“We can’t,” Wenzhi said decisively. “Even if we mustered an army to aid us, Wugang would sense the moment our forces approached, and he would crush it with everything at his disposal. It would be carnage.”

“It would also alert Wugang,” Liwei cautioned. “If he knows we intend to destroy the laurel, he will stop at nothing to keep it safe. We would never be able to reach it.”

“Then we must endeavor to keep him in the dark,” Wenzhi agreed.

My spirits lifted to hear them speaking this way, without resentment or hostility. “In the Eastern Sea, we had to entice Governor Renyu to come to us,” I said to Wenzhi. “What if we could trick Wugang into bringing us to the laurel?”

His lips pressed taut as he pondered my words. “There is only one person Wugang will let near the laurel,” Wenzhi said finally, a trace of reluctance weighing his tone.

I stilled, catching his meaning. There was only one person Wugang would allow near the laurel … not because he trusted her but because it would mean the fulfillment of his schemes.

My mother.

“No.” The air seemed to close around me as I searched for the flaws in his suggestion.

“We will protect her. She will come to no harm.”

Wenzhi was not one to shy from hard decisions. A part of me wanted to lash out at him, even as my mind whispered that he was right. This was our best chance … perhaps our only one.

“Wugang’s soldiers do his bidding, but they will not hurt her,” Wenzhi said. “You saw how they acted on the beach.”

“Perhaps, but Wugang will have no qualms in doing so,” I argued. “He will draw my mother’s blood to harvest the seeds. We cannot let him take her—not just because I won’t let anyone harm her, but because once she is in Wugang’s power, he wins.”

I continued, plunging onward. “Mother has no magic, nothing to either conceal or release the feather’s power. Wugang would sense it on her at once, if it doesn’t destroy her first, and if we lose the feather—we will have failed.”

I was shaking, I only realized it then. Liwei touched my arm. “You are right. We will find another way.”

“What if we disguised someone as your mother?” Wenzhi proposed.

I had done it before; pretended to be Lady Anmei in the Eastern Sea. Except such a ruse would never work here. “Wugang is far more astute than Governor Renyu; a mere change in clothing would not suffice. He knows my mother from his stay with us—her voice, mannerisms, and aura—and he will not forget.”

“What about an enchantment?” Liwei suggested. “Though the few I am aware of are merely surface deep, an illusion of the face and form.”