A voice in my mind whispered that I did not deserve such happiness when the faces of the dead haunted me still. I silenced it, for now I knew better. The time I’d spent in seemingly aimless wanderings had not been wasted. I had needed to heal, to learn to live with my pain, and to uncover the secrets of my heart that had long eluded me.

These wounds and scars would not break me again. I would honor those I had lost by keeping them alive in my heart, not by casting joy from my life, not by refusing to live. No longer would I shut love from my life, in all its wondrous yet devastating manifestations—the greatest power in the world, capable of moving the hearts of mortals and gods to both evil and good. For we were complex creatures of shades of gray, capable of wonderful and terrible things … of change, because our natures were not fixed like the stars in the sky but flowing as the river toward an unknown horizon.

Everyone knew the tale of how my father had shot the suns, of my mother flying to the moon—yet sometimes in these legends it was not the how but the why. Some might think us weaker for our love, but it gave us strength we did not know we possessed. No longer would I flee, no longer would I doubt. I would step out from the shadows of my past and turn my face to what lay ahead. To live a life with love, was to live without regret.

At last, I was home.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

THE MOON

XINGYIN (星银 | Xīngyín)—Daughter of Chang’e and Houyi who was hidden from the Celestial Emperor since birth. Formerly the study companion to Prince Liwei and First Archer of the Celestial Army.

CHANG’E (嫦娥 | Cháng’é)—Moon Goddess and wife to the archer Houyi. When she was mortal, she took her husband’s Elixir of Immortality, becoming immortal and ascending to the skies.

PING’ER (平 儿 | Píng’er)—Loyal attendant to Chang’e, youngest daughter of the Chief Attendant of the Southern Sea.

CELESTIAL KINGDOM

LIWEI (力伟 | Lìwěi)—Crown Prince of the Celestial Kingdom, son of the Celestial Emperor and Empress.

CELESTIAL EMPEROR—Emperor of the Celestial Kingdom, who also rules over the Mortal Realm.

CELESTIAL EMPRESS—Wife to the Celestial Emperor, empress of the Celestial Kingdom.

SHUXIAO (淑晓 | Shūxiǎo)—A lieutenant of the Celestial Army, and a close friend to Xingyin.

WUGANG (吴刚 | Wúgāng)—The mortal sentenced to chop the laurel tree on the moon. Elevated to immortality by the Celestial Emperor.

JIANYUN (建允 | Jiànyǔn)—General of the Celestial Army who trained Xingyin and Liwei.

ZHIYI (芷怡 | Zhǐyí)—Daughter of the Celestial Emperor, stepdaughter to the Celestial Empress, half sister to Prince Liwei.

KEEPER OF MORTAL FATES—A high-ranking official who oversees the Mortal Realm.

DAOMING (道 明 | Dàomíng)—Teacher of magical skills to Xingyin and Liwei.