She cursed then, spewing hateful words. Liwei turned from her, his eyes opaque, my chest caving at the sight. The empress raised a hand after him, then let it fall—her face twisted not with rage or cunning, just a wild fear that she might have driven away the one who was most precious to her.

But she was never one for self-recrimination. As she spun to me, I flinched from the blazing hatred in her gaze. “This is all your doing. You cleared the way to Wugang’s rise.”

“This is not Xingyin’s fault,” Liwei said at once.

It is, my mind whispered. While Wenzhi had spoken the truth before that I had not guided the choices of others, neither had anyone forced my hand. I had wanted to free my mother, to save my father, to help the dragons. Wugang’s actions were his own to bear, but mine had enabled his ascent nonetheless.

“My dear son.” The empress’s tone was iron. “You discarded the engagement that would have secured your position. As the heir to the Celestial Kingdom and son-in-law to Queen Fengjin, you would have been unassailable. Your feelings for this insignificant girl have brought you as low as she is. Daughter to the villainous Houyi and that grasping mortal Chang’e—she is unworthy of you.”

Rage surged through me as I stalked to the empress’s cloud. My days of being scorned by her were over. I was not afraid of her, for what else could she do to me that she had not tried? “I know my own worth and that of my family. My father saved the Mortal Realm. My mother saved me. And while I may not have the gilded lineage you so admire, I am worthy—” I stopped before I spoke Liwei’s name; my vow to her had stripped that right from me.

“It is you who is unworthy to speak my parents’ names,” I said instead.

Heat sparked in the air. Spurred by instinct, I darted aside—just as tongues of vermilion fire sprang from the empress’s palms. Magic rippled from my own hands, arcing over her flames, glazing them like frost. Her mouth clamped tighter, eyes pinched as she bore down with greater force. My teeth ground together—a struggle to keep steady under her assault—yet I held my ground, my energy pouring forth in waves to engulf her flames, throttling them into thick spirals of smoke.