recover. Then he chased down more of the nomads. The three seventh-stagers made short work of the strongest members of the nomads’ strike force. It didn’t take long for the fight to end.

The front of my crossbow thumped into the ground before I dismissed it into my spatial ring. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I opened them again, I tried to assess the situation. Tenira stood beside me, obviously unharmed. That took a weight from my shoulders. But a lot of people littered the ground, both nomads and Imperials, although the former were in the majority.

“You alright, Tenira?” I asked.

She nodded. When she stepped closer, the concern in her eyes was clear. “Inaris, you’re hurt!”

That seemed to stir the guards around me to action. One of them asked, “Your Highness, how are you?”

By this point, the effects of the fight were wearing off, and the pain came back with a vengeance. I winced, then glared at the soldiers surrounding me. “I lived, no thanks to you people. Useless rabble, what do I even keep you around for?”

They backed away and bowed their heads. I shook my head and tried to breathe deeply. Someone just tried to kill me. It’s natural to be stressed, but lashing out won’t help.

Another soldier took a hesitant step forward. I recognized Ki’aun, a healer. “Your Highness, please let me tend to you.”

“Don’t,” I said shortly. “I want you to use your qi and best items for those injured badly. I’ll live, they might not.”

He moved away quickly, another healer who’d started to approach me following. Tenira stepped closer, taking my shoulder to offer support. “Are you sure?”

“A soldier’s life matters more than a bit of pain,” I said.

She smiled, and I could see the soldiers around me straightening up a bit. Well, I had said that for PR effect. But it was true. Soldiers being alive to fight for me were more valuable to me than not being in pain for a bit.

Feeling tired all of a sudden, I took a pillow from my spatial ring and placed it on the ground, sitting down carefully. Sorting everything out here would take a while.

45: Working out stress

I started awake, sitting up before I realized I was in no danger. Sighing, I ran a hand through my hair. I needed to calm down. Then I took a deep breath and felt at my ribs. Everything was healed.

I looked around, taking note of the soldiers marching around me. I’d been lying on a mattress of air Aston carried two meters above the ground. He flew along beside it. Tenira was on her flying sword not far away.

It had taken hours to sort everything out at the site of the attack. One of the healers had given me some elixir that made me feel sleepy, and I must have drifted off at some point. At least I’d had no weird dreams this time. I didn’t feel rested, but the lack of pain was nice.

I took out my flying sword and carefully hopped on. Aston nodded to me, then dissolved his technique. His qi had to be running low, while I still had enough juice to get to our destination.

Which couldn’t be far, looking at the countryside around us. We’d left the forest far behind us, and were now moving through plains overgrown with vibrant, tall grasses, outside the road anyway. In the distance, a band of water glittered in the sunshine. Judging by the river’s size, that had to be the Great Southern River, which meant the military camp should be close.

“Aston, what’s happening?” I asked.

“We’ll arrive at the camp shortly,” he answered. “The nomads seem to have sent a sizable part of their strength for this maneuver, which means many of our forces were able to push them back until they retreated. Currently, they seem to be consolidating their soldiers again, at a rallying point close to the last two tributaries of the Great Southern River, just north of the Bay Forest. In response, General Wei ordered more of our forces further south. Many are to gather at Provisional Camp Three.”

That’s where we’re heading. I frowned. “So, the majority of the army is going to be assembled there? I suppose that makes sense. The general knows what he’s doing.”

“Indeed, Your Highness.”

I was more concerned by this attack, in any case. It wasn’t the first time someone had tried to kill me, but this attempted assassination still left me shaken. The implications alone were scary enough. This obviously targeted me, specifically. How did the nomads know that — not only that I was with the army in the first place, but where and when I would be moving?

I turned back to my guard. “This can’t stand. I expect my guards to show more competence in the future.”

Aston bowed his head. “I understand, Your Highness.”

“I trust you, Aston.” If nothing else, he’d had more than enough opportunities to kill me. “But if I hadn’t used a priceless artifact from my personal collection, I would be dead now.”

He bowed deeper, but didn’t offer any more reassurances or protests.

I sighed and watched the landscape pass by for a moment, although my gaze was drawn to Tenira after a bit. It felt good to see her whole and healthy, flying on her sword with her usual grace.

“You’re staring, Inaris,” she said eventually, raising an eyebrow. “Are you alright?”

I blushed a bit and shook my head. “Sorry. I’m just feeling a bit shaken from the attack, a bit tense.”

She smiled wryly. “Maybe you should take a concubine, you know. I hear that sort of activity is the best way to work out stress and nerves …”

I groaned, not quite sure if she was joking. Her suggestion didn’t help my emotional unrest.

Luckily, before I could ponder it further, I had a more important thought. I turned back to Aston. “Actually, did we catch all the nomads? I know there was at least one person in the seventh stage with the attackers, but that technique had to come from someone in the seventh stage, too.”

Aston inclined his head. “Yes, Your Highness. I assume that they couldn’t take any more of their elites for this, as it might have drawn the suspicion of our forces. We did find the raider responsible for that attack. She took her own life before we could attempt to interrogate her.”

“Really? Hmm.”

“Would you like to see?”

“Sure.”

He got a bag and opened it, taking out an object.

I almost fell from my flying sword, having to jerk to the side to keep my balance. I’d torn my eyes away after a glimpse, but I must have twitched more than I thought. “Damn it, Aston! Warn me before you show me a severed head next time!”

Tenira chuckled, but Aston didn’t let any reaction show. “I apologize, Your Highness. It’s the usual procedure for dealing with high-stage cultivators.”

“Just … never mind. I assume the blue tint of the lips is from poison?”

Aston explained in more detail what had happened, which was pretty much what I was expecting. They’d found the nomad almost drained of qi, then, once she saw she was cornered, she’d swallowed some pill and collapsed. Well, they surely would have tried to interrogate and then killed her.

“Did we make other captives?”

“A few.” But Aston’s expression showed that he didn’t think highly of our chances of getting anything useful.

So far, the intelligence people hadn’t had much luck with captives. We didn’t get many in the first place. Some of the Zarieni preferred to go out fighting or even take their own life. And those that had been captured didn’t know much. The nomads might seem barbaric, but they had a good concept of information security.

After that, we traveled in silence. It didn’t take long to reach the river, and follow it upstream for a few hundred meters. The walls of the town rose before us, but in front of them, another level of fortifications caught my eye. A low stone wall behind a ditch encircled a number of tents. As we came closer, I could make out more details. The tents had been placed in orderly rows forming an ellipse. There were a few huts, as well. I watched another group come from the road to the north and enter the camp. It made sense why it left space for more tents, and people were still working at the fortifications. There were a few vacant spots and several open gates. I couldn’t help snorting in amusement as I noticed the scattered tents put up outside the camp proper.

When we reached the camp, lots of soldiers gathered to watch us. Aston talked to a few of the guards, who went to work dispersing the onlookers. Most of them wore standard Imperial army uniforms, but some were obviously nobles or their retainers. At least the paths were wide, and we crossed the camp quickly.

Close to the center, a big tent had been put up. Aston opened the flap. “Your temporary accommodations, Your Highness, Lady Tenira. The rest of the retinue should arrive in approximately an hour.”

I nodded. “What about the local commanders?”

“They respectfully suggest waiting with any strategy meeting until the rest of the troops that are coming, and their leaders, have arrived.”

I stifled a sigh of relief at that. We weren’t in a hurry, and I was glad to wait. So I entered the tent after Tenira. It was big, with a few compartments separated by cloth and several items of furniture. I wouldn’t ask for anything better, although I got the impression this was only meant to be provisional.

Tenira looked poked her head through one of the dividers. “Oh, there’s a washroom with a shower and bathtub! I can’t wait.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “Go ahead. I’m pretty clean still.”

The smile she sent me could have lit up the tent. “Thank you!” Then she hurried inside and the fabric swished as it settled into place.

I snorted and started pacing. I wanted to sleep, but I was still feeling too hyped up for it. Tension coiled through my body, and I needed to burn it out. This tent felt too small suddenly.

Especially as I heard the sound of fabric hitting the floor and the swishing of water. I sighed, shaking my head and trying not to think about it. I needed to get myself under control.

Quickly, I got out of my robe and pulled another one on. Then I stepped out of the tent, where I found Aston keeping watch beside the entrance.

“I’m going on a walk through the camp,” I announced. “Feel free to have me watched or followed by as many people as you like, but I want to remain incognito. Is that alright?”

Aston made a few gestures at the other guards and nodded. “Yes, my lady. Please give us a moment.”

Maybe this wasn’t a good idea, but this camp and my presence were so new that no spy should have been able to make any plans for an assassination, and besides, I was surrounded by loyal soldiers and my guards. Caution was good, but I didn’t want to succumb to paranoia.

I waited for a bit to give them time to prepare. Once I no longer saw any obvious guard, I left, pulling a bit of darkness qi around me. Once I reached the shadow of the nearest tent, I used more qi, hiding my presence as I darted to a spot two tents over. Once there, I removed my veil and walked forward, blending into the small crowd on the main path of the camp. That should be enough. I kept a bit of shadow on my face to make it difficult to identify, and avoided eye contact with anyone. The camp was busy enough that I shouldn’t arouse any suspicion.

The fresh air helped to clear my head a little, as did the new sights and sounds of the military camp. I walked through the paths, taking in the soldiers putting up tents, cleaning their weapons or armor, or just chatting with their comrades. They looked like they came from every corner of the continent, and I could hear a few different languages, although most people talked in Common. The scent of smoke lingered in the air, reminding me unpleasantly of the failed battle.

I was still on edge from the fight and the knowledge people wanted to kill me, how close they’d come. I felt restless. And horny.

I sighed at myself. I had the feeling that ever since my transmigration, my self-control in that regard was strained more often. Maybe a difference in hormones. This body only just left puberty. And for all I know, a cultivator’s supposedly improved health has an effect, too.

Shaking my head, I continued walking, focusing on my surroundings.

A few times, I saw people I recognized as my guards, although they were dressed as common soldiers. They didn’t draw any attention to themselves and kept enough distance to me, so I tried to ignore them. I also avoided the center of the camp, and only lingered at the edges of the space the noble clans had claimed. That was easy to distinguish by their colorful tents, which they’d put up with a little less organization.

After a few minutes, I came to the outer areas of the camp. There was still space left, and a gap where they would probably put another gate. I stopped in an alley between a wooden hut and a few tents and leaned against the wall. From there, I watched the people passing by.

The only one to come close was a young woman in ochre clothing that clung to her figure. She paused when she saw me. I didn’t avert my eyes quickly enough, and she smiled and stepped closer.

She felt like she was in the third or fourth stage, and looked no older than twenty. Probably no more than two or three years older than me mentally. The smile on her face brought out her warm brown eyes, and her dark hair shimmered a little in the fading sunlight.

“Watching people from the shadows?” she said. “Do you see anything interesting?”

I returned her smile. I wouldn’t object to talking with a pretty girl. “Definitely. If you come closer, I would even see it more clearly.”

She stepped up and leaned against the wall close to me. “Like this?”

I turned to face her more fully. “Much better. What’s your name?”

“Tia Yarani.”

“A lovely name, and it sounds even better with that hint of an accent you have. Are you from the west?”

She smiled and leaned towards me a bit more. “Thank you, I am. And you? What lovely name do you have to fit that pretty face, and where did you grow up to be so strong while so young?”

I ducked my head, glad that she didn’t seem to mind some awkward flirting. “The center of the continent, although I’ve traveled farther than you could imagine.”

She raised an eyebrow, a clear challenge in her eyes. “Why don’t you try me? I’ve traveled quite a bit for the army.”

“Ah, so you’re not a camp follower.”

Before I could say anything more, she reached out and slapped me.

It stung a bit, but I didn’t flinch. I rubbed my cheek, cursing my loose mouth. “I’m sorry. I guess I deserved that.”

It was probably more of an insult here. If only I’d grown up here, I’d probably know the signs that would express things like that, clues to one’s status. At least the guards didn’t react. They probably think we’re just flirting.

She snorted. “Being a little awkward is cute, but try not to overdo it.”

“Of course not.” Definitely still flirting. I took a step closer and straightened to my full height, which was a little taller than her. “I couldn’t disappoint such a beautiful lady and valiant soldier, now could I?”

She licked her lips a bit, but didn’t move away. “I hope not.”

I put a hand against the wall beside her and leaned closer, until I was crowding her a bit. “Now, I do have an idea how I could make up for it. Should I try?”

Her eyes widened a little as she stared into mine. “Go ahead.”

I brought my face closer, still staring into her eyes. I took care to give her the option to move away, but she didn’t. So I completed the motion and pressed my lips against hers. She responded, and I put my other hand to her cheek, deepening the kiss.

We stayed like that for a bit until I stopped it, but I didn’t step away.

She smiled. “Much better.”

I moved my head a little until I could whisper into her ear. “Now, since you asked. My name is Leri Inaris. Don’t react, I’d rather not make a scene.”

She stiffened, but didn’t move. When I stepped away, I could see how her eyes had widened in shock, but she even kept the smile on her face.

“Are you alright?” I asked.

She ducked her head. “I apologize for slapping you.”

I smiled, more amused than I should be. “Don’t worry about it.”

She straightened up. For a moment, we stayed like that, looking at each other. I felt an impulse that was probably a really bad idea. I’d only been playing around. But I liked the way she’d stood up for herself, I felt like this wasn’t a person who would let herself be pushed around.

I stepped a little closer again. “Actually, Tia Yarani,” I said in a quiet voice. “I have a proposal for you.”

She cocked her head. “Yes?”

“My people tell me I should take a concubine or two. I wonder if you might be interested in coming to the palace with me.”

Her eyes widened even further. “What?”

I ran a hand through my hair. “Just to be clear, there won’t be any consequences if you refuse. I promise I won’t force or push you into anything, and you can leave at any time.” I shook my head. “Just think about it, take your time.”

She didn’t seem to know what to say. “I, uh -”

“Like I said, take your time to consider it.” I smiled at her for the last time, then left.

Once I was walking through another street, I sighed and shook my head at myself. What did I just do?

It had been impulsive, but I couldn’t quite regret it. I hadn’t felt any butterflies and didn’t think I would fall in love, not that I wanted to, but I did find her attractive. This way, I didn’t have to worry about political loyalties. But I promised myself that I would get to know her first and build trust before we did anything more.

And I wouldn’t be in a room with her without guards until they did a thorough background check.

46: A closer look

I pressed my sleeve against my face, trying to hold in a sneeze. A group of thousands of people could raise quite a bit of dust, especially on a gravel road. But I wanted to walk along with the army for a while.

It wasn’t the whole army, of course, but a sizable chunk of it. Many soldiers were still scattered through the region, reinforcing garrisons and trying to prepare defenses against the nomads. I felt like the war had entered the next phase. We’d been marching for a few days already, and had covered a large distance.

Unfortunately, the nomads didn’t make it easy for us. They were more concentrated than previously, but still not a real army, and moved a bit quicker than my troops. Although we’d managed to herd them somewhat, this wouldn’t be over quickly.

“Thinking about your new ‘recruit’?” Lei asked. “From what I heard, I don’t think Tenira meant for you to go out and look for someone that instant, you know.”

I snorted at the boy walking along beside me like he didn’t have a care in the world. Tenira had fallen back a bit and was talking to Aston, so she must have missed this.

I didn’t really want to talk about Tia Yarani or why I’d decided to pick her up. She was someone I knew wanted me without regard for my station or title. Maybe this was just my ego, but whatever. I was expected to gather lovers, why not start with her?

“And what did you do that night, Lei?” I asked.

He blushed and looked away. “Well …”

I tsked. “On second thought, I don’t think I want to know.”

He rolled his eyes at me, but didn’t answer.

I returned my attention to our surroundings. In the distance, I could see the mountains of the so-called Tip of the World rising into the sky. I imagined I could even see the ocean, but that was probably not it, since we weren’t that close yet.

“Where are we going, exactly?” Lei asked.

“That depends on the nomads,” I said. “We’ve been herding them southwest-ward. That way, they can either head for the border, for the bay, or for the mountains. We’d have the advantage at the bay, since we have naval support and they don’t.”

I paused as I considered that. The Yellow Graves were bordered by the ocean. On the other hand, both the Zarian Dominion and the Empire built up their naval power in the region, and wouldn’t let the nomads develop any kind of navy.

Before I could continue my explanation, a shift went through the soldiers as they changed course again, leaving the road to cut through the fields. I frowned and looked for Aston.

“Another course change, Your Highness,” he explained. “They’re heading further west, and seem to have increased their speed even more. We’re trying to get more soldiers to the Itirakin, but it’s going to be close.”

I’d given the order for this march and our current strategy, with the agreement of the commanders and nobles, but left the details up to the officers to handle. That included course adjustments like this.

I frowned and looked at the map he showed me, a few new lines drawn in. “That puts them a lot closer to the mountains, and they’re cutting it pretty close to our forces at the regional base.”

“I assume they want to follow the bed of the Itirakin into the mountains,” Aston said, tracing another line.

I sighed. There was a point on the map almost directly along the routes the nomads would take. “Let’s hope the evacuation is going well,” I muttered.

Judging from Aston’s expression, he didn’t feel optimistic.

“It’s bad if they reach the mountains, right?” Lei asked. I’d almost missed him coming up behind me. He scrunched up his face. “Trying to dislodge them from there will be a pain.”

“Yes, but at least the mountains are mostly empty,” I said. “What inhabitants there are will be able to flee from the Zarieni. Since they’re used to handling flight, and the nomads are still a distance away and mostly on the ground.”

It would be a pain, but at least we’d keep the collateral damage down and the civilians mostly safe.

Tenira walked up from Aston’s other side. “As soon as they’re stuck somewhere, they’re losing,” she said confidently. “Time is on our side, right?”

I shrugged. “You’re probably right.”

The conversation died there. I took out my flying sword and ascended into the air again, trying to get a better view of everything. It didn’t help much. The rest of my retinue, the older cultivators, were mostly airborne, too. Ever since the nomads’ attack, they’d stuck closer to me.

Maybe the smarter ones knew better than to come along to war, and these are the suckers who got roped into it by the others. I shook my head. The thought amused me, but I probably shouldn’t let anyone hear it.

After that, not much happened. I stopped flying. We moved forward steadily, but didn’t get any closer to catching up to the nomads. Occasionally, there would be a small course adjustment. I could see how certain officers exchanged more and more concerned glances. It didn’t seem like the evacuation was going well.

Eventually, General Wei approached me to explain, with a solemn face, that they wanted to withdraw the troops that got too close to the nomads. They needed to make sure the people they’d evacuated reached sanctuary safely, and the nomads were starting to chase them with a vengeance.

I understood that, of course. Wei and the others knew what they were doing, and if they said the risk was too great, I couldn’t disagree. From his expression, I knew that the local forces didn’t manage to evacuate everyone. But if our forces were decimated by the nomads, it would be even worse.

“Of course, General, I trust you to handle this,” I answered.

He bowed and withdrew to confer with his subordinates, many of whom were maintaining contact with local detachments through their communication devices.

By now, we were starting to enter the foothills of the mountains, and I saw the Itirakin river coming closer. Ahead, the broad riverbed it followed would narrow, marking one of the main passes for getting deeper into the mountains. The nomads would have been following it for the last few kilometers.

I squinted, trying to make out more details. The sun was setting, and the fading light of dusk didn’t make it easier. But there was smoke rising from up ahead, wasn’t there? We entered a wooded area now, which made it hard to be sure.

I wasn’t surprised when our march slowed down again, and Aston told me the officers wanted me to come to the front.

Trying to keep calm, I made my way through the troops, who parted to let me pass easily. Once I reached a group of officers gathered at the front, I nodded to them, but my focus was drawn to the scene in front of us. The forest opened onto hilly terrain, where a settlement had been built in a small depression.

I’d expected bad news, but I still ground my teeth at the sight. It had once been a village. Now, the palisade was dented, splintered, and charred. Behind it, I could see a few smoldering ruins that had been houses not too long ago. A few remaining sources of orange glow left no doubt they had been thoroughly razed. But worse than that were the bodies. A few buried among their houses, more scattered over the main street like some giant had tossed out his toys. A few people in the tattered remains of armor were more visible, from the top of poles outside the village’s ruins.

I took a deep breath, and regretted it immediately as the hint of smoke on the air only made the scene more vivid.

“Let the army stop here,” I said after a moment. “I want to take a closer look.”

It didn’t take long for a group of us to separate from the main host. Tenira stayed behind, while Lei accompanied me along with a few of the elders, and of course Aston and other guards. Soldiers already spread out in the air and on the ground to cover the surroundings. Wei and a few other high-ranking officers came along, as well.

It didn’t get any better as we neared the razed village. I pulled a scarf around my mouth and nose, trying to combat the smell of smoke and burning hair and other things. A few people in the group used techniques to light our way, and gave us a clearer image of the devastation. I tried not to look at the faces of the fighters outside the village as I took note of their heavy injuries, then entered through the destroyed gate.

The inside of the village didn’t leave any doubt that the nomad raiders had thoroughly followed the ‘rape, pillage, and burn’ tactic. Especially the bodies of the villagers. I had to be careful to pick my way across the debris scattered over the street, but barely noticed it as my attention was grabbed by the grisly scene.

When we left the village on the other side, it felt like I’d been breathing in someone’s impression of hell for a while, and I removed the scarf and sucked in deep breaths of the clear evening air. No one had spoken, but I could hear a few others doing the same. There were also a few people retching, but I didn’t check out who.

I clenched and unclenched my fists, then shook my head at myself. Maybe I should be more affected, but it’s probably a good thing I’m not. Still … these were my people. This was a massacre, a war crime. I need to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again.

“Looks like this field goes on for a bit,” I said. “We’ll make camp there.” I pointed out a spot maybe a hundred meters from the destroyed village.

“Your Highness?” Wei asked.

I turned to them. “I want the soldiers to move through the village. After everyone’s passed it, have the bodies gathered and funerals held according to the local customs.”

The General bowed his head. “As you command.”

Oldtis-on-the-Itirakin had been a reasonably sized, bustling village. I had a rough idea of how many people had been killed here, so most of its population must have been evacuated or managed to flee from the raiders. Maybe these people hadn’t wanted to leave their homes. Maybe they’d barricaded themselves in, waiting for rescue. It doesn’t really matter now. We still failed to protect them.

I stayed mostly lost in my head while they threw up the camp. I didn’t feel like retreating into my tent, so I paced atop a small hill, looking out over the forest and the mountains. The almost full moon shone down at us, and gazing up at it and the stars quieted me a bit.

After a minute, the rustling of cloth betrayed Tenira’s presence as she came up behind me. “Inaris?” she said hesitantly. “Are you alright?”

I turned to face her and smiled. “No need to be timid. I’m fine.”

She stepped closer. “If you’re sure. I’d understand if you felt bad.”

I sighed. “I know that might sound wrong, but … I didn’t know these people. They’re dead, and that’s bad. But it’s not tragic for me.”

Tenira nodded.

I cleared my throat. I hadn’t really considered that my order to have the army move through this would include my friends. It was a gamble, anyway — I hoped that it would increase their motivation, but too much and they might be too fervent and out for revenge.

“Did you walk through the village?”

“I flew over it.” Tenira glanced away.

“That’s probably best.”

She ran a hand through her hair. “You’re really alright? Even I feel a bit guilty, like I should have been able to prevent it.”

“I don’t feel guilty, not really.” I shrugged. “I feel angry. At the nomads. For doing this. For putting me in this situation. And, well. These people were my citizens, I was supposed to rule them someday. Or their descendants, at least.”

Tenira leaned against the single tree decorating this hill. She looked at me in silence for a moment, before she asked, “What do you want to do?”

I grunted. “What do I want to do? I want to conquer these people’s tribe, their civilians. Find out who the leaders’ families are, by any means necessary, and toss the raiders a few heads. Use the rest as hostages and bait to force them into a real fight and crush them. String their corpses up along the border.”

Tenira blinked. “I see.”

“But what will I do?” I continued. “I’m not quite sure yet.”

Tenira didn’t seem put off. “I think your self-control’s impressive, but remind me not to make you angry.”

I snorted. “Thanks.” My anger is usually a cold thing.

For a moment, we just stood there in silence, while I tried to shore up that self-control more and deal with my emotions. Not easy at the best of times, but I appreciated Tenira’s company.

“By the way, a group just arrived from the palace,” she said. “Apparently, Kiyanu — he’s in the eighth stage and loyal to the Empress, if you didn’t know — took up residence there. We got a few more guards, and I think Kariva sent a few of her agents.”

I smiled. That sounded good. “We can use them. As soon as Aiki Ilia gets back to me, especially.”

Tenira raised an eyebrow. “She just came, as well, with a few bedraggled-looking strangers. It looks like she joined the new arrivals on the way.”

My smile got wider. “Tenira, you angel. I appreciate you.”

She blushed. “You’re easy to please, aren’t you?”

I laughed. That was a line just waiting to be built on, but I didn’t want to ruin this. Instead, I started walking.

I still had work to do, after all. War waits for no man, or woman, or other being.

47: A taste of fear

I felt like a historical marshal watching their army march along to battle. Although I should probably sit on a horse for that picture, not stand on a flying sword.

I turned and watched the mountains rising up behind the soldiers. This mountain range really wasn’t big, but its sickle shape stretched across most of the horizon from here. The Central Mountains had peaks just as high, but not directly at the edge and everywhere. I doubted that this was made naturally, but who knew?

Around me, a lot of people bustled around, both on the ground and in the air. Besides the guards, most of the members of my retinue weren’t far. They could use some of the fluent discipline the soldiers showed. A bit annoyed, I moved further away, letting them sort themselves out while I ascended further, closer to the main body of the army.

Tenira didn’t let me get away, following at once. “Don’t you trust the rest, Inaris?” she asked. “I don’t think they know that you just plan to lure the nomads out. A few of the officers were pretty surprised at the official plan, as well.”

I rolled my eyes a bit and turned around. “Well, it is a bit of a test. If the nomads don’t take the bait, I plan to continue and actually sack their base.” That would be a point of evidence on whether we had a traitor in our ranks, as well. “But don’t worry, I’m not going to kill civilians.”

Despite what I’d said I wanted to do, was the implication here, but I didn’t spell it out.

Tenira waved that away. “I understand. Let’s just hope that the raiders don’t, and take the hint.” She frowned. “We are moving pretty directly to where Aiki Ilia said, but it’s not like they could tell our exact destination just from the direction we’re going now.”

I shrugged. “We’re clearly moving to the border, so …”

Of course, we left a few task forces behind, so the nomads couldn’t simply abscond from the mountains and go raid deeper inland. At least not easily. But I didn’t worry too much. Even if they knew what we were doing, they’d still feel a need to defend their homes and families. That was why we were doing this, after all.

I just spared a second to be thankful that the capital and palace were far away from the Zarieni, not that they could realistically take it.

The army was picking up speed now, despite the lack of a road to follow. At least the grassy plain should be easy enough to handle. Although not for everyone. I watched one of my elder clan members stumbling and falling onto his face.

Tenira chuckled. “Leave it to Uncle Liarni. He’s been more interested in the local bars than the war.”

I snorted. Liarni looked to be at least sixty, and was in the fifth stage. His cultivation probably wouldn’t advance much further.

For a while, we flew above the army, beneath a few riders on flying beasts. The guards took the hint and gave us a bit of privacy. Lei walked on the ground, talking to an elite with animated gestures. Wei and a few other officers traveled in a wagon, probably strategizing.

“I just pray they’re all coming out of the battle unharmed,” Tenira said. “Most of them, at least.”

I cocked my head. “Do you actually pray? To whom?”

“Well.” Tenira shrugged. “I’ve given offerings to the Moon a few times. Like most of the family, I suppose. Maybe because it’s the most convenient option.”

“Hmm.” I’d heard there was a shrine to the Greater Spirit of the Moon on the palace grounds, but I’d never visited. Maybe I should go take a look at some point.

“I was never very religious even on my old world,” Tenira said. “And now, well, it’s not exactly the afterlife we were promised, is it?”

“Yeah, same here,” I admitted. It didn’t help that even the Greater Spirits were closer to just really powerful spirits than the kind of deity I’d associate with a modern religion. That magic existed didn’t mean there was some spiritual higher being, intrinsic morality, or an afterlife.

Although, I was reincarnated. I should probably take that into account.

We fell into a thoughtful silence. After a while, I noticed that guards and others had drifted up towards us, so we were no longer alone. The mountains seemed to move across the horizon and away, as we marched in a diagonal course from them. Soon, I could no longer make out the camp the army had built, even though they’d added a number of fortifications over the days we’d spent there.

And yet I didn’t see any sign of the nomads.

Finally, I shook my head and started to descend further. It didn’t look like they were coming. Maybe there was more we could do.

I squinted against the midmorning sun and looked for Aiki Ilia. Since I didn’t find her, she was probably with the commanders. So I maneuvered to the main wagon and jumped onto its edge, grabbing my flying sword from the air. Although I hadn’t said anything, Tenira followed.

I nodded to the guard, then unlatched the door and pulled it open. Either the wagon was deceptively small, or it was actually bigger on the inside. Although it looked cramped, it had room for half a dozen people and a small table strewn with maps or documents. They all looked up at my entrance and bowed.

“Have I missed anything?” I asked.

“No, Your Highness,” Zun answered. “We were simply going over the plans.”

I’d participated in making those plans, so I knew they didn’t need much revision. We’d prepared for the ‘contingency’ of the nomad raiders going after us in force, and drawn up plans for a battle.

I nodded and looked for Aiki Ilia. “How are things going at the nomads’ camp?”

“My men report that they follow their usual routines, my lady,” she answered. “They seem unaware of the team.”

I considered for a moment. “Is there some way they would know we were coming?”

She raised an eyebrow. “If my men showed themselves, it would certainly indicate that. It would have to be very bad luck for them to be discovered. Of course, we have to assume they’re in contact with the raiders, who know where we are heading.”

I thought for a moment. Kariva still hadn’t reported any success in finding out who had leaked the information about Mother going into seclusion. Of course, with every functionary to go through, and their guards, servants and whoever they might have told, that could take a while. But that leak was probably associated with how the nomads had known where to attack me.

“This wagon is too bumpy.” I grimaced. “Carry on, lords and ladies, but I’ll borrow Aiki for a moment. I want to know details about this camp.”

Before anyone could object, I stepped back out of the wagon, jumping to the ground. Aiki Ilia followed me quietly.

I looked at the guards and soldiers marching beside us with a bit of distance to the wagon. “You must have some way to ensure privacy?”

“Of course, Your Highness.” She took out a drop-shaped talisman and fed some qi into it. I could feel a barrier pop up around us.

Good. I asked, “Again, is there some way we can put more pressure on them?”

“The simplest would be to have my men show themselves, as I said, my lady. I could order them to act more aggressively and try to corral the nomads.”

“Do that,” I ordered. “Let’s give them a taste of fear. And tell me if there’s anything else, you should be able to get a hold of Aston.”

She bowed.

I turned away, feeling the barrier dissipate. Rather than stick around, I took out my flying sword and ascended once again.

Tenira must have left after seeing me go into the wagon. I should have said something to her, I realized. After a bit of searching, I found her accompanying Lei towards the front, the two of them deep in conversation with a few of the army’s crafting specialists.

I drifted towards the end of the army, coming back to where San Hashar and her people were. Many of them traveled through the air on their flying beasts, screening the army or scouting. My plan for them hadn’t really worked out like I’d thought. Live and learn, I guess. And try to stay with my minders more.

I traveled alongside them, watching them going about their business. Soon, I could start to pick out patterns, and the way they changed them up. After I was bored with that, I turned to the marching soldiers.

A shout rising from the army broke me from my contemplation. I glanced around, then looked back to the mountains. I saw a few dark dots that hadn’t been there before. They were growing bigger.

Wei and the other commanders must have left the wagon at some point. I could see him striding through the ranks, barking orders. The soldiers responded. Like a well-practiced move, the army stopped, then reshuffled itself. The wagons and a few other groups were moved to the back, while the soldiers rearranged themselves at the front. More of them rose into the air, and everyone spread out further.

I rose a bit to get a better view, then cycled some qi into my eyes. It looked like the main group of raiders had spilled from the mountains on foot, going in our direction. They were moving quite quickly, but the flying group outpaced them. I couldn’t be sure, but that had to be their elites. The group was too small otherwise.

I got back to Wei. “Shouldn’t we start moving towards them? We want to engage them, as quickly as possible, and it would be good to find the best ground for it.” One of the things I knew about war even on Earth was that the army getting to choose the terrain and their position held an advantage.

Wei turned his head, then bowed. “Quite true, Your Highness.” He started hollering orders again, and the army moved forward.

The next few minutes were tense, as we watched the nomads coming closer and went to meet them. After I could make out individual weapons glinting with the naked eye, Wei called a halt. We were positioned atop a wide, if rather low hill. The terrain around us was all plains, which should be good for a field battle. I joined Wei and the other commanders on the highest part, looking over the battlefield, with Tenira beside me and the rest of my retinue close by.

Suddenly, San Hashar was at my side. “Your Highness, we may have to evacuate you.”

“What? Why?”

Another general swore in a foreign language and gestured upwards. “That person is not in the seventh stage.”

I followed where he was pointing and sent more qi into my eyes. A group of nomads preceded their force, all of them decked out with obviously high-tier equipment and weapons. But one of them outstripped the rest, at the heart of their group. Even from here, I could see the haze around them, the way the air seemed to waver in their presence. Damn it! An eighth-stager!

I shook my head. “Well, what are you waiting for? Call for reinforcements!” There has to be some Imperial eighth-stager in a position to help, right?

Several people started talking and forming qi constructs. I guessed one of them would be headed to the capital, others to major cities in the region, and most importantly, one to the closest of the newly built telegraph stations. I assumed other people in the eighth stage could feel the nomad’s presence at some distance, but I wasn’t clear on the specifics.

“They must have veiled themselves quite well, and kept it up for all this time,” General Wei muttered. “At least it’s clearly a newly ascended one.”

“We should at least try to stall them,” I said. “Maybe try to negotiate?”

The commanders argued for a bit, until they decided on General Jie, who was apparently the strongest cultivator present, to approach the nomads with a few elites. The general formally saluted me and rose in the air, but not without sending a few sour looks at his colleagues.

It didn’t take long for the nomads to come close enough. As expected, their main force lagged behind, but would be here in ten minutes at most. The flying ones already took up what I presumed to be battle formations, with the elite group as the speartip. I could feel the eighth-stager’s aura pressing down on me. Now that I got a better look, he seemed like a middle-aged man with long hair. They moved forward to meet our envoy.

I couldn’t hear what was said, although the expressions on the faces of the nomads didn’t give me much hope. It didn’t take long for the meeting to end, with the nomad powerhouse sending a bolt of energy to explode between them in a pretty clear gesture.

Our envoys retreated, the general setting down close to the command group quickly. “I tried to threaten their tribe,” he reported. “Saying that we would have them all dealt with before they could intervene if they didn’t withdraw. They responded that they’d make sure to crush us quickly, then.”

I cursed, then shook my head. “Well, that’s …”

I trailed off and stared as another feeling of power came over us, accompanied by a bright flash from the north.

I couldn’t quite process what happened, except for an impression of something moving through the air. The next second, a man stood on the hill, the commanders stepping back in a hurry. He had salt-and-pepper hair with a short beard and tan skin that bore several scars. His robes swished in a breeze around him, uniform but gleaming blue. But he stood no taller than me, his lean figure a deceptive contrast to the aura he radiated.

“Lord Kiyanu.” San Hashar and most of the other officers bowed quickly.

I swallowed. And here I thought I had a handle on cultivators’ strength. He came here from the palace in what, two minutes? The eighth stage really was a jump in power.

The man nodded at them, then stepped forward and turned a searching gaze on me. I tried not to flinch under his regard.

“Princess Inaris.” He bowed. It was short and seemed perfunctory, but some of the pressure on me eased.

I couldn’t help but smile in relief as I bowed shallowly in response. “Lord Kiyanu, your timing is perfect.”

“Of course.” He grunted. “I can’t let some raiders lay waste to the Empire, and threaten Her Majesty’s heir. I owe your Mother too much for that.”

I nodded. “The palace?”

“The guards are on alert, and I called reinforcements and my personal disciples.”

That was good to hear. I glanced at the enemies. They seemed to have paused at Kiyanu’s power, but we needed to make this quick. “Can you take him away from the scene, to keep the devastation of a fight down?”

Kiyanu grinned. “That’s barely a challenge. Just watch. Or better yet, deal with the rest.”

Before I could respond, he was off again.

I barely turned in time to watch what happened. Kiyanu crashed into the nomad fighter. That one flew back a few meters, then sent out a wave of what might have been oversized hail. Kiyanu snapped his fingers, creating a gust of wind that gathered all of it up, blocking the attack. Then he shot forward again, this time in an arc that brought him beneath the now out of position nomad. The only thing I saw after that was a streak as he brought him upwards with a speed I could hardly track.

Okay, then.

I returned my gaze to the remaining nomads, the elites and the ground soldiers, who’d continued getting closer. We still had a battle to fight.

48: Field battle

It would have been epic, if I hadn’t been in the middle of it. Right now, I could only swallow nervously as I looked out over the battlefield. Instead of epic music, there was the creaking and snapping of equipment, raised voices, and the thud of boots on the ground. My qi senses strained to keep track of everything as cultivators unveiled their auras.

I closed my eyes for a moment, curling my senses towards myself and locking my knees. After a few deep breaths, it got easier to deal with. The stronger ones would be farther away from me, except for the guards, who kept their power on a leash.

“Are you absolutely sure about this, Your Highness?” Aston asked.

I continued walking forward. “Yes. I need to participate, at least.”

People hadn’t been happy when I’d said that during the planning, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t sit on the sidelines while the battle happened.

Of course, I wasn’t suicidal. As I stepped toward the back of the Imperial lines, I looked over the Imperial Guard and other soldiers forming up around me, a few of them from San Hashar’s group. I would be well protected.

Tenira stayed beside me, her presence a comforting anchor to my senses. She looked out over the field, frowning.

The army spread out around us. Instead of the crowded lines I might have expected from Earth, they left more space between each warrior, allowing them to fight to their fullest. At least the nobles’ forces seemed well integrated. They formed the flanks of the army and many of the groups in the air, taking their place in the battle formation with no issues.

“A lot of people are going to die,” I said.

Tenira glanced at me. “I know you ordered them to ‘take prisoners, but not at the cost of our soldiers’ lives or safety’. That means there aren’t going to be many, if any, prisoners. It’s hard to deal with cultivators, short of killing them. Why do you think our laws apply harsher penalties, and usually no prison-time, for stronger ones? It’ll be a hundred times worse in a battle.”

I nodded. I knew Imperial laws were that way, and could understand the reasoning. It would take a lot of resources to keep a high-stage cultivator imprisoned. But that didn’t mean I had to like it. Hopefully, we could at least take the lower-level raiders prisoner, especially the wounded ones.

The elites were the first ones to begin the battle. Colored lights lit up the sky as they clashed. Some of them fought on the ground, but most danced through the sky, trying to both hurt the enemy and keep the clash over their fighters, so the spillover wouldn’t affect their own people.

Probably one more reason we’d spread out like this. And I knew the elites would probably decide the course of the battle. But if we could take out the main army, that would free our mid-level fighters to help them and secure our victory.

A thunderous crack cut through the sky, making even the elites hesitate for an instant. Darkness spread out from a point far upwards, fading as it touched on the qi of the fighters.

Okay, the eighth-stagers will decide this, I corrected myself. But Kiyanu seemed stronger than the other one, probably in the middle of the eighth stage. He’s got this.

I needed to worry over the battle, not the clash of titans I couldn’t influence. So I rose in the air a little on my flying sword, taking stock. Our army had drawn up defensive positions and forced the nomads to come to them. While they’d hesitated a bit, it seemed they were now taking the initiative. They charged, and the front ranks were already clashing.

I took a deep breath and pulled my weapon from my spatial ring. I could have worn armor, but my current robes were almost as good. While I could wear heavy armor for hours, that didn’t mean I wanted to, or that it wouldn’t sap my strength. And even though I’d lost my most potent defensive talisman, I wore most of the rest. The unfamiliar weight of three rings and two necklaces attested to that. I’ll be fine. Focus on the enemy.

I raised my spear, the enchanted head with black and silver lines etched into it gleaming. The black deepened as I fed qi into it. A moment later, I finished, channeling the attack technique through the weapon and letting it fly to crash into the enemy ranks. It hit the shield of a nomad, and the darkness expanded as Void’s Nibble ate into it. The next moment, an attack from an Imperial combatant downed the man. A bit of the dark mass splattered off, latching onto the weapon of a passing raider.

I channeled the next attack, putting more power into it. This time, I aimed for an elite in the air who was occupied fighting an Imperial. But the raider dodged at the last second, and my technique disappeared into the sky. I cursed and readied my next attack.

While I fought, I tried to keep an eye on the battle around me. It wasn’t easy, with the chaos of so many fights and the qi thrown around. There was no way they’d let me fight in melee combat, but even here I barely had a sense of the larger picture.

No runner or message came to tell my any important news. I hoped that was a good sign.

The soldiers in front of my group advanced slowly, so I stepped forward as well. At first, it was only a meter every few attacks, but soon, we started marching forward at a steady pace. The nomads were getting pushed back.

I glanced around, trying to ignore the chaos in my qi senses and to see the rest of the battlefield. It looked like our center advanced more than the rest. The sides had spread out so far there were people fighting practically at the horizon. But we still had an edge in numbers there, so it should be okay.

I focused on the fight again, wincing as a huge fireball sailed in my direction. One of my guards intercepted it with a wall of water. Steam shot into the sky, obscuring my sight for a moment. A scream cut through the din of battle, and once it lightened, I saw the corpse of a nomad fighter who’d been caught in the technique.

It wasn’t the first death scream I’d heard today, but I tried not to think about that. I gathered enough qi for a new attack, launching a lance of light at another nomad. She caught it on her shield, then my line of sight was interrupted as someone crashed a huge boulder into the battlefield.

I changed tactics, cycling more light qi and focusing on a new technique. I spread my qi out over the people in front of me, coating the soldiers in a thin layer of light. I could sense Light’s Speed buffing them, even if the effect didn’t amount to much since they were mostly stronger cultivators than me.

I picked up my pace, advancing further. The number of the nomads facing us seemed to lighten, and I intended to press the advantage. The guards and soldiers around me echoed my movement. A quick glance assured me that the rest of the lines, or what had been lines, didn’t lag far behind. Further off, the fight seemed to have devolved into duels and group battles rather than a field battle, with Imperials and nomads mixing on the plain.

Suddenly, a roar of thunder shook the sky again. Darkness descended for a moment, so deep even I couldn’t see through it. I covered my ears and cowered. A pressure wave of qi washed down on us, forcing me to sprawl down and blanking my senses.

When I raised my head, I saw chaos. The phenomenon, probably an aftereffect of an eighth stager’s attack, had sent people flying and halted the battle temporarily. I picked myself up and staggered forward. The guards around me had managed to keep their formation pretty well. Aston rose from his knees and kept close to me.

A number of soldiers hadn’t been so lucky. I tried to assess the damage during this short lull, looking at the dead and wounded scattered not too far from here. I’d almost decided to retreat, when a familiar qi signature caught my attention. Hesitating for a moment, I walked forward and knelt down next to the soldier.

He wore a standard uniform and had advanced to the late part of the third stage, but I recognized his face from the sect. Lorn Rhis. His eyes were open. When he saw me, he tried to speak, but was interrupted by a cough.

I glanced at the guards around me, some of them only staggering to me now. Then I focused on my qi senses, breathing deeply to center myself. Tracing the life around me, I pulled nature-affinity qi to me. It scraped against my core and channels, but I pushed it out and into Lorn, forming a technique I’d practiced a few times at the palace.

He had internal injuries, that I could sense now. I pushed healing energy into him, giving his body the power to combat them and weaving the qi into the damaged tissue to heal it. I couldn’t keep it up for more than a few moments, the qi dissipated after that, but he looked a lot better.

I stood up and checked him over, but didn’t find any major problems now.

He raised himself up, eyes wide. “Your Highness…”

At that moment, another wave of qi crashed down from the sky. This time, it wasn’t as overwhelming, but the earth trembled. I staggered, almost falling down. A few of the guards around me did the same.

I sensed Lorn moving, but a surge of qi distracted me. Before I could react to the attack, he tackled me.

I thudded to the ground. I only had a moment to wonder before I watched a fireball burning with qi get caught on an earthen shield Aston raised.

I shook my head and got up, looking at Lorn. My guards would have caught that attack, hopefully, or at the very least my defensive enchantments. But I couldn’t fault his reaction.

“Looks like being a soldier suits you, Lorn,” I said. “I’ll make sure you get a commendation when this is over. Now, you should probably get back to your unit, and I’ll retreat a little.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” He smiled, the expression almost hidden by the dirt on his face, and bowed deeply.

I headed back in the direction we came from, only sparing a glance to see Lorn hurrying to a group of soldiers that must have been scattered by the blast. The guards drew tighter around me, and Aston barely gave me any personal space on his side.

Once we’d reached the back of what I could generously call the Imperial formation, I stopped and tried to get a better view of the battlefield. The two blasts had impacted the middle of it more than the sides, and scattered the lines even further. But all in all, it didn’t seem like much had changed.

I focused and started fighting again. From time to time, I’d take a shot, but I mostly concentrated on buffing the soldiers. That would probably help more for the large picture, and I needed to conserve my qi a little.

I lost track of time, as the roar of the battle and the many types of qi pressing in on me strained my senses, narrowing my focus to the fight. Occasionally, I’d glance around, but it was hard to see how the rest of the battle progressed. Only the steadily shrinking number of nomad fighters to defeat and the advancing Imperial fighters let me know we were winning.

Finally, my concentration was shattered by the arrival of a messenger. He touched down behind a ring of guards and bowed deeply. “Your Highness, General Wei reports the battle is coming to a close. The nomads have broken, and the commanders are now focusing on trying to hunt down as many of them as possible.”

I exhaled, feeling as if hours of stress started to leave me. “Great. Tell him I’ll see him soon.”

Then I turned back to look over the battlefield. My guards had relaxed a bit at the news, and didn’t crowd me as closely. Now that I’d heard it, I noticed how much emptier the field had become, most of the people still on it only because they were unable to leave.

I started walking, curious about the knots of still standing soldiers. From some of them, I could clearly feel qi in use, indicating the fighting wasn’t finished.

After half a minute, Aston cleared his throat. “My lady, they’re calling for you. Over there.”

I followed where he was pointing and sped up. As I came closer and the haze of the battle started to lift, I could make out a large number of soldiers forming a ring around a group of people. They parted to let us through. After a moment, I recognized San Hashar and a few elites standing over a few nomads. They seemed unharmed, but I could barely detect a flicker of qi from them.

San Hashar bowed as she saw me. Two of her elites grabbed one of the nomads and pulled him away from the others.

“That seems to be the leader of the foot soldiers, Your Highness,” San Hashar said.

I nodded. “Have you tried to interrogate him?”

She grimaced. “He was not being cooperative. If you’d let me use some forceful interrogation …”

“No,” I said. “No torture, or anything like that.” I still had my standards, and I wouldn’t allow that. Well, if it was absolutely necessary, maybe, but not like this.

“Well, then …” San Hashar glanced at the spectators, then nodded at her soldiers. They unhanded him.

The spectators started muttering. I didn’t like their expressions. This looked like it was going to be a tradition, or some symbolic thing. Clearly, they wanted me to kill him.

Well. Realistically, he’s going to die either way, I realized. Even if I wanted to, what else could I do? Try to keep him captive for centuries? Let him go back to the Yellow Graves only to return with the next raid?

I grabbed my spear more tightly and looked at the man. He’d probably reached the seventh stage, although it was difficult to tell with how drained of qi he was. His clothes were more elaborate than those of the other nomads, with pearls and crystals stitched into them, but they showed several bloody spots. He had long, gray-streaked hair and a weather-beaten face set in a determined scowl.

“Are you going to kill me now?” he asked. His Common was accented, but pretty good.

I took a step closer and considered for a moment. “I’ll give you a fight if you answer one question. Why did you invade us? It’s obvious this was more than a usual raid. Whoever started this probably expected you to fail.”

He considered this for a moment. The Zarieni nomads were a warrior culture. I knew that he would want to die on his feet, with a weapon in hand.

“The Zarian,” he answered after a moment, grimacing. “They sent a delegation a few days before. Our Lord and the shaman met with them.”

Pretty much what I’d expected. And I knew the Zarieni nomads didn’t hold much love for the Zarian Dominion, so I wasn’t surprised he ratted them out. “The shaman?” I asked.

His eyes moved upward for an instant, then back down quickly. He didn’t say anything, but that was enough. That must be the eighth-stager.

San Hashar and the soldiers stepped back farther, giving us room. I didn’t expect the guards to stand by and let him kill me if it came to that, and from the looks he gave them, the nomad didn’t, either. But he didn’t hesitate for long. Before I could settle into a fighting stance, he charged me.

Light qi still covered me, increasing my speed. I stepped aside, twirling my spear and stabbing forward. He ducked aside just in time. I knew that even drained of qi, his body had been enhanced with it through many breakthroughs, making him stronger than me and just as quick.

But I hadn’t given his weapon back, which meant I had the advantage. I used the spear to keep the distance open, probing his reactions with light attacks.

He jumped forward again. I sidestepped and gave a real thrust, piercing his shoulder and throwing him to the ground.

Standing over him, my spear still pinning him to the ground, I shook my head. “I suppose that was our fight. Now, I have another question. The last one, I promise. If you don’t answer, I’ll let my guards try to pry the answer out of you.” A bluff, but he wouldn’t know that. “Otherwise, I’ll let you die on your feet.”

He licked his lips, then glanced at the soldiers, probably weighing my publicly given promise.

“When you tried to kill me, how did you know where I was?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He winced as I put more pressure on the spear. “But the shaman sent some of his people on a raid without telling us what he was doing.”

I sighed. That didn’t sound like I would have much luck with questioning anyone else. But I carefully pulled the spear out of the nomad and took a step back.

He rose, swaying on his feet. The wound still bled freely, and he looked paler than before. But he didn’t let that stop him. He raised his hands and moved forward again, determination in his eyes.

I didn’t draw it out this time. I thrust my spear into his throat, then yanked hard. I let his body fall, but turned away without looking, dismissing my weapon into storage.

The surrounding soldiers cheered, but I couldn’t muster the energy to respond. Instead, I started trudging away, only giving San Hashar a short nod. Aston and the rest of the guards followed me in silence.

We’d only made it a few meters before I noticed a presence approaching so quickly I didn’t see more than a blur. I blinked, then realized Kiyanu stood a few meters away.

“I take it your fight went well?” I said.

He nodded. “I took that from his corpse before I threw it into the ocean.” He held up a device in the shape of a bird shining with qi. “A communication talisman with a trail leading south, to the Zarian Dominion. I overheard what your opponent said, but this is probably where the trail ends.”

I sighed. “It looks like it. Still, I’m very grateful for your intervention, Lord Kiyanu.”

“Don’t mention it.” He glanced over the battlefield. “You have this well in hand, so I’ll return to the palace. My lady.”

He bowed, and before I could respond, he seemed to vanish again. I only got an impression of his presence moving north.

I sighed and shook my head, then resumed walking towards the commanders. We’d just won the war, but the work wasn’t over.

49: Civilians

I felt like the scent of smoke was permanently stuck in the back of my mouth, etched into my pharynx like a scar of battle and war. A reminder of everything that had happened over the course of this affair, and the destruction and death I’d witnessed.

I shook my head, dispelling the melodramatic thoughts. I’d ordered the dead nomad fighters burned, as that went according to their beliefs. Or so I’d read, but I hadn’t had the time to learn as much about their culture before our departure from the palace as I wished. They believed the smoke of the fire sent them to join their ancestors.

I wished I could just get out and breath some of the fresh air, but this model of airship was different than the ones I’d used before, and didn’t have an open deck. So I had to stay here, where the scent of the pyres seemed to be trapped in the hold. But it could be worse.

I refocused on the landscape. While I hadn’t understood the name ‘Yellow Graves’, seeing it like this helped me get how it fit. The main part of the peninsula, or whatever you wanted to call it, was a desert. Not the usual kind, though. It wasn’t that hot here, since it was actually pretty far south of the equator. But the area didn’t get much rain, and the rocky crags and mesas hid the life they harbored well. The stone had a reddish tint that often devolved to orange.

And then there was the jungle, which bordered the desert sometimes pretty abruptly. The trees didn’t look too different from Earth’s at first glance, except that the forests held many trees belonging to several species with yellow leaves. It looked a bit like it was always autumn, except the shades were a little off. Although the color was a soft, natural yellow, that might hide the danger of this place.

The whole region was desolate, prone to giving its inhabitants hard lives. No wonder the Zarieni nomads’ culture still focused on being displaced, even such a long time after they’d reluctantly settled here, or that it had such a heavy martial tint.

“Inaris,” Tenira said, coming up to me. “We just got word that the last of the ships have set sail.”

“Oh, good.”

“I think I understand why you need them.” She frowned. “But it’s going to be a logistical nightmare.”

She was probably right there. But I’d deal with it after we’d secured the nomads’ camp, not that it would take long. The current force riding in this and the other airship, and the soldiers riding on spirit beasts or qi techniques outside, might be considerably smaller than the army. But they included most of the elites and no soldier below the middle of the fourth stage.

A few raiders had escaped the battle, and would need to be hunted down. Some might manage to cross the border, but I didn’t worry too much about it. The locals could take care of it. So the main army was already headed back to Blue Valley City, from where many would return north. But this needed to be done, too.

Going myself was a risk, I knew that, but I didn’t want to leave it to anyone else. Besides, we’d made sure the other tribes stayed away, we had a lot of elites with us, and were still far from the Zarian border. And I’d kept it as secret as I could.

“The Zarian Dominion isn’t going to be happy about this,” Tenira said.

“They can kiss my - ” I cut myself off, since the expression didn’t actually exist in this language. “I mean, I don’t care. They can’t honestly object to us fighting against people they’re officially hostile to, especially in these circumstances. And they’ve shown done more than enough to raise tensions all on their own.”

“You’re right about that.” Tenira’s expression darkened.

Luckily, the nomad tribe, or its sad remnants now that we’d annihilated their raiders, was actually close to the Imperial border. They’d moved far to the west and taken shelter in a particularly dense area of the jungle, or rather where it met the few mountains decorating the Yellow Graves’ western coast. We’d reach their location soon.

I frowned as I noticed a prickle in my senses. It had actually been there before, as I now realized, but too weak to notice. Now, I focused on it. Something in my qi senses. A sort of … pull, maybe? No, not on me. This is like watching someone do a technique in the distance, but different.

After a bit of thought, I realized what the feeling meant. I rolled my eyes. Of course. We were nearing the ocean, this was the closest I’d ever been since coming to this world. I was feeling the tide. Maybe just the pull of the masses of water, or maybe there was actually some qi driving the whole thing? I couldn’t be sure.

“There’s going to be high tide soon,” I said. If I leaned forward at the window and squinted, I could see a bit of the ocean.

“Hm.” Tenira shrugged. “It shouldn’t really matter to our ships.”

I watched in silence for the next few minutes, as we got closer to the few mountains separating the jungle beneath us from the ocean. The airships were flying pretty low. I was just grateful that the other nomad tribes seemed to have decided not to get in our way.

Soon, the airship started to slow down. I fidgeted a bit, looking after the soldiers descending to the ground as well as I could. Aston wouldn’t let me down until they’d ensured it would be safe.

Long minutes later, we got a call from the ground, and some of the guards opened the hatch. After they left, I stepped up to it, taking a deep breath as I felt the draft. But I took my flying sword, held it over the opening with my domain, stepped up, then let myself fall through the hole.

Wind whistled around me, but I controlled my speed and braked, pulling up beside the guards. Tenira joined me quickly, then Lei and the a few others from the entourage before the rest of the guards.

I looked down at the nomad camp, nestled beneath a protrusion of rock on one side and the edge of the jungle on the other. There was a rocky clearing around it, but not much space besides that. A shield of qi covered it, or used to, as I could only feel its tattered remnants now. The camp itself consisted of many huts made from wood and stone, some of them erected with trees at their center. They looked flimsy, but I could sense the hint of qi in their structures. They might have been put up quickly and without much care, but would protect their inhabitants from the elements. All of them were pretty big, probably housing several families.

At the moment, the camp was illuminated by walls of fire around its edges, which also showed a lot of other magic feats, like lightning strikes or walls of earth. They soldiers were making a statement. I could see them standing or flying around the camp, with teams going through it.

It didn’t take long for the commanding officer, one of San Hashar’s subordinates, to step out of a hut and wave at us. So our group started flying towards them. Meanwhile, I focused on my senses and tried to get an idea of how many presences I found.

At least several thousand villagers. It felt like the camp offered space for more, but it was still relatively full.

I touched down in the biggest clear opening and looked around. It smelled of wood and dust, and I could hear the low sound of voices talking in a foreign language. A few of the nomads were peeking out or even standing outside of their dwellings, glaring at the Imperial soldiers, but most seemed to wait inside. Even those I saw barely hid their fear. Their clothes were similar to the fighters I’d seen, but with less decorations, and they showed more wear and tear.

I turned to the officers, who waited at a respectful distance. “How many left before we came?”

“About one quarter to one third of the inhabitants between the time we first saw them, before the battle, and now, Your Highness,” the leader of the people Aiki Ilia had sent said.

I nodded. They probably fled to the other tribes. I knew the Imperials hadn’t been enough to keep everyone contained, but we couldn’t change that now. “Let’s proceed as we discussed. Have your people search their homes, confiscate any weapons or the like, but keep track of who owns what.”

The soldiers hadn’t liked the prospect of maybe not getting loot. I didn’t care. I knew that the fighters’ bodies had been thoroughly ransacked after the battle, that the prospect of loot was half the reason for some of the nobility’s fighters to come. But it still felt weird.

Well, maybe they’d get their plunder. I hadn’t made any firm decisions about what I was going to do here.

“Yes, Your Highness,” the commander bowed.

“And question the nomads, of course,” I added, even though we’d discussed this already. “Not everyone, but anyone who might know something.”

We had a few people who spoke the language, luckily. And I hoped some of the nomads could understand Common. But I didn’t want to waste time interrogating everyone in detail. The logistics alone would be a headache. Still, I wanted any leaders and associates of the raiders’ leaders questioned.

Groups of soldiers started moving out. Many of them split off inside the huts, but some stayed together. I could only sense them and not hear everything, but that had to be the people doing the questioning. At least we had a few of Aiki Ilia’s agents along.

As I expected, it took a while. At some point, I sat down on a cushion of air Aston conjured up for me. The guards continued standing without showing any signs of boredom, but I didn’t have their professionalism. After a bit, I took out a novel. I hadn’t had much time for reading or any sort of leisure during the war, but now that it was pretty much over, I could slow down a bit. I already miss the easy palace life.

I was interrupted twice by someone coming to report. The nomads didn’t offer much resistance, except for a few hotheaded youths. The soldiers managed to take stock of everyone and everything without many problems.

But as I’d feared, the interrogations didn’t lead anywhere. While it was easy enough to find the people who’d organized the civilians, or the family of the shaman and military leaders, none of them knew much. I’d told the soldiers to handle them ‘gently’, but I didn’t expect force, or a longer interrogation, to change that. After all, we had a few strong cultivators who were quite good at telling when someone was lying.

From what we could gather, their leader, who’d died in the battle, and the shaman had met with Dominion representatives a few times, the last one being the day Mother went into seclusion. No one knew much more, since the meeting had been held at some unknown point in the jungle. They had reached out to other tribes and gathered a force for a major raid, without giving much of a reason beside the prospect of plunder and glory.

“And everyone accepted that?” I asked, eyebrows raised.

The commander shifted his weight, and the soldier in front of me, who was apparently half-Zarieni, lowered his gaze. “It’s expected, Your Highness. It’s not the place of weaker members to question their leaders. From what I heard, the Rising Storm tribe’s was especially authoritarian.”

I assumed one of his parents had been one of those captured on a raid, and integrated into the Empire well. The soldier definitely seemed uncomfortable with their culture. Not that I could blame him.

I sighed, then nodded. “You did good work. Now …”

I trailed off as I looked at the huts, waving him away. I wasn’t sure what to do now. We hadn’t learned much. I knew I needed to make an example, show that you couldn’t just invade the Empire without consequences. This was a punitive expedition. But from what I’d learned here, they might already consider the tribe lost, without its fighters. These people probably couldn’t continue it on their own, anyway.

I frowned and turned to Tenira. “These camps the Empire has, you think they’d be worse than living like this without combatants?”

She shrugged. “Probably better. I mean, they’re mostly used for criminals, but also prisoners of war. Besides having their movement restricted, it’s actually not bad. They get shelter, food, and everything, and even get paid for their work. Not much, but still. Plus, didn’t you think about resettling them somewhere?”

I nodded. “If they’re doing well. We’d need to find a good place first.”

I fell silent and thought about it. There were probably areas where they could build a few villages, close to others so they’d be able to keep their culture but still integrate into the Empire. The children would go to Imperial schools in any case. It didn’t sound so bad, but still … the idea of deporting people didn’t sit well with me. They were innocent civilians, and it probably didn’t matter much in the political picture, after all.

But I couldn’t just let them keep on living here. This camp itself was situated in a strategic position, and might just be a launching site for another raid. Besides, while there may not have been a declaration of war, they were unquestionably our enemies. And as for their culture, maybe one where it was okay to burn down villages and murder innocents didn’t deserve much care.

Finally, I turned to the commander. “Have all of the nomads moved and gathered on the clearing there. Then we’ll burn down the camp.”

He bowed, and turned to give his people orders.

I took one last look at the camp, before I followed Aston out, and walked to the open space. From there, I watched as soldiers began herding the Zarieni out onto the rocky field. They carried their possessions in bags and even a few carts. It didn’t take long, even though there were thousands of people crammed there in the end, guarded by a perimeter of Imperial soldiers.

Soon, I could see a few fire techniques setting the huts aflame. The wind brought the familiar scent of smoke.

I stepped up, the soldier from before standing beside me to translate, my guards keeping a watchful eye out. I couldn’t help swallowing as I saw more than ten thousand anxious gazes, but steeled myself and straightened up.

“We defeated the raiders who invaded and attacked our home without provocation,” I said, leaving a pause for the translation. Someone was using qi to amplify the volume. “Most of them are dead now. For attacking us without provocation and costing many of our citizens’ lives, this tribe will be eradicated. Since I am merciful, I will offer you a choice. You can flee and take your chances with the jungle and the hospitality of other tribes. We will let you go in small groups, and my soldiers will hunt down anyone lingering in the area.” I paused for effect, shaking my head.

“Or you can surrender yourselves to the Empire’s custody. You will be taken to a new camp, where we will provide you with food, shelter, and everything you need to live. You will have the chance to earn land in the Empire, where you can settle and make lives for yourselves, so long as you obey Imperial laws. On my honor as an Imperial Princess, I swear that our objective is not to oppress you, but to remove a threat to our home and integrate you into our society. Decide now.”

I stepped back and let out a sigh of relief. Then I joined Tenira and the others. I watched as the nomads sorted themselves into two groups, those who would flee and those who wouldn’t.

This is a good compromise, I told myself. Their choice. Besides … if fleeing and appealing to the other tribes is a lost cause, we’ll help them. If not, I’m not really harming them much, am I?

It took a while. A few fights started between the nomads, but others broke them up before the soldiers had to step in. In the end, not many people chose to take their chances with the Yellow Graves. I’d suspected as much. Their expressions and the reaction of the other tribes, or lack of one, had been telling.

We’d still need to deal with those other tribes, but I wasn’t sure how yet, and it wasn’t an immediate problem.

I called the commanders over and started making plans for transport. The ships I’d called should arrive pretty soon. Until then, we’d need to march the nomads to the coast. But that was only a few kilometers, many of them were in the second or third stage, and we had enough soldiers to help those who might need it. It shouldn’t be too much of a problem. I wasn’t even needed for this, really. I got what I came from, even if I didn’t get much information.

Aston cleared his throat, his communication device in his hand. I quickly excused myself and stepped away with him.

“Your Highness,” he said, a smile on his face. “The Empress has returned from seclusion. Her breakthrough was successful.”

I exhaled, feeling some of my accumulated tension leave me. That was good news. But a new bit of tension started to replace it. What will Mother say, about everything?

For a moment, I considered sending a message, but I should tell her about Carston in person, and discuss a possible traitor.

And she could make the political decisions.

I glanced back at the commanders. I needed to talk to her more than I needed to supervise here. I’d take the airship to Blue Valley City. From there, I’d return with the troops that had been sent south. They were already preparing the airships. It wouldn’t take long.

The war was over. I’d be returning home.

50: Triumphant return

As we came closer, I could hear the sea of noise beneath me more closely. I couldn’t make out any individual words, or any other details, but it washed over me with the force of thousands of people. Even if it wasn’t loud yet, I knew I’d be much closer to everything soon.

I took a deep breath, and turned to the mirror I’d just conjured up. Usually, I avoided looking at my reflection. It wasn’t really dysphoria or anything — my body and appearance felt right and familiar. But there was always an edge to it, a dissociation between what I on some level expected. It had faded as I’d gotten used to this life, but never entirely left. I still thought for a fraction of a second that my hair was the wrong color, expected to see brown instead of blond.

Maybe it just goes to show that I haven’t really worked out my identity yet.

But I pushed that thought aside and focused. The blond hair looked especially pale and ethereal right now, with the white stones woven into it. The white robe matched my gray eyes pretty well, it too decked out with white pearls, white gemstones, and silver thread. The hint of makeup emphasized the sharp contours of my face and my piercing eyes, but in a good way.

I dissolved the mirror and turned around. The airship carrying us to our triumphant return was pretty big, and I could see most members of my entourage in the main hold, along with a number of guards. I’d been in the servants’ hands for the past two hours, so a few people had moved.

One of them was Tia Yarani. I’d practically felt her gaze on me while I’d appraised myself. As I met her eyes now, she smiled a little, then glanced away. The tenseness of her posture betrayed her, though.

I remembered how we’d met, shortly before our departure. I’d just come back and might not have given her enough attention. Later, I heard she’d simply approached the guards around my temporary residence, and they let her through since they were aware of what had happened in the military camp.

Well, I’d welcomed her and expressed my pleasure to see her accept my offer before Tenira had swooped in. Judging by the quality of the clothes she wore now and her manners, my friend had ‘taken her in hand’ pretty well. I wished I knew how their conversation had gone, but it probably didn’t matter.

A thud and slight shake of the airship indicated we’d touched down. I sighed and straightened up, walking over to the hatch. Some of my guards went out first, all of them turned out in shiny parade armor.

When I stepped out, I braced myself for the difference in the light and noise levels, but it wasn’t too bad. Glancing around, I could see we stood just before the outer city gates, with a cordon of soldiers and a dark screen of qi keeping onlookers out. A few people were bringing over the chariot right now.

I walked up to it and hopped on. It looked a lot like the one they’d used for our send-off, except there were no spirit beasts pulling it this time. Qi-powered, it seemed. There was probably a reason for the difference, but I didn’t care enough to ask at the moment.

Over the next two minutes, the people around me arranged themselves into formation for the procession. My entourage followed just after me, with Tenira at a place of honor at the front. Most of them rode spirit beasts. My contingent of guards surrounded us, the majority of them grouped up ahead and behind. Further away, other airships had landed, and soldiers were marching forward to take their place behind us. A few elites led the way, but I was almost at the head of the whole thing.

Behind my group, a large chariot was pulled up and General Wei and a few other commanders boarded it. They were the last ones to get into position, as the next moment the black screen started to dissolve.

I took a deep breath and gripped the edge of the chariot as it started rolling. The cold wind on my cheeks cut off quickly as we moved underneath the gate. It was dark for a few meters, before I emerged into the city proper. A round of cheers started, and I blinked against the sudden light of qi flares or fireworks.

There’d been a celebration in Blue Valley City, but this was miles above that. The capital had several million inhabitants, not counting the surrounding area, and it felt like every one of them had come out to watch the parade. Huge crowds lined the wide parade street. They looked out of windows or from balconies, or gathered in side streets. The air was filled with cultivators or small vehicles. They even formed walls above the rooftops of the city.

The last time, there’d been curiosity, and they’d cheered their soldiers on. But this, here and now, was a celebration. We’d defeated the largest raid in most people’s memory, defended the Empire. I felt the difference, could see it in the expressions of the people and the volume of their cheers. There’ll be a huge party in the city tonight. Or more than one.

I released my grip on the chariot’s walls and started to wave to the people. Their cheers redoubled, making me glad for the space between us and the protective talisman Aston had given me. Without it, the noise and flashing lights might have hurt my enhanced eyes and ears.

Yeah, I won’t be able to sneak out into the city without a disguise now. I wouldn’t be surprised if lots of portraits and pictures of me started turning up.

I knew I should stay cynical, that this could easily go to one’s head. But for a moment, I basked in the crowd’s adoration. This was my triumph. I let their cheers wash over me, the feelings of respect, pride, and approval. That mindset didn’t last long, though, and I found myself considering how public opinion was shaped and how much this development would help me. Probably not that much, unless I was in acute need of the public’s support.

My smile was genuine, though. I had won a major victory, and the accomplishment felt good.

The street was pretty long, crossing most of the city’s older section. The parade would end at what locals apparently called the flower palace. Not the real Imperial Palace, but another one in the city itself. Rather than a compound housing much of the Imperial government, this was more of a townhouse for the monarch. I hadn’t been there yet.

Of course, the parade didn’t move quickly, so it took a while. By the time we neared the place in front of the palace, my nerves had all faded, replaced by a bit of annoyance. The people cheering for us on the sidelines passed by in a seemingly never-ending blur, a mass of humans and qi. I hid a sigh as I finally caught side of the spires rising over the rooftops before me.

There was a big parade ground in front of the palace. That one looked a bit like a neo-classical building from the nineteenth century, with columns and arches and facades done in a stone that resembled marble, a little too intricate and polished, but without many statues. There was a garden wrapping around it, with great fields of flowers. Their smell helped cover that of so many humans crowded together.

The soldiers started to assemble on the parade ground. My chariot pulled ahead, into an aisle they formed, and up almost to the steps leading up to the palace. A stage had been set up there, reaching all the way to its doors. And on the stage, a number of people waited. My eyes were drawn to the throne, and the woman in it.

I couldn’t help but feel better once I saw Mother. She looked well. Her outfit resembled mine, although it was done in blue and silver. Her presence was a little stronger than before, although that might just be how she’d adjusted her veil. But the smile on her face hadn’t changed.

I hadn’t seen her for … has it only been a little over a month? I frowned, mentally looking at the calendar. I must have lost track of the days. I’d figure it out later.

Once everyone had moved in and taken their position, I disembarked from the carriage. I knew the protocol. Behind me, Wei and a few others stepped down as well, but they kept a respectful distance.

The crowd quieted as I stepped up onto the stage. Alaster stood a few meters beside the throne, and he welcomed me with a grin. I had to make an effort not to return it. Instead, I focused on Mother. As soon as I was close enough to the throne, I knelt and bowed my head.

She stood up and stepped forward, until I could only see the hem of her robe. “Rejoice, people of the Empire, for your defenders are victorious,” she declared. “Barbarian hordes sought to assault us and plunder our land, but now they lie dead, their foul deeds stopped and punished by the Empire’s heroes.”

I hadn’t known exactly what she was going to say, there were a few traditional options. But this didn’t surprise me. I managed not to tense as Mother took another step closer, laying a hand on my head.

“Leri Inaris, my favored daughter. You have proven yourself the Imperial Princess in more than name, a true heir. Your valiant defense of our people will never be forgotten. Let all our enemies tremble in fear, and all our allies rejoice, for a new phoenix is rising.”

Everyone cheered, the officials and clan members on the stage as well as the people watching. I waited until I felt a new weight on my head, as Mother laid a crown of flowers on it. Then she stepped away.

I rose and bowed to her, then turned and bowed to the spectators. I wouldn’t be talking during this little ceremony, as tradition dictated. Something about not boasting and showing humility even in victory. Not that I minded.

Mother stepped forward until she stood before me, but she left our personal space untouched, and started speaking.

I found it hard to focus on her speech. A part of me wondered whether the only time she would show me physical affection would be for ceremonial purposes. The larger and more mature part was trying to take in everything, and deal with so many qi presences, so many people staring at me, and stay calm. Mother’s speech was flowery and exaggerated what had happened, but not as badly as I might have thought. Luckily, it didn’t take long.

After that, Wei and a few other commanders came onto the stage and were honored as well, though not as deeply. They all received flower crowns, which I put on their heads while they knelt.

With that, the ceremony was pretty much over. The soldiers started to disperse and mingle into the open party beginning in the city. Someone had put up huge tables with food and drink, probably in more than one location. However, my retinue and I followed Mother and the others into the palace. There’d be a party. I was glad to leave the stage.

On the inside, the palace appeared in the same style, with fluted columns, paintings hanging on the walls and gilded stuff. Before we could go into the huge ballroom, Mother opened a side door into a smaller room and waved me to follow.

In the end, only she, Al, me, Tenira, and a few others ended up there. The room looked like a sitting room, with padded chairs and divans, and more paintings. I barely had the time to take stock of everything before my brother charged me. I returned his hug, breathing in his scent, and felt myself relax a little.

Mother simply smiled at me, a hint of pride in her expression. “You did well, Inaris.”

I couldn’t help but feel proud at her praise. “Thank you. Congratulations on your breakthrough.”

While she turned to greet Tenira, Al demanded me attention, welcoming me back with a little more words.

“I’m glad to see you again, too, Al,” I finally said. “Let’s catch up after the party, okay?”

I really was glad to see him, but I could sense Mother already moving towards the door. So I hurried to catch up to her.

“I have news,” I said. “Things we should probably talk about in private.”

She paused and turned back. After a moment, she nodded, probably seeing the seriousness in my expression. “Of course.”

With a bit of prompting and a stern word from Mother to Al, the others filed out and left us alone. I had to stop myself from playing with my sleeves. I could have waited with the news, but Mother was probably busy after her absence and who knew when I’d get to see her in private again. It could impact our relationship with the Zarian Dominion after this war, so she should know about it as soon as possible. Besides, I’d been waiting to see her face when she heard about Carston.

“So, Inaris,” Mother said. “What is it? I am glad to see you again, and I know we need to discuss this campaign, but we should show our faces at the party soon.”

I shook my head. “It’s not about that. I have other news. About the Zarian and Carston.”

She frowned as soon as she heard the name, but didn’t interrupt. So I recounted my dream. I tried to be detailed, since I didn’t know which elements might be important and something she really should know.

While I was talking, her expression hardened. It didn’t show any emotion, but her eyes burned. After I was finished, she turned around, staring at the wall, so I couldn’t see her face. For a moment, we stood there in silence. Straining my ears, I could hear her take a few deep breaths.

Finally, she turned around again. “Thank you for telling me. I’ll need to act on that information.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What does it mean? What do you think it is he told them?”

“I can’t be sure about anything. But knowing Carston is alive …” Her expression wavered for a bit. “Well, I sort of expected it, but it’s still a bit of a shock.” She shook her head. “We’ll need to see what we can do. I can’t leave him there.”

I opened my mouth, then closed it. I didn’t know if she wanted to do it because of personal feelings, or because she wanted to know what he’d said and make sure he didn’t spill any other secrets. Or even kill him. It probably wouldn’t be smart to ask.

Mother turned around again. “I hope you enjoy the party.” With that, she left the room.

I sighed, staring at the door. I wanted to ask more questions, but she’d cut that off. Well, maybe the next time I got her alone. I needed to talk about the spy that I suspected had revealed my location, too.

Well, she’d probably come to the same conclusion already.

51: It's a party

Of course, I didn’t enjoy the party. Anyone who expected me to probably didn’t know me very well, although I assumed Mother knew that.

It occupied more than just the great hall of the city palace, but sprawled over most of the first floor, and probably to upper levels as well. I assumed a lot of politicking happened and deals were made in the side rooms while it lasted. And it was probably going to take hours.

I’d made my way through a few corridors and side rooms so far, and was now approaching the big one. Its pair of double doors stood wide open, connecting the party to the rest of the house. I took deep breath, tensing and then relaxing my muscles, before I stepped into the room. It was crowded. Along one wall, buffet tables were set up, laden with an array of food that I could smell from several rooms over. But not many people seemed to take advantage of it.

I put on a smile and started working my way through the room. Times like these, I appreciated my eidetic memory, which allowed me to place almost every guest. All of them wore ornate clothes that made the decorations of the room look cheap in comparison, which was saying something. The noise of the crowd seemed to bore into my head with each passing minute, but I managed.

I noticed Wei over at the opposite side of the room, and tried to make my way over to him.

But someone stepped into the way, introducing themselves with a bow and congratulating me on the victory. I gave a polite response, then disengaged. But during the interruption, Wei had disappeared. Great, where did he go?

The second I stood still to look for him cost me, as even more people pushed towards me. Everyone seemed to want my attention. Of course, I was the guest of honor.

So I grinned and bore it, greeting everyone politely and making small talk. They seemed to catch on that I didn’t like talking about the war, as questions about that topic came up less and less. But I tried my best to make connections or at least not alienate anyone. I wasn’t desperate to network, but it would be stupid to mess up this opportunity. It helped that everyone was respectful to a fault.

Well, almost everyone. A few times, I detected less respectful undercurrents to their words.

“Your Highness, how remarkable that someone with your low level of cultivation threw themselves into fighting like that. Even going out to meet the nomads yourself. Truly, the bravery!” The smile of the older woman with the elaborate hairdo and rings glittering on her fingers edged dangerously close to smirking.

It should be safe to ignore those kinds of insinuations instead of taking offense. They wouldn’t attack me too badly at my own victory party, no matter what rumors they had heard. Although I couldn’t help wondering if any of these people I talked to might be a traitor.

I forced a smile. This was annoying. “Oh, not as such. Any of my soldiers and the noble warriors accompanying me showed just as much bravery. An inspiration, aren’t they? Fighting for the Empire even though they could have chosen to hide and cower behind others.”

The smile on the lady’s face froze. I didn’t wait for her to answer, but turned to the next noble wanting my attention. I had more talking to do.

Although I did try to take notes of the relationships between the gathered people. I lacked much of the context, but I tried to pay attention to who talked to whom for longer than usual, or who avoided someone else. One thing I noticed was the elder of clan Lirta, who stuck to the edges. I didn’t plan on letting them off free for their screw-ups, though I’d confer with Mother on that sometime. But the nobles seemed to snub them already.

I didn’t catch sight of Mother anywhere. Or Kiyanu, he’d probably left after she returned. Al was nowhere to be seen as well, although I didn’t know if he actually attended.

Finally, I reached the buffet table and found a bit of empty space. I relaxed a little and grabbed a plate.

“You’re doing better than I thought, Inaris,” Tenira said.

I glanced over my shoulder, where she’d just come up. Looking at her, I didn’t see any sign that her relaxed attitude and good cheer was fake. “I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not.”

She reached over to grab what looked like a muffin from a platter, coming closer to me in the process. “You’re putting up a good front,” she said, more quietly. “But there are a few tells. A hint of tension in your posture, a pause before speaking that’s a little too long. I’m sure some noticed, but it’s not enough to really remark on. Doesn’t mean I don’t know you actually just want to leave.”

I exhaled. I should have anticipated that; I knew Tenira was perceptive, and looked out for me. “So?”

“I think you’ve done enough that no one would be upset if you slipped away a little,” she said. “Maybe to a less occupied room.”

I put down the plate I’d been filling and smiled at her. “Thanks for the reassurance.”

Deciding she was right, I started leaving the room. Of course, I had to speak to a few more people on the way, but soon managed to escape into a back corridor that seemed pretty empty.

I took a deep breath and rolled my shoulders. Why do I find it more taxing to be at a party than marching to battle? Shaking my head, I walked down the corridor. But after a few steps, I paused, as I recognized the person stepping out of a side room.

We came to a stop and stared at each other for a brief moment. Tia Yarani wore clothes that wouldn’t have looked out of place on another party guest, embroidered cultivator’s robes with a cut that emphasized her figure, but the hesitation in her bearing showed how lost she probably felt.

She bowed. “My lady.”

I took another step closer and smiled. “Tia Yarani! It’s good to see you. How are you holding up?”

“I’m fine, thank you.”

I hesitated, feeling awkward about the whole situation. “I hope no one is making trouble for you?”

She gave me a fleeting smile. “Not at all. I think people are curious, but no one has been hostile.”

Hm. They’re probably waiting to figure out what our relationship is exactly, and trying to butter her up.

“Great. And have you started to settle in?”

“Ah, not really. I’m unsure where I’m supposed to go, to be honest.” She gave me a nervous smile.

I ran a hand through my hair. “I think you’re getting accommodations in quarters close to mine. Someone is going to arrange that, and you should be able to offer input. But I have to admit I’m not sure who would be responsible for that. Maybe ask Tenira?”

She nodded. “Of course, my lady.”

She still seemed hesitant. Maybe they didn’t get along well? I considered asking, but decided not to. I wasn’t going to let her be bullied, but I wouldn’t meddle too much.

“Is there anything else, my lady?” she asked.

“You can call me Inaris when we’re in private,” I said.

She nodded.

A part of me wanted to just tell her to come to my rooms tonight. I knew she would. But I had resolved to take things slowly. I wanted to get to know her first, show her I was serious about not pressing, establish some trust. So I only smiled and said, “Enjoy the party.” Then I started walking again.

