The sun descended, a lull falling over us, riddled with gloom and a shred of relief. There would be no confrontation this evening. Battles were for mornings, which offered the shining promise of glory, the dawn of hope. The nights were for slinking back into the shadows to lick one’s wounds, for stifled cries and fears, unbound … and those dark acts of deceit.

Wugang would come for my mother soon. With the impending battle, he would need a fresh harvest of laurel seeds to replenish his depleted forces. Dread warred with anticipation, not because I hungered for danger but because my nerves were strung taut. The heat from the Sacred Flame Feather seared through my pouch, surging against the barriers woven around it. I did not know how much longer I could sustain this drain on my power—a struggle to maintain this farce.

“Mother, we must get you someplace safe,” I called out for the benefit of Wugang’s spies, to whet his appetite. The Cloud Wall courtier had been dispatched to betray my mother’s location to Wugang in exchange for a favored position. A lie concealed within a lie.

My mother and I flew back to the Cloud Wall palace, making our way to her room. It was elegantly furnished with mahogany furniture, the dark wood inlaid with iridescent mother-of-pearl. Bronze incense burners flanked the entrance, and I had grown accustomed to the rich scent.

She helped me into a set of her garments, draping the white silk robe over my shoulders, tying the vermilion sash around my waist, then fastening upon it a few of her jade ornaments. Finally, she coiled my hair up, securing it with gold hairpins before sliding a red peony just above my ear.

The weight in my chest sunk lower. Was it the familiarity of her gestures that caught at me? It was like I was a child again, being dressed by her. How effortless life had seemed then, akin to gliding through a lake rather than wrestling with these turbulent waters.

“Ping’er would not have wanted this.” My mother’s eyes were bright with unshed tears. “She would not have wanted you to risk yourself this way, not even to avenge her. She only ever wanted you to be happy and safe.”

My throat closed tight. “This isn’t just about vengeance; this is greater than us all. I want Wugang to pay for what he’s done, but more than that—I must do this. He is a tyrant, a ruthless madman, who thinks nothing of sending his armies on an endless rampage of death. He has killed so many, and he will murder countless more if not stopped. What future will await us under his reign?”