point of View: Kai Jin
Dawn came with the cry of the imperial hawk, its wings slicing the air above the envoy compound. It landed on the carved stone perch with practiced grace, a scroll sealed in gold wax clutched in its talons. Not just a message—an announcement.
Kai stood beneath the plum tree when it arrived, barefoot, dressed in loose silks from his morning meditation. The air still smelled of moonlight and plum nectar. He reached up and took the scroll with quiet hands.
The seal bore the twin marks of the Council of Twelve and the Southern Regent. The script was artfully stern:
"To Envoy Kai Jin,
You are summoned to represent the Eastern Dukedom and the Broken Sky Sect in the Spring Proving. Your attendance is not requested—it is expected. Decline, and let your silence be recorded as forfeiture.
Appear with your chosen. Show the empire your strength.
The eyes of the court are upon you."
He read the lines three times, then once more aloud, his voice low and even.
Yue approached, her dark hair still damp from morning practice. She did not ask what the scroll said—she already knew.
"They want a spectacle," she murmured.
"They want surrender."
"No," Bai Ru said, appearing from the west corridor with a towel folded over her arm. "They want division. A crack they can widen."
Lin Su slipped down from the rooftop, a plum in her mouth and a second scroll in her hand. "I got one too," she said around a bite. "But mine was from the Crimson Needle Sect. Sweet of them, isn't it?"
Kai raised an eyebrow. "You plan to join them?"
She scoffed. "I like red. Not traitor red."
He looked at them all. "Then we go together. No banners but our own."
⸻
Word traveled fast. By mid-morning, whispers were roaring through the inner court. Elders from neutral sects and imperial loyalists alike gathered in side halls, murmuring.
Elder Jian of the Iron Court stormed into the discussion chamber that afternoon, robes aflame with indignation.
"Three women share his path, and we dare call this unity? It is heresy paraded as harmony!"
Kai bowed respectfully. "You speak of tradition. I speak of truth. If your customs cannot hold truth, then they are hollow."
Gasps echoed around the chamber. Several elders turned pale; others watched with masked curiosity.
The Emperor said nothing. He merely sipped his tea, lips unreadable, his silence louder than any decree.
⸻
The proving grounds became a frenzy. Couriers arrived daily with invitations, counter-offers, threats wrapped in courtesy. Students trained harder, merchants wagered wildly. Rumors ran rampant:
"The man with three flames will burn out."
"Or forge something stronger."
"He has a demon at one shoulder, a healer at the other, and a dragoness in his bed."
At the Moonlit Tea House, a drunken scholar wrote into her ledger:
"The Spring Proving will test not just skill, but soul. Watch who they bring. Watch who they break."
⸻
In the sparring pavilion, Kai trained harder than ever. Yue danced around him in a whirl of violet silk and flashing steel. Bai Ru honed her pressure point strikes between breaths, every move efficient and clean. Lin Su taunted them both with daring feints and a wicked gleam.
They moved together like a constellation, orbiting around one shared star.
Later, under the willow canopy, Kai sat with his back against the trunk while the three women rested nearby.
"I didn't choose you to make a point," he said softly. "I chose you because without you, I am incomplete."
Yue, lying on her side, smirked. "Still sounds like a point worth making."
Bai Ru hummed. "Let them think they know us. Let them guess wrong."
Lin Su blew a kiss from the grass. "I'll dance circles around every noble brat that dares speak my name. And if one of them calls me your weakness…"
Kai raised a brow. "You'll what?"
She grinned. "Smile. And take their sword."
⸻
From the shadowed walkways of the East Wing, Elder Song watched.
"They flaunt their unity like armor," he murmured to an attendant. "But even the strongest metal fractures under the right strike."
The attendant said nothing, only bowed.
"And if they win?" another voice asked.
Elder Song turned. "Then we shift the rules. After all… who controls the field, controls the war."
⸻
[To Be Continued in Chapter 76: The Sword Dances Alone]