She stepped aside to let me pass, then after a moment I could sense her presence moving in the opposite direction. I glanced back and couldn’t help staring for a moment before I tore my gaze away. Those robes really showed off her curves.

Feeling a little better, I continued on. The next room over opened onto a large balcony. Most of the wall was sliding glass doors that had been opened all the way, letting the evening air in. I stopped and glanced around. A few guards had trailed behind me, standing at a respectful distance. One of them went out onto the balcony. The room looked pretty empty, its wide space not filled by a few small tables and chairs.

I walked to the other side of the room, until I had a good view of the city. They could probably see me if I stepped out onto the balcony, so I stopped here and gazed out. I could still hear the party behind me, and noise of other celebrations in the city drifted to me, too. Sounded like everyone had a good time.

The knowledge that one of them, at least, had to be a spy soured my mood. I hadn’t gotten any clues from watching the other guests at the party. But whoever it was wouldn’t be stupid enough to out themselves in any obvious manner.

I sighed and told the guards to fetch me a drink. It was a party, after all, and I felt like this view called for sipping from a glass. But my attention wasn’t really on it.

It might not be any of the people in here, I considered. Maybe just an officer or noble from the south who stayed there, but has good connections to the capital. It could even be someone from my retinue. Maybe some intra-family intrigue? Tenira would be the obvious candidate, but she could have done a lot better than that.

I took a sip from my newly arrived glass, only noting the bite in it dimly as I pondered those options.

I was so deep in thought that the sound of someone opening the door with energy just as I was taking another sip made me sputter in surprise. I put down the glass and quickly took a piece of cloth a guard handed me to wipe my face.

“There you are, Inaris!” Lei said cheerfully.

I turned around, shaking my head. “I didn’t sense you coming.”

“Oh, my bad.” His aura became more visible. “I was experimenting with darkness techniques and must have kept my presence suppressed. Sorry.”

I sighed and laid the handkerchief on the table. I really should pay more attention to my surroundings, especially now. He hadn’t been that stealthy, my guards probably assumed I’d sensed him. “No worries. Were you looking for me?”

He came closer and shook his head, smiling again. “Not really, I just hadn’t seen you in the other rooms. Are you hiding from the party, all alone here by yourself?”

I grimaced, then shrugged. What did it matter? “Sort of. I just wanted a moment to myself.”

“I know the feeling. Well, I was going to head out, back to the palace. If that’s alright with you?”

“Sure.” I had a thought. “If you’re going to check on our lab, let me know how things stand?”

“Of course.”

He didn’t bat an eye, which confirmed he’d planned to check on the lab. I was starting to understand what he was like.

“The telegraphs are a big success, and the others have already looked at plans for the radio,” Lei said, sounding more excited. “Plus they want to start a large-scale project for their agricultural plan.”

“I know, it sounds great. Get back safely.”

I watched him leave and picked up my glass again. I was looking forward to working on research and development again. Especially with the impact we’d have on the Empire. Although I should probably focus a little more on the social side.

I stepped closer to a window, gazing out over the city. How much might I change these people’s lives, with my knowledge from Earth? How much would I effect by using my status?

A silhouette on the balcony moved, which brought my thoughts back to the present. Namely, the traitor who was, apparently, working against me. Was this the reason? Did they fear the potential change I might bring?

But something else tickled at the corner of my mind, finally surfacing as I focused on my surroundings. Maybe I’d been too comfortable, drawn the subject pool of possible traitors I’d considered too narrow. After all, who was closer to me than the guards? One of the servants could be a spy, too. Do I really know they’re trustworthy? And the guards, as well. Sure, they’re vetted, but it’s not like that’s foolproof.

The guards were talking in the background, in low voices, but by the time I focused my attention on it, they’d fallen silent.

I couldn’t help but picture the praetorian guard, responsible for the downfall of more than one Roman emperor. I clenched my fists, feeling dizzy at that thought and its implications.

It took a second for me to realize the dizziness I felt was more substantial than imagining something bad. My hands had started to tremble a little, and the dizziness was intensifying, until the room seemed to sway around me just a little.

I lowered my gaze to the glass, which was almost empty. My hands clenched, but I forced myself not to throw it away, and instead put it on a nearby table before backing away.

I turned around, paused for a moment to adjust, and started walking.

I’m an idiot. I breathed out. The world around me seemed to fade farther away, like a layer of wool around my head isolated me from it. But I forced myself to keep moving, not to show anything.

Should I call Aston? I can probably trust him. But … I walked into the corridor, and realized that most of the guards around me had left, with only a few remaining. My pulse quickened even more, and I tried to take deep breaths. I need to call Mother. But we don’t have phones, and I don’t have the time to figure out where she is … Calling for help might just tip them off, whoever it is.

The corridor was still deserted. But I’d looked at the plans for this place, so I knew my way around. I hurried up a little, trying not to let the dizziness slow me down.

What happened here? I wrecked my brain, but didn’t remember anything noteworthy. That was one of the limits to the eidetic memory that I’d discovered. Something theoretically in range of my senses that I didn’t pay attention to wouldn’t be caught. Probably needs to enter working memory or something.

I shook my head, trying to focus on the situation. There still wasn’t anyone in sight, although I could sense a few guards. I was tempted to turn around and get a good look, maybe confront them, but didn’t want to let on that something was off. And where’s Mother, anyway?

I took a moment to focus on my qi senses, even though it made the dizziness worse. But I couldn’t sense her anywhere here. Probably left the party. She hasn’t reacted. Maybe it’s like with the memory thing? I didn’t know how her senses really worked. If she was distracted, and this wasn’t too much of a disturbance, she might not notice.

I took a deep breath and tried not to let anything show. I couldn’t risk trying to attract attention, could I? My guards were closer, one of them could probably kill me before anything else happened. If they were the traitor. If they felt threatened, exposed …

After what felt like an hour, I finally reached the door I was looking for — the bathroom. Ripping the door open, I stepped inside. The tremor in my hands was still there, and I slammed the door as I tried to close it. But I was alone now.

I could only hope I was in time to get most of the poison out.

52: A traitor revealed

I closed my eyes for a moment. When I opened them again, the room had stopped spinning around me, at least. But I still felt sick, and like I was floating around isolated from the world around me.

Focus, I chided myself. I looked at one of the rings on my hand. It was a talisman supposed to protect me from poison, but it must not be strong enough. They wouldn’t use something weak to target me, and whatever it was had be pretty fast-acting.

I reached for my storage item, then paused. I had a number of medicines and pills in there, but nothing that would help without more knowledge. And no emetic.

I rushed over to the basin serving as a sink, glancing at the mirror hanging over it in passing. My face looked pale and there were a few drops of sweat on my forehead. I put my hand in front of my mouth and inserted two fingers, trying to reach for my throat and tonsils. That’s how you’re supposed to induce vomiting, right?

But before I’d even completed the motion, the door crashed open.

I whirled around, looking at the guard who’d just entered and now closed the door behind him. Kei Weriga, one of Aston’s most trusted subordinates. I didn’t like the look in his eyes.

In a moment, he’d crossed half of the room, looming before me. “Trying to spew it out, princess? That won’t work.”

I tried to back away, but not before he managed to grab my arm, pulling it toward him. Quickly, I gathered some darkness qi into my foot and kicked him, pulling my arm out of his grasp at the same time.

He let me go. But as I backed up a step, I saw I hadn’t hurt him. In fact, Kei was just finishing a technique that sent qi out to cover the walls and door. A sound barrier? Or something to block Mother’s senses?

“I’m an idiot.” The realization burned like an ember in my gut. How didn’t I see this? “In the forest, you recorded what I said, didn’t you?”

He smirked, apparently knowing what I was talking about right away. “I did.”

I cursed again. I’d even seen him watching me outside the sect, shortly before I spoke those words intended for a spirit. And during the war, of course he knew where I’d be. And he was the one who reported that the road ahead was clear!

I tried to center myself, pushing down the bile and bitterness. The shock seemed to have helped against the poison’s symptoms, but I didn’t know how long that would last. And he was in the fifth stage. This wasn’t looking good.

“Why? Why would you betray us like that?” I asked.

He didn’t know all of my defenses, but many, and could probably avoid or subvert enough. He didn’t even need to fight me, potentially triggering them; maybe he just wanted to wait and let the poison do its job.

“Your death is a regrettable but necessary sacrifice,” he said, his expression unmoved. “I don’t expect you to understand.”

“So you’re not just a traitor, you’re a delusional, maybe fanatic dupe,” I muttered. “Do you feel proud of yourself, poisoning your own charge?”

His expression darkened. “It didn’t have to be this way. But I knew you were starting to be onto us, so I needed to act.”

That means you might not have thought this through, right?

Maybe I had a chance. I started backing away a bit more, angling myself so that I could inch closer to the door. “Do you want to just wait for the poison to take me?”

Kei Weriga shrugged, not replying.

I snorted. If I survived this, I was going to have a hard time not giving him a torturous death. “You know this is high treason?” I asked. “You’ll die slowly and in a lot of pain. I think being eaten by insects is supposed to be gruesome. Maybe Mother will do some waterboarding first.”

He took a step closer and to the side, cutting off my path to the door. His boot thudding on the ground echoed loudly in my ears, joined the buzzing that was starting to take hold around my skull. But I didn’t hesitate. I stepped in, my fist swinging.

Of course, he caught it with ease, his palm clenching around my hand. But I managed to access my storage ring at the same time, taking out a weapon. The dagger’s long, curved blade caught the light as it streaked toward him.

He sidestepped. I pivoted, going for a kick in the diaphragm. He dodged and hit my leg himself. But I used his hold on my fist to anchor me, falling forward towards him.

He let me go, but not in time to avoid me completely. I felt the resistance of my dagger cutting into his neck before I tumbled to the ground.

He stepped back, and I sprang upward as quickly as I could. The room spun around me. I had to take a deep breath before I could evaluate the situation. Blood flowed from the side of his neck, but far too little. The cut was shallow.

“Do you seriously think you can defeat me?” he asked, cocking his head.

“Do you seriously expect me to lie down and die?” I retorted. But I was breathing hard. The poison’s effects were starting to make themselves noticed more strongly.

I stepped back and lowered the blade, glaring at the traitor. “How are you going to live with yourself, betraying not only the person you swore to serve, but the Empire? Your sacred duty, and your nation?”

This finally showed a reaction. “Don’t talk to me about sacred duty,” he growled. Then he shook his head. “I’m not harming the Empire.”

“Oh really? Do you somehow believe you’re doing this for the Empire’s greater good? Not for your personal benefit?”

He took a step closer, glowering at me. “Of course I’m acting in my people’s interest. But it also helps the world’s greater good. It’ll be better for the Empire in the long run, too, whatever the Empress may think she’s doing.”

I almost pressed him on that. It was getting hard to focus. But he’d just stepped closer again, and looked to be caught up in our conversation.

I shot forward again, my fist at the ready. As expected, he dodged, raising his arms in a counter. But I shifted the dagger in my hands, feinting a stab. I let him catch my hand. Then I used his grip on my arm to pull myself closer, pushing my right hand to the wound on his neck.

He twisted aside, so I didn’t quite touch. But I was turning all of my focus to my qi. It felt slippery, harder to control, but I bore down with my will and created my technique. The Void’s Nibble formed around my hand just as Kei Weriga tried to dodge. It spiked into the qi of his body and the wound on his neck.

For an instant, the shock of the attack stunned him. It was just enough for me to twist my other hand free and grab onto him, pulling closer.

He tried to struggle, but I pushed my hand and the technique to his neck, and his wasn’t a focused defense.

Every cultivator had infused qi into their body, strengthening them and shielding them against attempts by enemies to manipulate it. My technique was meant to devour the qi of my enemies. And his skin, the first major barrier, was already broken.

He flailed, but I tightened my grip, hanging on with everything I got. I could sense my qi wreaking havoc in this part of his body. Such a sensitive region. Did I break into his spinal cord? I gritted my teeth and pushed more and more of my qi into the technique, although I’d already given it a lot. The qi in my core started to deplete, but I didn’t care. This was my only chance.

His movements changed after the first few moments, becoming more coordinated. But it was too late. He’d grabbed onto my arm, but I felt how the strength left his arms, as he tried to pull me away unsuccessfully. His body twitched again, then his hands started to let go. His head lolled to the side.

Finally, he went limp, and I let him go. I almost fell down, my vision swimming again. I backed up until I reached the wall to steady me, trying to breath. My arm throbbed where he’d grabbed onto it, and it felt like someone was banging against my skull.

I slid down, then managed to focus on my enemy’s figure. Blood was soaking out of the wound. I must have at least nicked the carotid. He lay crumpled, unmoving.

I looked away, focusing on the sink and still taking deep breathes. I won. He was a stage above me, but he let his guard down. And my technique may be better than I thought.

When I tried to stand up, the room moved around me and my legs gave in. I slid down to the floor again, blackness threatening to take my vision. Suddenly, I noticed the nausea rising up, and the ringing in my ears that stopped me from hearing anything even if there was something to hear.

I retched, not fighting it but trying to expel what I could. Only a bit of bile came out. Then I rolled away, heaving.

Focus. Focus! I needed to leave, but I didn’t like my chances of walking out. Then sending a message? But the rest of the qi in my core was behaving like a stormy sea. I tried to grab some light qi, form a technique, but it slipped away. I lost it, and a flash lit up my view, searing my gaze. It went dark for a moment.

Pearls and gemstones lay strewn over the floor. My hairdo must have come undone at some point. They seemed to reflect the light brighter than usual, and I closed my eyes again to block out the dizzying swirls.

It was getting harder to form a coherent thought. Instinctively, I curled up a little, leaning into the coldness of the floor against my face. I kept breathing, and drifted off into the haze that surrounded me.

It must have been a few minutes before I was brought back to reality. A presence entered the room, both crushing and familiar. Mother’s voice cut into my mind. “Inaris!”

I blinked and lifted my head from the floor, looking up at Mother. She crouched beside me and lay a hand on my forehead. I felt a trickle of qi, then she withdrew it. She cursed, and I saw her gaze slide to Kei Weriga’s body.

“Poison,” I croaked.

For a moment, her presence grew overwhelming, so strong it pressed me into the ground and stole my ability to breathe. But it faded an instant later, her veil drawing over her aura more firmly. I felt a wave of qi washing out of her. A slight ripple showed that the barrier the traitor had laid over the room was broken.

“It’s alright,” she said in English, and put her hand under my head to help me keep it raised. “Just hold on.”

It was easier to focus now that I had something to anchor me. But my throat felt parched, I still had a blaze in my stomach, and embers in the rest of my body, burning me up. There was a ringing in my ears.

The door was ripped open again, and a few people rushed inside. They came to a stop in the distance. Probably guards? My vision was still hazy.

Then someone else pushed his way through and knelt at my other side, without even greeting the Empress. “What do we know?”

I recognized the wrinkled face and his voice. The palace’s chief physician.

“She was poisoned,” Mother answered, her tone clipped. “Probably around ten minutes ago or more.”

“Most of a glass of.” I coughed. “Red liquid. Tasted like alcohol. But not really.”

I croaked and mumbled, but they must have understood me. The doctor put a bag down and took out a few things. Mother sent out another two pulses of qi, although I couldn’t make out the details. But she stayed where she was.

“What is it?” Mother asked.

“I have a bad suspicion,” the physician answered, his voice sounding strained. “But in either case, this should help.”

He shook something in his hand, but I couldn’t quite make out what. Then he brought it to my face, and I realized he held a vial with a green liquid. With Mother’s support, I managed to drink it. It tasted like lemons and brussels sprouts mixed together, and I had to cough afterward. But I swallowed everything.

“For now, the princess needs to rest while we help her body fight through this,” the doctor said. “I’ll give her a few pills to get that started, then we should take her to a reasonably qi-rich location.”

He pulled out a few more pills and glasses of water, tossing them together. I didn’t complain, but tried to drink it all. Mother’s presence felt vaguely comforting, and helped me keep quiet. A few trails of liquid ran down my chin, but I got most of it.

Someone pushed a pillow under my head, and I sank down onto it. I didn’t like looking at the room from this perspective. But now, the burning in my bode eased into a gentler warmth. I felt like my mind was pulled into it.

My eyes fell closed, and I drifted off.

53: Poison and revelations

It took a moment for me to realize what was going on. My mind felt clearer now, more connected, although I was still exhausted. I felt like I’d been ill for a while and only just cleared it, although I doubted it had been more than a few hours.

Like usual, I remembered my dreams, although they were vague. Probably because they’d been fever-dreams, blurry and disjointed, interspersed with periods of semi-wakefulness. I knew I’d been moved, but I hadn’t been able to pay much attention to my surroundings.

I sat up, noting the weakness in my arms as I pushed. It was dark around me, the night sky sprinkled with stars. The almost full moon shone down on me, giving me more light to see. I recognized this as the terrace at the top of one of the palace’s towers. It was quiet.

Mother moved closer. “Inaris, how do you feel?”

I paused before answering and took stock of my situation. The doctor from before, and a group of others, waited nearby. Guards surrounded us, although it seemed they were all senior members of the Imperial Guard, assigned to Mother. Kariva stood further away, almost blending into the night. Apart from that, we were alone.

“I’m fine,” I said. “Still weak. Am I healed?”

Her expression darkened, and she turned to the doctor. “Doctor Chang?”

He came forward, bowed, and cleared his throat. “You are out of danger for now, Your Highness. However, the effects of the poison have not abated completely. We are still searching for a cure, but the Sky Shattering Energy Drain poison is legendary for its lethality and insidiousness. Although you have not succumbed to the initial effects, there are others to worry about, with less immediate but no less real dangers.”

I frowned. “So, I’ve gotten over the acute phase, but there are chronic effects?”

“In essence, yes, Your Highness.”

Mother took a step away, her face hardening. “Well, at least you’re awake now. I’ll deal with a few things.”

I scrambled up, swaying a little as I got down from the hospital bed and on my feet. But it passed quickly. I still didn’t feel healthy, but far better than before. The only thing that worried me was my qi. It was still agitated. And I had more trouble piercing the darkness of the night than I should.

“Wait,” I said, just as Mother had turned away. “Take me with you, whatever you’re going to do. I need to be involved with the consequences of this.”

She paused and looked at me for a moment, then nodded. “We’ll be quick. In the meantime, continue looking, physicians.”

Then the world around me seemed to warp. I felt myself traveling quickly, the only anchor her hand on my arm. After a few moments, she let go, and I opened the eyes I’d involuntarily closed. We were now standing in a large, open room at the top of another tower. There was a group of guards here, too.

But my attention was focused on the man pacing in the middle of the room. Kei Yating looked less put-together than the last time I’d seen him, with his hair in disarray and dried blood on his cheek. He whirled around when we entered.

But before he could say anything, black lines shot out from Mother’s hand. They wrapped around his arms and legs and lifted him a few centimeters into the air. I shivered as I felt the weight of her aura press down on me.

“What were you doing?” she asked, her voice cracking like ice.

He shook his head. “I didn’t do anything!”

Mother clenched a fist, and the ropes wrapped tighter around her lover. If I concentrated, I could sense the way her qi smothered his aura. “My daughter was poisoned!” she yelled. “By your relative. You vouched for him to join the guard!”

Kei closed his eyes and bowed his head. “I didn’t know. I swear it. I have no idea what happened. My nephew was always dutiful, a good man. Loyal to the Empire, or so I thought.”

My Mother was still breathing hard, staring at him. I stood by her side, arms crossed and silent, while I thought about the situation. This didn’t look good for Kei Yating. I could see his family doing this for power games. Perhaps trying to eliminate me in favor Xiaodan becoming heir. But that didn’t quite ring true.

Mother flicker her hand, and the ropes dissolved. Her aura retreated a little, presumably allowing Kei Yating some breathing room.

He fell to his knees, then bowed down further. “Acura … Your Majesty … I am deeply ashamed. It grieves me that someone from my family could do something like this.”

Mother sighed. I realized she probably had the means to see if he was telling the truth. There had to be light affinity techniques for that.

“I believe you didn’t know,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean I can forget this happened.” She turned to me. “Inaris, do you want him punished?”

I blinked, then shook my head. “I’ll leave this to you.”

Kei Yating raised his head. “My Empress, you know I would never harm you or your family, and I will do my best to atone for my oversight. Even if you can’t see my sincere emotions … you know I’m speaking honestly, as you know me.”

What’s he implying? I wondered.

Mother shook her head. “I know. I expect your full cooperation with our investigation, your help in finding out everything we need to know about the traitor and who he was involved with.”

She took a step back, and Kei Yating slowly stood up. He kept his head bowed. “Of course. I’ll do whatever I can.”

Mother sighed and glanced towards me. “Nari, are you okay?” she asked in English, concern in her tone.

I grimaced. I’d been feeling off. Not just in the sense that I was a little sick, but a deeper-seated problem. But I couldn’t really put my finger on it.

“I don’t know, but let’s see what the doctors say,” I answered. “What happened with my guards?”

Mother raised an eyebrow. “I’m taking you back. Come on.”

She started walking and I followed. We left the room. Outside, in the corridor, Mother spoke again. “The traitor sent some of your guards away on a fabricated emergency, a supposed threat against you from a few nobles at the party. Of those who remained, one is missing, one was found killed in a closet, and the other was knocked out. We’re not sure if any of them were involved with him or just in the way. Hopefully, Kariva will have some answers soon.”

I winced at the thought that people had died so he could get to me. “What about Aston?”

“He was with other guards guarding the perimeter and mingling. At the moment, Kariva’s people are working with him.”

I continued following her in silence. There were guards around us again, but I didn’t recognize any of them.

Soon, we wound up in a meeting room close to the family suites. Servants had set up some refreshments, and I got myself a glass of juice. All of Mother’s guards waited outside. Mother sat down and started sending messages and listening to responses.

After a few minutes, Alaster entered the room. He looked unusually somber, his eyes a little red. Maybe he’d been crying. I hugged him tightly, trying to reassure him.

No one said much. Even if I hadn’t spoken to the doctor, I’d know from the sober atmosphere that I wasn’t out of danger. Besides, I could feel it. A feeling of weakness, like a bad cold, but coupled with a distance from my own qi.

Mother continued working, but she never left. Occasionally she’d look over to me and muster a smile. I wouldn’t have expected her to put the situation before all of her other duties like this, but I appreciated her support more than I could say.

I took a look at some of the reports that found its way into the room, and asked a few questions. It appeared the search for Kei Weriga’s support structure wasn’t going well. The other guards were still in interrogation, and it would probably take a while to clear all of them. The same went for the rest of the Kei family. Kei Yating was helping with that, apparently.

After Mother had stopped sending her latest message, I cleared my throat hesitantly. I was sitting slouched over, my head on my hand, but no one seemed to care. “What about Xiaodan?”

Mother looked a little awkward. “I told her you were sick and needed rest. Do you want to see her?”

I thought for a moment, then shook my head. I had missed her, but I wasn’t really feeling up to dealing with an energetic eight-year-old. And I wanted to focus on dealing with this situation. It was probably best if she didn’t have to deal with any of this.

After maybe half an hour, Kariva slipped into the room. She gave me a concerned look, then started talking to Mother in low voices. I tried to listen in, but quickly got lost once they started using unfamiliar names and terms.

I considered sending for a book on toxicology, surely the servants and guards could get me something. But this was probably something rare, and the doctors were already on it. And I wasn’t feeling much energy or even motivation to do anything.

“Your Highness,” Kariva turned to me after a few minutes. “Could you recount what exactly happened in that bathroom? What did he say?”

I sighed and told them what happened, narrating the conversation between us. I noticed Mother clenching her fist again, but her expression could have been carved from stone for all the reaction she showed.

Kariva gave me a nod, then started sending out a few messages of her own. There were a lot of unfamiliar names again, and I found my attention wandering.

After a pause, something Kariva said picked my interest again. “Acura, it may be time to reconsider our approach to ensuring loyalty and obedience.”

I frowned. I knew there were extensive checks and vetting before someone could join the guard, including what may as well be chemical interrogation. Their training probably included some indoctrination.

Mother shook her head. “It’s always been our family’s policy that people who are loyal, who are invested in their service and can take the initiative, work better than forced obedience. My mother’s especially. And I agree with her. It’s not like other methods couldn’t be subverted.”

She probably has a point. Not to mention ethical issues.

After that, their conversation turned to details again. The only important thing I got was that we still had no clue where the poison had come from.

I thought back to our conversation. Clearly, Kei Weriga couldn’t have done it all on his own. I still didn’t know why he had done this. Was this because of my behavior during the war, that he thought I was a danger to the Empire or something? But it didn’t sound like that was his reason, and he acted against me before that. I’m definitely missing something. And it didn’t sound like Kariva or Mother had a theory.

I frowned and shifted in my chair, stretching. There were other things we should talk about, but this attack had overshadowed everything. Though, Kiyanu would have definitely told Mother what we found out about the Zarian Dominion’s connection to the war.

I focused and tried to pull up some qi to form a technique. It was harder than I expected, like trying to grasp something slippery with thick gloves on. But I finally managed to get some light qi and beat it into shape for what I wanted. A window opened in front of me, showing an aerial view of the palace. I zoomed in and panned around a little, noting the positioning of the guards. They’d increased in number. Then I shifted it and, with a mental effort, changed the view to show the city. There were lights on in the palace, and it seemed like the party was still going on. I tried to search for some of the commanders from the south, but it was hard to move my viewpoint.

I started to get a headache, and it intensified as if someone was banging against my head. I felt sweat trickle down my forehead from the strain of trying to keep the technique active. It’s advanced, sure, but it shouldn’t be this hard.

Finally, I let go and slumped back in my chair. The headache receded a bit, but it didn’t disappear. I felt a lot more tired suddenly. Closing my eyes, I decided to rest for a while. My thoughts started to drift.

Some time later, I started fully awake. I sat up and blinked against the light. I must have been dozing for more than a few minutes.

The door had opened, and a few people were filing into the room. I recognized the chief physician, Chang, and a few other healers. Judging by their expressions, we weren’t about to hear good news. I felt my throat tighten.

They all knelt to Mother, who bid them stand up quickly. Al sat up straight, and Kariva stepped closer. I just tried to keep calm.

“Your Majesty, I’m afraid we have bad news,” the doctor said, looking at the ground. “The Sky Shattering Energy Drain poison is a legendarily rare concoction, made with rare ingredients only found in the Fire Continent. We have found few records. Usually, the victim dies within the first hour of ingesting the poison. If the acute stage passes, the poison continues to drain the subject’s energy and qi.” He hesitated, glancing at me before looking back down. “This one is afraid, under normal circumstances, we will not be able to cure Her Highness. From what we have gathered, we may, possibly, be able to combat it enough to keep Her Highness alive, but her cultivation would be shattered.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. They think I’m going to die?

“What else is there?” Kariva said. “Continue.”

The doctor cleared his throat and finally looked up. “The only weakness this poison has is that its effect may be flushed out of the system due to a change in the subject’s qi. A few people have survived it, mainly through breaking through to a new stage quickly after the poisoning.”

I looked up at that. That sounded a lot better. “I’m pretty close to breaking through, I think. I could probably do it with a few weeks of focused cultivation, at most.”

Mother sighed. “That’s only from the early to the middle part of the fourth stage. Would that help, doctor?”

The doctor bowed. “This one is deeply sorry, Your Majesty, Your Highness. But it is uncertain.” He cleared his throat. “It has been less than a year since Her Highness’ last breakthrough. Forcing another one so quickly may have detrimental consequences, especially at this age.” His eyes wandered to me. “Furthermore, Your Highness will likely find it far harder to cultivate than it should otherwise be. And even a few weeks’ time would likely be enough for the poison to finish its work.”

I leaned back in my chair. This is really happening, is it?

Even if they managed to save my life, losing my cultivation wouldn’t be much better. I might manage to survive exiled to some stormy island. But, without that, I had a lifespan of hundreds if not thousands of years. I’d just been getting used to that idea. A normal human’s life expectancy was but a fraction of that. In effect, I’d still lose most of my life, the one I was going to have on this strange old world.

There has to be some way, right? There has to be something I can do. Maybe some pills to help my cultivation. Even if it’s a risk.

Everyone was silent for a bit, digesting the doctor’s words. He and his colleagues looked like they’d rather be anywhere else. Al had pushed his chair closer to mine, grabbed my hand and was clinging to it. Mother sat still, a stony expression on her face.

Finally, Kariva spoke up. Unlike what I’d expected, her tone was almost challenging. “Your Majesty, I know you wanted to wait, but the situation has most certainly changed now.”

I blinked. What was that about? Maybe I’d finally get some answers to some of my questions.

Mother leaned back in her seat. “I suppose so.”

Kariva turned to the doctors, “What sort of progress is necessary for this? Would awakening a dormant constitution or hidden bloodline help?”

The doctor looked up. He hesitated for a moment, before nodding. “Perhaps, my lady. It depends on the constitution, of course, but a strong one might be enough to defeat the poison.”

“I see. I believe that’s all?”

Mother nodded. “You’re dismissed.”

They glanced at me one last time, thinly-veiled curiosity in their eyes, before they bowed themselves out.

I shifted my chair so I could face Mother head on and leaned forward. “So, is there something I should know?”

Mother sighed. “I wanted to wait until you’re more familiar with this world,” she muttered. “To make sure you had the context to understand this correctly, and not … misinterpret what you want to hear.”

She fell silent for a moment, staring at her hands. Kariva stepped back a little. Al glanced between Mother and me and chewed his lip, but he kept silent.

Finally, she spoke up. “Inaris, Carston isn’t your father.”

I knew it. I knew there was something going on there. I nodded, taking a deep breath. “So, who is it?”

Mother was silent again for a bit. She seemed to look through the wall into the distance, a conflicted expression on her face. Finally, she shook her head and looked me in the eyes.

“Rijoko, the Greater Spirit of the Moon.”

The Greater Spirit of the Moon? I stared at her, wide-eyed. “Really?”

In my research, I’d come across mention of people who traced their ancestry to spirits. But I’d never given it much thought beyond passing curiosity. This was a magical world, after all. I’d considered the idea that she may have had an affair with a humanoid spirit beast, but dismissed it since I didn’t show any signs of that. I hadn’t considered a Greater Spirit.

“What, really?” Al echoed. He looked from me to Mother. “Wow.”

“Wait a moment,” I said. “The entity people pray and give offerings to at shrines?”

Mother grimaced. “Don’t go thinking you’re a demigoddess, Inaris. You’re human. And effects of your bloodline have mostly been suppressed.”

I glanced at Kariva, whose expression hadn’t changed. She must have known. Then I shook my head. “How did that happen?”

Mother looked away. “A bargain.” She cleared her throat. “Now, give me a minute. I need to arrange for a trip.”

I sat back in my chair, trying to process all of that.

I’d started to assume my biological father on this world, if he wasn’t Carston, must be dead. A part of me wasn’t particularly happy about this revelation. I knew spirits, especially Greater Spirits, didn’t follow human conventions, and didn’t have much of a concept of family. It still stung knowing he must not care about me at all.

54: Potential

The view of the mountains was beautiful enough to make me forget about the poison and Mother’s revelation for a moment. It had taken some more time until we could leave, and I didn’t know how long I’d waited in that room before that, but at some point dawn had come. Now, the sun was just leaving the horizon behind, sending its rays out over the Central Mountains.

I stood on a hilly outcropping a little further down from the real peaks, but with a great view over a valley in the mountains. A few clouds decorated the horizon, adding to the scenic beauty. The morning wind pulled at my clothes, a simple but durable set of robes. The fresh air made me feel a little better.

But I shook my head and turned away from contemplating the scenery, instead focusing on my immediate surroundings. A small group of us had traveled here by airship. Mostly guards, who surrounded us in a wide perimeter now, all of them probably Mother’s personal guard. Then there were Mother herself, Kariva and Alaster. I’d thought about calling Tenira to accompany me, but something made me hesitate.

Maybe I didn’t want to burden her with it, but it might just be that I didn’t want her to see me like this.

“So, what are we doing here?” I asked, pushing useless thoughts aside.

“This part of the mountains is home to many spirits,” Mother answered. “Especially the area further up here. It’s where their influence is felt strongly. There’s a sort of … special place up ahead. A particular phenomenon of qi. You should be able to enter it and, hopefully, awaken a connection to the Moon.”

I frowned at that. “Why go here, and not, say, to a shrine of the Moon?”

She shrugged. “It’s where I went to do that bargain. Yeah, I could have gone to the shrine, but this is, well, more suitable. More private. Come on, I’ll take you there.” She glanced at the others. “The rest of you, stay here.”

Al rushed me again for another hug. I returned it and ruffled his hair. “Hey, it’s okay, I’ve got this. I’ll come back healthy soon, okay?”

“You’d better, Nari.”

I nodded at Kariva, then turned to follow Mother, who had already started walking.

After a minute of walking up a hilly slope leading to a rocky area, I decided I might as well pry a little. Walking was taking a toll on me, more than it should, but Mother kept the pace slow enough that I didn’t have trouble talking. “So, how did this bargain work? What’d you give him?”

“The heart of a sea dragon,” Mother answered matter-of-factly. “A powerful object containing a lot of qi, out of the Imperial treasury. It could have been used to craft a powerful artifact, but overall that’s not such a big deal.” She frowned a little. “Although it probably wasn’t much more than a snack for him. We should assume he had his own reasons to agree to it.”

“And how did it work? Did he take on a human form, like an avatar, or just some magic stuff?”

Mother cleared her throat, not looking at me. “Well, you want me to get into the specifics?”

“On second thought,” I said. “I don’t think I want to hear any details.” Those might be gross, I could live with being curious.

The next few minutes, we walked in silence. We’d started to get into more mountainous terrain, with rocky walls rising around us. It was also getting darker as we entered a bank of fog. Despite the poison, I could still sense the qi in it. The whole area was odd, with the qi having a different feeling than I was used to. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but the sensation increased as we went further.

Finally, we came out of a small valley into an open area nestled between rock walls and cliffs. Mother stopped. “It’s probably best if you go on alone from here.”

I glanced down, but couldn’t see the others. Mother remained standing here, and I could see the tension in her posture.

“You still haven’t told me why you went to the Moon,” I said quietly.

Mother chuckled a little. “That part’s the hardest to tell, to be honest. And I’m not quite sure how to put it.”

I frowned. I could see she was clearly bothered by all of this. “Was it about Carston?”

“No, not really.” Mother shook her head, looking down at the valley. “There was always a lot of pressure to produce an heir. I could have ignored it, but I felt like I needed to do it. For the sake of stability. And I did want children. But it was a big risk, in a way.” She glanced at me. “You probably understand that. My child would most likely inherit the throne. While I was confident in my own judgment, that I was doing good things with introducing civil rights and such, could I say the same about any prospective heir? Or ensure that my child would be strong enough to prevail?”

I nodded, but didn’t say anything. I could relate, but didn’t like the implications.

“Well, here’s the answer,” Mother said, not looking at me. “The best one I found, at least. I bargained with the Moon so the child would not only be strong enough to claim the throne. I bargained for an heir. For someone who could be the best ruler the Empire might have.”

I swallowed. That’s a hell of a thing to say. I took a step forward, shaking my head. “How could you be sure of that? Personality isn’t determined exclusively by someone’s genes.”

“Well, of course I can’t be sure.” Mother laughed curtly. “Of course a lot of things could happen, and I had no guarantee you would survive. I only ensured you had the potential for it.”

I took another few steps forward, getting a bit of distance, and looked out over the valley. “I guess I get it. Looking at it objectively, I’m impressed. Their heir is one of the most important factors for how much good or bad a ruler does, long-term. Actually using magic to help with that, going to spirits like that? Admirable, in a way.” But that doesn’t mean I like it.

I still didn’t look at her. I heard how she took a step, though. “I’m glad to hear that.”

“It’s still a shitty thing to do on a personal level.”

She stayed still and didn’t say anything to that.

“Well,” I took a deep breath. “See you on the other side.”

Not looking back, I walked forward, into the mist. It didn’t take long for it to swallow any sense of Acura’s presence. The place I went to didn’t have any clear boundaries, but I gradually entered something that clearly felt different. Or maybe just a different way of perceiving things?

I was still reeling from the revelation she’d just shared. But I tried not to think about it, to push those considerations and emotions aside. I was here to awaken my bloodline, my connection to the Moon, however that might work. That was all.

I could feel my surroundings slowly changing around me. It wasn’t like stepping into another dimension, more like the place warped around me. I still had trouble perceiving qi, but my senses actually seemed to sharpen. At least in a way. They also shrunk, making it hard to perceive my surroundings more than a few meters around me, even though I could feel the qi around me in a way I’d never encountered before. The whole thing reminded me a lot of the spirits I’d encountered. The sensation of the qi, its smell or taste, if it had one, seemed familiar and yet much more potent.

The ground around me flattened out until I stood on a plain, not the rocky terrain I’d been walking on before. It stretched away from me, smooth as glass. The air was still, not a hint of a gust, yet it didn’t smell stale.

Slowly, I became aware that I was not alone. I couldn’t tell whether it was because I saw them or sensed them with my qi senses, but I noticed that other figures existed in this strange place. They were spirits, of course. Their forms indistinct, sometimes changing, the feel of their qi unmistakable. Some of them seemed like animals, some had humanoid shapes. I could sense different levels of strength among them, although no one beyond the spirit I’d encountered in that forest. As I continued walking, I noticed more of them showed up, coming closer towards me.

At some point, I stopped. “Greetings. I have come here in search of my connection to one of the Greater Spirits.”

My words were swallowed by the mist of qi in the air, sounding small and weak in this place. Although a few of the spirits showed activity in response to them, moving around and acting curious, without coming any closer.

After a minute of waiting, I noticed movement in one direction. They seemed to be retreating? No, giving way to someone else. Another spirit advanced towards me, this one noticeably stronger than the rest. They had a humanoid form, even showing details like long hair blowing in the nonexistent wind, although their body shape was androgynous and their face blurry. They felt familiar, as if I might have met them or a related spirit before.

‘There you are, hidden light.’ The spirit cocked its head. ‘I do not think you will find what you really wish for here.’

It waved an arm, and the lesser spirits scattered, vanishing into the depths of this place quickly.

‘Who ever gets what they really wish for?’ I asked, crossing my arms. ‘In any case, I find myself curious about this place, and your folk. Will you tell me more?’

They turned away without answering and started walking. I hesitated for a moment, surprised, then hurried to join them. My body protested the movement, weakness dogging my limbs, but I didn’t care. I needed to follow this spirit, if they were the only one inclined to talk. They must have come to me for a reason, after all.

After a few minutes of walking in silence, the spirit let out a whistling sigh. ‘My time is not unlimited, Little Light. And neither is yours.’

I tried to suppress my annoyance. ‘Will you tell me about this place and what I’m supposed to do, then?’

‘This place is of no consequence. Simply a gathering spot away from humans. You could find the same in many places. As to what you’re supposed to do, you should know that.’

I sighed. ‘Yes, I’m supposed to awaken my bloodline from the Greater Spirit of the Moon.’

‘For your sake, I certainly hope you can do better at it than you are now.’

I huffed. ‘I’m sure I can do whatever is necessary, if only I had some guidance.’

The spirit turned their head to look at me and raised a suddenly more defined eyebrow. ‘And yet, you have not once so much as used his name.’

That shut me up for a moment.

‘I was under the impression humans were supposed to care about family connections,’ the spirit said, its tone now clearly prodding. ‘Are you not moved by the prospect of meeting your real father? Perhaps you are feeling hurt.’

I huffed again, something about their words and tone of voice rubbing me the wrong way. ‘I have a real father, my dad. And he must be grieving my death right now.’

The spirit chuckled, a rumbling sound like that didn’t quite fit its ethereal appearance. It reminded me where I may have met them before, when a spirit came to warn me against going south to the war.

‘What’s the point of this conversation, anyway?’ I asked, annoyed.

‘Perhaps there is none. You cannot hope to connect to your dormant potential if you do not accept yourself.’

I stopped walking, which caused the spirit to stop as well. ‘You don’t know me. How would you know if I accept myself? Because that sounds more like fortune cookie advice than anything helpful.’

The spirit cocked their head again. `You cannot even bear to ponder the basis of your creation. If the prospect of being made for ruling is so terrifying, how would you ever awaken your bloodline?’

I ground my teeth and glared at them, wondering how they knew about that. Maybe they’d listened to our conversation outside. I wanted to refute it and rant at them, but I stopped myself, took a few deep breaths and tried to calm down. I needed to be in control of myself and able to face some personal enlightening, from the sounds of this.

‘It is time to give you something more challenging, and let you test yourself with more than words.’

The spirit smiled and waved at me. Before I could answer, the qi around us started rippling, coming from their hand. It distorted around us, bringing back the nausea I’d forgotten about since coming here.

When the wave passed, the spirit was gone and I stood alone. My surroundings had changed as well. Rather than the formless mist of qi, they now consisted of colors and forms.

I sighed, straightened my shoulders, and focused. If they wanted to give me a test of character, I’d play along.

55: Just a lie

It felt like the world around me had shifted again. I could still sense the mist of qi hanging in the air, but its presence was muted now, almost overwritten by something else. Like a frame holding up a different thing, another layer of reality.

That didn’t mean it was clear. Just looking at it worsened my headache. Colors flashed, and pieces of images swirled through the air. Like three-dimensional paintings ripped apart and mixing together.

A few times, I saw something I thought I recognized, but it was gone too fast to be really sure. Was that a computer? Surely not. Wait, Latin letters?

I frowned and focused, trying to ignore the strain and pierce the illusion. At first, it didn’t help. My surroundings only became more chaotic. But then, they seemed to recede, the colors blending together, muted, until a complete scene emerged from them.

“What the hell?” I stumbled backwards a step, staring at the scene in front of me. It felt like someone punched me in the gut.

Before me, I saw a house. But not just any house. I recognized it at once. The satellite dish and garage clearly belonged on Earth, not Aran. The roof of red clay bricks was all straight edges, no slopes. The white paint on the walls was a little dirty, could have used some renovations. The small garden in front had grown wild, since no one had the time or passion to care for it. I’d always liked it better that way.

I blinked and looked to the sides. The neighboring houses were visible here as well, but a little blurred, like someone had taken a picture with them out of focus.

This was my home. My childhood home, at least. How did they get this? Can only be from my memories. There’s no way this is real. I shook my head. Even if they had some way to get to Earth, how would they know to get footage of this exact house?

The realization that someone must be poking around in my head made me shiver. I ground my teeth and tried to focus. When I tried to analyze my own mind, I didn’t find anything out of place. At least, not anything I wouldn’t expect from the situation, what with the poison and being in some strange spirit place.

I couldn’t help it. I walked up to the house, tracing my hand across the wood of the door for a few moments. The material felt wispy, like it wasn’t really there. When I pushed it, the door opened easily.

Once inside, I could hear voices. My heart drumming in my ears, I walked closer, opening another door. And there they were, on the big sofa in the living room. My parents, smiling and laughing at something.

I swallowed hard, staring at them, drinking in their features. They looked normal, like nothing had changed, like I’d only just woken up from a bad dream and never gone on a soul journey at all. Turning my head a bit, I could see my little brother, sitting at the table in the living room, focused on his laptop.

Felix had rarely taken his laptop to the living room, but I didn’t care. I drank in the sight of him as well. He straightened up, glancing back and saying something to our parents. None of them looked in my direction, although they should be able to see me from there.

I couldn’t make out any details of their conversation. Whenever I tried to focus on it, their voices just blurred. It was like my mind couldn’t handle it, or like they weren’t saying anything real. But even so, their voices sounded like them.

Steeling myself, I walked further into the room. But again, none of them looked up. I paused in front of the sofa, and waved my hand in front of my mom’s face.

She frowned, and for a second, I thought there was something. Then she only grabbed a pen and made a note on one of the sheets of paper she was reading. I couldn’t make out the contents, but she was probably editing a paper or grading something.

I took a step back and looked more closely. Mom looked the same as always, with a few gray streaks in her longish blond hair, wearing clothes that showed she’d come straight from work, reading glasses perched on her nose.

Something blocked my throat, and I blinked against the wetness threatening to accumulate in my eyes. With an effort, I ripped my gaze away from her and focused on my dad. He was lounging on the sofa, reading something on his phone. Unlike mom, his short hair was messy, he was wearing jeans and a shirt, and had his jacket thrown over the back of the nearest chair. He smiled at something, obviously stifling a chuckle so he wouldn’t bother my mom.

I retreated and sat down in the armchair, which ended up being able to support my weight. But I just watched my family. In that moment, I didn’t care why I was here. They were all that mattered.

On some level, I knew I was being stupid. But I just wanted to capture this moment and have it last forever. Being back with my family, seeing them smile, it filled a hole I’d refused to acknowledge I still felt.

For a while, I sat there, just basking in the presence of my family. I watched them and let my emotions run their course, for perhaps the first time in a long while.

After what felt like hours, but I had no way to know how long it actually was, I started getting restless again. I still didn’t want to leave them, but curiosity pricked me. So I stood up and walked. At the door, I hesitated, looking back again. Nothing in the scene had changed, except that my family had fallen silent, everyone absorbed in what they were doing. I smiled, then continued on, toward the rest of the house.

It looked just like I remembered. I took the stairs to the upper story, then glanced around. The door to the right beckoned me. With a slight tremble in my fingers, I pushed it open and stepped into the room.

My room looked like I remembered, as well. Although something about it felt a little off. I frowned and looked around. There was my bed, my desk with my computer, the two bookcases, the wardrobe. A few old posters hung on the wall beside a few photos. My bed was unmade, and pens and little gadgets scattered across the desk, like I usually left it. I saw everything with new eyes.

Of course, I’d been away before, at university, and only come back after weeks or months. This felt like that. Except … not quite. I remembered the room, but it didn’t feel like I could just move in, lounge on the bed or turn on the screen and start living here again.

This is still me, isn’t it? I’m still the same, just with a few new experiences added on.

I crossed my arms, looking around. It had been less than a year, but a lot of things had changed for me. I’ve killed people, even one who was my prisoner, ordered people deported. I don’t regret it, but I know my family wouldn’t approve. I frowned, then shook my head. But I’m not exactly wracked by guilt, and I think the old me from before the soul journey would have done the same given the circumstances.

No, this wasn’t why it felt strange to be back here.

I sighed and looked out the window. There was the yard behind the houses. I remembered how I used to play with other kids there. I walked closer, peering through the window.

The yard wasn’t empty. As I watched, I saw hints of qi swirling in the air, until the figures of a group of kids appeared in the yard. I sucked in a breath. I remembered this scene, even though it was a little indistinct, like it was seen through milky glass. There I was, cycling back home, confronted by the others. There was the girl in the class above mine who’d bullied me for a bit. I couldn’t recall her name. Something with an M? Maybe.

As I watched, I saw the kids get closer, yelling at each other, until there were a few pushes. The younger me got down before they could tip her over. Frowning, I watched as thing got more heated. When the older girl grabbed the bike’s handlebars, I sighed. I knew where this was going. She’d take the bike, until her brother returned it a few hours later.

I turned away, not seeing the point in continuing to watch. But I remembered how this went. I wanted to teach her a lesson. But I guess she only learned to get a better lock for her bike after the old one ended up in the river. I smiled at the memory. I’d waited after school until everyone left, and gotten home late enough to be grounded for the first time.

I tapped my fingers on the desk, but the wood felt just as wispy as everything else here, reminding me that this life was gone. I wonder how my childhood as Inaris went. Probably wasn’t an easy child.

I shook my head to banish that stray thought and focused back on my surroundings. Why had they played that old memory? Cautiously, I focused on my qi senses. They were still muddied, the poison making them feel detached and blurry. The structure around me and the surrounding qi was dense, not letting me sense anything much further away. But the house didn’t really show up on my senses’ radar, it was more like a continual mass with a few patterns imprinted on it.

Why don’t you show me something else? I focused my mind on an image. The room around me responded, morphing until a few things had shifted places, the decorations changing to those of my early childhood. Everything looked blurrier, maybe because I remembered it less clearly.

So, this is taken from my memories, and I can control it. I wonder how that works? Qi interacting with my brain in some way?

‘How about you watch something else?’

I whirled around, but I couldn’t tell where the spirit’s voice had come from. I couldn’t sense them anywhere. But before me, the view in the window shifted, until it showed a new scene. A village surrounded by a forest and a walled compound.

Despite myself, I stepped closer to the window, curious to know what this meant. I recognized the village; it was the one Lorn had taken me to when I was with the Carmine Cloud Sect. But the houses looked a little better now, as if the inhabitants had managed to repair or renovate them.

They weren’t the only thing looking better. On the fields, I could see people working, this time with larger devices like small tractors. And the people themselves looked better, too. Healthier, their clothing less threadbare. There were a lot more smiles than before. The village seemed to be bustling with people, more than I thought it had before.

I turned away, snorting. “This is pretty blatant. You’re not exactly being subtle, are you?”

There was no answer. I waited for a minute, but when I didn’t notice any signs of the spirit’s presence, I shook my head and turned to watch the room again.

“This is all just a lie,” I muttered. I wanted to stay here. But this was probably a test of how much I would cling to my old life, versus recognizing that it has changed, and maybe that I have a duty elsewhere now. Or that I could do good in the Empire? Whatever. I don’t think they really understand me, but who knows what their reasoning is.

I clenched my fist, bearing down on the qi surrounding me. It started to distort. Dizziness gripped me again, and I closed my eyes.

When I opened them again, I was back on the same smooth, featureless plain. I felt a pang of regret for destroying the facsimiles of my family, but squashed it ruthlessly. The spirit might be a jerk, but they had a point. I should just be glad I got to see them again in some way.

I started walking aimlessly, watching as more spirits began to gather again. They kept their distance, though I knew they watched me.

But I hadn’t gone more than a few meters when I noticed many of the spirits stop in their tracks. Somehow, I got the feeling they were surprised.

A voice I hadn’t heard before slipped into my mind. ‘Done with your memories? How quickly you go from clinging to them to abandoning them.’

I stopped and whirled around. There, a spirit strolled towards me. They were more distinct than any other I’d seen on this plain. In fact, I might have mistaken them for a human without the qi clearly making up their body, which otherwise looked like a man in his mid-thirties. The figure was wearing loose, flowing robes, and had long hair bound in a ponytail. The face looked nondescript, except for the eyes, which glared at me in an alarming red tone.

A few of the spirits started fluttering around in clear agitation, although none got too close. ‘He’s not supposed to be here!’ one of them cried.

I tensed. The poison’s effects had felt muted since I entered this place, but I still felt them, weighing down my limbs and making my qi harder to access. But even in top form, I knew I wouldn’t stand a chance against that spirit. Power rolled off him in waves, stirring the qi around him. He had to be at least as strong as the spirit I’d spoken to before, probably more so. I didn’t think he was a Greater Spirit, but definitely trouble.

‘Can I help you with something?’ I asked.

The spirit advanced, until he stood uncomfortably close, looking down at me. He crossed him arms, his glare not lessened in the slightest. ‘Oh, you could. By realizing that you belong on your own world, not here, for example.’

I almost took a step back, but caught myself. ‘It’s not like I can go back … or can I?’

The spirit snorted, shaking his head. ‘And someone like you is supposed to be the next great ruler of the Empire? Rijoko really bungled this one.’

I gritted my teeth. ‘Did you come here just to harass me?’

The spirit smiled, this one looking more genuine. ‘Mostly. I thought it was about time we saw each other personally. You’ve earned at least that much, rather annoyingly.’

My heart started beating faster. This didn’t sound good. ‘I wasn’t aware I was enemies with a spirit. You’ve been working against me?’

He grinned, flashing teeth. ‘It hardly takes a genius to figure that out, doesn’t it? Of course, someone had to give Weriga that poison.’

This time, I did take a step back. A pit opened in my guts, and I clenched my hands into fists. This spirit had helped Kei Weriga try to kill me? Maybe even instigated it? ‘Why? What have I done to make you want me dead?’

The spirit shook his head. ‘You haven’t done anything. Well, not much, at least. I do wish you’d just let the barbarians kill you.’ He shrugged, the most human-like gesture I’d even seen from a spirit. ‘It’s nothing personal, really, little girl. You can blame your parents for this.’

I tried to take a weapon from my storage ring, but it didn’t work. Maybe the qi here was interfering with its enchantment. So I just crossed my arms. He hasn’t tried to kill me yet. Clearly, he doesn’t want to do it here.

‘You’re just trying to unnerve me, aren’t you?’ I asked. ‘Get me off balance.’

The spirit chuckled. ‘You think you’re clever, aren’t you? Little girl, you’re just a piece in a game you don’t even know. You’re not going to awaken the Moon’s bloodline. Even if you did, your fate wouldn’t change. In fact, you might just help me, and my lord’s case.’

I frowned. Is he working for one of the other Greater Spirits?

We stared each other down for a minute. The spirit didn’t blink, although the menace in his eyes sent tingles of fear down my spine.

Finally, I shook my head. ‘I don’t care. I’m not going to just lay down and die. Even more importantly, I’m going to do what I can. Try to put me down all you like, that just shows you don’t like what I may be able to do, after all.’

The spirit laughed again. ‘Blind arrogance will not serve you well.’

I tried to gather some of my qi. It felt sluggish, but I managed to get some darkness qi into shape for my technique. It almost burned its way out of my meridians, until it coalesced in my hands.

I struck at the spirit. He took a step back before I’d even really started the motion. The grin was still on his face, although the expression around his eyes had hardened.

‘Just leave me alone.’

‘Enjoy what little life you have left, little girl.’

His laughter rang out again, mocking and cold, while his body dissipated. I could feel a wave of qi traveling away from me, although it was only a vague sensation, and I couldn’t have pinpointed his path.

I slumped and took a deep breath. Then I stayed still for a bit, but it seemed like he was really gone.

The worst thing was, I did feel a bit shaken. Knowing that I had an enemy like that, if not someone even more powerful, gave me goosebumps. And the revelation about the poison added to that. He must have pulled Kei Weriga’s strings. I wish I could just go home, I couldn’t help thinking. Even if I survive here, what else might they be up to?

But at least now I knew more than before.

Bonus 5: Spirits and religion

Yes, I’ve tried to avoid the topic. But I suppose my pseudo-scientific (or researcher?) pride wouldn’t allow me to do that for long. Especially given recent developments. It’s probably about time that I take stock of what I know about spirits in general, and how they play into the head-scratching thing that is religion here.

Because, seriously, you have a religion where supernatural forces and entities are actually and unequivocally present. And might just protest if something you claim in their name doesn’t suit them. Well, if they care to.

Let’s start at the beginning. What are spirits? That’s actually a hard question, and if you try to go beyond the surface, there’s not much agreement between scholars. Asking spirits themselves doesn’t seem to help.

Clearly, they’re living beings. A ‘race’ of sentients - although that’s where the disagreement starts, since not every spirit seems to be intelligent. Some appear more reactive or animalistic. In general, spirits span a huge range of variety, in their levels of power as well as the way they present themselves to the world. Although there are of course commonalities. They’re closely associated with qi, although exactly how that works, like their nature, is far from certain.

For us, at least. Maybe the stronger and more intelligent spirits have a better idea and just don’t like to share? That would fit. As a rule of thumb, the more power a spirit has, the more intelligent they are, up to a certain point. I’ve also read that the powerful ones are better able to understand and predict human society, but they just don’t care, usually. Not that I can really blame them.

Physically, spirits fall somewhere between insubstantial and incorporeal. They’re most likely made of qi in some way. Perhaps some altered qi. Their forms are quite changeable. Many spirits have been documented with different appearances. The forms they do take range from plants over animals and spirit beasts to humanoid forms. Although they tend to not be complete or detailed recreations, even aside from the lack of solidity. Spirits don’t have color, at least not the same we do. Humanoid forms would be abstract or minimalistic. As I’ve experienced myself. I guess it might be their version of artistic expression, or they just want to emphasize their otherness. Maybe.

Spirits tend to avoid humans. Like spirit beasts, they prefer to reside in untamed nature. Or in the so-called qi phenomena or anomalies. Or possibly in some parallel dimension, or dimensions, of their own — I’m not quite sure what to make of what I’ve read, to be honest. Point is, they usually avoid direct contact with humans. But usually isn’t always, and if they feel threatened or attacked, or otherwise hostile, they’re perfectly capable of asserting themselves. Quite fiercely.

That said, over the centuries and millennia, people have learned to live together. Humans and spirits tolerate and cooperate with each other. Seeking to make a bargain with a spirit isn’t an everyday thing, but it wouldn’t get you any strange looks. Apparently, spirits like qi, in the form of qi-rich materials or artifacts, or they’d take favors and services. This is true for almost any level of the power scale. Though I guess you might have more trouble with an animalistic spirit.

That relates to the topic of religion. Because people routinely give offerings to spirits. In fact, it reminds me a little of what I know of religion in ancient Rome and other old cultures, with house gods or spirits. I know I shouldn’t fall into the trap of thinking of it in the way my culture understands worship. It’s more like propitiation. I guess. For the less powerful ones, definitely.

There are of course local differences in the way it works, but the prevailing religion doesn’t change much between continents and countries. It’s polytheistic, perhaps with a side of animism, if I had to classify it. But always adjusted to your surroundings and local spirits. Communities, regions, and even the Empire maintain shrines and give offerings to the stronger spirits. But individuals do the same. And then, of course, there’s the ‘real’ religious side of it. At least, I tend to think of it that way. That centers around the most powerful spirits, especially the Greater Spirits.

Who these are is actually pretty clear, if you look at Aran as a whole. Sure, there are regions or countries where other spirits are worshiped and sometimes called ‘Greater Spirit’, but the main ones are acknowledged almost anywhere. There are twelve of them, who are usually meant if you refer to ‘Greater Spirits’. From what I’ve read, spirits know these distinctions as well, and call them Greater Spirits. I’m not sure if these are just the most powerful spirits or if there’s a qualitative difference.

These Greater Spirits may as well be deities in this world. They’re the most powerful entities here. At least according to common knowledge. And we know how cultivators worship strength …

So, there are lots of shrines in their names. People pray to them, give offerings, swear in their names, all that stuff.

Apropos names: they do have names, although they’re usually known by their epithets, like ‘The Sun’ or ‘The Moon’, etcetera. This is rare, since most spirits either don’t have names or don’t give them to humans. It’s a little unclear whether they use names among themselves, but they certainly don’t seem to regard them the same way other people do.

Plus, spirits don’t have genders, not really. But some of the more well-known ones are still seen as male or female. I’m not sure if that’s just interpretation, but it seems like there’s more to it. There are enough records of these spirits appearing with gendered appearances. And since they can choose their forms, I should probably take that as a form of gender expression, or whatever.

Anyway, while details like that are pretty constant throughout society, there is little consistent religious dogma. No real scripture. Rituals and traditions differ between places. Of course, there are common legends, some of them quite well-known worldwide, especially when it comes to the Greater Spirits. For example, the enmity between certain factions of Greater Spirits, like between Rijoko and Jideia, is a prominent feature, although the details of the tale differ depending on who you ask.

It’s a little startling for me to realize that, unlike mythology on Earth, there may be one actual canon that covers what exactly happened. Because these may be descriptions of actual events. The Greater Spirits aren’t hostile because humans see a duality or struggle between their elements, or one cult displaced another (I assume), but they just are. I guess it’s a good thing that they mostly keep out of human affairs. I wouldn’t want to see a real ‘holy war’. People don’t try to use religion to sanctify warfare, here. At least in general. With real, present gods, well, I shudder to imagine what might happen if the Greater Spirits started using this world as a battleground.

On that note, of course this polytheistic mishmash isn’t the only religion in this world. Some are more like philosophical schools. There are even a few basically monotheistic religions here, although they’re pretty diverse.

One of them is Acalicusm. They’re the largest, so far as I know. Although they may be closer to a dualistic than monotheistic religion. Actually, they remind me a little of what I know of Zoroastrianism. Which admittedly isn’t much. But they have elements such as the universal fight of good against evil, or a doctrine of humans being judged according to their deeds, and versions of the afterlife, which is rare in the ‘traditional’ religion.

To be fair, there are different conceptions of the afterlife there, varying locally. In the middle of the Sky Continent, belief in reincarnation is prominent. Others don’t have very specific teachings or avoid this topic.

Acalicusm still incorporates the spirits, including the Greater Spirits, giving them roles in their scripture. But they’re less prominent than in other beliefs. Still, while this religion is viewed with skepticism by many, there’s little actual conflict between the faiths. Acalicusm developed in the Earth Continent a few millennia ago, but in recent centuries it spread to other continents more strongly. Currently, it’s on the rise in the Empire. In some regions of the Earth Continent’s Imperial territories, it has the most adherents, and they’re a sizeable minority in the north of Sky Continent, although their rise has slowed in recent years. The Imperial government has kept out of things. I’d say freedom of religion isn’t much of a right here because it’s a matter of course, something anchored in tradition since the Empire first started spreading. I guess if a faith that’s firmly against the current regime ever starts to rise, we’ll see how that changes.

Speaking of, I’m still having a bit of trouble grasping the nuances of the Empire’s relationship with religion. Because, of course, there’s connections. With other countries, too, but it’s enough of a headache considering just the Empire.

Rulers using religion to justify their authority and attempts at expansion is pretty common throughout history. In medieval Europe, kings claimed they were ruling ‘by God’s grace’, or something. In antiquity, the national god promised the king dominion over the world and was thought responsible for military victories. But none of those really fit the situation in the Empire. If anything, it’s more similar to the Chinese concept of the ‘mandate of the heavens’.

Not exactly, of course. But the Emperor or Empress does draw some legitimacy from the spirit world, and the way they deal with it.

Exactly what this means seems to vary depending on who you ask. There are a few opinions and takes on it. It probably isn’t helped by the fact that Mother avoids the whole issue, and it seems like her own mother wasn’t very religious, either.

Key to this is the idea that the ruler’s strength signifies their right or suitability to rule. It’s a little unclear on whether Mother is granted this strength or has this guaranteed by the Greater Spirits, or whether it’s all her own thing that she has to assert against hostile forces, perhaps in dealing with the Greater Spirits as well. That depends on who you ask, I suppose. It also rests on the traditional conception of a ruler’s duty. It’s Mother’s job to protect her people from the dangers of the land. Spirit beasts, spirits, human enemies, or other hostile forces.

The Empire builds roads and trade networks, maintains garrisons in the settlements, but also sometimes makes and enforces agreements with sapient spirit beasts or even spirits. But it’s on another level for the Empress. For some (traditionalists — remember I’m rolling my eyes hard right now) — she’s almost at the level of the Greater Spirits, herself. She’s certainly supposed to deal with them for the benefit of the Empire. It’s an important if not always obvious part of her job to bargain with the Greater Spirits if necessary. Not quite an intermediary between gods and men (or rather humans, of course), since powerful cultivators wouldn’t like to be seen as agents of someone else, least of all the ruler. But in common perception, there’s something divine about it; the role, or perhaps even the person.

What does this mean for me? Obviously, I’ll have to deal with all of it if and when I’m going to be Empress. But even now, as the Imperial Princess, this is throwing some long shadows. It’s at least part of why I’m “blessed by the spirits” and a few other titles, and why my position and person are treated as sacred to some degree. Honestly, the whole thing is a little vague to pin down.

This is the sort of thing more determined by traditions rather than written laws or scripture, and what people really find plausible and proper varies.

But I need to keep it in mind. Future me, if you think back to writing this, have a care, okay? And good luck, I guess.

56: Who I am

I stayed standing where I’d met that spirit for a few minutes, trying to see if I could still sense him and waiting for something else to happen. Finally, I determined everything was quiet, and started walking again.

I’d been turned around by the more friendly spirit’s intervention, so I didn’t know if I was walking in the right direction. Not that I had a clear goal to be walking towards, anyway. Only a feeling of which bearing I might have come from, so I headed in the opposite direction. The other spirits had retreated from the powerful one, only a few of them lingering in the distance as far as I could see. Now, they started to return, as more of them appeared out of the mist, still watching me.

I shook my head. I should have asked my enemy for his name, at least. He probably had one, although he might not have shared it with me.

A prickle in my qi senses alerted me, and I turned around just in time to see the other spirit quickly approaching, the one who’d sent me to those memories. They looked the same, although their power shone more strongly now, as if to ward against trespassers.

‘Who are you, anyway?’ I asked. ‘A servant of the Moon?’

The spirit came to a stop in front of me, cocking their head to the side. ‘Yes. I am what mortals sometimes refer to as an astral spirit. Some humans have called me Mior, in the past. You may use that name, if you wish.’

‘Then, Mior,’ I said, crossing my arms. ‘Will you tell me what the hell was up with that? Another one of your games? Letting someone who wants me dead just walk right up without so much as a warning?’

The spirit bowed their head. ‘That was not my intention. Our enemy slipped through, and I became aware of his presence too late.’

I snorted. ‘Then you stayed away out of fear, because he’s stronger than you?’

‘I do not fear,’ the spirit said, no emotion in their tone. ‘There was no point in a losing confrontation. He would not have dared to harm you here for fear of incurring the Moon’s wrath. Now, let us continue.’

Mior started walking, at a pace just quick enough that I’d have to make an effort to keep up. I sighed but started after them. I still had to awaken my bloodline or whatever and defeat the poison, and they were my best lead. At least I was fairly confident they wanted to help me.

After a few minutes of silence, I started talking again. ‘So, are you working on my father’s orders? Or just doing what you think he’d like?’

The spirit turned their head to me again, with what I imagined was an amused glint in their eyes this time. ‘So you acknowledge him as your father now? Did it help you to see the ghosts of your old family?’

I shrugged, but stayed quiet. I didn’t quite know what I thought about it. Although it might have helped me find some closure. I hope.

‘An interesting choice. I thought you’d revisit some pivotal moment of your life. Instead, domestic tranquility, not even any one real memory. One has to wonder just what sort of great leader you’re supposed to be.’

I gritted my teeth. So it had been me who’d subconsciously determined that scene? But I didn’t like their implication, especially since I had the feeling they were only trying to provoke me. ‘Are you saying I don’t have what it takes to be a great ruler?’

The spirit chuckled, raising an eyebrow. ‘The question is, do you think you will be a great ruler?’

I grunted. ‘No, the question is, what did my parents think they were doing, making a child purpose-built to be an Empress? How do you even determine how to do that? … Okay, I guess Mother probably gave criteria like ‘the most benefit and least harm for the greatest number of people’.’ I trailed off a little, shaking my head. ‘Still, that’s just …’

The spirit’s eyebrow shadows scrunched up. ‘Is that what worries you?’

‘Of course it is!’ I shouted, which felt strange since I was talking in my mind. I took a deep breath and shook my head. ‘The lives of billions of people are affected by decisions like this! It’s like … it’s a huge moral question, isn’t it?’

The spirit nodded. ‘It is.’

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. I’d been trying to avoid thinking about it too closely, but now that they’d brought it up, I couldn’t help but dwell on it.

This revelation didn’t just affect my self-image, it shook my worldview. After all, I’d been a staunch supporter of democracy. Even after my transmigration, I’d kept my fundamental philosophical views. Okay, maybe there’s a difference between abstract humanistic ideals and political philosophy, and practical concerns in this new life. But still. Now, if there’s a way to magically determine who’s most suited for leadership, should that be preferable to democracy?

After a moment, I shook my head. ‘I guess it all rests on the practical details. Presumably, there’s a limit to what they could do, since I was still Mother’s daughter. I got her DNA, and any from my father’s side had to work with that. Right?’

The spirit nodded. ‘I’m not familiar with any details, but that should be correct.’ Their tone had changed, and I got the feeling they didn’t quite know what to make of this line of conversation.

‘Then the question really boils down to whether the Moon knows what makes a good ruler and can ensure they actually are,’ I mused.

Well, the Moon was literally a higher being, and more to the point, he had to be a few thousand years old at least. If you needed someone to decide this kind of thing, he was probably a good choice. Still, what does that mean for my question?

I sighed. I just don’t know.

One question that inevitably came up in this line of thought was about my soul journey. After all, someone’s experiences determined what they’d act like as much as any innate traits. But I shook my head and shelved that thought. I didn’t think I’d get any answers here, and I should probably focus on the situation. I wouldn’t be much of anything if I died from this poison.

We continued walking in silence. I began to feel a bit tired, and my legs were starting to burn. That shouldn’t happen already, but with my qi blockaded or under attack by the poison, I clearly couldn’t rely on it to help me. I was still feeling sick, and I knew I couldn’t do strenuous physical activity. Like fighting.

‘We won’t be walking for much longer,’ Mior said.

Suddenly, I felt a bit of apprehension. ‘Have I passed your tests?’

They slowed down and turned to face me. ‘Have you learned nothing from what you’ve seen here?’

I crossed my arms. ‘You know, I can’t tell if you genuinely dislike me or are just trying to prod and challenge me.’

The spirit frowned, mirroring my gesture. ‘What reason would I have to do that?’

I shrugged. ‘You think I’d be a bad ruler? Or want me to accept it?’

‘How do you imagine you would be a good ruler?’ The spirit’s tone was challenging. ‘Look at you, Hidden Light. Sociopathic tendencies, a brilliant mind you can’t seem to make the most of, reckless impulses, almost as if you were careless with this life now that you know about reincarnation. Would you trust an Empire to yourself?’

They turned back and continued walking, while I processed this in silence for a moment, trying to figure out their goals.

‘You got me,’ I admitted with a wry smile. ‘Sociopathic tendencies? Not much I can say. A brilliant mind? Why, thank you. Impulsiveness? I’d argue that’s not an inherently bad thing for a ruler, much like sociopathic tendencies, if you control them well. I just need to grow it into decisiveness. After all, we’re talking about potential. Of course I’m not suited to ruling now.’

I paused for a moment, and considered what they’d said more deeply, trying to search my own feelings. ‘Maybe I did treat this as a game in some way, but I was reincarnated into a world straight out of stories.’ And maybe a small part of me did hope that dying might bring me back to my old life, but I wasn’t honestly sure if that was the case.

‘Aren’t you being arrogant now?’ the spirit questioned.

I considered for a moment, then shook my head. ‘No, I don’t think so. But yeah, I guess I’ve come to accept this more. I suppose I should thank you.’

The spirit smiled, and their tone was much more relaxed as they answered. ‘You are welcome. Now, we are almost there.’

I suspected I knew what they’d tried. Attacking me and getting me defensive about it, trying to verbalize positive feelings about my purpose. After all, our opinions were malleable, and, especially for things we were unsure of, could be influenced by what we actually said. If we asked ourselves what we believed, even subconsciously, prior behavior like that served as indicators.

Finally, there was some break to the endless monotony of our surroundings. The qi mist seemed to lighten, and what might have been air currents developed, moving it around. At the same time, the ground sloped upwards. I huffed and pumped my legs harder, fighting against a slight dizziness again. To our sides, the ground rose even more sharply, breaking its smoothness with bulges and cracks. The silence surrounding us retreated as our feet striking the ground thudded alongside faint whisperings of wind.

We emerged on a mountaintop. I paused, taking a deep breath as I looked at the scenery. It wasn’t the highest peak around. In fact, higher ones rose around us in many directions, although I could also look down on other mountains. The ground under my feet was gently sloped, but mostly even rock, stretching for maybe thirty meters. On the other side, there was a small area elevated even higher.

If I squinted, I could make out what might be the place I started from, down the mountain, though I wasn’t sure. But we were definitely higher up than we should be, considering my path. I hadn’t walked uphill for nearly long enough. Probably something with the spirits’ qi place.

“What now?” I asked. My voice didn’t disappear into the surroundings as much as before, although there was still a lot of qi in the air. I knew we were still within the influence of that place, at least. Maybe all of this was still part of it.

‘Now, Little Light, you need to make a choice.’ The spirit gestured to the rocky area ahead of us.

I squinted, wondering what was up. Then I noticed the qi accumulating there. After a few moments, it started to glow in my mundane vision, as well. A circle formed there, hanging over the ground, maybe two meters in diameter. Big enough for a person to walk through. It was made of swirling shadows and vines of light, but its inside filled with smoky qi. I couldn’t tell what lay beyond that, if anything.

“Looks like a portal. I don’t suppose I can choose where to go?”

The spirit gave me a stern look, impressive considering its face was so insubstantial. They released a whistling sigh. ‘You can choose to go through it and emerge in the place of your old life, your Earth.’

My thoughts came to a crashing halt. I stared at Mior for a moment, before shaking my head to try and clear it. Could I really go back?

‘How do I know you’re telling the truth?’

‘Do you really need to be sure? Wouldn’t it be a chance worth taking? What do you have to lose?’

I didn’t point out that it was obviously a test. Even just the possibility of going back should lure me in. All the practical details, like if I could get my old body back, didn’t really matter, either.

For a moment, I allowed myself to consider it. I thought about my family, my friends, everything I’d missed about Earth. But my thoughts also turned to the people I cared about in this life. Al, Tenira. Plus everything else about this world, and what we’d just discussed about myself.

“I can’t,” I said, feeling a cold shiver trace down my spine. “Even if I wanted to. That would be abandoning everything. There’s so much I could do here, so much good I could bring to these people. I have a moral duty to at least try.”

It wasn’t like I’d have problems letting other people suffer if it didn’t affect me or people I cared about, inherently. But I had morals, largely self-imposed or not. I’d never felt their weight as keenly.

The spirit nodded. ‘You are sure?’

“Yes.” I gathered some darkness qi, coaxing it out through my meridians and wrestling it into shape, before I threw it onto the portal. It started to flicker and bend, and the spirit gestured, pulling its qi apart. With a flashing light, the portal disappeared, melting back into the surroundings.

I sighed. It felt good to at least have come to a decision. I needed to accept who I am? I’m Leri Inaris, Imperial Princess. And this world better watch out.

Before I could say anything else, I felt another accumulation of qi. This one had a slightly different flavor, one that made the back of my neck prickle. I watched as qi started swirling behind where the portal had been, a few meters away from me. A presence emerged from it. The pressure of a vast power, too big to grasp and too alien to truly understand, bore down on me. But it didn’t force me to my knees or steal my breathing. Even as I felt a tingle in my qi senses sweeping over me.

The world seemed to darken, lit only by sparkles of light from the qi. Then the dark mass pulled apart a little, revealing a figure coalescing in its middle. I sucked in a breath. It was a man wearing a featureless white robe, with qi burning out from him.

He had blond hair, fair skin, and blue eyes, giving him a faint resemblance to Carston. I knew that was intentional, that this was the form my father must have taken nineteen years ago. But that was a distant thought, as I stood staring at him, transfixed.

Our eyes met for a moment that stretched into an eternity. Something in them pulled at me with the intensity of the tide. I seemed to glimpse a vastness contained in them, shadows stretching over a haze of light. At the same time, I grew aware of my qi crying out, as something started to touch it.

The Greater Spirit of the Moon, my father, inclined his head, giving me a nod. Then the shadows around us seemed to lighten, as his form faded into the surrounding qi.

But I couldn’t spare my surroundings any attention, as more qi started pressing into me. My own almost seemed to vibrate as it connected with something beyond. I gasped as I felt power flowing into me.

It took an effort of will to close my eyes and focus on my breathing, then on the qi coming in. I cycled it, guiding it through my meridians, trying not to let the powerful tide rage out of control.

It felt like I had to ride a horse grown wild, trying to hang on and guide it to stay on the road. I wasn’t the one driving this process, I could only keep up and make use of it. So I did my best. I pushed the qi into my meridians, sensing it go further and spread out through my body. I swirled it around in my core, spinning light and darkness in parallel, and cramming more qi into it. At some point, the qi rose too far to be contained, so I pushed down on it, compacted it, and let my dantian expand. I sensed a small barrier shattered by the qi flowing through me.

The flow in my channels picked up debris and pushed it out, but alongside it, I felt something else swept away by my qi. Something vile and slimy, clinging to my channels, now forced out. I coughed and hacked to expel any trace of the contamination. With it gone, more of the new qi spread through my body, sinking into every part of me, until I couldn’t distinguish it anymore. At the same time, the fire in my dantian quieted, as it settled into a stability once again, light and darkness qi spinning around each other in one smooth motion.

Finally, I opened my eyes again, blinking in disorientation. The mountaintop had changed, seeming paler and more ephemeral than before.

Mior laid a hand on my arm. ‘Come.’

Still trying to adjust to the breakthrough, I let them pull me to my feet. I closed my eyes against another surge of dizziness, stumbling a few steps forward as they pulled me.

Then, the mist of qi around us receded, showing that we stood at the foot of the peak, in a small rocky plain below the spirits’ place. The sun shone down on us brilliantly, and the air tasted fresh and clear.

I couldn’t help but grin. I was still riding the wave of qi, and I felt amazing.

57: Setting expectations

It took a moment for me to settle and try to process what had happened. I now stood on the lower outskirts of the qi-soaked place I’d gone through, feeling the wind howling through the mountains and tousling my hair. My senses were sharper than they’d ever been.

I took a few steps forward, feeling the strength in my limbs. I’d definitely broken through to the middle part of the fourth stage. But there was more to it. I still felt a connection to something beyond myself. Less like a solid line of qi, more like an echo. I knew I’d awakened my bloodline, a connection to the Moon.

I turned around and looked at Mior, then past them to other spirits. I could sense their presence much more clearly now, and had a better grasp of their power. It was as if someone had augmented my qi senses with a special module for spirits.

‘Our work here is done,’ Mior said. ‘I wish you luck on your continued journey.’

‘Thank you.’ I said, then hesitated. ‘The portal you showed me, that was false, wasn’t it? Just a test?’

They met my gaze, silent for a moment. ‘It was a lie.’

Then the spirit turned away and vanished into the gloom of the qi place. I looked after them for a bit, until their presence seemed to blur, before I turned around. Squaring my shoulders, I started the way down. It wouldn’t take long. I was close to where Mother had accompanied me to, although she wasn’t here now.

Experimentally, I poked at the qi around me, and took a closer look at my own channels and core. It felt like something about them had shifted, although I had trouble pinning down any change. For a moment, I paused, closed my eyes, and pulled in some qi, circling it through my body. The sun sent enough light down to be a good source, and the rocky walls cast enough shadow, as well.

I had no trouble controlling qi, the effects of the poison clearly dispelled completely. In fact, it felt like there was a small improvement. I frowned, considering my experiences. I suspected the bloodline had increased my affinity for light and darkness qi.

Well, I would have loved another cheat ability, but a cultivation improvement is nothing to scoff at. And unless I miss my guess, there’s even more to this bloodline that I haven’t realized or discovered yet.

There was a spring in my step as I continued on my way down the mountain. I felt lighter, not just because of my improved health and condition. Although being able to breathe freely once more showed I’d barely realized how much the poison had affected me. And I felt like a weight had been lifted from my soul.

Plus, my father is badass, and he doesn’t seem that bad, really. Although, would it have killed him to say ‘hello’, instead of going for drama? I shook my head at the thought, reminding myself that spirits were spirits and I shouldn’t make assumptions.

My high spirits were dampened a bit when I saw the first human figure. From their aura, probably a guard. It didn’t take me long to spot others. They must have spread themselves over the area to secure it. My path didn’t take me directly by any of them, and I didn’t deviate from it. I caught the eyes of a few of them, who bowed but didn’t change their positions.

It wasn’t long until the valley I followed led onto the hilltop where I’d left Al and the others. While it had been morning then, judging from the sun’s position, almost half a day had passed. It was already casting long shadows and would soon touch the horizon. Someone had brought or created a table and armchair for Al, who was sitting there and working on something, probably homework, with a distracted air. Kariva stood a few meters apart, hands clasped behind her back and still as a statue. She probably knew where I was right away. Mother was pacing slowly a few meters beside them, looking out into the lower parts of the mountains and the plains beyond.

All of them looked up as I approached. A wide smile spread over Al’s face and he jumped up. Even Mother’s expression seemed to relax a little.

“Surprise,” I said, smiling. “I’m still alive.”

This time, I was prepared for Al, and caught him in a hug before he could do it to me. “Thanks for supporting me,” I said quietly and ruffled his hair.

He stepped back, smoothing his hair out and sending me a playful glare. “Stop that, Nari. But I’m glad you’re back. Have you awakened your bloodline?”

I nodded, glancing at Mother. “Yes, it seems so. I’m sure the poison is gone, too.”

She, too, smiled at me and stepped closer, although she stopped before she came too close. “That’s great news, Nari.”

I nodded at her, then continued walking, passing her as I headed to the airship still sitting in the shadows of a rocky slope. I heard her stifle a sigh, but didn’t turn to look at her. I may have accepted my life and everything, but I still felt some resentment towards her. Couldn’t she have at least told me that earlier, instead of waiting so long?

Although, I guess I wouldn’t want to grow up with that kind of expectation hanging over me. Being her heir was probably bad enough.

I stopped beside the airship and waited for the guards to jump to and get it ready for departure. We’d already wasted enough time here.

“Impatient to get back?” Al asked, stepping beside me.

“There’s lots to do,” I said, shrugging. “And besides, I want to see Little An. I’m sure she’s missed me.”

The guards only needed a few moments before they let me and Al into the airship. I looked back, noting that Mother’s qi signature was already traveling away. Kariva strolled into the airship with us, and the door closed behind her.

“Can’t you stay a little longer, Big Sister Nari?” Xiaodan asked, giving me her patented puppy dog eyes.

I shook my head, smiling. I didn’t point out that I’d already spent the rest of yesterday evening and a few hours today morning with her, talking, playing chess, and haunting the palace courtyards. “I really need to get back to work and get you back to your training,” I said. “But how about I walk down to the training courtyard with you?”

