“Queen Suihe was ignorant of our situation.” I bore her little gratitude, but it was the truth.

“Her Majesty is not easily duped. You’ve grown more adept than when you were a loudmouthed girl, making crude demands of the emperor before his court.”

“As I recall you to be a devious, pandering snake.” Bold words, despite the fear that slashed me.

The tightening of his jaw yielded a burst of satisfaction, even as I knew I would pay for my insults. He was not one to forget a slight.

His gaze slid around us. “I thank you for escaping. It saved me the tedious effort of retrieving you.”

“How did you know we would be on the beach and not below?” Shuxiao asked.

“You must be careful in whom you place your trust.” Wugang’s mouth curled as he called out, “My thanks, Your Highness, for your counsel. You have proven yourself of use.”

The soldiers parted to reveal Prince Yanxi, clasping Prince Yanming’s hand tightly. Treachery, my mind whispered, the walls of my stomach clenching. Yet Prince Yanxi need not have aided me before. And the expression on his brother’s face, the terror glazed in his wide eyes—I had seen it once in the Eastern Sea, when we had fled from the invading merfolk. Reaching out, Wugang yanked Prince Yanming from his brother’s grasp, clamping his palms upon his small shoulders. Prince Yanxi’s face twisted, frantic with fear.

They were hostages, not allies.

With a wrench, I lowered my bow. I dared not do anything that might endanger them. Ping’er’s death had taught me the meaning of loss.

A cloud drifted before the sun, granting a moment’s respite from its glare. I examined the soldiers—the gilded scales of their armor so familiar to me, except for the helmets which obscured their faces. And yet … Celestial soldiers they were not. Their skin was not just pale but a translucent mottled white, like patches of ice half-thawed. Their features were indistinct, shifting shadows—faint imprints that quivered like reflections on the water. Luminous veins streaked from their necks, across their cheeks and temples, disappearing into their helmets. Two hollows were dug below their brows, from which gleamed pale orbs ringed by an intense glow. Eyes, I had thought them, yet they bore no sign of sight or thought—vacant, unblinking, terrifying. Most disconcerting was the energy that emanated from them, which I only grew aware of now, overlooked in the earlier turmoil. While each immortal’s aura was as different as the waves in the sea, those of the soldiers were identical, like bricks cast from the same mold.