Turquoise armor clinked, golden blades flashing as two guards moved toward me. Wenzhi’s warning of their impenetrable prisons flashed through my mind. I could not let them take us. As a soldier reached for my mother, my leg lashed out, kicking him aside with brute force. At once, I snatched up my bow, stripping its bindings free, a beam of light forming between my fingers.

Panicked cries erupted, guests stumbling over themselves as they rushed from the hall. As Prince Yanxi’s anxious gaze met mine, I jerked my head toward the doorway, mouthing for him to leave. As an ally of the Celestial Kingdom, his loyalties were bound. He had already tried to distract Queen Suihe on my behalf, to persuade her to listen, which was more than I could have hoped for. Prince Yanxi lifted his brother in his arms and dashed through the entrance, away from the tumult.

My grip tightened around the bowstring as I trained my arrow upon the queen, the only one who could ensure our safe passage. “Order your soldiers to stand back. Let us leave and do not follow.” My voice was low with threat.

Queen Suihe’s lip curled as her magic surged, jagged shards of ice plunging toward my mother and me. I shielded us at once, dropping my arrow tip to her shoulder, aiming to wound rather than kill. As I let it fly, it streaked through the air, just as a luminous barrier encircled the queen. Her face twisted with contempt as she threw her other hand out, a gleaming wave of power knocking my arrow to the ground. Sky-fire scorched the carpets, blackening the intricate embroidery, gouging a crude hole in the floor. As a tremor shuddered through the ground, the crystal vases tipped over, the scattered shells trampled beneath the feet of the fleeing courtiers.

Several of the queen’s soldiers broke away to surround my mother and me. I aimed another arrow at them, hardening myself to strike Ping’er’s kinsmen—but something whistled through the air, a translucent arrow hurtling into the guard closest to us.

“Chang’e! Xingyin!”

My father’s voice. My heart swelled as he raced into the throne room, his silver bow already drawn. Liwei, Wenzhi, and Shuxiao followed close behind. Shouts erupted, the queen’s guards rushing toward them. Swiftly, I summoned a burst of wind to sweep aside those nearest to us.

Magic coursed through the air, the clash of metal reverberating through the hall. My father sheltered my mother, releasing arrow after arrow, his hands moving at a dizzying pace. As a soldier crept up behind him, her sword swung high—I shot her down, my arrow spearing her chest, her body jerking as light crackled across her armor.