Xiaodan made a face, but agreed. So we set off. As we stepped from her room into the corridor, I couldn’t help but glance at the guards. Many of them were new faces that I had only seen in passing, if at all. My main guards still hadn’t been released from interrogation. I felt a little uneasy about that, but I knew I shouldn’t interfere with what Kariva and her agents thought best. I had faith that they wouldn’t go overboard. If not in Kariva’s temperance, then in Mother’s orders.

We made our way down to the building’s side entrance quickly. Xiaodan stayed close, but at least she didn’t cling. On the way, we continued chatting, mostly about her studies and what went on in the palace. It was a little humbling to realize an eight-year-old was better informed than me, although I’d take what she said with a grain of salt.

We met a few other people on the way, most of them of high status. They made way for us and bowed. I noticed a difference in the way they looked at me, compared to before the war. Although it was subtle and might just be my imagination. Or just Xiaodan’s presence. Everyone seemed to love her.

As we stepped out of the palace, I smelled the hint of rain in the air and glanced upwards at the gathering clouds. It might rain soon. But Xiaodan’s training would continue anyway, and it wasn’t like rain bothered me. It didn’t take us long to reach the training courtyard. A few other kids Xiaodan’s age were already there, as well as a few trainers. The latter were a little more discreet in staring at me than the former, as they all bowed.

“Welcome, my princesses,” Ling Ta said, materializing beside us. “Princess Inaris, it’s good to see you again.”

I inclined my head. “Teacher. I know I haven’t come here as often as I could have.” Then I gently pushed Xiaodan towards the others. “Come on, Little An, go join the rest. Good luck.”

In front of her friends, Xiaodan didn’t make a fuss, but went over to join them and started talking animatedly. The trainers got the kids to start running laps.

“I wanted to talk to you, Teacher,” I said. If I was already here, I might as well make use of it. And for the sort of information I wanted to know, asking him was probably a good idea.

We started walking away from the class, only the guards accompanying us in a wide perimeter. Ling Ta didn’t acknowledge them at all, and they gave me enough space for the illusion of privacy.

“What can I help you with?” he asked.

“I’d like to know more about the children of spirits.”

He nodded thoughtfully. “Spirit-children are a relatively rare group, but far from unheard of. In general, it’s similar to people descended from spirit-beasts, in that in practice, it means having a special constitution or bloodline talent.”

“Just how rare, and how does it work?” I asked. We were now taking a corner into a path between several courtyards, lined with trees and flower bushes. I couldn’t sense anyone else within a few hundred meters, other than the training group.

“I don’t think there are robust statistical numbers,” he replied thoughtfully. “Although there have been historical mentions going back to before the Empire’s founding. Almost all cases happen on the mother’s initiative, as part of a bargain. Because it’s usually a human mother, for obvious reasons.”

I nodded. “I heard spirits don’t really have a gender, but many of, say, the Greater Spirits are still referred to as ‘he’ or ‘she’?”

“That’s true.” He shrugged. “Best as I can tell, it’s because humans have a tendency to classify things in familiar categories. The spirits then accept it and to some extent accommodate those beliefs. Unsurprisingly, any well-known spirit who has legends about them fathering children is seen as male. And similarly, though less often, spirits birthing children as female.”

“I see.” That’s a little messed up if you think about it. Another instance of qi conforming to people’s beliefs and concepts? I shook my head. “Why do people do this?”

Ling Ta shrugged. “The same reason some people may seek out a powerful cultivator to have children with, I assume. With powerful spirits, it’s almost assured the child will have a strong cultivation. And while there won’t be support from the father, there’s also less chance of him interfering or trying to take the child for himself.”

Well, if that doesn’t describe why Mother did this. I grimaced. “Makes sense, I suppose. How powerful are these spirits, or their children? Would you still be able to defeat one like a normal cultivator?”

Ling Ta raised an eyebrow. “Well, the spirits are usually about as strong as people in the higher stages. The records even have spirit-children of Greater Spirits, although those are rare. If there’s someone you’re concerned about, there’s no reason to panic. Spirit-children might have some innate advantages, but no more than other people with high talent, really.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

I knew my aura had changed, although I wasn’t sure how much. I didn’t know if Ling Ta hadn’t noticed or connected the dots, or if he was just being polite and pretended not to. I guess it doesn’t matter. It’s probably going to be common knowledge eventually. Or at least common rumor.

“Are you going to come to me for training at all?” he asked, a wry smile on his lips.

I scratched my cheek, embarrassed. “I will, of course. I’m just busy right now. With the end of the war, and I need to get caught up with the team’s projects.”

“No need to justify yourself, my lady,” he said. “Good luck with your work.” He bowed.

But I barely noticed him leaving, my attention captured by a new presence moving through the courtyard. I started walking away, then slowed down as I got a better look at her. Tia Yarani didn’t seem to notice my presence, absorbed in watching the scenery as she walked towards one of the parks.

I hesitated, then started moving in the other direction, towards the labs. I really had a lot to do here. But if I stopped for every distraction, I’d never get to the lab. And I needed to at least talk to Tenira and Lei.

58: Details

“Coming in,” Lei yelled.

I ducked my head out of reflex, then looked up. A black spot fell from the sky, quickly coming close enough that I could make out all the details of the small flier. It was an unmanned model, only about a meter long and controlled by qi formations. The noon sun shone off its black finish.

Then the flier released its payload, which impacted the grass with a bang, the explosion digging into the ground. I blinked against the dust it raised, but it had clearly fallen a few meters outside of the circle we’d drawn. That was mostly destroyed now.

“Not bad,” I said, looking over to Lei. “But we definitely need to work on the precision.”

He was walking towards me, looking at the testing ground. “Yes, you’re right. This could be the difference between hitting an enemy qi shield or not.”

I sighed and glanced away. I’d never been a supporter of arms buildups, or pouring money into military research and development when there were other areas in dire need of it. But we’d be fools not to take steps with how things stood with the Zarian Dominion. Hopefully, if we could overhaul our military technology drastically enough, we could deter them. And it wasn’t like this had no civilian applications.

“Now we just need the manned planes to work as well,” Tenira said, pulling a hairclip out and shaking out her hair.

I combed my own hair out with my fingers and nodded. “Yeah, this whole thing isn’t worth as much without long-range capability. But as long as our other projects are working out, I’m content.”

Lei grinned. “I can’t wait to get the radio ready for production. Now we just need to get a few more tests done. Long-range and stress tests.”

“Maybe Inaris could call her father,” Tenira joked.

Lei chuckled while I shook my head, but I couldn’t help the smile on my face. I’d told both of them what I’d learned, of course, and except for the occasional teasing they didn’t seem to care. That was nice.

“Wait,” Lei said, suddenly serious. “Is that Aston?”

I followed his gaze and saw a familiar figure walking towards us. My heartrate accelerated and I couldn’t help but smile. With Tenira and Lei behind me, I went to meet him.

Aston bowed. “Your Highness, this one is reporting for duty.”

“Good to see you back and cleared,” Tenira said, smiling.

Lei nodded in agreement, smiling as well. “Welcome back.”

Then Tenira tugged at Lei’s sleeve. “Come on, let’s take a closer look at the model.”

I started walking in the other direction, with him following. Guards surrounded us in a wide perimeter, most of them still new faces. But I took a closer look at Aston. He looked pale and drawn, like he’d lost a few kilos. That wouldn’t normally happen to high-level cultivators in a few days.

“It’s good to see you again, Aston,” I finally said. I didn’t mention my observations. He might not appreciate it, and I didn’t want to put him in an awkward position.

Aston bowed down again. “My princess, I humbly apologize for my failure to discover the traitor and prevent him from getting to you. I swear I will not fail you again.” He held the position, looking at the ground.

I sighed. “Rise, Aston. You’re too formal sometimes. I’m sure if you were responsible, Kariva wouldn’t let you get back on duty. Besides, the backing he had isn’t the sort I could expect you to take on.”

Aston straightened up and nodded, his face set in a serious expression.

At that point, we were interrupted by another guard, who approached me and bowed. “Your Highness, Her Majesty requires your presence. You are to meet her on the terrace.”

I stifled a sigh, but nodded. “Let’s go. Would someone inform the others?”

I moved quickly, though of course the guards kept up without any problem. We’d set up the testing field a few hundred meters away from the palace proper, but I reached it in a few seconds. As always, I headed for the side entrance. Few people were around, though I could feel all of their positions easily. I hurried up the stairs and nodded in response to the bows I got. At this point, I’d become so used to them I barely noticed it anymore.

More guards were stationed at the entrance to Mother’s private area, but they stepped aside for us. At the door out onto the rooftop terrace, I stopped and looked back at my guards. “Give us privacy, please.”

Then I went outside. It was a nice day, with a lot of light and qi coming from the sun, despite a cold breeze. Mother was sitting at a large table with several documents on it. She looked up as I entered. I bowed. “Mother.”

She pulled out a chair for me with her qi. “Inaris, please sit down. Kariva, you really should make yourself noticeable.”

My attention turned to the other side of the table, where the veil of qi lifted and Kariva’s figure became visible. She inclined her head, a slight smile on her lips. I kept a blank expression as I sat down.

Mother tapped a few documents on the desk. “We’re just sorting out the aftermath of the war, and could use your input.”

I nodded, picking up a few papers and glancing through them. “How are we handling the Zarian involvement?”

Mother grimaced. “Our options are limited. I would prefer not to escalate the situation any further. We’d rather not have a war. And unfortunately, we have no hard proof. So, we’re concentrating our efforts on the Zarieni for the moment. If we can fan the tension between the tribes and the Dominion, that would be good.”

“Perhaps even a steppingstone for some further retaliation,” Kariva added. “We’re also trying to expand our network in the Zarian Dominion and looking for opportunities to take discreet action there. They’re a little short on disaffected groups with any strength, though.”

This sounded like the cold war was heating up. Not that I disagreed with their efforts, especially since we needed information. “Sounds good. And the south?”

“The affected areas are recovering as well as can be expected,” Mother said with a serious expression. “It will take a few years, of course. But the economic hubs of the southern continent are going strong. We’ve increased the forces at the border, and are working on larger plans to expand our defenses. You’ll be asked for input for that, as well. We’ll have a meeting with the military soon.”

Mother paused, and smiled slightly. “In other news, Blue Valley City is planning to build a monumental statue of you to commemorate the victory. From what I’ve heard, they had the impression you don’t like them and want to turn that around.”

“What. Really?”

“Apparently,” Kariva said, “the major wanted to build you a palace but couldn’t get the budget.”

I groaned. I guess in different worlds, the more things change, the more they stay the same. “Well, you can tell them I’ll only approve if they build a memorial to the victims of the war.”

Mother smiled, but instead of replying, she looked through a few other papers.

For the next ten minutes, we went more into detail on the aftermath of the war. I learned a few numbers and made a few suggestions, although it felt more like a briefing. Or like Mother just wanted to make a point to include me.

“We’re also looking to improve our relationship with other countries,” Mother said. “We’ve got an interesting offer from the Kingdom of Terbekteri. An extensive trade agreement sprinkled with a non-aggression pact and a few other goodies. And they propose to seal the deal with a royal marriage. Apparently, the King wants a bride from our clan’s scions for the favorite nephew, and you’d get the tenth son.”

I sputtered in surprise. “No. You’re not seriously suggesting this?”

Mother chuckled. “I thought I’d mention it in case you like the idea of marrying a dashing prince. He is supposed to be kind and handsome.”

I shook my head. “I’m sure we can arrange this alliance another way.”

Kariva nodded. “Hopefully. We’d want to push for at least a promise of military aid of some kind, for times of war. We should find someone halfway talented among the Leri clan who’d like to marry a foreign prince and go to the kingdom with that kind of position.”

I rolled my eyes, but didn’t comment on it. I knew marriage alliances were common on Earth back in the day, maybe even today for some people. Actually, if news of my bloodline gets out, I might get more offers like this.

I looked for another paper and sighed. “I should have realized something sooner. The number of shrines to the Moon doubled in the last few decades. I never asked why you’d build so many of them.”

Mother shrugged. “To be fair, my mother started promoting his worship. It fits with our affinities.”

I knew that was to be expected, but it still felt odd. Like politics out of antiquity mixed with more modern considerations.

Kariva stood up. “With your leave, I’ll return to my work.”

Mother nodded in response, and Kariva left quickly, leaving the two of us alone. I shifted in my seat, a little thrown off by this.

After a moment of silence, Mother straightened up and looked me squarely in the eyes. “I’m glad you’re back safely and with your bloodline awakened, Nari. I should have said this before, but … I’m sorry that you had to go through this, that I wasn’t quick enough to stop you from being poisoned or react at once.”

I sighed. I was still feeling a little resentful over what she’d told me, and the fact that she hadn’t done it sooner. Even though I knew I shouldn’t hold a grudge. “Thanks. Were you working in the palace?”

She nodded. “Sort of. I was distracted by a spirit. It was only when I tried to check on you that I realized something was up.”

I sat up straighter. “By a spirit?”

“Yes. They approached me for a conversation.”

I rubbed my temple. “From what I’ve learned in that place, that’s probably not an accident. It seems there’s at least one powerful spirit who has it in for me.” I paused and narrowed my eyes at her. “You brought me into quite the situation. Do you even know about that?”

Mother grimaced. “Somewhat. I’m sorry for this. It’s the reason I tried to keep your parentage quiet, for fear you might be drawn into the spirits’ affairs. But I didn’t think it would be such an issue regarding humans.”

“Well, there’s your bargain,” I pointed out, frowning in thought. “And Carston. He told the Zarian something about me, right? Almost certainly who my father is and that I was made to be a great ruler of the Empire or something. They probably feel threatened. And if some spirit meddled the way they did with Kei Weriga …”

Mother nodded, her face grim. “That was my thought as well.” She started twirling a line of light on her fingers, obviously in thought. “Did you meet someone who looked like an old warrior, male with long hair and a narrow nose?” A bit more qi from her formed an image of the spirit who’d confronted me.

“Yeah. You know who that is?”

“They call him ‘The Pioneer’. He’s powerful, almost at the level of a Greater Spirit. I probably couldn’t beat him. He’s a spirit, I assume, who’s been known for a few millennia if I read the records right. An ally, servant, vassal, or something like that to the Greater Spirit Jideia.”

I frowned again. This really doesn’t sound good. Like there’s an organization to this, people with a plan and a grudge, or some other reason to go after me.

I stood up and started pacing, trying to work out what I should do about this. But I just didn’t have enough information. It was probably best to concentrate on worldly matters and trust my father to handle his own business, along with taking some defensive measures.

“Actually,” Mother said after a minute of silence. “Have you figured out the details of your new bloodline yet?”

I stopped and turned to her. “Not entirely. I’ve got increased affinity to light and darkness qi, and my cultivation is going faster. I can feel spirits better … even the ones hanging around the palace occasionally.” I shrugged and turned to face to the southwest, where I could just make out a minor spirit scurrying through a courtyard. “At least they’re discreet.”

Mother chuckled. “We have some defenses, don’t worry.”

I nodded absently. “Besides that, well … do you have a bracelet? A tight one?”

She raised an eyebrow, then took something from her storage and tossed it to me. A simple golden band with an elaborate clasp, a bit of qi woven into it.

I nodded and slipped it on, closing the clasp tightly. It fit snugly to my wrist, directly behind my hand. “Watch,” I said.

Then I shook my hand. I focused on my sensation of it, and the qi woven throughout it like the rest of my body. It took a few moments, before the bracelet slid over my hand and I caught it in my left one.

I shook out my hand and looked closely. It didn’t seem any different, as if it hadn’t turned narrow enough to get the thing off for a second.

Mother whistled. “Impressive, if that’s what I think it is.”

I returned to her and took my seat again. “Some kind of lesser shapeshifting ability, I assume. It’s going to need a lot of practice.” I shrugged and couldn’t help a bit of pride in my tone despite that caveat. “I guess it makes sense, if I’m half-spirit, that I may inherit some of their changeable nature.”

Mother leaned back, smiling. “It’s a nice surprise.”

I nodded and fell silent for a moment. It wasn’t easy to use this ability, but it had improved with practice even in the short timeframe I’d experimented with it. I knew it was limited, the way the qi interlaced through my body made me feel that. But there was still a lot of potential. I may be limited to humanoid form, but I had a feeling I’d be able to make extra organs or limbs.

For a few minutes, we sat there, enjoying the sun. Or appearing to. I still felt tense.

“Actually, Mother,” I said as something occurred to me. “Can you tell me about the white stage?”

Mother blinked, then smiled slowly. “Of course. It’s the stage after the eighth, or black, stage. Not much is known, and many people think it’s a myth. But it’s real, just different from the previous stages. Reaching it is a true ascension. Becoming an Immortal. People who’ve reached it generally leave the mortal world behind. They become different kinds of beings, something close to spirits. If they’re rulers, they give up their positions. I assume it’s an agreement. Otherwise, it would be far too easy for someone to conquer all their rivals, right?”

I shook my head at myself. I should have asked about this earlier. Well, at least she was in a helpful mood right now.

“Is that why you want me to reach the eighth stage so quickly?” I asked. “There’s no way you don’t want to ascend.”

Mother grinned. “I guess you’ve seen through me. Yes, that’s part of the reason. The white stage is different. Technically, you don’t even need to be at the peak of the black stage to reach it, if you believe the records. But it’s very rare, and no one really knows how exactly to do it.”

“Well, I guess I just got a new long-term goal,” I said, tapping my fingers on the armrest.

She cocked her head a little. “I was wondering if you’d want that.”

I shrugged and stood up from the chair, stretching my arms. I haven’t been sure before, but … no, I don’t want to lose myself in some way.

“I’ve died once. I have no desire to do it again.”

59: The next level

I took a quick look around the corridor before knocking on the door in front of me. The only people were in the few pictures hung on the wood-paneled walls, except for a few guards. Those had been following me around constantly, of course, but they kept their distance. It was quiet, with only faint sounds from the rest of the apartments in the building. We were only one floor down from my own quarters.

“Come in!”

I opened the door and stepped inside, taking a quick look around. The apartment was furnished very nicely. The sitting room we entered held several comfortable chairs, a divan, and small tables, all of it done in expensive wood. It looked the same as for my last visits. But this time, Tia Yarani stood close to one of the tables, obviously just coming out of her bedroom.

She inclined her head and smiled broadly. “Inaris. It’s so nice to see you.”

I took a step inside. “Thanks. This time, the guards should give us a bit more privacy.” I shot a meaningful look at Aston.

He bowed and withdrew into an adjacent chamber. The rest of the guards took position outside. I knew they would still be checking on us, but at least it didn’t feel like we were chaperoned as much.

Tia Yarani leaned against an armchair, raising an eyebrow. “Oh? Did something happen?”

“The guards finally finished their background check on you,” I explained, smiling genuinely at the news. It was more Kariva than the guard in the end, but whatever. “There were no issues and no suspicions.”

She returned my smile. “I’m glad to hear that, of course.”

I stepped closer, taking her in. It seemed like she was dressing more risqué lately. This tight dress certainly didn’t leave her curves to the imagination. Not that I minded, of course. It was good she seemed to be settling in.

“Did you have anything planned for this evening?” she asked.

I leaned against one of the tables, trailing my finger across it idly. We’d talked quite a bit over the last few weeks, played a few games, and gone into the palace gardens. The palace rumor mongers would probably be shocked if they knew we still hadn’t done anything more. Well, I’d stolen a kiss two days ago. The memory made me smile again.

I was trying not to give the impression I was pressuring her, but she certainly didn’t seem to mind.

“First of all, I had a gift for you,” I said. With a flick of my hand, I took it from my spatial ring and held it up.

I owned a lot of jewelry, although I never wore anything that wasn’t enchanted, and not even much of that. The necklace I held wasn’t something I’d use myself. It was made from gold and silver, with intricate details and a few small stones set in. The gemstone in the center was a warm amber color that matched her eyes quite well.

Maybe I didn’t need to act like I was courting her, but I figured showing some attention like that couldn’t hurt. Besides, I wanted to see what she’d look like with it.

“It’s beautiful,” she replied. “Why don’t you put it on me?”

Well, I should have seen that one coming. I stepped up to Tia Yarani, who was lifting her hair off her neck. A little hesitantly, I put the necklace around it and fumbled with the clasp. She wore perfume, judging by the fresh scent I inhaled more of now. I wouldn’t have associated that with the soldier I first met, but it suited her. I brushed my hand against her neck as I closed the necklace, and she shivered slightly.

I took a step back, breathing out. Since I’d come back from awakening my bloodline, I hadn’t had much of a problem with my self-control. But now I had to remind myself I should step lightly.

“You look great,” I said. “It brings out your pretty eyes.”

Tia Yarani glanced at the mirror hanging in one corner of the room, but turned back to me quickly. “Thank you.”

I looked out the window for a moment. The sun was vanishing behind the horizon, with night setting in. “Anything you’d like to do?” I asked. “I don’t have much time, but maybe I could show you around the palace a bit more.”

She hesitated, then visibly took a deep breath. “Actually, I wanted to ask you about something, if you’ll allow me.”

I froze. “Of course, always.”

“I wanted to know what you expect of me. What I’m supposed to do.”

I scratched at my cheek. “There’s lots of things you could do, if you want to occupy yourself. Art, maybe. Or crafting. The palace has a lot of facilities and people who could help you. Or you could even involve yourself with politics or administration. We’d need to sort something out. But you’re free to pursue whatever you like, as far as I’m concerned.”

“Thank you.” She smiled, but there was still a bit of tension in it. “That’s good to know, but not quite what I meant.”

I had to stop myself from playing with my sleeves nervously. “Yes?”

“My lady … what are your intentions with me?” She looked up at me through her eyelashes.

I laughed a little. Wow, this is awkward. “Well, you are my concubine or consort or whatever they call it … right?”

She raised her head, straightening up, and a bit of fire returned to her gaze. “But you’ve never wanted me.”

I blinked, then met her gaze squarely. Okay, stop being an idiot teenager, I told myself.

“I definitely want you,” I assured her, my voice firm, letting a bit of the heat I felt seep in. “I’ve had the urge to take you to my bedroom every time I’ve seen you. To see what you look like in the heat of the moment, to make you cry my name.” I took a step closer. “To be honest, I’ve been looking forward to that a lot. But like I told you, I don’t want you to be pressured. Instead, I’m taking my time, getting to know you, and hopefully building a bit of trust.”

Tia Yarani shook her head, a wry smile on her lips. “It might have been better if you’d told me that.”

I shrugged. “Well, I’ve told you now.”

She took a step forward as well, until we stood close together. “Perhaps you’d consider skipping ahead a little?” she murmured, raising an eyebrow. “You’re not the only one who’s been feeling frustrated, Inaris.”

I blinked. That’s pretty clear, right? Maybe I have been an idiot, but I’d say that’s trust built.

“Alright,” I said, grinning at her. “Since you’re asking nicely.” I put a hand to her head and pulled her in for a kiss.

After that, it didn’t take long until we ended up in her bedroom, and I took it from there.

I leaned back into my beach chair and enjoyed the warmth of the sun on my face. It was a pale imitation of the real thing, just like everything else in my dream. But what else could I do?

Ever since I awakened my bloodline, I’d been unable to dream normally, or even what had been normal for me before. Instead, it was always alert, lucid dreaming, with total control over my dream and perfect recall of everything later. I was pretty sure I could also influence other people’s dreams. It was easy enough to find them. But none of the people I’d be tempted to peek on were asleep right now. So I’d made myself a nice beach scene and tried to relax.

Well, except for the woman sleeping beside me. I’d taken a peek at her mind, enough to know she had pleasant dreams, but not any details.

I glanced up at the palm waving its fronds in the gentle wind, echoing the sound of the surf. It didn’t feel quite real.

I knew the Moon was associated with dreaming, I thought with a mental pout. Should have been a clue. But this is a little annoying. At least less useful than you might think.

I was just considering getting up when I felt my body stirred awake in the real world. Someone was knocking on the door of the apartment, and flaring their qi. My dream shattered, and I blinked, sitting up.

It only took me a moment to recognize Tenira’s presence. I flinched, before I reminded myself that I had nothing to be ashamed of. So what if I slept in the bed of my new mistress?

Still, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy as I quickly got up and located my clothes. They were scattered over the chair at my side of the bed, but at least their enchantments meant they would look good. I quickly got dressed. As I belted the robe, I glanced out the window. It was early morning, the sky just brightening with pre-dawn light.

I’d thought I’d be out of here hours ago. I must have been more tired than I thought.

“Going already?”

I turned to see Yarani still in bed, one hand propping up her chin. I shrugged and gave her an apologetic look. “Sorry.”

She smiled and shook her head lightly. “I understand. You’re a busy woman.”

I really was. Between cultivation and research work, it was already a good thing I didn’t need much sleep. I’d also kept my promise to Ling Ta and trained with him a few times. Then there were Mother and the political meetings she called me to. Maybe I needed this little break.

I smiled at her, then turned around and quickly crossed the bedroom and her sitting room. A guard was waiting by the door and pulled it open for me. I smoothed out my robe and went into the corridor.

“I hope you don’t mind me coming to get you,” Tenira said, straightening up from where she was leaning against the wall. There was a small crease between her eyebrows. “I figured you might forget.”

“Of course not,” I hastened to assure her. “Let’s go. Seems like we still have plenty of time before the meeting.”

We started walking at a casual pace, while I took out a comb from my storage ring and tried to get my tangled hair in order. I probably had enough time to call a servant and get a better style and some makeup done, but I didn’t want to bother.

“Do you know what Mother wants?” I asked to break the silence.

“Probably just to discuss how our projects are going,” Tenira answered. “Why else would she invite me, Lei, and the chief engineers, but not many other people?”

I shook my head. “One of these days, I’ll discover how people find out these things.”

“Don’t worry,” she grinned. “That’s what you have me to help you with.”

I turned serious again quickly. I hadn’t been alone with Mother since I’d shown her my shapeshifting, and we’d kept our conversations to business, but my emotions were still a little unsettled thinking about her.

“Is everything alright between you two?” Tenira asked. “I don’t mean to pry, but you seem a little tense every time you’re to meet her.”

I sighed and scratched my cheek. “I guess. You know what happened, I’m still a little bit upset.”

Tenira raised an eyebrow. “But didn’t you say you understood what she did?”

“I do. This is more about our relationship.” I frowned and shook my head. “I never said anything, but I always appreciated that she took me seriously. Didn’t treat me like a little kid.”

“That’s good, right? I mean, I wish my mother treated me more like an adult sometimes!” Tenira chuckled.

I smiled. “Yeah, I guess. It’s just …” My smile faded. “I get the feeling that for her, I’ll always be her heir first, her child second.” I grimaced and made a dismissive gesture. “I guess I’m just processing that.”

Tenira tentatively laid a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sure your Mother loves you, Inaris.”

“Yeah.” I exhaled. “Anyway, what’s up with your mother? You think she doesn’t take you seriously?”

Tenira clicked her tongue. “Oh, it’s nothing that bad. Just how parents can be.”

I nodded. By now, we were nearing the meeting room, and more people moved through the corridors. We walked the last few meters in silence.

More guards flanked the door and let us in. It was a room I’d been in before, dominated by a rectangular table and heavy chairs. A few people were here already, the rest coming. This time, I didn’t take the seat beside Mother, but the one at the other end of the table. Al sat to her right, Tenira and Lei beside me. After a few minutes, someone closed the door, cutting off the faint sound of the palace’s hubbub.

“I have another important meeting shortly, so let’s keep this brief,” Mother started. “It’s about the projects Inaris’ team has been working on so diligently. From what you’ve told me, many of these are ready for testing?”

I nodded, along with a few others. “Some of them are ready for deployment. But there’s a lot of ideas we haven’t really started on.”

Mother nodded, tapping her fingers on the table. “Well, it’s time to renovate our defenses in the south, and maybe tackle a few other issues new technology could help with. I’d like you there, Inaris. And I think your mind might be better used in the field in a few places.”

I frowned, scratching my cheek. She’d mentioned something like this before, so I wasn’t surprised. “Well, I guess I wouldn’t object to tackling challenges outside the confines of the lab. Keep in touch with practical concerns and maybe get some inspiration.” I looked at the other people. “What about the rest?”

“A part of your team could come with you, perhaps along with some specialists,” Mother said.

I shrugged, thinking about this. It had come a bit suddenly, but I’d been wanting to take a more hands-on approach with our projects. “It would be good to get some more people on this, perhaps recruit local experts. Tenira, Lei, what do you think?” I smiled. “Didn’t we talk about taking a tour of the Empire? We could get two birds with one stone.”

Lei smiled. “Of course. Sounds fun.”

Tenira nodded, as well.

“Great,” Mother said. “Then we’ll start preparing for it. Kariva will help in planning your journey.”

I resisted the temptation to roll my eyes, knowing her help would probably have other things in mind than my objectives.

From there, the conversation went into details. It would take a while to prepare and arrange everything. Not that I minded. I knew this was a political thing as well, and I’d like to get a bit more time to prepare than on my last journey.

I glanced at Mother, who was currently questioning one of the engineers, and thought back to what I’d talked about with Tenira. Perhaps it was a good thing to take some time, get away from her for a bit.

60: Initiative

“You should probably get down and into the airship,” Mother said.

I glanced out over the balustrade of the balcony we were on and shrugged. “They’re still loading things. That’s probably going to take a while.”

“Everything else ready?”

“I still don’t know if Yarani wants to come. Apart from that, we’re all ready. Took us long enough.”

We’d decided on this two weeks ago. But packing up parts of the lab needed time, especially since I delayed long enough to witness an important test a few of the researchers did for the new electrical plant. Mother had also kept me busy. Despite what I’d thought, we’d talked a lot in the last two weeks, mostly politics.

“A shame you’re not actually going on vacation,” Mother said, smirking. She tapped the papers lying on the table beneath us. “At least we’re finished here.”

I nodded and sighed, forming a barely visible cloud in front of my face. It had been getting cold, but due to my cultivation, I barely noticed. Despite a few clouds, it was a nice enough day we’d taken the meeting outside. The balcony was facing east, so the morning sun gave us some of its warmth.

“Many local communities already have some democratic elements,” Mother said. “It’s not like we’re breaking completely new ground here.”

“Well, it’s pretty much just a field trial,” I said. This plan would introduce democracy on a local level, in handpicked regions of the Empire. “You’ll get a few complaints, though.”

Mother took one of the papers, glancing through it again. I propped up my hand on my chin and looked back to the logistics hub, where they were still loading up airships.

“Before we go, something else I wanted to talk about,” I said, turning my attention back to her and waiting until she looked up from the plan. “While I’m there, I’d like to start a university in Blue Valley City.”

She put the paper down and straightened up. “A university?”

“Yes.” I raised an eyebrow. “You could start one here in the capital, as well. To be honest, I’m surprised it’s taken you so long.”

“Hmm.” Mother tapped a finger on the table. “You’re aware things work very differently here than on Earth. The clans and sects aren’t going to like this.”

“They’ll deal with it, and hopefully, adapt. Once it’s grown enough.” I gestured down to the building housing my lab. “This can’t be all the technological innovation we’re hoping for. My team is good, but we need more than a single team. I’m planning on recruiting people in the south, as well. Maybe some ‘experts’ who’re disaffected with their sects would like to teach at the new university. I’d like to focus it on the natural sciences, of course.”

Mother nodded slowly. “I suppose we have more than enough knowledge to get something started.”

“Exactly. I’ve already had copies of suitable texts made.”

Mother was silent for a moment, then nodded. “Alright. I’ll do the same here in the capital. I assume you’ll want more than that, though.”

“Of course.” I grinned. “I’d like to see new research institutes and universities all over the Empire. I’m sure they’ll produce enough results to speak for themselves shortly. Even if many clans or sects forbid their members from joining, we should still find enough educated and talented people. In time, I think some of the old elite will see the advantages and join in. Although a general reform of the education system might not go amiss.”

Mother shook her head. “I guess you have a good point. I just hope you’re not overestimating the practicability of this.”

I leaned back in my chair and ran a hand through my hair. “We’ve already introduced a few new technologies with a big impact. But we need innovation across the field, not just that.” I shrugged. “On Earth, besides maybe a few individuals, the industrial revolution and new technologies were driven by public institutions and companies. On Aran, things are different and I suspect clans or sects might play a role instead of corporations, or alongside them.”

Mother leaned forward, obviously caught up in the conversation now. “But on Earth, it happened pretty much across the world, at least later on. We don’t have that kind of communication between nations here.”

I shrugged and mirrored her gesture. “We have a country spanning a full continent and big parts of others, and actual magic. If we can’t manage an industrialization, what’s the point?”

Mother chuckled. “Okay. Maybe I’ve been too timid. Go ahead and do what you think best, just try not to create any revolts.”

I stood up and tossed her a grin. “I’ll do what I can.”

After a second, she stood as well, her expression turning serious again. “Let’s go. You have your communication talismans?”

We started walking, and I glanced at my storage ring, which was pretty full right now. “Yes. And I’ll send telegrams if possible.” At least no one else should speak English, outside our family.

We walked the rest of the way in silence, at a quick pace. Since Mother’s and my guards surrounded us, I felt a little crowded, but didn’t say anything. It didn’t take long for us to reach the courtyard we would depart from. A few airships waited for us, including one I’d used before, for the war.

“Al isn’t here?” I asked. “I know you said he can only join us later, but I thought he’d want to see us off.”

Mother shook her head. “He’s in the middle of a minor breakthrough, best not to bother him.” She came to a stop a fair distance from the airship. “Well, goodbye then, Nari. Have fun.”

I forced myself to smile cheerfully at her and return her goodbye, before I hurried away to join Tenira and a few others who were obviously waiting for me. Yarani just disappeared inside the airship. On the way, Xiaodan ambushed me for a hug.

I detached myself from her, promising we’d be visiting each other, then hurried into the airship. Something was tickling at my senses. I frowned and focused on the strange sensation, then shook my head and turned to survey the interior of our transportation. We were taking along a contingent of soldiers and guards, but this airship was filled mainly with people from my team and other specialists, as well as equipment. Everything seemed to be in order, with people settling in for the long journey.

“I’ll rest for a bit,” I said.

Tenira nodded with a smile, and the others turned away, already continuing their conversation.

I went through the door, two guards in tow, looked around to check the small room, then opened another door that led into a little cabin. Its small window stood open, letting in cold air and the sound of people moving around outside. The guards waited outside the door.

“I hope you’re not trying to come along as a blind passenger, spirit,” I said.

Beside the window, the presence in my qi senses popped into visibility, a vaguely child-like outline of swirling qi. The spirit tilted their head up. ‘Daughter of the Moon, I am to give you a message from the one known as Mior. We thought you would like privacy.’

I crossed my arms. “Alright. What’s your message?”

‘Mior has taken note of you and will speak to you. Go to sleep.’

I showed him an amused smile. “Well, I suppose that’s as nice as I could ask for. Thanks.”

The spirit nodded, then their figure compacted and flowed out of the window. I felt their presence moving away, darting around the people outside.

Shrugging to myself, I left the room, then navigated through the airship to find the room they’d assigned to me. I met a few other people, but only gave them absent nods. A few guards followed me, even inside the airship. After how many people tried to kill me, I wouldn’t complain.

Finally, I got to my cabin, which was small considering we were on an airship, but had a bed taking up half of its space. I lay down, pulled the covers over me, and closed my eyes. After a moment, I sat up again, forming a technique that would block sound from the rest of the airship and laying it across the room. Then I got back into bed and tried to sleep.

I fell asleep surprisingly quickly. Maybe because I’d worked a lot but not slept much the last few weeks. Pretty much only with Yarani a few times, for a couple of hours.

This time, I drifted in my dream without creating any detailed scenery. Instead, I focused on my memories of meeting Mior, and tried to recall what the spirit’s presence felt like. It didn’t take long until I became aware of a foreign mind, some distance away but clearly pulling my attention to it.

I hesitated for a moment, then brushed my dreaming mind across the spirit’s, feeling a connection click into place. I emerged into a misty landscape that resembled the one we’d met at before, but I could tell it was a shared dream. I felt Mior’s influence guiding the scene. Experimentally, I tried to lighten it, and the mist brightened.

Mior waited for me there, looking the same as last time. I spared a moment to make sure my own self was reflected correctly in this dream. It looked like my physical body did, even wearing the same clothes, but obviously awake. I walked forward a few steps to meet the spirit.

‘Little Light,’ Mior greeted me with a nod.

‘Hello, Mior,’ I returned with a smile. ‘I’ve been wanting to talk to you.’

The spirit sighed. ‘So I’ve noticed. How did you know it would work?’

I shrugged. ‘I guessed.’ After all, they were clearly associated with the Moon in some way, and I figured it couldn’t hurt to try. So I’d been attempting to contact Mior in my dreams, and now it seemed my efforts had borne fruit.

The spirit popped a chair into existence and sat down, leaning back on it. ‘I see.’

I also created a chair for myself and sat down. I felt a little weird to share a dream with another person, but I tried to focus on the conversation. ‘So, I have a few questions. After all, you guys left me with Rijoko’s bloodline without much of an explanation.’

Mior shrugged. ‘Such things manifest based on the individual. There isn’t much I could help you with, and it would likely be better for you to figure them out yourself.’

I shrugged. ‘Okay, but that’s not all. I want to know what Rijoko’s plans are. And about his enemies. Why are the Pioneer or Jideia after me? They tried to kill me. I can’t just let that go.’

Mior sighed and regarded me in silence for a moment. ‘I presume it’s because of the bargain your mother bade with Rijoko, as well as the fact you’re his daughter. Unless I miss my guess, he’s been inciting some people in the Zarian Dominion against you as well as arranging that poisoning. I’m not sure if Jideia gave him the order or if it’s his own initiative.’

I nodded. At least Mior was talking, but this wasn’t anything I couldn’t figure out myself. ‘But what’s their deal?’

Mior stayed quiet for a moment. ‘Rijoko and Jideia’s rivalry is old, and complicated. You should realize that all of this is but a very small part of it. The Greater Spirits are playing a very complex game against each other, with power as the goal and the playing pieces. It might be related to their worship in the mortal world.’

I frowned. ‘How does that work?’

Mior shrugged. ‘We spirits don’t need humans’ devotion or offerings, unlike what some people think. But it is still good to have. For Greater Spirits like Rijoko, even losing all of it would not diminish his power by much. Of course, every little bit might be important against the Storm and his ilk. Still, I doubt this is the reason for all of this.’

I ran a hand through my hair. This was interesting to hear, but a little frustrating. ‘You’d think they’d do better if the goal was simply to get more worship,’ I agreed. ‘But then where do I come in?’

Mior dismissed their char and stood up, cocking their head as they looked down at me. ‘Presumably, your connection to your father. I assume you are aware of that?’

A shiver ran down my spine. I stood and crossed my arms. ‘Yes.’ I could feel it in my qi if I concentrated, especially while cultivating. Something had changed about me since I’d awakened my bloodline. I could sense Rijoko, distantly. No more than a feeling of his existence, but maybe you could strengthen it somehow.

‘Your existence is shaped by his qi,’ Mior said, their eyebrows drawn down. ‘It costs him a tiny bit of his power, especially when you use the power your bloodline gives you. I think our enemies might be trying to use that connection against us. Perhaps they want to force him to intervene in the mortal world. Bait or trap him into making a move they want. Have him use too much power that will allow Jideia an opening.’

I shook my head, feeling another shiver run down my spine. ‘Get him to expend power to protect me? I think I’m starting to get a better idea of this whole thing.’

I didn’t know if my father would do something like that, especially if it was obviously his enemies’ plan. But I knew what this meant. I needed to protect myself.

Mior shrugged. ‘Or perhaps it’s about you fighting them here yourself.’

I sighed and started pacing while I thought about that. ‘Well, for better or worse, my future is tied to him. I’d rather do something against these jerks than wait for them to get me killed.’

Mior chuckled. ‘Well, good luck with that.’

I stopped and glared at him. ‘Come on. It’s in your interests, too, right? Give me some help.’

The spirit sighed. ‘There’s not much I can do. But alright. I’d advise you to focus on preparing your country for a coming storm. Pun not intended. Grow your strength. And …’ They hesitated, frowning a little. ‘Perhaps you could poke into the origins of your people, your ancestors. There might be something there.’

‘My ancestors? Like the origins of my clan?’

Mior started to walk away. ‘If that’s all, Little Light, I have places to be.’

I rolled my eyes, but didn’t fight it when the dream started to dissolve. There’d be no point in trying to draw this out.

Instead, I willed myself awake. Mior was right, I’d grow my strength, and the Empire’s. And take a trip to the coast when I went traveling.

61: Perspective

I leaned back a little in the chair, grateful they’d at least put a cushion on it. And that I didn’t have to look up to people, since they were all kneeling or bowing if they approached, or further down the room.

I was holding court. Maybe not officially, but it certainly felt like it. While we’d arrived yesterday, I’d take today to deal with the political stuff and get to know the local nobles and such. Hopefully, that would let me get to work in relative peace later.

“At least we’re not in the throne room,” Lei muttered, shifting his weight where he stood not far from me. His voice was quiet enough that few people would hear him.

I glanced at him, then back at the room. It was a quite spacious sitting room, decorated with beautiful tapestries and pictures and filled with not quite as aesthetically pleasing people. At least to my eyes. They probably wore the height of fashion here, even if I didn’t know how a bastard child of platform boots and sandals was supposed to work out.

I hadn’t known that Blue Valley City’s imperial palace had a throne room, but on second thought, that was obvious. This palace housed some of the city government, but it was also kept ready in case the Empress showed up. Or her family, I supposed. Since the city was one of the most important in the south, that probably made sense. It was an old building, but well maintained, and the imperial suite they’d given me made my actual quarters in the Imperial Palace look shabby. I’d heard grandmother appreciated humility, but shit, my perspective is screwed up.

I put on a smile and turned toward the mayor hovering nearby, beckoning him to come. Inwardly, I mused that if any trait of mine caused me to question whether Mother’s bargain worked, it was my lack of extroversion. Though, maybe they just didn’t have much to work with if they wanted to have other traits. I’m pretty sure she’s an introvert, too, just hiding it well.

I shook my head a little, dismissing those thoughts, and focused on the man who was now bowing towards me. The Lord Mayor of Blue Valley City was a hereditary position, sort of. The Empress could dismiss the current one and appoint a new one, and that had happened a few times over the years. Still, the office was usually held by an old aristocratic family. As these things usually went.

“I don’t see General Wei, Mayor,” I mentioned. “Would you happen to know his whereabouts? I was under the impression he’d stayed in the south.”

He bowed his head. “Your Highness, the esteemed general is currently on a tour of the border, near the tenth border fort. He will most likely complete his tour before returning to the city, though we have of course made him aware of your coming.”

“It’s fine,” I said. “There’s no rush. I’ll be glad to hear what he has to report.”

I shifted my weight as he backed away, and looked back at the people filling the room. Most of them were engaged in conversation over drinks. They still looked in my direction a lot. Later, I should get up and make the rounds. I recognized some of them from the meetings during the war, and others from pictures, but some faces I couldn’t place.

I turned and took the glass of juice a servant was offering. Slightly delayed, but that was to be expected. After my poisoning, they’d instituted the rule that everything I was to eat or drink had to be tested by a taster, who would usually be a randomly chosen guard or servant. Ideally someone with similar cultivation to myself. I found that annoying, but hard to argue against. At least the juice was great, fruity and only a little sweet. I felt it ease the tension in my qi channels a little. Probably some expensive qi-infused fruit.

Then my gaze caught on a noble strolling closer from the throng. Unlike the others, he didn’t show much hesitation, clearly headed for me. Of course, I recognized Zun Chao from the war. I hid a sigh, but gestured at him. I might not particularly like the man, but he had contributed a lot during the war, so I shouldn’t snub him.

My guards, placed throughout the room but close to my seat, straightened up. Zun gave a wide berth to the one closest to him as he approached, but kept his gaze on me.

Once he was close enough, he bowed. “Your Highness. It is a pleasure to see you again.”

I forced a smile. “Lord Zun, please raise your head. I am pleased to see you again, as well. I hope things are going well for your clan after the war?”

“Never better,” he answered with an air of satisfaction.

“I admit I had expected you to return to your clan’s holdings further north,” I said. “Surely the disruptions the war caused have been felt there as well, if not as strongly.”

He shrugged a little. “They have, of course, but it is nothing my people could not deal with. I had intended to return sooner, but found this city offered a lot of opportunities.”

I hoped he wasn’t profiteering from the war too directly, but kept that thought to myself. “It is certainly an economic hub, and seems to deal well with some more recent changes in the Empire that promise to increase our prosperity,” I agreed.

Zun smiled as if amused at my words. “I imagine so. The recent expansion of the southern border fortifications is causing some movement here, certainly. As well as the increased recruitment of the army.”

“That is happening across the Empire,” I said casually.

“Well, I certainly hope it is going well,” Zun said, but this time he didn’t sound too sincere. Clearly still not a fan of the army or its leadership.

I made a noncommittal hum in response, not letting it faze me. From what I’d heard, the recruiting was going as well as could be expected.

“If the rumors are anything to go by, Your Highness is more interested in those changes for the Empire,” he continued, raising an eyebrow. “Especially when it comes to technology.”

I cocked my head a little, considering for a moment. But there was no point in not answering his probe. It was hardly a secret. “Yes, I am quite a fan of technology, and developing more and better ones,” I said, keeping my tone casual and pleasant. “It has the potential to improve the lives of many people in the Empire, not to mention put us firmly ahead of other countries.” He was probably the type to care about that.

Zun smoothed his expression. “Of course, Your Highness. Actually, there is someone I believe you might like to meet. Suaki is an acknowledged expert on formation arrays and their application to mechanical instruments, as well as general mundane engineering.” He turned and waved to someone in the crowd.

I stifled a sigh. I didn’t really want to have him push some political connection at me. But I did recognize the name from a few texts in the palace, so he probably was an acknowledged expert at least.

Suaki turned out to be a middle-aged man with short dark hair and a few wrinkles, wearing a relatively plain set of robes. But I could sense the qi of several small devices on him. He wore a pair of glasses that looked a little crude to my eyes but gave him a more academic air. I tamped down on my surprise. I could see runes inscribed on them, so they probably weren’t a vision aid, something cultivators were unlikely to need due to the qi ‘enhancing’ our bodies. He came closer, glancing at the guards and the people close to me, and knelt.

I let him wait a moment before I spoke. “Rise. Lord Zun has praised your skills with formations and engineering.”

Suaki stood but kept his head bowed. After waiting for a bit, probably to be sure I was expecting a response, he answered, “Luminous Princess, this one is gratified at the praise but would not dare to flatter himself in such a way.”

I tapped my fingers on the armrest. At least he didn’t seem arrogant. “What is your opinion of electrical technology?”

“It’s the future, or at least part of it,” he replied promptly. “I am only starting to truly understand the material, but it carries a few advantages compared to traditional work, in addition to several deficits.” He raised his head a little. “The telegraphs Your Highness has had built will have a large impact, especially for our army, but new electrical generators are a far more important matter.”

I couldn’t help but smile. I guess I really shouldn’t judge him for being an associate of Zun’s. That was a good answer.

I stood up. “Let’s take a stroll, Expert Suaki.”

He hesitated, his eyes darting to the other attendees. “Your Highness, I have several engagements, and I’m sure my lowly self could not offer someone like you anything of worth.”

“This won’t take long,” I said. It might, but I couldn’t just let him get away like that. Lucky I’m the princess and don’t need to take no for an answer. At least for something like this.

Suaki obviously schooled his expression, but bowed and fell into step after me as I started walking, a few guards accompanying me. Tenira joined us, as well. I noticed many of the gathered people look up, their eyes following us with interest, but pretended not to notice.

After a short corridor, we reached an inner courtyard with a garden. I asked Suaki a few questions as we strolled along, trying to gauge his expertise and opinions. It was easy to see he was far more knowledgeable than me about formations, although I knew enough to gauge his level. He also seemed interested in other forms of mechanisms or engineering, and not averse to new technologies.

“I think the most pressing problem about revamping the southern defenses with them lies in ensuring the communication lines can operate smoothly,” he said on the latest topic. “Telegraphs and whatever else Your Highness might have planned need a steady supply of electrical power. I imagine that some of them will be built near running water, and you may be able to connect a generator to a windmill. Those haven’t been built much for farming in the last centuries, but we’ve hardly forgotten how to do it.”

I sighed. “You’re quite right. With a few improvements, wind-powered generators are easily feasible. I would of course like a few more options.” But we simply didn’t have the ability to build photovoltaic cells yet.

“If it comes down to it, we could use those steam engines or something similar,” Tenira commented softly, probably following the same chain of thought.

“I’d rather not rely on that,” I murmured. “Let’s avoid burning coal or other material. Even beside the pollution issue, those resources have to come from somewhere.” I shrugged. “Going around cutting down the Empire’s forests would be a very bad idea. Those are often important for gathering resources. The spirit beasts and spirits there might not appreciate it, either.”

Tenira snorted. “You don’t say.”

“Anyway, Expert Suaki.” I turned back to our guest. “I’ve been quite impressed at your sharp mind and extensive knowledge.”

He bowed. “You honor me, Your Highness.”

I nodded. “I wonder if you might be interested in a project I wanted to start here in the city. I need capable people to help with our research and development. I will also be opening an institution dedicated to gathering and spreading knowledge, educating people. Not just those bound to serve a group’s interest, but anyone with the prerequisites, who are free to go and use that knowledge later. For the benefit of the Empire.”

He raised his eyebrows, surprise clear on his face. “That sounds quite unusual. Begging Your Highness’ pardon.”

I grinned. “Maybe so, but I have reason to think it will work quite well in gathering knowledge, fostering innovation and producing both new insights and technological advancement.”

He still looked hesitant. “Well, of course I feel honored, and I admit it does sound like an intriguing challenge.”

“We would also appreciate it if you could recommend others who might be interested,” I said. “I’m sure you’re familiar with experts and scholars here in the region, or even farther away.” Lei and Tenira were already looking for prospects, but personal knowledge might be valuable.

Suaki bowed his head. “Of course, Your Highness. With your permission, may I take some time to consider possible fellows, and perhaps wrap up my affairs?”

I nodded and gestured a dismissal. “Of course, I won’t keep you from your engagements. My people will contact you, and you’re welcome to contact my team, as well.”

He bowed deeply once again, then backed away, turning once he had reached the end of this section of the gardens. I watched him go for a moment.

Tenira shook her head. “I’m not sure how well this thing will turn out, Inaris. But at least he seems reasonable, and we should be able to find others.”

I glanced at her, wondering what she expected of this venture. She hadn’t said much. She just stood there, perfectly groomed, hands folded in front of her, her face and deep eyes hard to read. Then, realizing I’d stared a little too long, I wrenched my gaze away. I clenched my fists and took a deep breath, reminding myself I was being stupid.

“We don’t have much to lose. But for now, I should concentrate on the southern defenses.”

Tenira tilted her head, but I noticed she didn’t quite look at me. “Should we get back inside?”

I nodded, and we set off. This garden wasn’t particularly big, although it sported many different kinds of flowers and plants, some of them with discreetly placed placards explaining their origins. Once we got back, I’d make more of an effort to talk with the nobles and make some contacts.

“Oh, well,” I muttered, shaking my head at myself. “I’ve had worse birthdays.”

Tenira turned, raising an eyebrow. “It’s your birthday? I thought that wasn’t for a little while yet?”

“Well, maybe. A best I can figure out, I’m turning mentally twenty-three today.”

Tenira smiled softly. “Ah, from your other life, of course. Happy birthday, then.”

“Thanks. When’s yours?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know, I lost track of the days. At least I have my usual one here.”

I nodded, falling silent at that. They’d probably make a big deal of mine, but it was just as well I didn’t really mark this one. We reached the doors into the building, and my guards fell in more closely around us. I straightened my robes and entered.

62: Symbolic values

The generator didn’t look like I was expecting, I mused as I stared up at it. I’d pictured a windmill, like one of those old ones people had used for grain mills, just a bit bigger and better.

It didn’t look like that, or even a modern wind generator. Instead of three or four planks made from metal or even carved wood, they were a black, earthy material, as if someone had compacted a part of the ground. Which was pretty accurate. An earth cultivator must have formed them from earth, fusing it together into a thin but strong material settled into a fixed shape. And judging from the way it spun, it wasn’t too heavy.

Shaking my head, I glanced over at Lei. “So? Is it working?”

He looked up. “Yes. The output is within our parameters. Should be more than enough to power the telegraph station, radio, and whatever extensions we might design.”

I nodded, pleased at our progress, and turned back to the rest of the outpost. I had to crane my neck a little to look up and see the top of the wall. It was broad, if as yet unfinished, as it still lacked the additional fortifications and fixtures to turn this into a real bulwark. The inside needed even more work, especially concerning formations. But a garrison of soldiers had already taken up residence here. They’d been picked to have skills complimenting the task, so they would help with the construction.

I turned and took a few steps until I reached the group of officers who had accompanied us here. “It seems like the construction is going well. Anything I need to see here?”

The commander shook his head. “Nothing comes to mind, Your Highness. We’re very glad to hear you approve. Everything is proceeding according to schedule.”

He’s already said that, I thought, feeling a bit of annoyance. But I squashed that. I guess can’t blame him for being nervous.

I folded out the plan I’d been carrying and looked it over, trying to see how everything matched up. It was pretty simple, really. This outpost wasn’t meant to be complicated.

Thoughtful, I leafed through the papers I had to get to a larger plan, and traced our position. There would be many sites like this, although the construction of most others had not or only just begun. It would definitely take months to finish this. At least.

If I turned my head and focused, I could just make out where the next tower would be built. The wall also being raised in front of this one, barely my height at the moment, would grow to connect many more. Of course, the wall itself would be not much more than symbolic in terms of defensive value. But that was why we’d build this string of posts along the border. They’d function as garrisons and scouting outposts, and all of them would be connected to each other and the hinterland with several fast long-range communication methods.

We’d have an early warning system, of sorts. And more than that. It would be bigger and more formidable than anything I’d heard or read about in this world. But I wasn’t sure it would be enough. We were still discussing a second layer consisting of larger fortresses. That would give the defenses some more depth.

Well, there’d been some things happening with diplomatic approaches to the Zarian Dominion. Maybe those in charge, probably meaning Mother, would decide they didn’t need that expense after all. I definitely hoped things would settle down again, as they always seemed to if you looked at history.

But these defenses were definitely getting built. With the old defensive outposts included, it should at least give the Zarieni nomads something to think about.

The feel of a breeze and a prickle in my qi senses made me turn to watch a few figures descend from the sky. I smiled and put my papers away, stepping forward.

General Wei bowed. “Your Highness.”

“General,” I greeted him with a smile. “Is everything going well?”

“The construction is proceeding largely within our plans, and we have not seen much of the nomads,” he said. “Only a few scouts watching from afar.”

“Well, we always had to assume they would know what we were doing.”

It might seem strange, I reflected, for both of us to be here. But the general had taken a clearly justified interest in the construction of the defenses. I assumed he might also want to keep an eye on me, especially where I interacted with the army.

Other people trailing behind us, we walked back to the center of the provisional camp.

“Formations are going to be the issue,” Wei said. “Building walls and towers is fairly simple work, especially with the help of earth affinity experts and so many of our elites. But naked buildings aren’t worth much more than sandcastles for stopping an invasion.”

I nodded. I knew he was exaggerating a little, since terrain and fortifications could influence a cultivator battle, too. But of course we needed a lot of enchantments, a lot of qi in features and devices for this project.

“They are complicated ones, as well,” I said. “I know it will take time.” I hadn’t kept up my studies on formations as well as I would have liked, but I knew enough to understand what we were doing here. Quite a number of new developments included, too.

Wei sighed. “Well, I would like to continue with my tour and then get back to base. If you have no further need of me, Your Highness.”

I thought for a moment, then shook my head. “I’ll stay for a bit longer. I think my team hasn’t finished testing everything. We’ll head back to Blue Valley City from there. You’re still attending the meeting the day after tomorrow, aren’t you?”

He bowed. “As you say, my princess. By your leave.”

He departed, gathering most of the officers in the process. I made my way over to the generator. The windmill was still turning easily. People were examining the inside and taking notes. I suspected Lei hadn’t even realized I was gone.

I stopped and took a closer look at the actual generator. Building these was fairly simple. You only needed coils of copper, a mechanism hosting the electromagnetic generator, and maybe a transformer to handle the voltages. Magnets were easy enough to make with the help of cultivators. Still, I made a mental note to check our copper deposits and mining, or earth cultivators’ work. I had a feeling we’d need a lot of the stuff in the time to come. Rarer metals, as well.

“We should get back,” Tenira said, stepping away from the group to me. “I think we’re more useful designing new technology than getting in people’s way here.”

“Okay,” I agreed at once. “I guess the best thing to improve these really is finishing the tech stuff.”

“Not to mention your planes,” she said, smirking a little. “This line feels a little empty without these air bases you wanted. At this rate, they’ll be finished building before we’re ready to really operate them.”

“You’re right,” I agreed with a sigh. It would take time until we had developed the technology enough and built enough planes to really make a difference here. I shook my head. “Get everyone moving, would you?”

She nodded and turned back to rouse the others. I headed back to the airships we’d flown in with.

In the end, I decided not to fly straight back, but to make a detour. The others could go on ahead, but I wanted to visit the temple in Aliarnoch. It was almost on the way, anyway.

Standing on my flying sword, I looked after the airship for a moment, watching it pull away. I was glad I didn’t have to drag the whole team and my retinue along for this. After all, while I could have visited a shrine to The Moon in the capital or Blue Valley City, there was a reason I’d rather do it in this unremarkable town. Though its temple was moderately famous.

“Do you always travel with that many guards?” Yarani asked, shifting her stance on her own flying sword and glancing at the group of guards surrounding us.

I shrugged. She’d insisted on coming along, which I appreciated in principle, at least. “Usually, yes. I wish it wasn’t necessary, but not having enough guards nearby tends to attract attempts on my life.”

“Well, we can’t have that.” She smiled, her eyes twinkling. “Let’s go.”

We got moving, flying down towards the town spreading out below us. It was large enough, but few houses had more than one or two stories. The fields around it grew an assortment of plants that made the landscape colorful, adding to a picture of peaceful prosperity. Winter had already arrived here, so some of the fields lay empty, only covered with a bit of white, but others still had plants growing. The cold wind tugged at my clothing, making me glad for my improved constitution.

The temple was easy to find, since it looked as big as the next two largest structures put together. There was a small garden in front of it, framing an entrance flanked by pillars and carved stone that reminded me a bit of Greek temples, but with a sloped roof. From above, I could see the temple actually consisted of several structures, not just one large edifice.

We landed in front of it, sending a few passersby scurrying away. Probably due to our auras and the guards. I smoothed out the blue robe I wore and straightened my shoulders, before I marched up the steps into the temple. Two guardians posted at the sides knelt as they saw me coming, and pushed open the door with their qi. I wondered how they’d recognized me for a moment. It could be my appearance was widely known by now.

Or Aston had called ahead. Actually, as I threw a sideways glance at him taking up a position beside me, I realized that was probably the case. But it would still be less fuss than the city.

On the inside, the temple was lit by chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, as well as light coming from stained-glass windows. They showed the moon in different phases, as well as a few other symbolic pictures. I smelled hints of incense and smoke in the air, and my steps echoed slightly.

There was something else, though. I walked forward slowly, taking in the information my senses provided. There was something in the qi in this place, like a scent of ‘spirit’ or something a little harder to pinpoint. Not bad, though. If anything, it felt comforting. I felt my shoulders relax a little as I headed through the temple.

Behind an open anteroom stretched what I guessed was the main temple. It was loosely divided into a few sections. On the far end loomed a pair of heavy stone doors decorated with a mixture of carvings and gemstones pulsing with qi, arranged as part of a formation. Besides them stood a stone altar with a fireplace and a device I couldn’t make much sense of. Smaller altars were placed in alcoves around the back part of the room. Tapestries and paintings hung on the walls of the temple.

I slowed down as I neared the front and took a closer look at some of them. The largest, dividing the altar and door, showed a scene I recognized as a myth or legend. The Moon stood there, depicted as a man in a white robe with long hair and beard and painted masterfully to give the impression of motion. On his belt hung a book, and in one hand he carried a reed. The other one pointed a spear at his opponent. That one was depicted in a half-kneeling, half-lying position, with red spots sprinkling his armor. The heavy, ancient-style armor and the crackling bolt of lightning that looked like it was slipping from his fingers marked him as Jideia, the Storm. Beneath the scene, the crumpled body of a large serpentine monster told me which tale this referred to.

I glanced around, seeing that the paintings closest to this one depicted scenes from the same story, probably in a local variant. The first one had the dragon destroying a temple, with deep oranges, reds and blacks conveying the destruction and rage. Besides him, Rijoko arrived, his spear shining with light to contrast that theme. Then the next one showed the two Greater Spirits before a woman clothed in white and gold with a scepter of light in her hand. Probably the Sun. This must depict how the two went to her to mediate the dispute. The exaggerated scowl on the face of the Storm showed how he spit on her verdict, refusing to apologize or atone for the damage the dragon had done.

If I remembered it right, that was his servant, or even child in some versions. Clearly, Jideia felt that Rijoko should have protected his sacred site better, and raged at the death of the beast. The story varied on when that had happened, or even who killed it, and I didn’t get a clear timeline from the scenes shown here. The version of the myth I’d read had Rijoko sending humans to do it while they met.

The next one to the right of the center showed a great storm covering the land. The artist had done a good job of conveying the gloom and thunder. But to the right of the picture, Rijoko opened a small hole in the cloud cover, shining a light down. Beneath him, a mortal hero, name lost to the ages, looked up to receive it. To the side of the picture, people were already piling up the offerings that would make Jideia stop venting his rage on them.

Then, the last picture showed the man climbing a great mountain, probably to the sanctum of the Storm. In the myth, this was where the Storm tempted him from his course by offering him the chance to shed his mortal body and live as the spirits did. Probably ascension to the white stage. The picture showed the Greater Spirit sending the message down in the shape of a small lightning bolt, with the man reaching out to grab it. Besides them, Rijoko sent bolts of light to disperse the great storm covering the land.

I shook my head, tearing my gaze from the pictures. I could feel that more people had filled the temple, keeping a respectful distance, most of them pretty strong in terms of cultivation.

I stepped forward, then hesitated as a low rumble started. A few of the stones set into the double doors pulsed with light, before the doors pulled open with surprising grace. I could practically smell the surprise from the people behind me. Glancing back, I saw one man whose face I recognized from my time in Blue Valley City, probably a local noble or wealthy merchant.

Shaking my head, I strode through the door, with Yarani and my guards in tow. My mind was still half stuck on the story. It was just one tale of several depicting how the enmity between Rijoko and Jideia might have taken root. I guess it illustrates the concepts pretty well. The Storm as a warrior, angry and hostile in this myth. The Moon cunning and a guide to mortals. He’s associated with wisdom and guidance, isn’t he?

Through the door, I arrived in another altar room. This one was open to the sky, only ringed by pillars but without a roof. Maybe I should have come at night. Duh. The faint sensation in the qi was a bit stronger, and I could see hazy forms of a few minor spirits. They bowed to me and backed further away. My guards spread out behind me.

Before I could take more than a few steps into the room, a group of priests moved toward me, led by an older woman with gray-streaked hair tied in a bun who felt like the sixth stage. They all wore moon-gray robes with small moon amulets. The others kept back but what had to be the head priest rushed forward, until she knelt in front of me, one hand clutching the amulet.

“Your Highness. You honor this lowly one and this temple with your presence. May this one be of assistance?”

I smiled politely. “You may rise. I was coming to make an offering.”

She stood up. “Of course.”

She and another priest turned to the altar in the center of the small courtyard and lit the fire in the brazier set into its lower part. They sprinkled flakes of something over the altar, releasing a faintly herbal, incense-like scent.

I stepped forward, a little hesitantly, then straightened up. So far, I hadn’t really learned anything important, but it was still interesting. So I took a few offerings from my storage ring. I’d asked the servants for help with that. I put a few crescent-shaped cakes onto the altar, baked from grain that had been exposed to a concentration of qi. That was a traditional offering, apparently. Then I put down a gemstone sparkling with qi as well.

I wasn’t really sure what I expected. But as I was taking a step back, the fire roared and grew higher, and mist of qi condensed over the altar. I shivered as I felt my own qi thrum in response. The faint connection it carried opened just a little, letting me feel an echo of a sensation. The Moon’s attention glided over me. It felt like someone had given me a shot of caffeine. New strength coursed through my veins, washing away a bit of the tiredness from long hours of looking at plans and tech, and sharpening my attention. The phenomenon blew out quickly, but that feeling stayed.

The priests behind me had prostrated themselves on the ground. I blinked, stepping away and stumbling a little as my legs seemed to have too much energy. I stopped when I reached Yarani, who’d come to meet me. She touched my arm in a gesture of support that grounded me.

The head priest raised her head. “You really are his daughter, Luminous Princess. We are honored to witness this.”

I heard a gasp of surprise from behind the still open doors, and tensed a bit. “Do get up,” I said. “No need to make a fuss.”

They shifted to a kneeling position. The head priest looked up, her eyes glinting with what I suspected wasn’t just awe. “Do you have any further need of us, Your Highness? If you will just wait a moment, we will bring you fitting tribute from the temple.”

I shifted, tensing even more at this. This sort of reaction was embarrassing. It didn’t help that my mind still felt a bit too stimulated, a bit jittery.

Before I decided how to politely decline, Yarani’s fingers on my arm tightened, and she took a half-step forward. “My lady said she didn’t want a fuss,” she said, steel in her voice. “We are going now.”

I nodded and followed her out of the room. In the main temple, no one approached us, but I saw the looks from the farther reaches of the room.

I shook my head to clear it and glanced at Yarani, who’d let go of me but was still sticking close. “You don’t seem particularly awed.”

She smirked. “Oh, do you want me to worship you?” she asked and waggled her eyebrows suggestively. “Make me earn your favor or something? I’m sure we could play a bit.”

I chuckled, some of the tension draining away. “Maybe some time, if you want.”

“Seriously, it wasn’t much of a surprise,” she continued. “I knew there was something about you, and there were rumors.” She shrugged. “Princess, spirit-child, at some point it doesn’t change much.”

I nodded and fell silent as we stepped out of the temple. Yeah, picking her up had been a good idea.

63: New endeavors

Quicker than I thought, the weeks slipped by. I was constantly busy with establishing our research team, planning and checking the construction of the new defensive line, and setting up the university. Although Al arrived a week after me, I didn’t have much time for him.

He did make himself useful, though. Perhaps I’d been too caught up in thinking of him as my twelve-year-old brother, forgetting that he’d come from Earth, too. He spent most of his time in the lab, helping us make progress. I even toyed with the idea of revitalizing my computer project, which I’d pretty much abandoned as other demands increased. But it’s not like that’s time-critical, while the other ones might give major improvements in relatively short time, I told myself.

Despite what I’d feared, the university thing went smoothly, at least at first. I got a property in the center of the city for it and had it renovated. The city government was happy to help, or so they claimed. Probably didn’t want me ordering something worse for them. It was harder to find good people to get it started. Even weeks after the building was finished, Suaki was the only one I could consider a permanent fixture. At least he’d brought in a couple other experts, some of whom might work out in the long-term. We hadn’t opened for a real semester yet, but there were a few students. Until this got off the ground, there probably wouldn’t be fixed semesters and courses.

One day, I walked down the corridor to talk with Suaki, when I met a girl I recognized immediately. It was the one I’d helped at the Carmine Cloud Sect, who’d then gone on to participate in sort-of bullying me. I almost missed a step, then carried on, deciding to ignore her. From the periphery of my vision, I noticed her bowing, but I swept onward to Suaki’s office. I wasn’t in the best of moods that day.

I should have expected something like this, though. Our recruits mainly came from the same people who would go to sects, especially those who for some reason didn’t want to become a disciple or had left their sect. Students needed to have a good educational background, after all. At least we got some from the poorer parts of the city who’d done well in public schooling, even if I had to send a few people out to look for prospects for a few days.

When my nineteenth birthday rolled around, I suffered through a great party in the palace for a few hours, trying to ignore the stares and rumors, before I escaped to my rooms to continue studying the last set of plans Lei had drawn up for a jet. Building and testing that would take a few more months, at least, especially since I wanted as much of its mechanisms to work without qi as possible. The controls would probably have to be formation-based, along with enchantments to improve lift.

By the time the first phase of our new border fortifications was built, months had slipped past without much notice from me. I took a few hours off that day to take stock of where we were at and how things were going. The border would take some more work, but I might stay here even once it was done. Although we got good reports of the factories in the capital taking off, and more being built in other cities, I liked what I had to work with here.

Although I might increase the frequency of my visits home. Maybe I could even persuade Mother to let me take Xiaodan south for a bit. I was starting to miss my little sister.

I’d stayed in occasional contact with Mother, mostly to let each other know what was going on. The university she’d started in the capital seemed to progress pretty much like the one here. Otherwise, I got the feeling Mother was too busy with politics to pay much attention to the details. From what she said, there’d been a few diplomatic meetings with the Zarian. Things didn’t progress much, but at least we were talking. I’d count that as a blessing.

Perhaps I’ve been too cynical. A war isn’t something anyone would really want, considering the risk and devastation associated with it. Perhaps they’ll keep taking potshots at me in the shadows, but back off if it’s clear that fails. I snorted. It feels wrong to think things like that in a magic world, but there are no jinxes here. Right?

I shook my head and returned my attention to the documents I’d gotten. Their presence alone would have clued me in that something was different. And as I read through them quickly, I realized why. Information like this was easier to carry physically than through qi communication.

I leaned back in my office, blinking against the light of the winter sun coming through the window opposite me. In a few minutes, it would have moved on enough not to bother me, but I liked looking out over the city and the valley east of it. That river would flow into the sea a good number of kilometers further down. I tipped my chair back a little while I considered this. I hadn’t really been to the sea, but I remembered Mother mention she wanted me to contact the spirit beasts there, though I’d lost track of that. It seemed like the time had come now.

“Tenira?” I called. “We need to prepare for a trip.”

After a moment, the door opened and my friend stepped inside. “Where?”

I tossed her the message, watching her read while I thought about it.

Idly, my fingers played with the miniature windmill standing on the desk. I only noticed what I was doing and stopped after a few moments. The model was spinning rapidly, drawing its power from the rudimentary capacitor beside it, little more than two metal plates stacked atop each other. But it worked. I stopped it with my finger, frowning. It wasn’t that hard to build something to convert qi to electricity, like using formations to move a turbine and generate electrical power.

But what I really wanted, long-term, was the reverse. Generating electricity was doable, while no one really knew how qi formed, if it did. Probably it was like energy and couldn’t be created or destroyed. Storing qi wasn’t easy even with formations. And making formations required someone to put qi in, it wasn’t like batteries that you could just mass-produce in a factory.

I shook my head. I’d thought about this before, but now wasn’t the time for these musings.

Just then, Tenira folded the message and handed it back. “They’re building a new port in the bay, not far from where we fought the nomads,” she commented. “We could go for a visit.”

I shook my head. “No, I’d rather go to the east coast. Maybe a little further north.”

Tenira raised an eyebrow. “Any particular reason for this?”

I shrugged. “Let’s say I’ve gotten curious about our ancestors and would like to take a look.”

The west might be easier or more promising on the face of it, but I wanted to combine this trip with visiting a few settlements. The ‘Sea People’ had lived there, their descendants now part of the Empire like many others. But my ancestors, the start of the Leri family, had come from them. I remembered what Mior had said, though I hadn’t had the time to do much about it. But now was the perfect opportunity.

While I was holding talks with krakens or sea serpents. Now that could be interesting.

Tenira left to arrange things, while I turned back to consider Mother’s message again and plan how I might proceed. I also looked through the books I’d taken along from the palace libraries and stored in a side room. I hadn’t had enough time to read through them all, but now I looked for descriptions of the spirit beasts in the sea. There wasn’t much I hadn’t read before.

In the end, it was a smaller group that gathered in the airship to travel to the coast. Lei and most of the others stayed. Al, however, decided to come along. He was probably just as curious as me. And there were the guards, of course.

Although we used a fast airship, the flight took several hours. We were also flying east, which meant time zone trouble, or would have if this world had those. Time was still measured locally, usually according to the standards of a province or region. I made a mental note of that as another thing to look into. In any case, it was afternoon by the time we arrived.

I stepped out of the airship, taking a deep breath of the sea air, salty and fresh. The wind was blowing, cold enough to have normal people scurrying to get out of the streets quickly. The houses around me looked simple but well-made, worn away by time and weather but still standing strong. The streets were wide, and I could sense the sewer system stretching beneath our feet, run by some complicated formations.

I started walking down the main street, away from the plaza we’d landed in. After a few meters, the ground sloped down a little, giving me a good view of the place. The sea stretched ahead of me, wide and glittering. To one side, docks held fishing boats, while some more of them bobbed on the water. Another dock housed larger vessels. All of them were built out of wood but carried a lot of qi.

I looked past them out to sea and quickened my pace. I knew at once that the tide was rising right now. I could feel it pressing against me, like a current to my qi senses. If I concentrated, I could feel an echo of a familiar presence in it, a hint of what I’d seen from the spirits. Something in me responded to it, just slightly. I barely even noticed where I was going as I bathed in that sensation. I couldn’t wait to get into the sea and see if there was a difference.

It didn’t take long for us to arrive at a rocky shore just outside the town, looking out over the sea. I glanced behind me, at the guards, Tenira, and Al, who waited quietly. Then I let my presence stretch out, my qi sweep outward over our surroundings. I could sense a few spirits taking note, pausing in what they were doing for a moment.

We didn’t have to wait long. A splash alerted me to something coming in from the sea. A strong qi presence accompanied it. A moment later, the upper part of a dolphin popped out of the water. It regarded me for a moment before the spirit beast sank back down a bit as if bowing.

‘Imperial Princess?’ a smooth feminine voice asked in my head.

I nodded and took a step closer, ignoring the spray against my lower robe. ‘Greetings. I need to talk with the dwellers of the deep. I assume you’ve been informed?’

‘We have. I will go out to make contact with a leviathan of the deep.’

‘Great. How long will that take?’

The spirit beast bobbed to the side and back. ‘I do not know. Hours or more.’ Then the dolphin vanished under the water. I felt the beast’s qi moving away from us, towards the deep sea.

Well, that was short and sweet. I turned around and looked at my guards. “Lirta, stay here, please. Contact me if anyone comes here again.”

The guard I’d chosen bowed and took my place standing on the rocks, while I turned away and walked towards the town, Tenira and Al following me.

“This was a little boring,” Al complained. “And now?”

I shrugged. “While we wait, I’ll take a look around the town. The sea people is where our clan came from, you know. The people living in this area are their descendants.”

Unfortunately, it turned out that the town didn’t hold any historical secrets. We walked through its streets for a bit, but I only saw more of the same kind of houses. The people mostly spoke Common. I did catch occasional examples of another language, although I didn’t understand it.

“Tenira, can you speak the language?” I asked, stopping beside a fountain in a park.

She shook her head. “I know a bit of our clan’s old tongue, but only a little. And the language has shifted in the centuries since our family was driven from here, picking up words and patterns from Imperial Common, and even another local language.” She looked around, clicking her tongue. “These people are barely Sea People anymore. At least not the way they used to be, before the Empire’s coming.”

“Not that our family is any better,” Al added. “They didn’t keep much besides a few names, right? Like yours.”

I blinked. Wait, why didn’t I ever notice that? “Do you know what my name means?”

Tenira raised an eyebrow, a smile playing on her face as she looked at me. “As I understand it... ‘moonrise’.”

I groaned and resolved to look up the meaning of names like Tenira and Acura later. “Now I feel stupid for not noticing anything sooner.”

They laughed at me and I started chuckling, too. But I felt the smile leave my face soon. I looked around at the town. A quaint, prosperous, fishing town, of little strategic value except for building warships and hosting a fleet outpost for times of trouble. But nothing really distinguished it from any other place in the Empire. I could visit other settlements in this area, but I knew I probably wouldn’t find much there.

“I thought this was the oldest settlement of the Sea People and one-time capital?” I asked. When I didn’t get anything more than shrugs, I sighed. “Let’s go talk to the mayor.”

It wasn’t hard to find him. The town hall stood right beside the central town square, an old building made of stone painted in bright colors. My guards went in ahead of us. As Aston walked us through the building, no one got in our way, so they must have cleared it for us.

The mayor, a middle-aged man with a weatherbeaten face, knelt beside the desk in what had to be his office. When I told him to rise and asked about the town, he looked hesitant. “Not much history in this town, Your Highness. This was all built after the Empire came.”

“Then what about the old town? Where did the old Sea People live?”

He cleared his throat. “That’s Old Riacis. It lies under the sea, now. Down in these rocks.” He looked down. “They say there’s caves crossing the rock under here, maybe a little further out towards the sea. The old city was built right into the waves, but it sunk, the coastline changed, and there we are.”

I frowned. “Was nothing recovered?”

“Yes, Your Highness, expeditions were sent down, have been for centuries. But it’s hard. The sea isn’t kind to our possessions, and there are many beasts in the water. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are areas not explored yet. Not many people are interested, either. Our ancestors didn’t leave their treasures there, and few people care about our history.”

I sighed. “Thank you. That’s all, then.”

I turned around and left the town hall, the rest of my group trailing behind. I hadn’t intended to go on a diving trip to see this town. But I needed to concentrate on my upcoming encounter with the sea spirit beasts, anyway.

64: Deep sea psychology

I was just starting to get bored with the town when Lirta contacted me. Apparently, the dolphin spirit beast had returned, along with a few companions. I was a little surprised, since we’d barely waited more than an hour.

We made our way back to the point on the shore we’d come from. Al was trudging along beside me, fiddling with some small device. He was clearly bored and didn’t pay much attention to where we were going. Tenira strolled along with a slight smile on her face, obviously enjoying the trip. Maybe I should make sure she got more breaks.

I was getting a little nervous. Sighing, I glanced at Aston, a steady presence guarding my back like always. That helped me calm down.

The same dolphin female (I assumed) I’d met before was waiting for me, along with a few others who stayed just under the water. She rose up a bit further once I came to a stop. ‘Princess. I have news.’

‘You were quick,’ I said. ‘I hope you set a meeting?’

She bobbed up and down like she was mimicking a nod. ‘Yes. Flame-In-Dark-Waters will receive you. At once, in the waters beyond this coast.’

I took a deep breath. ‘All right. Then we should go right away.’ I turned to my guards. “I hope you’re all prepared, Aston?”

The spirit beast made a splashing sound and shook her head when I looked at her. ‘He was clear, Imperial Princess. You are to come alone. He will only speak with you, and anyone else shall be treated as an intruder.’

Aston frowned and took a half-step closer. “You Highness, that’s unacceptable.”

I sighed and shook my head. “No. If Flame-In-Dark-Waters wants it like that, I’ll have to oblige him.”

“You can’t be serious.” I could see a hint of what might be fear in Al’s eyes. “How often have people nearly killed you?”

“He’s right,” Tenira added. “Please don’t be stupid, Inaris.”

“Under different circumstances, I would agree with you,” I said. “But not this time. They’ve guaranteed my safety, right?”

‘You can be assured of that.’

I nodded. “Nothing is going to harm me there. These people value honor highly. They won’t break faith.”

Tenira frowned, still looking concerned. “Are you sure?”

“I’d say I’m willing to bet my life on it,” I answered, grinning a little. I stepped away, noting that the group of spirit beasts was departing. “This is important.”

I took off my robe, leaving my top and pants, and handed it to Aston. Then I took off my shoes and socks as well. That would have to do. I hesitated for a moment, before I removed my necklace and one ring, since their enchantments wouldn’t work well underwater. I still wore my storage ring plus a bracelet and an ankle bracelet each with protective formations.

“Don’t worry.” I smiled, making sure I appeared calm and relaxed in front of the others. “I should be back soon. You don’t need to wait for me here.”

Then I took a few steps forward and jumped off the rocks into the water.

The cold of the sea in winter sent a jolt through me, but it was a minor annoyance. I knew I could handle more. I dove under a wave then propelled myself forward, away from the cliff into deeper water. I could still see underwater reasonably well, a lot better than in my old body.

Maybe a hundred meters out, I saw the group of dolphins. They were watching me. From my other side, I sensed and saw another few spirit beasts approaching. They all swam parallel to me, like they were escorting me on my way out. I nodded at them, then continued swimming, alternating between looking around in the air and beneath the waterline.

After a while, I saw the coastline falling back behind me, the curve of the bay fully visible. This was where the open sea really began. The waves rose higher here. I could see a ship in the distance, but apart from that and a few spirit beasts, the only life around here were schools of fish. I paused, treading water while I took a last look around.

I started gathering some qi. I drew on the darkness affinity qi in my core, keeping it ready. Then I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and reached for the air around me, the open sky stretching over the waves. I pulled in some of the air qi, dragging it through my channels, before I gathered it up along with darkness and formed it into a technique inside me, guiding the qi through my lungs and respiratory tract.

At once, breathing became harder, like I had to draw air through a veil of darkness. Like a dark mass had settled into my mouth and nose, and I had to resist the temptation to cough it out. But I’d expected that and knew I would adjust. I knew a water affinity technique for breathing underwater, but this one was more general, and who knew what environment I might encounter. So I dove under the water again and took a breath. I could feel the qi working, but my breathing functioned the same as before.

