Hope blazed through me, only shadowed by the remembrance of how we had trodden this path before and the hurt that trailed in our wake. Our families. His kingdom. My cautious heart. Such were the seemingly insurmountable obstacles that lay between us. There would be no exchange of betrothal gifts between our families, no joyous coming together of two households. The last time I had seen the Celestial Emperor, he tried to kill me. The scars across my chest itched at the remembrance of the writhing agony, clinging to my flesh like a web of pain. More than that, how could I leave my mother alone, once more, mired in grief for my father’s death?

In the silence, Liwei stiffened, drawing away. “I thought you wanted this too. Perhaps I was mistaken.”

He sounded formal, withdrawn—and I hated it. I clasped his hand, threading my fingers through his. “I do. I just need time. Your parents detest me, I can’t leave my mother yet. And—”

My words faded, leaving unspoken a new fear which had sprouted in that very moment. For if I married Liwei, I would have to live forever in the Jade Palace shrouded in silk, shackled in gold, and bound by ceremony. While Liwei was not his father, nor was I his mother—we would be fettered by the same gilded tethers. I was not one to be caged. This year of freedom had awakened me to the possibilities of a life away from the confines of the Celestial Kingdom. It might seem a fantasy to many, marrying the prince of the realm and living in a palace among the clouds. Yet with a mother-in-law who despised me and a father-in-law who had tried to end my life, it was more a nightmare than a dream.

Liwei smiled as he slid the pin through my hair until it was nestled tight. “I will wait. It is enough for me that you feel the same way, but I will tell my parents of my intentions.”

“You will?” My words rang with disbelief.

“The last thing I want is another unexpected betrothal.”

The thought needled me, followed by a stab of anxiety. “What will they do?”

“My mother will rage. My father … I am beyond the age he can discipline me as he used to. I will be a disappointment to him as I have been most of my life. I never did learn my lessons to his satisfaction.”

I was glad he had not, even as my insides clenched at his words. I had felt the force of the emperor’s displeasure; I had seen how he struck Liwei down without hesitation. At that moment, I loathed the Celestial Empress a little less, relieved that Liwei had one parent who cared for him, who had tried to help him in her own way.

“It does not matter, as long as we are together,” he said.