THIS TIME, THERE WAS no barrier upon my window, no guards outside my door. After Wenzhi had gone, I left to meet Liwei in the Golden Desert. The sky glittered with sparks of white flame, starlight casting their radiance upon the sands—yet even they could not dispel the void left by the moon’s absence. As we stood there, a warm breeze wound between the dunes, tinged with a rich sweetness.

“A wedding?” Liwei repeated stonily, his pupils darker than the night. His expression had grown thunderous after hearing the Cloud Wall king’s demand.

“He will not relent. This is the only way to get King Wenming’s help,” I explained.

He searched my face. “Is this what you want, Xingyin?”

“How can you think that?” I countered. “The last thing I need is some devious monarch dictating my future. This is only a means to an end.”

“Or is it a convenient excuse? You do not seem particularly unhappy, when you broke our own union with such ease.”

His anger stung. “I tried to refuse. King Wenming was adamant. He threatened to form an alliance with Wugang, and worse.”

“Don’t go through with this,” he said. “What if something goes wrong?”

“Wenzhi promised not to hold me to anything.”

Liwei’s expression hardened. “You must not believe him.”

“I trust my own instincts, not him. He does not want to be forcibly wed to me either,” I assured him. “Nothing will go wrong, though I will need your help.”

“Anything.” A faint smile formed on his lips. “It would give me great pleasure to incapacitate the groom.”

“If he plays me false, I will help you.” Despite my answering smile, there was little humor in my tone.

With a step, he closed the distance between us, clasping me into his arms. My eyelids drifted shut as I leaned against him, the warmth of his skin sliding through the layers of silk. Part of me wanted this moment to last forever—just the two of us, as we had been in the Courtyard of Eternal Tranquility, the fragrance of peach blossoms drifting in the air, the lightness in my heart when I awoke each day. A pure and uncomplicated joy, an undivided heart. If only I could shut out our past, our doubts and regrets. The troubles that bore down upon me, the searing heat from the Sacred Flame Feather even now burning its way through the enchantments woven around it. A constant struggle to keep it whole, to keep it from destroying me.

“Let him go,” Liwei whispered into my hair. “He’s not good enough for you; he never will be.”