I dove deeper, then paused and concentrated on the qi in my body. I still had a lot to learn when it came to my shapeshifting ability, but I’d made some progress. I focused on it, coaxing the qi to make the changes I wanted. Then I looked at my hands, checking to see the webbing that had appeared between my fingers. I focused again, making my feet a little wider and flatter. Not a large change, but it should help.

When I swam down again, I could feel the difference. I looked around, seeing that the dolphins were still following me but keeping their distance. Smiling, I leaned on my cultivator strength more and accelerated. I swam diagonally out into the sea and down at the same time. A few schools of fish passed my way, and a few beasts with stronger qi a little farther out, but they all kept their distance from me.

It was getting dark here, the sunlight not reaching very far into the ocean. I was lucky I cultivated darkness affinity qi and could see in the dark, I wouldn’t want to risk a light here. As I swam into deeper and deeper waters, feeling the pressure around me increase, I knew this wasn’t a trip for normal humans. My body should stand up to anything short of the really deep ocean. Especially if I used qi to reinforce it, but I held off on that for now.

After a while, I paused to get my bearings. The water stretched out around me in every direction. The group of dolphins were still accompanying me, now swimming ahead with a slight deviation to the direction I’d been heading in. I concentrated on my qi senses, trying to stretch them into the distance. There, almost at the edge of my range, I caught a hint of a powerful aura, one that blazed proudly into the sea but felt alien.

I started swimming in its direction, breathing deeply to calm my nerves. The technique was still annoying, but I was getting used to it. Hopefully, we could get this over with soon. After a few minutes, the spirit beasts slowed down and then stopped, but I continued on my way.

It took a moment for me to realize what the dark shadow I was moving towards actually was. An underwater mountain rose into the sea, small but home to diverse life. The colorful coral fields and fish swimming among them made me pause for a moment to appreciate their beauty. But then I continued on, towards an area where I could feel more qi presences. There were a few buildings of coral built into the mountain, though as I approached, I could tell they were half in ruins, chunks of them missing. A few spirit beasts of different types, most of them looking like sharks, lurked among the spread out houses. But none came close to the open place in the middle, where a titan lay waiting on a rocky shelf.

I slowed down as I approached, taking in my conversation partner to be. He was huge, at least as tall as a tower, but that paled in comparison to the strength of his aura. Green scales shimmered under the fading lights of a few luminous coral strands or fish. He turned towards me, raising his form a little, and I held in a gasp as I saw it more clearly. He looked like a cross between a kraken and a sea serpent. His body was long and sinuous, with several sets of fins along short appendages. The head looked undeniably reptilian, his eyes dark and slitted vertically. But on his back lay a shifting mass of what I realized were tentacles, with suction cups dotting the dark limbs. They were currently gathered and laid flat along his back.

I hadn’t seen pictures or read descriptions of a spirit beast quite like that before, but I knew it had to be a sea dragon. Their forms tended to be variable, so that was no surprise.

The sight sent a shiver down my spine. If I was being honest, even only with myself, it was hard to think of this beast as a person. But I forced myself to look past that. I need to be careful not to fall into the trap of considering them monsters, as much as trying to apply too human reasoning.

‘Princess Inaris.’ His mental voice was deep and rumbling, with a bit of a hiss. It carried a faint undercurrent of emotions and intent, in this case cautious welcome tinged with a bit of curiosity.

I inclined my head. ‘It is a pleasure to meet you. I assume you are Flame-In-Dark-Waters?’

‘Indeed I am. And you are the Empire’s princess and daughter of the Moon.’ He sent a bit of laughter. There was a breeze of respect and wariness accompanying Rijoko’s epithet, though.

I nodded. ‘I hope we will have a lasting and fruitful relationship.’

The sea dragon shook his head a little, sending a wave against me. I weathered it calmly, swimming forward a bit so I was at the same position as before. ’Quite bold words to start this conversation I granted you,’ he said, sounding guarded and sending less of his emotions this time, just the words.

‘Just setting out my hopes,’ I answered, smiling. ‘I’m sure you are aware of Mother’s attempts to make contact, and why I am here. We would like to improve our relationship with the powers of the sea.’

‘I am aware of your nation’s problems with the ones calling themselves Zarian Dominion. Or the ships they’ve sent north.’ A hint of wariness accompanied his words now. ‘What if I was to prefer talking to them?’

I considered for a moment. I knew that these people of the depths were the only type of spirit beasts to communicate exclusively via telepathy. It was a good thing I had a talent for that. The messages he sent me felt different from other telepathic communication I’d experienced, since he wasn’t really talking in any one language. But the ease with which he got his intent across, feeling like separate words and sentences, told me not to underestimate him.

‘That’s of course your prerogative, but I doubt it.’ I shrugged. ‘How quickly you agreed to meet me is an indication, at least. Thank you, by the way.’

Flame-In-Dark-Waters sent another bit of laughter. ‘Bold and honest, as appropriate. I think I like you, little princess.’

I smiled, not letting his way of address faze him. Compared to him, I really was tiny. And probably a baby. I knew his kind had a hierarchy, and he had to be at or near the top of the part here in the eastern ocean. He was probably centuries old at least. I hadn’t encountered his name before, but that didn’t mean much. Especially since some sources said they changed their names every hundred years or so.

‘Thank you, Flame-In-Dark-Waters. I don’t know you enough to say if I like you, but it’s a good start.’

He moved closer, this time obviously careful to control his movements. ‘It is going to take more than that for me to consider your request. I assume you want us to help you against your enemies at sea?’

I nodded. ‘Sort of? We don’t expect an official alliance or for you to wreck all their ships. But we would like you to make it clear to them that attacking us through the sea isn’t tolerated. Maybe hinder their shipping a bit if it ever comes to war.’

He cocked his head. ‘I see. And you expect me to agree to that because we’re friendly?’

I chuckled. ‘No, although I doubt it hurts. You wouldn’t have agreed to meet with me if it didn’t matter, would you?’

I got the feeling of a shrug. ‘You’re an important person in the Empire, and will be its next ruler. We know how things work on the surface.’ He blinked his right eye lazily. ‘So what is it you offer us?’

I took a deep breath. Maybe it was my special ability, but I felt like I had a good sense for this, the way they thought and what he expected. What I’d read and the way this conversation went told me I was doing the right thing, even if it might seem stupid to some diplomats.

‘I’m not giving you anything in return for friendship,’ I said. ‘You wouldn’t accept a trade deal, would you? I suspect I couldn’t bribe you even if I wanted to.’

Flame-In-Dark-Waters withdrew his head a little, regarding me more intensely. He scratched with a claw against the rock underneath. Then, he nodded. ‘Quite right, daughter of the Moon. I’m glad we understand each other. Tell me, why would we search out this improved relationship?’

I shrugged, kicking my legs a little to correct drift. I had to be careful here. ‘Perhaps you respect us, or at least me. But there’s also the future to consider. This ocean, and a large part of others, have shores under the influence of the Empire or Dominion. Ships crossing it, people fishing them. This isn’t going to diminish.’ I hesitated for a moment. ‘I respect your people and their wisdom. You can see that you will be involved in this one way or the other, eventually. It’s better to pick the winning side and make sure you don’t get smacked with the side effects.’

‘You presume a lot, little princess.’ His speech was neutral again.

I swam forward slowly. ‘Just telling it like I see it. You’ll make your decision, and I know that. Like I said … I respect your people and your sense. Even if the Zarian don’t.’

He scratched at the ground again, this time a little more aggressively. I didn’t think it was on purpose. ‘You think they don’t?’

‘Just a guess.’ I crossed my arms. ‘How easily you’re talking to me tells me you’re not happy with the Zarian Dominion and how they must have tried to approach you.’

He chuckled again. ‘A good guess, in this case.’

‘I know you value strength.’ Like everything in this world. ‘But I don’t think they understand what it means. You’re not mindless spirit beasts to be tamed. You’re not cowed by displays of power. You’re not bought by shiny trinkets or pretty words.’ I smiled wryly. ‘And I’m not flattering you, just making a point. Your way wouldn’t work for us. But that doesn’t mean we can’t respect each other.’

Flame-In-Dark-Waters breathed out, a stream of hot water that sent fishes and lesser beasts scurrying. I felt the heat wash over me, but didn’t move. After a moment, it cut off, and he sank down onto the new area he’d just cleared of growth. A few tentacles uncurled from his back to wave around, probing the ground. One of them came close to hover beside me, but didn’t touch. I just crossed my arms and did nothing.

‘You’re good, princess,’ he acknowledged finally, amusement and an undercurrent of pleasure accompanying the words. ‘I expect your people to stay out of our territory. But you’ve got yourself an accomplishment. I will make sure this agreement is kept in both these waters and those to the west.’

So he is pretty powerful. I grinned, feeling some of the tension leave me. ‘That’s great, Flame-In-Dark-Waters. I think this will be good for both our people.’

‘Let us hope.’ He blinked again. ‘Now leave me, little princess. I need to bring news to my fellows. It was nice talking with you.’

‘Likewise. I hope we will meet again.’ I inclined my head, then started swimming for the surface.

After a moment, I hesitated and looked back. The sea dragon was uncurling himself, sending his tentacles fluttering. Most of the other spirit beasts had cleared out of the area. I shook my head, kicking my legs and swimming hard back the way I had come.

This had been a fascinating trip, but I wanted to get back to air and solid ground now.

After a while, more light started filtering down, and I came upon the group of dolphins again. Still keeping their distance, they escorted me back. I was pretty sure they swam with more energy and enthusiasm, though, and their qi presences felt steadier. I only felt better once I breached the surface and dispelled my technique.

65: Unexpected visitors

As it turned out, there wasn’t much to do on the coast or in a coastal town at night. I still wanted to explore the ruins of the old city through those caves, but we’d decided it was best to wait until the next day. While I was fine with darkness, it would still be easier to miss things. So, since it had been dusk by the time I got back, we’d stay the night here.

I shifted in bed, scrunching my eyes shut and trying to calm my mind. I’d done a bit of research and written up my thoughts, and now I wanted to catch up on sleep, since there wasn’t much else to do while waiting. But the idea didn’t work out well. There was nothing wrong with the bed, which had a smooth and soft mattress with a cuddly blanket, or my environment, which was dark and quiet right now. I didn’t usually have a problem sleeping in unfamiliar surroundings, either.

Maybe it was the events of today. I still felt a bit of disquiet thinking back to my trip under the sea. It wasn’t that bad, I just didn’t like the environment much, and the presence of powerful and terrifying beasts in the vast depths didn’t help. Hey, maybe it’s just that I couldn’t see the sun or stars. Or the moon. Who knows? At least things turned out well with the sea dragon.

I focused on my breathing and started using a meditative technique. Usually, I could do this as part of cultivation, or to focus my attention. But I kept it light, only quieting my stray thoughts a bit, while I let my mind sink into the warm darkness. It took a while, but I managed to fall into slumber. Starting to sleep always felt a little weird, since my mind didn’t really boot down anymore.

After falling asleep, I visualized an environment. That made it easier for me to focus and deal with dreams. It was only a vague scene of swirling mists, but it helped. Then I relaxed a bit and considered what I wanted to do now. I could try and see if Mother, Al, or someone else I knew was asleep. But that was pretty much a shot in the dark. I still hadn’t managed to find Carston with over a dozen attempts.

I stretched out my mind a little, experimentally. There weren’t many sleeping minds around me. Though I still wasn’t sure how this weird sense mapped to physical space. But before I could try and narrow down on anyone or anything, a sensation on the fringe of my awareness demanded my attention. Is that … someone? Wait …

I flinched mentally as I noticed the new mind battering against my dreaming one. It felt different than anything else I’d felt before, although what it most closely resembled was my encounter with Mior. This one didn’t welcome me for a cordial chat, though. It was more like someone kicking my door down and trying to drag me out. Their mind was familiar, it just took me a second to recognize it.

I pulled up mental walls as well as I could, before I carefully poked my awareness out towards the intruder. I wasn’t sure if he was dreaming, but his mind latched onto mine, and soon he entered a second layer of my dream that I’d just secluded.

‘Something you don’t want me to see, little princess?’ The dream form of my visitor smirked and strolled towards me in the mist. ‘Good luck with that …’

I crossed my arms and focused my will on keeping this scene contained. I couldn’t let him peek into the rest of my mind. ‘Pioneer. What do you want?’

He stopped, still looking completely relaxed. ‘So you think you know who I am. Alright. You’re not wrong.’ He looked around. ‘You do have quite the interesting mind, I have to say. A breath of fresh air compared to all the usual ants.’

I gritted my teeth and forced myself to calm down. He was obviously trying to annoy me. ‘Again, why are you here?’

‘Why, I came to visit you, obviously.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘How curious to find you so close to the ocean. Have you already talked to the dwellers of the depth? I suppose you have.’

I tried to focus on his face, keeping the misty dream environment around us, anything but the events he was talking about. I felt his mind bearing down on me, the weight of experience and strength eclipsing my own. He didn’t just batter against my walls, he knocked and swept his presence against them, searching for weaknesses. I felt my visualization waver, until I forced another burst of focus. I tried to press outward, touching on his own mind.

I felt a few strange sensations, like skimming the surface of someone else’s thoughts. He was curious about what he was finding here, a bit conflicted and apprehensive regarding my mind.

Then I felt my own defenses waver, and couldn’t do much but watch as he swept into the upper reaches of my consciousness. It felt like someone had taken a burning hot hammer to my head. I scrambled my will, trying to throw him out of here. I never should have answered him.

‘That wouldn’t have helped you much.’ He retreated a bit, until my mind was no longer actively under attack. I refocused on our dream projections, to see him standing there, hands clasped behind his back and head cocked slightly to the side. ‘You couldn’t keep me out, not with such a damaged, sundered, if lovely, mind.’

I glared at him. ‘You’re being creepy.’

‘I’m sorry, were you expecting kindness from someone trying to kill you?’ He laughed, but I could see the tension on his face. His reaction was forced. ‘If you have holes in a structure, you shoulds expect someone to slip in …’

I advanced on him, drawing on my qi. It was an instinctual reaction, but I could feel that my body responded, that I actually gathered qi. I threw it at his projection, at the same time as I bore down with my mind against his. Pain exploded in my head again, but I suffered through it, shoving him out of my mind and this dream. Wake up.

I felt his mind draw away, giving another jab at me. As I woke up, I knew I hadn’t beaten him, just bought some time.

I blinked and sat up, running a hand through my hair. It was dark, and the walls of my tent seemed to close in on me, even though it was large on the inside. I couldn’t feel the Pioneer anywhere, though an echo of his aura lingered. Probably just the mental connection. But something else was off. The hair on my arms stood up, and I quickly slipped out of bed. My guards were being quiet in my senses. Too quiet. And there were spots of unease that shouldn’t be here.

I grabbed my spear from where I had left it leaning against the wall in a fit of paranoia. My storage ring was on my finger. I threw on my robe for the additional protection, then went to the tent flap. Everything was quiet. Taking a deep, but silent, breath, I threw it open and went out into the night.

The camp lay still before me. I’d chosen to stay here rather than in the town because I didn’t want a fuss and it might even be more secure. Rocky cliffs rose to my left, the entrance to caves that might lead to the buried city hidden among them. The sky and the pull of the tide from the ocean, currently in flux, told me it was the time of night closer to dawn, before it started brightening. My bare feet on the cold ground stepped softly, not breaking the silence.

Carefully, I stretched out my qi senses. Most of my guards and Tenira were lying asleep in their own tents. I felt a hint of an icky feeling from them, like a thin layer of something rotten covering them, faint enough it might just be my imagination. The same for the guards in three directions. Close by them were other presences. Spirits. No type I’d seen before, ranging in power from just below to somewhat above mine.

The strongest one came from the edge of the camp. I’d had them put up my tent on the side facing the ocean, so a few steps took me out of the light of the lantern burning in its center, and away from the tents. I could still see, of course. The slowly approaching figure stopped and some of the veil covering it slipped away. There was someone with them. Not a spirit, but a human. And a familiar presence, prickling with fear and anger …

‘If you make any kind of noise, I will slit his throat.’ The spirit’s voice was like liquid darkness, a hiss that made my neck prickle. They withdrew their qi a little more, so I could get a good look at their hostage. Al was pale, with a split lip, but a spark in his eyes. He stood stiffly against the figure holding him with a knife to his throat.

It felt like someone dyed the edges of my vision in red. I clenched my fists and gritted my teeth, struggling for a moment to control the bout of fury that gripped me. How dare they threaten him! He’s mine! My little brother! I will show them a slow torturous death … I took a deep breath, focusing. What could I do here?

‘If you harm him, nothing will stop me from killing you,’ I pointed out to the spirit, keeping my mental voice tightly constrained.

The spirit cocked its head. ‘Even if you succeed, he would still be dead. Now come along. We are willing to settle for killing him, but the real target is you.’

‘I need assurances that you won’t kill him.’

The spirit started walking backwards slowly, dragging Alaster along. ‘You are our target. But if you rouse your guards, his death will be on your hands.’

I took a few steps, cursing myself for being an idiot in my head. But I tried to keep calm and focus. I took a look around. The alarm formations around the camp were still intact. For all the good the wards did now. Al might have wandered off. Well, it doesn’t matter much now.

As I walked, I kept my spear at the ready and the other spirits in my senses. Before I stepped over the last line of wards, I hesitated for a moment, then continued on. The spirits were starting to drift towards the leader now. All of them looked faintly humanoid, but with small grotesque features. An extra hand here, fire in empty eye sockets there. Like they’d been designed to be creepy. Their leader was wispy, his substance curling in on itself and bubbling beneath his form. But clearly strong. The spirits’ qi signatures felt a bit faint, though. I suspected that none of them was really here in any corporeal sense. They were clearly what some called malicious spirits, not that I cared about phrasing now.

I could sense Al shivering. His eyes sought mine out. He tried to speak, but the knife pressing tighter against his skin shut him up.

We were far enough from the camp by now that I felt I could talk. I cleared my throat, looking at the spirit, before focusing on Al and trying to convey confidence. “It’s gonna be okay, Al,” I said in English, just low enough that he could hear me. “It’s going to be alright, okay? I love you. Stay strong.”

And I did love him, I realized with sudden clarity. Why did it take this for me to acknowledge it? I’d never said the words, not after my soul journey at least. I probably couldn’t say it about Xiaodan or Mother. But somewhere along the way, I’d accepted him as my little brother. Seeing him in danger sent shivers down my spine and made my heart burn with anger. I showed it to him in my eyes.

We had already put a bit of distance between us and the camp, and were walking closer to the ocean now. The cliffs were to our west, curving towards the north, and the town lay roughly south of here. If they wanted to get me to the south, over the border, they needed to curve around it, which was probably what they were doing. The spirit already started to drift south.

Our moment came when we started crossing into rocks at the border of the beach. The water would lash at them at high tide, and wetness lingered. Al stumbled, the probably mostly incorporeal spirit didn’t. For a moment, the knife stopped being at his throat.

I moved as soon as I saw the start of their movement shift. With everything my qi enhanced legs could muster, I sprinted forward. A technique would be too slow, but I was close enough.

Al might be a boy, but he had been trained well. He took the opportunity he saw and twisted, ducking his head and ramming his other hand into the spirit’s face. Or tried to, at least. His hand passed through the spirit’s form like it was just a phantom, and even the dagger suddenly in his hand a moment later fared no better.

With time seemingly slowed by my supernatural reflexes, I could understand everything that happened. The spirit reacted quickly. The knife flashed, cutting across the side of Al’s neck and shoulders. My heart seemed to stutter for an instant, but I realized it was just a glancing strike, the flow of blood too thin to indicate serious damage.

Then I was there. I grabbed Al and heaved him aside, pushing myself between him and his attacker. The tip of my spear sailed harmlessly to the side. The spirit’s knife drew a line of fire over my upper arm and down my lower back. I stumbled, trying to shield him with one side while I rammed the butt of my spear against the spirit.

My enemy retreated a step, its form bubbling like boiling oil. More of the spirits advanced, starting to encircle us. There was a shadow creeping in from my side, just barely visible.

I took a deep breath. I could probably take any of them on my own, but not all of them.

‘Now what do you think you have -’ the spirit began.

I jumped forward, slashing my spear at it. The spirit ducked to the side, but I’d anticipated that and instead swept my weapon around to send it at the closest other spirit. The qi I’d imbued into the spear flared, and the spirit let out a screech just at the edge of my hearing range, before its form bubbled apart around the wound.

I ducked under another knife thrust and grabbed onto the leading spirit’s arm. It felt like I touched particularly wispy wool, but I had it. When I yanked on it, the spirit moved with me, letting out a hiss of pain.

Then another spirit came at me with a sword, and I had to dodge to the side. That allowed the spirit to pull itself free. I was too far from Al now, and jumped back, dodging another strike, to get back to him.

‘Come get us, if you dare,’ I taunted them.

The spirits closed in around us, but they failed to see the shadowy forms uncoiling behind them. One dark tentacle swept them aside, clearing a path to the sea. The other lunged for me.

I grabbed onto Al, pulling him closer as I let the tentacle wrap around my waist and pull me to the ocean. My feet skidded over the rock, and I launched myself forward into the air, letting the sea dragon’s limb drag me further. A moment later, the spirits vanished from my sight and dark waters closed around us.

66: Underwater

I twisted in the grasp of the tentacle, steadying my hold on my little brother. A part of my mind was calmed by his presence, the rest still split between raging at our enemies who dared to hurt him and worry over whether he was okay.

I put my hand against Al’s mouth and nose, and concentrated on the qi around us. I could do without breathing for a bit, but he, not as much. I easily had enough darkness qi in my core, though it was a bit of a struggle to get air qi here, underwater. But I managed, and formed the breathing technique for Al. He coughed a little, then sucked in a deep breath. I waited for a bit to make sure everything worked properly, before using the same technique on myself. Breathing like this still sucked, but a bit of discomfort was better than holding my breath.

Flame-In-Dark-Waters lurked closer to the surface than before, and released us quickly. I glanced at him, taking in the bristling tentacles growing out of his serpentine form, before I turned back to Al. Now that I could get a good look at him, I could see how he was trembling a bit, his face still paler than usual. Probably not just the cold. At least we didn’t appear to be far enough down that the pressure was a problem.

A current in the water pulled my attention back to our savior, and I bowed to the sea dragon. ‘Thank you for the help, Flame-In-Dark-Waters. I appreciate it. May I ask how things stand up there?’

‘Hmph.’ He sounded a bit disgruntled, although there wasn’t much emotion in his next words. ‘I could hardly let them kill my new associate, could I? And don’t worry. Your guards should be able to handle the remaining spirits easily. I did you the courtesy of waking them up.’

‘Thank you again.’ I wondered if it was a good idea to ask why he’d obviously avoided fighting them, just taken us out of the situation. But knowing that the others would be okay helped make me feel better. At least, I really hoped they would.

‘It’s an honor to meet you,’ Al said, his mental voice hesitant and a little awkward. He looked at the sea dragon with wide eyes.

Flame-In-Dark-Waters lowered his head, getting a bit closer and taking a closer look at us. ‘You have courage, young one. That’s good. Now, princess, you should tend to your injuries, then we’ll talk.’

I nodded. My cut still hurt, the sea water stinging like crazy, but I turned to Al first. The cut on his neck had stopped bleeding. He flinched a bit when I touched it to get a better look, but didn’t react otherwise. I closed my eyes and gathered nature affinity qi from around us. It was pretty scattered, but I managed to wrestle enough into place to form a simple healing technique. I channeled it through my hand on his wound and supervised as the qi suffused his tissue and it knitted back together.

Sighing, I let myself drift away and focused more deeply, gathering more qi and guiding it to my arm and back. This healing involved more effort, but luckily my body was tough and the damage largely superficial. A good thing it hadn’t reached my spine or anything vital.

Finally, I opened my eyes and took Al’s hand, turning back to the sea dragon. I could tell our host wasn’t particularly happy about this situation.

‘If I had known of your enemies, perhaps I would have reconsidered my agreement,’ he said, annoyance in his voice, along with a bit of bitterness. ‘I have no desire to come between whatever is happening between your father and the Storm. And I don’t appreciate having to deal with Jideia’s minions on your behalf.’

I clenched my hands involuntarily. ‘I understand. I won’t ask you to help us like this again. And I hope the Empire will be able to show you the benefits of being our ally.’

A rumbling tone came from him, one that had the hairs on the back of my neck rise. Al gulped.

‘Go and leave me alone now, young ones. And leave me in peace for a while. It would be best if you simply left the coast. I don’t want you to enter my waters again.’

I grimaced. That sounded like he was seriously miffed. I couldn’t help thinking of what Mior had told me about my ancestors and the old city lying somewhere here. ‘I was hoping to explore the coast a little, especially Old Riacis. It’s the home of our ancestors, and there may be important answers here.’

The sea dragon’s eyes narrowed. ‘I would rather not repeat myself, young human.’ Then his head cocked to the side and a disgruntled acceptance accompanied his next words. ‘I suppose you can do it now, since it’s on the way out. If you don’t want to risk an encounter with those spirits, it’s best if you take the path through the caves and come out a little farther from the water.’

I glanced at Al. I wasn’t crazy about the idea of taking my little brother to that sort of dangerous expedition.

‘We can do that,’ Al said, a look of excitement on his face. ‘Thank you! And sorry for bothering you.’

Flame-In-Dark-Waters snorted one last time, before he turned around and swam away. I grabbed onto Al to make sure we weren’t separated as I felt a current of water brushing against us.

Then he was gone, and we were alone now. For a moment, all was quiet. Then I sighed and looked around, trying to focus on our situation. There were several spirit beasts not too far from here, and they were coming closer. Probably best if we left.

I tugged on Al’s robe. He seemed to have lost his shoes somewhere, I noted. He looked to me and nodded, then started swimming. I kept close to him, ready to grab onto him and speed up if necessary. The sea dragon had dragged us surprisingly far from the shore, but we should make it without a problem.

I felt glad to see Al safe with me, but I couldn’t help but worry about the others. Mostly Tenira. The thought of what she might be going through right now, without me, made me shiver. I grabbed my storage ring. We finally had radios, but those wouldn’t work underwater. Still, I also had qi communication talismans that might.

But what if she’s fighting the spirits right now? I felt a cold hand crawl up my spine at the thought and turned my attention from the storage ring. Or what if she’s hiding from them? Me contacting them could be what betrays her!

I couldn’t help but picture Tenira being hurt or even killed. It made me feel sick to my stomach. I groaned and gritted my teeth. My guts were twisted in anxiety. I didn’t take out the talisman. But we had to get back soon. I sped up, expending a bit of qi to move Al along with me. He made a blubbery sound that could have been a curse. Talking underwater wouldn’t work.

It didn’t take long until I saw a darker shadow in front of us. We were nearing the coast. Taking a deep breath, I let go of Al. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

That won’t do. Frowning, I concentrated on pulling some qi in. There might not be much actual air, but there were gases in the water. In the end, I managed to form a bubble of air where we could put our heads close together and talk.

“Are you okay, Al?” I asked.

“Fine.” He looked past me. “The old city is probably there, among rocks or something.”

I looked back. “It would be easier to climb up the cliffs there. I could carry you upward.”

He pouted. It didn’t erase some of the tension in his face, but I could tell he was throwing himself into this adventure on purpose. “Aw, come on, Nari! Didn’t you want to explore those ruins?”

“Sure, but I’m worried about the others. We need to get back to them. What if something happened to Tenira?”

He rolled his eyes. “She’s a big girl who can take care of herself. This is our only chance. You heard the guy, he won’t let us back here.”

I sighed. “It might be dangerous. How could I take you along on something like that?”

He frowned and gave me a light punch. “I’m not a child, Nari! Besides, Flame-In-Dark-Waters suggested it, he wouldn’t have done that if this wasn’t feasible.” He bit his lip. “Plus we need to avoid those spirits. And what if we find something in there that will help? Didn’t you say that spirit told you so? If you’re worried about us, you need to think about our long-term safety …”

I rubbed my temple. He wasn’t wrong. If there was a chance I’d find something to help against those spirits, I needed to take it. Or perhaps something to protect my mind. The way the Pioneer had invaded it made a shiver run down my spine whenever I thought of it. Well, that’s probably unlikely, but I can’t pass up the opportunity. And he’s right about the route.

“Okay. But stay close to me at all times. In fact, stay behind me and let me do all the talking or fighting. Promise me.”

Al sighed. “Fine. I promise.”

I started swimming slowly, still uneasy about the whole situation. I only had a vague understanding of the way spirits did things, but I was pretty sure those shouldn’t have attacked us. That they’d managed to bypass our wards in some way made me suspect someone had helped them. Perhaps the Pioneer. The way he’d intruded on my mind was the really worrying thing here. I needed to talk to Mior as soon as I could.

My focus was brought back to our surroundings as I noticed a presence approaching us. It was blurry, so hidden it almost slipped my attention completely. I tensed and tried not to let on that I’d sensed it, but gathered qi. Slowly, it inched closer. Then it charged, shooting toward Al.

I managed to intercept it, a qi-enhanced punch sending the beast flapping away while I pushed Al to the side. At first glance, it looked like a shark. At second glance too, it just had red eyes burning with qi and a little too many spikes on its body.

I gathered some more qi into my hands, making my Void’s Nibble technique. It was pretty dark down here, but the aura around my hand swallowed even that like a black hole. The shark seemed to hesitate for a moment, then tried circling around. I pushed Al behind me and turned with it. He’d pulled a knife, which was a bit unfortunate. Frowning, I moved forward to give both of us a bit more space.

The spirit beast took that opportunity and charged. I ducked under it and punched the underside of its jaw, forcing it upward. The flesh sizzled as my technique burned through the qi-infused body.

It tried to back away, but I crooked my fingers, holding onto it and letting it pull me while I kicked my feet for extra momentum. Qi started to gather in the monster’s fins, which it bent at an unnatural angle with spikes facing me. I acted before it could unleash whatever it was building there. Spikes shot out of my fingers, curving just enough to have the right direction. I felt a resistance and flexed my muscles, putting more qi into it and more power behind the movement. They punched into the beast’s brain. It started thrashing wildly.

I let the spikes, made of a horn-like material, vanish and backed away. The beast’s thrashing ceased quickly, but I checked to make sure it was actually dead.

Then I shook out my hand and returned to Al. It was a shame I’d lost my spear, but it probably wasn’t the right weapon for underwater, anyway. Let’s go. I’d rather not wait for the blood to attract something worse.

I didn’t want to take the time to talk to Al, but he must have understood my gesture. He gave a last glance at the dead beast before turning and swimming away with me.

It was clear we were getting close, but not easy to find our destination in the water. I channeled some light qi to my eyes to make sure I got it right. That helped me see the structures rising from the rocks ahead of us more clearly.

I could only imagine what this would have looked like in its heyday. As we approached, I could see that the city had been built into the water as well as into a cliff. The holes of cave openings littered the rocks, many of them obviously enlarged and smoothed out by human hands. Or qi. There would have been rocks, perhaps small islands in the sea where it met the coast, also carrying homes and structures. Perhaps they’d used the water between as canals, or built a lot of bridges. I could still see a few remnants of those, scatterings of wood or worked stone sticking out of the rocks, all of them worn away by time.

I didn’t know what had happened, but this city had sunk a lot. Perhaps there’d been an earthquake. Many of the homes that still remained, at least as ruins rather than just scattered debris, looked like they’d been battered by something, whole sides caved in. But I didn’t see the sort of damage I’d associate with warfare. No burns or holes that were too tightly made in a specific direction, or blast damage.

We swam closer carefully. I knew Old Riacis was supposed to be abandoned, but I could see a few qi signatures. Probably spirit beasts who had moved in after it was abandoned. We needed to be careful here. I assumed Flame-In-Dark-Waters had scared away the stronger beasts from the area, but there could still be dangerous ones here. Especially since I had Al along.

There was no way this city had been supported solely from the land. The cliffside might have changed with time, but I could tell it would have been hard to traverse for most people. There couldn’t have been much transport of goods through here. No, this city had probably been supplied from the sea and thrived as a trade hub. I couldn’t tell where the docks had been, the wooden structures must have been ruined. But it was clear that this city was built towards the rocks. That was the secure side. It was laid out in a mostly fan-shaped way, with roads leading towards the caves, and perhaps even inside them.

Al shifted to head further down, and I followed him with a sigh. It might have been safer to approach the cliffs from above the city level. But I did want a closer look, and we’d be pretty exposed up here.

We carefully swam above one of the main roads, roughly at the level of the remaining roofs of some houses. I had to grab Al’s robe and tug to make it clear he was moving too far ahead. He gave me an apologetic smile.

I pushed him behind me and glared a warning to stay there. He was in the late part of the second stage, close to the peak. It meant he was thankfully more robust than a normal human, especially at his age. But I knew we couldn’t linger too long. I could sense him using his qi throughout his body, and he didn’t have that much. The sea would get cold pretty fast without that. I could help him out, perhaps with a fire affinity technique, but my own reserves weren’t unlimited and I might need them for fighting.

Twice more, we encountered hostile spirit beasts. They also looked like sharks with a few scary extras. The first one, I managed to scare off by flaring my aura. The second one was about my strength, and didn’t want to let us pass unchallenged. A well-thrown knife with a Void’s Nibble on it dissuaded him. I was really growing to love that technique.

The next time I encountered qi presences, I’d tensed and drawn another knife before I realized that these were different. A good thing, too, since there was a group of three. But I recognized their auras. I took Al’s hand to calm him, just before three dolphin spirit beasts swam out of the darkness of a side alley with mostly intact buildings, letting the veil on their presences slip a little.

‘Greetings, Imperial Princess,’ one of them said. I recognized them as a companion of the one I’d talked to before. ‘We didn’t expect to see you here. It’s dangerous to explore this place with just a little one at your side.’

I tucked the knife into my robe and nodded. ‘It’s nice to meet you again. I realize that, but circumstances led us here unexpectedly.’

The spirit beasts let out a few high-pitched whistles, communicating with each other. Then the speaker turned back to us. ‘We are aware of that. Be careful. Hostile spirits traversed this place. Looking for you, perhaps.’

I clenched my fist. That didn’t sound good. ‘Thank you for the warning.’

‘Of course. There is a path towards the surface in these caves. None of us ever took it, for obvious reasons, but there should be several entrances. Keep to the center of the rocks and you should find one. Good luck.’

I nodded. ‘Thank you.’

They looked at me for a moment longer, before turning and swimming off. I bit my lip, wondering if I should ask for a guide. But they had already done a lot for us, and the caves didn’t seem like their preferred environment.

I sighed and started swimming again, checking that Al followed close behind me. I hoped that those spirits were gone, but we should still be careful.

Bonus 6: History of the Leri

How do you keep together an empire spanning thousands of kilometers, multiple landmasses, and dozens if not hundreds of peoples?

The local answer seems to be, for the most part: with a common language and culture, and force if that isn’t enough. The metaphor of an iron fist in a velvet glove comes to mind. Although there’s more to it than that.

I’ve been thinking about questions like these lately, because the answers aren’t always what I would expect. This society is, in some ways, more advanced than I might have realized. Not as medievally murderous as I would think of cultivation worlds. Technologically, but also socially, in some ways, it’s developed beyond that.

Some answers might lie with the geopolitical landscape, the lack of real wars in the last centuries. But this could have developed a lot differently.

To see how current rulers approach this, it should be worthwhile to take a look at history. As I sit here, planning to go digging into the past after my ancestors, I find myself contemplating this past and my family. It’s a good case study of how the Empire’s history played out, too.

The Leri originally come from a people of coastal, ocean-faring folk. Their precise origins are pretty much lost to history. On the Eastern coast of the Sky Continent, few old cities have endured or been found, but there are signs of settlement stretching back many millennia.

The Sea People rose around the time the Empire of the Sky was well on its way to conquering most of the continent. No relation to the Sea People of Earth history, I assume. Shame. Their territory covered a stretch of land across the middle to southern part of the continent’s Eastern coast, several hundred kilometers long at its prime but never more than a few dozen kilometers from the coast. They were a loosely allied confederation of different tribes and settlements at first. That only changed once they encountered the Empire.

While the Empire may have had the technological advantage, including airships, the Sea People hadn’t been stuck in the bronze age either. Their ships were fast and had weapons whose formation complexity and power rivaled those of the Empire’s airships. At that time, the Empire still didn’t have much of a navy. The coastal cities were fell fortified, and the Empire had no way to cut them off. There was never an official war, although from what I’ve read the Empire certainly tested their defenses.

Turns out the ocean makes a good hideaway and transport lane, and ships can deal with storms better than airships.

After repelling the Empire, the two nations settled into a wary peace. While tenuous at first, it grew more stable with time, as the Empire was focusing on internal matters. Trade started up. But the real change was the Sea People’s political establishment. It became more unified, with its people starting to view themselves as one people and forming closer bonds, including a sort of council of their leaders. Every Sea People ship had to be ready to join their war fleet if needed.

At that time, the Empire often painted them as pirates and raiders, a menace of the sea and so on. There’s probably some truth to that. This was the time the time intercontinental travel started, though it wouldn’t be anything near widespread for a long while. But the Empire and other nations traded and moved goods a lot, including at sea. Piracy was probably a given. At this point, the Sea People were one of a few, and probably the largest, nation on the continent the Empire hadn’t conquered or subordinated yet. Clear is that the Sea People did a lot of trading, however.

Thing only changed with the rise of who people have called, talking to me, “the Pir - I mean, Sea Queen.” (No offense taken, folks.) Inera, the mother of the Leri clan, and who we suspect was the first person to go on a soul journey. It’s hard to be sure, though, since we have no records confirming that. Something must have changed, but if they knew, no one wrote down what happened. At least not that we know of.

In any case, she united the fractious tribes and great captains under her rule. We don’t know exactly where she’s from, though records indicate she was a talented, up-and-coming captain, probably inheriting a small ship. In two years, she rose to command a band of trade and probably raiding vessels large enough to threaten established city leaders and merchant clans, and force them to join her. She crowned herself the first queen of the Sea People, out on the sea in the midst of a storm. The woman certainly didn’t lack for courage or boldness. A few captains tried to form rebellions, but all of them were crushed.

For a few decades, things continued like that. The Empire was in a time of stagnation, corruption and disinterest in the outside world, while Inera ruled her people with a firm and just hand. The problems started when she died unexpectedly. I assume she hadn’t reached the eighth stage, though it isn’t quite clear in the records we have. Anyway, after that, her fleet fell apart and started infighting. Her rule was supposed to be carried on by her family, but they didn’t manage to assert their authority effectively. It probably didn’t help that none of her children had the strength to keep the others in line.

That’s when they first started calling themselves the Leri, actually. It was originally a byname for Inera, meaning something like ‘Subjugator’, but they adapted it as a family name. As a last name, since the Sea People didn’t put the family name first.

This newly-christened clan was born in blood, though. The family was ousted from the Sea People’s throne by a mutiny or coup, depending on how you look at it. A number of them died, and even more of their supporters. So they fled into the Empire. The Sea People themselves never really recovered. They didn’t quite split apart, but were less unified than before, and would have no hope of defeating the Empire once it came to that.

There, the Leri were welcomed and quickly made low-ranking nobles. Perhaps the Imperial government had plans of arranging a counter-coup. If so, it never came to pass. Not long after these events, the famous civil war broke out. By all accounts, the Leri survived that one by virtue of being unimportant and nonthreatening, and managing not to get involved. They were quick to consolidate their power, though, mostly a few small holdings spread over the continent.

In the following centuries, by and large, the Leri clan lived quietly. They seemed to have been good managers, rarely having to contend with crises or empty coffers. They were also known for being reclusive, and, according to a few rumors, not quite right in the head. I guess that’s not wrong. The Leri clan slowly increased in power and influence, almost despite themselves. Many of them had soul journeys, and they must have brought back knowledge and know-how, though they didn’t make much of a spectacle out of it.

Except for that one guy. Leri Akilei (yes, Lei’s namesake). He introduced a pretty good version of germ theory. That brought him, and the clan, a lot of fame and attention. And wealth. He also introduced a version of atomic theory that was pretty much so wrong it would do more harm than good. Though it never really caught on, which might be just as well. He died young, and remains almost the only time the Leri came out of obscurity to shake things up. Perhaps the effects of how their last great endeavor ended.

Speaking of, the Empire finally conquered the Sea People after it stabilized following the civil war. It was the last remaining piece of the Sky Continent to come under Imperial rule. I don’t know if the Leri helped or hindered it, but the conquest certainly went smoothly. With that, the age of exploration, cross-continental trade, and imperialism began here.

The Leri took part in that expansion, though to their credit weren’t very imperialist. In fact, they were more focused on exploration and opened a few new trading routes. They had a reputation for being good at diplomacy and such. Perhaps that makes sense if you consider how much experience they would have with dealing with different cultures and associated issues. It’s a wonder the family held together so well. They did have strong leaders, I guess.

It’s a little weird to read about events spanning centuries and realize that the same person lived through them. It actually hasn’t been that many generations since Inera. In fact, my grandmother would have been her great-granddaughter. Of course, she was old, but still.

In any case, the following centuries brought the clan increased prosperity and power. Gradually, but steadily, its influence rose. It gained new territories and sources of revenue, arranged marriages with other nobles, made new alliances and a few enmities. The usual story for a rising noble clan, if perhaps a soft and light version compared to others.

On the surface, at least.

Despite what some might think now, the clan was never matriarchal. Of course, it was never patriarchal either, someone’s gender just never mattered much. That was probably noteworthy compared to other clans, which did tend to be traditionally patriarchal, and sometimes still are. Less so than commoners, actually. Perhaps because cultivation lessens the strength differences between men and women and longer lifespans means women need to spend less time being pregnant or caring for young children compared to other pursuits.

Of course, from what I’ve read, many of the cultures where people came from after their soul journeys were also patriarchal. Perhaps that actually has something to do with the number of strong women rising here, freed from those kinds of shackles and given a chance at real strength and power? Most don’t seem to cling too tightly to cultural values from their soul journey, at least. Probably because the transition is so momentous, and they have some memories, and perhaps subconscious attitudes, from here.

Over time, the Leri clan also amassed a number of vassals, sometimes entire clans. My great-grandfather Rikilo was especially known for his ability to bring people to his side. Perhaps that’s why the clan let my grandmother succeed him, even though she was pretty young at the time. He was the one who really established the Leri in the Empire, and one of two eighth-stagers the clan had before the latest civil war. That might sound like a few but is actually pretty impressive for a clan of their size and power. My grandmother, by all accounts, continued his policy. She could be pretty ruthless towards their enemies, but offered servants and vassals a lot of benefits for loyal and exemplary service. And trust. Seems like it payed off.

At the time the latest civil war started, the Leri clan was one of the most influential in the Empire. I won’t go into detail here, since I’ll probably take an in-depth look at it some time. But it’s pretty clear grandmother was hesitant in the beginning. If the Wei clan hadn’t been one of our old enemies (though it wasn’t a particularly heartfelt enmity), she may never have involved the clan. But after allies were calling for her, and when it looked like the Wei were winning, she did. The power of the Leri clan was enough to turn the momentum of the war. She crushed smaller contenders and picked up their leftovers. Even before that really started to bear fruit, the clan’s allies decided to unite behind her and push a claim to the throne.

Well, the clan’s claim to the throne is pretty much, ‘We’re the strongest, and aren’t we doing a good job?’. Which is fair. Especially according to their culture and religion. I have no idea if my grandmother planned for this or ever intended to seize the throne, or if she just went with it once that became a possibility. It doesn’t really matter now.

After the war, the bloodshed didn’t stop. Although to be fair to grandmother, others might have done, and historically did, a lot worse. It’s pretty common to redistribute territory after a civil war like this. A few clans were purged, most only partially, and everyone had to swear allegiance. The standard stuff.

The rest is pretty clear and I won’t go into detail on family history here. I can just look up the family tree. (Seriously, how could I not have noticed before that Lei isn’t actually Lei’s full name? A good thing I looked at it now.)

From the beginning of my grandmother’s rule, she’s been pretty consistent about getting the common people on her side. Makes sense after a war like this, but perhaps also because of her experiences on her soul journey, where she was an ordinary person. She actually strengthened sects a bit, perhaps as a counterweight against noble clans, and kept more and more territory to imperial administration rather than any secondary power. She also restructured the provinces and regions. It’s still a mess, but at least not as much of a mess as it was before. And she reformed the justice code, pretty much laying the foundation for Mother’s civil rights laws later on. Needless to say, our clan has been popular ever since.

She also started Kariva’s semi-official agent team, and gave them wide authority. I don’t know how many people they have killed, especially after the war, but I do know that Kariva has spilled quite a bit of blood to keep the throne looking clean. Little sociopath that she is. Or at least, fanatic.

By the way, yikes. Dying at ten from a wasting disease in a futuristic mega-city’s slums is not your ideal soul journey. It shows that this isn’t just a blessing. Especially if you consider the memory thing. I have a sneaking suspicion that some of the other people in the clan who work with Kariva, or used to do similar stuff, have similarly checkered pasts.

Anyway, most nobles are perfectly aware that the Leri’s ‘niceness’ only extends so far. I’m not sure how I feel about the whole thing, but I have to appreciate grandmother’s work. And Mother’s, too. They’ve not only firmly established the Empire as a leading technological and cultivation-strength powerhouse country, they’ve also improved its internal cohesion a lot.

Right now, Mother has a firm grasp on the military, the people love her, and the administration of the provinces runs smoothly and according to the central government’s will. And all of that happened without the nobility able to do much against it, if they even realize what’s been happening. Firmly establishing her power. The only real risk lies in the dynasty itself. The clan is still relatively small, compared to some, and she’s the only one in the eighth stage. She lacks a strong heir, or the horde of children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren other clan patriarchs or matriarchs typically have.

No pressure for me, right?

Well, perhaps there are a few more possible avenues of attack. The future will depend in large part on how we handle change and reform going forward. But looking at this, realizing what’s shaped Mother’s rule and will shape mine, if that time ever comes, reminds me that the situation is affected by a lot of factors, obvious or not. I just hope I can manage to live up to all this.

67: Heirs' pride

Underwater, there was no way to tell the time. Little light filtered down, so it probably wasn’t day yet. While I finally had a mechanical watch, tucked away in my storage ring, I didn’t want to risk it.

But although I couldn’t be sure, we couldn’t have spent more than half an hour swimming through the ruined city. It wasn’t that big, especially since this was just the part out in the open, but I wanted to be careful. Spirit beasts lurked here, and other dangers.

Something I should have realized was that unlike electricity, technology running on qi wasn’t affected underwater and didn’t need the same infrastructure. Storage formations would probably be emptied by now, but qi infused into materials or even robust enchantments could still work. That’s why I could still sense qi in this city if I focused on it.

A few times, we looked into buildings. Even those that were still more or less standing were anything but intact. Most of the furnishings inside were gone. The most we found were a bit of ceramic or stone hearths. Unless they’d been preserved very well, any writings would long be gone. But it certainly felt like the city had been abandoned, people taking all of their valuables with them.

That only changed once we started nearing the cliffside. From here, I could tell that some of the caves weren’t really accessible from the ground. It was possible there had been ladders or rope lifts here, but maybe they were only intended for cultivators that could fly. Most were at least roughly on the level of the ground, though. Especially those towards the middle, where structures of stone rose from the ground and cliffs, as if they were hewn directly from the stone. Or formed by earth cultivators. A bit of qi lingered here, in the structures themselves or objects within.

The first trap was easy to miss. I’d already started another swimming movement when I noticed it. I flapped my arms, trying to push backwards. I probably looked ridiculous. But I managed to stop myself from touching the thin net of qi woven across our path, if only by millimeters. I grabbed Al and moved us backwards a meter, to prevent him from accidentally getting caught.

He hit my shoulder, glaring at me. I shrugged and gestured ahead of us, then shook my head. Then I turned back towards the net, taking a closer look.

It was clearly very old and in a bit of disrepair. I could sense where a few strands had unraveled further down, where it was tied across the structures. I couldn’t sense anything connected to it. Perhaps it was just an alarm, or whatever it was supposed to trigger had declined. But I’d rather not take any chances. Slowly and carefully, I let a few wisps of darkness affinity qi out of my meridians and guided them to lie across the net. It vibrated just slightly, but my effort seemed to do its job of smothering it. I slowly gave it a bit more power, forming a proper technique from the basic elements, and watched as they ate into the net. After a few minutes, a hole big enough to swim through had been created, and I carefully withdrew all of my qi.

That seemed to have been the only safety measure, though, or at least the only still functional one. I swam a little higher, channeling qi into my eyes to look for any other dangers. Everything seemed quiet and peaceful. There weren’t even any strong spirit beasts here. Although I couldn’t look into the caves very well.

Al seemed to grow tired of waiting and started swimming again. I quickly got ahead of him, giving him a shove to express what I thought of that action, but continued the way he was going. We didn’t need to talk to decide on our target. A cave entrance in the middle of the range with the most fortifications, stone guards posts built beside it. The heavy wooden door that had once closed it was still mostly there, although someone must have attacked it, leaving it cracked in the middle with a gaping opening into the cave beyond.

I checked it carefully before swimming through. On the other side, the tunnel we emerged in was narrow and low enough that I would have had to walk if this wasn’t underwater. I considered using a light, but didn’t want to attract attention. Al’s cultivation of darkness affinity qi would have to be enough to help him see.

From the entrance, we continued into a cave system that must have been partly natural but expanded by cultivators. A few times, other tunnels joined this one. I stretched my senses as far as I could go to check them, but had us continue on our way. I was pretty sure we were on the right path.

A few times, we passed what I pegged as guard posts. A few other doors held up our progress, all either demolished by some previous explorer or worn away enough by time and decay that I didn’t have a hard time clearing them. As we continued, I realized this had to be the castle of Old Riacis. The last line of defense, a fortification at the heart of this city. It was a pretty good position, building into the rocks like this. I wouldn’t want to assault this with an army. Especially if you wanted to capture its interior intact. And there were the paths to the surface as backups, perhaps hidden exits. But this meant that this was likely the home of the ruler. Perhaps even the Sea Queen. We were on the right track.

Finally, after what felt like kilometers of narrow tunnels but probably wasn’t, we emerged into a larger cave. Although hall might be a better term, since it had clearly been worked to seem more like a typical room. There were even windows carved into the walls, probably with enchantments formerly inside them to show light or even illusions of outside scenes.

We looked around carefully, but besides a few half-rotted chairs, there wasn’t much to see. Two doors led farther into the castle. But I decided to take a break here. Al had been flagging, and our breathing techniques didn’t make things easier. I’d been getting used to it, but the last few minutes it had started to become annoying again. I took out a sealed bottle of water and passed it to Al. He didn’t even hesitate before snatching it and trying to find a way to open it enough for drinking without letting the contents mingle with the sea water. I debated putting up another air bubble, but he seemed to have found a way, using qi to move the lid before drinking.

After a short break, we continued on. I was getting sick of these underwater caverns, and Al must be, too. I was also still worried about Tenira and the others, but pushed that aside to focus on our situation.

After this entrance hall, the next parts of the structure seemed more like a typical building. Instead of cavernous tunnels, it looked like the inside of a castle. But unlike the city outside, there were definitely signs of a fight here. I paused at a scratch gouged into the walls, feeling with my finger. Definitely at least ten centimeters, and from the width, maybe a blade. No wonder we didn’t find much of anything intact in the following rooms.

The structure was large, but almost completely empty. I strained my qi senses to try and get some idea of the layout. It was a good thing I had an eidetic memory. Al too, since he’d finally officially shown it a short while after his soul journey. With that, I managed to get something of a mental map of the structure. But we didn’t check every room, and instead kept heading deeper into it. That was where anything of value would be, and hopefully a way to get to the path into the upper caves and to the land on the surface.

Finally, we reached another reinforced door. This one wasn’t damaged much, but gaped open, its hinges looking a bit melted. I carefully pushed it farther open and stepped inside the room. We emerged into another hall, this one about the same size but a little grander than the other one. Reliefs were carved into the stone of the walls, a little withered but still decipherable. There was a raised dais at the other side of the hall, and I could even see a small depression where a throne might have stood.

The room seemed empty, so we swam forward, glad for the higher ceiling. I had just started looking at one of the scenes depicted on the walls, trying to make sense of the groups of ships in it, when I realized it wasn’t as abandoned as it seemed. I felt a presence approaching so quickly that I barely had enough time to turn around and pull Al back before it thundered into the room.

It took a moment for me to make sense of what happened, since the spirit beast was densely shrouded in water and darkness qi. It looked like a huge turtle. Or tortoise, I wasn’t clear on the difference. But it had a large shell that looked like pure rock, hard to distinguish from the surrounding caverns. It might have been stealthy had it not been charging towards us with glowing white eyes.

I pushed Al away and drew my dagger, facing down the spirit beast while my guts clenched nervously. I didn’t have much experience fighting underwater, and this one looked strong, probably the equivalent of the sixth stage at least. This wasn’t looking good. I tried to gather my qi.

A beam of boiling hot water carved towards me, and I just managed to duck. I could hear it digging into the rocky wall behind me. But I didn’t let it faze me, and instead focused on finishing my technique, drawing light qi from my core around me. This looked like a tank, so Light’s Speed might let me kite it.

Just then, the spirit beast twisted, faster than anything as large as a draft horse should be able to. Rocky spikes growing out of its carapace missed my face by centimeters.

I dodged backwards, cursing internally. This one was fast, maybe faster than me even with the buff. I quickly gathered some darkness qi and threw it at the charging beast while I kicked off from the wall to launch me to the other side of the room. The technique splattered against its carapace, not producing more than a light sizzle. I’d need to get the eyes to have any hope of doing damage, but that was easier said than done.

It chased me around the room for a bit more. I fired off another few techniques. Only one of them managed to catch it in the face. It flinched back and shook its head, but I couldn’t see any serious damage. That had probably only pissed it off.

Suddenly, I sensed Al coming up behind the spirit beast, slashing at one of its hind limbs with a sword he must have taken from a storage item. But the spirit beast sensed it, too, whirling around before I could do anything. Al dodged its kick, but then it headbutted him away. My heart clenched as I saw him pushed through the water until he thudded against the opposite wall. Without water to cushion some of the momentum, that could have killed him.

I ducked and tried to get back to him, swimming in an arc. The turtle stopped, though, turning so it could see both of us. For the first time, I was sure that this was an intelligent spirit beast. I slowed and raised my hands, trying to show that I didn’t want violence and was only trying to care for my little brother.

Its eyes narrowed. ‘You feel faintly familiar. Why is that, intruder?’ The voice in my head sounded old, deep and a bit scratchy but still sharp.

I swallowed. ‘I don’t know, honored old one. My little brother and I are simply trying to explore this place and find a way back up without running into malevolent spirits after us. I apologize for disturbing you.’

While I spoke, I inched backwards, getting closer to Al. I snuck a glance at him and was relieved to see him turn back around, groaning and holding his side but clearly awake and conscious. He blinked a bit, then bowed toward the spirit beast as well. ‘Me too. Forgive the intrusion, honored elder. We didn’t know anyone still lived in the ruins of our ancestors.’

‘Your ancestors, hm?’ The spirit beast slowly swam closer, scrutinizing us. ‘That might be so. You both have the same cultivation talent my lady once did.’

I breathed a covert sigh of relief and took a pill from my storage ring to give Al. If this spirit beast was old enough to remember when this place was occupied, and favorably disposed towards our ancestors, we might even get their help. Al took the pill and swallowed it quickly, and I sensed the qi working to repair the damage he’d received.

‘Are you the guardian of this place?’ I asked hesitantly.

The turtle snorted. ‘Only insofar as I have taken it upon myself to keep trespassers out. I was a little one when this place still had a queen, but I would rather not see its legacy tarnished. This is my home now. This fortress was razed in the struggle after Inera’s death, and then the people abandoned the whole city as it sank beneath the waves.’

I nodded. ‘If you like, I can make sure people are discouraged from visiting this place.’

The spirit beast’s eyes narrowed. ‘Can you? Very well.’ Their face swung toward the door on the opposite side of the hall. ‘Take a look at this.’

I swam closer, channeling some qi to my eyes to make sure I didn’t miss anything. There were runes inscribed in the door, creating a formation array. They weren’t ones I was familiar with, though I could guess this was some sort of ward. There were inscriptions on and to both sides of the door. I only recognized a few words from the texts I’d looked at before going to sleep what felt like days ago.

The one that stood out the most was Inera. I shook my head at the sight. It was pretty clear to me now that I’d been named after her. It was basically just a different form of the same two words. Before, I’d assumed I was named after my grandmother Iniris. Well, maybe both.

‘This was our ancestor’s seat of power, wasn’t it?’ I asked softly.

The spirit beast swam beside me. ‘So, you are one of Inera’s brood’s descendants. I thought I recognized those gray eyes.’ They snorted. ‘Useless cowards, the lot of them. Fighting over their mother’s seat while their vassals sharpened their knifes against them. Which one’s are you?’

I frowned, and noticed that Al got a little closer to us. ‘My mother is head of our clan now. Her grandfather was Rikilo, one of the Sea Queen’s grandsons, I think, who led the clan while they were establishing themselves in the Empire.’

The spirit beast shook their head. ‘I remember that one as a little child. His father was the worst of the lot. So they made nice with the Empire, did they? Sounds like you’re heirs to not much more than spineless pride.’

‘We’re also heirs to the Empire,’ Al shot back, glaring at the big turtle.

The spirit beast withdrew their head a bit, blinking at him.

‘Our ancestors learned from their mistakes,’ I put in, laying a hand on Al’s shoulder to calm him. ‘They didn’t return to fighting each other. Our clan grew strong, and our grandmother claimed the throne. Our mother is Empress now, and we’re her two oldest children.’ I raised an eyebrow. ‘We weren’t defeated by the Empire, we’ve taken the Empire. And now, I’d like to take a look at what our ancestor accomplished.’

For a moment, the turtle just looked at me. Then they sent bubbles upward in an obvious laugh. I suspected they were originally more of a land animal. ‘Fine, then, little princess. I suppose this is your legacy. I will help you get through the door. Put some qi in after I do.’

Frowning, I watched as the spirit beast touched their snout to the formation at the door, letting some of their qi flow into it. I couldn’t quite make sense of the way it flowed through the formation, but the door shifted just slightly. Hesitantly, I laid my hand on the door as well, and pushed some light and darkness qi into the door. This time, I could almost sense the formation hesitating. But after a moment, some of the runes lit up, and the remnants of qi in the material holding the door activated.

Of course, the mechanism was old, and the door not maintained. It scraped against the ground, and I had to heave against it to help get it open. It stopped after a bit, not opened completely but at least far enough a person could get through. Probably for the best.

I turned back around to see the spirit beast had retreated further and settled down on the floor in the middle of the room. They settled their shell over their legs, but led the head poke out. ‘Good luck, young ones.’

I nodded at the spirit beast, then stepped through the door, Al behind me. As soon as I did, I noticed one clear fact: There was a pocket of air on the top of the short hallway we entered. Looking more closely, I could see a formation flickering on the upper parts of the wall. A similar one, just stronger, was placed further down at the next door. Perhaps the next section would actually be dry?

I pulled out my knife and carefully walked forward. Time for some more exploration.

68: Remnants of the past

The door at the end of the corridor held even more qi than the one we’d just come through. It opened with only a bit of scratching and groaning, though I could see that most of it functioned mechanically. Once it started opening, water poured through the door into the next room. I sighed and quickly put up a qi barrier to keep it in the corridor. Should have done that earlier. At least the door behind us had closed again, so there would be no new water coming in here.

Carefully, I took down the barrier for an instant, guided myself and Al through, then put it back up. I shook myself out and looked around. It felt great to be back on dry land. Well, on a wet floor, but still. I took another look at the door, then heaved it back into place so I could take down my qi barrier.

I looked around the room we found ourselves in. There was a lot of dust, and a few pieces of furniture lay broken on the ground, but all in all it was in much better condition than the rest of this place. This was probably the air the room had been sealed with, but I still kept our breathing techniques going. Better to be safe than sorry, and who knew what gases might have been released here somewhere.

“It’s good to be able to talk again,” Al said. His voice sounded a bit muffled coming through the screen of darkness qi, but I could hear him well enough.

“It is. How are you holding up?”

“Fine.” He looked around the room and smiled. “Let’s see what we can find here.”

I did a careful sweep with my qi senses, but didn’t notice any qi presences here. The room we were now in must have been a sitting room or something, and two doors led out from it. I picked the one on the left, which opened into a narrow corridor with two small chambers connected to it. Perhaps storage rooms or something, but they were completely empty now.

When we came back, I noticed Al shiver a little. We need to hurry up. I sighed and conjured a small ball of light to illuminate our surroundings. There were remnants of paint on the walls and a few chairs that stood out more sharply, but the room didn’t look much different to my eyes. I gathered some more light qi and sent it to hover around Al, changing the wavelength it emitted until it reached the infrared spectrum. He smiled gratefully as his wet clothing started to dry. My own was still soaked, but I didn’t care to waste the qi on it.

Still keeping close to Al and keeping my technique going, I walked to the second door. This one had a lock, but swung inward when I tried the handle. The room beyond it looked like a living room, with a few armchairs and a low table, all in remarkably good condition. A few ‘windows’ were carved into the wall, but the formations behind them were empty of qi. There were two other doors, though my qi senses told me they both led to only one more room each, and one of them was clearly locked, with qi still present in the locking mechanism.

My attention was drawn to an alcove in the wall. A few holes showed where pictures might have hung, and there was a small pedestal growing out of the wall. A small crescent moon icon, the greenish colors indicating rusted bronze, stood in the center, along with a few equally rusty plaques on the wall. I wasn’t quite sure what those meant. The one to the left was a circle with some stuff around it and what looked like a tail, maybe a meteor? The others were harder to identify. A few incense candles lay toppled over on the surface. Probably a house shrine or something.

Following an impulse, I checked the candle and chose the most intact one, on the left side of the shrine. I set it alight with a pulse of qi. It burned with a small flame, and I felt something stirring in the qi of the room. I took a step back.

The space beside the shrine flickered for a moment, and then a familiar figure stepped out of the air. They looked around and cracked their knuckles. ‘It has been a long time since I’ve seen anyone here …’

“Mior?” I blinked and shot a glance at Al, who was stepping closer to me cautiously. “Did someone give offerings to you here?”

The spirit shrugged. ‘To me, Rijoko, and a few others who were popular here at the time, especially for sailors. But it is good to see you, Inaris. Though I’m not sure taking your little brother on an exploration like this is a wise idea.’

Al took another step forward and bowed. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, honored spirit.”

‘Nevermind that,’ I interjected, ‘I wasn’t planning on this. We need to talk.’

Mior clasped their hands behind their back, standing up straighter. ‘About the attack on you. Yes. I apologize for not anticipating that. I assured your Mother you would not be attacked by spirits.’

‘Wait, when did you talk to Mother?’

‘Some time ago.’ The spirit flicked their hand dismissively. ‘You should know, there is an unwritten agreement among us. Greater Spirits should not attack each other’s presence in the mortal world. Especially not their children. If someone were to break this, the others could unite against them in retaliation.’

‘Is that why the Pioneer hasn’t tried to kill me directly?’ I asked, feeling something click into place. ‘Like that time he came to taunt me when I tried to unlock my bloodline.’

Mior nodded. ‘In essence. Even the affair with the poisoning was pushing it. Unfortunately, Jideia’s position is strong right now, and the others don’t want to fight him. Perhaps that is why he felt sure of himself enough for this attempt.’

‘But that was pretty direct.’ I frowned, then felt a chill down my spine as I considered more carefully. ‘Although, I suppose they never attacked or tried to harm me directly. Just kidnapped Al … Though they did injure me.’

“Let me guess, I’m not covered by this agreement,” Al put in sourly.

‘Indeed. Kidnapping your little brother in order to get to you would bend these rules a lot, but not outright break them. After all, he is just a mortal, unaffiliated with any of us.’

I sighed. ‘And I suppose I was technically the first one to attack one of these spirits. So they could probably say this is my fault.’ I shook my head. ‘You could have at least warned me that they might attack my mind via my dreams.’

Mior frowned and looked at me more closely. ‘You are in something of a unique situation, Little Light. Rijoko’s bloodline gives you power over dreams, but it also opens your mind to them in a way that contains a hidden edge. We assumed that the training you had would be enough to protect you, together with your connection to him. I did not realize the extent of the damage your so-called ‘soul journey’ might have caused.’

I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly feeling a little nauseous. “I did forget everything I might have been taught about mental defenses here,” I said quietly. “Though I must have retained some of the subconscious stuff. Although, mixing episodic memories of another world with subconscious parts of my life here? I can see how that might be a problem … Is that what the Pioneer meant by saying my mind was damaged?”

Al laid a hand on my arm. “Hey, your mind is perfectly fine. I may have more memories of my life here, but I can tell my basic personality didn’t change much. It has to be the same for you. Besides, people forget things all the time, right?”

I looked to Mior, who shrugged. ‘Yes and no. Without a clearer picture of what happened, I’m unlikely to be much help. It seems clear your mind is somewhat vulnerable, although how much this has to do with some more esoteric aspects of the soul journey is debatable. For now, don’t go to sleep until we know more.’

I grimaced. ‘Can you help me?’

Mior sighed. ‘Perhaps. I could teach both of you some things about defending your mind. But this is not the place. Though perhaps the Sea Queen has left some clues to your soul journeys.’

I nodded and looked around. “Well, since we’re here, let’s explore a bit.”

We turned back to exploring the rest of this suite. The spirit tagged along, with their hands vanishing into the folds of their wispy robe and their feet not leaving any impression in the water covering the floor. I could see this being the inner sanctum of this castle. One of the rooms was mostly empty, only a few stone furnishings that I supposed might be desks left. The other one was guarded by a locked door.

Although the lock still had some qi left, I managed to smother it with a judicious application of darkness affinity qi, long enough for me to pick the lock. It turns out the ability to literally grow picks to order from your fingertips is the most useful thing about shapeshifting. Who knew? Probably a good thing I don’t need to resort to thievery.

I carefully undid my modifications and pushed open the door, emerging into what had to be an office. Its contents were the most well-preserved among the rooms I’d seen so far. The main desk was fashioned out of some dark, obviously robust wood, with several drawers built into it. The paintings on the walls were a bit faded but still pretty clear. Judging from the style, probably religious motifs. Or local myths.

“Hey, this is still readable!” Al had approached the desk and was rifling through its drawers. He held up a stack of what looked like parchment, yellowed with age. The ink was still clearly legible, showing a flowing handwriting using letters that looked only vaguely familiar to me. Like a related version of Common’s alphabet, but not the same.

“That might be more useful if we knew how to read it,” I commented. “Mior, care to help out?”

‘I never did learn to read all the various writings humans developed,’ the spirit said, somehow managing to sound as if they were talking down their nose. ‘I only went to the effort of learning for a few exceptions, and this certainly isn’t one of them.’

I shrugged and put the pages into my storage ring. We could find someone who was able to read them later. It wasn’t like there were no historians in this world, and I had more than enough pull to make it happen. For now, I continued looking around. But just as I made to turn away, I stopped, feeling my gaze drawn to something on the desk. There was a little hint of disturbance in my qi senses. I felt around the desk until I found a catch, and carefully pried it open to reveal a compartment beneath the upper plate. There was a large crystal sitting there, apparently filled with qi.

I pushed my sleeve over my hand before I took it out and looked more closely. The qi matrix in the crystal was intricate, clearly marking it as an information storage device. I hadn’t had much experience with those, but I could see that the formation matrix was a little degraded. It should still be salvageable, though. I wonder what this holds?

I straightened up and turned to Al and Mior, who were watching curiously. Could it be dangerous? I don’t think so. But it may have valuable information and I can’t ask one of them to do it. “Here goes.”

I touched the storage device and focused on my qi, sending a little bit of it out into the container. Something stirred there for a long moment. It almost seemed like whatever enchantment it held was analyzing my qi, or perhaps just struggling to get going.

Then the onslaught started. I winced as information appeared in my mind like someone had shoved it inside wrapped in burning coals. The knowledge felt both spiky and blurred. I tried to ignore the pain and discomfort and focus on the content, but it was hard. A few parts were in a language I didn’t understand, while others were conveyed as concepts and images. But those felt distorted, with chunks missing.

It stopped, and I bent over and heaved. Only a bit of spit came out. I straightened up, wiping my mouth, distantly glad I didn’t vomit. But most of my mind was still occupied trying to make sense of the stored information and rough transfer.

“Well, damn,” I said a moment later, trying to collect myself. “Whatever I may have imagined about Inera, this wasn’t it.”

Al looked at me with wide eyes, an excited smile spreading over his face. “What did you learn? Was that her diary or something?”

I looked at the storage crystal in my hands. Accessing it seemed to have made things worse. The qi felt a bit uneven now, the matrix more obviously corrupted. I wouldn’t want to try reading it again.

“Could be,” I answered. “It could also have been a message she left for her successor.” I frowned in thought. Some of the impressions seemed like that, but I wasn’t sure. “I don’t know, but it had some really interesting information. She really was the first Leri to go on a soul journey, though it wasn’t by choice or anything.”

“Really? How did that happen?”

“Well, she didn’t see it as a good thing. From the impression I get, it was a curse. Like an actual curse.” I turned to look at Mior. “I get the impression that there is … something in a wider universe. Or multiverse, maybe. Higher beings beyond the Greater Spirits?”

Mior sighed and nodded, eyebrows drawn downward. ‘Yes. We don’t know much about that, but there is something beyond this world, and a power beyond qi. There are a few beings who travel between worlds. They are little more than shadows even to us spirits. None of us understand the workings of connecting worlds, perhaps no one can. Don’t try; it is beyond your understanding, and you will never make sense of it.’ They tilted their head. ‘So you ancestor was noticed by one of them?’

I nodded, looking down at the crystal. ‘Yes. A woman, maybe? That’s an impression, but I’m really not sure.’ I shook my head. ‘This is definitely hereditary, or carried by qi signature or something. It may have been watered down in time, with people retaining more of their original memories. Or not. But it’s a premeditated, intentional mechanic.’

“I’m not sure if that’s cool or scary,” Al muttered.

I shook my head. “Well, that’s all we’re going to find here. Let’s go. There’s a back way out from the other room.”

We quickly gathered everything that might be of value before leaving the room. I barely saw our surroundings, still reeling a bit from the information transfer. There was something else tickling at the edge of my mind, but I couldn’t pin it down. When we reached the other room, I took aside a seemingly random piece of scattered furniture and then used the hidden lever. I needed to put a lot of strength into it, and the lever creaked alarmingly, but finally a door built into the back wall swung open, revealing a cave-like tunnel.

I’d just stepped through it, feeling for the crystal in a pocket of my robe, when I stopped. I felt like someone just hit me over the head with a lightbulb. “Spirits, I’m an idiot.”

Al stopped and looked back, while Mior crossed their arms and raised an eyebrow. ‘Are we supposed to contradict you here?’

I shook my head, not bothering with banter. “I don’t know why I didn’t see it before. Qi can store information, right? Like that crystal.”

“Yes, and?” Al shifted his weight to the other foot, tugging on his robe.

“And I had a perfect memory before my soul journey! Like other people here. Something that only works on Aran. Obviously, that’s because of qi. The way it seeps into everyone. Since everyone cultivates here. Or maybe it would just do that on its own. Anyway, it’s clear that qi acts as some sort of external storage, or extending the memory network in the brains of some people.” I tapped my fingers, frowning in thought. “Maybe one needs to have sufficient cognitive capability, or ‘processing power’, to make that work.”

I blinked and finally started walking again, watching the other two’s surprised expressions. Al looked like he was deep in thought, while Mior seemed less affected by this, more amused at my behavior.

“That means,” I mused, “I may be able to get my memories back. At least, there’s a chance they’re still there, somewhere. Maybe they’re overwritten, or maybe access to them was just … shifted.”

‘I couldn’t help you with that, Little Light,’ Mior finally said. ‘This is a different level. But your conclusion seems well-reasoned.’

I nodded absently, still trying to come to grips with my epiphany. It probably influenced quite a few other things I’d been confused by before. “Do you think that has an influence on my apparent vulnerability? I know I forgot stuff, and there may be holes or … seams or whatever … in my mind that makes it easier to target. But maybe there’s an effect of this stuff that has to do with soul journeys.”

Mior nodded. ‘That could very well be.’

Al sighed. “This is all very interesting, but are you sure we’re going the right way here?”

I looked around, absentmindedly ending our breathing techniques, which we shouldn’t need anymore. We were still in a tunnel-like cave, which had just started curving upwards. We’d already passed one branching in the tunnel and I could see another up ahead. But I had some vague impressions of this path from the stored information I’d gotten. “This should be right.”

We fell silent and continued walking.

69: Human and spirit

At first, I thought I was imagining things. But as we continued walking, it became clear that there really was light ahead. I had to stop myself from speeding up. I didn’t have a problem with darkness, but finally seeing natural light again felt amazing. The air was starting to smell fresher, too. While I was glad that there was air around us and the caves weren’t flooded here, I wouldn’t mind a bit of a breeze.

Although, thinking about it, we probably were below the waterline still. This must mean that there are no direct connections to the ocean here. Perhaps someone has pumped out the water at some point or something?

I looked back at the others, then paused. I’d been too distracted to pay much attention before, but Mior’s presence had been diminishing. Now, I couldn’t see the spirit anywhere, and I couldn’t pinpoint their location with my other senses, either. It seemed Mior had decided to leave. Although I suspected they might still be around. I just hope that means we’re close.

Al didn’t seem to have noticed. He looked tired, but was walking quickly enough that I had to increase my pace a bit if I didn’t want him to step on my heels. Then the tunnel widened a bit, and he sped up to walk beside me. I sighed but didn’t comment. I’d just need to keep my eyes peeled, but at this point danger was probably just as likely to come from behind us than ahead. After all, we’d passed several intersections. I only had a rough picture of what our surroundings looked like, and the caves probably extended beyond that. At least there didn’t seem to be any strong spirit beasts close to us at the moment.

“I can’t wait to take a shower and get clean clothes,” Al said. “It’s a shame they don’t have coffee here.”

I smiled at the thought. “If you’re thirsty, I can get you some water? Or something to eat?”

“No, thank you. I’d rather just get back quickly.”

I could definitely agree with that sentiment. While I’d managed to push it aside, I still felt some worry, which I wouldn’t lose until I saw the others were fine with my own eyes.

“It’s a bit strange to think that we lived two lives only because one of our ancestors pissed off some higher being,” Al mused. “But I guess nothing about the situation is normal.”

“Yeah, just look at the time thing,” I agreed. “When Mother died on Earth, we weren’t even born here, and yet we already lived our life on Earth. Probably some sort of local time, simultaneity thing. That’s already screwed up enough in one universe if you consider special relativity. Like the Andromeda paradoxon. Maybe this is just a higher level of the same thing, when you consider different universes.” I snorted. “Or maybe the simulation hypothesis is true and we’re all just living in some computer. I didn’t agree with it before, but in this world the laws of physics are actually broken, or at least bent with magic. That’s definitely evidence in its favor.”

Al shook his head. “Uh, I liked physics, but I only have a vague idea what you’re talking about right now.”

I scratched my cheek. “Sorry. Either time is screwed up between universes or this isn’t real. Although, even if we live in a simulation we should just continue living our lives, right?”

“I suppose I’ll let you worry about that,” Al decided after a moment. “I’ll just be sad that I don’t have access to the Internet anymore.”

I chuckled. “That’s fair. I really miss the Internet, too. It would save us so much effort with trying to do science stuff and develop technology. And all of the stories I’ll never get to read or watch again.”

“Me too! I was just about to finish the last season of my favorite anime.” Al groaned. “And I was watching online tutorials to improve my drawing. Now I barely have time for that and lost a lot of my skill.”

“You like art?” I asked. I’d never noticed that before.

“What, I can’t like physics, tech and also art?” Al crossed his arms and gave me the stink-eye.

“No, of course you can,” I quickly assured him. “I just didn’t know. Why don’t you show me what you’ve been drawing? I’d love to see.”

His frown smoothed over. “Thanks. People always teased me for that. Sorry if I overreacted.” He sighed. “I can show you a few pieces once we’re back home.”

“Great.” I smiled at him, then returned my focus to our surroundings.

The light was definitely getting stronger. I’d been distracted by the conversation, but we’d walked steadily upwards and passed a few other branches. By now, I could sense that we were nearing the surface. There were more qi signatures around. Most of them were still pretty small and a little farther off, and a general background of life that I’d rarely noticed before. Maybe plants and such? The air also started to get colder as we walked on. It was probably morning outside, but still winter, so that was to be expected. I noticed that Al was drawing his robe more tightly around himself. If we had to walk for much longer, I’d need to warm him up again.

Then something prickled on my senses, and I halted, forcing Al to slow down with me. I frowned and concentrated on my qi senses. There was a familiar sensation, slight but noticeable. And unless I missed my guess, it was getting stronger. I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach.

“Come on,” I hissed and pulled Al back. We’d passed the last intersection only a few meters ago. I pulled him into the side tunnel. He looked confused and annoyed, but I put a finger over my lips and gave him a look that made it clear I was serious.

Taking a deep breath, I concentrated on my qi and started using a few techniques. It was fairly easy to bend the light around me so I’d stay hidden. I did the same to Al. It was more effort than to do it together but better in case we separated. Then I tried to pull in my qi presence as much as I could and focused on pulling darkness affinity qi around me to smother my aura. I tried to do the same with Al, but it was difficult. Doing something like this was always harder on someone else than yourself. He didn’t have much qi, comparatively, but also didn’t have much control over it. It should still work.

Once I finished, I checked to make sure he was covered and the techniques would work for a while. Then I pushed him down the tunnel. Al frowned and shook his head. At least he had the good sense to stay quiet. I pushed again, more insistently, and glared at him. Finally, he took the hint and started walking down the tunnel. I put up a qi barrier to stop air traveling between his position and mine, effectively stopping sound as well.

This was a risk, but I could still sense him pretty well, and I’d know if another spirit approached him. He also had defensive talismans and a calling bracelet. I just needed all the stealth I could muster for what I wanted to do now.

I took a step forward, listening closely. My still bare feet made no noise on the hard rock of the cavern. I also couldn’t hear anyone else coming. Though I could sense them. Carefully, I peeked around the corner of the tunnel. The opening onto the surface was close, very close. The presence I felt came steadily closer. Now they’d almost reached it.

I took off. Pumping my legs hard and channeling a bit of qi to accelerate even harder, I tried my best to be quiet. My technique to hide me from sight would have trouble covering me with this kind of motion. Not to mention my presence would be felt more clearly the closer I came. But the tunnel ahead of me was straight and long enough I could pick up quite a bit of speed. I crossed dozens of meters in moments.

Light from ahead stabbed into my eyes, but I relied on my other senses as I came to the opening. I’d timed it right, the spirit was just crossing the threshold. They noticed me a moment too late. I barreled into them, trying to get a good grip.

They managed to twist aside, breaking free for a moment. My heel ground into the ground as I pivoted, bleeding off some of my momentum and using the rest to go after my enemy. A knife slashed towards me, glancing off a qi shield my protective talisman threw up at the last moment. I got a grip on the spirit’s arm, wrenched it, and managed to disarm them.

‘You,’ the spirit hissed, its form boiling backwards as they took a step back. ‘Accursed spawn of the Moon, you’ll pay for evading us.’

I had no desire to trade insults with this piece of filth. Their sight alone made my anger return in force, crying out to destroy them. For once, I didn’t feel the need to struggle with my self-control. I simply jumped forward, batted aside another reaching hand, then grabbed the spirit’s neck.

Of course, my enemy tried to evade, but I didn’t let them. I tightened my grip, putting some qi into it to make sure I got it. While they flailed around, I kicked their leg out. Not so insubstantial, are you now? I got behind the spirit, keeping one hand choking them while I caught their arms with the other, making sure they couldn’t hurt me.

‘Not so tough now, are you?’ I growled. ‘Think you can take my brother from me, do you?’ I tightened my grip, wrenching a little. I had no idea if spirits could feel pain, but I might find out.

It didn’t seem so. The spirit didn’t make a sound, and I didn’t feel any extra tension. Although the way their body worked was pretty wispy, anyway. But they didn’t seem to like the situation any.

‘Let me go, princess! I can help you! It wasn’t my idea to go after your brother, the Storm made us do it! The Pioneer was in charge here!’

I grunted, then twisted my head to the side as I sensed another change in our surroundings. A moment later, I relaxed a little more as I saw it was only Al, hesitantly coming out of the tunnel. I tugged the spirit a few more steps away and frowned at him. “You should have stayed put.”

“There was some spirit beast coming closer to my position,” Al said, his eyes focused on the spirit I had captured. “Wow, Nari. I’m not going to call you lazy or a wimp in fighting anymore. What are you going to do with that jerk? Can we even kill it?”

I frowned, taking a moment to think. “You, spirit. Just tell me something. The Pioneer. Is he a spirit?”

The wispy material under my fingers stiffened for a bit, betraying the answer. Then the spirit spoke, hope in their mental voice. ‘No, he’s not! He just acts like it. I know all about it. If you let me go, I can show you his weaknesses.’

“Quiet,” I growled. Then I turned back to Al. “Step back, will you? Let’s get away from here.”

I dragged the spirit a few more meters, careful not to let them dislodge my grip, until we reached the shadow of a rock formation, flanked by a big fallen tree. There was a hint of what I’d come to recognize as the ‘scent’ of spirits in the qi gathering here.

“Hey, Mior,” I called. “Come on, I know you’re still around.” At least I hope I’m not just embarrassing myself.

