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Already the earth looks richer, more vibrant. As the air warms like summer, the rose flutters, its petals growing plump and smooth, flushed with color. The deep crevices along this Radiant Sky Tree are closing, small buds forming along the branches. The other trees—those dead—appear unchanged on the surface… but their trunks appear brighter, more vivid, like a seed of life has sprouted deep inside them. They will bloom again; I feel this in my heart, peace stealing over me. If only Jin were here too.
Our power is strengthening. The Little Dragon’s voice emerges clearer now, the oval shimmering brighter. Though it will take time for the grove to be fully restored, for my transformation to be complete.
I touch the silver locket filled with the Moon Dragon’s blood, hope stirring in my chest. Has she regained some of her power? Perhaps now we’ll have a chance to destroy the starfire.
The thorns behind rustle, then part—fewer of them red. Shiji and Captain Hong step into the grove, their eyes wide with wonder and joy.
Shiji lays a hand on one of the trees. “Life pulses here again. We thank you with all our hearts. Lord Jin-Yong will be eternally grateful.”
Yet the threat of the Queen of the Iron Mountains still looms, the path ahead riddled with far worse than thorns. “I must go to the Palace of Nine Hills. Will you bring me to the border?”
“What will you do there?” she asks.
“End the threat that we face, and also retrieve your lord.” I add with a small smile, “He can express his eternal gratitude to me then.”
“If he doesn’t, I will ensure that he does,” Shiji replies with an answering grin.
Captain Hong inclines his head. “Before that, we need to bring you to Lord Chao. He sent word that he wishes you to visit him in the manor.”
Despite my impatience, I return with them. I need their aid. A weight sinks over me as I’m shown into the study where I trailed Jin before, overhearing his conversation with his uncle. How angry I’d been, imagining his treachery; how misguided and wrong. Captain Hong pulls apart the doors, ushering me into a large room lit by dozens of candles, scrolls of calligraphy slung upon the walls. Weapons gleam from a rack by the side. Lord Chao sits behind a large table, his crutch leaning against it. After greeting him, the others leave, closing the doors after them.
Lord Chao’s piercing gaze bores into mine. “Where is my nephew? He left home with you, to protect you—now you are here, while he is not.”
I return his unwavering stare. “Lord Chao, you must have heard that Jin sacrificed himself so we could escape. He was taken captive by the Queen of the Iron Mountains.”
“Captive?” There is an odd inflection in his tone as he pulls out a letter from a drawer, pushing it across the table to me.
Recognizing Jin’s flowing script, I reach for it eagerly—only to drop it as though scalded, my insides hollowed like I’ve been punched. “This is not real.”
“This letter was delivered from the Iron Mountains. In here, Jin states he chose willingly to return with Queen Chunlei to negotiate a peace treaty between Thorn Valley and the Iron Mountains. With this alliance, Her Majesty has agreed to help us end the decay in our land, to restore our strength—”
“I have already obtained the cure; your land will be restored,” I interject firmly. “You do not need the Iron Mountains.”
“If that is true, I am grateful, Miss Yining. I hope the decay will not return,” Lord Chao says earnestly, with more caution than the others. “Yet the threat of the Iron Mountains remains. Jin instructs that we do not attack them or demand his return, to avoid upsetting these delicate negotiations.”
I repress the urge to rip the letter apart. “I do not believe Jin wrote this.”
“You do not want to. But for our people, this could be our best chance. It secures our future alongside the greatest power of the realm, keeping us safe.” Lord Chao strokes his beard, his expression pensive. “The farce of an alliance with Mist Island disintegrated long before you arrived. We even suspect your people of orchestrating our ruin. Now we have a chance to rebuild anew.”
I must tread carefully. Jin would listen, but his uncle might not. “You cannot trust the Queen of the Iron Mountains. She will use you—”
“As your people have done?” He sighs. “If we aren’t her ally, we are her enemy. We must weigh every possibility for the good of our people.”
“Jin would not want this,” I counter. “Lord Chao, you spent much time in the Palace of Nine Hills. They will turn on you once they’ve taken what you have to offer. They don’t share power, they seize it.”
In the silence, I continue, “Though Jin would feign cooperation to survive, he wouldn’t support one capable of such treachery and evil. The Iron Mountains caused the death of his father—your brother. Jin would never betray his father’s memory by allying with them.”
He won’t betray me.
Lord Chao’s expression is grim. “Be that as it may, for now I cannot act against the Iron Mountains. I am the custodian of Jin’s throne, I will not go against him without proof of his intentions. My nephew will always put the interests of Thorn Valley before all else, his sense of duty unwavering. He will strike the deal that will save our land, even if he does not like it.”
Once, I would have believed this of Jin. But I know him better now. Trust me, Yining. Every day, I will give you another reason to.
“Jin knows the treachery that Queen Chunlei is capable of. She betrayed her brother, she would have killed him for the crown. She has trampled on the Amber Forest despite their loyalty. The attack on our realm was her scheme. She will promise anything to get her way, with no kingdom safe unless it bends to her command.” I pause. “Jin is her hostage.”
Lord Chao frowns, joining his hands on the table. “If he is a prisoner forced to write this, any attack would endanger him. And if Jin means what he wrote, then I will not act against him.”
I resent his reasoning as much as I recognize the sense in it. After Mist Island schemed against Thorn Valley, I can hardly blame them for seeking an alliance elsewhere.