Al started and looked around. He almost missed it when the shadows of the rock condensed a little before Mior stepped out of them. He was frowning at me. ‘Don’t be rude, Little Light.’

I shrugged, as well as I could in this position. ‘Sorry. Here, take care of this, would you?’

Mior sighed, then stepped forward and grabbed the spirit. I withdrew my hands, watching as Mior let some of their qi billow outward, covering the captive, who stiffened and stopped moving.

I took a step back and looked around. It was morning, the sun shining from above the ocean to the east, the air crisp and clear. A little further down, I could sense another spirit, but that one seemed to be moving away from us. Still farther, in the direction of the town, I could see a group of people in colorful cultivators’ robes.

Something in Mior’s qi shifted slightly. I watched as their grip on the captive spirit’s neck tightened, and qi started to flow from the weaker spirit to them. It looked a bit like Mior was literally sucking the substance out of their captive, and I could feel how they enveloped the qi with their own, pulling it into themselves. After a moment, Al turned away, but I continued watching in fascination. It only took a few seconds before the last few wisps of the spirit’s form dissipated. Mior didn’t feel much stronger, but I was beginning to realize I’d never really felt their full strength anyway.

After the spirit was finished, Mior dusted off their hands and stepped away, Al and me following. ‘Was that all you called me for?’

‘Mostly.’

Mior looked at me with a frown. ‘Thanks for the snack, but next time, clean up your own mess.’

I nodded and tried not to grimace. ‘About the Pioneer, do you know if he’s actually not a spirit?’

‘Yes. I’ve heard he started out as a mortal human who ascended. Perhaps he developed further beyond that. It might be a factor to why he was able to invade your mind like that.’

I nodded and scratched my cheek. It felt like a few pieces were beginning to fall into place. I still didn’t quite have the full picture, but I was starting to get the beginnings of a real plan.

‘You seem a little too human, as well,’ I finally commented. ‘And surprisingly helpful to me.’

Mior cocked their head, then grinned broadly, showing some shadowy teeth. ‘I was wondering if you would ever notice my aura. Yes, I have some human in me, along with Rijoko’s bloodline. A little like you.’

I missed my step. ‘Wait, we’re related?’ I hadn’t really noticed that. Mior’s qi presence did seem more similar to Rijoko’s than other spirits I’d met, but I’d assumed that was just something to do with being a close supporter.

Mior’s expression was hard to make out, but I thought they might look a bit melancholy. ‘Yes. My father was much like you, a human spirit-child of Rijoko, though he ascended beyond mortality millennia ago. My mother was a spirit, of course. I was conceived and born in the place where you attempted to awaken your bloodline. Of course, I am far more spirit than human, unlike someone like you.’

I blinked and shook my head. ‘Doesn’t this make you me your aunt, technically?’ I wasn’t sure what to think about that. The thought felt weird. But we were talking about spirits here, lots of things might seem weird.

Al whistled. ‘Nari, your family is badass.’

Mior chuckled, but didn’t say anything more on the subject.

After a moment, Al shifted and looked in the direction of town. “Can we get going? I’d really like to get back.”

He didn’t have to say that twice. I started walking at a brisk pace, Al beside me. Even Mior trailed along. I was pretty sure now that the group of people we were heading toward was mostly composed of our guards. I wouldn’t object to having the spirit along, though, when other hostile spirits might still stick around. It seemed like they felt the same.

I hesitated for a moment, focusing on the footpath we were walking. I didn’t want to bring this up now, but it was probably best to know before we reached the others. “Al, what exactly happened? Did you go outside the wards?”

Al looked down and blushed. He cleared his throat. “Well … yes.” He looked up, scowling. “They lured me out. Mimicked other people’s voices and cried for help. I should have known you would speak in English if you wanted only me to know, but I didn’t think of that.”

I laid a hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay. You couldn’t have known, and things turned out alright.”

Al nodded, still scowling. “I’m glad you killed that bastard.”

I didn’t answer. I didn’t feel bad about that. I hadn’t killed the spirit myself, but I would have done that easily, and the only reason I might regret it was that Al had been there. He didn’t seem to mind and I couldn’t exactly blame him, but I probably shouldn’t encourage that reaction. He was still a kid.

“Anyway,” I changed the subject, “Mior, I’m glad you’re still here. We can use your help. And I would really appreciate training in defending our minds, like you mentioned.”

Mior shrugged. ‘I cannot be with you too long. This is not my kind of environment, to put it simply. I can do it better than most, but still. Staying with mortals, in a more physical form, is … draining.’

I frowned. That didn’t sound good, although it explained why spirits rarely lived alongside humans, even the way spirit beasts did.

‘I will just have to train you as much as I can once you get back.’

Al raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t there some way we could, uh, incentivize you to stay longer? Maybe some qi rich materials?”

Mior frowned. ‘I’m not some lackey for hire you can buy, young man. Be grateful I’m going to teach you something, as well, as a favor for your sister. And you would not like what it might take to tie me to you more permanently. I doubt you are anywhere near strong enough to weather my qi touching yours.’

‘Wait.’ I couldn’t help a bit of excitement in my tone. This smacked of esoteric knowledge and insight into the way spirits worked. ‘You mean you can tie yourself to a mortal? What, like possession?’

Mior rolled their eyes. At this point, I’d gotten past wondering how they managed such human-like expressions with a wispy face. ‘Yes. I’ve done so in the past, though many called me crazy for it. Spirits generally do not resort to something like this. It might be a way to stay close to you, though.’ Their expression turned thoughtful. ‘Not worth it, unless you happen to have a talented cultivator in the higher stages, who stays close to you, that you can trust with your secrets and who is loyal enough to put his mind and more at risk at your command, lying around here.’

I clicked my tongue. Well … My eyes met Al’s, who had a similar expression on his face, and we spoke at the same time.

“Aston.”

70: Connections

Coming back to the others felt like someone was finally lifting the weight they’d been pressing down on me. I wanted to run forward, but controlled myself. I knew Al was tired, even if the prospect of returning to safety had given him a second wind. Mior fell back a little, but I barely noticed, instead looking at the people in front of us.

It was clear they’d been aware of our coming, and were gathering for it. There was a small camp outside of town, this one less the type for a night sleeping outside and more of a defensive or control post, with a lot of security formations set up and even a few earthen walls. A large number of guards stood there. More than I’d taken along in the first place, even though I could still sense others farther out, which meant they’d gotten reinforcements. A moment later, I could see the familiar figure of Lei walking into sight. Tenira followed him, and my heart did a small skip in celebration of seeing her unharmed.

They came forward to greet us, and I couldn’t hold myself back any longer. I stepped forward and caught Tenira in a tight hug. She stiffened for a moment, then relaxed. It felt great to hold physical proof that she was okay.

“Inaris,” she said after a long moment. “I’m glad you’re back safely, but you’re crushing me.”

I loosened my hold and stepped back. Way to go, Tori. Ugh. I ducked my head. “I was worried about you,” I almost mumbled.

She chuckled, and I could see Lei and a few others grinning. “No need to be dramatic, even if you’re cute when you worry.”

My heart skipped another beat, and I had to clamp down on my self-control to make sure nothing showed on my face. Damn it, this really isn’t the time for that stuff. You have important things to do.

I looked back up just in time to see Tenira schooling her expression. Maybe she hadn’t meant to say that? Or was embarrassed by my reaction.

“Of course I’m cute,” I said, crossing my arms. “I’m always cute. And smart, beautiful and talented. At the moment, though, I'm mostly tired.”

That kept the grin on their faces for a moment, though Tenira quickly turned serious. “Are you alright, Inaris? Al?”

I looked back to Al. A few guards and servants hovered around him, but obviously didn’t quite dare do anything while he was focused on watching us. “Go on,” I said. “Get that shower and go to sleep.”

He shook his head. “No, I want to stay here for what’s happening, first.”

I sighed. “Fine, then someone at least get him a blanket and a hot drink.”

The servants scrambled off to do as I commanded, and I looked at the guards. Hopefully, we could keep this short, I was looking forward to a hot shower as well. “Someone fill me in?”

Tenira cleared her throat. “We were awakened from an unnaturally deep sleep only to sense you some distance away, and getting farther away. The more experienced guards assured me that the qi signature with you was one of the beasts you must have talked to before. There were also a number of clearly hostile spirits around, especially in your direction. We packed up quickly, fought them …” She shrugged. “The details probably don’t matter, but the guards managed to hold them off well enough and get me to the town, where we hunkered down until reinforcements came.”

I nodded, relieved that this seemed to have gone so well.

“I wanted to look for you,” Tenira continued, a frown on her face. She didn’t quite meet my eyes. “But we had no idea where you were, and didn’t know what else lay in wait outside. I was assured that you would be safe with a sea dragon, and there was little we could do against one if they turned hostile. We started to clear the surroundings once Lei and the rest arrived. How did you get back, anyway?”

I paused to check that Al was taken care of, then started telling a quick version of our adventure. I left most of the details out, though I would probably tell Tenira everything once we had privacy. I ended by assuring everyone that they’d made the right decisions. They would know that better than me, but I was the Imperial Princess, and they should probably hear it from me.

Mior got a few surreptitious looks, even though they’d veiled their presence so only the stronger people would know the spirit was there. Mior didn’t acknowledge them at all, just standing there as if watching a mildly interesting play.

Once everything was done, I turned to Aston and the senior guards, who’d been waiting nearby for me to acknowledge them. “Are we still in danger here?”

“No, Your Highness,” Aston replied promptly. “The remaining hostiles are scattered and would not be able to put up a fight against us. I …”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Cut that out.”

He looked confused. “Your Highness?”

“If I know you, you were about to kneel and apologize for failing to protect me, again.” I made a cutting motion. “I don’t want to hear it. You didn’t live up to your job, but I doubt another guard would have done any better.”

In my periphery, I could see Tenira and Al stifling a smile. The other guards mostly looked relieved, while Aston bowed deeply, but didn’t say anything.

I sighed. We should get this over with soon, then we could make sure the other spirits got what was coming to them. “Aston, I’d like to talk to you. The rest of you, continue with what you were doing, please.”

Tenira and Lei looked at me questioningly, and I nodded after a moment of thought. They followed as Aston and I stepped away from the others. Al came along as well. He had a blanket tightly clutched around his shoulders and his hands wrapped around a steaming mug, probably tea. I stopped a few dozen meters away from the rest, still a short distance before a scraggly little forest started and to one side of a rocky terrain leading down into cliffs and to the ocean. From here, I had a good view of the town, and I could check that there was nothing up with the camp or our surroundings. Mior stepped forward until the spirit stood beside me, eying my companions, still mostly hidden.

“This is Mior, a … valued ally, from my father’s faction,” I introduced, a little unsure how I should refer to them. The spirit shot me an amused glance, but didn’t correct me.

Aston bowed deeply, though he didn’t take his eyes off the spirit. After a moment of hesitation, Tenira and Lei followed suit. Judging by the faint frowns on their faces, they were trying hard to sense Mior.

“As you can tell, I appear to be targeted by his enemies, in spite of their usual customs,” I continued. “Mior has graciously agreed to help me, and Al, by teaching us to improve our mental defenses. An area where we have certain disadvantages due to the soul journey and its associated issues.” I paused for a moment, wondering if I could convince Mior to extend that offer to Tenira and Lei as well, before I focused. “We are also considering an option that might allow them to help defend me more effectively.”

‘And spend some interesting time in human society,’ Mior put in. They were slowly coming more fully into view. ‘It’s been a long time since I last really walked among humans, on my own or otherwise.’

I shook my head. “Right. That would work a lot better if Mior has an anchor, tying their qi to them and giving them a physical presence without need to condense their own body. And since Mior is very strong, that should be a strong cultivator, who would open their mind to the spirit, entering a compact of sorts.”

I could see that the others were starting to understand where this was going. A muscle worked in Aston’s jaw, before he stilled his expression. He bowed his head. “If it serves my princess’ interests, this one would be honored to volunteer for such an honor.”

I frowned a little. Aston’s words were stiff, and Tenira looked worried.

“We won’t demand something like that from anyone,” Al said. “Right, Nari?”

“Of course. Aston, I would appreciate it highly if you volunteered, but only if you truly agree to it, if you can open your mind to Mior and work with them. It’s your decision, and if you feel uncomfortable, we won’t continue this.”

Mior took a step closer, meeting Aston’s eyes. ‘You’re a strong warrior, Tener Aston. I wouldn’t mind binding myself to you for a while. It would be a risk, though. For you more than for me. Although it is also an opportunity few ever receive. I have lived a long time and seen many things, and the advice on your cultivation I could give you alone would make that worth it for many.’

I smiled wryly. Put like that, I almost wanted to volunteer for this myself. But Mior had told me that would be a bad idea. I understood that, of course. I had enough problems with my mind and magic without adding a connection to another spirit. We also didn’t know how my bloodline and connection to Rijoko might interfere with this.

Aston glanced at me, then straightened up. It suddenly made me notice his height, as he was at least fifteen centimeters taller than me. “I understand,” he said, tone even. “And I agree. I will risk it. If something goes wrong …”

“Do you want us to pass a message to your family?” Tenira asked.

Aston snorted. “No thank you, my lady. I think clan Tener wouldn’t mind my death.” He turned back to me. “If something happens, please promise me you will take the proper steps to ensure your safety. Become the Empress you are meant to be.”

“Of course.” I felt a little bad that I’d never wondered about his background, and hadn’t even realized Aston was a noble. I’d heard of clan Tener, just hadn’t made the connection.

My guard captain nodded and took a step forward, gaze fixed on Mior. The spirit smiled and came forward to meet him. Mior laid their hands on Aston’s shoulders and tilted their head upward. For a moment, I almost thought they would kiss, but their lips didn’t meet. Instead, Mior’s face started blurring out, until it was just a wispy mass of qi. The phenomenon spread through their body. A whispering noise started on the edge of my hearing, and the hairs on my arms stood up. Streams of qi shot out from Mior’s dissolving form.

Aston flinched suddenly. Then he closed his eyes and threw back his head. It looked like a faint mist entered his mouth and nose, while more of it, and a more substantial haze of qi, converged on his body, covering it. Aston opened his eyes again, but they rolled back into his head. His face twitched. I swallowed at the sight. I hope this is going well.

This continued for a few minutes, while the rest of us stood in silence, watching. The haze of Mior’s qi wrapped around Aston, though some of it seemed to fly upward. I wondered if the spirit had demanifested completely. The veil over Aston’s aura started to draw back, and I had to steel myself not to step back as the weight of it spread over the area. Pressure bore down on me, and I locked my knees against it. Even with that, I could sense something in his aura shifting, though I couldn’t make much sense of it.

Aston’s aura flared, and it felt like some of Mior’s was laying underneath it, mirroring the sensation. At some point Aston had closed his eyes. When he opened them once more, they glowed for a moment and a cloak of fire rose around him, before the qi collapsed inwards again.

The pressure vanished, and Aston stumbled forward. I grabbed his shoulder to steady him, trying to calm down my racing heartbeat. Tenira stepped closer as well, a concerned expression on her face.

Then Aston straightened up, and I stepped back. A pulse of qi formed, and swirled in front of him, forming into Mior’s wispy form. There was still an almost visible band of qi connecting the two of them. Mior gave me a smile and popped his knuckles, before the spirit vanished again, dissipating into the qi surrounding Aston.

“I take it this went well?” I said, calming my expression.

Aston bowed his head. “Indeed, Your Highness. I think it did. We are connected now, it is certainly an interesting experience …” he trailed off, gazing into the distance.

‘Don’t worry, Little Light.’ Mior’s voice was somehow more solid than before.

“Everything is alright.” This time, Aston’s voice carried an undercurrent that sounded like Mior, if their telepathic voice was given physical form.

I sighed. “Well, alright then. Congratulations.”

Tenira, Lei and Al quickly echoed my words. Al was staring at the guard with wide eyes, his blanket slipped from his shoulders a little. I could see a few of the surrounding guards looking over curiously, though they turned back to their tasks quickly once I glanced at them. Well, I guess this wasn’t particularly subtle.

Aston, or perhaps Aston and Mior, walked forward. His movements had changed just a little, as if there was a bit of underlying energy to them, a hidden tension that turned his steps into stalking. I cocked my head, watching with interest. This whole thing prickled my curiosity, but I swallowed my questions. They probably wouldn’t answer anything about the details, anyway, spirits rarely did.

“Excuse us,” Aston-Mior said, their normal and telepathic voices blurring together. “It is time to go hunting. We will test ourselves while taking out the spirits still lingering here.”

I nodded, but the form of Aston was already blurring away at high speed, heading out into the cliffs. Presumably to chase down and kill the remaining spirits that had attacked us. Not that I minded.

I sighed and turned around. “Well, so much for that.” Shaking my head, I started walking back into the camp.

“Not sure how much I understand of what happened here,” Lei said, looking thoughtful.

“I doubt many of us do,” Tenira said. “Now what?”

I shrugged, looking for the tent or hut they had hopefully set up for me. “Now, Al and I go take long, hot showers and get something to eat. Otherwise, probably best to start packing up. As soon as Aston gets back, we can leave. No reason to linger.”

I was definitely looking forward to sitting down and taking a minute. And wearing shoes again. I might not hurt my feet, but I was tired of going barefoot.

71: Speculation and study

For some reason, I resented that I wasn’t able to take a nap during the flight, even though I knew I probably wouldn’t have done that. But now I felt disgruntled about it, knowing that I shouldn’t sleep any time soon. Maybe that’s just human nature?

I snorted and turned away from the window, where I was just watching our airship descend over Blue Valley City. The flight back to the city from the coast had seemed like it dragged on endlessly, even though it was really pretty quick all things considered. The airship we used was downright spacious, which was a good thing since I’d taken advantage of the trip to ask one of the servants for a massage, making up for that nap. Lia, a woman who’d come with me from the palace, had a gifted touch when it came to that. I should make use of it more often.

At least we had two airships, since one had carried the reinforcements. Most of the guards were in that one now. The rest formed up around me as I headed to the hatch, with Tenira and Lei coming up behind me. As soon as I felt the airship touch down, I straightened up and stepped forward. The hatch opened to let me into the courtyard of the royal palace in the city.

I stepped forward, tilting my head backwards to take in the sunshine, and let the noise of the city wash over me. After my time underwater and in the caves, I liked the sense of returning to civilization.

I glanced back at the others. My gaze settled on Aston, who walked up beside me, taking his usual place as my guard. He still seemed different. While his aura was mostly veiled, I could sense the new currents in it. He looked straight ahead, his face unmoving. I got the suspicion he might be talking to Mior in his mind. I hadn’t seen much of him since he returned from his ‘hunting trip’ after about an hour, as he’d focused on organizing the guards.

After I made sure that everyone had disembarked and was organized properly, I turned away. Most of the other people were leaving for their own purposes. I might head straight to the university, since there wasn’t much I should do here. Well, I should send a message to Mother. Probably best to do it from here.

Tenira was walking off, but I noticed Lei kept close to me. As we headed into the side entrance of the palace, he cleared this throat. “Do you mind if I walk with you?”

“Sure.” I gestured at the guards to give us some space, wondering what he wanted to talk about. I couldn’t help feeling a bit tense.

He waited until we were walking down the corridors to our suites. He seemed hesitant, glancing around and walking a bit too slowly. Finally, he cleared his throat. “Inaris, I wanted to talk about Tenira. It was pretty clear you were worried about her, that you felt about this strongly. And …”

“Yeah?”

“Well, I’ve seen the way you look at her.” He glanced at me and bit his lip.

I sighed and opened the door to my room that we’d just reached, letting him go in after me. “Yeah. I guess I should have expected that.” I grimaced. “Don’t worry. I won’t do anything stupid.”

He frowned at me. “I wasn’t implying that. But I’m here if you want to talk about it.”

I turned around, leaning against my desk, and took another look at Lei. I realized this couldn’t be easy for him. He was friends with both of us, and probably wouldn’t want to be caught in the middle of something, but he cared about both of us.

“It’s not a big deal,” I said. Although I tasted a bit of bitterness in my throat. “It’s not the first time I’ve had a friend I found attractive. I’ll deal with it.”

I’ve been hoping this would go away on its own, I couldn’t help but think. Hasn’t worked well so far, has it? I shook my head, and answered myself, What else can I do?

Lei looked at me for a moment. “I’ve known her for a long time, Inaris,” he said. “We’re each other’s oldest friends. In all that time, I’ve never seen her show any interest in a girl. Physical interest, I mean. Though not in a boy either, I guess. She’s always dodged questions or comments about taking a lover. Or marriage. Her parents might try to set something up, but since Acura isn’t likely to insist on it, she’s probably planning to refuse any offers.” He shrugged. “Maybe she has a secret sweetheart. I don’t know. I’m just saying.”

“Yeah.” My hands clenched, but I managed to keep an even expression. “I know. Thanks, Lei.”

“Alright. I should get back to the team. See you in the lab?”

“Sure.” I watched him leave, then turned back to my desk and sighed again, cursing my stupid hormones and drama in general.

I found it hard to focus as I went about my tasks the next few minutes. I unpacked a few things, grabbed another defensive talisman, and wrote a message to Mother. I kept it short, but hit most of the key points. We should probably talk about things more in person. I’d need to arrange a trip back to the capital. Well, I wanted to see how things were going there, anyway. Maybe I could leave the others here? Well. At least this shows Lei is a good friend, that’s something, right?

I got up and left for the university. Working on a few technology-related problems might clear my mind, and besides, I was curious what they might have managed in the time we were gone.

Most of the building we’d set up for it, surrounded by an enclosed courtyard and a few smaller outbuildings, was still unused, since there just wasn’t a need for it yet. But there was already some bustle in the university, with a few students walking across the incipient campus, and through the hallways of the building. I couldn’t help but smile as I saw them, and overheard some of what they were talking about. All technical discussions. I’d missed this more than I realized. Almost a shame I can’t go to university myself. Well, I had my research team, that was almost as good.

I stopped in one of the larger rooms, which seemed to have the most activity at the moment. Glancing around, I walked to the desk I’d used last time. A number of people were experimenting with different substances. They used formation plates for heat, and it looked like they’d finally gotten the exhaust hood functioning, with some formations on the side working with air qi to suck in air beneath it, which would then be sent through several means of purification and released from the chimney. That should work unless we had some really nasty stuff.

I looked at the large poster hanging on the wall, most of it still in my handwriting, and sighed. Reconstructing the periodic table was not an easy task. I hadn’t had much interest in chemistry, and even what I did remember was often too abstract. Even if I knew the name and symbol of an element, that didn’t help us trying to find it in this world and connect to existing knowledge, since I often didn’t know how it looked, how it occurred in nature or how to get it. There were a lot of question marks on the table. Although, at least ‘this should be somewhere here’ can be helpful.

Suaki approached my desk and bowed. “Your Highness. Welcome back.”

I nodded at him. “Thank you. Things are going well, it seems?”

He glanced around the room. “Yes. Though we still haven’t found a good way to make your batteries.”

I sighed. “I know. I’ve just been thinking about how nice it would be to know what all the elements are and how to get them.” I looked at the latest experiment. A simple setup, with two solutions separated by a porous substance, just like I remembered from chemistry class. “I think it should work with Na and K, but that doesn’t help much. And we probably don’t even have some things, like lithium.”

He shook his head. “I won’t ask how you get this knowledge, which seems suspiciously like it comes from another world. But we should have some success just trying different things.”

I straightened up and fixed him with a hard stare. This was the first time he’d implied otherworldly knowledge. Maybe I’d said too much. “The existence of other worlds is not a particularly common piece of information or speculation. What do you think you know?”

He raised his hands defensively. “Not much more than their existence. I apologize if I gave any offense, Your Highness.”

I stared at him for another moment, then snorted. “Alright. What I am sharing is knowledge my clan and their allies have been amassing for a long time. I hope you understand its value, and the trust we are placing in you.”

He bowed deeply. “Of course, Your Highness. Like everyone here, I will treat this with discretion, and refrain from further speculation.”

I nodded and turned away, looking over the room one more time. Nothing really stood out to me. “I’d like to speak to you further. Let’s go to your office. Although, we could stop by the workshop.”

He nodded and held the door open for me. The workshop I wanted was on a lower story and a few doors down, and we reached it quickly. As I pushed the door open and stepped inside, I could sense the qi accumulated in the formations we worked with here. Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing to bow, so I waved them back to their work as I strolled further inside.

To the left was a rather cluttered section taking up one side of the room. In the center of it stood a frame holding a length of tube with runes carved into it. I took a step closer and scrutinized it, but everything was pretty much as I’d last seen it. This was one of my more whimsical ideas. The formations were air-based. Since there didn’t seem to be any way to manipulate gravity directly. Shame. That would have been a real cheat.

The design was similar to pneumatic tubes I’d seen on Earth, that could be used to convey small loads throughout a structure. With the help of formations, this could be extended into a path or even network covering a larger area, like a city. Although it would probably lose out to simply taking stuff into a storage ring and carrying or flying it around.

“No one’s experimented with that any further,” Suaki said, standing beside me. “We wanted to get back to the slate for the formations.”

I nodded and wandered off, to look at the next shiny new thing. That one was literally shiny, since the block of metal in the middle of the experiment was currently in the process of melting. I stopped a few meters away, feeling the heat on my skin. “This looks to be going pretty well.”

“There are a few materials we haven’t been able to reach the temperature to melt yet,” Suaki said. “At some level, adding more formations to the ring around it only generates more interference.”

“Diminishing returns and probably a curve with an optimum point.” I nodded. “Let’s try to chart this out.”

It was a simple test, really: how high a temperature could we get using only formation arrays. Of course, we’d placed a second ring of formations around those for safety, to contain the fallout in case something went wrong with the first or it got too hot. Simple, but I could see a number of applications.

“Actually, let’s do the same thing in reverse, with trying to lower the temperature,” I decided. “Perhaps in a different room.” I wasn’t sure if we could reach the level of liquid nitrogen, but it would be a lot more convenient and efficient to use. “That might give us a simple way to store tissue samples or other material that needs deep-freezing for storage. We might even find a way to use that to shatter material …”

Suaki smiled. “That’s very interesting, Your Highness. There should be a space we could section off in workshop 2, and I have a number of students for whom this might be a good project.”

“Good.” I looked around the room again, but nothing caught my interest. “Let’s go to your study, if you don’t mind.”

Suaki raised an eyebrow, but didn’t question me. Instead, he led the way to his office, which was only a few doors down. This side of the building was dedicated primarily to formations. I’d only been in his office a few times, but I found he’d somehow managed to increase the clutter since then. A few more books were lying around, and a few models took up the table. At least the sunlight streaming through the window showed everything was clean, without any collected dust.

“Is there anything I can help you with, my lady?” he asked, removing some clutter from a chair.

I took a closer look at the bookshelves in his office, filled with thick tomes and information storage devices. “Actually, I was wondering how much you knew about formations with mental effects. Especially for defensive applications. Failing that, other wards, specifically some efficient against spirit beasts and spirits.”

Suaki raised an eyebrow, then turned to his bookshelf and took down a few tomes. “Let me see …”

The next hour was filled with technical discussion about formations. He didn’t know of anything exactly like I was looking for, but it still proved to be time well spent. If nothing else, I deepened my knowledge about formations in general. After a while, I concentrated on ways of storing information using qi, asking him for a few books on that subject. They were some of the most complex known enchantments, and needed specific materials. Much of the process of making them was still not understood in detail, just born out of tradition.

I found myself absorbing all of this information like a sponge, and following the connections he laid out easily. My special ability really showed its worth here. I also became more convinced that my theory was right. There was nothing I could point to as definite evidence, but I felt like things just fit, on an almost instinctive level. I frowned at the latest text. Usually, I’d be wary of this, knowing I should rely on hypothesis-driven science and evidence. But I do have a lot of evidence for my ability …

I shook my head. “That was very helpful, thank you, Expert Suaki. On an unrelated note, I wonder if you have any material pertaining to spirits and theology? Even myths. I find myself curious about this topic.”

“For obvious reasons, it seems,” he muttered, then cleared his throat. Probably realizing that he was referring to rumors I hadn’t actually confirmed, as far as he knew. “Of course, just give me a moment, Your Highness.”

He was in the process of picking out books and laying them on the table when the door opened. I whirled around, feeling tense for a moment, before I realized I’d simply overlooked the familiar presence coming.

Tenira paused in the doorway, a smile on her face. “Sorry if I interrupted you. But there’s great news. Inaris, we finally got the plane working. Just finished its first test flight.”

I jumped up, everything else forgotten. “Let’s go!”

We hurried out of the room and through the building, Suaki tagging along behind me and Tenira. It didn’t take long for us to reach the courtyard where the test must have been done, and I skidded to a stop in front of the plane and the team of researchers working on it, absentmindedly waving them up from their bows.

It was still more of an airship than a real plane from Earth, with air affinity qi in formation arrays as the main source of lift and thrust. But it looked familiar, with wings like a typical plane, flaps on their ends. There was a propeller, one that we would hopefully be able to operate on batteries at some point. The whole thing was built out of a dark material that had to be some metal alloy, although I wasn’t quite sure of the details. A good thing we had earth cultivators working on it, though. This would have taken a lot longer to construct the normal way.

“How did it go?”

“Perfectly,” Lei answered, grinning broadly from where he stood at the head of the team. “It handled as expected and we didn’t notice any issues during the flight.”

“Great. Then I’m going to try it out.”

Aston cleared his throat. He had appeared behind me at some point. “Your Highness, your safety …”

Definitely just Aston this time. I made a dismissive gesture as I stepped up to the plane, opening the cockpit. “If anything happens, I have protections and I could survive an explosion easily. Besides, you could catch me.”

He was an air cultivator of the late sixth stage, not to mention Mior’s help. That really wouldn’t be an issue.

The inside of the cockpit looked crude, though it might be a good thing the controls were simple. I took a moment to familiarize myself with everything again and double-check it, before I got the plane moving. I turned its nose, then accelerated. A quick yank of the lever tilted it upwards, and before I knew it, we’d taken off from the ground.

I couldn’t help but grin broadly as I soared into the air above the city. People in the street stopped and stared. But after a moment, I banked, pulling away so it was headed in the other direction, over the fields. I still kept the plane climbing, though. My enhanced reflexes and control over my body, as well as perfect memory of how things worked, helped me manage the controls.

I’d been in a smaller airplane once, one that had two seats. This one was even smaller, but I felt the same sense of freedom, nothing much separating me from the sky. I whooped and laughed as I attempted a barrel roll. I wanted to try every crazy thing I wouldn’t manage with a flying sword, though I manged to keep my glee in check somewhat. Turning my head, I watched Aston flying beside me, arms crossed.

But it didn’t dampen my enthusiasm. This is so cool. I grinned again as I soared through the sky.

72: Report, reward, retraining

“Inaris, I think we’re about to arrive. That’s the city beneath us,” Yarani said. Her words were a little undermined by how she kept drawing circles on my shoulder with her finger.

I groaned. “Already? I kind of don’t want to get up now.”

Yarani finally stopped and smirked at me. “Maybe you could explain to your Mother that you’d rather stay with me?”

I finally levered myself upright and shook my head. “At least we’ll get a proper bedroom next time.”

As I started getting dressed, I looked around the cabin. It was pretty big considering the size of the airship, but still just an airship cabin. The bed was just barely big enough for two people, and it felt a bit claustrophobic. Not that I would say that out loud, since I knew it was a petty complaint.

“Well, I’m glad we seem to have worked out whatever it was,” Yarani said as she stood up as well.

I paused for a moment to appreciate the view and shrugged. “Yeah. Sorry if I’ve been neglecting you.”

In truth, I had been avoiding her for the last few days, since we came back from the coast. I knew that was silly. It didn’t matter if I might, possibly, have feelings for someone else. This wasn’t even that kind of relationship, and expectations were different anyway. Yarani probably didn’t expect to stay my only lover, and it’s not like I wanted to commit. I shook my head. Yeah, I was being stupid, but that’s emotions for you. I’m glad we spent time together now, even if it was on the airship.

The sensation of the floor falling away beneath me brought me from my thoughts. We were descending. I quickly checked my clothing and combed my hair, before I opened the hatch and stepped out, Yarani behind me. The guards waiting outside the next corridor were the picture of professionalism. Not sure if I’ll ever get used to that.

Tenira and Lei joined us in the main hold, deep in conversation about some topic. Since I hadn’t heard the beginning, I couldn’t be sure, but it sounded like they were discussing the merits of different ways to store electrical energy. Nerds, I’m surrounded by nerds … not that I am any better.

We didn’t have to wait long for the lurch of touching down, and then the hatch opened. I stepped outside, taking a moment to scan the area. We were once again on a roof of the palace, though a different one this time. Did they rotate through or something? That might make sense for security reasons. This one was a bit sloped, the surface uneven, but we could handle it. I stepped outside, looking around. A few people waited for us, most of them guards, two people I recognized as Kariva’s subordinates, and of course Mother.

Cloth rustled behind me as people sank to their knees. I only gave her a bow, since this wasn’t really a formal event.

“Rise, everyone,” Mother said stepped forward to greet me. “Guards, please report for debriefing. You as well,” she said looking to Lei, Tenira and Yarani.

They glanced at me, and I smiled at them, trying to convey that we would see each other later. They walked off, along with the agents and some of the guards.

“Aston,” Mother said, stopping my guard captain in his tracks. She frowned at us. “Inaris, why is your guard linked to a spirit? And Rijoko’s closest attendant, at that?”

I sighed. “That’s what I was implying in my letter. They didn’t want me to give too many details.”

Qi swirled around Aston, until the wispy form of Mior emerged from him, as if stepping out of Aston’s aura. The spirit smiled at Mother. ‘Empress Acura, it’s nice to meet you again. This is something Inaris and I worked out. And Aston, of course. He agreed to this.’

Aston ducked his head, obviously uncomfortable with the conversation, but didn’t contradict us. After a moment, he spoke. “This one apologizes if he overstepped, Your Majesty. I am simply trying to do my best to protect my lady. Honored spirit Mior has been nothing but courteous, and I believe they share my goal.”

Mother rolled her eyes. “Alright. I suppose there’s little I can do about spirits’ affairs involving Inaris. But please give us a moment.”

Mior’s form dissipated again, and Aston bowed before following the others. I couldn’t help but relax a little at Mother’s reaction. I hadn’t anticipated much trouble, but it seemed that she didn’t really mind at all. Maybe she’d even expected something like this, or just appreciated that Rijoko seemed to want me protected? I certainly wouldn’t complain.

“Let’s walk, Inaris,” Mother said.

I nodded and followed her as she turned and crossed the roof. We emerged into the corridors inside one of the palace’s towers, but she kept walking without saying anything for now. I studied her a bit more closely, and was surprised to realize that she didn’t look as impeccable as usual. Her expression was set with small lines, and there were a few other subtle signs of stress. I couldn’t help but feel a bit unnerved. Was something going on, or just the stress of normal politics? Well, with things heating up between us and the Zarian Dominion, and all the changes we were undertaking, there was certainly enough to keep her busy.

“Tell me what happened, please,” she finally said. “In detail.”

I nodded and gathered my thoughts for a moment before I started to recount what happened. I tried to keep it concise and to the point, but I didn’t leave out anything I judged as important. There would be no point in it. I gave a little more detail on what we’d seen in Inera’s castle, and what happened with Mior. Mother started frowning from the point I mentioned the spirits kidnapping Al, though she didn’t react otherwise. The frown stayed on her face until I finished, but at the end, she merely looked thoughtful.

I glanced around. We were still walking through the palace, at a leisurely pace, but I could feel qi around us, probably shielding our conversation. Even the guards following us were left out.

“Can you show me that storage device?” Mother asked.

I took out the crystal and handed it to her, watching as she poked at it. Then she shook her head and made it vanish into a pocket of her robe. I didn’t think she’d get much more from it, the qi matrix was pretty degraded, but it was probably worth it to try.

“Do you want more bodyguards? We also have a few agents trained to deal with spirits.”

I considered for a moment before I shook my head. “No, I don’t think that’s necessary. With Mior around, they won’t try something like this again. But they might try to strike at other people they consider vulnerable.” I paused as something occurred to me. “Where’s Xiaodan, actually? I thought she’d be waiting to meet us. Is she having a breakthrough?”

Mother smiled wryly. “I believe she’s pouting. She should get over it soon enough.”

I chuckled. I wouldn’t bet against her coming to find me later this evening, trying to drag me off for playing somewhere.

Mother turned a corner, and I finally realized where we were going. The royal crafting workshops. I hadn’t been here often, since my team had their own facilities. Mother opened the door to one of them and swept inside. It was a rather large space, with a dozen workbenches and cleared areas, as well as connections to other parts of the structure.

I paused at one of the tables. “You have a radio here?”

Mother nodded. “They’re trying to optimize it. We’re already producing them in larger quantities and shipping them to other locations.” She flipped out its antenna and turned the dial, but we only got static crackling.

“That sounds like it shouldn’t be much longer until they’re adopted widely,” I said, grinning. “That would be huge.”

Not just for propaganda purposes, although I had no illusions that it wasn’t going to be used that way. But this would carry information to many people, easily accessible and without needing to dip into their qi reserves. News, entertainment, perhaps even learning.

“There are still a few challenges before we’re at that point,” Mother pointed out. “Those people actually have to get radio receivers.”

“Maybe we should get some crystal radios, those don’t need a power source if I remember correctly,” I said, turning around to focus on her. “We might even be able to get them mass-produced. That would help our plans there along, too.”

“There’s still the issue of convincing people to buy them. They don’t even use qi, will probably be expensive at first, and people might not see the need.”

I had an idea and couldn’t help but grin. “There’s an easy solution to that. You just need some specialized night programs.”

Mother raised an eyebrow. “You don’t mean …?”

“Hey, sex sells. There’s always a demand for things like that. Especially if it’s something new and unprecedented. People will line up to buy a radio.”

Mother groaned. “I can’t refute your arguments, but the conservatives will be screaming bloody murder at me.”

I stepped away from the table, shrugging. “So just have private companies do it. Maybe set up licenses or something, or just plan out how to distribute frequencies and timeslots.”

Mother sighed and turned away. “Well, I was actually going here for another small thing. Let me show you.”

Curiously, I followed her to the back of the room, where she took a box from a shelf and laid it on a nearby empty table. She took aside the cloth covering it to reveal a dark wooden box with some inlays in a lighter metal.

“Since you lost your spear, I thought this would make for a nice reward,” Mother said. She raised the lid and took out a gleaming dark weapon.

I stepped forward, taking in every detail. It was a pretty long spear. The head was black, made from metal going by the texture, and shaped so there were hooks on the bottom side. The shaft was mostly crafted from a silver-gray material, but there were black veins tracing through it, and tiny black runes engraved all along the shaft. It practically hummed in my qi senses. Carefully, I lifted it out. The spear was heavy, perhaps too heavy to be used by a normal human, but light enough for my enhanced strength.

“The head is from a special steel alloy with qi infused regularly, smelted in one of the Earth Continent’s volcanoes,” Mother commented. “The shaft is mostly crafted from sea dragon bone, with some inlays of obsidian from volcanoes in the highest mountain range of the Fire Continent. The spear was assembled and inscribed in a place soaked with spiritual qi, in the wilderness of the Earth continent.” She smiled wryly. “The whole thing is probably expensive enough to buy a noble estate in most parts of the Empire. So be careful.”

I gave it a few twirls, trying out how it felt in my hands. My previous spear had also been a reward from Mother, according to Aston, something I picked out after reaching the middle of the third stage. But I could tell this was a league above that.

I rested the butt on the ground and turned to Mother, smiling broadly. “Thank you.”

She nodded. “It’s a weapon fine enough that most like it are given a name.”

I cleared my throat. “I’m not good at naming things.” I looked back at the spear. It looked badass. “Now I want to call it something stupid like ‘Eviscerator’. Or maybe ‘Caliburn’, even if it’s a spear.” I shrugged and turned to Mother. “Why are you giving me this?”

She shrugged. “Because I trust you. To handle it, and yourself, well. I want you to be able to defend yourself, and it works out.”

I nodded and looked back at the weapon, chewing on my lip. “Then I think I’ll call it ‘Fides’. Maybe ‘Fides Imperatricis’.” I frowned thoughtfully. “It’s a little pretentious, but a weapon like that deserves a pretentious name.”

Mother nodded and tidied up the box, while I put the newly-christened Fides into my storage ring. I’d need to familiarize myself with it on the training ground. She probably didn’t speak Latin, since she didn’t react to the gesture. That’s just as well. She might think I’d put everything behind me. I straightened up. I think the name is appropriate, in more than one sense, now and in the future. A good reminder for me.

“There is something else we should talk about, but it can wait until tomorrow,” Mother said. “Come to the meeting at noon, and we’ll go over some other stuff. For now, though, I’d like to see just how vulnerable your mind is.”

I blinked in surprise. “Okay?”

“Come on. It’s about time you get some training, anyway.” Mother took my arm, and I closed my eyes against a sudden bout of nausea as my surroundings unraveled.

When I opened them again, we stood in darkness, in what looked like a back corner of the palace’s gardens. A few trees’ limbs were reaching at me like they wanted to grab and keep me. But I couldn’t spare much attention to my surroundings, because my mind was under attack.

Mother’s telepathic offensive felt different than the Pioneer’s, but still more than enough of a challenge. I’d connected to her consciousness before, talking telepathically, but now it was much sharper. Her mind felt like a blade forcing its way through my mental defenses. I closed my eyes and focused on trying to stop it. My body shivered as I failed. I tried to slow her, throwing new mental walls at her, trying to focus on unrelated things and drown her in nonsense.

When she still advanced steadily, and I felt my mental defenses buckling, I tried the same tactic I had against the Pioneer, rushing forward in a mental attack of my own. But I ran into a wall, cold hard thoughts that sent my mental grasp crashing to a halt.

‘You’re sloppy,’ Mother said, her words driving into my head like drills. ‘Is that all?’

I grit my teeth, shoving a surge of frustration out to reinforce my defenses, while I focused on my visualization. I created a labyrinth in my mind, constructed of winding, interwoven thoughts about nothing in particular, trying to slow and redirect her advance. It actually showed some results. I felt Mother’s mind gliding against the illusionary walls, pushing against the whole construct.

Then she suddenly rushed forward, crashing through my defenses, sending a stabbing pain into my head that scrambled my thoughts for a moment. I could feel Mother in the layers of my mind, like a heavy, glittering presence. My connection to Rijoko intensified just a bit, a trickle of qi stirring, before it subsided and lay dormant again. At least Mother didn’t search through my mind, but withdrew quickly.

‘Your defense is a mess,’ she said. ‘You clearly retain some of your prior training, but without much coherence or guidance. You have a strong will and determination, which is good to see, but you’re hampering yourself.’

I blinked as her mind withdrew from mine, and I felt a tremble going through the environment. When I opened my eyes again, we were on the rooftop terrace above her rooms, where we’d spoken several times. I wasn’t sure if she’d moved us here or if the previous scene had been an illusion. That, more than her words, sent a shiver down my spine.

“Okay,” I said, swallowing my pride with the ease of practice. “What do we do about it?”

“I’ll leave most of your training to Mior. However, there’s no reason why I can’t give you some pointers to start.”

I nodded, watching her attentively.

Mother clasped her hands and straightened up, taking on a lecturer pose. “The most important thing for now is consistency. You need an overarching strategy. Like with many things, practice will make it easier to work on that while paying attention to your surroundings, trying to get tells from your opponent, and preparing your own attacks.”

That sounds like I’m going to get my mind pummeled a lot. I suppressed a grimace and kept listening.

“A strong visualization is key,” she continued. “To be fair, it is neither necessary nor sufficient. You could do without it, and a strong visualization without other things will not help you much. For beginners, it is often recommended to keep to something strongly associated with defense, which will resonate with your intent to keep intruders out. For example, a wall, or your labyrinth, or a fortification line with bunkers for that matter. Another important principle is being able to split your efforts and intent while not wavering on any one part of the defense …”

She lectured me for another ten minutes, before she tested my mind again. I thought that this time, I was doing a slightly better job. At least, it took a few seconds longer before she was in. The headache starting to build didn’t let me feel much joy in that, and I sighed and forced myself to pay attention as she started critiquing my efforts. This felt like it would be an exhausting lesson.

73: Politics and proposals

By the time noon rolled around the next day, I was seriously considering my life choices. Maybe some other ones wouldn’t have led me to the pounding headache that was attacking my brain, making my thoughts feel sluggish and sending stabs of pain through my mind. Damn mental defense training. Damn Mior.

I straightened up and wiped the grimace off my face before I opened the door to the meeting room Mother wanted to see me in. It was one I’d been to often enough in the past, and a quick glance showed it hadn’t changed. Although Mother was sitting at the head of the conference table alone, only a few guards beside the door outside.

When I came in, she looked at me and raised an eyebrow. “Take a seat, Nari. You look stressed.”

I shrugged and sat down, leaning back in my chair. “Just feeling all the training. I think Mior was miffed that you started without them, and decided to try and outdo you.”

Mother looked like she was trying not to smile. “That wasn’t my intention.”

“Eh, it’s probably for the best. His style is different than yours.” I frowned as I had a sudden thought. “Maybe visualization just isn’t their thing, or because of the differences between humans and spirits, they approach it differently.”

Mior certainly didn’t give me nearly as many pointers on it as Mother did. They included my connection to Rijoko in the lessons and brought some qi into it, but didn’t give me many tips on actually building those defenses. Though I felt like I had improved considerably in the training the spirit had forced on me all morning.

Mother made a noncommittal sound and turned to a few sheets of paper that were suddenly lying on the conference table. I realized she was probably aware of those differences and may have done it on purpose. Oh well.

“I asked Mior to train Tenira and the others as well,” I continued to change the subject. “They refused, saying they didn’t want to teach the whole clan. Since most go through soul journeys.” I shrugged. “I guess I can see that.”

“I’ll arrange for additional training for them,” Mother assured me before I could even ask.

I smiled thankfully, then looked around the room. We were still alone here, although Mother had mentioned a meeting, and it sounded like this would be one of the regular ones. Maybe others were coming later, and she wanted to talk to me first?

“Did you want to talk to me privately?” I asked.

Mother looked up and sat up straighter, stacking the papers again. The angle was awkward so I had trouble reading what was written on them, but the one on top looked official. The letters were drawn artfully, with the first ones bigger than the rest and a few flourishes. Same for the signature. Maybe it was official correspondence.

“Over the last few weeks, rumors about you have started to spread,” Mother said, tapping her finger on the table. “One rumor especially. That you’re a spirit-child of a Greater Spirit. Most often, Rijoko, the Moon.”

I made a face, but nodded. That was to be expected, I’d even seen it before. “Are you using that for PR?”

Mother hesitated for a moment, then shrugged. “A bit, yes. I think Kariva is gently encouraging those rumors, although she hasn’t said much.”

“Well, I guess now that the cat is out of the storage ring, we may as well take advantage of it,” I said, sighing. “It’s not like we can keep it quiet anymore, our enemies already know. Just don’t milk it too badly?”

Mother cleared her throat. “That was my thought as well. However, it may have had a few consequences I haven’t taken taken into account well enough. Namely, the rumors have spread beyond the Empire. People in the other parts of the Earth Continent are already talking about it, and it seems to make the rounds in the Dominion. But the governments of other nations have better sources of information and more to go on. I wouldn’t be surprised if they heard something from spirits, actually.”

I sat up straighter. I hadn’t considered that. I glanced at the paper on the table again, seeing it in a new light. “Go on, hit me with it.”

“The Kingdom of Terbekteri.” Mother frowned a little. “You remember that proposal I told you about months ago?”

“Of course. Don’t tell me they’re back in force?”

“To be honest, I feel a bit bad even talking to you about this.” Mother tapped her fingers on the table again and frowned at the papers. “But yes, they’ve renewed their proposal. The king seems quite insistent now.”

I frowned as I recalled the details. “Weren’t you working something out so only one of their proposed marriages went through, with one of our distant cousins taking the plunge?”

“That was the idea, and the negotiations were going well.” Mother raised an eyebrow pointedly. “Until someone awakened their bloodline and people learned there was a daughter of a Greater Spirit running around. That way, and with your absurdly fast rise, it’s almost certain you’ll inherit, and it would mean a greater bond between them and us. Perhaps they also considered the new technology.”

“So, what, I brought it on myself?” I sighed. “Do you really want to arrange such a marriage for me?”

“This isn’t my choice.” Mother scowled at me. “Like I said, I didn’t even want to bring it up. But we’re talking about the fate of the Empire here. Terbekteri doesn’t want to settle for anything less now, and we could really use this alliance. We have the Dominion rattling their sabers south of us, and even trying to intimidate what other trade partners we have. The Kingdom has signaled that they’re willing to put more on the table, forming an actual alliance, perhaps even with military aid.” Her expression softened a bit. “I’ve had people investigate, and their tenth prince really doesn’t seem half bad. Besides, he’s going to come here and become one of your spouses.”

I crossed my arms behind my head and took a moment to pout. Then I sighed. “Okay, I guess. Let me see if I understand this correctly. He’ll come to this court, and will be my consort. So, it’s not going to be a monogamous pairing?”

Mother nodded. “Of course. You’ll be able to have more consorts if you want, or take other lovers. That’s the tacit assumption. He’ll just be your first spouse.”

“Then we won’t need to have much to do with each other, right? Actually, I guess I wouldn’t even need to have sex with him if I don’t want to.”

“People would prefer if you do, but I’m certainly not going to force you. They want this marriage; for all I care, you can just let him live here and never see him again.”

I shrugged and tilted my chair back. “Then I can hardly refuse, can I? Alright. I’m in, just don’t expect me to send out cards.”

Mother blinked. “Well, that went easier than I expected. Are you sure?”

I made a face at her. “Like you said, this is about the Empire’s future. I may not like the way this works, but it’s an important political thing. I’m responsible enough to care about that. It’s probably the least I can do for all the privilege I get as a princess. Like we established, it’s not much of a sacrifice.”

“That’s my girl. I’m glad you understand. And I’m sure this alliance will be more than worth it.” She smirked a little. “I also wasn’t kidding about the prince being handsome.”

I rolled my eyes again, but I couldn’t help but return her smile. It felt good to hear Mother praise me, to feel like she appreciated me. I paused at that thought, considering my reaction more closely. I get the feeling that didn’t happen often, before. Or maybe I’m just overthinking things.

Mother turned away and flicked her hand, opening the door to the room. Almost on cue, the first people started arriving.

I sat up straighter and tried to put my game face on, but I was still preoccupied thinking about this less than romantic proposal and what it meant. Mother started the meeting quickly, but luckily didn’t dwell on the topic, instead turning to some logistical issue regarding the coastal regions. We expected intercontinental trade to pick up after this alliance, and she clearly wanted to be prepared for it. Personally, I was a bit glad that it would take time to work out all the details and complete the negotiations. I’d be happy to leave those to Mother.

The meeting dragged on, while I struggled to pay attention. It was mostly consumed by boring topics, the sort that didn’t seem all that important but that I knew I had to be familiar with. After all, I might need to reorganize political entities, or influence or control the currency, or set standards on working conditions in new fields.

Though I suspected Mother had been some sort of businesswoman, or worked in finance, before. She appeared to know a lot about this and a few concepts seemed suspiciously similar to what I’d learned in school, not that I’d ever been interested in economics. But I was pretty sure investment banking and fonds shouldn’t be much of a thing here. Though, she wasn’t the first transmigrator and maybe I shouldn’t assume the Empire would be stuck in mercantilism.

After a few hours, the meeting finally concluded. I was one of the first people to stand up, bowing to Mother and taking off before she could find more things to talk to me about.

Once outside the meeting room, I paused for a moment, unsure what I wanted to do. There were a lot of options, from refining my techniques to visiting the city. I caught myself wishing Tenira was here, so I could talk to her. Then again, I didn’t really want to talk to her about me getting married. The thought made me grimace, and I set off at a quick pace.

I wound up at the library, grabbing several books. I’d also taken along the ones Suaki had lent me, and needed to look through them more. I didn’t like how little I knew or understood about the spirits and their little feud involving me. I needed to be more proactive, and for that, information would be helpful.

I’d only been reading for a few minutes before I was interrupted by Al stumbling through the door. He looked a bit pale and wore a frown. That lightened when he saw me. “Nari, I think that mental defense training might have been a mistake. Mior is no fun. Can you fire them?”

I chuckled and shook my head. “I know how you feel. We’ll just have to get through it. Did you make progress?”

“You’re not getting out that easily.” Aston followed Al in and took up a guard position. His voice sounded like it had sort of merged with Mior’s, again. “Alaster performed well enough. He might be less work than you, Little Light.”

I pulled a face. “Was it too much to hope Aston’s tact would come out on top?” I closed my book and frowned at my guard-cum-spirit relative. When did my life get so weird? “Anything I should be aware of? What’s going on with Rijoko and Jideia?”

“Just the usual,” Aston-Mior replied. They were standing in a more relaxed way, but still obviously guarding against trouble. “Anyway, we’ve heard congratulations are in order?”

I sighed. “Don’t bother. Besides, it’s going to take a while to sort everything out.”

“Wait, I haven’t heard anything,” Al spoke up, looking at me curiously. “Did you master a technique or something?”

I rested my head in my hands, resisting the temptation to glare at the suspiciously well informed possession duo. They may have genuinely wanted to offer congratulations. After a moment, I looked back up and told Al what that was about in a few words. It wasn’t like it was a secret, or anything I should find embarrassing, even if I did.

It took a few moments for him to stop chuckling, which I spent studiously looking for the next book to read. A collection of historical tales and fables with commentary and attempts to contextualize them geographically and archaeologically caught my attention. And ignoring him might have helped Al get off his high horse sooner.

“I fail to see what’s so funny about it,” I grumbled into the book. “Just wait. If you annoy me enough, maybe I’ll arrange to have you marry some ugly old woman at some point.”

I looked up to see Al grinning. “Mother’s not going to let you do that. Empty threats.”

“I can wait until I’m Empress. My revenge will be all the sweeter for having stewed so long.” I steepled my fingers and chuckled. “Beg for mercy now, and I may make it an ugly old man instead.”

That made Al blush slightly. He glanced at Aston/Mior, then back to me. “Nari, that’s a little …”

I straightened up. “Sorry if I went too far. “

“No, it’s okay, I started it.” Al ambled closer, taking a seat in front of the table I was sitting at. “Anything interesting you’re working on?”

I pushed one of the books over to him. “That’s a collection of fairy tales and childrens’ stories. You might find it interesting. There’s lots of pretty pictures, and even vocabulary help and lots of explanations.”

He pushed it back and rolled his eyes. “How could I take those away from you? You’ll need it more than I do.”

I chuckled and turned back to my book. He fell silent as well and grabbed one of the other books. For the next few minutes, we read in companionable silence. I was almost surprised to see Aston still standing there when I looked up once.

I frowned, glancing at the page of my book again, although I’d just read and memorized it. This might be interesting. I looked back up to him. “Mior, you lived through a lot of the events passed on as myths, right?”

Aston straightened up, and his aura shifted a little. Mior’s telepathic voice answered me. ‘Some of them, yes. Although it’s not like I was there to see all or even many of them.’

I nodded. “Still, you must know a lot. How much of the what’s in the myths and legends is true?”

They walked closer a few steps, Aston’s face thoughtful. ‘It varies. As you probably know, there are often many different versions of such legends. Most of them are based on truth. Sometimes, one of the versions of a tale will be what actually happened. Other times, all of them might be somewhat wrong. Those of religious significance tend to be the most well preserved, although there might be some substantial bias in them as well.’

I smiled. ‘Thanks.’ For a moment, I considered pressing further. But I didn’t know how Mior might react to what I was considering, and I didn’t really want to share it with them in any case.

Just then, the door opened slightly, and I put the book down as I saw my little sister poking her head in. Xiaodan looked hesitant.

“Little An!” I smiled and stood up. “I was just going to ask Al if he wanted to play some football. Soccer, to be clear. Do you want to join us? The more the better it’ll go.” I wasn’t going to tell her the game really needed more than that.

Xiaodan stepped into the room, returning my smile. “Soccer? I don’t know that game.”

“Then Mother failed in instilling some proper cultural values and knowledge,” I said with a straight face but a bit of teasing in my tone. “It’s probably Earth’s most popular game. Are you coming, Al?”

He rolled his eyes but closed his book. “Do I have a choice, or are you going to drag me along anyway?”

“Yes.” I put his book back onto the pile and then walked off.

Aston showed a hint of a smile before he quickly returned to an expressionless mask. Al grumbled under his breath but followed along. With the smile on Xiaodan’s face, I knew he wouldn’t be able to resist, anyway.

We quickly headed to a sheltered courtyard, the books forgotten, while I sent a guard to get us a ball. As we walked, I considered that I might get some of my siblings’ friends to join us, as well. Although spending time with just the two of them might be better.

74: Places lost and forgotten

“Come on, Nari!” Al called, grinning. “Get a move on, you don’t want us to leave you behind!”

Grudgingly, I sped up. I knew the guards would take good care of Al, although I wouldn’t put it past Mior to let him run into trouble to teach him a lesson. But that didn’t mean I should let him get too far ahead. This wasn’t a safe place, after all. Even if everything seemed quiet and tranquil right now.

I craned my neck to look up at the peak of the mountain we were starting to ascend. It was lost in the clouds, but still an impressive view, with rocky slopes, a few forests and a glacier or two to decorate it. The Western Mountains weren’t as large as the Central Mountains, as a range or individually, but they still offered a nice view. Of course, they were probably more dangerous, since the whole mountain range was what I would call a qi anomaly. You could see that in the way the top of the mountain, peeking through and underneath the clouds, seemed to warp if you looked at it for more than a second. The qi around here was turbulent, flowing in ever-changing paths around the landscape. No wonder not many people lived here, especially not in the mountains at the back of this valley.

“Your Highness, the path seems to be shifting,” one of my guards said, a concerned expression on her face as she looked at the rocky path under our feet.

I sighed and nodded, before I put on a burst of speed. It didn’t take long until we reached Al, since the group of guards with him had the sense to slow down.

I hadn’t wanted to bring him along, of course. It was a stupid risk. But Mior had insisted on bringing him, supposedly so we could continue our mental defense training. Oh well. There’ll be more risk to me than to him, but even if they’re annoying, Mior will be there.

“The shifting seems to be getting worse in that direction,” I pointed out. “There’s another path to the side there. I think it wraps around back in the direction we were going. If nothing else, we should be able to climb that wall. Unless one of you can tell me more?”

I had channeled light qi into my eyes and had a pretty good perception with that, but I was still not even in the fifth stage. Maybe one of the others could see more. However, my hopes were quickly dashed by a chorus of “No, Your Highness”.

So we continued on our way carefully in the direction I’d chosen. It wasn’t really a path, maybe an animal track at most, but reasonably even so we wouldn’t break our ankles even if we weren’t cultivators. I still kept an eye on Al.

“Did you just want to come along to escape your birthday celebration?” I asked.

He scowled at me, then quickly focused back on where he was placing his feet. “Would you rather spend your thirteenth birthday attending a court party, or going on an adventure with Big Sister to explore some ominous mountain?”

“We’re not actually exploring the mountain,” I corrected. “There wouldn’t be much point with the way things change here, and any noteworthy resources or spirit beasts are known already.”

He rolled his eyes. “You haven’t told us much, what am I supposed to say?”

I sighed. It was a good thing I didn’t have to keep my eyes on the path, so I could look back at Al while we were talking, even though it was turning steeper. Still easy enough for a cultivator. “We’re trying to find an ancient fortress that is supposed to be located somewhere at the top of this mountain.”

“Okay, that’s at least twenty percent clearer,” Al snarked, before he focused on the path again.

At some point, mist started to gather. It reminded me a bit of the mountain where I’d met the Pioneer, although this one wasn’t as laced with spirits’ qi. There was still qi in it, though, and some of it felt like spirits, but that should be normal in a place like this. It covered the path quickly, reducing visibility a lot, even with me using qi. It felt like the path beneath us started to tremble again, too.

“Halt,” I called. “Let’s go up this slope. Aston, or Mior, can you carry Al along?”

“Of course.” Aston scooped up Al before the boy could even finish protesting.

Two of the guards started ascending up the rocky ledge right away, looking like it didn’t take more effort than going up an escalator. Aston followed them quickly, still holding Al. He seemed fine climbing with one hand.

I glanced around before I went after them. It would have been much easier to fly, but with the way this place worked, I’d rather not risk that. Certainly not with an airship, and flying swords weren’t much faster than going up the normal way, just dangerous.

I was climbing up the rocky wall quickly, since there were enough cracks and small ledges to make it feasible even in bad weather, when I noticed a concentration of qi. I paused, resting my feet on the nearest ledge, and turned just in time to see a spirit coalescing above me. They seemed to hang off a rocky protrusion, upside down.

‘Visitors. We rarely get visitors,’ they said, hissing their words. ‘And such a delectable young spirit-child, reeking of the Moon. What are you doing here? Perhaps searching for places lost and forgotten?’

I inclined my head just slightly. ‘I apologize for trespassing if this is your territory. However, our motives are our own. We will move on quickly and let you be.’

The spirit didn’t seem to like that response. They hissed and fluttered closer, one arm stretched towards me with talons growing from their fingers.

I let go with one arm and pushed away with my legs. Grabbing onto the spirit’s arm, I hung there for a moment, distantly thankful once again that Rijoko’s bloodline seemed to make me always able to touch spirits. Then my momentum carried me onward, and I landed in a crouch on another ledge, my hands raised. The spirit was spinning away, taken by my push, before they quickly righted themselves and settled into floating a few meters from me.

With a barely audible pop of displaced air, the figure of Aston appeared beside me. I could practically see Mior lurking under his skin, and in his aura. They reached out to swat at the spirit with a casual backhand that was accompanied by a surge of qi. The offending spirit was launched away, faster than I could have moved here.

“Come. Let us continue on our way,” they said.

I nodded and started climbing again, though I couldn’t help but glance in the direction the spirit had gone. I couldn’t see them or sense their aura.

They seemed to have passed Al on to another guard. Which he didn’t particularly like, judging from the scowl on Al’s face. I only saw him for a moment before Lirta started to tow him away, further up the mountainside. I hurried to climb faster so I could get back to the start of the group. It was easier here than before, as the rocky side started to flatten. I could sense the qi woven through the area tremble and shift a few times, but it seemed to have stabilized well enough.

It took an hour of steadily making our way upward until we reached the clouds. Two times, we had to pause and assess our surroundings and route. I didn’t manage to get back to the original path like I’d planned, but we found other ways up. Except Al, everyone in the group was a strong cultivator, so we could make quick progress. I had the suspicion that Mior might be helping us along, but they didn’t say anything and I didn’t want to ask. It was better to focus on our climb, anyway.

Although the cloud cover was sparse, it seemed to concentrate around the mountain peak. Although that wasn’t much of a change considering the persistent mist. At least the clouds weren’t laced with much qi, so they didn’t hinder our senses much. We were clearly coming close to our destination. I held up my hand for a third time and channeled more qi into my eyes. That helped me pierce the mist, although I still didn’t see enough. However, my qi senses were more useful. I felt a small disturbance a bit away, nestled on top of a plain just beneath the summit.

I adjusted our direction. It took a bit of doing to get from the ridge we were currently on to our destination, but I managed to chart out a way. We descended for a bit, moving away at an angle, before curling back around. This led us to the steepest ascent yet, which we took slowly. I checked back several times to make sure Al was okay, but Aston carried him easily, showing no more concern than if he was taking a stroll through the palace gardens.

Finally, we crested this ridge, closing on our destination. I could see stone walls reaching into the sky. They were pretty high and in remarkably good condition, though made from cut stones rather than a smooth wall created as one, like I’d usually seen. As I came closer, I couldn’t help but think that the whole thing looked like a medieval castle. The walls were made from stone and mortar. Where it was crumbling away at one point, I could see the wall was thick, material filled in between two mortared parts.

“Can you see or sense anyone there?” I asked the group.

“Not yet,” Aston said. “Maybe someone will come once we poke it.”

I shrugged. That’s kind of the point. But I didn’t say that, instead just starting to walk over. Al, who’d finally been set down, hurried after me, making me slow down a little. The footing was still treacherous here. But soon, we’d reached the towering gate of the fortress. The wall rose up in front of us, before the tops of a few towers. I carefully inspected the lock of the door. It was in remarkably good condition, but didn’t contain much qi.

One of the guards cleared their throat, and I stepped aside with a sigh. Two of them went to work on the door. They used a few talismans and techniques I didn’t recognize, probably searching for hidden formations or the like, before they carefully started to lever the door open. It creaked and groaned for a bit, but after a minute, the guards stepped through into the fortress. I hurried after them, taking a good look around.

The walls were really thick, and I noticed a number of fortifications at the door. There were small platforms set into the walls at certain distances, perhaps to house some anti-air arrangements. The inside contained a number of smaller buildings along with two towers, one of them built onto what might have been a temple or something. The ground was packed earth, looking pretty clean. The whole place had a stillness that set it apart from its surroundings. The qi here felt far more controlled. And it smacked of spirits. The eerie silence gave me goosebumps.

“Spread out, but stay at least in pairs,” I said. “Look for anything suspicious or dangerous. I’ll take the central building. Al, come with me.”

Of course, Aston/Mior joined us as well, together with a few more guards. I tried not to let my annoyance show, since I knew this was a perfectly sensible precaution.

It didn’t take us long to break into the central building. It had clear glass windows and, as far as I could tell from the vague sensations I got, pipes for carrying water and perhaps heat. There were small alcoves that might have housed lights in the entry hall as well, though of course they didn’t work. There were a few tables and chairs, looking like they’d only been abandoned for a few weeks. I could feel a bit more qi lying over everything here.

“Let’s go,” I said. “Carefully.” Something about the scene set me on edge, although I couldn’t pin down what.

Behind the entrance room, there was a corridor with several small rooms going off it, and what looked like a communal kitchen. Another corridor circumvented that part of the building, and instead led to a larger hall. This time, there were stained glass windows set into the stone, although most of them had been shattered. Alcoves dotted the walls, empty now, and what I assumed was the basis of an altar stood at the head. On the other end, there were several doors leading further in.

“Something’s odd here,” I said, walking forward slowly. I paused as my gaze rested on the highest intact window, almost hidden in the back left corner. There was a crescent moon depicted on a dark background. “Isn’t that Rijoko’s symbol?”

Al shrugged. “Yeah. I thought this was why we’re here? Or did you expect something else?”

I frowned, then continued walking. “In that book, there was speculation that this was the site referenced in one of the myths, the one where Jideia creates a great storm, and Rijoko guides a mortal hero against him, until Jideia picks him up. This is supposed to be Jideia’s sanctum, according to it.”

“Okay, then why did you want to come?” Al asked. “Wouldn’t that be pretty risky?”

I shrugged. Aston, who’d been following along behind us, snorted. His aura was saturated with Mior’s qi again. ‘This was always risky, young one.’

I glanced back at them. ‘Do you know more about this place’s history? Were you there when it happened?’

They shook their head. ‘No, this was before my time by a few centuries. Although I’d venture a guess that Rijoko and Jideia quarreled over this.’

I nodded and continued walking forward, sending my senses out. Something was clearly happening. It felt like the qi of the place became even stiller, which only reinforced its contrast with the outside chaos. I swallowed and steeled my nerves. One of the doors from here seemed to lead outside, the others deeper into the structure.

“What is this place?” I asked. “Something feels weird about it.”

Aston-Mior snorted. ‘Depending on how you look at it, it’s the only place not strange for many leagues.’ They shrugged. ‘These mountains feel like old times. Like the state of primordial times has concentrated here. That’s why the qi is like this. Not one of the stranger qi phenomena, really.’

That made sense in a weird sort of way. I glanced at the doors again. ‘Mior, would you go explore the middle one? It feels like spirits in there. Probably the inner sanctum if this was a temple. And Al, go back to the others and tell a few of the guards to reinforce a perimeter around us. Guards, protect him.’

Al opened his mouth, then closed it, probably remembering that he’d promised to follow my instructions. “Yes, Big Sister.” He walked off.

Aston-Mior regarded me for a moment, eyebrow raised. Then they turned away. The way Aston walked seemed a lot more like Mior’s once again, and he made no sound despite the creaky floor. His air qi billowed out to open the door. I watched for a moment, then turned around.

Quickly, I opened the left door and stepped through. I ended up outside, on a sort of veranda leading out into a glade surrounded by trees and steep rocky slopes behind them. The qi here was stirring just faintly. I stepped out carefully, keeping my senses peeled. It didn’t take me long to be sure someone was coming, just as I intended. I’d poked the bear, now it was time to face it.

75: Conversation with an enemy

As the seconds stretched on, doubt started encroaching on my determination. Am I really sure this is a good idea? Or at least a well calculated risk? After being burned once, you aren’t supposed to come back and reach into the fire.

I shook my head, quieting those thoughts. It wasn’t like I could change my mind now. Besides, Mior was here, and I trusted them.

I stepped forward slowly, and after a moment of hesitation, took my new weapon from my storage ring. Fides’ tip seemed to stir the unnaturally still qi just a little, and its weight felt comforting in my hand.

A heavy presence approached, and the qi in the glade across from me started to condense, until a familiar figure stepped from its whirls. The Pioneer looked the same as before, with a body a little more defined than a typical spirit, clad in flowing cultivator’s robes. He carried an almost translucent spear in his hands, shorter than mine and with strips of leather wrapped around it, looking like a historical artifact. He held the weapon loosely in his hand as he stepped forward, regarding me with a faint frown.

‘Rijoko’s daughter,’ he said. ‘Did you come here to provoke me?’

‘Pioneer.’ I bowed politely. ‘I had hoped to meet you here, but it was not intended as a provocation.’

So far, it didn’t seem like he was looking for a fight. At least he hadn’t attacked me right away. That was good.

Suddenly, a small pulse of qi reached me, and I tried not to wince as I felt an echo of Mior’s presence. ‘What are you playing at here, Little Light?’

‘I’m not planning to do anything stupid. Don’t worry,’ I sent back to my allied spirit, trying to be quiet.

The Pioneer snorted. ‘You’re very bold, mortal princess. Perhaps too bold for your own good. How did you know I would pay attention to this place?’

‘You’re playing dangerous games, Inaris,’ Mior said.

‘Maybe,’ I answered Mior. ‘But it’s a calculated risk. He won’t attack me unprovoked, as we’ve already proven. I don’t think he even wants to. And you’re here. You’re my safety net. Now please, let us talk.’

At the same time, I straightened up, taking a step closer to the hostile not-actually-a-spirit. I felt Mior’s qi withdraw a little, to the point I wasn’t sure if they were listening in or not.

“I just want to talk,” I said, quietly, but I was sure he could hear me. “I don’t know what significance this place holds to you. What speculations I have are probably wrong or incomplete.” Although the way he showed up here confirmed some of it.

The Pioneer smoothed his expression and changed his grip on his spear so it pointed straight upwards. ‘You are playing a dangerous game,’ he said, making me wonder if he’d heard my conversation with Mior. ‘On the other hand, your bravery is commendable, if perhaps misplaced.’

He turned around. I hurried to catch up to him, and followed him further away from the building. We walked in silence for a few moments. Like Mior, he didn’t disturb the world around him in any way, not even the fallen leaves on the ground, and made no sound.

He was certainly being nicer than when we had met previously. Had something changed? Or maybe it was just that he didn’t have orders to work against me this time, and he wasn’t feeling bound to be too hostile.

‘This place was originally your father’s,’ he said after a bit. ‘Although it changed hands a few times. Most recently, it belongs to my benefactor, Jideia, although it was abandoned quickly afterward.’

‘And I’m guessing you had something to do with that,’ I said.

He didn’t respond, but the way his expression tightened just a bit, I knew I was right. There were advantages to having an opponent with a perfectly human form. Besides, that he called Jideia his ‘benefactor’ caught my attention.

‘You’re him, aren’t you?’ I asked. ‘The so-called mortal hero from the myth. I didn’t manage to find out his name, but it fits. I’ve heard you’re not really a spirit. And I know you don’t hate me, or Rijoko.’

I noticed his grip on his spear tighten just a bit, and the weapon started tilting towards me. Then he brought it straight upward again. His face was expressionless. A little too expressionless.

‘Perhaps,’ he answered after a long moment of silence. ‘What does it matter to you?’

‘I like to know who I am dealing with,’ I answered, taking care to keep my tone and expression calm. ‘And I was curious. Because I’ve noticed you don’t quite fit what I might have expected. And of course it matters to me if you are intrinsically hostile to me or not.’

He snorted, a sound that sounded far more humanlike than even Mior. ‘Of course you do,’ he muttered. ‘I should have expected nothing less. Be glad I don’t hate you, girl. It wouldn’t end well for you if I did. Less so than it will, anyway.’

I raised an eyebrow. I hadn’t expected him to admit that so readily. Although, admittedly, not hating me isn’t a particularly high bar. We don’t even know each other and I never hurt him.

I fell silent for a moment as I noticed he was changing course. We had been walking through sparse forest and along rocks until now, at a slow, casual pace. Now, he seemed to curve around back towards the building. We hadn’t come too far from it, anyway, and had to still be within the grounds of the fortress. But now the way back led through thicker growth.

‘I know it’s nothing personal,’ I said, ignoring the fact I was pretty sure he had something against me. At the start, at least. ‘Although I would like to know why Jideia wants me dead.’

‘Because you’re dangerous.’ His face set, and he’d bitten that answer off quickly. But something in his eyes made me think that there was more to it.

‘Because I’m Rijoko’s daughter, and the Imperial Princess? Or because I’m introducing new technology? Or because I might ascend?’

Like Mior’s father had. It was just one datapoint, but that was actually pretty informative. Even if I assumed that Rijoko had had dozens of children and only one ascended, it was still a far higher rate than the general population, or even strong noble bloodlines.

The Pioneer made a dismissive gesture. ‘We don’t care if Rijoko’s daughter is a princess. Surely, you don’t think we were unaware of your existence? Although I do have to admit things didn’t quite turn out like I had hoped. Like I said, you’re dangerous. Too dangerous.’

I frowned. That had to refer to Mother’s bargain and what Carston had told people in the Dominion. Perhaps my soul journey as well. ‘So I’m not worth the risk anymore and now you want to eliminate me.’

The Pioneer shrugged and stayed silent. Clearly, he didn’t want to talk about this any further. He must have already told me too much.

I decided to change tracks. ‘This fortress looks abandoned, but it’s too well maintained. You’ve clearly been keeping an eye on it. That’s not the kind of sentimentality I’d expect from most spirits. Is it because this was Rijoko’s originally? Or was this where you ascended?’

The Pioneer stayed silent for a moment, then shook his head. ‘Sentimentality, yes. When I was a mortal, I lived in a time of turmoil, of a shifting world and qi barely controlled, the path of cultivation only starting to be paved. I was the only one who had reached the peak of what mortals could aspire to be, what you would call the black stage, on the continent. Like most heroes of myth, I suppose, I was arrogant, clever but … not farsighted. Like other young geniuses I could name.’

I nodded without responding to what was probably a barb. I got the feeling that he hadn’t had much, if any, opportunity to talk about this.

‘I know my strength was why Rijoko chose me. I set out with the best intentions to help my people. But things were not as easy as they at first seemed.’ He sighed. ‘At that time, I did not actually know it was possible to ascend further. There were only rumors I had heard from spirits. Only perhaps a few others had done it. So when I saw the opportunity, I did what any true cultivator would and seized immortality.’

I frowned. I wasn’t quite sure, but it sounded like he wasn’t really happy with that kind of cultivator’s mindset.

‘So, you claimed this fortress for Jideia and he helped you ascend to the white stage,’ I finished when it seemed like the Pioneer wasn’t going to complete his tale.

He cocked an eyebrow at me. ‘You don’t seem particularly bothered, considering I as good as admitted to betraying your father.’

I shrugged but didn’t answer. I’d expected something like this. Though, really, it almost sounded like he regretted the whole thing, like he felt guilty about his betrayal. I knew I needed to be careful drawing a conclusion like this, but it was valuable intel. And it makes me care about this, on a personal level, less. We’ve all done things we regret.

We walked in silence for a bit. I finally put my spear away. Probably should have done that earlier. After a moment, the Pioneer followed suit. He was still a lot stronger than me, but I felt that was a good sign. He turned again, too, leading us on a longer path. We could have been back at the main building by now, but instead we took a stroll through the wildest parts of the grounds around the fortress.

‘You seem like too honorable a person to be an assassin,’ I finally said. ‘Are you sure you need to try to kill me?’

His face closed off as if someone had snapped shutters closed to block out light. ‘Don’t push things, girl,’ he said, a warning growl in his voice. ‘We are still enemies. You are a danger to us and perhaps the world, and I will not go against Jideia’s wishes for some pretty face.’

Uh. Pretty face? Not quite what I expected. I shook my head, chasing that thought away. I should have realized that if he was originally human, and with my appearance, that might play into how this looked for him, too, but it didn’t matter.

‘You know what I think? You don’t really want to fight Rijoko. Do you? He helped you back then. You’d rather just let the two of them squabble among themselves without getting involved. Maybe get some more distance from Jideia, too. Why don’t you just do that?’

His eyes narrowed, and I saw some anger in them. His presence started to bleed out of his form more strongly, adding a weight to the air around us that made me instinctively want to cower and back off. ‘You have no idea what you’re talking about, little princess. Mind your words if you don’t want them to be brought to a stop.’

We were finally coming closer to the building again, on a path that opened into the glade I’d stepped out onto shortly. Mior’s presence was now nearer, as well. I took a deep breath. I knew I was pushing it, taking a risk. But I didn’t want to stop. I’d flustered him, gotten a reaction from him, and I wanted to see what more I could get, gauge his response.

‘Like I said, I think you’re honorable.’

He hissed. ‘So, in order to make up for betraying my benefactor back then, I should betray my benefactor now? You think that would be honorable?’ He laughed. It sounded a bit dark even in my mind, but at least his anger actually seemed to have cooled a little.

I fell silent. There wasn’t much I could say to that. I could hardly press the honor angle any further, and I didn’t know enough about Jideia or his relationship with him to work on that. Although, I had picked up a few nice hints from his reactions and the way he spoke about the Greater Spirits.

But even if things ended here, I had already gotten good results for my risk here. It was probably time to cut my losses. Though, there was one other reason I’d come to face the Pioneer. I would be taking an even bigger risk, but I hadn’t found any leads to other options.

‘Clearly, you’re honorable enough not to even try to harm me here. Even though I waltzed right into this place, which is personally important to you.’ I smirked at him. ‘You even let me provoke you without much of a response. Why, you’d almost think you like me more than you would admit. Or do you simply not care about Jideia?’

By this point, we were back in the glade, with enough room for a fight. But I knew it wouldn’t come to that. I looked up at the Pioneer, a grin on my face, daring him to respond.

His eyes flashed and narrowed slightly. His head tilted to the side. I realized that he had seen through me, knew I was trying to provoke him into another mental attack.

A moment later, his mind slammed into my defenses. I gasped and backed away a step, focusing on my visualization and my mental defenses. This was different than last time, perhaps because we weren’t in a dream but the real world. The Pioneer’s mind was strong, with hard spikes driving unerringly into the corners of my mind. Even without using his full strength, which I was pretty sure he didn’t, he almost got me.

But I had improved since the last time. I controlled my mind strictly, setting up and maintaining the imagined labyrinth around it, ordering my consciousness into several layers.

But I did allow him some purchase. Just enough to make this attack real, to bleed through my mind and shake its foundations. I let some of his qi to me, go up against my mind and into the outer layers, where I kept nothing of importance. I could sense his hesitance. He didn’t really want to look too closely into my mind, perhaps afraid of waking my connection to Rijoko.

But at that point, with my consciousness under attack and a bit of foreign qi that tasted like spirit and yet human seeping into my mind, I reached into its depths myself. I grasped at the qi woven into my body, through my skull and even touching my brain, and which the connection with Rijoko brought. And I felt something shift, just the tiniest bit.

Suddenly, the Pioneer withdrew his mind. He crossed his arms, tension in the lines of his body, and looked at me with an intensity I hadn’t seen before, as if he was trying to make sense of some problem. “You surprise me, Little Light. I wonder if you know what you are doing.”

I blinked in surprise. His voice sounded perfectly natural, but for some reason I hadn’t considered he could speak normally. I quickly suppressed my surprise and nodded my head. “I hope so.”

The corner of his lip tugged upward in a hint of a grin. He paused for a moment, then turned around. “My name is Isuro.” And with that, his form dissipated and his presence moved away.

I stared after him for a moment, wondering what was going through his head. For the first time in this conversation, I felt off-balance.

Shaking my head, I turned around. I felt exhausted, not physically but mentally. My mind seemed to hold too much energy, and I had trouble focusing on a single thought as I walked back into the building. The light seemed brighter, the sounds both more muted and louder than before. But most importantly, there were feelings gathering at the back of my head that I didn’t quite know what to do with.

‘Inaris, what do you think you were doing?’ Mior asked, stepping out of one of the doors and to me in a moment. Aston had his arms crossed and a bit of a scowl, an expression I hadn’t seen on him before.

‘Taking a risk, and I think it paid off.’ I kept walking, too preoccupied to pay more attention to the unhappy spirit and probably even unhappier guard captain. ‘Let’s go quickly.’

I had gotten some information on the Pioneer and my opponents. The rest might not have gone as smoothly, but there was something to it. The feeling I had was hard to put into words, but I knew I’d managed to touch qi woven into my mind, if briefly. Something connected to my memories. It didn’t appear I could recover my old life’s memories this easily, but perhaps this was a first step. And now I knew I had strengthened my mind and its defenses, and could strengthen it further.

76: Welcome

I’d almost forgotten how sharp and vast my sense of the ocean was, especially of the incoming tide. It was a weirdly specific sensation granted to me by my bloodline, but hard to compare to anything else. Of course, here at the western coast things were subtly different than the eastern ocean I’d dove into, and we were considerably farther north than my first taste of this ocean during the war.

Though the waterfront was more controlled, as well, with harbors and docks, and the coast had even been straightened out here. Western Port was a decently sized city. Though the Empire really needs some help naming locations. I shook my head to myself as I looked over the settlement. There were a number of larger houses with many windows, filling whole city districts. Probably housing complexes. Many stood near the docks, but some also closer to large buildings I assumed were factories. Those, and the buildings close to them, all looked new, with fresh coats of paint and a few saplings planted outside.

I knew without having to ask that I’d never been here before. It didn’t feel familiar at all. At least the effects of my last venture were finally wearing off, and my mind felt mostly back to normal.

“This city is a trading hub,” Al said, coming up to me. “A good place to start some new construction and manufacturing, especially with the mountains close by and the forest not too far, either.” He frowned as he looked to the side, where the clouds were just breaking up and giving us a view of the mountains in the distance. “Is that why we traveled like this?”

I shrugged. “This is probably the main reason Mother let me go,” I admitted. “A small detour to the mountains on the way to pick up my fiancé.”

Al shook his head. “So now you’re here to welcome him to the Empire personally. Isn’t it a bit early, though? The negotiations are still ongoing, last I heard. Though I suppose Mother would have let them know she was agreeable.”

“Well, I’d prefer to have some time to get to know him before the wedding,” I said lightly.

There was no reason to drag the negotiations out unnecessarily, though some bargaining probably still needed to happen. It did seem like the prince was eager to leave the nest. Well, I guess that’s understandable. If I had nine older brothers, I’d probably feel the same way.

At that moment, Aston walked up to us, giving a short bow. “Your Highnesses, we have finished securing everything, and the area is cleared.”

I nodded. “Lead on, then. Let’s do this.”

I would have preferred to keep this low-key, but that wasn’t entirely possible. Officials from the city and a few functionaries from the palace who’d gotten here ahead of me had already organized things to welcome the delegation from the Kingdom of Terbekteri. My guards had arranged a coach for us, which would bring us to a dock set aside for official Imperial business, where they’d prepared things. In the meantime, I pushed back the curtains and looked out the windows as we rolled down the city streets. Guards surrounded the coach, but it wasn’t an official procession, at least.

People noticed us, of course, but they didn’t seem like they’d known about it. More like people gawking when a celebrity car rolled past, not that I’d ever seen that in person. They stared and sometimes cheered, but many just went about their business. The streets were pretty crowded, appropriate for a busy workday afternoon or evening. The sun was touching the horizon, starting to dye the sky orange to the west, but there was still a lot of light. It didn’t hurt that winter had just about left in this region. The street we were on was lined by many shops, which had colorful signs out, some of them glowing. The city’s houses were built higher than Blue Valley City, and it almost felt like a city on Earth. If not for subtle differences, like the qi used in place of electricity or the lack of cars.

We drove by some new construction, and I leaned forward to catch a better glimpse of it. There was a store nearby selling what looked like mass-produced clothing in predetermined sizes. There were factories behind it, doing some kind of mechanical construction. Perhaps building carriages or other industrial machines. On the next street, I saw a sign pointing the way to a telegraph office.

Sometimes, I loved this country, if only for how quickly it adapted these changes. But it was also a little weird. Have I been here that long already?

It didn’t take long for us to reach the docks. Here, things were even livelier, and I could see many people bringing in and processing the day’s catch, as well as moving a lot of trade goods to and from ships and warehouses built near the waterfront. Our carriage turned to the right to head towards a particular dock, making people hurry out of the way. The waters surrounding that pier were clear of ships, although I could see one just coming in.

Finally, we came to a stop. I waited for the guards to officially secure the area, sighing to myself, before I finally got to step out of the carriage and take a better look. They’d set up a sort of podium close to the pier, and cleared out a short way to a number of other carriages standing ready. Those were more brightly painted and decorated with expensive fabrics and shiny metal. Like the one I was disembarking from, there were no horses, so they probably ran on qi. I checked the crests of the Kingdom of Terbekteri and the Empire painted on them.

I stepped up, nodding to the guards and receiving greetings from the small group of delegates waiting there. They would take care of the Kingdom’s envoys, hopefully freeing me to focus on my own issues. Of course, I would need to welcome them all. But this was clearly the prince’s delegation. I’d received a few documents and knew there were some envoys to join the alliance negotiations and help set up the closer contact we would need afterward, but most of the group were his retinue. At least it wasn’t big. For local standards.

The ship was coming closer rapidly, and a few minutes later it docked at the pier. I glanced at it, noting the big flag they were flying and the artistically carved statue at the prow, but nothing really captured my interest. I shifted my weight, once more wishing Tenira or Lei were here, and glanced at Al, who was standing beside me looking bored. At least it didn’t take long for people to start disembarking from the ship. A few soldiers went first, then a few people in more expensive looking clothes. Then, at last, the man I was looking for. They walked down the short pier in good order. I took the opportunity to finally take a good look at him. I’d seen a portrait but who knew how accurate those were.

I’d guess the prince was only a few centimeters taller than me. He wore pants and a jacket instead of the billowing robes some of his companions chose. He was well-toned, but not too muscular, with more of a lean build. He had dark-ish skin, kind of hard to place. I would have put him as ‘mixed race’ on Earth. Probably the same here, really. He wore his straight black hair long, and had expressive dark eyes. His face wouldn’t have looked out of place on a movie poster.

I took a step forward, suppressing a smile.

“You look interested,” Al said, raising an eyebrow at me.

Mother was right, he was indeed handsome. And definitely in my ‘strike zone’. Hopefully just coincidence.

I shrugged. “I can be shallow sometimes, too.” I tilted my head. “Though, I wonder if I could get him to wear his hair shorter.”

Al snorted beside me. Then he shrugged. “Okay, I’ll give you that. He’s handsome enough, and the hairstyle could use a change, maybe.”

If Al was a bit older or more sure of his sexuality, I would have joked about keeping his hands to himself. But I swallowed the comment and focused on the approaching group. This had helped me be a little more relaxed, and I managed what I thought was a warm, welcoming smile. I knew that first impressions could be important, and I wanted to at least try to build a good relationship.

Once they stopped in front of me, one of the officials beside me stepped up to handle the introductions. He was a bit pompous, proclaiming more titles than I thought was strictly necessary, but it was probably better to be polite here. I tried to give all of them my attention, but my gaze kept coming back to the young man in the middle. I got the impression it was the same for him, though we both avoided too much direct eye contact.

When the official finished, I took half a step forward and bowed as gracefully as I could. “Honored guests from Terbekteri, please allow me to welcome you to our humble country personally, as well. In the name of my Mother, I bid you welcome in the Empire of the Sky. I am confident that we can look forward to a valuable, auspicious partnership between our countries, and our families. Prince Kajare, I welcome you especially, and I look forward to getting to know you better.”

When Kajare smiled this time, it reached his eyes, and gave him a bit of a softer, brighter look. He bowed to me as well, a little bit deeper than I had. Probably appropriate given I was the heir to a nation while he was a younger child. “Imperial Princess Inaris, I gladly accept your welcome. I am honored and delighted that you are receiving me personally. In the name of my Father and nation, I welcome the coming days of unity between our people.”

Well, this seems to be going well so far. I nodded and smiled again, then gestured. “You had a long journey, so we will not keep you. Please accompany us to the carriages, and we will travel to your temporary accommodations. Prince Kajare, I would be honored if you would share my carriage. With retainers of your choice, of course.”

He glanced at a few of the older people with him, then bowed his head, the smile now gone. “Of course I accept.”

It wasn’t a long walk to the carriages, although there was some shuffling about who would walk where at the start. On the way, Al said a few pleasantries as well, and managed to sound serious and princely all the way through. I noticed that Kajare and a few others looked at him with curiosity in their eyes, probably wondering why he was here as well. I wouldn’t enlighten them. After all, it wouldn’t show us in a good light to tell them that both of us wanted to go on a trip rather than stay in the capital and deal with politics or social functions.

Once we reached the parked carriages, I boarded the most ornate one, which also happened to be the largest, with the Imperial phoenix painted on the sides. Usually, I would take Tenira with me, but neither she nor Lei were here, and Al went to his own carriage. So Aston ended up in the seat beside me. Not sure how I feel about Mior listening in on everything, but alright. Kajare boarded with an older man and young woman, both of whom wore rich clothing but otherwise appeared unremarkable. Partly, that was their subdued demeanor.

The carriage started rolling, surrounded by other carriages and guards everywhere. There was a moment of awkward silence, before I started the conversation. “I hope your trip was pleasant?” The most cliché opening, but at least it shouldn’t risk anything.

Kajare nodded. “Indeed. It was rather shorter than usual, I’m told, and we had pleasant weather and avoided running into any dangerous spirit beasts.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Another moment of silence ensured, while I tried not to sigh. I wanted to talk about more meaningful things with him, but I got the feeling he was already a bit uneasy. Understandable, of course. Perhaps I had come on too strongly.

So I started asking about a favorite small talk topic, his homeland. There were a few awkward pauses at the start, but we managed to get a conversation started. The good thing was that we had a lot of conversation material, since we could talk about our different countries and keep to innocuous topics fairly easily. Of course, I still felt like I was playing a real-time puzzle game. It didn’t hurt that there were different expectations for small talk, what with his nation’s culture, Imperial culture, and what I was used to from my time on Earth. At least his Imperial Common was great, with only a subtle hint of an accent.

The conversation paused again after I shared an anecdote from the lab, and he asked about my retainers and extended family. I really didn’t have much to say to that, since I still didn’t know them well, and he was clearly expecting things to work differently. It’s like an awkward first date conversation, except neither of us chose to go on the date and we’re being watched by our minders.

I glanced at the other people in the carriage. So far, they’d been very silent, probably because of the status differences and rules of conduct. According to tradition, I wasn’t supposed to be alone with him, either. Which is just stupid. If we weren’t engaged there would be no issue. I could talk to nobles or diplomats alone and no one would really care, nowadays.

I straightened up a little. “We should be almost there now, Prince Kajare. There is a group of airships waiting to take us to the capital.”

He nodded. “Of course, my lady. I am looking forward to seeing the Empire’s famous airships.”

I smiled. “These are just some personal transport vessels, but I’m sure we can arrange to give you a tour of our military aircraft later on. Perhaps including the new planes currently in development, if you are interested.”

“I would appreciate that. Thank you.”

His two companions shared a quick look, as well. Probably considering how easily I would reveal secrets like that. Well, I hadn’t set a date and would probably wait until after the marriage, but we were building an alliance.

“The route we will take back isn’t set yet,” I continued. “We could of course head straight to the capital. But there would also be enough time for a more relaxed trip, perhaps visiting some noteworthy sites on the way. However you like.”

He shared a glance with his older companion and raised an eyebrow. “My lady, do I understand correctly that you not have an answer in mind, but wish to leave the decision to me?”

I shook my head. “Of course. You are our guests. I would be happy to accommodate your wishes.”

He regarded me in silence for a moment, then nodded. “You are being a most gracious host.” He hesitated slightly. “In that case, it would be best if I were to join my nation’s delegates and the ongoing negotiations quickly.”

I kept my face expressionless. “Naturally. Then we will endeavor to travel swiftly.”

Although I tried to hide it, I was a bit disappointed by his reaction. I would have preferred to travel through the Empire, both seeing more of it and taking the change to get to know my sudden fiancé better. Maybe I shouldn’t have given him the choice, just suggested that.

I shook my head internally. It was easy to forget that I was the one in a stronger position here. It was understandable if he was cautious. Hey, at least he clearly isn’t an entitled jerk. Of course, I was confident they wouldn’t send me someone like that, anyway.

The carriage came to a stop, and I waited for Aston to get out first. There was another awkward moment when Kajare and I tried to wordlessly determine which of us would leave before the other. In the end, I hopped out, although Imperial tradition would have called for the suitor to disembark first, which was probably him.

I just hoped this wasn’t indicative of how things would be.

Interlude — Isuro

There were times Isuro missed the human world. Its simplicity and focus on the physical would perhaps help him rein in his marauding thoughts better. Not that it was truly another world, of course. But here, in the depth of a qi anomaly cultivated and adjusted by spirits, it would be easy to believe such a thing. It was the safest place for him, a stronghold of Jideia that no other Greater Spirit had even poked at in millennia. But he found that safety had long lost most of its desirability for him.

Isuro let out a mental sigh and condensed his presence into a physical form. While his ascendancy and the path he had walked let him easily exist without one, just a presence spread throughout qi, he had never quite lost his fondness for a body and the stimulation its senses provided. Not that there was much to take in in this place. His eyes were only greeted by a swirling mist of qi, a mere facsimile of the truly fluid, transitory makeup of this redoubt that his qi senses penetrated. His ears did not even pick up a whisper of wind.

Absently, Isuro found himself moving his fingers in a small circle that opened a hole in the swirling mist, qi condensing to take in light from a place more substantial, and quite a distance away. He had a brief glimpse of a sprawling city and a gleaming stronghold nestled beside a range of towering mountains. It swiveled to focus on the palace, the many courtyards and buildings he knew lay behind its walls, but then only light poured from the scrying window.

Of course this meager little extension of his will wasn’t able to pierce the palace’s wards. It wouldn’t even register for the wards’ monitors. Isuro shook his head at himself. It might not do any harm, but he should control himself better.

It has become frustratingly apparent that I am somewhat captivated by Inaris, hasn’t it? The thought stung his pride, but he knew it was true.

Who knew my appreciation for women would prick me so in my old age? He snorted. He knew he had always had a preference for fair girls. The little princess with her fair skin and blond hair certainly fit. He’d found her attractive ever since he really took note of her, shortly before her soul journey. But he knew that by now, it was more than that.

He stepped forward and moved himself through the mists. If he was going to brood here, he might as well do it heading back from his self-imposed solitude on the way to the gathering place.

The problem, he mused, was that Leri Inaris was interesting. No mortal had pricked his interest in centuries, and certainly not like this. Of course, she was the daughter of Rijoko. A certain spark was to be expected. She was someone who would change the world, if given a scrap of a chance. In a few short centuries or even decades, the world of mortals might be barely recognizable as the one it was today.

Although that is the problem, isn’t it?

Isuro ran a hand through his hair. The balance between the nations was precarious enough as it currently stood, he agreed with Jideia on that. Making the Empire even stronger, especially by giving it a ruler who could potentiate that increase, had a high risk of disaster. And even if my patron stands to lose as the Empire keeps turning away from him to Rijoko, that does not negate his logic, does it? Even if I do have to wonder about the risks Jideia himself is taking with this balance …

And beside all that, he couldn’t help but acknowledge that Inaris didn’t deserve to be harmed because of her Father’s actions. Or because she carried dangerous potential, if you wanted to be ethical about it. She was a brave young woman who had shown remarkable resilience, a sharp wit, and a certain spunk when dealing with spirits and his own efforts to destroy her. Which had not worked out well.

Which might be partly due to the fact that he had to acknowledge that his heart was not really in it.

Isuro stopped his train of thought as he felt a thread of qi weave from his surroundings toward him. He reached out mentally to touch it and processed the message contained within. Giving one last sigh, he snapped some of his qi, and in a second crossed what little distance remained to his destination.

A mortal might be surprised at the place’s simplicity. Though Isuro knew Jideia could have decorated it much more richly, what would be the point? It was functional, which he preferred. The only thing really marking the place were the fact that the qi inside was more strictly controlled, the large torch in the center, and the grassy lawn suspended in the mists. Furniture could be formed according to momentary needs.

Jideia stood some distance away from the center, currently alone. He had decided to incarnate as well, though not fully, and was little more than a roiling cloud of qi in humanoid shape. That form turned to meet him as Isuro approached, although he could sense the Storm’s regard from farther away.

Isuro gave a courtly bow, perhaps an unnecessary affectation but one he did not mind and might as well perform in his body. He kept his thoughts locked down tight, careful to keep any mention of Inaris far in his subconscious and his mind well ordered, its turmoil calmed for now.

Jideai nodded at him. ‘Isuro. Thanks for coming.’

‘Naturally.’

Of course, hiding like this wasn’t necessary. He didn’t think his benefactor would reproach him for his uncertainty and emotional unrest. Jideia might be many things, but he was not petty. Certainly not towards his allies. All the same, Isuro preferred not to show it.

‘I just had a rather enlightening exchange with the Sun,’ the Greater Spirit continued, his mental voice as bland as usual. ‘We will need to abate our efforts. The others are not pleased with me.’

Isuro nodded, projecting a sense of understanding and acknowledgment, distantly noting his lack of dismay at the news in his own mind. ‘I suspected that would be the case. You knew this course of action was a risk, my lord. I can’t say I have no reservations, either, as you know.’

‘You still did well enough, even if our efforts failed.’ Jideia waved a hand negligently. ‘As expected of Rijoko, of course his child is not so easily suppressed. I will not be dissuaded that simply, of course. I know I can count on you.’

Isuro clasped his hands behind his back. He felt the urge to ask that he be left out of this, to take on other tasks. It would be sensible. But something stayed him. So he simply nodded. I suppose I do not actually wish to have less to do with Inaris.

‘You are right that for now, I should focus my efforts on other pursuits. I can’t let Rijoko get ahead of me because I’m too focused on this one matter. All the same, our options have hardly run out.’

Isuro cocked an eyebrow. That sounded faintly ominous, at least for the Storm’s enemies.

‘An easy way to get at a princess is through her nation. We’ll make sure the Empire is not allowed to rise any farther. It’s about time for that, after all. And perhaps we can rid ourselves of the girl’s potential threat more easily than you thought.’

Isuro nodded again. Whatever happened, he had the feeling that things were in the grip of change, and was not quite sure where it would all end up.

‘For now, on to other matters.’ Jideia’s shape flowed until he took a seat on the ground.

Isuro joined him and listened attentively to what his patron had to say, but he could not help but feel a little disaffected. Perhaps the Storm sensed it, as he ended the conversation quickly.

Isuro felt a brief sting of relief as he left the stronghold to go talk to another spirit. He only started to feel some vigor return to his mind now.

77: Moving on

Anyone who knew me probably wasn’t surprised that unlike Kajare, I didn’t hurry back to join the negotiations. Instead, I went to the lab. The last few hours and days had demanded a lot from me, especially when it came to dealing with people. Trying to be polite and nice to strangers wasn’t exactly my idea of a good time.

It seemed Mother understood that, since she didn’t call on me to join any meetings or do any political stuff after we got back. From what I heard, things were going well and the agreement was mostly finished, anyway. I could join in the last round of negotiations. Maybe I should, since this impacted my future. But as I dove into the paperwork left in my office, I found I couldn’t regret missing out on that.

Besides, it’s all about a healthy balance, right? Nothing wrong in doing something I like after a period of work I find strenuous.

Not that this was particularly relaxing, since I had to deal with some administrative matters first. Paperwork accumulating might be a universal law, just like entropy. But it also gave me the chance to really go through what happened and what the researchers managed lately.

Which was a lot. With telegraphs and radio finally finding more widespread use, it also seemed to have affected communication between the various research groups the imperial family, mostly Mother and me, sponsored or set up. Especially the universities and my own research groups, the one here and the one in the south. They’d made a lot of progress I hadn’t even thought about, especially in the small details.

After I put the last sheet of paper down, I leaned back in my chair, looking out the window thoughtfully. The sun was shining outside, painting a line of light down my desk. Some sound filtered in, and if I concentrated on it, I could not only hear the people hard at work around me in the building, but also those walking by outside or even noise from the rest of the palace.

Perhaps it was time to finally get back to my computer project. It had been going well until I spent less and less time on it in favor of others, finally shelving it for more immediate needs. But it had been in the back of my mind since then, and I was itching to start putting some ideas into practice now, working them out beyond idle distractions.

For the next few hours, I forgot my frustration with political arrangements and etiquette, diplomatic dances and responsibility in favor of paper and pencil, formation plates and electrical switches. I got up two times to confer with other researchers, waving away congratulations or questions about the other stuff. I even started building a model, then the next, as the day turned to night and the night brightened again.

I was still immersed in my project when Tenira found me. Her familiar presence caused me to look up, blinking as I realized that there were now a few more people around my workbench than before.

“Inaris,” Tenira said, sounding faintly exasperated. “When was the last time you slept?”

I shrugged and let the contents of the table disappear into my storage ring for now. I might be focused on them, but I would still prefer to talk to her privately. “Let’s go to my office. It’s nice to see you again, by the way. I missed you.”

She harrumphed, but I could see the tension in her face relax a little. I wasn’t quite sure why she seemed to be grumpy at me, but there were several possibilities.

Once I pulled over a chair for her in my office and sat down, I answered her question. “I took a nap in the airship from the mountains to Western Port, with Mior watching closely.” I shrugged. “You know I shouldn’t go to sleep and dream. Mior still hasn’t cleared me, so to speak.”

Tenira sighed. “Alright. But you should at least drink something and take care of your appearance. You don’t look very presentable, Inaris.”

I pulled a face. “I did all of that while I was with the envoys, don’t worry. Anyway, how have you been, Tenira? Is Lei here as well?”

“Good. Yes, he’s talking with some of the others, it seems.”

Now that she mentioned it, once I looked for it I found my friend’s aura two rooms over in another workshop. Aston was outside in the corridor, and other guards spread throughout the building and its perimeter.

I turned away and quickly cleared one of the tables, then put down my models on it again. The one on the left had lost some of the paper I’d put in as a quick imitation of punch cards. I straightened that out, making sure that the wires and fiddly bits were all properly connected. I wasn’t really a tech person, I preferred the theoretical to practical work, but everything worked okay so far.

After Tenira had been silent for a few seconds, I glanced back up at her, finding that she still looked at me with a bit of a frown. I hid a sigh and turned to face her fully. “You’re upset with me, aren’t you? I’m sorry.”

She sighed. “I just wish you’d been a little more, well, open. I would’ve liked to accompany you on that trip to the mountains, and I know Lei would have, as well. But you were gone before we even had the chance to join you.”

I nodded and had to work not to lower my gaze, feeling a stab of guilt. “Yeah. I’m sorry, Tenira.”

“And then there’s this betrothal.” Her expression tightened just a bit. “This is the kind of thing I would have liked to hear from you, not Aiki Ilia, Inaris.”

I grimaced. I hadn’t told her about that right away. I just wanted a bit of time to decide how to handle things. I looked up at her. “I understand.”

For a moment, we sat in silence. It was probably the most awkward silence I’d ever experienced in a conversation with Tenira. She hadn’t addressed the alliance and betrothal itself yet. I felt like it hung in the air between us like a hidden weight. Though I knew that was just me.

“Well,” she finally said. “With that out of the way, I should go check on the others and get started on setting up the things I brought back.”

“Wait, please,” I said, stopping her as she was rising from the chair. “I’d like to talk to you about these things.”

She regarded me in silence for a moment, before she sat back down. “Of course, my lady.”

I opened my mouth to apologize again, this time for not conferring with her before I made a decision, but then I paused. I just shook my head. “I would have liked to talk to you about these things before they were decided, Tenira. But you weren’t here. I wouldn’t let Mother wait for something that was actually pretty clear.”

“Well, I’m glad this is such an easy decision for you,” she said, tilting her head slightly. “I wouldn’t have thought so, to be honest. I’ve been a little worried about how you would deal with some cultural aspects.”

I snorted. “That’s probably smart of you.” Then I sighed again. “I don’t want to do something like this, Tenira. But like I told Mother, it’s important for the Empire and pretty much the least I can do.”

“I understand.” She gave me a smile, finally. So what if it wasn’t particularly bright. “But I’m glad you’re taking these things so seriously. I know you’ll deal with it. And I’m here for you.”

I returned her smile, trying to hide my mixed feelings at her words. A hidden part of me didn’t want her to be so accepting and even encouraging. Although I wasn’t even sure how much of that was because she felt she should.

“Anyway, what do you think about it?” I asked.

“A closer alliance with the Kingdom of Terbekteri is a good decision,” she answered promptly. “Our capacities for exports are rising steadily and they have always been a reliable trade partner. Their military is strong, and we can use all the help we can get to discourage the Zarian. Using a marriage to cement this alliance is normal and seems promising. It is a fitting match for you.”

I stood up, suddenly feeling a bit restless, and started pacing. “And that’s all there is to it?”

She stood up as well. “That’s what you should focus on.”

I stopped. How did this go from her being upset about this to talking it up to me, anyway? This was so impersonal, too.

“Enough of this,” I decided finally. “It’s is going to happen anyway. Thanks for humoring me. But now, let’s get back to work.”

Tenira raised an eyebrow, then shrugged. “As you wish. Were you working on that computer idea of yours? It looks like you made some progress.”

I stepped to the table and straightened things out once more. I couldn’t help but smile while I did it, a little proud of my progress. So I pushed thoughts of marriages out of my mind and focused on telling her about my project. “This one, on the left, it pretty much where we were at when I stopped this. It’s a simple machine, pretty much a simplistic computer already. You could use it to do some elementary math, although it would only work with whole numbers. And not too large numbers, I suppose.”

Tenira took a step closer, looking at it intently. “I remember. A marvelous little machine on its own.”

I smiled and turned to the model beside it. This one wasn’t quite finished, but most of the work was done. “This will be something else. The general principle is the same. We have this plate with formations to form the actual data storage. I was experimenting with that or electrical switches. Not much of a difference, we only need an ‘on’ and ‘off’ setting that’s easily changed and doesn’t degrade. Then here is the actual machine. This part is going to be used for input, and here a sort of screen for output. I’ve been trying to make it so you can put programs on punch cards and have them be executed, like early computers from my world.”

The whole thing was rather similar to the Z3, I figured, or other machines like that. Or it would be once it was really finished.

Tenira leaned forward, looking fascinated. “Truly impressive. I suppose these buttons let you operate it manually? And here it shows the result of the calculations. It does look similar to your first effort, I have to admit. Where’s the difference?”

“Well, beside a few technical improvements, mainly the actual computing,” I explained. “This machine can handle floating-point numbers. Probably not very well, all things considered. We haven’t finished it yet, but the principle should work. This makes it a lot more useful, doesn’t it?”

“I’d say so,” she agreed. “I know many of the others will be clamoring to have one of these to help in the calculations they do on their projects. How easy are they to replicate?”

I took a step back and frowned. “Well, they’ll have to be custom-built. I doubt we’ll manage to automate construction of computers for some time, yet. Especially as I’ve been using formation-based storage, since we just can’t get real transistors yet. But it shouldn’t be too difficult if we’re working from precise plans and have cultivators shape the parts to fit.”

I could just get many people from the team to do that, as well. Combine it with teaching them how to build these.

“Well, you need to finish it first,” Tenira said, stepping away as well and turning to face me. “For now, maybe we should take a look at what the others have been doing? I’m curious.”

I nodded and quickly packed up the models. I’d drop them off with Lei or one of the others helping me with the project. “Yeah, we should probably make sure Lei doesn’t encourage the others to burn the place down.”

Tenira chuckled. “Like that time he almost fried the generator we were trying to install because he wanted to test if it could deal with electricity in the form of lightning?”

I grinned. “More like that time he concentrated a beam of light from a technique so much it almost burned through the fence around the training courtyard. That was impressive. Or was that you?”

Tenira grimaced. “Yeah, that was me. Although …” she stopped and looked at me more intently. “Did he tell you that? I’m pretty sure I swore both of you to secrecy after that. He promised he wouldn’t tell anyone. That little traitor …”

“Wait.” I leaned against the wall and shook my head. “He didn’t actually tell me that.”

“Then how do you know? That was months before your soul journey.”

“Really? Well, I guess of course it was.” I frowned and tried to search my memory. I knew it couldn’t have been something I myself witnessed, since I would recall that perfectly if it was. But I did have a vague feeling about it.

“Inaris, how do you know about that? And what do you know?”

“I guess it was a shock. I think I was just immersed in mastering a technique or something? Not sure.” I pushed off the wall and started pacing again. “It’s pretty vague, like a distant memory. Well, that’s interesting.”

“Inaris!” Tenira’s sharp tone pulled my from my thoughts. She stepped closer and literally blocked my pacing. “What’s been going on with you? Have you gotten flashes of your old memories before?”

I nodded, meeting her gaze seriously. “I’ve been getting feelings and impressions. Subtle things. Knowing a word I shouldn’t have, and only realizing that later. I wouldn’t even call them flashes, it’s more like the subconscious stuff I got from the old Inaris became a little clearer, maybe a little more. Mostly personal things. It hasn’t happened often.”

“And why?” Tenira regarded me with narrowed eyes.

I sighed, then started telling her about my meeting with the Pioneer, Isuro, at the old fortress. The way I’d ended things, how I’d tried to reach for my old memories.

“It didn’t work like I might have hoped, but I’ve gotten a few hints since then,” I concluded. “Like I said, just scattered, subtle stuff. I can’t remember these things if I try.”

Tenira looked at me with wide eyes. Finally, she shook her head. “Do you realize what that means?”

“Of course! I’ve made a great step forward in understanding the way qi interlaces with mental processes, and its property in being able to store information. And proved in principle that it’s possible to retrieve memories once thought lost.”

She nodded. “Exactly. This is remarkable work, even if you were stupid in doing it.”

I would’ve definitely gotten some attention with that on Earth. “I wonder if that might even bear on usual cognitive processes and our understanding of the neuroscience behind memory?” I mused thoughtfully, then focused on the present. “I’m not sure how to continue on this path, but I’ll figure something out.”

Tenira smiled widely. “Well, if you do, let me know! I wouldn’t mind a clearer recall of what happened before my soul journey. No one would. Although it’s probably smart of you to keep this quiet now.”

I smiled at the thought of what might happen if we could truly turn this curse into a blessing. That won’t be easy, though, if it’s even possible.

At that moment, someone knocked on the door. Without waiting for a response, the door opened. Aston walked in, his aura tightly controlled, and bowed.

“What’s up, Mior?” I asked.

“How did you know I was involved?” they asked, the voice again sounding like a mix of both, though Mior’s influence was subtle.

Aston wouldn’t just walk in, obviously. I waved that aside. “Doesn’t matter. What’s going on?”

“The negotiations are drawing to a close. They will be signing the treaty this evening. Prince Kajare will stand in for his Father. Your betrothal will also be officially announced.”

I sighed. “Wonderful news, right? Do I need to be there?”

Aston-Mior shrugged. Tenira chimed in, “You definitely should.”

“Okay then.”

My guard grinned again. This time, I could tell Mior’s telepathic voice was directed at her, though I could hear it as well. ‘You had better ensure the princess prepares for it in time, lest she be too absorbed in her work.’

I rolled my eyes and pushed past them, opening the door. “Wasn’t that your job, Aston?”

Without waiting for a reply, I left down the hallway. I intended to become absorbed in my work.

78: Getting to know each other

Looking around Yarani’s room, I couldn’t help asking myself if I should move her. It was pretty close to my rooms, certainly indicating a favored position. Maybe even intended as a home for a less close spouse to a member of the Imperial family. Then again, it probably didn’t matter. I’d only met Kajare briefly since our arrival, but neither he nor anyone else from his side had seemed to notice or care that I already had someone.

It’s getting easier to think like a princess. Not sure if I like that or not. Shaking my head, I returned my attention to my lover, who had just finished rearranging the decoration on the table.

“I feel a little bad that I didn’t ask you before agreeing to this marriage,” I admitted. “It would have been the obvious thing to do where I’m from, though polyamorous relationships were rare, anyway.”

She smiled slightly. “I still find the thought of this different life you remember a little strange. But you don’t need to feel bad. I’m aware that this is something you’re doing for your Mother and the Empire. I expected something like it sooner or later. I’m aware of my position, and I won’t make trouble for Lord Kajare or you.”

I nodded. “I hope no one has given you trouble because of your ‘lesser status’?”

She snorted. “No. I may be technically a commoner but none of those nobles would try to disparage the Imperial Princess’ favorite. They’re not stupid.”

That made sense. If things go well, then maybe in a few years, or decades, I might marry Yarani as well. Not like it will change much for me. If I can marry someone I don’t really know, why not someone I actually like? I nodded to myself. I’ll see how things go. Though I’d better keep that thought to myself.

“You know, you could do worse,” she said, smiling at me. “Kajare seems nice enough. With this, some of the people advocating for you to marry and give the clan heirs are going to back off a bit.”

I leaned back in my chair, crossing my hands behind my head. “Yeah. That’s something, I guess. By the way … well, did you ever want to have children?”

She looked down. “Inaris, you know I only like women. That is a pretty clear answer to the matter of children.”

I shifted in my chair and leaned forward a bit. “I know. But in general? Say, with adoption, magic, younger relatives, whatever.”

She looked thoughtful. “I suppose. It might be nice at some point. What about you?”

“I’m pretty much going to have to. Everyone expects it, and we need to have more heirs.” I shrugged. “Especially since Al isn’t likely to have children. I guess I don’t really mind. I want kids eventually, just not any time soon. Just wanted to hear what you thought about the topic.”

With this marriage and its assorted implications, especially the impressions I’d gotten from some people, I’d given the whole matter some thought, and come to a few conclusions. One of which was that while I didn’t know how close Kajare and I might be, I’d prefer to have them with someone I liked and trusted, like Yarani, if it came to that.

Yarani frowned. “That sounds like something you should talk to your betrothed about instead of me. Or — you mean your shapeshifting …?”

I shrugged. “I’m certainly not there yet, but I see no reason why I wouldn’t be able to manage producing the needed cells.”

Yarani shook her head. “That’s a little odd to think about. Let’s talk about it if and when it becomes relevant.”

“Of course.” I hadn’t really wanted to spell it out like this to her, though I did like having some foundation for planning things like this, for the future. But for now, I shelved that line of thought.

I took out a chessboard and the corresponding pieces, and we quickly turned our minds to the game. Yarani was pretty good, probably better than Xiaodan. At this point, we’d played chess often enough that she’d started to get the hang of it, and I really had to work for a win.

I’d just managed to take her last tower and was trying to figure out how to checkmate her without letting her turn it into a draw, when I sensed people approaching. I paused and looked to the door. After a few seconds, a guard knocked and, after acknowledgment from Yarani, quickly came inside.

He bowed quickly. “Your Highness, my lady, Prince Kajare intends to visit Lady Tia. Should we tell him you are occupying her time and turn him away?”

I shifted in my seat so I faced the door and glanced at Yarani. “No need to tell him anything, just let him in.”

“Of course, Your Highness.”

A few moments later, my intended stepped through the door. He paused as he saw the two of us, who were politely rising to meet him. One of his eyebrows climbed a little before he controlled his expression and gave a polite bow. “Imperial Princess. I wasn’t aware of your presence. Please excuse my interruption, my ladies. I will not bother you any further.”

“No need.” I smiled at him and gestured to a chair. “Please, take a seat.”

“It is a pleasure to talk to you again, my lord,” Yarani added, as Kajare sat down on the indicated chair.

“Oh? You’ve met before?” I looked from one to the other. It was a good sign that he wanted to talk to Yarani, as far as I was concerned. It showed he was at least a little proactive about this.

“Lady Yarani took the initiative to graciously welcome me to the Empire and the palace,” Kajare said, with a nod to her. “She gave me what I’m sure will be valuable advice, as well. Since we both came in some sense as outsiders.”

“That’s good to hear.”

I wished I could have heard that conversation. Maybe I could get Yarani to tell me more of what they’d talked about, later. Hey, maybe one tip was to get a haircut? I think I mentioned I don’t like long hair on men to her once.

“His Highness is too kind.” Yarani smiled brightly.

I leaned back and took a closer look at them. Yarani’s living room had large windows that let in a lot of light, which caught in a few pearls in her hair. She looked relaxed with a polite and attentive expression. I knew she came from a merchant family, so social niceties weren’t something alien to her, but I still found it impressive how she managed to fit in here at the palace.

Kajare wore a set of robes today. Their dark blue color complimented his now-short black hair nicely and the silver embroidery looked intricate and graceful. He cut a nice figure. And wore the Leri clan’s colours. As my official betrothed who will be joining the clan. It’s a nice gesture.

“My lady,” Yarani turned to me, still smiling. “There is that soiree I mentioned, with a distinguished group of musicians including the new flutist everyone is excited about. They will start soon, and I would not want to be late. If you would excuse me?”

I was surprised, although I hopefully managed not to show it. Knowing Yarani, this event probably existed, although she hadn’t mentioned it before. But I appreciated how she must have picked up on my wish to talk to Kajare and was leaving the two of us to it. I nodded. “Of course. Enjoy yourself. If they are truly that good, perhaps we could go to the next event together.”

“I will be sure to give you my opinion.” She stood and smiled at me before she bowed her way out of the room.

Kajare shifted in his seat, looking around the room. “I suppose I should go. Thank you for receiving me.”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “If you’re worried about propriety, there are guards outside the door. It’s not like this will endanger the marriage or something, either. Of course, if you really want to leave, I won’t mind.”

He stilled and looked at me with a piercing gaze. I practically saw him weighing things in his mind. Then he smiled, and the moment passed. “Of course, my lady. I would be glad to provide my company if you want it.”

I nodded and took a moment to check our surroundings. There were two guards outside the door and two further down the hallway, one to the side of us in another corridor. I also sensed three unfamiliar signatures that felt similar, who had to be guards of Kajare. They took up alternating positions with my own. A few servants lurked around, as well, though I doubted they could hear us through the thick walls. I was tempted to put up a barrier to give us more privacy, but I didn’t want to spook my betrothed.

“I thought it would be nice to talk to each other in a more informal setting,” I said. “Before we’re married. I’d like to get to know you, and I’d like you to be at ease around me.”

He nodded, and tension visibly seeped from his posture. “Of course, lady Inaris. That sounds like a good idea.”

I smiled. “Good. As you’ll probably soon learn, I don’t like stuffy formality or rigid, hierarchical thinking. While I try my best to be the princess the Empire needs, I spend much of my time working on technological and formation research. Many of the people I work with are older and more experienced, and I like how we can share our ideas freely.”

Kajare looked interested and a little surprised, probably wondering why I was telling him this now. But like I’d said, I wanted him to feel more comfortable around me, and sharing personal information had a way of helping with that. I’d share a secret if I had one that I felt I could risk like this.

“I can understand that,” he answered. “There are often strict expectations for princes, in Terbekteri, as well. I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t have some confidants I could talk to.”

“Did you bring them with you when you traveled here?”

His expression darkened. “Some of them. Of course, my brothers and cousins stayed.”

I rested my head on my hand. “It must be quite a change, going from your home to here, leaving almost everything you know behind.”

He shrugged. “That’s how things go, isn’t it?”

I hummed thoughtfully. “It’s still quite a sacrifice for you to come here and marry me. I just wanted to note I can appreciate that.”

His expression stayed closed off. “If you’ll forgive me for being blunt, Princess Inaris, where are you going with this line of questioning?”

I sighed. “I apologize if I’m being pushy. I’d just like to understand how you see this marriage, so we can deal with each other more easily.”

He frowned. “Not what one might expect from your prior behavior. From what I’ve heard, your family was rather resolute in refusing this match and didn’t agree until my side insisted on it.”

I straightened up a little, meeting his gaze firmly. He’s showing some teeth. Cute. “You’re right. As you’ve probably heard from your sources, I didn’t want this at first. But now that it’s happening, things have changed and I’m coming to accept it.”

“I see.”

“It was nothing personal, against your kingdom or you.” I shrugged. “I simply didn’t like the idea of marrying. Especially right now, so soon. I didn’t expect to have to manage something like this.”

To be fair, I was only nineteen, quite a young age to get married among cultivators. Perhaps also because, for many people, it would be hard to know what their future held, how strong they’d turn out to be.

His frown eased a little and he nodded. “Of course. I understand that. Thank you for explaining, lady Inaris.”

I stayed quiet for a moment, then shook my head softly. “You don’t have to answer this if you don’t want, my prince. But I would like to know why you agreed to this. Surely it can’t just be my bloodline?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Now that you mention it, I never did get a straight answer regarding your bloodline, although Father seemed quite convinced the rumors were true.”

I laughed. “Yes, it’s true. Rijoko is my father.” I shrugged. “Of course, I never even talked to him, although spirits have treated me differently since awakening my bloodline, and there are a few perks.” I hesitated and hardened my expression as I looked at him. “It’s not all fun and games, though. I have enemies because of this bloodline. Powerful people have tried to kill me already. This may affect you, too.”

“Ah. Not quite what I was expecting to hear, to be honest.” He smiled wryly. “I understand. I’ve been told there might be assassins here. You possess a powerful bloodline and will have even more strength, that sort of thing is sadly to be expected.”

Thoughtfully, I glanced out the window. The sun was just setting, and I could see the faint outline of the moon hanging in the sky, a white crescent adding its light to the last rays of the sun. I’d found I almost always knew if the moon was up or how it would look, even without looking at memories of calendars or reasoning it out from the last time. Of course, I spent most of my nights cultivating, sometimes outside, so I’d become familiar with the night sky.

“To be honest, I was never targeted like that, back home,” Kajare said, shrugging. “I suppose I was too unimportant. With nine older brothers, plus two younger ones, and twenty sisters, my loss wouldn’t have mattered much on a political level.”

Mentally, I whistled at the numbers. Well, his father is over three hundred. They wouldn’t have to worry about death in childbirth, and have very long life expectancies. This is actually on the low side compared to what it could be.

“I can hardly imagine that,” I said. “I feel like the Leri clan is a very large family, although there are many bigger ones, and my immediate family is rather small. I’ve been sheltered but I’ve never been one of many, and I’m used to being the oldest.”

“Then you might not understand why I felt like the Kingdom didn’t hold much of a future for me,” he continued, a faint frown on his face at the topic. “There wasn’t much I could really aspire to. Perhaps being a minor general in the army or the governor of a far-flung province, if I did well. But I would never have been in real danger or mattered all that much, at least to most of my family or the nation in general. It would have been hard to really prove myself or rise above.”

I nodded slowly. “That’s fair. That’s very fair. I can understand the desire to aspire to something greater, to want to walk new paths.”

“Exactly.” He smiled softly.

“But if you’d focused on cultivating and managed to reach a high stage, wouldn’t your position have improved?”

“Probably, but I already have two older brothers who might well make it to the eighth stage.” He shrugged. “And even if I managed to rise high without ever really encountering adversity, which seems unlikely, it wouldn’t have given me the skills and knowledge I needed to really make something of it. So I took the chance to come here, and hoped that you wanted a partner and not a stallion.”

I laughed. I knew that this was pretty much the best match he could have made. He would probably have a higher station and more power as the Prince Consort here than as Tenth Prince in Terbekteri. But I didn’t think he was lying about wanting to challenge himself and grow stronger. Personal growth, really. And he was already in the middle part of the fourth stage at the age of twenty-three, though of course he looked barely twenty.

“That’s good,” I answered. “Not that you aren’t handsome, but I would certainly prefer a smart and driven partner. And if there’s one thing I can promise you, it’s that there are interesting times ahead.”

He smiled, his expression lighting up a bit. “I can certainly believe that. Especially with what troubles may be coming with this marriage.”

I frowned. “What specifically are you talking about?”

He hesitated, eyes darting around quickly. “Right, your Mother must not have had time to tell you yet. Father told me to only talk about it with Her Majesty and people specializing in these sorts of things. But I suppose as my future wife and partner I should tell you.”

I sat up straighter. This doesn’t sound good. What is it now? “I’m listening.”

“The Dominion is not pleased with this alliance.” His expression darkened, and the veil on his aura slipped a little, letting some of his strength shine through. “Father told me that their representative made trouble about it. I don’t know how they found out, but it hardly matters. The Zarian actually stated that they would see this marriage and alliance as a provocation and slight and react accordingly. There were some not so veiled threats regarding the strength of their army.”

I swallowed hard. This does not sound good at all. Crap. Of course the Zarian would feel threatened, but surely they wouldn’t go to war over this?

I clenched my fingers into my chair’s armrests. If Jideia pushes them and if they’re afraid of our advances, they just might. I don’t know.

79: Lawful union

The full moon shone down on the courtyard, and it almost felt like the qi flowing through my veins hummed in response, thrumming in the night as my connection to Rijoko sat sharp and clear in the back of my mind. The sun had only just set and its warmth still lingered, but the darkness of the night and the light of the moon and stars filled the hidden courtyard with a lot of qi I could use.

Unlike last time, I wasn’t even a little bit nervous. I knew I could do this, fairly easily even.

“Are you sure this is a good idea? This closely before your wedding?” Tenira asked.

I turned to her and shrugged. “That’s why I want to break through now. Especially with what Kajare said. I’m under no illusion that it’s going to make much of a difference. But if I might have to fight again soon, I want to be stronger.”

Tenira grimaced and nodded slowly. I knew she was just as troubled by it as I was. Mother had confirmed Kajare’s words when I asked her. According to her, the Zarian hadn’t made the same threats to her, but the talks, which had gone fairly well until a short while ago, were now practically dunked in liquid nitrogen.

“Still,” Tenira said. “Your body is only nineteen, and you’re already so far ahead on your cultivation we essentially have no idea if it’s safe. There is a reason people don’t advance too far in their teens, even if they could just pile resources and pills on. Besides the monumental difficulty, I mean.”

“I know. But I’ve spoken to Doctor Chang, like I told you. He didn’t have any specific concerns against it.” I grimaced. “Honestly, the situation is abnormal, anyway. My body is fully developed so that’s not a problem. And my brain’s development is probably a mess in any case, with the effects of the soul journey. I don’t want to wait years to advance further, so I might as well just go through with it. Besides, with Rijoko’s bloodline and my shapeshifting ability, I don’t have the same constraints as full humans.”

Tenira sighed. “Alright, if you’re sure. I’ll wait around for a bit.”

“Thanks, Tenira. You’re the best.”

She nodded and walked away to join the circle of guards watching over me some meters away. I turned around so I was facing the mountains and let the light of the moon wash over me for a moment, before I settled down into position for cultivation. I closed my eyes and began to draw in qi.

The beginning progressed smoothly. Since my last breakthrough, when Rijoko awakened my bloodline, I had seen more than enough new experiences and enlightenment that I wasn’t worried about the metaphysical requirements of a breakthrough. I’d also cultivated, gathering a lot of qi in a short amount of time, so my dantian was more than prepared. My special ability coupled with Rijoko’s bloodline made drawing in qi almost effortless for me now, at least darkness and light affinity qi. I let my focus fade into the qi surrounding me and breathed it in, sending it through my channels, into my core, and back, amassing more and more qi.

My qi strained against its limits in my core, so I pushed it down, compacting it and sending more of it through my body. I sped up the rotation of the two types of qi in my dantian, making sure they were properly balancing each other. I sent another surge through my body, then into my core. Finally, I felt the limits of it buckle. With an effort of will, I guided my qi as my core expanded, an unseen barrier battered down by its tide. My connection to Rijoko opened just a trickle, and I felt the qi spread throughout my body. I sent more of the qi from my core, watching as it swept through my meridians in an unstoppable flood, clearing away impurities and sinking into both the channels and the rest of my body to strengthen it. All the while, I kept drawing in new qi, sending it on its path and compacting it into my core.

I noticed the darkness qi in my surroundings start to fade and the light increase as I cultivated, making sure the breakthrough was stabilized. Soon, I was satisfied with my progress, and opened my eyes. The full moon had moved across the sky, which was brightening. I’d cultivated through most of the night for my breakthrough. Which was pretty quick all things considered.

I inhaled, breathing in the scent of the fading night, and focused on integrating the new boost to my senses, which sharpened my hearing and eyesight as well. I was even a little more aware of the folds of my robe on my skin and the ground under me. And smells. I guess I need a quick bath.

Then I stood up, feeling the slight increase of strength in my body, and turned around just in time to see Tenira coming towards me.

“You’re finished, good,” she said briskly. “Congratulations on your breakthrough, but we need to hurry. You only have until the sun is halfway risen to get ready, remember?”

“Sure.” I took one last glance around, then followed Tenira from the courtyard. I couldn’t help but smile, though. I was now firmly in the late part of the fourth stage.

We hurriedly made our way back to the palace and my suite, a trip that took just a minute due to cultivator speed. There, I took a quick shower and had servants help me with makeup and styling after I dressed in one of my best robes. This one had almost as many gems as the white one for the military parade, though it was in red, the traditional color for a bride to wear. Then, under the impatient gazes of Tenira and my servants, I made my way down and into the central part of the palace. Lei joined us on the way, looking a little more noble than usual in a rich blue-and-silver robe, similar to the one Tenira suddenly wore.

They led me to a quiet room not too far from the central hall, accessible through a side corridor. It was darkened, only a small lightstone spending some light, and bare except for a mat on the ground. I glanced around, sighing a little, before I settled down onto the mat.

“You’ll handle all of the other preparations?” I asked, looking up at my friends.

Tenira nodded. “Of course. You can count on us. Don’t worry about the details, just focus on your big day.”

Was there a tiny bite to her words? I wasn’t sure. She left right away, taking Lei with her, and the door closed with a thud, leaving me in silence. I could sense the qi woven into the walls, ground and ceiling to ensure that this space was sheltered from the bustle of the palace outside.

I closed my eyes and started taking deep, even breaths. It was traditional for the bride to spend the hours between sunrise and her wedding in meditation, preparing for the ceremony. Well, it’s better than spending the day consumed by mundane wedding preparations. I don’t mind sitting all of that out.

So, I started cultivating. I’d spend these hours of quiet acclimating to my new breakthrough.

The time passed quicker than I thought, between bouts of deeper cultivation and more activity when I tried out a few of my techniques. I was careful not to damage the room in any way, but I could tell that my strength had increased, as you would expect from the breakthrough. While I couldn’t work on the more experimental techniques that I was still developing, my control and the power behind them had definitely scaled up a bit. It was a productive few hours, and even kept me from letting my nerves grow too much.

Then, with midday nearing, the door to my room cracked open, and I sensed the presences outside. Sighing, I stood up and gave myself a quick once-over. The red gemstones set into the fabric sparkled even in the dim light. I took out the veil from my storage ring and affixed it to my head, glad there was little more than a bit of sheer fabric covering my face.

They didn’t speak, which might be another part of tradition. But the expectation was clear. I stepped forward and the group closed around me, with guards on the outside and clan members escorting me. I nodded to the only one who wasn’t either, Kiyanu, the eighth stage air cultivator who’d stepped in to fight during the war.

Since my father wasn’t officially known and would hardly come to participate in the ceremony, and I didn’t have a grandfather or uncle, there needed to be someone else. If pressed, I would have probably picked Aston, or perhaps Mior considering we were actually related, though that might be a bit strange with the possession. But I’d hardly object to Mother’s choice of Kiyanu.

The group paused before the doors leading into the great hall, and I took a moment to gather myself. I could sense the crush of presences inside. Like Kiyanu’s, their auras were all tightly controlled. But I knew there would be more than a few people in the eighth stage in there.

Then the doors opened and we entered. The noise in the hall died as everyone watched us. I fixed my attention to the front of the room and kept walking with measured steps, trying not to let the stares of so many people bother me. The veil actually helped a little.

I knew Kajare had entered before me, and he stood on the dais in the front of the room, wearing red, too, and surrounded by a few men who showed some family resemblance. Two of his brothers and a few more cousins, uncles and the like who’d traveled here for the wedding and to start the alliance off. Mother and Al stood a bit to one side along with Tenira, Lei and a few other clan members. Everyone was dressed in ornate clothes and groomed to perfection. Soft music drifted on the air, though I couldn’t pinpoint its source, and the smell of the many flowers that were hung about the hall and lining the aisle filled the room.

The ceremony and following celebration would be an eclectic mix of cultures, with elements of Imperial traditions, stuff from my clan, which meant Sea People traditions, and perhaps even some from Earth. And Terbekteri, of course. We’d left off a lot of things, especially since the traditional gender roles were reversed here, with Kajare coming to live with me. There would be no exchange of dowries or bride prices, since both sides had agreed to formally treat the alliance as a price and gift to each other.

Once the procession reached the front of the room, we exchanged bows with everyone. I stepped forward as my companions all stepped back to take their places in the group of family on the dais, except for Kiyanu, who stood half a step behind and to the right of me. An older man that I recognized as Kajare’s uncle filled the same position for him.

A low rumble preceded the alter rising from the ground in front of us, at the wall. While it looked like it came up through the floor, I knew it was actually fashioned by Earth cultivators right now. It was a masterpiece for that, with small delicate carvings and bright colors of various symbols.

Kajare and I stepped forward to light candles and incense sticks together, honoring various Greater Spirits, especially Rijoko. We also put a candle each in front of Mother and his uncle to symbolize our respect for them.

We turned around just in time to see qi swirling on the dais while a presence started to emanate from there. I suppressed a smile as Mior’s ethereal figure took shape. There was no hint of his connection to Aston right now, who stood a short distance away on the side of the dais with senior guards and officers.

Excited whispers rose in the audience, and many of them bowed or knelt to the great spirit that suddenly appeared. Mior didn’t seem to care about them. The spirit extended their hand toward us, showing a red string. Kajare and me put our hands up and they knotted it around them. I removed my veil with the other hand.

‘You come before me to be wedded,’ Mior said. ‘Inaris, daughter of the Moon and clan Leri, and Kajare, son of clan Terki. Do you swear to honor this union and each other, to respect and cherish your partner, and take them from now until your death as your spouse before spirits and men?’

“Yes, I do.” I spoke with my mind and my voice, putting conviction into the words, while Kajare did the same.

‘Then I pronounce you wife and husband.’

Mior smiled at us before dissolving into a gust of wind that carried their qi away from here, though I was pretty sure the spirit actually just settled back into Aston.

Kajare and I both sank to our knees and bowed down to each other as a final ritual. It was a little awkward with the string, but we managed.

When we stood up, I caught Mother’s gaze, as she tilted her head. I turned back to Kajare and noticed he stood close to me and was leaning forward slightly as well. I closed my eyes and our lips brushed against each other. It was a brief kiss barely worthy of the name, but at its signal cheers broke out from the audience. I couldn’t help but smile. This was something I’d mentioned as a tradition but we hadn’t actually included in the plans, so it was a good thing Kajare took the initiative with it.

With that, the main ceremony would be finished. I bowed to Mother and then to Kajare’s family before they started to walk forward. We’d now get to what most of the guests were really excited for, the wedding banquet.

We’d just started to move when the sensation of someone flaring their aura made me stop. The people ahead of me froze, sending a shiver down my spine. I took a step sideways to get a better view and had to control my expression as I saw the cause of the commotion. The Zarian Dominion’s representative, a gray-bearded man in the late part of the seventh stage, was striding forward, a scroll in his hand and every eye on him.

Maybe he’d hoped to wait for the question whether anyone had reason to object to the marriage, which was common in some traditions but which Mother had decided to skip. Because there was no question he intended to disrupt this event.

“I object!” he bellowed, his voice echoing through the hall loudly enough that I had to suppress a wince. The silence deepened even further.

Mother took a measured step forward and let her aura be felt, overwhelming that of the Zarian but not giving off enough pressure to harm any of the guests. “Representative,” she stated in a cold tone, her voice cutting through the silence. “You are disrupting the ceremony. Cease or you will be removed and your government asked to account for your behavior.”

The man acted like he hadn’t heard her. With a flourish, he unrolled his scroll. “The Zarian Dominion protests this sham of a marriage. It violates the Gray Sun Treaty of 2957 A.F. The Empire of the Sky shall cease leading on the Kingdom of Terbekteri in such a vile manner to breach international law.”

I frowned and searched my memory for this treaty. Luckily, I’d read something about it and even excerpts in one of the books I’d studied. From what I gathered, there was indeed an agreement between the Dominion and the Kingdom regarding royal marriages of the Terbekteri, but it had usually been ignored, especially in the last few centuries. What are they trying to accomplish with such an old and obscure treaty? Probably just looking for a justification to protest.

The Terbekteri elder stepped forward as well from beside Kajare, flaring his aura. “This sort of behavior is extremely rude and frankly bewildering. If the Dominion had a concern, they should have approached us with it before and let the matter be discussed openly. But the Kingdom does not recognize this marriage as contravening the treaty in any way.”

Mother raised an eyebrow. “Agreed. I am quite sure the treaty actually specifies that for the first bride of the King’s family to be given away in marriage to another nation, negotiations should start with the Dominion. Prince Kajare is not a woman.”

I felt Kajare tense up where he stood beside me during the exchange, and the string still connecting us went taut. “I most certainly am not,” he said, looking at the Zarian with narrowed eyes. “Besides, some of my sisters are married already.”

“But not to the heirs of any nations, or into any families of consequence, Your Highness.” The representative snapped his scroll shut and frowned up at the gathered royals. “And the treaty clearly does not specify the person in question has to be a woman. The word used might usually be translated as ‘bride’, but in this case Prince Kajare’s hand is given away in the same way as would be appropriate in context. The treaty clearly applies.”

I couldn’t help but snort. Mother and the others clearly didn’t feel any more impressed by this pronouncement, judging by their expressions.

“The Dominion formally demands that this marriage and its corresponding alliance be voided,” the representative declared. He didn’t look fazed at all. “Refusal will be seen as a breach of this treaty and a premeditated insult to the honor of the Dominion by the Empire.”

For a moment, no one said anything, and the silence continued to build. I clenched my fists and glanced at the audience, many of them staring at the scene with wide eyes.

Finally, Mother took another step forward, breaking the tension. “We will not bow to such petty demands built on flimsy pretenses of historical agreements twisted beyond their purpose. And we will not allow our allies to be insulted or their honor besmirched by anyone.”

The Terbekteri elder nodded. “Well said.”

“Leave, Representative,” Mother said. “You are no longer welcome here. Go or you will be removed.”

The representative gave a disdainful sniff. “A shame. We hope you will reconsider your intransigence, Your Majesty.” He gave a short bow, then turned and strode away. The crowd parted to give him more space.

I grasped for Kajare’s hand and squeezed it. He turned his gaze from the Zarian’s retreating back and back to me. After a moment, he gave me a smile, which I returned.

I knew both of our smiles looked strained. How could they not, when we just witnessed what may very well be the start of a war, with ourselves given starring roles in this drama?

“With distractions out of the way,” Mother said, “let us continue. This is a happy day. The wedding banquet awaits.”

We started moving again, but I knew the festive atmosphere was lost. Suddenly, the question of what I would do in the wedding night with Kajare seemed unimportant. More guards appeared in the hall, and I couldn’t help but notice the deep frown on Aston’s face, and the flickers of Mior’s qi in his aura.

And things were going so well, too.

80: Family loyalty

When I woke up, I spent a moment just lying there, thinking through the dream I’d just had. Of course, it being my dream, it was more like a controlled hallucination, and I’d had a lot of time to ponder the last few hours. Now I looked through my memories and senses to try and pick up if there was any point of concern.

Mior had cleared me for sleeping on my own again, but remained nearby, in the form of Aston, with guards around my rooms. That was a standard if perhaps a bit exaggerated practice for the wedding night of a royal marriage, so no one had questioned it. I searched my senses now and found that they’d lightened the guards, and Aston had moved a little further away. Well, I’d put up a barrier to block sound, but their qi senses should work just as well from this distance.

I sat up, stretched a bit and then got out of bed, looking at Kajare. He was still sleeping but seemed to be stirring now. I smiled a bit as I remembered last evening. He’d made it clear he was interested, but didn’t expect anything, instead offering to sleep on the sofa. I hadn’t been sure until then what I would do. If he’d pushed, I certainly would not have gotten through with this, strengthening the alliance be damned, but I was glad that I was right about him.

Careful not to wake him, I padded to the bathroom to take a quick shower and get dressed. For the first time in a while, I didn’t sense any servants lurking around. I took a moment to hold my face up into the warm water and just relax. For no particular reason, wetness gathered in my eyes, and I blinked it away. The last few months felt like they’d gone by in a flash, punctuated with moments of danger, and I’d barely had any time to take a breather. Maybe the sleep deprivation didn’t help.

After a moment to collect myself, I stepped out of the shower, dried off, dried my hair and put on my clothes. Another set of red robes this time, since the celebrations would continue for three days straight, more or less. I hadn’t noticed it much, but yesterday had been a public holiday everywhere in the Empire, celebrating the wedding and especially the alliance. Many places would still be closed today and tomorrow, too.

I tried to be quiet as I crossed my room, glancing at Kajare. He was still snuggled into the bed with his eyes closed and breathing deeply. I’d let him sleep in.

When I walked into the corridor, a few guards fell into step around me. Aston wasn’t here anymore, though I could still feel his and Mior’s presence farther away. Since I didn’t have anything better to do, I followed the vague sense of direction I got from them. I’d need to talk to Mior about the Dominion, as well. I needed to know if Jideia was involved in what was happening, and the spirit might have some insight.

The family wing of the palace was pretty empty, although I could sense a number of presences in their suites. Probably sleeping off their hangovers. It took strong qi-infused drinks to get cultivators wasted, but that sort of alcohol had flowed freely yesterday. A quick glance out of a window showed me that the sun was only just starting to rise.

Quickly, I reached a hall not too far from the throne room and close to the areas where guests would be staying. The servants had set up buffet tables and a few people were already here, eating, drinking and mingling. For the size of the room, it was still quite empty. Well, it’s early enough that the celebrations won’t really start off again until later.

I was about to step into the hall when I caught sight of Aston. What made me pause wasn’t his presence, that I could feel Mior’s was quite receded, or that he was talking to richly-dressed visitors. It was his posture, a subdued tension in it that I’d only seen on the battlefield, if at all. A closer look revealed that the people he was talking to showed a definite resemblance to Aston.

I hesitated for a moment, then drew some darkness qi around myself. I didn’t want to cause a scene here, and my presence might stir everyone up. I didn’t make myself invisible, but did bank my aura and weave a technique that made me less noticeable, more likely to just be passed over by a disinterested observer.

Carefully, I walked into the hall, trying to keep my steps quiet, too. A few people that glanced around the room should have seen me, but their gazes skipped past my presence just as I’d hoped. If they were vigilant, they’d still see me, but none of them was higher than the fifth stage and they clearly weren’t paying much attention to their surroundings.

Of course, Aston and one of the people he talked to were stronger. There were a couple in the fifth stage and an older man who might be in the sixth or seventh, though I wasn’t sure since he kept his presence veiled. They all wore colorful cultivator’s robes, and the way they stood looked like they were subtly boxing him in, so he’d have to talk to them. I walked closer, regretting that I had never asked Aston about his family. At least not that I could remember.

“Come now, Aston,” the woman said. If my suspicions were correct, that was his mom. She looked about twenty years older than Aston.

“There’s nothing more I could say on that subject, Mother,” Aston replied with an air of tired patience.

“Don’t play daft, boy,” one of the men, the younger and weaker one, said. Probably his father. “You may not make it back home often, but we’re still your family. I know you’re a dutiful son.”

“You just care because of the prestige I bring you in the clan,” Aston said, some bite entering his voice. “Spirits know your position is hardly lofty. Having your son be a captain in the Imperial Guard is all you can say for yourself. And it’s the only reason the clan cares, anyway. Let’s not pretend otherwise here.”

All three of them drew in shocked gasps. Judging by their expressions, he didn’t speak this bluntly to them often. I cocked my head while I slowly walked closer. Who knows, that could be Mior’s influence. They’re not one to suffer fools lightly.

“Let’s all calm down,” the last man cut in, silencing the other two right away. The man smiled thinly at Aston. “You may be getting a little full of yourself, boy. Clan Tener has been quite gracious towards you and your family. Don’t forget that it was us who gave you the education and resources to succeed in the army.”

Aston nodded stiffly. “I haven’t. Although I always liked fighting, I know you simply wanted someone in the army to give the clan face and build connections. Perhaps find a spot for a talented cousin where he wouldn’t make trouble. I got to where I am from there on my own merits and hard work.”

The man took half a step closer. “Of course. And your loyalty to your lady is quite admirable. But what harm is there in talking about your work to your concerned family? We’re not asking you to do anything that would go against duty or tradition, just a simple conversation.”

I frowned. It sounded like this was about me in some way. Probably time to step in. He must be able to see me, anyway. Even if the others are too distracted to notice what’s right in front of them.

After letting my technique fade, I took the last few steps closer to them. “There you are, Aston,” I said. “I do not believe I have met your companions? Family, is it?”

The three of them twitched, while Aston didn’t betray any signs of surprise. He bowed, while his visitors quickly knelt to me.

“Imperial Princess,” their leader greeted as he dipped his head.

“I apologize if I was away while Your Highness had need of me,” Aston said. “They are indeed from my family. My Mother and Father, as well as my second cousin once removed, Tener Aoli, heir of clan Tener.”

I wore my best imperious expression, looking them up and down. “I see. You may raise your heads. Since this is a matter of family, I will excuse you diverting my guard this time.”

They raised their heads. Aoli smiled. “Thank you, Your Highness. I apologize if we were a nuisance. As loyal subjects, we would of course never intentionally cause problems. Although, may I say it gladdens me to see how much worth a scion of my clan has to Your Highness.”

“Of course. I caught the last sentence or two of your conversation as I approached. It sounded like you were asking Aston to betray my confidences, but surely that can’t be right.”

That caused Aston’s parents to pale and finally wiped the smile off Aoli’s face. He ducked his head. “Of course not, my lady. This one would never dare.”

“I’m sure,” I replied blandly. “Now, I need to have words with Aston. You may leave.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.” The three of them quickly got up and walked away at a fast pace. I couldn’t help but enjoy how even Aoli’s composure had obviously been shaken.

Of course, if I were to make accusations, I could make his life very difficult. He knew Aston would support me instead of them.

I glanced around, noting that everyone was studiously avoiding looking at us, then turned back to Aston. “Let’s walk.”

He fell in beside me and we left the room in silence. I noticed his aura change subtly, more signs of Mior’s presence appearing.

“I actually wanted to talk with Mior,” I said as we walked down the corridor, putting up a shield around us to prevent eavesdropping. “But since this came up, I have to admit I’m a little surprised.”

Aston raised an eyebrow. “I apologize if I gave any offense, my lady.”

“Of course not. But I’m surprised they dared accost you like that, and it seemed to me like you rarely spoke that directly with them, but I would guess that your relationship was quite cold.”

Aston was quiet for a moment, before he sighed. “It was, and I usually did my best to ignore the clan. Bonding with Mior like I did may have had more repercussions than I thought.”

“Are there any changes we should be concerned about?”

He frowned slightly. “Not truly, Your Highness. It has been a tremendous boon to my cultivation, I may even break through to the next stage soon. It has also been somewhat … taxing to live with a spirit given access to my mind, but I have not noticed any real instability or mental breaks.”

I nodded. “Well, for what it’s worth, if you learn to loosen up and be more open with your emotions, it wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Not just to facilitate a closer connection with Mior.”

His frown deepened. “I had not considered that this may be that sort of trial. Perhaps the spirit is prodding me in some way. I am not well versed in psychology.”

I shrugged. “I doubt Mior wants to harm you. Anyway, should I be concerned about your family?”

“No, my lady.” Aston’s lip curled in a subtle sneer. “I doubt they would make real trouble. And while I may not have officially broken with Clan Tener, I have had little to do with them for decades, and no attachments that may be problematic. Now, you said you wanted to talk to Mior? Just give me a moment, please.”

For a moment, I considered prodding further, but decided to drop the matter. Aston had already opened up quite a bit right now compared to before the possession. I shook my head and waited to talk to Mior, although I already suspected what they would say. That they couldn’t be sure if Jideia was involved, but it seemed likely.

‘Let me guess, Inaris,’ Mior said. ‘You want my opinion on the Dominion.’ Aston’s aura was now clearly influenced by their qi. It was a good thing there were no other people around as we walked through quieter corridors in the palace.

“Of course,” I said.

‘I don’t know if Jideia is involved, although I wouldn’t put it past him to prod them into taking action like this.’

I nodded. ‘What are spirits likely to do? Are you going to be involved if it comes to war?’

Aston tilted his head. ‘Not likely,’ Mior answered. ‘At least not directly. Many won’t care. Jideia and Rijoko will simply continue acting like they have before, perhaps using it for their own ends.’

I sighed. That sounded just great.

‘Look on the bright side,’ Mior said. ‘All of us have an incentive to try and keep the destruction at least somewhat contained. Even Jideia would influence them to limit the use of eighth stage cultivators.’

I frowned. Although this should reassure me, for some reason it only made my throat tighten. Perhaps it was the realization that widespread destruction could easily happen, that, if they were unleashed, eighth stagers could do a lot of damage. And who knew how contained they would really be?

‘Can’t we keep them out of the war completely? Like a mutually assured destruction disarmament thing, or something?’

Mior was silent for a moment. ‘I daresay your father would prefer that, as well. It would have to come from the Storm or the Dominion, but I suppose we have good chances.’

I released a breath. Let’s hope so.

‘You do realize,’ Mior said. ‘You would give up a possible advantage.’

I grimaced. ‘I know.’

Sometimes, there was no clean and easy way.

Bonus 7: The Zarian Dominion

I find myself baffled on more than one occasion when trying to understand the Zarian Dominion. Part of that might just be the sources I have access to. After all, they’re almost all from the Empire of the Sky and very much slanted towards an Imperial perspective, which rarely does the nation’s old enemy any favors. But that’s not all of it. Perhaps I don’t have the context or experience to really get their culture. Especially not the nuances behind it.

Because, like in many things, what’s written in laws and books can be different from what the everyday citizen would experience, and there are many unwritten rules and customs. The Dominion has perhaps more than most, especially when it comes to their political structure.

The origins of this frustrating (if, admittedly, ‘great’) nation parallel those of the Empire and many other global powers or smaller countries. People started out living as hunter-gatherers, then began building villages and settlements and, eventually, cities. At that point, there was a large amount of communication between places far away, compared to Earth, but what records we have are lacking in details. In those cities, social class structures developed and were refined, with the strongest warriors on top of the social pyramid. Much like other places.

Of course, Aran is a big planet, even bigger than Earth. The Storm Continent is farther south of the equator than the Sky Continent, and the climate is colder. Like the Empire, the origins of the Dominion lie close to a mountain range, though in this case more in the foothills and low mountains leading up to the Whitecaps. Those lie to the South-East of the continent, and while the environment would have been more sheltered than in many other places of the Storm Continent, it still means long winters and cold temperatures. About the same as Central or Northern Europe on Earth, I think, depending on where in the region you go.

The cities springing up there communicated with each other quite a lot compared to other places, usually with the help of spirits. That may be due to the need to exchange information about the weather conditions or watch out for powerful spirit beasts coming down from the mountains, which were a real hotbed of monster activity. Perhaps that’s why they had a strong tendency toward collaboration, organization, and with it, social stratification. It wouldn’t be inaccurate to say that the region developed the makings of a real nation sooner than anywhere else on their continent, although I’m not sure if I can call that a good thing.

As the time of city-states drew to a close and the first larger countries started to crystallize, the region weathered the changes quite well. A population boom had led to them pushing back the spirit beasts and even gaining footholds in the mountains, where they got valuable ores and crafting materials. At the time, their cities were same of the most prosperous places on both continents.

Twelve cities’ leaders met in 450 of the Imperial calendar to officially found the Zarien (apparently an old version of their name) League. The predecessor of the Dominion. They could have united like this much sooner, but they certainly didn’t waste any time expanding after the new nation’s birth.

They were strong, not just in resources or numbers, but also in terms of social cohesion. At least on the surface. The seeds for their present ideology were already laid at that time, and the strong focus on someone’s cultivation strength paid off in a disproportionate number of higher-level cultivators. In the League, the easiest and most meaningful way to increase your social status was to break through to a new stage. Many people focused on trying to improve their cultivation if they possibly could.

The cities usually had kings, at some point, at least, but they were really ruled by a collective of the strongest warriors. In some cities, the monarchies were openly deposed in favor of a ruling council of these cultivators. Patricians, really. After all, wealth often runs in families. The Zarien League was dominated by these families, those that could afford to give their children the resources (and not to forget the time to cultivate) they needed to improve their cultivation quickly.

Their society had the food and other resources to spare to afford this focus. To be fair, many stronger cultivators helped improve their farming efforts, another reason for the population growth, and the qi-rich materials from the mountains helped both their economy and their alchemy and other crafting pursuits, which in turn fed their warriors’ strength.

In a way, I don’t think the Zarian have ever really gotten past that period. As a collective, or a cultural subconscious, or however you want to put it.

The Zarien expanded quickly, conquering half a dozen new cities in a decade. On the surface, that doesn’t sound like as much as it could have been, but after looking at the maps and statistics, it’s impressive. After all, some of those cities were dozens if not hundreds of kilometers away, and they kept the trend up for not just decades, but centuries.

At first, how they treated the captured cities varied wildly, perhaps depending on which of the Zarien cities was involved. But over time, this smoothed out to make a series of half-official traditions that regulated how the new conquests were plundered and integrated into their nation.

In time, the country spread out to cover a large part of the continent. Their rise reminds me a little of Rome’s early days, actually, although it wasn’t just a single city at the center, but a dozen. They brought their culture, language and the technological advances they made along with them, and their army was quite a bit better organized and stronger than their neighbors. They didn’t always treat conquered people well, but they usually paid attention to their economy.

After more than a millennium, the Zarien League faced its first major internal crisis. Their reach may have gotten too long, their territory too big and diverse. At this point, the great majority of people in their empire didn’t have citizenship. In any case, a rebellion rose among many of the conquered cities and territories. It was especially strong in those closer to the Zarian heartland, where people felt disadvantaged compared to the essentially not so different native Zarien citizens. A bit like the Social War for the Roman Republic, if I want to continue my analogy.

It almost broke the League. In fact, it did technically break the League, which was reformed in the aftermath to form the Zarian Dominion. Two years later, another rebellion rose, though this was crushed more quickly. It still led to a reform of the citizenship system, essentially granting the right to anyone from a territory that had been conquered longer than a few decades ago. This was when the new structure and government really established themselves, making the Zarian Dominion we know today.

After that, the Dominion expanded quickly. The following few centuries are a little murky in Imperial history, perhaps because of the events happening in the Empire at the same time, and there are contradicting reports. But somehow, the Zarieni, who seem to have been a group living in the northern plains of the Storm Continent (at the time, they clearly originated from closer to if not in the League), clashed with the Dominion and were eventually forced north to settle the Yellow Graves. Not long after that, when the Dominion pushed farther north, it encountered the Empire for the first time. Things did not go well, and after the dust settled, roughly the arrangement of today emerged; the Yellow Graves populated by the Zarieni nomads dividing the Dominion and Empire in their respective continents.

The Dominion turned their expansionism to other targets and acquired colonies, vassals and overseas territories on other continents, though not quite as many as the Empire. Not much really changed in the Dominion proper.

They have a very stratified society. At first, I thought that every nation would be similar in that aspect, that ‘rule of the strong’ was just a philosophy and way of life here on Aran. It definitely is, to some extent — I don’t think I’ve read or heard about a country here where someone’s cultivation strength doesn’t matter. But the Zarian Dominion is very upfront about it. It’s the basis for their whole ideology.

In the Dominion, your social status, prospects — your worth, really — is determined by your cultivation stage. It’s like a caste system with a bit more mobility. People don’t get full citizen’s rights below the third stage. Which might not sound so bad, but it’s still a comparatively small percentage of their population. There’s a whole codex of laws and regulations, or several, that deal with it. How much taxes you pay, whether you’re allowed to own land or marry someone else, or work in a certain trade, it’s all linked to your cultivation strength.

Small wonder this is also quite militaristic. Soldiers are strong cultivators, that’s just a natural consequence of the way this world works, and they’re highly regarded by the Dominion. While at the same time being bound far more firmly than other citizens. The propaganda machine is particularly strong here, too, of course.

The Dominion says all of this is the natural order of things. That the strong have the privilege and duty of ruling over the weak. That cultivation is the true test of your character, and how high you rise shows the strength of your mind and will, your measure as a person. Some of their materials claim that other countries have perverted this order, and more propaganda in that vein. The Dominion also sees it as their privilege and duty to conquer foreign lands, and impose their ‘better way’ of life. Sadly, I can only assume many people swallow their lines. That’s how it usually goes with ideology and propaganda, and the Dominion is quite practiced and effective at it. At least they don’t have any overtly racist or homophobic tones to their ideology. If you disregard a few of what are basically splinter groups.

You’d think this would be a good meritocratic system. On the surface, cultivation really is something everyone can do, and someone’s talent and dedication have a large influence on their success. And it’s true in some ways. In the first few stages, these are the most important factors, though of course background, education and others play an important role. But the real meritocratic value is limited. After all, at some point it’s almost impossible to break through further without outside help. Whether that’s in the form of resources, techniques, access to locations with denser qi, or, crucially, education. Or just time to devote to cultivation, if you work long hours of hard labor.

Especially when it comes to the higher stages, I suspect the Dominion actually has less social mobility than the Empire.

This isn’t helped by their political system. Although to be fair, like I said above, I haven’t grasped it completely. What I do understand is already a confused mess of different codes, ideological doctrine, unwritten rules, and entrenched nepotism.

The closest thing the Dominion has to an official parliament is an assembly of every eighth-stager in the country. There’s a similar assembly of the seventh-stagers, although that one rarely assembles in full, and instead there are representatives of it, usually belonging to one of the big families, that have some measure of influence in the government.

This assembly is what passes laws. Any changes to fundamental doctrine, basically their equivalent of the constitution, has to be passed by both chambers. This rarely happens.

Almost every cultivator in the eighth stage belongs to one of their great families. The ones who weren’t born to one of them and raised to the eighth stage get snapped up by one anyway, via contracts or sometimes adoption or marriage, depending on the circumstances. Over time, there have been anywhere from two to over a dozen great families, though today there are usually five most people apply that title to, and some more families with a bit less influence and power. They’re a little like political parties when it comes to wrangling for influence and hammering out compromises in the assembly, but there’s also a fair amount of cut-throat politics between them.

Then there’s what passes for their executive power, which is a real mess. There’s one person who technically has a first-among-equals status among the eighth stagers, whose title I would translate to Princeps. In practice, they’re pretty much the president of the Dominion. In all the time it’s been around, that has only been someone not from the great families three times, for a total of twenty years. Considering lifespans and the average time in office, that’s really bad.

Another important office is what amounts to the Director of internal security, which can be and often is someone not in the eighth stage. Currently, they’re from the same family as the Princeps, which means the Dominion is somewhat stable. This is basically the boss of all their intelligence services, including most of the stuff that goes on in terms of foreign intelligence, too. Military intelligence has their own branch, but it’s interconnected enough to work well.

While the Dominion is technically not a monarchy, in practice there isn’t that much difference. You usually see dynasties, where several people who rise to Princeps in a row are from the same family, often their predecessor’s child or grandchild. But these dynasties stand and fall on the support of the other great families. Needless to say, there’s usually a lot of economic and other benefits to supporting the current ruler. But the Princeps has less authority than the Emperor or Empress in the Empire. Especially if the security Director and a few other important positions are filled by someone from another political faction, things can get ugly. I haven’t been able to figure out how the Director is chosen, it’s some complicated semi-official process that involves some ritual challenges and a lot of bickering between the houses, it seems like.

Otherwise, the Dominion has a number of ministries and departments not much different from a modern state, or even the Empire. Their heads are usually from the great families, though most of the rank-and-file bureaucrats come from an unofficial caste, families with a tradition of public service. Some are military veterans.

The generals of the army are usually politically connected, too. The higher-ranking officers are either from the middle class and risen through the ranks, or from those families, as well. It’s reasonably easy to rise to an officer’s position for a normal soldier, so long as your cultivation is strong enough. The military is perhaps the one institution where there’s the least influence of nepotism and political alliances, but that’s not saying much. Still, the conquests and the need to keep control of their new territories means the military has to stay on the ball. The Dominion’s important players also aren’t stupid and recognize that they need a strong, professional army, I suppose.

On the topic of conquests, the Dominion follows a somewhat different strategy than the Empire. Not all people in their territories are automatically citizens, even if they’re in a high enough stage. Those who reach the really high stages are usually recruited into the Dominion proper and often the army. Their provinces’ economy is noticeably weaker than that of the Dominion’s heartlands. But they do build roads, facilitate trade, set up schools, and all of that stuff, so the general standard of living isn’t too bad. Still, there’s a reason most countries close enough to them are a little afraid of the Dominion’s imperialist tendencies. I’d say, all in all, that there’s less cohesion in their overseas territories than in the Empire.

This was only a brief overview, and there’s a lot more for me to learn about the Dominion. If I have the time and energy to dive into that nest of snakes. But as far as I’ve read right now, I’m a little glad I’m living in the Empire, not there. Maybe that’s biased, but they’re just not a nation I feel positively about.

81: Portents of war

It was the third day of the celebrations before we got word that the Dominion was making its move. Still quite fast, all things considered. As I paced up and down the rooftop terrace, I couldn’t help but reflect on the map in my memories, trying to reason out distances and speeds. They certainly would have had to move into position ahead of time, perhaps even start moving. Not to mention all the strategic and diplomatic preparations. The only thing missing is an official declaration of war. And opening fire, I suppose.

“Do sit down,” Mother said. “Your fidgeting won’t make things better.”

I sighed and stopped moving. She’d called me here a few minutes ago to give me the news. We were alone, not even guards on the terrace, though they waited below and further out. I knew Mother was tense, as well. Besides her snappy tone, the way she tapped her fingers and frowned would have made it obvious.

“I thought we were working on turning the Zarieni nomads,” I said.

“We were.” Mother shrugged, her frown deepening. “Such a thing isn’t easy. If we had a few years, or even a few more months, we would be in a better position. At least some of the tribes are siding with us.”

“Just not enough to stop the Zarian moving north in force, aided by the other tribes.” I crossed my arms and leaned against the balustrade.

“Obviously. That would always be a tall order; the Zarian are much more deeply hooked into the Yellow Graves than we are.”

I nodded. There was no point belaboring this, we’d just have to deal with the facts. “Have they given us any official notice yet?”

“Not yet.” Mother snorted. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they planned to declare war the hour before they attacked. Or the hour after.”

I started pacing again, this time more slowly, keeping myself carefully controlled. The feeling of moving helped me deal with the restlessness the news brought.

“We always knew this was going to happen,” Mother said softly. “I just hoped it wouldn’t be so soon. We tried to prepare. Perhaps we didn’t try hard enough.”

I shook my head. Hindsight was always best. “There were some warning signs, sure, but there’s a reason not many people expected a war to break out. The Zarian are taking a huge risk. A lot of people will die on both sides.” I frowned. “Of course, from their perspective, it’s best to strike while we still aren’t as strong as we’re otherwise going to be.”

Mother cocked her head. “You don’t think this alliance was the reason?”

I snorted. “One reason, maybe. Probably not the deciding one.”

She fell silent for a moment, and I continued pacing. Mother conjured a thread of light and twirled it absently around her finger.

“I was half-afraid you were going to blame yourself for this. Considering it’s your marriage they’re using.”

“Shouldn’t I be blaming you, then?” I stopped and plopped down on one of the recliners. “It wasn’t my idea. And really, your logic was sound even with this. They would have attacked sooner or later, anyway.”

“Even a year or two would have helped a great deal,” Mother pointed out. “Especially in getting the new technology up and ready. Refining and manufacturing planes. Those computers you’ve just so successfully invented, even. Some new light techniques.”

I frowned, wondering if she was alluding to what I was working on, or had projects of her own. But I shook my head. “Is a year or two worth the alliance with the Terbekteri? I don’t know. I don’t believe you think so, or you wouldn’t have gone through with this. Are you just playing devil’s advocate?”

Mother chuckled. “Fine. I’ll stop.”

Once again, silence fell. I was aware of the fact that she could be spending her time more productively, consulting with her advisers or giving orders to prepare the Empire. Instead, she was here, talking to me. Well, she’d probably talk privately to others, too. Kariva, at least. But I still appreciated it. I just didn’t know how to say that and didn’t want to make things weird.

“I’ve been starting to get my memories back,” I mentioned before I could really think about what I was saying. “Just little flashes. I may be able to figure out how to do more.”

Mother jerked upright, her eyes wide. “Really?”

I nodded. “I’ve got a slightly better handle on my past, though I don’t remember much about the two of us.”

Mother smiled widely. “That’s still great news, Nari. I hope that you really can recover your memories. Having you hit with amnesia like that was … not easy.”

I nodded somberly. I knew things couldn’t have been easy for her. Even though I had gotten some more insight into our prior relationship, not just from flashes of memory but hints I’d picked up, too. I knew it hadn’t been simple, either. She certainly seems to show affection more easily to Al or Xiaodan, and it isn’t just my age.

Mother cleared her throat and looked out over the palace, while I shook my head at myself. I should focus on the problem at hand.

“Are you going to have me fight in the war?” I asked. “I’ll certainly need to participate and prove myself somehow.”

Mother shook her head. “Not if I can help it. Fighting directly, at least. You were bad enough with the nomad incursion.”

I sighed but raised my hands in a gesture of surrender. “Can’t argue that, if I’m being honest. It’s not like I’m eager to put myself in danger.”

“Some of the officers seem to think differently,” Mother commented, before she shook her head again. “Never mind that. You’ll need to pack things up down there, and you could be of some help coordinating our efforts when it comes to the new factories and the new defensive capabilities.”

I sighed. That sounded like I had some hectic days ahead of me, but I could hardly refuse. “Alright. I guess I’ll leave as soon as I can.”

“Take your new husband along if you can.” Mother cocked her head. “It’s not my business if you sleep with Kajare or not, but I hope you’ve worked things out with him and things are going well?”

I nodded and avoided meeting her eyes. Kajare and I had turned out to be surprisingly compatible in the bedroom, but that wasn’t something I’d tell her. I was coming to like him on a personal level, too, and although I didn’t really trust him yet, I saw no reason not to take him along.

I hoped we were starting to build a friendship. And going to war was supposed to help with that, right? Yeah, let’s just hope we don’t really have to build it in fire.

I wouldn’t have thought I could muster up much empathy for Zarieni. The way the tribe had fought against me, devastated the Empire, killed civilians and just been a giant pain in the posterior didn’t make me feel very favorably disposed towards them. Even if I knew that not all of those people would be the same, and cultures could change.

As it turned out, I was right. I didn’t feel moved when I looked at the streams of what were basically refugees entering the city. But I did recognize that they needed shelter and we should provide it, and I didn’t feel angry or resentful, either. I just didn’t care much, but luckily I wouldn’t have to handle it myself.

“I feel like somewhere, something went wrong with how things were supposed to be,” Lei said.

I grunted. “That’s pretty much what I was just pondering.”

Tenira shrugged. “I can see how it’s strange that nomads are coming here for help, but it also makes sense if you think about it. After all, their combatants are being a huge help. Even if all they’re doing is slowing down the Zarian, we can use the time to prepare.”

I nodded. “Let me take a closer look.”

As I walked closer to the gate, many soldiers walking around moved out of my way and saluted or bowed. I nodded at them, but didn’t stop. The place was crawling with people, most of them soldiers. It had shot up like a giant mushroom, built on short notice but with more solidity than most temporary structures would have on Earth. While there were a few civilians here, most stopping on the way while they were being moved further north, this was definitely a military base. I could see the value of the location, close enough to the border to catch this stream but still far enough to be out of immediate danger, and close to Blue Valley City. The small river burbling beside the wall would let you quickly get both to the city and to the ocean.

At the gate, I saw a few elites standing on the steps leading up to the wall, watching over the comings and goings. I recognized quite a few of them from the previous campaign.

Slowing down, I looked around until I spotted the person I wanted in the crowd. She was walking closer. I made my way through, Tenira and Lei following, until I reached the open space in front of the gate.

“General.” I smiled. “It’s good to see you again.”

San Hashar bowed deeply, but returned my smile. “Your Highness. Lord Akilei, Lady Tenira. It’s good to see you’re all well.”

We stepped away from the crowd somewhat, and San Hashar led the way to a small raised platform attached to the walls, where we would have a good view over the surroundings and be able to talk privately. From up here, I could see how packed not just the road north but the airs was in comparison to the other directions.

“I didn’t think we were evacuating that many people,” I commented.

“Not all of them are evacuated, many are leaving on their own, afraid of the coming war,” San Hashar said, a frown on her face. “The land close to the border is sparsely populated as it is, with the threat of raids. Otherwise, this would be much worse.”

I sighed. That made sense, and at least the Empire was helping them get to safety. As I watched, another round-bellied airship rose into the sky, carrying passengers to the city and perhaps beyond. It looked quite different from the military aircraft that had been coming in since I’d been here, and before.

“How are the preparations coming?”

“Rushed,” San Hashar said bluntly, shrugging. “We haven’t had much warning, so everyone is scrambling to get into position, draw up plans, and coordinate the reinforcements. I’ve heard there have been quite a few arguments at headquarters, someone even mentioned they had to replace the furniture. I think they’re doing a decent job.”

I nodded. “From what I’ve seen, I agree. Though there aren’t as many reinforcements coming as I’d thought.”

She raised an eyebrow. “A large part of our strength was already here at the border,” she pointed out. “Besides that, the generals don’t want to expose the other continents. This isn’t the only place the Dominion could attack, after all. Some even want us to hit their territories first, fast and hard. Most say we can’t risk it.”

I nodded again, but didn’t comment. I wasn’t about to question the judgment of the experts, and I knew enough to know I didn’t know enough to draft our strategy.

“The new fortifications are going to help a lot,” Tenira put in. “I don’t think the Dominion could try a fast strike deeper into our territory with much hope for success, and they know that.”

“If only we started building it up earlier,” Lei said. “There’s a lot more that could be done.”

“I don’t think many people cared about the border, at least not really. Did they?” I asked.

San Hashar tilted her head. “There hasn’t been a real war between the Empire and another nation in many centuries, my lady. Even the raids were no longer much of a concern for the capital. If you look at the records closely, they were actually tapering off the last few decades, before the Rising Storm tribe’s invasion.” She grimaced. “We got complacent, I suppose.”

For a moment, we fell quiet, looking out over the base and the surrounding region in sober silence. I cycled some qi into my eyes, gazing south. I could easily make out the new wall and the towers and outposts dotting it, though anything beyond that was harder. Occasionally I got what might be the tip of a particularly tall tree peeking over it.

“It will be a bit before the Dominion is in a position to attack, Your Highness,” San Hashar commented, following my gaze. “Our allied tribes are doing their best to buy us more time. They’re harassing the Zarian, drawing away the other nomads, and causing a lot of chaos.”

I smirked. “Yes, fighting a guerrilla war against natives in the jungle doesn’t sound like fun. But you think they can’t stop them for long?”

“They’re too few and the enemy too many, my lady. We’ve already seen groups of Dominion elites close to the border, watching us and perhaps making preparations. If it comes down to it, they could just leave the weaker soldiers behind to deal with the nomads for some time while they bring their real strength to bear against us.”

Lei snorted. “Well, let’s hope the nomads are earning their keep. After all, we’re taking in their families and likely giving them better lives than they could have had in that jungle.”

I frowned, but closed my mouth without replying. He’s probably right on that count, at least.

Tenira shot Lei a dirty look. “I’m sure our allies are doing all they can, and at great risk to themselves. Not just for our sake, either.”

San Hashar nodded. “The Zarian Dominion won’t be content to just pass through the Yellow Graves on their way to attacking the Empire. Some of the nomads are wise enough to see that, and side with us for their own benefit. Unfortunately, the leaders of many tribes don’t seem to be as smart.”

I shrugged. “Who knows what they promised them. Perhaps those just want to trade the Yellow Graves for good land further south, or north if they win, even if they’d have to be under the Dominion’s thumb.” I frowned. “On second thought, I doubt all of them think like that.”

Tenira chuckled. “What, you mean not everyone feels the same way about culture? Who would have thought.”

I smiled wryly, then turned around as I noticed a slight disturbance in my qi senses. A few guards had unobtrusively followed us and were keeping watch from the wall and the ground. Aston stood farther away than most, his aura flickering a bit with spirit-aligned qi, perhaps trying something with Mior. An airship had just come in and people were disembarking, joining the crowds of soldiers in the base. Another was just setting down, and it looked like a few people on flying swords were accompanying it.

I felt a bit disgruntled that there were no planes yet. While we’d started building them, there just weren’t enough to be much of a factor in this war, still, especially since they could really use more testing. I’d sent a few of our prototypes north along with some of the more sensitive material from my research in Blue Valley City. Not that I anticipated the city being in danger any time soon, but better safe than sorry. It hadn’t taken much time to close things up there. I sighed. Probably going to be a while until I can focus on working on my projects again.

I was about to turn back to the others, but paused as something prickled in my senses. The faint sensation drew me to a spot in the shadow a little further away. I backed up a step, preparing to summon a weapon from my storage ring. A moment later, the shadow deepened and the veil of qi over it lightened so we could feel the person’s presence. Lei sucked in air in a surprised gasp. Then Kariva faded into view.

I exhaled, stepping forward again and relaxing as some of the tension drained out of me. “Kariva? What are you doing here?”

“Good senses, Your Highness.” Kariva gave a short bow. “Her Majesty sent me south to deal with an important matter.” She turned to the others, her gaze flicking over them sharply, as if she was cataloging everything. She nodded at San Hashar. “General San, you’re dismissed.”

“My lady. Your Highness.” San Hashar bowed deeply, then flitted down the stairs quickly enough that I had trouble picking out her path.

I frowned as I looked at Kariva. Mother’s spymaster looked the same as always, wearing fine cultivator’s robes and a slight detachment in her eyes, if you knew what to look for, a certain hard indifference in her face that she didn’t bother to hide.

“And what important matter is that, pray tell?”

Kariva stepped closer, and I sensed a barrier pop up around us, blurring the surroundings slightly and canceling out their sound. “A diplomatic meeting with the Zarian. We will be discussing how we can limit the use of eighth-stagers if and when it comes to violence.”

She sounded a bit sarcastic on the ‘if’, I noted. Fair enough.

“That’s good news.” I smiled. “Do we know any details?”

“The Greater Spirits are apparently involved to some extent, and have made their approval clear.”

My smile widened. I knew this would be a controversial decision, but the risk of letting human weapons of mass destruction fight was too high for me. What amounted to religious mandates against that could only help. “Where and when is the meeting?”

Kariva cocked her head a little. “With all due respect, my lady, it’s better if I don’t tell you. I won’t be going to the meeting alone, of course, but I highly doubt the Empress would allow you to participate directly. It would be far too dangerous, and unpredictable given your parentage.”

I opened my mouth to argue, then closed it with a sigh. There was no way I’d change Kariva’s mind. Besides, she probably had a point.

This time, Mother was around, and she’d certainly not just let me do as I liked.

82: Agreement

The airship braked hard, making me grab the railing to preserve my balance, then turned around. The sails of qi, translucent extensions of energy, flared for a moment, before they vanished again as the vessel evened out. It stayed floating in the air, a few hundred meters up but beneath the range it should usually fly at, and gave me a good view of the landscape below us. I smiled.

“Ah, Inaris?” Tenira asked. “Aren’t we supposed to fly directly back to the capital? Your Mother won’t be happy if you go off half-cocked on some adventure when she called you back to her side.”

I turned towards her and smiled mischievously. “Don’t worry, Tenira. We’re not going anywhere. We’ll just stay right here for a bit, taking a break before we get going back home.”

Lei chuckled. “Oh, I see. Good idea. Do you have any way of actually seeing what’s going on?”

I shrugged and cycled some light qi, letting it gather in front of me. I hid a grin as I noticed Lei’s smile widening while Tenira shook her head and rolled her eyes.

“Um, is anyone going to tell me what’s happening?” Kajare asked. He hovered a short distance from the rest of us but closer to me, two meters or so down the railing. His hand still gripped it, and he looked less than amused.

“You know about that diplomatic meeting they’ve planned, parleying with the Dominion about a limit on the employment of cultivators in the eighth stage during the upcoming hostilities?” I asked.

“Of course. I assume that’s the reason why your Mother is calling us back this quickly. She doesn’t want you anywhere close to the Dominion’s heavies?”

“Yeah, that’s probably it,” I agreed. “This spot isn’t so close, though, is it? I intend to stay right here and watch the talks while they happen. Should be safe enough for her. The base is only a few kilometers away.”

Kajare’s expression cleared and he started to smile. He relaxed and leaned against the railing. “Oh, I see. Good. Can you share whatever scrying you do with your techniques?”

I nodded and focused on the qi I was gathering again. This would be a little tricky, but I was confident I could manage it. The fact that Mother had shown me her camera techniques that day after my breakthrough didn’t escape me. I’d built on it since then, and now I’d really make use of them.

I was almost certain the site would have a scry-shield, wards that prevented conventional types of scrying. Even trying to directly get the light from there would be doomed to failure. But I pulled up clumps of darkness qi and sent them out, mixed with a bit of light qi, to form mirrors and lenses in the air. It was a good thing we had clear space between the airship and the location, a hill in the jungle just short of our wall, where they’d already erected an stone pavilion to host the meeting. I leapfrogged my way closer, using the previous constructs I’d placed as anchors for the next stage. Finally, I reached a spot some distance from the meeting point, hidden by a rocky ledge and thick forest growth, but with an unimpeded view of the place. I set up the biggest lenses there, making a sort of spyglass, then positioning a mirror to pass on the information back to me.

It took a few minutes of fiddling, making sure that everything was tuned correctly, until I had anything like a clear picture. But it worked. I only used light itself until the whole setup reached the airship, where I put up a screen of light qi and the actual technique that projected the image on there, like a screen showing the data fed to it from a camera.

Tenira whistled. “Impressive. I don’t know if I would have managed to do something like this. And you don’t even use that much qi, so you should be able to keep it up for a while.”

“Right.” I grinned, allowing myself a moment of pride, before I focused back on the scene I was trying to observe.

It looked like some people from each side where already there, while others were arriving. Perhaps they’d arranged it that way. I wasn’t clear on the details, Kariva hadn’t even told me how they’d communicated. But so far, nothing much was happening. Just people hanging around, giving each other dark looks and maybe chatting with their companions. All of them wore either ornate robes or uniforms, and I was sure their presences would have been impressive, but since my technique only conveyed visuals they didn’t seem all that intimidating.

“This is nice enough, but without a way to transmit sound there’s only so much we will learn,” Lei commented.

I grinned. “Just watch.”

Fumbling for a moment, I pulled out a device from my robe. It looked a bit like a large cellphone, just blockier and without a real screen. I had to extend the fold-up antenna until it was three times the length of the device. Then I started messing with the buttons until we got first a crackle and hiss and then some actual sound.

“Wow. How did you get this done?”

I shrugged. “Kariva is carrying a radio transmitter. We worked things out so I’m listening in on what she sends.”

On the hilltop, the noise level died down as the last people arrived. On our side, Kiyanu strolled in accompanied by another cultivator in the eighth stage I hadn’t met, though I recognized her face. They joined Kariva and a few diplomats, including a representative from Terbekteri in the eighth stage. Beside them, I saw a Zarieni man, his characteristic clothing with bones and other ornaments standing out from the others’ robes. That would be the chief of the strongest of our allied tribes. There were two Zarieni on the Dominion’s side, as well, though the way they flanked the rest a little further back showed they weren’t considered essential. The rest of the Dominion’s representatives were all in uniform, a mix of gray, blue and black with unfamiliar markings.

I zoomed out a little more until I caught sight of Aston, who stood with a few soldiers farther back. He was probably the weakest person in the delegation, but hopefully they’d just assume he was there as my eyes and ears. I took a deep breath and shook my head. There was a risk that they’d see his connection to Mior, but he needed to be there as an anchor for Mior’s presence in the coming talks. One of the downsides of possession, the spirit had told me, was that they couldn’t go far from their host. There was a similar group of soldiers with the Dominion’s delegation.

One of the Dominion’s representatives cleared their throat and turned to face the Imperial side. I drew in a breath as I recognized the face from pictures I’d seen in books. The Dominion’s intelligence Director, head of their intelligence services and ‘internal security’. “If everyone’s here, can we begin?” he asked.

It took me a moment to realize that I could understand him even though he was speaking in a different language. Wait, what?

I shook my head at myself. When I recalled what he’d said and tried to make sense of it, the actual sounds and words didn’t mean much to me. At least, I didn’t consciously understand what they meant. But I must have learned to speak Zarian before, and the knowledge lingered subconsciously. I hadn’t noticed it with the Zarieni, but thinking back on it, that had been different. Like a strong accent or maybe a closely related but distinct language, with the words and pronunciation different enough that I couldn’t automatically get it. I’d had other things on my mind back then and hadn’t really noticed if there were any feelings of familiarity. Well, even if I did know the Zarian language consciously, I probably couldn’t speak the Zarieni’s language, so …

I grit my teeth and grimaced, frustrated with myself. In my reading, I’d avoided any primary sources or other texts where I might have read Zarian, since I didn’t think it would help me any, and only gotten translations. In hindsight, that was a really dumb mistake. Why didn’t I even think to ask if the old me spoke any other languages? Ugh.

While I’d been distracted with berating myself mentally, the conversation had moved on. Taking a quick moment to sort through my memories, I realized Kariva had answered that they were ready and the talks could start, then everyone agreed, and the Director welcomed them all formally. Appropriate since the Dominion had called this meeting.

“We called you here to come to an agreement regarding the use of supreme cultivators in future hostilities between our nations.”

“Like those hostilities you are going to start any day now?” Kariva raised an eyebrow, speaking in Imperial Common.

The Director frowned at her. “Whatever happens in the near future,” he answered in Common as well, luckily, “isn’t it all the more reason to agree to keep the strongest fighters out of it? After all, it is your lands that would bear the brunt of the devastation. Surely you aren’t callous or conceited enough to miss that?”

Kariva tilted her head a fraction. She didn’t seem fazed, but still looked like they were meeting acquaintances for small talk. “The Empire is always in favor of reducing large-scale devastation. We wouldn’t even want that to happen to our enemies, unless it was necessary. And yes, we recognize that those in the eighth stage of cultivation pose a serious risk, a potential for widespread, uncontrolled devastation that will only hurt everyone in the long run, if they were to be unleashed.”

Looking at the screen, I raised an eyebrow. “Well, that was easy. Seems like we’re all in agreement, right?”

“That’s fortunate,” Tenira agreed.

“Why?” Kajare cut in. He crossed his arms and looked from me to the others. “I don’t understand. Why are you all acting like this is a good thing? I thought we were just humoring the Dominion and trying to find an advantage in the talks, not going along with their plan.”

I turned towards him a little, so I could still keep an eye on the screen. “Because they’re right about the devastation. Even if it wouldn’t hit us first, dozens of eighth stagers fighting could destroy everything around them. Fields, fortifications, cities. What point is there if half of the territory you stand to conquer is a wasteland?”

Kajare shook his head, his frown settling deeper. “All of that is fixable with time. And we have time. It’s more important to win this war than worry about what might happen. And it’s not like there are huge wastelands from other wars.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Exactly. There’s never been a war with more than a handful of eighth stage cultivators fighting. No one really knows how an all-out assault might turn out. Plus, it’s too much of a risk for the Empire to assume we’d win.”

Kajare took a step closer. “Why? We have more black stage cultivators than they do.”

“Yeah, but how many of them would actually fight if it came down to it? How would they fare against our opponents? We don’t really know.”

He snorted. “How many would fight? Most of them should! It’s their duty to their monarch and nation.”

I sighed and rubbed my temples. He was starting to grate on me. “And what do we do if some of them refuse? Force them? That wouldn’t work and would just risk alienating the ones who are ready to fight. From what I’ve read, the situation isn’t much better in the Kingdom. Here, there’s a delicate balance. Many eighth stagers don’t want to risk their precious lives in a war and would rather just focus all their efforts on trying to reach immortality. We don’t know how many the Dominion could actually field, but given their ideology, it might even be more than us.”

“Really?” Lei asked. “They couldn’t just brush off the Dominion’s leaders?”

“They are the Dominion’s leaders,” I reminded him. “They have a lot to lose.”

Kajare cut in again, “Whatever the case, we should be able to field more than them. The Zarian are too cowardly to really all join the fighting and risk their lives. But we’re better than them. Yes, there might be some devastation, but this is war. The Empire’s supremacy is at stake, and that of the Kingdom of Terbekteri.”

I sighed. “Not even considering the economy, what about all of the extra civilian casualties?”

He shrugged. “They won’t die in vain, but for their country.”

For a moment, I just stared at him. This is the guy I married. I know there are cultural differences, but damn, this caught me a bit off guard.

Before I could respond, a loud noise from the transmitter made me turn back to the meeting we’d almost ignored. I stepped away from Kajare and closer to my friends, turning my back to him, and held up the receiver a little more. On the screen, I could see that the scene had changed.

The delegates had been talking but not said much of importance, until now. The Dominion’s representatives had moved away a little, and swirling mist was condensing in front of them, quickly taking a human shape. I breathed in sharply as I recognized Isuro.

I couldn’t tell what he said, probably because he was using telepathy. Crap. But our delegates exchanged looks, and the eighth stager from Terbekteri nodded. A moment later, they all took a step back as well, and once again, swirling mist rushed in.

A moment later, Mior stood there, facing Isuro. The spirit hadn’t showed any connection to Aston, as far as I could tell, but simply appeared there like the Pioneer.

I clenched my teeth in frustration as I watched the two of them stare at each other. They must be communicating telepathically, but I couldn’t hear any of it. I could only watch the reactions on the faces of the delegates, and Isuro’s. His eyebrow twitched once, and his lips pressed together. Then his expression smoothed over again, and after a while, he gave a curt nod.

“Then we’re agreed?” Kariva said aloud, finally, perhaps thinking of her transmitter.

“Yes,” the Zarian Director answered, his tone almost bored. “No one in the eighth stage of cultivation will be fighting in this war, attacking either people, property or nature.”

Kariva frowned. “No one with power equivalent to the eighth stage of cultivation or above.”

For a moment, the two of them stared at each other. Mior and Isuro both moved their heads. Then the Director nodded. “Agreed.”

I exhaled softly, some of my tension flowing away. I’d pointed this out to Kariva, and I was glad she’d taken it seriously. I had no desire to go up fighting against Isuro if I could help it, and they might have tried that if they could use a loophole.

The two spirits each took a step forward, holding out their hands. I still couldn’t make out what they were saying, but this time I knew there was a lot of qi involved. There was a visible haze in the air, and some of the weaker members of the delegations noticeably paled. One almost sank to his knees before another Zarian braced him.

Suddenly, I felt the connection to Rijoko in the back of my mind open up. I could sense his presence, locked in on this area, focused on the exchange happening below. I gripped the railing and took a deep breath. What looked like showers of light fell down from both sides, meeting between Mior and Isuro.    Then the two of them touched hands, and they disappeared. Kariva’s device crackled. A moment later, Rijoko’s presence started to recede.

That was the Greater Spirits witnessing this agreement, I guess. Not going to be easy to break.

Noise came from the receiver, people offering congratulations, assurances or farewells. This had been a really brief, to the point meeting, perhaps because of the spirits. But I couldn’t focus on all of that. I took deep breaths and tried to feel after the connection in my mind that joined me to Rijoko. It had closed again, and my mental fingers slipped off it as I tried to get deeper into it. I could perhaps try to pry it open, but I held back. No point in that.

I turned away, then hesitated. Something tingled at the edge of my senses. Some instinct told me that there were things afoot not too far from me. Far less noticeable than before, but it was coming from the direction of the meeting, and perhaps getting stronger, although the spirits there had disappeared.

“Go!” I shouted towards the front of the airship, taking a step back from the railing. “Get moving, now!”

The captain of the airship didn’t hesitate or ask questions. With a small lurch, the vessel started speeding up again. I glanced around. Kajare still stood a ways off. He and the rest were frowning in confusion. I wrenched my eyes away from him and continued looking around, into the air where I’d set up my techniques.

I could sense something touching them, a hint of foreign qi. It jumped from one to the next. Quicker than I thought, the feeling reached me.

I felt it tap against my mind, the foreign qi winding into that of my techniques and the tenuous link they afforded to me, where I’d left them out in the open. A breeze rose around us, kicking up leafs and bits of gravel, sweeping over the airship. I concentrated on my mental defenses as I sensed Isuro’s probing.

He gave me a mental shove, crawling over the walls around my mind. I closed my eyes and concentrated on keeping them secure, on keeping him away.

After a long moment, the wind whispered again, and I felt his mind knock against mine one last time, before he withdrew. I sighed, shaking my head. This was a warning, clearly. He was telling me that he knew what I’d been doing, and perhaps not to push things.

“Inaris, is everything all right?” Kajare asked. He looked concerned.

I glanced at Tenira and Lei. They were both quiet, though when Tenira noticed my gaze, she gave me a smile.

“Fine,” I answered brusquely.

Then I turned away, making my way to the front of the airship. I’d ask the captain again how long we’d need for the trip.

Mother had said we wouldn’t need to unpack at the palace, so I assumed we’d be traveling further, perhaps with a different airship. At the moment, the thought felt strangely reassuring. I crossed my arms and ducked into the cabin. I wouldn’t mind getting away from here.

83: Open seas

The first sign anything was wrong were the airships leaving the area around the capital. I expected to find some, most of them heading south. While I could see those, there were also several heading in the opposite direction, and a few on various other courses. While the stream of reinforcements to the south seemed to be ongoing, with an airship leaving at least every few hours, there was too much other activity for my peace of mind. I wouldn’t have been able to see all of them without my cultivation, but by now I had enough experience to be fairly good at judging distances and flight times, and I could tell the pattern had changed since we’d left.

The second sign was Mother’s expression when she greeted us on the rooftop of the palace. Our airship had set down quickly and I disembarked with Lei and Tenira at my side, followed by Kajare and the others. Aston brought up the rear. He’d caught up to the airship shortly after the end of the meeting, before we could get too far away. I’d interrogated him about that in detail, but hadn’t learned much new information.

“Is something the matter?” I asked after I bowed to Mother and stepped forward.

She nodded tightly. “It looks like the war has now begun, more or less.”

“Really?” I turned my head to look south, although, of course, I couldn’t see anything from here. “Last I heard, things were still rather quiet, all things considered. So the Zarian attacked? Did the fortifications hold, or were they overrun?”

Mother shook her head. “They did attack, but not here, not us. They started on the Earth Continent.”

“Oh.” I sighed.

After a moment of thought, I glanced at Kajare. Guards lined the perimeter, and the ones from the airship had joined them, while my group lingered a little behind me. He didn’t look any more upset than he’d been before.

“The Zarian Dominion attacked the Velisha,” Mother explained. “It was a quick, brutal strike that overwhelmed their defenses with the Zarian elites. From the last news we have, a significant portion of the kingdom has already fallen to them.”

I swore softly, shaking my head. I knew that was the largest of the Empire’s vassal states on the Earth Continent, a petty kingdom situated in a strategic location near the center of the continent and surrounded by other Imperial territories or dependents on one side.

“That country doesn’t border the Dominion, does it?” I asked, recalling the map.

Mother shrugged. “They do on a narrow strip of land. Besides that, it seems like their northeast neighbor wasn’t quite as neutral as we thought, and allowed the Zarian Dominion to launch troops from the Dominion’s closest province through there.”

I sighed again. Then I glanced around the rooftop and back to Mother. “Shouldn’t we take this to a conference room?”

“In a moment,” she replied. “If we have time. I want you to get going as soon as possible.”

I started. “You’re sending me to the Earth Continent?”

She smiled, although there wasn’t much humor in it. “All things considered, I think it’s still better than the front in the south. Back there, you’ll be able to do more good, dealing with our vassals. Not to mention the Kingdom of Terbekteri has territories nearby, too.” She glanced at Kajare. “With your husband, it makes sense to send you there to coordinate with our allies.”

Kajare took a step forward, bowing his head. “I will do my best to ensure that things work smoothly and promote the Empire’s cause among the Terbekteri leadership, Your Majesty.”

She nodded. “Good. Anything else?”

I glanced at Tenira and Lei, who were now stepping forward, as well. Tenira asked, “Who will accompany Inaris, my lady?”

“Her personal retinue, I’ll leave to you to figure out,” Mother replied. “Though you won’t have much time and there’s no need for a large following. I assume you and Lei will accompany her?”

They both nodded, and I couldn’t help but smile at how casually they agreed.

Mother smiled. “Then let’s not waste time. You’ll be taking a different airship, and I want you to be on your way as soon as it’s ready.”

I hesitated, even as the others turned to go. “Mother,” I said quietly, in English. “How bad is the domestic situation?”

She remained silent for a moment before she answered. “It’s okay. Many people aren’t happy with the way things have gone, but few are openly blaming me or our clan. We’re focusing the people’s anger on the Zarian, and most of the populace is still firmly behind us. I wouldn’t trust many of the eighth stagers, but that’s hardly a new development. In any case, there should be less trouble for you in our overseas territories.”

I nodded my understanding and turned to go as well. If I could manage it, I’d visit some of Kariva’s people and gather some more information, perhaps pick a few to accompany me in addition to whoever we would have on the Earth Continent.

I didn’t like being blindsided, but I couldn’t blame Mother.

Of course it was too much to hope for that our trip would be quiet. The way things were going lately, we were lucky we weren’t running into a fleet of Dominion warships.

I sighed as I stared out at the dark spots in the sky that were steadily growing larger. This was manageable, at least.

“Sorry for bothering you, but I think this needs attention,” Lei said. “Bad luck to run into something like this.”

I nodded. I’d read through briefing materials, spent the night with Yarani, then started to work on a small project when Lei had called me away from it. We were over the open ocean now, with land nowhere in sight even with enhanced senses, well on our way to the Earth Continent.

It was a strange feeling to be over the open ocean. Although the airship flew in the sky, I could still feel the weight of the waves clearly in my qi senses. The tide felt different here, but it was still noticeably present, and I could have easily found my way to the nearest landmass even in complete darkness. It also meant there was nothing to obstruct our view, nothing we could use if it came to a fight except for tons of water and open air.

Aston joined us on the deck, a faint frown on his face. “Your Highness. I would suggest that we adjust our course slightly and try to avoid these beasts if possible.”

I glanced at the black spots again. By now, I could make out suggestions of beating wings in the forms. “Of course.”

“How many soldiers do we have here again?” Lei asked.

“Not many,” I admitted. “But most are Imperial Guard and in a high stage.”

He nodded and turned to watch the approaching spirit beasts again. Their numbers only seemed to increase as they got closer, though I knew that this wasn’t a real swarm. Not yet, at least. It was possible these were just the vanguard of a big one.

“Shouldn’t you take cover, Inaris?” Yarani asked as she stepped up to join us.

She looked relaxed, but there was a faint tension in her posture, and I noticed that her hands hovered in position to draw a weapon from her storage ring. Her eyes flicked around, switching between me, the sky, and scanning the rest of the airship, in what I assumed was a subconscious search for threats. I’d almost forgotten that my lover was a soldier, and now felt acutely reminded of it. It reaffirmed my decision to bring her along.

“Maybe later,” I answered. “There’s not much call for it now, and it’s not like I’ll be safer in the cabin than on the deck. Here, the guards could actually defend me more easily. Have you ever crossed the ocean?”

She shook her head. “I’ve heard stories, but I’ve never been more than a few leagues from the coast.”

I nodded. Sea travel was relatively safe these days. With the agreement I’d brokered with the sea dragons, it should be even safer. But there was always a bit of luck involved, and perhaps the recent fights had stirred something up.

Aston came back from talking to the captain, and I waved him over. I noticed the way he was watching the sky, on alert but not as if he had to fight every moment now, and figured we still had some time.

“So, what do you and those more familiar with this think?” I asked.

“We are going to detour and try to avoid the spirit beasts, or at least the worst of it,” he told me. “With your permission, it’s best if we leave that to the experts. Finding the best path needs experience and the airship’s equipment. We may have to fight, but it should be manageable. Please stay close to me, Your Highness.”

I nodded. “Of course.”

My finger brushed against the cool metal of the storage ring on my left hand, and a moment later, I held my new weapon in hand, the weight of it a little reassuring. Despite the bright day, Fides’ tip didn’t sparkle, and only the runes set into the spear’s shaft glowed darkly to my sight. I fed some qi into it, watching as the glow intensified, then brought the spear into position.

I didn’t have long to wait before the fighting started. The flying spirit beasts, birds that looked like overgrown migratory birds with too sharp claws and beaks, closed the distance quickly. Some of them changed course towards us, and I could see bright lights as some of their feathers seemed to light on fire without actually burning them. Quickly, the first fireballs flew towards us, followed by gusts of wind.

I created a technique, forming darkness qi into shape for a Void’s Nibble, and launched it towards the nearest bird. The blob of darkness shot from my spear’s tip faster than usual, and struck true, burning through its wing, putting out its fire, and sending it spiraling downward. I nodded in satisfaction.

Over the next few minutes, I really came to appreciate my weapon. Fides sucked in darkness qi like a sieve, held it in place for me and anchored the form of my techniques, then let me launch them swiftly and precisely at my targets. I knew it wouldn’t work so well for light, but most of my real attacks were darkness-based, at least the ones where a weapon would help.

But the swarm didn’t show any signs of thinning. Many of my shots missed the agile birds, and the others, including the guards, didn’t have much better luck. Even if a bird was hit, it often took several attacks to put it out of the fight, since they were strong, resilient, and seemed to regenerate quickly. One of them kept flying without its tail feathers as they were ripped away, then they swiftly regrew in time for it to dodge my attack.

After a while, I took a step back from the railing and closer to Aston. “This isn’t working so well.”

He nodded. “We’re going to turn around even more and try to avoid the worst of the swarm. It’s getting closer, but we should be able to keep to the outside and let most of them pass us by. We’ll lose some time, but I’d rather not take risks with your safety.”

“Alright.” I shook my head. “What is up with them, anyway, do you think?”

Aston frowned. “I’d say they were roused by something, and they’re not the only spirit beasts that have been stirred. Looking closely, there’s more activity in the sea as well, and I spotted some other bird types. It’s probably the fighting on the continent. It may have displaced some spirit beasts and lead to ripple effects.”

I sighed. That indicated that things were really heating up on the Earth Continent.

The airship slowed down and started drifting further away. It seemed to work, at least for now, and we saw less of the birds as the bulk of them shifted in relation to our position and heading, moving further to the side from my perspective.

I took a breather and tried to pull in some qi while I had the chance. Darkness qi was hard to find, even though it was what I’d primarily used so far. Normal light attacks didn’t have the same punch against their resilient forms, and I was reluctant to try playing around with radiation. I hadn’t even managed a real laser, one that would be focused enough for longer distances.

After half an hour, I noticed that the number of birds we fought was increasing again. We drew closer to the center of the swarm once more. Maybe they’d changed their heading a little. We were still moving at an angle to them, but more of the birds dove at us. There had to be thousands altogether, a bigger swarm than usual from what had been mentioned in one book I’d read.

I turned back to Aston. “I have an idea. If we can wing it, pun not intended, I think we should descend. We’ll be harder to see on the water.”

Aston raised an eyebrow and looked like he wanted to say something, then he simply nodded. “I’ll take care of it.”

I watched him go again, grabbing onto the railing and chewing my lip. He was an air cultivator close to the seventh stage. And at least a third of the other guards with us cultivated air or water affinity qi. This shouldn’t be a problem. I had to force myself to relax as I waited, tense seconds dragging on.

I was still caught by surprise as we suddenly started dropping like, well, a multi-ton vessel hanging in the air should. I’d expected them to do maybe a gradual descent with an easier landing. It took me a moment to adjust, relaxing my grip on the railing and looking around to make sure that nobody was adversely affected. Luckily, we were all cultivators here and the others didn’t even stumble.

Not that I’d complain, this was actually better than I thought.

We set down on the water with a quiet splash. If not for the sudden stop of our momentum, I wouldn’t have thought we’d impacted the ocean at all. My stomach tried to climb into my throat, but a moment later, I was focused, assessing the situation and calling on my qi.

“Tenira, Lei, help me, please,” I said.

Then I concentrated on finishing my technique. A moment later, I sensed Tenira and Lei adding their work to my own, patches of qi that intersected with mine so each of us had to cover less ground. It didn’t take long for everything to happen, and I finished the work quickly.

Glancing around, I had to force my eyes to perceive what was going on. I could still see the ship and people around me, but it took focus to process what the outside, the ocean and sky, looked like. For anyone looking at us from the outside, we should now be invisible.

I wasn’t that practiced with conventional illusions, but it seemed to work. None of the birds came closer, at least.

“Your Highness, the ship doesn’t have a drive we can use on water, although it’s not hard to keep it afloat,” Aston said as he came back. “We could still move it manually, though we would have to be careful not to stir the ocean too much, I assume?”

I nodded. “Yes, the less disturbance we cause, the better. But please do.”

It didn’t take long for us to start moving again. A much slower pace than we’d had in the air, but better than nothing.

I watched the swarm of spirit beasts fly past. After a while, the bulk was past us and seemed to shrink as they moved farther away. I’d still wait until they were really gone until we took to the air again.

At least we don’t have to worry about attacks from the Dominion’s ships on the ocean, thanks to the sea dragons. We’ve only lost time.

84: Territory

On first glance, the Earth Continent wasn’t much different from the Sky Continent. I hadn’t expected it to be, of course. I’d traveled to enough different continents on Earth to realize that while landmasses tended to put limits on flora and fauna, cultures couldn’t be so easily defined and architecture often changed gradually. Even going from America to Europe might not seem like much unless you looked more closely, at the details.

On second glance, holy crap that’s a large mountain range. I could feel my eyes widen as I stared further into the distance. I could only just barely make it out from here, but it seemingly stretched from one end of the horizon to the other, with mountaintops rising as high as those in the Central Mountains. Just a lot more of them.

I blinked, then returned my attention to the landscape closer to us. With the right technique, I could see a lot. The coast was fairly even, with more sand beaches than rocky cliffs like the east of the Sky Continent. A lot of cities dotted the large gulf we had just come in over. There were two broad rivers leading further inland. Everything matched up with the maps I’d seen, even if I couldn’t see the borders that had been drawn on the maps in real life. Only one of them had what seemed from here like a fence following its course.

“They’re massing soldiers,” Tenira said, turning towards me and pointing out a few spots. From the faint glow, she was channeling light qi to her eyes as well. “There, we have more airships concentrated in one spot, and more activity at the outposts. Not just the Imperial provinces, either, I think the other countries we can see from here are doing the same.”

I nodded. While the Empire controlled most of this region, there were a few other countries touching on the gulf as well. Most of them were our vassals, though one to the north, stretching towards the Lotus Confederation’s territory, was committedly neutral. I wouldn’t blame them for being on the alert.

“I’ve set up a tentative schedule, but it’s going to change depending on what information we get on the ground,” Tenira continued. “We’ve set up a few meetings with communication talismans, since telegraphs weren’t an option.”

“Shame we haven’t finished building up the infrastructure,” I said. This airship and some planned convoys later on would deliver loads of radios, so the Imperial forces here would have at least that much. But easy, fast communication between this continent and the capital would have been nice. Of course, laying telegraph or telephone lines underwater is just a bit more difficult if the ocean is swimming with spirit beasts.

“Anything you need me to do? How can I help?” Kajare asked.

I didn’t know what to say, but Tenira filled the pause seamlessly. “Mostly, you just need to look pretty. Er, no offense.” She shook her head. “Considering your wedding is the pretext for the Dominion’s attack, it’s perhaps best not to draw too much attention to it, but showing that the Kingdom of Terbekteri is actively supporting us would be good. Be nice, be diplomatic, don’t get drawn into arguments. And don’t offer input on strategy, let alone orders, without clearing it with us first. That goes for all of our stay here.”

Kajare nodded and smiled, though I could tell the expression was a bit forced. “I can do that.”

I smiled. “Great. Then let’s get ready for disembarking. They might have arranged a big welcome.”

It didn’t take long for us to arrive at the largest of the cities bordering the ocean. From above, it looked like roughly two-thirds the size of the Imperial capital, with a lot of tall buildings and a few factories. There was a large central plaza with a sprawling complex I assumed was a palace or government center inside a garden, though we didn’t touch down there, but at the back of the complex where there were more visible defenses.

It looked like they hadn’t planned a big welcome, but many people wanted to offer it anyway. A large crowd had gathered, with some of them waving signs or flags. Cheering erupted as soon as the first of us, Tenira, stepped out of the airship onto the ground. I waved at them as I disembarked, checking out the crowd and our surroundings. The people tended to have slightly darker skin tones than on the Sky Continent, at least on average. Otherwise, they looked pretty much the same. The construction of the roads and houses also gave the impression of a typical Imperial city, though not an old one.

Then I turned my attention to the greeting party, who were already on their knees. They looked like a mixture of political functionaries and officers.

“Your Highness, my lords and ladies, welcome to Earthhaven City,” an older man said. “We have arranged accommodations and refreshments if you would like to relax after your journey.”

“Rise,” I replied. “Thank you for the welcome. There’s no need for that, we should get straight to business. I assume you have a briefing prepared?”

They rose, although the man looked a bit nervous. “Of course, Your Highness, although our top commanders are not in they city, but at the front.”

I nodded. We wouldn’t stay here long, anyway, but probably head deeper into the continent. The welcoming party wasted no more time on niceties, but started to lead us into the building. It had a lot of statues and too many bright colors for my taste, but at least the conference room we finally arrived in wasn’t too ostentatious. A few more people waited for us inside, and they’d already spread maps and documents out over the table.

I greeted everyone, but didn’t take much time for it. I was feeling a bit restless, conscious of the time we’d lost on the ocean passing by that swarm of spirit beasts.

“How is the situation?” I asked after settling down at the head of the table.

They exchanged looks. No one seemed happy, but at least no one looked really grim. A woman I recognized as this province’s administrator cleared her throat. “It’s largely under control, Your Highness. I can’t speak for the front, but things are quiet here. There’s been some unease, especially in the provinces closer to the Dominion, but no widespread problems. Several vassals have registered their displeasure, but the worst we’ve gotten are verbal complaints that may just be playing internal politics. We haven’t yet imposed any measures on the public, we wouldn’t want to presume with you coming.”

I managed not to pull a face and only nodded. It sounded like they just wanted to cover their own posterior, but I shouldn’t judge that too quickly. “Of course. Let’s look at the details.”

Over the next hour, I was inundated with reports. Some printed or handwritten in documents that I read during pauses in the conversation, others directly from people at the conference table. I passed the documents on to Tenira and Kajare and tried to piece everything together to get a good idea of the situation.

“Wait a moment,” I said as I got past the last page and yet another official’s report. “How many states has the Dominion attacked now?”

“Two countries and two Imperial provinces, Your Highness,” the administrator replied. “The latter in the last five hours. Those were only probing attacks, raids and the like, which didn’t go deeper into our territory. The Zarian have avoided contact but established footholds in three places. The most pressure by far is on the Velisha, with almost half of their total territory occupied by Zarian troops by now.”

I sighed and rubbed my temple. Only hours. We could have gotten here before these attacks if we hadn’t been delayed by the spirit beasts.

“We encountered a large flock of spirit beasts on the way here,” Tenira mentioned. “Flame variety. They are supposed to come from further inland, to the east, aren’t they? You haven’t mentioned fighting there.”

They exchanged looks again. One of the officers cleared his throat. “Indeed, my lady. These Flame-Tailed Birds come from a region between the Confederation, Dominion and Imperial territories, where there is nothing but two qi anomalies and a few small countries.” He pointed the area out on the map.

I leaned forward. “So, for the flock to be displaced like this outside of its usual migration, can we assume things are happening there?”

The officer nodded. “Yes, Your Highness. I would bet money that the Zarian are to blame, either directly or indirectly. They might have stirred up trouble and conflict in the area, but I would assume that the Dominion has moved troops there. They may be preparing an attack on one of the Lotus Confederations’ members, get a new foothold for the conflict with us, or perhaps even open a new front and attack us from another direction.”

“Or they could be hoping to take these troops through the Forest Haunt and launch a surprise attack on the Terbekteri provinces,” another officer put in.

I nodded. “Can we make sure of it one way or the other?”

The administrator pulled a face. “They’ll hide, and our better seers are all with the army …”

I sighed. “Alright. I’ll take care of it once we reach their headquarters. Or one of them.”

“You don’t want to stay here for a bit?” Lei asked.

“No point,” I said. “There’s nothing we can do here that we can’t do closer to the front, and I want to at least consult with our generals.”

“We should probably move into Velisha after that,” Kajare put in.

“Yes.” I frowned thoughtfully. “Perhaps we’ll take some troops. Let’s see.”

He smiled a little, and I couldn’t help but return the smile before I even realized I was doing it.

I still didn’t feel quite comfortable with his attitude towards the agreement with the Dominion and the view he’d expressed while we were watching the meeting. If I was honest with myself, some of that was because he had valid points but had crossed the line I would’ve set at some point. Still, the feeling of working towards a goal together was nice. And besides, he’s probably just sheltered, too caught up in how he’s been taught to think about these things. This might just give him a reality check.

“I hope you’re drafting plans for emergency measures and contingencies if you haven’t already,” I said to the gathered bureaucrats. “I’ll give some general guidance. We want the ability to control the economy and shift our output in favor of war-related production. That includes the possibility of setting goals and quotas for businesses to meet if necessary. Also, implement plans to store and secure food and other essentials and prepare to impose rationing if necessary. Assess what resources we may conscript if worst comes to worst, and especially take stock of cultivators in higher stages with valuable skills. Step up recruitment for the army, working together with the local guards.”

While I was talking, several people started looking more and more grim or even pale. Maybe the reality of the situation hadn’t hit them yet.

“What about the nobility?” the province administrator asked.

“I trust you to tread lightly, but make sure the goals I outlined are still accomplished,” I said. “If anyone makes trouble, inform me. We can’t allow anyone to play games at a time like this.”

I noticed Tenira nod beside me as she was looking over a few of the reports. I was actually glad we were in the Earth Continent. The provinces here tended to be more directly controlled by the Imperial government, and noble clans or sects had less influence. The was none I couldn’t suppress if I had to.

“I expect you to get these plans to me quickly,” I concluded. “Questions?”

There were more questions than I had thought, and it was another half hour till we could finally leave the conference. By that point, I was seriously questioning how some of them had made it to their positions. Well, they’re scared, insecure. And they don’t know me. I guess it makes sense some of them want to double-check everything, and others are too caught up in their usual business.

It didn’t take long to get back onto the airship. As we rose into the sky, I noticed that two other airships had risen from what had to be the garrison and were moving to escort us. At least they were on the ball.

“So, the outpost we’re moving to isn’t directly at the front, but it should be where most of the senior commanders have gathered, and we’re still moving close to a warzone,” Tenira said as we left the city behind. “Hopefully, everyone will proceed with caution.”

We nodded. I glanced over the side of the airship at the continent spread out before us. Most of the fighting would take place on the eastern part, where the main contenders had their territories. We probably wouldn’t get close to the huge mountains looming to our northwest. It would take a bit to get closer to the real theater of war, or what it was right now. It was midday here. I took out my watch from my storage ring and glanced at the time.

“You have a meeting spot soon?” Tenira asked.

“Twelve hours,” I answered and put the watch away. “I could get in contact with someone now, since we worked out a sleeping schedule and everything, but I don’t think that’s necessary.”

She nodded in agreement, and I stifled a sigh. I wasn’t completely sure what I would tell Mother when we checked in. Well, by then I’ll hopefully have a better idea what’s up with the Dominion moving too far afield.

“Since we have some time, let’s check on that area, okay?”

I settled down on the deck of the airship, Tenira and Lei joining me while the others stepped back. I tried to ignore their curious gazes and focus on pulling on light qi. Carefully, I spun that into form for a technique, waiting while the other two added their own contributions. I had vague impressions of performing this kind of scrying in a group with others, and they clearly knew what they were doing. It wasn’t long until I saw the image of a foreign landscape appear.

We had a view from high up. I checked that against my mental map and started navigating, zooming in closer. Nothing jumped out at me, and this was a lot of ground to cover.

“This is going to take a while,” Tenira muttered.

I started moving our point of view over the area systematically. On a few occasions, our view was distorted and blurred out, probably by wards. Those were centered over cities or estates, and I simply passed them by. I kept our imagined camera high up, since there was no way we could cover everything in detail, and trying to find individual Dominion soldiers would be stupid.

“There,” Lei finally said. “On that forest to the west, in the foothills. Let’s go to that valley.”

I moved our scrying window, but didn’t find whatever got his attention. This area was pretty wild, with only a few scattered villages. They seemed to be doing fine. I was about to start moving in a grid pattern, farther away, when I noticed a hint of smoke rising from the forest. He must have seen something like that. Carefully, I zoomed in and navigated the window.

I had to hand it to the Dominion, they weren’t stupid. They didn’t set up wards against scrying, probably because that would draw too much attention. Instead, they hid their soldiers, presumably at least several groups of elites, in the dense forest and the crags of the mountains. I’d almost given up hope before I stumbled upon an outpost they’d built into the side of a mountain, covered by a rocky shelf. It was the same color and texture as the surrounding stone, clearly crafted from it, but adjusted by earth cultivators to offer more shelter and concealment. Perhaps a staging ground for an excursion, judging by the supplies covered by tarps they’d set up.

“Let’s not get too close,” Tenira warned.

I nodded and moved our technique back. “We have what we need, anyway.”

After a moment, we dissolved it and exchanged looks. I knew the others were thinking the same thing as I was. The Dominion was clearly there, planning something. This couldn’t be the only staging point it had set up. They may have quietly cleared the area, mostly unattended wilderness, to prepare for larger troop movements. Perhaps they’d already moved in and built up their presence there while keeping the local authorities quiet through bribery or subterfuge.

I still needed to get a better idea of what we had to work with and how our situation looked, but I’d keep that in mind. Perhaps we could use it. If nothing else, we had a new direction to guard against.

85: War stinks

I couldn’t tell when we crossed the border. While I had the map perfectly stored in my memory, it didn’t show every detail, and the surroundings were too irregular to give me any real clue. I’d looked at a few more detailed maps, but not of this area. There hadn’t been time for everything, and maps weren’t a priority. Not that it mattered.

Aston leaned over and raised his voice to be heard over the wind. “Your Highness, we’ve now crossed the border into Velisha territory!”

I nodded and glanced at the airships accompanying us. Just when I’d thought I knew everything the Empire’s airships had to offer, they’d surprised me. The four of them, including the one I was on, flew at what any native would consider breakneck speed even for air travel. Not as fast as some planes from Earth, but it still ate the kilometers beneath us. The shielding couldn’t quite keep up, and while it kept the worst of the wind off, enough made it through.

Of course, for military deployments, you’d assume that any soldier wouldn’t even be inconvenienced by a little wind or cold.

I watched the soldiers waiting on the decks of the other airships, standing still and silent in a more professional manner than I’d expected. We were taking a good chunk of troops from the defensive line the local generals had set up. Some had tried to argue against it. But I agreed with those who said that we needed to primarily support the Velisha and stop the Dominion’s advance as well as we could.

I shook my head as I remembered yesterday’s meetings at the outpost and base we’d traveled to after Earthhaven. There’d been even more reports to take in and hours of meetings, but at least now I was confident that I knew my way around the local situation.

“I’m not making the wrong decision, am I?” I asked Tenira, who stood beside me, quietly, though I knew she could hear me.

She shook her head. “You said that we needed to move quickly, and you were right. Still are. The Dominion’s trying to overwhelm us, keep us off balance, by attacking this rapidly. We can’t let them take this much territory from us and settle in.”

I nodded. I think they call it shock and awe tactics, or something. There’s no way they’re able to sustain this kind of pace, they must already be spread somewhat thin. Not with the way they’re pressing the attack at the Yellow Graves, too.

“I’d still bet Aston has orders from your Mother to keep you out of trouble,” she added. “In case you were thinking of coming with the troops on the real attack.”

I snorted. “Don’t worry. I’m just going to talk to the Velisha, like we said. But there’s no good reason not to take the soldiers with us for the first part of the way. Safety in numbers and all that.”

We were interrupted by an officer walking up to us with a sheet of paper in hand, tucking a communication talisman away. He bowed. “Your Highness, we’ve established contact with the local soldiers and the Velisha, as expected.”

I turned around. “Give me the key points, please.”

“Yes, Your Highness. The positioning of both Dominion and Velisha combatants is largely as we expected. The Dominion has a stronger presence in the next town, at target location two, than we thought. There’s also been movements to the north and northwest. The way to target location one is clear. They report they’ve just wrapped up their fighting there, and the local commanders have relocated there.”

I glanced around, noting Aston’s expression, before I straightened. “Alright, commander. It looks like our plan is a go. Proceed as discussed. Move quickly and strike hard.”

The commander bowed again. “As you command, Your Highness. By your leave.” He turned and jumped off the airship in a fluid motion. A second later, I caught him seemingly running across the air to enter the next one, where he started scrambling the soldiers.

A minute later, two of the other airships peeled off, accelerating even more and turning to head to the spot we’d chosen to launch their attack. If all went well, they’d be able to disrupt the Dominion’s efforts, shake their grip on the region and soften them up for follow-up strikes. The contingent was mostly soldiers in higher stages, including a good number of elites, so I had no doubt they’d be able to accomplish their objective. If they took some heat off the Velisha to help us talk to them, that would be a good bonus.

“Anything around that we need to be careful of?” I asked Aston.

He stared into space for a moment, perhaps conferring with Mior, before he shook his head. “No, Your Highness. Our route is clear. We should reach the Velisha’s current base soon enough.

I nodded. It felt reassuring to know that Mior was there. While they weren’t supposed to interfere too much, I knew they would step in if my life was in danger. Or empower Aston to do it.

We traveled the rest of the way in silence. I could tell that the others were a little nervous. Lei never stood at any spot on deck too long before moving, and Tenira looked down at the landscape as if it held the secrets of the universe. Kajare would pace a few steps before he stopped, only to start again after a bit. Only Yarani seemed unfazed, but I could see the faint tension in her posture.

I glanced down at the landscape. Everything looked quiet here, so far, but there were too few people out and about in the small towns I saw, and the fields were almost deserted. From further north, faint plumes of smoke curled into the sky, though their sources were blocked from my sight.

Finally, after what seemed like too long a wait, Aston reported that we were nearing the area of the fighting, and would soon get to the current headquarters of the Velisha leadership.

“At least they’re near the front and contributing to the defense of their country, not cowering somewhere,” Kajare muttered.

I raised an eyebrow, but didn’t comment.

The Velisha didn’t have a fixed capital, but the place their king had held court most recently was located closer to the Dominion, and the Zarian had overrun it two days ago. From what I’d heard, the king and his family had taken charge of the fight and mostly retreated with their soldiers. This was the first time they’d actually moved their base back towards the direction of the Zarian. The first time they’d managed to beat them back, more or less. I assumed I’d meet the king there. And considering how few Imperial soldiers fought here compared to Velisha, it might be a bit of a sore point.

The airship slowed and lost altitude as we neared the town. It was encircled by a tall wall, but I counted half a dozen spots where that wall had been damaged, with at least two breaches. And not everything was covered by it, anyway, as a number of buildings stood outside the town walls. One side of the fields surrounding it looked burnt, with large furrows dug into the earth. Most of the people I could see moving around carried weapons, presumably soldiers.

Looking down at the scene as we came closer, I sighed. After a moment of consideration, I turned toward the front of the airship. “Slow down a bit more, and go lower.”

I wondered if they’d heard me, but a moment later, I could feel the airship decelerating, and we dropped down even further.

By now, we were close enough to get a good look at the scene. I analyzed the fortifications, clearly hastily reinforced. A few cultivators were patching the breaches in the wall. There were a lot of soldiers in the town, perhaps twice the number I’d taken with me, although I suspected the average stage of cultivation was lower. I could tell the town had been hit hard by the fighting. A few houses on the edge were only smoking ruins, many more had clearly been touched by fire. I would hesitate before moving into any of them for fear they might come down on my head with the next storm, but the inhabitants might not have a choice. And then, of course, there were the bodies.

“Does this match your expectations?” I asked Kajare.

He frowned, taking another look over the airship’s railing before he turned his head to answer me. “I don’t know.”

“This is the first battlefield you’ve seen, isn’t it? Assuming you can count this as one.”

“Well, yes.” He hesitated for a moment. “What are they doing with the bodies?”

I glanced at the soldiers who were laying out corpses in neat rows, clearly separated in three groups. One had everything, including clothing, stripped from them and gathered, clearly the Dominion’s fallen. It was the smallest group. The one where a few townsfolk lingered was probably the largest, with people in various different kinds of clothing.

“Clean-up, I presume,” I answered. “Taking stock of casualties, tallying numbers, and gathering the equipment of the fallen. This is going to take a while, I’d say. Cleaning up after a fight often takes longer than the actual fighting.” Especially with cultivators.

He nodded and continued watching the work. I noticed that his gaze flitted all over the scene, but his knuckles slowly whitened where he clenched his hands.

“It stinks,” he finally commented.

I took a deep breath, then regretted it as my enhanced sense of smell picked up the scent of death, blood and excretions. “Yeah.” I grimaced. “That’s how you could tell that a number of civilians died. Soldiers are stronger cultivators and usually don’t eat much, especially in a war. Their bodies don’t stink as much.”

He pulled a face. Tenira had joined us during the conversation, and I noticed her rolling her eyes from my peripheral vision. She didn’t look down except for brief glances.

“What point are you trying to make?” Kajare asked after a moment.

I shrugged. “Nothing, really. I’m taking a look at the state of the town and the Velisha’s forces. Get ready to disembark, we’re almost there.”

We were coming up on what I assumed was the center of town, perhaps the manor of the local lord in normal times. They’d set up a security perimeter, and the airship had to wait, hovering in the air for a bit, before we were clear to land.

When we finally disembarked, every eye was on us. I smiled slightly, trying to project confidence and let them know I wasn’t rattled. Not everyone looked happy to see us. Most people kept away and tried not to make their stares obvious, while a greeting party stepped closer to us and bowed.

“Imperial Princess,” the man in the lead, probably an officer, greeted. “Please let me welcome you and your retinue to the Velisha.”

I nodded. “Thank you. My troops should have made contact with you a while ago. I’m glad to see things are well in hand here.”

“Of course, Your Highness. The king is waiting for you. And your companions, of course.”

We fell into loose formation as we followed the group, with my guards on the outside, watching our surroundings carefully. Kajare walked a step beside and to the side of me, with Tenira and Lei and then Yarani following. We’d set down on an open square beside the main complex, so we wouldn’t have far to go. I glanced at the tables set up in the area we walked through. They’d turned this into a command post, and people were communicating with what sounded like locations in the rest of their territory, and perhaps our strike force.

The Velisha king stood in the center of it all, accompanied by several younger people in rich robes and uniforms. He looked like he was maybe fifty, with a broad, imposing stature and gray-flecked hair framing a lined face. I recognized the people not in uniform as his sons from my briefing material, but the resemblance would have been obvious anyway.

They stopped talking as we approached and turned around, the king stepping forward to meet us, flanked by some of the others. Several of them openly scowled at me. I noticed some gazes stop on Kajare before they moved on. He tilted his chin up slightly as if in response to their looks.

For a moment, I wondered if I’d have to make the first move. Then the rest of them dropped to a knee while the king bowed deeply. An appropriate reception. “Imperial Princess Inaris, Prince Kajare, lords and ladies of House Leri,” he greeted us. “Welcome to our humble home.”

I bowed my head in response. “Thank you, King Valis. Please rise.” I waited as they did, hesitating for a moment, before I continued speaking. “I’m sorry for the death your people suffered, in this town as well as the rest. You have my condolences.”

Some of their expressions only darkened at the reminder. But I kept my focus on the king. His eyes widened a fraction, and his gaze sharped, before he gave a small nod. “Thank you, Imperial Princess.”

“I hope that with the reinforcements the Empire has sent, we’ll be able to turn this around on the Dominion,” I said. “How are things here?”

“Adequate,” one of the younger men grated out. He scowled at a sharp look from the king. “They would have been better had the Empire been here earlier.”

King Valis cleared his throat. “We understand that this sudden strike was unexpected for everyone,” he said. The look he shot the others was clear. Don’t be an idiot, we need them to win this. Or something like that. “Our counter-push is going well, thanks to the Imperial elites,” he continued. “We are already pushing them back, and may regain several towns soon.”

I smiled. “That’s good news.”

“Of course.” He glanced around. “Forgive my poor hospitality. Would you like to come inside for refreshments?”

I didn’t really want to, but I didn’t want to risk offending anyone, and it sounded like this was the time for social niceties and pleasantries. It helped that both Tenira and Yarani were looking at me expectantly. So I agreed, and allowed the king to lead the group inside the manor. It would be better to talk about things with more privacy, too.

And while I still felt a bit of the restless urgency, I knew that there wasn’t much I could do for the fight here. I needed to concentrate on my own challenge, dealing with our vassals.

On the way, Valis and Kajare started chatting. Apparently, Valis had met his father a few decades ago, and was now asking after his health and various people he’d met. Kajare was friendly, but I could tell this wasn’t just idle small talk.

I sighed. They’re not going to be happy if I tell them that the Kingdom of Terbekteri isn’t sending reinforcements. At least not here, not now.

Our alliance was only a few days old, in all. It took time to work things out, to set up coordination between our forces. And since Terbekteri had been left alone so far, they weren’t rushing their mobilization as much as some on our side might have hoped.

I shook my head and focus on the situation as we entered a large sitting room. One thing at a time. I’d learn what I could here, make a few decisions, and hopefully do my part in the war effort.

86: The price of protection

“They’re all waiting on you, Inaris,” Tenira said.

I didn’t turn away from the window, a large glass plane spanning a good chunk of the room, and the view it offered me of the landscape. “I know,” I answered. “I’m letting them wait. For a bit.”

Cloth rustling and the soft sound of footsteps indicated that Tenira was coming closer. She didn’t answer right away, so I turned around and looked at her. The light from the window highlighted the soft blue of her robe, and let the pearls set into it sparkle. She’d put on a bit of makeup that made her eyes look even deeper than usual. By now, I was used to her beauty and didn’t show any outward reaction, even if my heartbeat accelerated just a little.

“You’re a lot more confident with this sort of thing,” she commented. “It’s good to see.”

I smiled wryly. “Thanks. But a part of it is a front.” I shrugged. “Out here, I’m the Imperial authority. And these people aren’t our citizens, they’re vassals, and I’m in the position of their liege now. They’re all more experienced and stronger, so I can’t afford to screw up.”

“Plus some of them are angry at the Empire, or just angry in general and directing it at us.”

“Yeah, that too.” I shook my head. “Let’s go.”

We were still in the same town we’d arrived in two days ago. The Velisha leadership had decided to stay here and establish a new base rather than move closer to the fighting, although they’d managed to reclaim two other towns from the Dominion. Perhaps because of the foreign politicians who’d started arriving. I wasn’t sure if it was just because they’d gotten word of my presence, or if the Velisha had discreetly invited them.

Right now, most of them had gathered in the mansion’s hall. Almost all of them were either the rulers or leaders of a small nation, or closely associated with someone who was. It made this a great opportunity to establish some far-reaching decisions, even if it also raised the difficulty for me.

They all stood and bowed when I entered, Tenira on my heels. I paused for a moment to take stock of the room. Over a dozen people, about two thirds of them men, all at least in the sixth stage and richly dressed according to various cultural norms or fashions.

“Thank you, lords and ladies,” I said. “Please sit. Let us begin.” I smiled as I walked to my own seat. “I look forward to working with you all.”

The few people here from Imperial provinces looked most at ease, I noted. They’d taken the seats close to me, while King Varis faced me at the other end of the large table, flanked by two younger men.

“The Dominion threatens everyone here,” an older woman replied, sharp gaze fixed on me. “Of course, that’s partly because of our association with the Empire, Princess Inaris.” She paused for a moment. “Not that I would imply disloyalty, of course.”

“But as your vassals, we’re promised protection in exchange for bending the knee,” a middle-aged man in golden robes cut in. “I do hope the Empire remembers that.”

I sighed internally. They’re not pulling their punches, are they? And right off the bat. I guess I can see it. Try to get me off balance, prevent me from getting my feet under me in the first place. I narrowed my eyes. Or I’m just being paranoid.

After I’d let the silence build for a few moments, fixing my gaze on them, I smiled slightly, just a curling of my lips that I knew didn’t reach my eyes. “Of course. The Empire honors its agreements. It’s why we helped you in your efforts to become modern nations, improving your economy, standard of living, and martial strength. After your countries — or the disparate tribes you used to be — decided to accept the Empire’s sheltering hand.”

A few of them shifted in their seats just a fraction. Quite a few of these countries would have chosen to submit for fear of being conquered. I doubted anyone here was old enough to remember it, but some were probably afraid that this war might lead the Empire to tighten its metaphorical hand around them.

“Of course the Empire will protect you,” I continued. “As it has always done. But we will not let anyone use this time to sow dissension or maneuver for individual advantage. All of you have sworn oaths of fealty to the Empire, just as your countries are duty-bound to serve it faithfully. I do hope you remember that.”

There was a moment of silence, before many of them bowed their heads. Murmurs of “Of course, Your Highness” filled the room.

I saw Kajare relax slightly beside me. Tenira didn’t let anything show, but she’d been tense ever since we sat down. I wished one of them could help me out, but I knew I couldn’t let them speak for me. Beside the occasional comment, maybe.

“Since we’re on that topic,” I continued. I wanted to wait, but I guess they’re less likely to object now, right? “The Empire will require more from all of you while we shoulder the burden of dealing with this conflict. After all, as has been pointed out, the Dominion and this war are an existential threat to all of us. As such, in the name of my Mother, I want to ensure that our efforts are bundled and integrated well.”

“You’re demanding more from us?” one of the men interjected, leaning forward. “What, more tithe? Or withdrawing defenses and exposing our lands to attack?”

I frowned, feeling a stab of annoyance at the interruption. “No. As I said, we will protect everyone, unless there are clear and compelling strategic reasons why we can’t. And we will not demand more money. In fact, taxes are put on hold for now.”

“Then what?” the woman from earlier asked, a touch of weariness in her voice.

“People,” I said. “We will be doing an accounting of every cultivator of notable strength in the dominion of an Imperial vassal. You all know that wars are decided by the strongest cultivators. As such, this is a matter of paramount importance to all of our security.” I cleared my throat. “Every cultivator in your lands in the sixth stage of cultivation or above will report to Imperial authorities, so we may best deploy them in the course of this war, whether that means fighting, establishing infrastructure, or other duties. Exceptions will be made for those occupied in critical roles. So I declare, in the name of my Mother, Empress Acura the First.”

For a moment, everyone was silent. They started to exchange glances. Some sank deeper into their seats, while others seemed to swell with bluster. I hadn’t really considered it before, but they would, of course, also be included in that decree.

“You’re drafting our strongest warriors?” King Varis asked, as if he had trouble believing it. Everyone else turned to him.

“Those already fighting for their nation or people will of course remain where they are and continue doing that,” I said. “It is those who have so far not contributed to the war effort who will be primarily affected.”

“This is scandalous,” one of the men hissed. “Our countries will bear the brunt of this war’s cost, while the Empire is the one truly under attack by the Zarian?”

Tenira scoffed. “Similar arrangements will be made in the Empire’s provinces. Of course you’re not asked to bear the burden alone, but you are required to contribute, just as everyone will.”

Many of them looked to the representatives from the closer Imperial territories, who nodded in confirmation. They didn’t look happy about this, but didn’t speak up about it. That seemed to take some of the wind out of the complainers’ sails.

I heaved a quiet sigh. We’re going to need elites to ensure this draft is working properly. Just another burden. But with how much even a single seventh stager can accomplish, we can’t afford not to make use of them. It’ll more than make up for the trouble in the long term. That’s what Mother had concluded in our dream meeting, too.

“The Kingdom of Terbekteri is also escalating our recruitment efforts,” Kajare added. “It’s obviously necessary.”

They exchanged glances once again. I took note of who seemed to dislike the mention of Terbekteri, mostly those from two groups closer to the northwest and their provinces.

“Speaking of,” the Velisha king said. “We haven’t noticed much activity from the Kingdom’s territories on the continent.”

Kajare shrugged slightly. “This war was something of a surprise. It takes time for Terbekteri to mobilize, and to integrate our forces with the Empire and establish networks of communication and common strategies.”

“But we will need their help,” I said. “And I’ve been assured they will give it. In fact, with the situation the way it is here, the Dominion’s movements, I am quite sure of it.”

“How’s that? The Dominion isn’t moving in their direction at all.”

I raised my eyebrows a little. “Oh, they are. That’s part of what I’ve been intending to discuss with you before we got sidetracked.” I spread a map on the table. “We have reason to believe that the Dominion has a significant troop presence in this area, here. Poised to attack in several possible directions. This could also be key if we decide to strike ourselves.”

That information seemed to energize the meeting participants. They leaned closer to get a better look at the map, passed it among themselves, and started talking about it. There seemed to be several conversations going on at once, discussing various aspects. I leaned back, content to let them work things out for now. While I needed to present a front of confidence and superiority, I didn’t really have all the answers. That was the point of this discussion, for me.

It quickly became apparent that they were of two minds about this information. One group proposed going on the offensive, hitting the Zarian with a surprise attack and routing their hidden army. They claimed that the advantage of surprise would be on our side, and this was our opportunity to dislodge the Dominion’s grip on the middle of the continent. The other group was more cautious. They wanted to shore up our defenses, concentrate on uniting our forces and wait for the next major attack of the Zarian to beat them back. Well, a subgroup advocated for advancing slowly, but they were quickly torn to pieces by everyone else.

“Let us stop bickering like children in school,” king Varis said loudly, silencing the discussions. He fixed his gaze on me. “What do our Imperial patrons say?”

I straightened up. To my surprise, Varis had been vocal in supporting the idea of taking action now. I’d expected him to play defensively, concerned about losing even more to the Dominion and trying to guard what he had. Perhaps he was just hoping that a successful attack would let him regain what the Dominion had conquered.

“I found your discussions enlightening,” I said. “Many of you have raised good points, and this is certainly no easy decision.”

I exchanged quick looks with Tenira and Kajare, who gave me a slight nod. I’d gone over much of the same discussion with Mother. In the end, she’d left the decision to me, since I was here and had a better sense of what we had to work with in terms of the vassals. I looked at them. While they’d been a little combative, no one showed serious signs of trying to go against the Empire. And enough of them supported the offensive that it wouldn’t come across as me forcing them into it with no regard for their well-being. At least, I hope so.

“We will take advantage of this before it is too late,” I decided. “We should strike before the Dominion actually deploys those soldiers, especially if we don’t know where. With the reinforcements from the Empire and some of our new innovations, we should be able to push them back before they’re too entrenched.”

I watched the reactions from the assembled people. Some nodded, some grimaced, some seemed like they’d expected this.

“That means taking a big risk,” the woman said, although she didn’t look displeased. “The Dominion might be prepared for us.”

“But they should not be prepared for a two-pronged assault,” Kajare put in. He smiled grimly. “Terbekteri has been very quiet up until now, as some of you pointed out. A dedicated offensive in conjunction with them should give us good chances to pierce their defenses. We will come at them from the direction they’re weaker. Once their hidden card is destroyed, they’ll be that much more vulnerable and off-balance, and we can start regaining some of the lands they’ve occupied.”

“And does Terbekteri agree with that?” Varis asked, raising an eyebrow.

I exchanged another look with Kajare as his smile faded. That was the crux of the problem. We needed their support for this.

“I’m confident they will,” I finally answered. “My husband and I will personally travel to the Kingdom’s holdings to align our strategies.” And convince them to go along with this.

I noted that some of them looked skeptical, and concealed a sigh. If we can’t get their agreement, we don’t need to proceed with this plan. But it would be a loss of face. One I can’t really afford.

“Well, Princess Inaris,” Varis shrugged. “I wish you luck.”

I forced a smile as the others expressed similar sentiments. Not the sort of circumstances I would have chosen to meet Kajare’s family, if some of them are there. But what can you do?

87: Siblings-in-law

The landscape passing below our airship was interesting enough that I wished we could’ve traveled on the ground. While it was nice to see from an airship, I would’ve liked to be a little closer, take a better look at things, maybe listen to some of the locals. Of course, even as cultivators or with spirit beast mounts that wouldn’t have been as fast as an airship, and we were in something of a hurry. No time to dawdle or play tourist.

I might have promised myself that we could go traveling on vacation later, but I wasn’t naive enough to think this war would be over soon.

The landscape had been rising steadily as we drew closer to our destination. There were several low mountain ranges leading up to the big one that took up a chunk of the continent. The Terbekteri territories covered some of them and parts of those mountains. It was a good position, with natural defenses to the northwest, and a little removed from the current hotbed of activity. You’d need to travel through a qi anomaly to get to their provinces quickly from the Dominion’s position. I could make out the shadow of it a little farther away, though our course didn’t intersect with it. Instead, we flew over hilly fields that had made way to forested hills and mountains, with a few rivers winding down into the flatter land. There were a lot of villages and towns, and as we crossed the border into Terbekteri territory, I found a few cities, as well.

“You’ve been quiet,” Tenira commented.

At first, I thought she was talking to me. But as I looked up, I realized she was looking at Kajare, who stood leaning on the railing with his back, looking into the clouds rather than down on the landscape.

He shrugged. “I suppose I don’t have much to say.”

“Does anyone, really?” Lei grinned. He was working on some project on the deck, close enough to be part of the conversation. I couldn’t make out what it was from here, but it had to be small, probably a few wires. He liked playing with electricity.

“I feel like we’ve been spending too much time on airships,” I mused, not quite on topic.

Lei looked up and raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that better than on battlefields, in your opinion?”

“Okay, you’ve got me there. Kajare, will we be there soon?”

“I haven’t been here before,” my husband answered, finally turning to look. “But that does look like the city of Aviadoru. There’s a combination fortress and estate on the mountain beside it, where we should find our hosts.”

I nodded. Then I leaned forward to get a better look. We were approaching the city quickly, but it didn’t look much different from any other I’d seen on this world. Terbekteri architecture tended to be a bit more straight-edged, less sloping roofs or the like, but it didn’t really stand out to me.

We approached it quickly, then our airship banked to the sides, flying over the outskirts of the city to the steep slope of the mountain rising beside it. The fortress was easy to spot with its massive stone walls, covering almost the entire slope with several layers of fortifications. The airship slowed down as it passed over them, and I noticed several pieces of artillery on the walls moving to track it. There was a rock garden in the center beside a sprawling estate, and several open courtyards. The airship flew a circle before setting down in one.

I had to suppress a frown. We’d basically invited ourselves. There was no polite way for them to say no to this visit. But there clearly didn’t seem to be much enthusiasm for it here, so far.

We met a greeting party when we stepped out of the airship, and a group of soldiers in polished, ceremonial-looking armor flanked the path, so at least they weren’t unprepared. I didn’t recognize any of the welcoming party, and they didn’t seem very strong, so I wasn’t surprised when they led us into the building quickly.

The inside was decorated with elaborate mosaics, and had several open fires, from lamps and torches to a fireplace in the hearth at the end of a hall. The chair at the head of the table was just a bit of ostentatiousness shy of a throne. The man in it waited until we were almost across the room until he rose, a petty gesture that made me suppress my annoyance.

I recognized him from briefing materials, of course, and kept back to let Kajare handle this. He could deal with his older brother better than me.

“Little brother!” the older prince exclaimed, opening his arms as if for a hug, though he didn’t actually move in to embrace Kajare.

“Hajake.” Kajare smiled and bowed his head slightly. “It is good to see you again. This is my wife, Imperial Princess Inaris, and her cousins, Leri Tenira and Leri Akilei.”

I smiled as well. “I am very pleased to make your acquaintance, Prince Hajake.”

“Please, no need for formality. Aren’t we among family?” He smiled, showing white teeth, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Hajake looked older than Kajare, like he was in his thirties, and he was a little shorter, his face a bit softer. His skin had a lighter tone that made me wonder if they were full or half-siblings. Clearly, he lacked not just his brother’s coloration, but also his charm. His forced lightness just set me on edge.

But I tried not to show that, and nodded. “Of course, brother-in-law.”

“There are a few more of the family around, and I’m sure they’ll be happy to meet you,” he continued, still smiling. “Why don’t you take some time to rest and refresh yourselves first, though? You must be tired. We’ve had rooms prepared. Make yourselves at home.” He snapped his fingers and a few servants came out of the woodwork, waiting to lead us there.

I hesitated. “Thank you for the offer, but we really aren’t that tired. Perhaps we could keep you some company instead?”

“Oh dear.” He sighed, and from the way he glanced at Kajare, I knew the slight look of regret on his face was a lie. “Unfortunately, I have urgent matters occupying my attention. State business, you understand.”

“Of course.” I narrowed my eyes a little, but I knew I couldn’t complain.

“I do hope you will enjoy our hospitality, and that your visit will be pleasant.” This time, I could definitely detect a mocking undertone, aimed at Kajare.

I hid a sigh as we turned to follow the servants to the rooms they’d set up. The interior of the estate was sparsely decorated, but the artwork on the walls looked great, and the building seemed almost empty. We quickly reached the suites they’d prepared for us, well-appointed rooms without much character.

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m going to take a bath,” Lei said. “The rest of you can worry about the political stuff.”

I rolled my eyes and glanced at the other two. Well, I suppose there’s nothing to do but wait, really. “Kajare, we’re going to have to wait for a while, don’t we?”

He nodded, looking a bit down. “Yes. Hajake has never seemed to like me, I’m afraid. I’d hoped there was someone else in charge here.”

“Well, we can’t change that. I guess I’ll take a bath as well.”

I did, though not before sending away all the servants. I could barely tolerate them in our own palace, I certainly wouldn’t trust any from a foreign country in a position where I was vulnerable. At least they had a nice bath sunk into the floor in the bathroom of the suite they’d given me and Kajare, and I took a while to relax. Once I finished, it still didn’t look like anything had changed, so I occupied my time with reading and making some concept work of new techniques and enchantments.

Finally, after hours of waiting, I shut my book. “Kajare, I hate to ask, but do you think you could go look for Hajake or somewhere we could make some progress? We can’t afford to get stopped before we even start talking about our plan.”

Kajare pulled a face, but nodded. “Of course, my lady. I’ll see if I can’t get something done.”

With that, he left, and I turned back to my work. I couldn’t focus on it, so I pulled out one of my old self’s novels, instead. It felt like ages since I’d last had the chance to read. But it couldn’t capture my attention fully, either.

After almost an hour, I took out a communication talisman and fed some qi into it to call Kajare.

“Sorry, Inaris,” his voice came through the device. “Hajake isn’t being very accommodating. He claims to be busy still. I broached the topic of a combined offensive to take advantage of the current situation, but he shut me down. At least some of the higher-ranking officers seemed receptive.”

“Alright. Not your fault, thanks for trying.” I put the communication device away, sighing.

Idly, I wished that Yarani was here. But I’d left her with the Velisha since I thought it wouldn’t be very politic to bring her along. After a moment of consideration, I decided to leave Tenira and Lei doing what they were doing, as well. Best not to appear too guarded. So I stood up and walked to the door alone.

“Aston, can you accompany me on a little walk?” I asked. “Maybe one or two other guards, your choice.”

He nodded and exchanged a few gestures with the other guards waiting outside in the corridor. A moment later, Lirta stepped up beside him, then another guard came from a side corridor. I nodded to them and set off.

After we left the corridor, I slowed down again, since I didn’t have any idea of where to go. I didn’t know the layout of the place, or where I might find someone I should talk to, if there was anyone.

I focused on my qi senses, trying to get a feel for the estate. It was pretty big, and while I could sense some presences, none struck me as particularly remarkable, and I couldn’t get much beside a rough idea of their strength.

Luckily, there were some solutions. I looked at Aston. “I’m hoping we might meet people we can strike up a conversation with and touch on the advantages of our proposed strategy, not to mention the possible threat expressed by the Dominion’s staging points. There should be more persons from the Terbekteri higher-ups here, especially other royals. Do you have any inclination of where we might go?”

Aston tilted his head, a small smile playing around his lips. “My intuition tells me we might have a pleasant walk down to the winter garden, Your Highness. The next corridor left and then straight up ahead.”

I nodded, trying not to smirk at his ‘intuition’, and started following his directions. Nice of Mior to help.

We walked through a few more corridors, hung with paintings and lit by soft yellowish glowstones, before we descended a marble staircase that led down into what looked like a vestibule around an open-concept space filled with various plants and gravel walkways.

There was a woman just coming out of the winter garden, obviously the one I came here to meet. She wore an intricately embroidered dress glittering with pearls. I recognized her from a picture, as well, as one of Kajare’s sisters. I hurried down the staircase to meet her, with Aston and my other guards behind me. She paused when she saw us coming. I knew she was in her thirties, though she looked not much older than me, and she was also in the fourth stage.

When I came to a stop in front of her, thinking of the appropriate greeting, she looked at me for a moment longer, her eyes surprisingly piercing, and I felt her qi senses sweep over me, before she lowered her gaze. Then she knelt and fell forward until she lay prostrate in front of me. I took half a step back as she did so.

She murmured something in their language that I didn’t quite get, though it felt like a prepared phrase, and I caught the name ‘Rijoko’. Then she switched to Imperial Common, “This one is blessed to encounter the Luminous Princess, daughter of the Moon.”

I answered, after a moment, “I greet you, Princess Salira.”

She remained in her position for a second longer, then pushed herself upward until she was kneeling.

I smiled slightly, stepped forward and laid my hand on her forehead. “I bless you in the name of the Moon, Salira of house Terki. May he shine on your path and guide you to truth.” Then I cleared my throat. “Please rise, and let us speak.”

As I took a step back again, she stood up and smoothed out her dress, smiling. I sighed mentally and tried to assess her. So, she must be a devoted follower of Rijoko. Interesting.

“I am glad I didn’t have to wait until my brother got tired of playing games to meet you, Imperial Princess,” she said. “Would you accompany me into the garden?”

“Of course,” I agreed and started following her. There didn’t seem to be any guards with her, but then, she was safe in one of her house’s estates. I motioned to my own guards to keep back and give us some privacy, or at least the appearance of it.

“I’ve noticed your brother Hajake doesn’t seem overly fond of us visiting, if I may be so blunt,” I said.

She rolled her eyes a little. “Hajake never liked Kajare. Perhaps there’s some jealousy, who knows. He was not enthusiastic about your marriage or the alliance, and he’s been hesitant to consider becoming more involved in the war.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

“For what it’s worth, my lady, my own opinion is that there’s no point sitting this out, if it’s even possible for Terbekteri,” Salira said. “Of course, I can’t do much with him here, even if many of the generals would agree with me. I had to persuade Father to even be allowed to come.”

I frowned thoughtfully, looking at her. I knew the Kingdom of Terbekteri was somewhat patriarchal. To be fair, many places or situations in the Empire were a bit sexist as well, even if two centuries of having a female ruler had ameliorated it. By now, among the nobles, only the conservative clans really treated their daughters differently. Of any of us, the Zarian Dominion was probably the most egalitarian, even if they had some minor issues in that regard as well.

But I shook my head and pulled myself from these musings. There was no use speculating about Salira’s attitude or experience.

Instead, I started talking about the state of the war and explained the Dominion’s hidden maneuver, and how we wanted to take advantage of it with their help.

Salira frowned, shaking her head. “That’s serious. If this is true, it certainly seems like we’re a possible target of attack, and it would be good to strike first and remove that threat. Ah, not that I’m doubting your information, Your Highness.” She bowed her head.

“Of course, I wouldn’t take offense,” I assured her. Then I fell silent for a moment, looking at the exotic plants we were walking past and breathing in their distinctive smells. “Do you think it would convince the generals to openly support you and take action?”

The princess looked thoughtful, but started to smile. “I’m sure we can make it work.”

88: Maneuvering

Surreptitiously, I glanced at my watch. Almost an hour. We’d talked for longer than I’d thought. I returned it to my storage ring, frowning a little to myself. How long would it take for Hajake to get a clue?

I wasn’t the only one who seemed to be getting restless. Looking through the spacious room, quite a few of the officers were more active than before, shifting position to talk to each other, scribbling on paper, or just acting on what had to be nervous habits, like one man who kept straightening his uniform jacket. Of course, that could just be the news we’d given them, rather than the time. At least the two princesses sitting close to me appeared calm.

I smiled and turned to the older one. “Princess Derianka, I wanted to thank you again for this, and the smooth way you are handling it.”

She nodded, blushing a bit. “Of course, Imperial Princess.”

Truthfully, Derianka hadn’t done that much, compared to Salira. Although she was at least a decade older, she didn’t have the same presence as her younger sister, or the same poise. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she was still in the early part of the fourth stage. But I didn’t care about any of that. Having two princesses in my corner was better than one, especially since they and Hajake were the only Terbekteri royals present.

I turned back to the gathering, most of them high-ranking military commanders of the Kingdom. I noticed a few were spreading out a large map on a recliner. Maybe I should try to move things to a real meeting room. But that would make this even more blatant.

Finally, the door opened, with enough force that it would have crashed into the walls if it wasn’t heavy hardwood. Prince Hajake walked into the room, smoothing out the scowl on his face a second too late.

“Sisters, Princess Inaris, officers,” he greeted, voice tight. “Would you mind explaining this gathering?” He put on a strained smile. “Our schedule is being derailed, and I’m sure many of you have other duties waiting for you.”

I stood up, forcing a smile as well. “It’s so good of you to join us, Hajake. I must apologize, I am afraid things rather got away from me. You see, I was having a pleasant chat with your lovely sisters, when the topic turned to the war. Some of the ladies present were rather concerned by the developments I mentioned, and soon a few officers joined us.” I gestured at the room and shrugged.

“We would have sent word if you weren’t so dreadfully busy, Brother,” Kajare added, actually sounding sincere. Although his lips were curling just a bit.

“Exactly,” I agreed. “We and our guests agreed that this was potentially critical information, and since it seemed like you would be occupied by urgent state business for a while, I thought we might as well share it so your fine commanders had some time to consider it.”

Hajake’s face started turning a bit red, and he gritted his teeth. “I see,” he managed after a moment.

“I did attempt to let you know if you were available, dear brother,” Salira added. She raised the fan in her hand a little, looking like a graceful, demure lady. “I sent one of my servants.”

That only made him grit his teeth harder. I wondered which servant she’d sent, probably a girl she knew he was likely to brush off. If they hadn’t mysteriously gotten lost on the way, though I didn’t think she would go that far.

Hajake stepped further into the room, sighing softly. “Of course. Don’t blame yourself, little sister, you couldn’t be expected to know the real importance of this. Now, I did have a feast prepared, perhaps we could simply get to it?”

Before I could try to politely refuse, one of the officers present spoke up. He was an older man who wore a lot of medals or insignia on his uniform, clearly a veteran, high-ranking commander. “Your Highness, if I may be so bold, perhaps you would consider speaking of this at once? It sounds like time may be short.”

For a moment, Hajake just stood there in silence. But he must have realized that he’d been outmaneuvered, because a moment later he took a seat in the center of the room facing most of the officers, not so subtly pushing me and his sisters out to the fringes. “Of course. What is it?”

“The Dominion appears to be planning a surprise attack, one that may be aimed at some of our territory,” the old officer answered.

I stood up and ambled over to them, unfurling a map. “There’s a Zarian force setting up staging points here,” I explained. “As you can see, that’s on the path toward our location, among other possibilities, if they push roughly northwest. Doable with strong soldiers, and the qi anomaly would hide their approach.”

Hajake looked more closely at it and frowned. “It looks like there are several other things they might be targeting.”

“Of course,” I agreed, keeping my tone even. “They could be launching an attack at different strategically valuable locations. Ones that losing could hinder our logistics or cohesion in this alliance, prepare for another push, or simply cost us a lot of soldiers.”

He was quiet for a moment. I knew the officers hadn’t missed the subtle emphasis on the alliance. We were all on the same side here, and he couldn’t deny that. Perhaps in a different situation, he could get away with focusing on their defenses, putting their own territory first, even if it hurts the alliance. But when that means allowing a possible threat to that territory, I doubt they would let him get away with it. Worst case, I don’t doubt the commanders could appeal to the king.

“Well,” he finally said. “You’ve already had some time to consider this. Let’s hear some thoughts.”

I suppressed a smile and took a step back as the gathered officers began to discuss strategy with Hajake. A few of them remained skeptical, even though I’d suggested they verify this information for themselves, carefully. But most seemed to prefer taking action. Perhaps some of them didn’t like the thought of sitting safely behind their defensive walls while a war that concerned their country was being waged beyond them.

I tensed a bit as Kajare stepped up to me, then relaxed. After a moment, I leaned back and took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. I appreciated the help he was giving me here.

“We should be moving out soon,” he murmured into my ear.

I glanced at him and smirked. “Eager to prove yourself?”

He hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. “No,” he replied, so quiet I was sure the rest wouldn’t hear. “But I don’t like waiting here while the war rages on in our lands.”

My smirk turned into a genuine smile, and I squeezed his hand again. I liked the sentiment, and the way he’d casually referred to Imperial lands as ‘ours’.

My attention was brought back to the discussion as Hajake raised his voice. But I could tell from his expression, and that of the others, that he was losing ground. Not that he would commit to officially opposing the offensive, of course. But Salira and the others were already turning the conversation to details and ways of coordination with the Imperial forces.

I straightened up, then started talking again, outlining some of the plans we’d already drafted for the combined operation.

I had to agree with Kajare here. I didn’t like waiting, and it was about time to give the Zarian Dominion a taste of their own medicine.

Yarani looked like a soldier, with silver-gray armor and what might have been a crossbow clutched in her hand. But when she walked towards me and smiled, she looked just like she would have in the palace, a cheer at odds with her attire.

“Inaris!” She sounded enthusiastic. “I missed you.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “I wasn’t gone that long, Yarani, was I?”

She shrugged. “Maybe it felt longer while I was stuck with the army leadership, waiting for you to get back or this operation to start.”

“Fair enough. I’m just giving you a hard time.” I grinned. “I missed you, too.”

“Maybe the two of you could move the touching reunion somewhere else, perhaps after this is over?” Tenira asked as she passed us.

I ducked my head and started to say sorry, but Tenira didn’t wait around, instead hurrying onward without looking back.

I shrugged, and, after a moment of hesitation, I hugged Yarani and gave her a quick kiss. “Good to see you again. Let’s go see what’s up.”

The camp around us was bustling with soldiers. Luckily, all of them made way for us as we walked through it. I took a good look at everything, trying to see how things were working out. Many of the soldiers were obviously from the Empire, but almost as many wore different clothing with Imperial rank-markings pinned on, probably warriors from our vassals. Then, of course, there was the contingent of Terbekteri I’d brought along.

“It’s a good thing we could coordinate everything remotely,” I remarked. “There’s probably still going to be issues, but at least we’re all on the same page, even if we need to strike soon.” I frowned. “How well are the other soldiers integrated with the Imperial army?”

Yarani hummed thoughtfully. “All of these countries’ forces and the army regularly train together. I don’t know when they did it last, but they should be able to work with us, and each other, well enough.”

I nodded. I’d seen that mentioned in my briefings, basically joint military exercises they did on a set schedule, so everyone was familiar with Imperial protocol. We should be okay, then.

It didn’t take long for us to reach the open tent where the commanders had set up. The Terbekteri officers were already deep in conversation with their Imperial counterparts. Kajare was talking to one of the agents from Kariva’s outfit, and after searching for a second I spotted Tenira in the corner, bent over a map with someone whose face I recognized from the Velisha.

I joined the largest concentration of commanders, who fell silent at my approach and started bowing. I waved them back up and looked at the maps they’d spread out, little markers of solid qi spread among them. It looked like they’d started packing up.

“Are we ready?” I asked. “How much time do we have?”

A Imperial general answered. “We were just finishing up, Your Highness. We have more than enough time to execute the plan on schedule.”

I nodded and took out my watch again, glancing at the time.

We needed to launch our attacks with tight coordination, if we wanted to retain the element of surprise. That’s why the plan called for several surgical strikes timed so the Zarian wouldn’t be able to get much warning that they were under attack. Our trip back had been beset by bad weather and taken longer than we’d thought, but that shouldn’t matter too much. We had a few minutes before launch, still.

“It’s best if we don’t wait too long,” Salira said from where she leaned against a tent pole not far from me. She tilted her head in my direction. “I’ve heard you intend to participate, yourself, my lady?”

I nodded. “My guards will keep me safe, but I need to lead from the front.” Especially given the situation. “I assume you’re staying?”

She chuckled. “Not everyone has the martial bravery you do, Princess Inaris. I know where my strengths lie, and in battle against cultivators stages higher than me isn’t it.”

I grunted in response, turning back to watch the others while I considered that. Salira had acted with surprisingly confidence and not shown much religious awe or deference to me. Perhaps she isn’t such a fanatical devotee after all. Then why the greeting? To demonstrate that she’d follow me? Well, it’s not like I mind either way.

Too soon, everyone wrapped up their business. We filed out of the tent as a few soldiers set to work disassembling it. I lingered to watch. With cultivators that had supernatural strength and speed, and the convenience of storage rings, it went a lot quicker than I would have thought possible before. The same happened around us. Soldiers were already forming up in groups and ranks. Some filed onto airships, while others readied flying swords, and a few even had spirit beast mounts. I noticed that most of those were elites. That made sense, since strong spirit beasts could add a lot of firepower, but would need a lot of care, not mention that it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to give them riders they could overpower if something spooked them in the chaos of battle.

To my surprise, Hajake was one of those mounting a large bird of prey, one that resembled those we’d encountered before but with more muted colors and longer beaks. He moved with grace that spoke of practice, clearly at ease in this position. Maybe he wasn’t all hot air, after all.

When he met my gaze, his face tightened, but he inclined his head politely, before he turned his attention back to his spirit beast. I returned the gesture. Hopefully, he isn’t feeling humiliated and wants revenge. I snorted to myself. He’s participated well enough so far.

I was interrupted by another man coming up to me and clearing his throat softly. I turned and raised an eyebrow. From the briefing, that was Jian, a prince from the Velisha. I hadn’t really talked to him before, but he was the one who’d seemed combative, maybe angry, when I met the Velisha leadership.

“Yes, Prince Jian?” I put on what I hoped was a friendly smile.

“Imperial Princess, I wanted to ask if you would consider joining us?” He kept his head bowed but raised his gaze to meet mine. “The group attacking the second target, I mean. My father would feel better about your safety there, although of course we wouldn’t presume to dictate your actions.” He cleared his throat a little. “But I hoped you might like to see how we’ll crush the Zarian. And it seems to be an important outpost for them, where key communication lines will likely converge.”

I raised an eyebrow as I thought it over. This was probably a peace offering, so I wasn’t inclined to refuse.

Target two was a little far off from the rest, but considering the forces we’d arrayed against all of them and the way our assault would proceed, it probably would make it hard for the Zarian to get at me. So he was right about it being safer.

I smiled and nodded. “Of course. I’ll be glad to join your group. Give me a moment to make the arrangements.”

It was a little last minute, but we could switch out my guard team for one of the groups we’d planned for without messing things up too much. I walked off to look for Aston, noting in passing that Hajake and another group of Terbekteri soldiers were moving towards the same area Jian and his Velisha would be launching from. Maybe we weren’t the only ones to think it would be the safest spot.

But I wouldn’t cast stones. I wasn’t eager to put myself at risk, here, either.

89: Coordinated attack

Compared to the mountains towering on the horizon to the northwest, the ones we were flying amongst now seemed downright small. But they were still mountains, and the mix of altitudes as valleys and peaks blended into each other must have done something to the air currents. Wind assaulted us constantly. Because of the terrain, our force couldn’t move at their top speed, but we were still making good progress.

The spirit beast beneath me pulled into a tight dive to the side, and I tightened my grip on the leather saddle. The guard seated in front of me glanced back quickly, before he again focused on steering the bird through the mountainous terrain. I looked up, noting that the other birds surrounding me were slowly changing position, as if they were rotating through a formation, but still kept up. Their cocoon made it harder to get a sense of our surroundings. But I could tell that qi was pretty dense here, though calmer than in a real anomaly.

Under different circumstances, I would have been excited about the flight. But right now, even the coolness factor couldn’t distract me from pre-battle jitters. I tried to breathe deeply and center myself, to get the anxiety, adrenaline and anticipation under control.

Then we took yet another turn, and our target spread out before us. I sucked in a breath as I stared at it. To the right, the mountain climbing up before us ended abruptly in a chasm. It looked like some angry titan had swung a knife and cut straight through the mountain, through rock and stone and ice, until it finally leveled out into a valley far below. It had to be at least a kilometer deep, maybe closer to two, and three or four kilometers long, but narrow. A remnant from an old battle between really strong cultivators, perhaps.

But I only stared for a moment before I turned my attention to the structure rising from the left mountain. It was built like a traditional fortress, but the walls were camouflaged with ice and even a few stunted plants to make it blend into the landscape. They couldn’t quite hide the large enchanted weapons set up now, or the people crawling over it. The Zarian must know we were coming, now.

Well, it didn’t matter. We were almost upon them.

The guard sitting in front of me pulled our mount upward, and the others followed, spreading out somewhat to shield me from possible attacks. Some of them were on flying swords, but most rode other spirit beasts. I crouched down to get a better look at the battlefield.

Our elites were the first to start fighting. From both the group of Velisha surrounding their two airships, as well as the one from Terbekteri, elites on spirit beast mounts or flying on their own power barreled into the fortress. A large flash ensured, and one of the outer walls collapsed with a deep, thunderous rumble. The elites in the group from the Empire proper were a little slower, but they showed more discipline, adjusting their formation as they blanketed one sector of the castle with a haze of different attacks. Soon, it looked like two of the towers were on fire, even though I’d have thought they were made of stone.

Of course, the Zarian didn’t just sit by and let this happen. Their own elites rose into the air to meet ours and tried to drive them away from the fortress. Some of them split off to head towards the airships and others fliers still coming in. At the same time, soldiers poured out of buildings and hidden nooks. Despite parts of their castle burning around them, they were calm and organized. Some groups moved off to try and deal with the damage our attacks were doing, while others formed up to meet the oncoming charge.

They don’t even have wide area shields. I guess those might have been easy to detect, and they preferred stealth. I frowned. Does that mean they don’t have variants that can go up quickly, or do they and just don’t want us to know?

My own group drew nearer slowly, and the guards started pelting the fortress below us with attacks. I summoned my spear from my storage ring, trying to find a good angle to point it at my targets. But most of my attention was captured by the rest of the battle. The bulk of our forces reached the fortress, and it started in earnest.

I winced as one of the airships lit on fire before it could settle into position. Hatches opened and lines fell out, soldiers rappelling down or fleeing on flying swords. The airship tumbled in the air for a bit, managing to stay up long enough to get the troops out, before it started tilting downwards, arcing to the ground. It disappeared behind a mountain ridge, but I could hear the crash a few moments later.

Gritting my teeth, I extended my domain, gripping onto the spirit beast to anchor me, a bit like I would with a flying sword, and grasping Fides in it. I gathered qi, pulling it through the spear and forming a technique, before I released it. One of the Zarian soldiers below me, who was setting up some kind of weapon emplacement, cursed and dodged to the side as the black sphere hit it and started to eat through the materials.

The airships pulled back as the soldiers started advancing, most on the ground, but some in the air. The walls weren’t much of an obstacle as the cultivators climbed and jumped their way farther into the fortress. But by now, Zarian resistance was getting stiffer. I saw many soldiers on both sides taken out of the fight. The variety of elemental techniques used stirred up dust and fog, decreasing my visibility.

“We need to go lower,” I called. “Join the attack, or at least get me a better vantage point.”

Judging by Aston’s grimace, he didn’t like that, but he didn’t argue. Instead, he led our group on a careful course through the air, dodging the worst of the fighting. He aimed for a reasonably level courtyard at the outer edge of the fortress, up on a ridge so it had a good view, and not heavily defended at the moment.

I wished the others were here, but dismissed that thought. Lei, Kajare and Yarani had all joined other teams, with a lot of guards, while Tenira stayed behind at the command center for the operation. That was the smart strategic choice, since I could ask them about those other parts of the attack in detail later. Plus, no bunching up high-value targets all in one spot.

My guards fell on the few Zarian defenders like hungry wolves, just with more magic. I barely had time to get a single attack off, watching as it ate into the shield of a Zarian soldier, before they’d finished securing our new position. Most of the enemy were dead, though a few of the guards went around collecting those who weren’t, giving them a bit of first aid and gathering them in a sheltered spot farther in. Hopping off the bird, I grimaced, but didn’t complain that they could have spared more of them. This was war, and I needed to focus on the battle, anyway.

It seemed to be going well. Prince Jian led a group of Velisha warriors in clearing out the side of the castle close to us. He was pretty weak on his own, but I saw him throwing himself into fights against soldiers who were clearly stronger. His guards stepped in to save him, but he barely paused. To the other side, more soldiers had gathered and thrown up a large qi barrier. I noticed a group of Imperial soldiers methodically batter it with different attacks, trying to bring it down. After a moment, they were joined by a group of Terbekteri soldiers led by Hajake. More of his people pushed on into the fortress’ highest reaches, but the area around him seemed clear.

I put my spear away, pulled out my qi communication talisman and called him. “Hajake, how’s your status?”

He looked around until he found me, then nodded and answered into his own device. “We’re fine here, Sister. The fighting should be dying down in this area.”

I smiled. “That’s good, everything seems to be going well here, too.” I hadn’t taken control of the battle, since I wasn’t the best suited to that, but it was easy enough to see how things stood. “Do you think we should push on further into the upper area of the fortress, press the attack?”

He frowned. “Perhaps. I’ve heard the Zarian are organizing below, some distance from the fortress, and the other areas seem to have some trouble.”

Great. I sighed and started calling the rest of the commanders, trying to get a better idea of the situation as a whole. Most of them agreed we should press the attack. Two of them also supported Hajake’s information, talking about a buildup of Zarian soldiers that might be preparing to relief the fortress, or assault it if they were too late to stop us.

Our soldiers were careful to keep the wards stopping scrying the fortress running, but it would have been too much to hope that the Zarian wouldn’t respond.

At that moment, Jian doubled back to join us. He gave a quick bow, then glanced at the side of the deep chasm. “My lady, we need to send someone to deal with that. We could lose our advantage here if we’re pinned between two forces.”

I nodded. “Yes, I was just considering that. Since your and Hajake’s forces are occupied, I’ll send one of the Imperial units down. Or two.”

He smiled. “I was about to suggest that. I hope you have a strong wind affinity cultivator. And a good commander. It looks like there are a few local spirit beasts and even spirits joining them. The Zarian must have been busy bargaining with them.”

Crap. None of the local Imperial commanders beyond those commanding regular squads were a wind cultivator. I’d need to send someone in the seventh stage, probably, but there was a reason those elites weren’t usually placed in command of lower stage troops.

I glanced at my guard. “Aston, you take a few of my guards and take charge of squads three and four. Get a few of the elites as well, I’ll leave that to you.”

He frowned. “Your Highness, I’m here to protect you.”

“Which you can do by ensuring no one attacks us from behind,” I replied. “You’re the best person to deal with this.” Especially since Mior’s presence would be good for dealing with those spirits, but I didn’t say that in front of Jian. I glanced at him. “I’ll stay close to Prince Jian.”

The Velisha raised an eyebrow and hesitated for a moment, before he bowed his head. “Of course. With both of our guard details joining up, you’ll be quite safe.”

Aston sighed. “As you command, my princess.” He turned and chose a few of the other Imperial guard, before he rose into the air and flew towards the elites. Their battle seemed to be almost over, with most of the Zarian elites fled or lying on the ground.

I didn’t like sending him away, but as a captain of the Imperial Guard, he had the status to lead a sizable force, and make strategic decisions, if necessary. Besides, the Zarian were almost defeated here. The only real threat were reinforcements, or perhaps some people barricaded in the uppermost level of the fortress.

Sighing, I focused on my qi senses for a moment. I couldn’t sense the spirits accompanying the Zarian reinforcements, which meant they were probably some distance away still. Well, Mior would have warned me if they were close. But I made a mental note of that, anyway. I suspected that possessing a mortal host put a limit on some of the spirit’s abilities, and this supported the idea that it might hinder or limit their senses.

“Perhaps we should check the remainder of these buildings,” Jian suggested. “They seem to be empty, except perhaps for a few stragglers. But it’s best to be sure, and we’re the team most free to check them at the moment.”

“Good idea,” I agreed. I pointed at some of the buildings on a lower plateau. “Let’s start there and work our way closer to Hajake’s people.”

We made our way over carefully, and I took a moment to assess how the rest of the battle was going. It looked like Hajake was sending some of his people to join the elites fighting further up the mountaintop, while he and the rest of them were clearing out the buildings around the area they’d fought. A few Imperial units did the same on the other side, and from the reports I’d gotten, the rest of them were similarly occupied. Except for the group guarding the airships and some of the mounts, of course. They’d retreated to a more easily defensible position on the next peak.

Soon, we reached the first of the buildings. I hesitated for a moment, taking a look around. This section of the fortress was a bit of a closed-off area, built on a shelf of rock close to the canyon, and in the shadow of another few rocky protrusions farther up. I felt uneasy about something, although I couldn’t quite pin down what. Perhaps I was sensing the qi of something the Zarian had left in one of the structures here. Considering the location, a trap wouldn’t make sense, though, that would just rip a hole in the fortress.

Still, I hung back and let Jian enter first, then the majority of my guards, before I walked into the building. It was pretty bare, just roughly hewn stone, but my attention was drawn to the recesses set into the walls and floor. Perhaps they’d anchored enchanted compartments or items. Curious, I followed my guards deeper into the structure. From here, I could see there were corridors connecting it with the other buildings in this area.

Jian had just turned a corner at the end of another corridor when I sensed more than heard a faint vibration from above, as if something heavy was scraping against the ceiling. I looked up and instinctively took a step back, closer to the exit, but there was a hint of a sound from closer above that, too.

The next moment, everything came falling down.

I barely had the time to pull up a qi barrier, which caught the first of the rocks from above. I tried to move out of the way, but my flimsy barrier buckled, and I was pelted with a hail of rocks and wood. Then the ground gave out.

For a moment, I fell, before I landed hard on another stone surface, this one uneven rock. My head thudded onto the ground. I tried to get up, to make sure I’d prepared my defensive talismans correctly, to get out of here. But moving only brought a wave of pain and dizziness, and darkness claimed my vision.

90: Waking up

I blinked, then waited a moment for everything to come back into focus. My body ached, and it felt like I might have broken a few ribs or an arm, but I could deal with that. I took a moment to just breathe deeply and catalog my status and my surroundings.

I must have only blacked out for a few seconds. At least, that was the impression I got from my surroundings. Everyone was where I’d last sensed them, and even the dust was still kicked up pretty much in the same way. There was also a more insubstantial aspect, my sense of the qi around me, that showed that it hadn’t moved much.

Slowly, I levered myself upright, dislodging a rock from my side. It looked like I’d been pretty lucky, since I was farther from the center of this explosion. Or demolition. Around me, more of my guards were stirring, but they all looked at least as injured as me. Some obviously had trouble standing up, and one didn’t move at all, though I could tell her chest still rose and fell. Those who could drew closer around me, and most of them gripped their weapons tightly. We were on what amounted to a half-covered alcove on the side of the mountain fortress, with only a bit of rock between us and the chasm. There was a way out, though it might need a bit of climbing. Rocks, worked stone and timber were spread on the ground. But most importantly, I could hear people coming towards us through the rubble.

A normal explosion wouldn’t do this much damage, would it?

After a moment of hesitation, I decided to stay put for now, and took my new radio from my storage ring. I was pretty sure the Zarian didn’t know much about them. Plus, even if they’d somehow gotten their hands on some, they shouldn’t be able to crack the code we used to encrypt our transmissions. Carefully, I folded out the antenna, then turned the dial.

Suddenly, I felt an overpowering force ripping at my hands, pulling the radio from my grip before I could react. I flinched back on instinct, watching as what looked like a long, flexible spear made of some kind of quartz flew away from me. The radio was ripped free and dashed against one of the large boulders beside what remained of the building. It was shattered so badly I probably couldn’t even recover it with a proper workshop.

I took a step back, drawing a knife from my storage ring. My heart pounded in my ears, and I made an effort to keep my breath deep and even. I couldn’t afford to lose my cool right now. This is bad. A trap, most likely. I gritted my teeth. Another betrayal?

I could sense a few presences drawing closer. They were veiled well, so I couldn’t make out more than the vague sense of someone there. The half-fallen wall blocked my view, but I could hear their footsteps. Four people, maybe five? A quick glance around showed that my guards were patching themselves up, but I only had a few that were even close to full strength, without those Aston had taken with him and the more heavily injured.

“I have to admit, I was hoping they’d be dead,” someone said from my left.

I whirled around in time to see another group stepping down from a half-crumbled wall, the veil of darkness qi around them retreating a little. Two were soldiers in the uniform of Terbekteri, at least in the sixth stage. Between them strolled Hajake, looking like he was going for a walk in his estate’s gardens, not a hair out of place. Another figure followed him, with a cloak and deep hood over their head.

“I’m not sure if this is a good idea,” they said. I gritted my teeth as I recognized the voice. He might be covering his appearance, but that was definitely Jian.

“You bastards,” I hissed, more to myself than to them.

“Don’t be so timid,” Hajake answered. “I wanted her to see my face before she died, to recognize who destroyed her.”

I had to agree with Jian there, Hajake was being stupid. But can I use that? I took another look around, at the guards around me, none higher than the early sixth stage. There was no way we could beat whoever they likely brought along.

“I knew you were a schemer, Hajake,” I called to them. “I didn’t think you were a gutless traitor. How are you going to deal with the fallout from this betrayal? Is your pride really thin enough that you’ll risk everything just for a perceived slight?”

Hajake, Jian and their escorts jumped down and strode forward. He didn’t seem like my words bothered him.

“You’re petty, Inaris,” he said. “What’s going on is about more than you and me. You just had to go and insult me, so I needed to remove you from the equation.” He smirked. “It turns out the Zarian were much better prepared than we gave them credit for, and have scrambled a counter-offensive that is unfortunately beating us back from this fortress. Such a shame you fell to one of their measures.”

I clenched my fists, feeling hot anger rise inside me, trying to boil over. “You cowardly, traitorous piece of filth,” I spit.

But I resisted the urge to attack him, or to identify Jian. He probably just didn’t want to be seen with Hajake by the remnants of our forces, but if I managed to get out of here, there was no use tipping him off that I recognized him.

Hajake just laughed. “Now,” he said.

The next moment, hell broke down on us once more. Suddenly, the space around me was filled with qi heavy enough it seemed to press in on me, moving around quicker than I could track. My guards dissolved into a mess of screams, cracks and squelching sounds. Something dropped on me with the weight of a house, and I barely recognized the sensation of my defensive talisman drawing qi to protect me.

When my vision cleared, I was lying on the ground, the cracked and smoking remnant of an amulet almost burned through my robe, but otherwise no worse off than before. But I could feel what happened in my qi senses. My guards were scattered around me, all of them destroyed by overwhelming force. He must have had a few seventh stagers hidden and waiting, I realized.

Before I could form any further thoughts, let alone move, my vision was captured by the man stepping on my arm and leaning over me. Hajake kicked the talisman off and smiled, a sparkle in his eyes. “Goodnight, Sister.”

Then he thrust down with his spear. Pain erupted from my chest, and I screamed until I’d used all of my air. Blackness closed in on me quickly.

The first thing I noticed was the smell. It invaded my brain through my nostrils, telling me that I was around death and destruction before I’d even really woken up. The second thing was the pain. It seemed to nest in every part of my body, but the biggest hotspot was my chest, with a throbbing, sharp pain that tried to bring me back to the world insistently.

‘Wake up.’

I blinked, consciousness returning completely. The voice was inside my head. It seemed like it came from inside my head, even. The connection to my father. It had opened again, and I could feel Rijoko’s presence like a gathered storm overhead, his attention on me.

‘Be careful, daughter. You are in danger.’

I pushed myself upright slightly, ignoring the pain with a new sense of urgency. I was still lying where I’d fallen, with a spear that looked of Zarian make beside me, its head bloody. I couldn’t sense anyone else around me. Turning my head, I noticed the remains of my guards lying scattered and broken around me. A few other soldiers’ corpses were around, too, a little farther out.

I paused as my gaze fell on Lirta Ven. One of my most trusted guards, sometimes Aston’s second. Now, her dead eyes stared at me, her face twisted in pain, sitting atop a broken neck. The sight rekindled the anger burning in me, and gave me the energy to push myself upward.

I closed my eyes for a moment and concentrated on what my qi senses were telling me about my body. I wore an ankle bracelet that was enchanted to heal any injuries I sustained, even if I fell unconscious. It had already drained a lot of qi, and might be why I was even capable of sitting up right now. Hajake had stabbed me right in the heart.

I’d tried to reinforce my body with shapeshifting a little, but it didn’t seem to have worked too well. I’d definitely put in more effort in the future, after I got out of this. Still, at least my body had survived for some minutes without my heart pumping blood through my body, and it wasn’t just the natural increase in toughness from qi absorbed into the body by cultivation. Now, the damage wasn’t anything close to healed, but I didn’t think I would die if things didn’t get worse.

When I opened my eyes and glanced around, that prospect seemed more likely. There was an airship coming in towards the fortress in the sky. And judging by the construction and colors, clearly a Zarian one.

I froze. Panic tried to rise in me, but I crushed it ruthlessly. Still, I knew there was no way I’d get away from here in time, especially in my condition. I’m so screwed.

Or was I? I took a deep breath and started moving on my hands and knees, ignoring the stabs of pain they sent into me. The soldiers were scattered only a few meters away, beneath and among fallen pieces of stone and rock. I looked over all of them quickly, then altered course to a woman of about my stature.

Once I reached her, I summoned a knife from my storage ring and started cutting off my robe. It was torn and covered in blood, and trying to remove it hurt like hell. I paused to try and adjust my pain sensitivity downward, then continued. Once I had my robe, pants and shoes off, I started stripping the soldier’s uniform jacket and pants.

From the looks of it, she’d been killed by something crushing part of her head in, but the uniform was in relatively good condition. I got a bit of water from a flask to wash the worst of the blood off myself, then had to psyche myself up before I started putting the clothing on. My body didn’t like the movements necessary for it, especially the pants, but I forced myself to finish. It helped that the urgency and danger of the situation sharpened my mind and helped me focus past the pain. My undershirt was a bloody mess, and I left the jacket open, but it should be enough.

When I was done, I put the rags of my old clothes into my storage ring, then quickly looked through the soldier’s and put her body in as well. She’d hopefully get a proper burial eventually. Not like I could thank her for borrowing her clothes any other way.

I shook my head, trying to focus again. I couldn’t afford to dally, and there were still things that needed doing.

Rijoko’s presence had retreated at some point, though I suspected he might still be watching me. I couldn’t take the time to poke into the connection now, but there’d be no help from that side. I’d lost the radio, and the Zarian would probably track any communication I tried to send from my qi communication talisman, so that was out, as well. I took a few shallow breaths to focus, then started pulling on my qi. It took all of my focus to weave a bit of light and darkness qi into shape, then let it flutter off, barely perceptible even to my senses. It would take the message a while to reach Tenira, if it even would, but that couldn’t be helped.

Damn, I hope Tenira is okay. I hope that bastard doesn’t go after my friends.

I shook the thought off, knowing that I couldn’t afford to dwell on it. I needed to focus on my immediate situation. Besides, nothing indicated that the traitors would risk trying to go after my friends after they’d succeeded in eliminating me.

I looked at my storage ring, considering. Even if the Zarian didn’t manage to get into it, having such an expensive piece of equipment would make me stand out too much.

I frowned. It should be a reasonable assumption that the other parts of our attack succeeded, so I doubted the Zarian could or would even try to hold this base. After a moment of hesitation, I pulled out a piece of paper and a pen from my storage ring and scrawled a quick note in English. Just a few words, writing was hard enough like this.

Then I gripped the talisman on my ankle. I grimaced, hesitated for a moment more, then removed it. Immediately, it felt like I’d dropped another few kilos on me. But it was too distinctive. So I gritted my teeth and put the device into my storage ring, then ripped that one off. I turned around, trying to keep my breath even, and moved my arm. I was still close to the chasm, and with a cultivator’s body, I managed to throw the ring into it, despite my injuries.

With that done, I laid back down in the spot the soldier had vacated, and closed my eyes. I tried to ignore the pain and focus on what I needed to do.

It went surprisingly smoothly. Perhaps the situation let my force of will come to the forefront better, or the unconscious urge to take action and defend myself helped in getting it done. Unlike normal techniques, my shapeshifting ability was something innate that didn’t need perfect focus and concentration, just my mind and willpower. In a matter of seconds, I’d dyed my hair black and darkened my skin a bit. I left the eyes, since I didn’t have a mirror and didn’t want to mess things up. But I carefully straightened the skin around them a little to make the area look different, then broadened my nose and changed the shape of my chin. I touched my face to feel the changes, then continued, shifting the cheekbones to widen it a bit. Then I looked down at my clothes and changed my body, adding a bit more fat to my hips and shrinking my chest a little. I left my height the same, since I’d need to walk without difficulty, but I remembered to change the pattern of my fingertips and ears.

By now, I could clearly feel people approaching. I laid back down and resisted the temptation to look around. Instead, I finally let the pain I’d been ignoring have my attention.

The sight of Zarian soldiers walking over the fortress made me consider if I was really making the right choice. They didn’t usually kill captives, but that didn’t mean it never happened. Maybe I should just let them capture princess Inaris? They’d guard me far better, but surely, I’m worth more as a hostage than an Imperial martyr.

Then I reminded myself that Jideia wanted me dead. If the Dominion captured me publicly, it was all too likely that he would get his way.

Whatever reserves of strength I’d managed to tap into were rapidly fading as I stopped moving. I closed my eyes and let blackness take me just before the Zarian soldiers arrived.

91: Prisoners of war

When I woke up, it was with a feeling of trying to struggle through morasses clinging to your consciousness. One that spelled trouble, waking from a sleep that was too deep. Especially since I wasn’t supposed to dream anymore, but I also couldn’t remember what I’d been doing while I was out. That made me suspect that the Zarian had sedated me.

I lay still and didn’t move while I recalled what happened. At least I did wake up and they hadn’t killed me, so my gamble had probably paid off. I was still in pain, but it was a world of difference compared to before. My chest ached and my arms and legs felt like they had lead weights pinning them down, but I was mostly healed.

Perhaps the lead weights weren’t just a metaphor. When I tried to move, I couldn’t. Something was holding me in place. Experimentally, I strained against the restraints, but they didn’t give at all. Probably qi imbued material. My fingers were pinned down individually so I couldn’t move my hands, but at least I could wiggle my toes and shift my head a fraction. My qi was almost drained, and I didn’t try to use it, for now.

Everything around me was quiet, except for a deep, steady thrum that reminded me of machinery, and the quiet breathing of three people. I laid silent for a few minutes, listening for any changes, but as far as I could tell, nothing happened.

Carefully, I tried to open my eyes. They didn’t take as long to adjust to the brightness as they would for a normal person, but I still blinked against the light. I was looking up at a ceiling made of wooden planks, with no distinguishing markers I could see. I lifted my head to try and get a better view, but my mobility was limited, and I only managed to get a glimpse of the edge where the wall met the ceiling.

“Looks like someone’s awake,” a man commented in Zarian. Footsteps sounded, coming closer.

I tried to turn my head as much as I could and got a view of a Zarian soldier leaning forward. He looked like he was in his thirties, but must have been at least in the fifth stage. He was messing with something to the side of my head, and I felt the straps holding it down give, so I could move more easily.

I lifted and turned my head so I could see him better, and found the soldier looking back at me.

“I hope you’re not going to try to fight,” he said. “Wouldn’t do you much good in an airship full of our people, anyway. Aren’t you the one they found in the middle of soldier and elite corpses? Lucky bitch, but I wouldn’t trust my luck that far.”

I smiled a bit. “Don’t worry,” I said. “I won’t try anything stupid.”

He raised an eyebrow, perhaps surprised that I spoke his language. “Then we can move you to join the others.” He turned and called to someone else. “Come on, wood-head, help me with this.”

Someone else sighed, and a second soldier walked over from the other side. He didn’t speak, but went to work releasing some buckles and screws holding me to the board I was lying on.

I cooperated as they released me from my restraints. Some of them, at least. My arms and hands were still chained, fixed in place, and my legs hobbled so I could only take small steps. I breathed out deeply, and took a moment to be thankful that my disguise seemed to work. I’d need to be careful about veiling my qi presence, of course. But I hadn’t exactly met many Zarian before, so the chance that someone would recognize me by it was low enough that I didn’t worry about it.

With my shapeshifting, I should be able to slip away at some point. Perhaps I could try to impersonate a Zarian soldier. But for now, I’d need to play along and assess what measures they used to deal with captives. If we were really on an airship, that complicated matters, too. At least escape gives me something else to focus on, rather than the betrayal.

The room I was in held several pallets like the one I’d been on. Most were empty, though a few were occupied by other people. Imperial soldiers, judging by what I could see of their clothing, and I recognized one of the faces.

“You seem pretty young for a soldier,” the talkative Zarian commented as the two of them escorted me through the room. It was slow going because of the restraints. “Fast cultivator. Are you one of those Imperial nobles? No, don’t answer that. Shows potential, though.”

I grunted in reply. Note to self, make myself look older next time. I hope they’re not too interested in recruiting me. I frowned. Judging by what I’d read, the Zarian probably tried to recruit any captive soldiers, at least the ones they didn’t eliminate for being too much of a threat.

It wasn’t mentioned, but I got the impression that they were somewhat successful, too. Maybe it was because their methods included offers you couldn’t refuse. But in some ways, the Dominion was enticing for strong cultivators. They probably made sure to show them respect, maybe deference from weaker people, explain how their system put them at the top in a more direct manner than the Empire.

But I shook those thoughts off and concentrated on the situation. We were walking through a small hallway now, illuminated by a few glowstones. After a minute, the soldiers brought me to a stop in front of another door. By now, I was pretty sure we were in an airship that was currently in flight, making a mental map of it from my qi senses, but some areas were hard to get a sense of.

The door opened into a large hold. There were groups of Zarian soldiers posted at both ends, led by someone who let enough of their aura show to make it clear she was in the seventh stage. In the middle, there was a group of Imperial POWs, most in the fourth or fifth stage. They looked a little worse for wear, but no one had obvious injuries.

My arrival caused a bit of a stir, but not enough for this to be out of the ordinary, so I assumed I wasn’t the only wounded to be brought to join them later. I ducked my head and waited for the soldiers to release me. To my surprise, the talkative soldier unfastened the restraints on my hands, while the quiet one took off the one hobbling me. I still wouldn’t be able to move my arms or hands much, but it was nice to be able to wriggle my fingers. And, of course, I wasn’t too concerned about the restraints. Slipping out of handcuffs was one of the first tricks I’d learned with my shapeshifting.

Once I was free, I took a few careful steps to the other prisoners. They were watching me, quite a few of them with thoughtful frowns, probably trying to place me.

A man in the sixth stage took a step forward to bar my path. I recognized his face, though I didn’t know his name. “Hello, soldier. My name is captain Miyu, I’m the ranking prisoner here.”

I came to attention and saluted, as well as I could given the restraints. “Yes, sir. I’m corporal Aik. I was gravely wounded, then taken by the enemy, fighting at target two.”

“Target two, huh?” His eyes narrowed. “I don’t recall seeing you in that group.” After a moment, he shrugged. “What do you have to report?”

“We almost managed to capture the fortress, sir,” I replied, choosing my words carefully. I didn’t want to let on that I knew too much, and didn’t know what other prisoners might have told him, but I did want to give accurate information. “There was a large explosion, I was caught at the fringes. From what I can tell, the Minions managed to beat us back, I passed out before they got to me.”

He frowned and gave me another once-over, and I had to force myself not to hold my breath. Should I not have used the slang, or was he suspicious about the information?

“I suppose that makes sense given the presence of you and the others from there,” he finally said. “No one else saw the Zarian reinforcements. Do you have any information on -” he hesitated, “the status of your primary commander?”

I stiffened a little. “Nothing recent, sir. I’m sorry.”

He waved that off. “Good work, soldier. You may join the others, rest up.”

I saluted again, then moved off. I eyed the other prisoners, then found a spot some distance away from the rest, leaning against the wall, and tried to ignore their looks.

My heart was beating more rapidly than the exercise would explain, even with my injuries. I didn’t like having to worry about the other prisoners, my own soldiers. Even if exposing myself was too much of a risk. It was starting to sink in that I was truly here, alone, on an airship into Dominion territory.

I really screwed up this time.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The memory of when I returned from my underwater exploration rose, and I focused on it. Coming back with Al safely with me, even Mior, seeing my friends unharmed. Hugging Tenira. The memory was reassuring, in a way. Something to strive to replicate.

When I get back, I’ll talk to Tenira about my feelings, I promised myself. The thought released a bit of my tension. I’d be careful, of course. I did want to preserve our friendship, most of all, and I knew how much damage outing unrequited feelings could do. But I wanted to know if some of the hints I thought I’d picked up were just in my imagination, figure out what it meant. If she liked me.

I shook my head. I needed to get back, but more than that, to get in contact with someone. I briefly considered trying to go to sleep now, but I didn’t want to let my guard down, and it might seem suspicious.

The sound of footsteps coming toward me ripped me from my thoughts. I straightened up and opened my eyes, then saluted as I recognized the officer from before. He was accompanied by another man, who looked a little older and felt like he was in the fifth stage. I’d seen that one with the Imperial troops at the fortress, though he hadn’t taken part in the planning meeting.

“At ease, corporal,” the captain said. “This is lieutenant Yi, the senior prisoner from the second strike force.”

I nodded. The group I was claiming to be a part of. No wonder the man was regarding me with a frown. He wouldn’t recognize me unless I’d really screwed up the disguise, which might be a problem now.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you there, soldier,” he said. “You say you were gravely wounded following an explosion. That would place you at the western side, checking buildings.”

“It was the eastern side, sir, close to the chasm,” I replied. Was that an attempt to see if I was a spy and would be tripped up by something like this? “We were indeed checking buildings, together with some Velisha troops.”

The lieutenant nodded slowly, but he still looked wary. “I don’t think any of our regular squads were part of that detail.”

I hesitated for a moment, then leaned forward slightly. “You might not recognize me because I wasn’t part of the normal army, sir, but rather an … adjunct unit. We were ordered to join the operation on short notice, after we came from the north.”

Our captors were almost certainly keeping us under surveillance, which limited how openly we could speak. In this case, it might work to my advantage. The officers seemed to get the implications I wanted, at least.

“I see, corporal Aik,” the captain said, after exchanging a glance with the lieutenant.

They both straightened up just a little, and I noted that he might be speaking with more respect now. That was to be expected, of course. I’d heard someone say that ‘a corporal in the Imperial Guard is higher than a lieutenant in the army’. Of course, most guards had at least that rank, so they could take command of regular troops in a pinch. Being in the late part of the fourth stage, I’d seem weak for a member of the Guard, especially in a protection detail for the Imperial Princess, but not weak enough to make it implausible.

“That would explain why I didn’t recognize you,” the other officer agreed.

I nodded. I wouldn’t expect him to know every face of my guard detail, which was why I’d done this.

“Did you perhaps see what happened to the package at the eastern side?”

I shrugged a little, trying to appear casual so I didn’t tip off any watcher. “Unharmed, last I saw. I hope it made it out alright.” I hesitated again. “I do have information concerning the battle that I wish I could share with Command. Probably as valuable as my meager unit. I suppose the package wasn’t that important, but still.”

Their expressions tightened. The captain snorted. “A unit of auxiliaries from the vassals? Can’t be that important. But keep that information to yourself, just to be safe, unless it can help our situation here.”

“No, sir, I’m afraid not.”

He nodded. “That was all. Carry on. If we come up with a way out of here, we may need you again, since you saw most of the Zarian. For now, rest up.”

“Yes, sir.”

I tried to appear relaxed as I leaned against the wall again. I hope that was him telling me that they’d help me escape. I sucks not being able to talk freely. I could tell him I was confident in making my way back. Oh well.

I started to cultivate, doing my best to pull in some qi without getting stopped by the Zarian. The hold we were in was kept in a dim twilight that didn’t offer a lot to me, but I wouldn’t need much. Subtlety was going to be key, here.

I didn’t have a good way to tell how much time passed, so it could have been half an hour or several hours before anything changed. I noticed it from the qi around me, stirring in response to the Zarian shifting position. Then I noticed that the airship was starting to descend. I opened my eyes and walked forward, trying to see what was going on.

I had to give our captors credit, they knew what they were doing. One by one, two of them came forward to grab one of us, heedless of any protests, and put on more restraints. When my time came, I was silent and let them shackle me, pieces on my hands and a chain hobbling my legs again. Something in the new restraints felt weightier than before, making my qi harder to access. But the seventh stager watching over us ensured that none of the Imperials really fought back.

They put us into a line, and I tried to keep between the middle and back of it. “We’re going out, would be the best opportunity …” I muttered.

When I glanced up, my gaze met the captain’s, who had his head turned in my direction. He didn’t give any sign of acknowledgment, only turned around again, but I knew he understood.

In short order, we prisoners were all lined up and the Zarian escorted us from the hold. There were at least three elites at each end of the line, with regular soldiers keeping pace beside us. But the airship’s corridors were narrow enough that they didn’t have much room to maneuver. I pulled some qi, with excruciating slowness so no one would notice, as we walked through two corridors and up a cramped staircase.

Then we reached the entrance of the airship. Its doors were relatively wide, set behind a short entrance hall. Sunlight flooded the outside, but I could glimpse tall buildings around us, a short distance from where we set down. More soldiers crowded around the airship, an organized mob.

“Distraction,” I sighed.

The captain made a small gesture, putting his thumb and index finger together to form a lopsided triangle.

He timed things just right. The moment the seventh stager and most of the sixth stagers stepped outside, when they needed just a moment to adjust to the brightness levels but were still mostly in the doorway, he struck. The other prisoners followed him without hesitation, throwing themselves onto their guards, using what little qi reserves they had for attacks. Most of them concentrated on the elites.

I used the opportunity. My restraints fell, and before the handcuffs had even touched the ground, I was moving. The elites were distracted for an instant, one that I used to slip through the crowd. The chaos of the attack allowed me to get into the Zarian soldiers around us, who were only just turning to help.

I’d changed my features again, a quick, inelegant modification, but no one would look at me too closely. My clothing was covered by the thinnest layer of qi, a minor illusion that turned it into a regular Zarian uniform. I pushed through the crowd carefully, taking care to use their movements to my advantage instead of shoving myself through. At the same time, I was focused on the fresh air around me, drawing it in, gathering some in my core and letting it release through my meridians.

The sound of the fight behind me reached a crescendo, but I didn’t look back.

Things went still, and I felt a prickle at the back of my neck. Someone’s searching for something. Me, perhaps. For a moment, I thought this was it, that I’d blown my chance. Then the feeling moved on, no one around me reacted, and no one started in my direction. The disguise was working, and using air affinity qi like this must be changing my aura enough, with how tightly I was trying to veil it, that no one recognized me.

I broke through the crowd, walking with brisk but steady steps toward the path leading into the city proper. Its buildings loomed before me, so similar and yet different from those I was used to, built mostly of wood or spirit beast materials, walkways in the air connecting the tall buildings. No one gave me a second glance.

From what I could see of the surrounding terrain, the hint of the mountains in the distance, we were hundreds of kilometers to the east, at minimum. Still a few hundred from the sea, and probably from the closest border to Imperial territory.

I allowed myself a small, humorless smile. I was stuck in a foreign land alone, but at least I’d escaped captivity.

92: Fire and water

A soft splash sounded, and I froze, hoping that it had gone unnoticed. None of the people I could see even glanced in my direction, so after waiting for a bit, I continued carefully pulling myself from the water. It was dark here, and I’d chosen a spot where the street lighting didn’t reach to the banks of the river. With the darkness qi around me, it seemed to be enough.

Once I stepped out of the river, I resisted the temptation to shake the water off, and instead started walking. I was in a spot between the city proper and a collection of buildings in the ring of settlements outside it, where the lighting was low and spaced far apart, and not many people walked the streets. I made my way deeper into the city.

Even with the resilience my cultivation brought, the river’s water was icy, and I felt the cold. But I barely noticed it. I’d just spent at least half an hour at the bottom of the river, breathing water and staying still under a shield of qi. There hadn’t been much to do but think, and stew in my thoughts. Anger warmed me, gave me the energy to stride down the road as if I belonged here.

I was angry at Hajake and Jian, at the Zarian. But, at the moment, mostly at myself. I thought I’d learned my lesson. I had to unclench my fists. I thought I was past making stupid, reckless decisions in war. And now here I go, joining the attack, letting myself be manipulated by the likes of Jian.

Two of the people walking on the street from the opposite direction were wearing Zarian military uniforms. I averted my gaze, like others, but resisted the temptation to increase my pace or tense up. Instead, I concentrated on keeping my breathing even, and trust in my disguise. I didn’t feel better until they were a hundred meters behind me, though.

Once I get back, I promised myself, I won’t set foot within a few kilometers of any battlefield. I’ll get the most qualified generals to handle our strategy, and I’ll content myself with being present and looking pretty.

I shook my head and forced myself to focus on my surroundings. A few of the people on the street were giving me looks, and obviously tried to keep their distance. Probably because I was wearing only pants and a dirty shirt, and my hair was wet. I was using a bit of fire qi to dry myself as I walked, something similar to what I could sense others doing in the cool temperature, but it wasn’t enough. I needed to change things so I didn’t stand out.

I’d changed my look again, careful to keep it distinct from my real appearance and previous disguise. My hair was brown now, shorter than before, and my skin a touch darker. I’d set my eyes a little wider apart, turned them brown, given my face thinner lips and a softer chin, and changed the skin at my fingertips and the set of my ears again. I’d also lengthened my legs just a bit, to change both my height and gait. It was manageable, but I could tell that screwing with it any more was a bad idea, messing up the way I was used to moving.

Keeping my gaze down, I reached into my pocket and took out a polished river stone. It was the most symmetrical one I’d found. I hardened my fingernails, drew on a bit of qi, then started to etch lines into it. It was slow going, since I didn’t want to use a lot of qi. But that was alright. I might have lost my storage ring, but I still had all of my knowledge. I even took care to keep the formation I was etching into the stone imperfect, to add a few smudges. Not enough to hinder its operation, but anyone who saw it shouldn’t recognize my work. Or infer that the maker had had access to the best resources and books to teach them.

Luckily, my somewhat bedraggled state didn’t seem that out of place. As I made my way deeper into this part of the city, I encountered more people with torn, dirty or just worn clothes. It helped that the lighting got worse, as the streetlights were either spaced further apart or intermittently missing. The city loomed above us, towers of wood with many additions, bulges and bridges poking from them and obscuring more of it. Some of them looked old, sturdy, but many had a ramshackle feel, as if they’d quickly been nailed together. The air carried more traces of filth, unwashed bodies, maybe even disease.

This couldn’t have been a nice part of the city before, but I doubted the Zarian occupation had improved matters.

I stuck to the edges of this quarter, following the sounds of the city until I reached a small market square, or at least a place where several people had set up stalls not far from a collection of stores. I glanced around, noting possibilities, then decided on a small store at the edge, which looked clean and tidy enough. I couldn’t read the letters over the door, but the display showed enchanted items.

A small bell tolled when I came in, and the storekeeper looked up. His face was a little haggard, his beard scraggly, but he’d kept his clothes in order. He asked something in the local language.

“Sorry, I didn’t understand,” I responded in Zarian. “I’m looking to sell a talisman.”

He frowned, looking at me with barely hidden skepticism. “Let us see it.”

“It’s a defensive enchantment,” I explained as I put the stone on the counter. “Feel free to feed it some qi and test it.”

The storekeeper did as I said, putting some qi into the enchantment before taking a knife from beneath the countertop and stabbing at the area around it. The knife bounced off.

At least he hadn’t seemed to mind my speech. I’d been a little nervous, but I had to talk to people. At least I didn’t have a typical Imperial accent in Zarian, from what I could tell. Being multilingual, sort of, I didn’t have the problem with some sibilant sounds that Common native speakers tended to have. I’d try my best to control my pronunciation, but it shouldn’t immediately arouse suspicion even if I forgot that.

The shopkeeper put the knife away and the stone into a compartment. He haggled with me over the price for a minute, before he finally put a few silver looking coins across the table. I pocketed them and turned to leave, unsure if I’d been ripped off. If I had, at least it shouldn’t be too badly, and I had enough money for essentials now.

What I really wanted was a new storage ring, but there was no way I could get my hands on one without risk. They were tightly controlled at the best of times, and expensive.

There was a clothing store two doors over, with what looked like simple, budget or maybe secondhand clothes. I ducked inside and rifled through them, before parting with two of my new coins for a pair of shoes and an outer robe made of durable fabric with a simple cut. The shopkeeper didn’t talk much and I was happy to get out. I put my purchases on quickly, then made my way away from the market.

There wasn’t much else I needed. I could go without food for a while, and any water I needed I could conjure up myself. It would be better not to show myself being a light and darkness cultivator, anyway, and water and fire might be a good cover. Not common, but not too rare, and practical given the situation.

I saw a few more Zarian patrols and tried my best to stay out of their way. Seeing their uniforms reminded me of the airship journey, and I clenched my fists, tried to rein in another bout of anger. I’d left the other prisoners behind without even looking back, and while I didn’t regret that, I disliked feeling like I’d been forced to do it. I knew there wasn’t much of a chance of recovering them, too.

Deeper into the poorer parts of the city, I saw more people openly angry at the patrols. They jeered, turned away or just scowled at the soldiers, who were walking in bigger groups. That meant I’d hopefully chosen well in going here. These parts of the city were extensive, a warren of wooden, clay and hide buildings with little fundamental structure. People had decorated them with graffiti, set up a few flowers here and there and gathered under the open air in some spots, but the area still felt drab, dreary, even a little depressing.

Before, I’d sometimes seen signs I could read, in Zarian. Not surprising. This city had long been in their sphere of influence, even if the area had been nominally a neutral country. But here, there was only native writing, or sometimes just pictures. Few other people walked the streets alone, and I noticed little signs, accents of color or patterns on the clothing, that might be marking different gangs. The streets still seemed fuller than before, and in some spots people huddled together. Some looked confused, aimless, like they weren’t used to wearing torn clothing, to not having a proper home to go back to.

None of them would welcome me, not when I only spoke Zarian. It still seemed like a good place to get lost.

I wasn’t particularly surprised when I turned a corner into an alley only to find a few young guys blocking the way, wielding a butcher knife, a club and a rusty spear. Behind me, two more stepped out of a side door, cutting off my retreat to the broader street.

“Are you trying to rob me?” I asked, cocking my head. I started circulating qi, pulling on some of the heat sources close by.

“Foreigner like you don’t belong here,” one of them answered with a noticeable accent. “We give you notice to go home. Collect toll for the bother.”

I let a flame spark from my fingertips. “I’d think twice if I were you. You really want to take me on?”

A few of them shifted, clearly uncomfortable at the show. The leader only snorted and advanced a step.

I released some of the veil I had on my qi presence, enough to give them a peek of the fire I was currently forcing through my channels. “I’m in the third stage of cultivation.” I shrugged and lobbed a bit of fire at one of them, letting it fizzle out in front of his shoes. “You’re in the second at most. Bad odds, yes?”

More of them stepped back now. The leader, or spokesman, growled and advanced another step.

I sighed a little, then skipped forward. An elbow knocked his head back, a palm strike made him fold over like I cut his strings. I flicked my fingers again, setting fire to the shoes of two who hadn’t moved to retreat.

The leader yelled, then cut off abruptly. I grabbed him under an arm and dragged him upright.

“Sorry!” he yelled. “Sorry, didn’t mean to.”

“That’s alright.” I let go of him and stepped back, then smiled at the others who’d hung around, most a few meters back and close to cover. “Nothing against a little spar. But I do hope you won’t annoy me by making me fight another time. Now scram.”

The leader and most of the others bowed, without much grace, then turned and ran.

I shook my head. This world. Really. But I started walking again, keeping my steps even and my back straight to project confidence. I had no doubt this fight had been watched, as I might be now.

But it had given me a much needed prod. I needed a place to lay low for a while, hide from the Zarian, and think of a plan. The best way wasn’t the path of least resistance, though. Not when I wanted a chance to get some information or help, maybe even establish my ‘cover identity’ a little.

I made my way deeper into the city, just letting my feet take me where they would. I didn’t know if my special ability would help me here. Probably not. But since I didn’t have anything better, why not just rely on my intuition?

I tried to quiet my thoughts, just breathe and rely on my feelings, or instincts. I still took in everything, letting my mind process things behind the scenes. There might have even been a flicker of activity from my connection to Rijoko, if I wasn’t imagining things.

After a few minutes, I stopped. I had a feeling about the place in front of me. It looked like one of the towers had collapsed partly, leaving half of it behind. A dilapidated half, with some of the wooden boards rotting away, a few places patched over without much skill. But the patchwork was recent. There was a bit of free space around the structure, with what might have been burned out firepits in a few spots. A few too many people lingered here, visible on actual or improvised balconies, a few hanging around the entrance. Their clothes were just as haggard, and their expressions lacked that spark of happiness or satisfaction you often didn’t notice until it was gone. I’d bet most of them were refugees.

When I approached the door, they made as if to bar my path, then stopped. I nodded at them, but walked on, still letting some of my aura through, still dragging fire qi through my channels. The door creaked when I opened it.

The inside was divided by a few improvised barriers, but lit well enough. People looked up when I came, many of them standing to their feet. A few dozen in all, more of the same.

“Hello,” I smiled. “Forgive me for speaking in Zarian, but I’m afraid my grasp of the local language is very poor. It looks like you have room for another cultivator here.” I paused and let my eyes sweep across the crowd. I didn’t want to come off as a petitioner, couldn’t show weakness, but I didn’t want to bully them, either. A balancing act. “If any of you need something, you can approach me.”

They exchanged glances, but no one seemed in a hurry to speak up. I smiled again, then sat on an overturned crate close to the entrance. I continued drawing in qi, not bothering to hide it. Most of them were in the first stage, but that might be because there were a number of children.

A young woman stepped forward and leaned against the wall, looking at me. I returned her gaze, taking her in. Darker skinned than most, short hair, but blue eyes. She was pretty, if not quite my type. Perhaps ‘striking’ would be a better word, pretty in a hard way. Despite her dirty clothing and the lines on her face, she stood tall, as if she simply couldn’t do anything else. To my other senses, she felt significant in a way I hadn’t had much experience with. It wasn’t easy to pin down what it meant.

We didn’t have to wait long. I could hear and sense people arriving, and stoop up, opening the door before they could bash it in.

The gang facing me looked much like the other one, if perhaps a bit more intimidating. Mostly men with a few women, all of them younger and in the first or second stage, some with actual weapons.

“You’re intruding in our territory,” the leader grunted, eying me warily. He felt like the late part of the second stage.

I raised an eyebrow. “Your territory, really? That’s a shame. You live here, do you?”

The leader raised his weapon, a wooden club studded with nails. “This area is ours, these people are ours. Leave.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. The people might be happier to have me, don’t they?”

One of the other thugs spoke up. “Why? What you do for them?”

“I could give them clean water, for one thing.” I glanced at the people, noting the reaction at those words. “And not prey on them while they’re down.”

A few of the thugs advanced, clearly not impressed by my answer, my challenge. I released some of my qi, letting flames dance on my fingertips.

It wasn’t a long fight. The hardest part for me was holding back, not using my full speed and strength. I dodged the leader’s strike effortlessly, pushing him back into two others, and punched the man behind him. Then I stepped back and lashed out with a tongue of flame at the thugs advancing after them.

A tingle in my qi senses warned me, and I sidestepped, then caught the dart one of the second stagers had thrown at me. The tip was poisoned, it looked like. I returned it to sender with an express delivery.

At this point, most of them seemed to scramble some brain cells and collectively decided to leave. I sent a few sparks after them to send them on their way, burned a few of the other attacks they’d sent my way with their meager qi, then stepped closer to the leader.

The girl preempted me. The leader was just standing up when she grabbed him, making his jacket smolder, headbutted him, then threw him out of the door, saying something in his language. I couldn’t be sure, but it sounded like she had an accent.

When she turned and saw me looking at her, she narrowed her eyes, then shrugged. “How about that water?”

I nodded, letting go of the fire and reaching for water qi to draw in. It needed most of my focus, but I still noted the way she looked at me. It made me a bit uneasy. Had she seen through my veil?

Well, if she had, it didn’t seem like she’d tell. She had to know there was a good chance I’d seen through hers, as well. She was also pretending to be a stage lower than she was, but she was in the third while I was in the fourth, and her veil couldn’t hope to hold up to me.

I turned away and looked for a container to conjure water into. It didn’t matter, in the end, so long as none of them challenged me.

93: Unfamiliar territory

‘Is everything clear?’ I asked.

‘Yes, Your Highness,’ the guard answered, his visualized form in the dream nodding.

I would have preferred to talk directly to Tenira or one of the others, but none of them were asleep right now. Lei was supposed to be, I thought, but given the situation with my disappearance, it didn’t surprise me. I had to make do with one of the Imperial Guard.

‘Then I’ll help you wake up now,’ I said. ‘Focus on remembering the message and passing it to one of my cousins, or my husband, as quickly as possible.’

I withdrew my mind a little and flexed some of this strange power. It was more instinctive than even shapeshifting, going by feel and desire. I managed to shake the dreaming mind, push him towards the surface, towards waking. The connection fizzled out as the guard woke up.

I turned my attention outward again, searching. The cluster of possible sleeping minds I was looking for now were much farther away, but distance didn’t matter much in dreams, and I had a close connection to some of them.

I could tell pretty quickly that Mother wasn’t dreaming. Around her, few people were. A few I’d interacted with before were possibilities, including someone who worked closely with Kariva. But I hesitated and instead chose another mind, one I was more familiar with.

Maybe he subconsciously recognized and welcomed me, but it was very easy to make contact. I let my presence radiate outward so I wouldn’t surprise him too much, and slowly dove into the dream. It was a chaotic jumble of images and concepts, half-formed thoughts perhaps interrupted by my arrival. I exerted a bit of influence to help it stabilize.

‘Nari!’ Al exclaimed. His representation of himself was clearer now, basically a projection of his real body standing in a half-formed landscape of mist and frozen waves.

I condensed into a similar dream-body and stepped forward to hug him. Of course, it wasn’t physical contact, but it sent subtle signals of acceptance and affection. ‘Hi, Al. I need your help.’

His expression turned serious. ‘It’s good to know you’re alive, you know. We were worried. Are you alright? What can I do to help?’

I smiled. ‘I’m fine. But I may not have much time, I don’t want to be asleep long. Can you go and find Mother, tell her I need to contact her?’

He nodded. ‘Of course. Let me try to wake up …’

I helped him with that, as well, though Al was much more focused. As a low-level genius, he’d remember all of my dream visit, as well. At least, I was pretty sure of that.

The wait seemed to take ages, even though I knew it wasn’t that long. I hung around, in a weird limbo state between dreams, reaching out with my mind but not really connecting with anything, just sensing what I could here. Finally, Mother’s mind appeared to my senses, more clearly as she sank deeper into sleep.

I didn’t waste time, but immediately contacted her. She had control over her mind even asleep, but invited me in right away, letting my consciousness slip into her dream. It was a scene of the rooftop terrace where we’d spoken several times. I let my dream-self look around for a moment before I turned to her.

‘Inaris, I’m glad you’re okay,’ she said. ‘Did the Zarian capture you?’

‘So you got my message?’

‘Yes, your friends sent a wind cultivator in the seventh stage to deliver it, as soon as Tenira realized the note you’d written was in English. You’re lucky they found it at all. From what I gather, the storage ring fell into a crack and wasn’t easy to see.’ She grimaced, and I could feel an echo of frustration and concern. ‘I was unsure what to do, to be honest. “Betrayal, Hajake and Jian traitors, I’m disguised, probably taken by Zarian” doesn’t give us much to work with. Of course, it’s still good you got the message out.’

I shrugged, trying not to feel embarrassed. ‘I didn’t have much time to think. Anyway …’ I told her what happened, trying to give pertinent details while being concise. Talking about it rekindled the anger, but I focused on Mother’s reaction, what I could sense of it.

After I’d finished, Mother was quiet for a moment. Then she nodded. ‘I see. That complicates things there.’ The dream around us shuddered, the environment contracting inward in reaction to her. ‘Do you think Tenira and Kajare can handle this?’

I shrugged. ‘I think so. I’m planning to lay low for a while, see how I can get back safely. Now that they’re forewarned, I hope we’ll manage. We still have the Zarian to deal with, the war …’

‘Should I send Kariva there?’

I hesitated. ‘Only if she isn’t needed here. I’m not sure how much she could do that Tenira or Kajare can’t.’

Mother nodded. ‘We’ll see.’

For the next few minutes, we talked about the state of the war. She caught me up on what had happened on the southern front. The Zarian were advancing, but our defensive line had performed reasonably well. It looked like things were going to stall out. I was a little concerned that things might devolve into a long slaughter, fronts grinding to a standstill, but it was better than having the south of the Empire overrun.

When the conversation stalled, I hesitated again. We looked at each other, and I felt a bit of awkwardness surface.

Mother made as if to raise her arm, then dropped it and gave me a small smile. ‘Come back safely, Inaris.’

‘I’ll do my best.’

I let the dream dissolve around me, rapidly withdrawing my consciousness back to its anchor in my own body while I started to wake myself up. I didn’t have time to waste, not when I was basically alone in hostile territory.

When I opened my eyes and sat up, I saw that not much had changed. I could hear the people in the building going about their business, and one of the small, dusty windows let the light of the day in. My qi senses showed that no one was too close, and my wards hadn’t been triggered.

My bed was just a blanket over a wooden board, but I didn’t feel stiff. I walked to the doorway, brushed back the fabric serving as a curtain, and entered the main area of the building. There were rooms in the upper levels, but I wanted to be close to the center of the action.

I could tell everyone noticed my arrival, though few made it obvious. Many just averted their gaze, continued with what they were doing, maybe stepped out of my way a little more than they would have before. But their regard still prickled at my skin like an electric charge. I had to force myself to relax as I walked to the basin they’d set up. A number of jugs and assorted containers had been gathered beside it, and it was already mostly empty.

I came to a stop before it, then closed my eyes and focused on the qi. The air was still a bit humid from a recent rainfall, and the river not too far away. I drew the water qi in and the moisture out of the air, making it gather in the basin and containers. Water qi was almost harder to handle than fire qi, but I dragged it through my channels without showing the effort it took. After a minute, everything was full and I stopped.

Once I finished, I stepped away to give the people a chance to get to the water if they wanted, and turned to the entrance. I could sense the girl approaching. She arrived just as I took a seat on the overturned crate, a bit of space around me.

“We sold your talismans. Here.” She held out her hand, coins glinting in it.

I raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t I say to buy food for it?”

“We did.” She nodded to another group who’d just come in from a side room, handling what I realized was food packed into bags. “This is what’s left.”

“I see. Thanks.” I took the money, putting it into the pocket of my pants.

Not much, but it seemed my enchanting sold well enough. I’d already been sure that I could support myself just with my hobby, but it seemed like I could provide for the people here just as easily. That’s good. Reliable support breeds loyalty. I glanced over at the people, noting the way none of them met my gaze. Well, they’d accept me being in charge based on strength, I guess, but it’s always better if they’re less likely to give some gang the time of day instead.

“Is there anything else you need from us?” the girl asked.

I considered for a moment. “Not right now. Feel free to go take your share of the food.”

If she detected the bit of irony in my words, she didn’t show it, just nodded. She turned away.

“Actually,” I said, on impulse. “What’s your name?”

She’d turned back to face me, and her eyes narrowed a fraction. She could only be my age, maybe a year older, but there was a hardness to her expression and bearing that showed she’d learned hard lessons. Maybe just recently, maybe not, but she wasn’t a kid. “Elia,” she finally said.

I smiled. “Nice to meet you, Elia. You can call me Nera.”

“Sure thing, boss.”

I rolled my eyes theatrically, and caught a hint of a smirk when she turned around again. Boss. Not sure if I like that more or less than ‘my lady’.

After a moment, I shook my head and stood up, stretching. Then I made for the food, as well. I might not need it, but I could use the energy, and it might be better for everyone to see me eating alongside them. There weren’t many at the table yet, though I noticed many people eying it, hesitant but clearly tempted. I took a plate from a stack and loaded up a sandwich made of some kind of flatbread with vegetables inside. It tasted a little smoky, the vegetables a bit overripe, but the food shouldn’t be a problem for the people’s health.

When I finished and stepped away, they approached. I noticed that while they didn’t come near me, they also gave a little bubble of space to Elia. Hierarchies, pecking orders. I suppose she’s my lieutenant, not that I intended to be a gang leader. Or am I missing something?

My musings were cut short when the door opened and one of the younger men stepped inside, obviously breathing heavily. Every eye turned his way, and he hesitated for a moment before going in my direction.

I stepped away, toward Elia, and he followed. He had a broad frame, the brawn not yet faded to the crisis, and was in the middle of the second stage. I’d seen him with her, together with the group of young people who’d gone with her to sell my enchantments.

“Is there a problem?” I asked.

He nodded, not quite meeting my eyes. “Don’t know, boss. Maybe? The Zarian … uh … my Zarian not good.”

“Tell her, then,” I said.

The two of them exchanged a few sentences. I hadn’t been here long enough to pick up more than a few words, and they talked too quickly for me to make any sense of their conversation, anyway.

Elia turned to me. “He said the Zarian are stepping up patrols. They’re declaring a curfew, doubling guards at the city gates, and it looks like they’ve started to do a sweep of the city, including the poor districts.”

I frowned. That sounded like they may have gotten wind that their escapee was supposedly a member of the Imperial Guard. Of course, there could be unrelated reasons. “Anything in particular they’re looking for?”

“Not really.” She shrugged one shoulder. “He said they’re checking people, from what he heard.”

“I see. Alright.” Both of them had dark expressions, probably their attitude towards the Zarian, but they didn’t seem overly worried. I sighed. “If anyone here’s doing anything illegal, make sure they stop. Otherwise, we’ll just let them come. We have nothing to hide, and I doubt they’re evicting all of the people squatting somewhere.”

“Yeah, we would’ve heard about that,” she agreed. “Lots of people in situations like that.”

She didn’t look away from me, though, and I had an inkling of what she was thinking. I didn’t speak the local language, only Zarian, and I’d shacked down in a building like this. Not hard to figure out I might be trying to hide from something.

Of course, speaking Zarian as well as I did would hopefully assure them it wasn’t the Dominion authorities.

I retreated to the space I’d claimed for myself and prepared for the visit, which mostly meant tucking away some of the talismans I’d been working on and preparing others. I didn’t have the best materials to work with, and they were quick-and-dirty jobs, but I didn’t need them to last too long.

It helped take my mind off things. I told myself that it was better to test my disguise like this, against a partrol in a controlled space when I was expecting them, than risk discovery outside. That didn’t stop me from feeling uneasy when I noticed the Zarian approaching. I let the others open the door and listened as they began their search.

Maybe I should have just tried to go back right away, but that wouldn’t be easy. Even with a good disguise, I’d need to travel through Zarian-controlled lands alone, with a war going on, and find some way to cross a border that would certainly be watched by strong cultivators.

Unless I don’t need to cross a land border. I sat up straighter, feeling as if I’d been struck on the head with a sudden idea. I could go to the ocean. With my shapeshifting and cultivation, I should be able to hold out against the spirit beasts long enough. I could get the sea dragons’ help in getting back.

I groaned a little, then cut myself off as I noticed the Zarian soldiers getting closer. Stupid. Why didn’t I think of this before?

The knock on the doorframe made me jump a little, despite myself. The soldiers didn’t wait for an answer before coming in. It was a pair of men in the late part of the fourth stage, one of them carrying a clipboard.

I bowed. “How can I help you, honored soldiers?”

The frown on the first one’s face eased. “Routine check, miss. We’ll need to search the room first.”

“Of course.” I stepped aside.

The two soldiers methodically checked the room and every piece of furniture. They spent a bit of time examining my talismans, but only made a few notes before putting them back. Then the leader glanced at me. “You have permission to stay here?”

I hesitated, but the tired look on his face was prompted me to say, “Of course, I do.”

He nodded. Not like he believed me, just like he didn’t care. “Please demonstrate your qi.”

I help up a hand and focused on putting some of the qi I’d just been gathering into it. “My first affinity is to fire.” A small flame flickered to life above it. I made it grow for a second before extinguishing it. Then I closed my eyes for a moment and focused on drawing in water qi from the environment, instead, making sure that my aura reflected what I was doing and no more. “My second affinity is water.” I created a ball of water above my palm and spun it in the air before letting it dissipate.

The soldier made another note, then nodded. “Be aware, as a cultivator of the third stage or above, you’re entitled to go to the council hall and ask the civilian support office for assistance or apply for relocation, miss. That will be all.”

“Thank you, and thank you for your service and protection.” I gave them my best smile. “May I ask what it is you’re looking for? Something we could look for or report, or some kind of danger?”

The soldier sighed and shook his head. “Classified, miss.”

“Of course.” I opened the door for them, or at least held the curtain. “But I hope the gate and travel will be opened at some point? I’m waiting for the rest of my family, you see …”

He grimaced. “I can’t say, miss. It could be a while. Days, at least. But I’m sure your family will be fine.”

“Of course, thank you, sir.”

I watched the soldiers go, then stepped back into my room, taking a deep breath.

It seemed like my disguise was pretty reliable, and unless they stepped up the search, I was safe for the moment. But I might have to bide my time for a bit.

Table of Contents

- Table Of Contents -
01: So much for inductive reasoning
02: I must be royalty
03: Who are we?
04: A few reference points
05: My mind gets in the way
06: Morning awkwardness
07: Library!
08: I'm responsible, really!
09: My brother is a cheeky bastard
10: The value of strength
11: The power of 'getting it'
12: Some serious conversation (and bad jokes)
13: Tests and reactions
14: Way to put pressure on someone
15: The worst thing about dying
16: Am I unnerving people?
17: Kowtows and commoners
18: Sect life, take 1
Bonus 1: Stages of cultivation
19: How to lose
20: Little light
21: Worse than usual
22: Family matters
23: Back early
24: I have a PR problem
25: Non-crippling blows only
26: Sneaking about
Bonus 2: History of the world
27: A chance of hiding
28: Facing the consequences
29: More consequences
30: A few questions
31: Echoes of Earth
32: Hints of trouble
Bonus 3: Geopolitics
33: Without the Empress
34: Dire news
35: Setting off
36: Generals and nobles
37: Too close
38: Getting away
39: Making plans
Bonus 4: The imperial army
40: Close to battle
41: Weird dreams
42: Hanging out
43: Might be a trap
44: Targeted
45: Working out stress
46: A closer look
47: A taste of fear
48: Field battle
49: Civilians
50: Triumphant return
51: It's a party
52: A traitor revealed
53: Poison and revelations
54: Potential
55: Just a lie
Bonus 5: Spirits and religion
56: Who I am
57: Setting expectations
58: Details
59: The next level
60: Initiative
61: Perspective
62: Symbolic values
63: New endeavors
64: Deep sea psychology
65: Unexpected visitors
66: Underwater
Bonus 6: History of the Leri
67: Heirs' pride
68: Remnants of the past
69: Human and spirit
70: Connections
71: Speculation and study
72: Report, reward, retraining
73: Politics and proposals
74: Places lost and forgotten
75: Conversation with an enemy
76: Welcome
Interlude — Isuro
77: Moving on
78: Getting to know each other
79: Lawful union
80: Family loyalty
Bonus 7: The Zarian Dominion
81: Portents of war
82: Agreement
83: Open seas
84: Territory
85: War stinks
86: The price of protection
87: Siblings-in-law
88: Maneuvering
89: Coordinated attack
90: Waking up
91: Prisoners of war
92: Fire and water
93: Unfamiliar territory